Chapter 2: Exploring the World

You’re an adventuring party, exploring the world is what you do! This is some of how you’ll interact with the world while you do.

Perception and Detection

Light

Light, and how creatures see, are key to being able explore the world around them.

Bright Light

Full, clear illumination, like being outside on a sunny day.

Dim Light

Limited illumination, like being outside under a full moon without any artificial light sources. Creatures and items in dim light are concealed.

Darkness

No illumination, like being in a room with no windows, doors, or artificial light sources. Creatures and items in darkness are hidden.

Magical Darkness

Darkness that is fueled by magic instead of just a lack of light. It cannot be illuminated through non-magical means and cannot be seen through except by creatures that specifically can pierce it, including by creatures with darkvision.

Senses

With those levels of light come different ways creatures can perceive the world. All creatures are assumed to have normal senses of smell, touch, taste, and hearing. Where senses generally differ is in their vision, with some vision options able to mimic heightened other senses (blindsight mimicking sonar, for instance)

Low-Light Vision

Can see in dim light as if it were bright light.

Darkvision

Can see in dim light as if it were bright light and can see in regular darkness as if it were dim light. Your vision in darkness is in black and white only.

Tremmorsense

Can detect the movement of creatures and object on the same solid surface within the provided range—they cannot benefit from being concealed or hidden, although you cannot make out details.

Blindsight

Can detect the exact location of creatures and objects within the provided range—they cannot benefit from being concealed or hidden, although you cannot make out details.

Truesight

Can see in any lighting condition,including magical darkness, as if it were bright light, as well as see invisible creatures and objects, and see through illusions, within range.

Concealment

Concealed

If a creature or item is concealed, they can still be observed, but it’s more challenging to do so. Ability checks that rely on sight against something concealed are made with -2 ongoing.

Hidden

If a creature or item is hidden, they are only barely perceptible— you may know what space they’re in, but little else. You are blinded while trying to use an ability check that relies on sight against something hidden.

Undetected

If a creature is undetected, you don’t know what space they’re in—treat them as if they were hidden—but the GM will make your ability check in secret for you, and tell you what you perceive based on the result. Undetected creatures are subject to area effects as normal.

Cover

Partial Cover

At least half of your body is behind an ally or an object. Attacks against you are made with -2 ongoing and you gain +2 AC.

Total Cover

All of your body is entirely covered by an ally or an object. You cannot be targeted directly by an attack or spell.

Falling

Falling is dangerous! Try and avoid it! If you fall, take 1d6 damage for each 10 feet you fall. On the material plane, gravity works about the same as it does on Earth, so you’ll fall 580 feet in 1 turn (6 seconds), 2315 feet in 2 turns (about ½ a mile), and 5280 feet in 3 turns (1 mile).

Movement

All creatures have an amount they can move called their speed. This is given in feet per combat around (approximately 6 seconds) and typically refers to how far the creature can walk or roll in heat of action. Creatures, and vehicles, can have other kinds of speeds, too:

Flying Speed

Can fly up to this speed, and can hover in place. Unless otherwise specified, if it becomes restrained or unconscious, it falls.

Climbing Speed

Can climb up vertical surfaces at this speed, provided they can reasonably grip it, and can stay on those surfaces as long as they have one hand free. Unless otherwise specified, if it becomes restrained or unconscious, it falls.

Swimming Speed

Can swim through liquids with the same ease as walking on dry land up to this speed. Unless otherwise specified, if it becomes restrained or unconscious, it sinks.

Burrowing Speed

Can burrow through the ground, up to this speed. Unless otherwise specified, it cannot burrow through harder material, like stone or metal.

When jumping, you can long jump a number of feet equal to five times your +POWER, and high jump a number of feet equal to your +POWER (minimum 0 for each). If you run for at least 10 feet directly prior to either of these, your long jump distance is increased by 5 feet and your high jump distance is increased by 1 foot.

Long-Distance Travel

When traveling long distances, distance is calculated using hexes instead of ranges or speed. Each hex represents about 12 miles.

When traveling, you’ll make a group luck roll to determine what complications arise. A weak hit usually takes the form of a minor complication that can be bypassed by spending resources, like a toll demanding gold, or a rickety old bridge that you need to spend fatigue to cross. A miss should take the form of a major complication, like a bandit patrol you need to get around (or through) or maybe a party member injuring themselves. When traveling over well-traversed routes, like a trade route, the group should typically only need to make one roll per day. When traveling through the wilderness, forging your own path, you may need to make two or more. Whenever you make one of these rolls, mark 2-fatigue.

