It is rarely straightforward outside city walls. Many adventurers have lost their way in dark forests. Many more have died from lack of food, or water, or protection from bandits and monsters—the world is not forgiving to the unprepared traveler. This section introduces the journey phase to make travel a more integral part of the adventure.
If you wish to make a journey, there are some basic steps to follow: plan your route and gather supplies, travel the distance and arrive at your destination.
The first step in making a journey is planning — you need to decide where you’re going, how you’re getting there and gather any supplies, vehicles and equipment needed for the journey.
A character needs one pound of food per day and can go without food for a number of days equal to 3 + Constitution modifier (min 1). At the end of each day beyond that limit, a character automatically suffers one level of exhaustion. A normal day of eating resets the count of days without food to zero.
Unless a character drinks a half gallon of water per day, or one gallons if the weather is hot (a waterskin holds a half gallon of liquid), he must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion at the end of the day. A character drinking less than half that, automatically suffers one level of exhaustion at the end of the day. If the character already has one or more levels of exhaustion, the character takes two levels in either case.
Each travel day is broken up into distinct phases — breaking camp, travel, setting camp and rest.
Sunlight crests the horizon. It’s time to wake up, eat some breakfast to prepare for the day ahead, and pack up camp.
Check the weather: The weather can have a drastic impact on your travel plans, especially if you’re not prepared. You may want to avoid travel completely during heavy rains, storms, and snows.
Assign roles: Decide who is going to be today’s guide, forager and lookout. A character can only assume one role at a time.
Set pace: Decide what pace you’ll be travelling at today — slow, medium, or fast. A slower pace makes it easier to succeed at your roles, but also means that the journey takes longer to complete.
Pack up camp: Put out any cooking fires, strap on your gear, and pack up your camp.
While traveling, a group can move at a normal, fast or slow pace, as shown on the Travelling Pace table. The table states how far the party can move in a period of time and the impact a pace has to a role. A fast pace makes characters less perceptive, while a slow pace makes it possible to sneak around and to search an area more carefully.
The average character has a walking speed of about 2 miles per hour, and can travel comfortably around 16 miles per day. This takes into account the many rest breaks, pauses, and distractions a character will need during the day — especially those that carry heavy gear and armor. Walking long-distance is surprisingly hard work, and a long march in full plate armor is a sure way to strain muscles and hurt yourself.
The Travelling Pace table assumes that characters travel for 8 hours in day. For each additional hour of travel beyond 8 hours, the characters cover the distance shown in the hour column for their pace, and must make a Constitution saving throw at the end of the hour. The DC is 10 + 1 for each hour past 8 hours. On a failed saving throw, a character suffers one level of exhaustion
The average horse walks at much the same pace as a character. While they can gallop much faster, they can only do so on flat ground for very short periods — horses overheat very quickly.
Characters in wagons, carriages, or other land vehicles choose a pace as normal. Characters in a waterborne vessel are limited to the speed of the vessel, but don’t suffer penalties for a fast pace or gain benefits from a slow pace.
| Pace | Hour | Day | Guide | Forage | Lookout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slow | 1.5 miles | 12 miles | Adv. | Normal | Adv. |
| Medium | 2 miles | 16 miles | Normal | Disadv. | Normal |
| Fast | 3 miles | 24 miles | Disadv. | None | Disadv. |
| Pace | Hide Tracks | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Slow | Adv. | Able to use stealth |
| Medium | Normal | — |
| Fast | Disadv. | -5 penalty to Perception |
The sun sinks beneath the horizon and the sky darkens. It’s time to set up camp for the night, eat and reflect on today’s travel.
Guide: The guide makes a guidance check to see if you managed to stay on the right path.
Forage: The forager makes a foraging check to see if they gathered any food or water supplies throughout the day’s travel.
Make camp: Take off your gear and set up camp.
The night is dark and full of terrors, an unwelcoming to travelers. Travel is very difficult and it’s easy to get lost, so get some sleep and recover your energy for tomorrow. See Rest Activities in the adventuring chapter to what activities you can perform during the long rest.
There are three main responsibilities when travelling: guide, forager and lookout. A person can only lead or assist one role per day, and any role not taken will automatically fail any related rolls.
A role can have only one leader, but any number of helpers. The leader makes the roll, the first helper grants advantage, and subsequent helpers grant a +1 bonus.
The guide makes sure everyone is heading in the right direction and avoids obstacles. If the guide fails, the journey will take longer.
When setting camp the guide rolls an Intelligence check using the DCs on the Guidance table. Cartography tools and the Survival skill will help you be a better guide.
Success: The party is on track. Subtract today’s progress from the remaining travel time.
Failure: You veered off course or had to take a detour around an obstacle. Subtract half of the normal progress from the remaining travel time.
Failure by more than 5 : No progress today. You either got lost or had to take a long way around.
| DC | Terrain |
|---|---|
| 5 | Wide open plains; Clear landmarks; Obvious pathway. |
| 10 | Tall landmarks; Small hills. |
| 15 | Light rain or mist; Woods and hills. |
| 20 | Moonlight night; Heavy rain or mist; Forest with no clear pathway or markings. |
| 25 | Fog; Thick and obscure forest; Mountains. |
| 30 | Clouded night; Impossibly thick fog; A shifting maze; Magically treacherous terrain. |
The forager finds food and water for the travelling party. If the forager fails, you can run out of essential supplies long before the journey reaches its destination — so make sure to pack plentiful supplies before you embark if you don’t have a skilled forager.
Roll an Wisdom check using the DCs on the Foraging table at the end of the day to see how much food and water you were able to hunt throughout the day. Hunting equipment and the Survival skill will help you forage.
Success: You recover 2d4 rations worth of food and water you can divide this however you like.
Failure: You were unable to find anything.
Instead of foraging for food, a character can forage for herbs. See the section for Herbalism for details.
| DC | Terrain |
|---|---|
| 5 | Lush and verdant forest; Food and water are everywhere. |
| 10 | Forest; Coast; Abundant food and clean water. |
| 15 | Thin woodland and greenwood. Food must be actively hunted and water is harder to find. |
| 20 | Dry, open plains; Very little food or clean water. |
| 25 | Desert and barren or polluted land; Food is extremely rare and water may need treatment. |
| 30 | Toxic or corrupted deadlands; Food is inedible and water sources are poisoned. |
The lookout ranges ahead during the day’s travel and keeps an eye out for dangers. If the lookout fails, you may be ambushed by enemies and other hazards.
If you are the lookout, you’re responsible for making any perception checks during the day to spot incoming risks and dangers.
Success: You noticed the threat and were able to warn the party in time. You have a chance to avoid the threat entirely, or encounter it at your own pace.
Failure: You failed to spot the danger in time and the party are surprised.