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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 8643427" data-attributes="member: 82106">We did a good bit of 'Wilderness Exploration' in the first 5e campaign I was in. My character's avowed ambition was to carve out a realm and build a way for travelers to go between various areas. So, this was a significant plot point, but in terms of rules, there isn't anything that is super workable. The load/encumbrance/travel/economy kind of rules combination doesn't exist which in 'classic' D&D forced you to make hard decisions between trying to get pack animals vs porters, guards, or just lug all your stuff yourself, and what it would all cost in terms of scarce gold pieces that would then become risky assets (IE its a real bummer when Rocs fly over and decide all your mules are good eating). There was never any question of our PCs SURVIVING either, even at low levels the cleric and wizard together were more than capable of magically dealing with ordinary logistical issues (besides, we were like 4th or 5th level by the time we really got going, its not like advancement is slow in 5e...). Even when we blundered into some nasty tactical situation, which happened a couple times, it was something the GM came up with, and we just regrouped and headed back to base. It is quite possible in something like a 1e hexcrawl to wander off the end of the point of no return, helped by some friendly orcs who nabbed half your stuff! Nothing even close to that kind of thing will happen in 5e, not by RAW. There isn't even really a set of rules that would mediate that. I don't know about ToA or whatever, but IMHO the issue is less about what is NOT there than it is about what IS there. Spell casting is WAY more flexible in 5e than in 1e! Honestly, I don't even think you can actually produce a narrative of 5e wilderness exploration as-written, there are some individual rules for certain specific things, but no overarching framework. To contrast, 1e DMG provides EVERY minute detail of how such an exploration works! Literally every factor is covered, and the general rules dovetail pretty well with it! Lower level spell casters are quite helpful, but have built-in limiters, the economics and other systems clearly got tested together as a whole, etc. You can hexcrawl, and it could be fun, but most of all it is pretty darn close to its own mini-wargame where all the basic procedures and things are covered quite well. Nothing like that is true of 5e IME. Even if it incorporated every added rule that 1e has which it is missing, you'd not have a system that would actually do what you want!</blockquote>

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