Hexploration - 1 - Journey Rules

Wilderness Travel & Hexploration: My Take

Wilderness travel and hexploration—also known as hexcrawling—have been discussed for years, and honestly, I still haven’t found a single “best” system. I’m looking for a balance: something with a touch of realism, meaningful player involvement, and mechanics that support the story without dragging down gameplay once they're in place.

So, here’s Part 1 of the custom wilderness travel rules I use at my table, based on Pathfinder 2e. These rules draw from the core travel and exploration and survival1 and Survival2 mechanics, as well as Kingmaker’s hexploration system, with a few tweaks.

At my table, travel can go one of two ways:

• A quick, cinematic encounter, if we’re skipping ahead or focusing on character scenes.

• Or a gritty, detailed segment that turns the environment into a challenge of its own.

Players earn XP for the latter—when travel becomes something they must outwit, endure, or conquer.

Narrative Travel: The Cinematic Route

When the journey itself isn’t central to the story—when it doesn’t build tension, offer meaningful choices, or foreshadow future events—it’s perfectly fine to keep things simple. Just whirl your Time clock, trace that classic red line across the map from point A to B, and move on.

As the GM, you can still add flavor through description: the changing scenery, snippets of local color, or quick glimpses of the world in motion. Players can join in too, contributing small vignettes or travel moments that reinforce character or setting. It’s fast, cinematic, and totally valid.

But—if the journey is the adventure—if survival, discovery, or hardship are part of the stakes—then it’s time to dive into the rules below. This becomes a shared effort between GM and players, turning the wilderness into a living, breathing part of the story.

1. Player Roles in Travel

Introduction

• PC chooses a Role: During travel, each player character selects a specific role to perform for the group.

• Narrative Ownership: Players are encouraged to shape the story through their chosen roles, adding flavor and engagement.

• Role Cards: Each player receives a card detailing their role’s tasks and mechanics as easy reference.

The Roles

• Scout Scout (effects danger, seeing hidden tracks) and rolls for random encounters)

• Guide Sense Direction (effects travel time and navigation) and calculates the travel time

• Hunter-gatherer Subsist, Track, ration supplies and optional: prepare camp

• Tracker Track or Cover Tracks and optional: rolls for weather

• Extra members Follow the Expert, optional: prepare camp

Notes:

• If you force march you cannot perform the activities associated to the role.

• When you are Fatigued, you cannot perform exploration activities

• Most activities reduce the group's travel pace, allowing only half travel time while performing that activity.

• These roles are for general travel that will take the whole day.

2. Gameplay Player (Role) Responsibilities:

GM / Tracker / Extra Member

• At the start of travel day, roll on the Weather Table (See Weather Rules)

• Adjust travel conditions and hexploration activities accordingly (the Guide roll)

  
  

Guide

• Keep the group oriented using the stars, the position of the sun, traits of the geography or flora, or the behavior of fauna.

• Check Company Speed (see Speed Table) and actions received

  • Receive the weather and modify the actions

• Determine Terrain Type (see Terrain Table)

• Determine how long it will take to travel through a hex.

  
  

• Roll Survival to Sense Direction (required to avoid getting lost)

  • May use Nature or Society to Recall Knowledge about the region

  • If lost, repeat the check next day when continuing travel

    
    

• Narrate the day’s travel (GM may assist or take over near key locations)

Scout

• You scout ahead and behind the group to spot threats early.

• If GM asks rolls for Random Encounters

  • May occur during travel or at night while camping

    
    

• Narrate your scouting/ journey (GM may add some extra flavour or take over when arriving into a key location)

Tracker

• Assist the Guide in determining the route

• If trained and able, Predict Weather (requires the Predict Weather feat)

• Rolls either Track (follow signs) or Cover Tracks (hide your trail)

• Narrate the activity

Hunter-Gatherer

• You try to provide food and shelter for yourself, and possibly others as well, with a standard of living while travelling.

• Attempt to Subsist (find food during travel)

  • Apply a –5 penalty and provide no shelter, only food

  • If you have the Foraging feat, you can't fail/critically fail Subsist checks and can feed more people

  • For flavor, roll on a Foraging Table

• - Keep track of group supplies

• At day’s end, initiate the prepare camp Encounter

  
  

• Narrate your hunting/gathering and camping efforts

Other

• Support an ally by Assisting a skill check during travel (e.g., climbing, navigating hazards)

• Use the Follow the Expert action

• Alternatively, choose a personal exploration activity that fits the current journey

  
  

• Narrate what you’re doing and how it helps or connects to the group's progress

3. Calculate Travel Time

A. Number of actions received

Note on FORCED MARCH:

• If no one in the group is Fatigued, you can choose to start a Forced March at the start of a day.

• The group gains 1 additional action point at the start of each day to Travel.

• The number of days that you can march is equal to your Constitution modifier (min 1).

• You can choose to travel an additional day but then you become Fatigued and must pause a full day to recover.

The number of hexploration actions the party as a group can accomplish each day is based on the Speed of their slowest member. For example: A group moving at a Speed of 10 feet or less is so slow it can’t even traverse an open hex in a single day; it takes such a group 2 days for each hexploration action.

Note: A full day walking takes 8 hours, and this rate assumes the PCs are taking time to camp and rest at healthy intervals.

B. Number of Actions needed to travel

The following table shows how much travel will cost depending on terrain.

For example: In open terrain, like a plain, using 1 Travel actions (normal terrain), 2 Travel actions (difficult terrain such as a typical forest or desert) or 3 Travel actions (greater difficult terrain such as a steep mountain, deep jungle or typical swamp) allows you to move from one hex to an adjacent hex.

Notes:

• Wilderness road (road not a trail) uses a terrain type one step better than the surrounding terrain. For example, if you are traveling on a road over a mountain pass, the terrain is difficult terrain instead of greater difficult terrain.

• Settlement streets: Hexes containing a settlement reduce travel cost to 1 but only if Paved Streets were constructed (ask GM).

• Bridges: If PCs are travelling through a hex with a river and no bridge, Increase travel action cost by 1 (up to a max of 3) .

4. Non-Travel Activity: Reconnoiter Hex

Reconnoiter = explore

After having travelled a hex (and paid the action/ time cost), the party can spend extra time surveying the area—scouting terrain, spotting unusual features, and searching for points of interest. This is how you uncover hidden or noteworthy locations.

Once you have Reconnoitered

Some features are obvious and easy to find. For example:

• If you're looking for a prominent rock formation in the hills, spending 2 hexploration actions to Reconnoiter is enough to find it automatically.

• If you're seeking something hidden, like a monastery deep in the forest, you’ll still spend 2 actions to Reconnoiter, but must also succeed at a Perception check (or another appropriate skill) to discover it.

Important Notes

• Kingdom Rules: can later be performed as a Kingdom activity, even by others.

• Roads: Do not reduce the time required to Reconnoiter a hex.

• Once Reconnoitered:

  • Automatically discover any **obvious** features.

  • Attempt a Survival, Perception, or relevant Lore check to find hidden features.

• You may begin the Map the Area activity to reduce the chance of getting lost in this hex.