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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Baron Opal II" data-source="post: 8379658" data-attributes="member: 6794067">Wow, lots of discussion...Personally, I find the depth and complexity of rules in 5e for exploration to be lacking. Also, there are too many "negate problem" options. Tiny hut, for example, creates an impenetrable bunker rather than a sturdy magical tent as it used to. Extrapolating from what [USER=22779]@Hussar[/USER] mentioned, once you have a sufficiently leveled ranger and wizard, you can pretty much skate by environment issues. This does mean you have to determine how violent weather must be for your magical tent to collapse, as in 1e, and how PCs might prepare for or mitigate that situation.This also highlights the importance of encumbrance. Yes, you can "ignore" -20C temperatures with parkas, but it's that much less treasure you can carry as a trade off. If spells obviate the need for bulky clothing, then the casters are constantly down the spells needed for survival. There should be trade offs, and this decision making adds interest to the game. Well, yes, although I don't know what GeoGuesser is. I would also read stories by Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, and Herman Melville. I recently finished a short story by London which illustrates why you listen to the ranger when he says "wait to travel, it's too cold". His stories can educate about winter and tundra hazards, and Melville can educate about the sea. Reading the journals of explorers can also be enlightening. I recently had the pleasure of driving through the Columbia Gorge in Oregon, USA. It was absolutely fascinating how over the stretch of a 1000 ft. the climate shifted from temperate pine / fir forest to scrub / semi-arid. Along the river, and only right on its banks, there was green. Elsewhere there was just scrub grass and sage.Furthermore, time pressure can be strong or gentle, but it should always be there. The river fords are impassible in Spring and Autumn, the mountain passes choked with snow in Winter, the rocky wastes brutal in Summer. If you have to divert, that can add days to weeks and then the weather can change. The slower you go the more food you need, and you have to choose between travel and forage / hunting.The exploration pillar should encompass Man vs. Nature and Man vs. Self. Examples can be found in literature and journals. Choices have to be made. Can you afford to divert to inspect the interesting ruin no one else has seen before, in time and supplies? It's late Summer, do you push to the ford when it can be easily crossed, or wait and risk the river flooding in Autumn? The trip from Town to Dungeon can be an adventure itself, but it does take forethought. And, you might need to adjust or update current rules to make choices interesting without being punitive.</blockquote>

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