The 2024 edition of theDungeons & DragonsDungeon Master’s Guideprovides explicit rules about the particulars of exploration. Exploration is one of many topics that were (mostly) left to player imagination and DM discretion inprevious versions of theDMG. In the revised and expanded 2024 edition, however, many of these topics are better explained with specific rules to guide their implementation in aDnDcampaign, like crafting, bastions, and travel.
Exploration is by no means a new mechanic inDnD, butthe new rules around it aim to make it more immersive and realisticthan ever before. By providing DMs and players with a framework for fantasy travel in the “Running Exploration” section, the newDMGensures that travel between points of interest isn’t something to skip over or guess at - it’s an established process with risk and reward.
How Travel Terrain Works In The D&D 2024 Rules
Travel Terrain & Its Types, Explained
In order to simplify the rules of exploration,the types of terrain over which a party might travel have been divided into eleven different types in the 2024DMG. These types pretty comprehensively cover all the different biomes that players may roam through as they move from point A to point B: Arctic, Coastal, Desert, Forest, Grassland, Hill, Mountain, Swamp, Underdark, Urban, and Waterborne. It’s up to the DM to determine which category each piece of the map fits into, while the sourcebook provides more information to guide roleplaying in each.
Each terrain type is associated with five different stats that guide explorationthrough them. Those stats are Maximum Pace, Encounter Distance, and DCs (Difficulty Classes) for Foraging, Navigation, and Search.
DM’s Guide Travel Terrain Table Explained
All Terrain Types In The DMG
The following table listsall 11 terrain types and their various effects. For an in-depth explanation of how these effects work, see the section below.
Fast (with appropriate equipment)
6d6 × 10 ft
20
10
2d10 × 10 ft
5
15
2d8 × 10 ft
2d10 ×10 ft
4d10 × 10 ft
2d6 × 10 ft
Depends on vehicle
Note that the party requires certain equipment, like snowshoes, sleds, or skis, to travel at a Fast pace in an Arctic setting. In addition,the speed of a waterborne party depends on the speed of the boat they’re aboard, resources for which can be found in theDMG’s Vehicles section.
Maximum Pace, Encounter Distance, & DCs Explained
What Terrain Types Do
Each terrain type has an associated Maximum Pace, which determines how quickly characters can safely move through it. For example, a relatively flat bit of grassland has a maximum pace of “Fast,” while a mountain’s maximum pace is “Slow” due to the increased physical challenge provided by its slope. Paces determine how far a party can travel in a given amount of time, as seen by the table below.
200 ft
2 mi
18 mi
300 ft
3 mi
24 mi
400 ft
4 mi
30 mi
A well-maintained road always increases a terrain type’s Maximum Pace by one level (i.e., from Slow to Normal or Normal to Fast). Note that characters with abilities that allow them to ignore Difficult Terrain can move at a Fast pace anywhere.It’s also possible for characters to travel more than eight hours per day, potentially covering a greater distance. Doing so forces a Constitution saving throw from each character, in which the DC is ten plus the number of extra hours they traveled; if they fail, they gain one level of exhaustion.
However, just because the party can travel more quickly doesn’t mean they should;each pace may also incur a variety of different effects on their skill checks. While going at a Fast pace, players have disadvantage on Perception, Survival, and Stealth checks. At a Normal pace, they only have disadvantage on Wisdom, while at a Slow pace, they gain advantage on Stealth.
Next is a stat calledEncounter Distance, which affects how close different people or parties need to be before they can see each other. Encounter Distance isn’t fixed, and depends on a dice roll as described in the table above. However, there’s potential for much higher Encounter Distances in flat areas with high visibility, like Grasslands, than in thick, dark woods. This theoretically allows DMs to create an immersive, dynamic map in which enemies move around much as players do, with the ever-present risk of confrontation when the two pass within Encounter Distance range.
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Finally,each terrain is associated with a particular Foraging, Navigation, and Search DC. InDnDparlance, DC stands for Difficulty Class, and refers to the number that a player must surpass when they roll a skill check or saving throw and add modifiers. In general, the higher a DC, the harder the task. As far as exploration is concerned, the Foraging, Navigation and Search DCs each represent the perceived difficulty of the associated activity, based on the material conditions of the terrain in which the player is performing them.
Foraging and Navigation require Survival checks, while Search requires a Perception check. If players can use other creatures' tracks as a method of searching, they may roll a Survival check instead.
For example,Arctic areas have a Foraging DC of 20. As they’re devoid of most forms of plant life, players will have a much harder time finding sustenance there compared to, say, a lush, green Forest, which has a Foraging DC of 10. A Coastal area has a Navigation DC of just 5, since wayfinding is relatively easy with a large body of water as a reference point, while a winding Mountain pass has a Navigation DC of 15. Barren Deserts have a low Search DC at 10, while the dark, labyrinthine passages of an Underdark warren are much tougher at 20.
TheDungeon Master’s Guideprovides a handy-dandy Travel Planner that allows DMs to plot out longer stretches of travel, potentially through multiple different types of terrain with different challenges. It also offers some suggestions about weather events, random encounters, and how to narrate exploration. With all that in hand, players and DMs alike have everything they need to start enjoying the more immersive travel mechanics inDungeons & Dragons' latest sourcebooks.
Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons is a popular tabletop game originally invented in 1974 by Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson. The fantasy role-playing game brings together players for a campaign with various components, including abilities, races, character classes, monsters, and treasures. The game has drastically expanded since the ’70s, with numerous updated box sets and expansions.