Overland Travel

When traveling overland, you can typically travel 8 hours before needing to take a long rest. You can’t take a short rest while traveling overland.

There are three speeds you can travel during a typical travel period: fast, normal, and slow. Each speed allows you to cover a different number of hexes and may require you mark exhaustion for traveling at that speed.

Speed	Hexes	Group Check Modifier	Exhaustion
Fast	3	-2 ongoing	2
Normal	2	-	1
Slow	1	+2 ongoing	0

While traveling overland, you can travel on a mount or in a vehicle drawn by pack animals, like a horse or an ox. When doing so, the number of hexes you can cover is increased by 2. When not mounted or in a vehicle and traveling slow, you can forage for supplies by making a group focus roll; on a weak hit, you gain 1 supply and on a strong hit you gain 2 supplies, and creatures gain -2 ongoing to try to track your movement.

Sea and Air Travel

Traveling in a seaworthy or airworthy vehicle is different from traveling overland. They have one speed. Vehicles that don’t solely rely on manual power to move can travel for a full 24 hours uninterrupted. Vehicles that do (like rowboats and keelboats) can only travel up to their travel duration before you need to take a long rest, much like overland travel. You can travel an additional travel duration’s worth of hexes, but doing so gives you +1 exhaustion. Vehicles that travel along a river gain +1 hex of movement when traveling downstream, and lose -1 hex of movement when traveling upstream.

While traveling in a vehicle, you can’t cover your tracks, but you are generally free to do other activities while in transit (provided you aren’t powering its movement).

Vehicle	Terrain	Hexes	Duration
Rowboat	River, Lake	2	8 hours
Keelboat	River, Lake	4	8 hours
Galley	Ocean	8	24 hours
Sailing Ship	Ocean	10	24 hours
Airship	Air	16	24 hours

Environmental Effects

Deep Water

Swimming through deep water (more than 100 feet deep) presents additional challenges because of the water’s pressure and cold temperature. Creatures that lack a Swim Speed must make a POWER saving throw every hour—on a miss, they gain one level of exhaustion, on a weak hit, they become weakened while they stay at depth.

Extreme Cold

When the temperature is 0 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, a creature exposed to the extreme cold must succeed on a POWER saving throw every hour—on a miss, they they gain one level of exhaustion, on a weak hit, they become weakened while they stay exposed. Creatures that have resistance or immunity to Cold damage do not need to make this save.

Extreme Heat

When the temperature is 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, a creature exposed to the extreme heat and without drinkable water must succeed on a POWER saving throw every hour—on a miss, they gain one level of exhaustion, on a weak hit, they become weakened while they stay exposed. For every additional hour they stay exposed, the DC increases by 1, starting at 0. Creatures wearing Medium or Heavy armor take -2 ongoing to to their saves, and those with resistance or immunity to Fire damage do not need to make this save.

Frigid Water

A creature can be immersed in frigid water for a number of minutes equal to its POWER before suffering any ill effects. Each additional minute spent in frigid water requires the creature to make a POWER saving throw—on a miss, they gain one level of exhaustion, on a weak hit, they become weakened while they stay in the water.Creatures with resistance or immunity to Cold damage automatically succeed on the save, as do creatures that are naturally adapted to living in ice-cold water.

Heavy Precipitation

Everything within an area of heavy rain or heavy snowfall and beyond 30 feet from a creature is Concealed. Heavy rain also extinguishes open flames.

High Altitude

Traveling at altitudes of 10,000 feet or higher above sea level is taxing for most creatures because of the reduced amount of oxygen in the air. Because of this, travel speeds are reduced by half.

Creatures can become acclimated to a high altitude by spending 30 days or more at this elevation. Creatures can’t become acclimated to elevations above 20,000 feet unless they are native to such environments.

Slippery Ice

Slippery ice is Difficult Terrain. A creature that moves onto slippery ice for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there must make a CUNNING saving throw—on a miss, they become Prone, on a weak hit, they’re instead Slowed.

Strong Wind

Strong wind imposes Disadvantage on ranged attack rolls with weapons. It also extinguishes open flames and disperses fog. A flying creature in a strong wind must land at the end of its turn or fall.

A strong wind in a desert can create a sandstorm, everything beyond 15 feet of a creature is considered Concealed, and everything beyond 50 feet is considered Hidden.

Thin Ice

Thin ice has a weight tolerance of 3d10 Weight per 10-foot-square area. Whenever the total weight on an area of thin ice exceeds its tolerance, the ice in that area breaks. All creatures on broken ice fall through. Below the ice is frigid water.