Revisiting Pf2e Exploration Mode

Prompted by my Youtube recommended list, I have recently had another look over at the Pf2e exploration rules.

These rules are fairly free form but at the same time allow for PCs to show off their skills and shine. They also could have a impact in how you prepare your game as a GM if you choose to use them.

Today I wanted to go over two videos made by Best Laid Plans GM Prep. The first one is short and sweet and gives a good overview of his interpretation of the system. The second one is more GM facing and shows how he would go about preparing for a pre written scenario with exploration rules in mind.

Exploration Mode: The Connector

In Pf2e, exploration mode is used when characters are in a location where there is a possibility to enter encounter mode. That is they are in a dungeon or some other place where they might have interactions with other NPCs. The purpose of Exploration mode is to give players and GM some type of guidance for how to handle this “in between” state where there is no immediate danger but the players are not just laying around in town.

In the first video, we get a pretty good example of how exploration is normally handled in most games. It turns into a back and forth conversation between the GM and the players. The GM describes what the players see and the players describe what actions their characters take. The GM describes the outcomes and any changes and then the cycle begins anew.

This style of play is fine and fun. However, the reason I wanted to write about this is his description of how he uses exploration mode.

Near the end of the first video we get an example of how he resolves exploration mode. Instead of having a back and forth, the focus is more on narrating the group’s travel. He automatically gives the players information and allows them to overcome obstacles if they are skilled enough. The narration ends when the party is just about to get into the next encounter.

Narrating to the Next Encounter

The main difference between the regular exploration mode and the one presented in the video is that the video one focuses on the journey instead of the outcomes of actions. Players choose their exploration activity and that choice influences what they notice as they move as well as how they start the next encounter.

This style could speed up play. Instead of having a back and forth the GM can give a few sentences of what the Characters see based on their exploration activity. A few rolls might be made but for the most part the party gets to the next decision point or encounter very quickly.

This style could also help us reduce prep. One of the things about preparing for a session that takes up a good amount of time for me is stocking locations with interesting items or details. In general, the more players you have the more details you might want to put in all of your locations. This gives all your players something to interact with and makes the world come to life.

This location based prep is good and well. However, it can be cumbersome to create and track all the things and descriptions that a location has. The video shows us another way, it shows us Scene based prep. In a more scene based approach, the GM still gives the characters a description of the location but instead of listing out items and descriptions we focus on key information and interactions the characters might have at that time.

Location vs Scene Based Notes

For a location based prep style, a GM might have a room key that looks something like this:

The Atrium “Cobwebs hang from the ceiling and dust dances in the air of this long abandoned room”

• Dusty Chairs -> Wooden and grey from the thick layer of dust that has covered them. No signs of interaction
• Central Table -> orange papers that seem to be old letters. DC 15 Society -> addressed to the old owner and seem to detail that he is running behind on his payments.
• Large circular window overlooking the front yard -> Sun light is greatly dimmed due to how dirty this window is. DC 15 Perception -> there is faint hand print on the window that you can make out. Someone was watching you enter this place.

Door to north (rasping) and to East (quiet).

These are how my location keys usually look. I have the room name, a basic overall description, a list of details in the room and exits. If players say they approach one of them I have some more detail as well as some checks that they would make to get even more information about the object.

This is how most adventures display their information. However, for a gm that is making their own location it can be hard to come up with these details. While the GM could also reduce the number of details in a room, this comes at the cost of leaving most of their players stranded since their is only one or two things in the room for one or two players to interact with.

In a more scene based approach, you might have something more like this…

The Atrium “Cobwebs hang from the ceiling and dust dances in the air of this long abandoned room.”

• Investigation -> DC 15 Society -> letters on a table show that the owner was falling behind on their payments
• Scouting -> You hear faint rasping from the door to the north. The Door to the east is silent.
• Searching -> DC 15 Perception -> The large circular window has faint hand prints. Someone was watching you enter the building.

Door to north and East.

Here, I focused more on what players can get out of this room. Namely, the owner was behind on his payments and that someone was looking out the window at the group when they entered the building.

The information of what door to take is also given if the player was scouting. The group can then use this information to choose a door and change their actions or keep doing what they where doing.

Personally, I find it easier to come up with the second key than the first.

In the second video, Best Laid Prep goes over his approach for making these scene based keys.

Scenes as Encounters

For an even more minimal prep style, a GM might choose to look at an adventure as a list of encounters.

Professor Dungeon Master creates adventures this way. He recommends that a 3 hour session should have no more than 5 encounters. 2-3 of them being combat and the other being social or skill challenges. He puts particular focus on the opening and end scene.

Using exploration rules a GM could follow those same guidelines but with the added benefit of having a way to share some background information or other environmental information with the players.

Impact on Play

One thing that might make players bounce off of this approach is that the GM will likely be doing a good deal of narration before they get to have input. On one end, its faster but on the other some groups might miss that back and forth and bouncing around that is typical to exploration.

Some players might also not like how fast this approach is. The focus is very much on giving players information and not as much on fleshing out where they are or what they see. Groups and players that really want to flesh out the location might not like this.

Groups that might like this approach are those that like having defined mechanics and want to focus their play time on encounters instead of exploration. Game masters might also enjoy it since they can focus on key information instead of descriptions.

Exploration Activities and Their Benefits

One thing that might confuse GMs and players is what benefits and information they get per exploration activity. Ultimately, its up to GM discretion but here are some general pointers that I got from the second video as well as from the activity descriptions for activities that cover gathering information.

Investigation: Information about the backstory of the dungeon as well as current inhabitants. In the second video, he also gave a cool house rule of allowing a character taking this action to make a free recall knowledge check against a monster when they run into one.

Searching: Traps and secrets as well as information about any dangers the group might face.

Scouting: Information about where the next encounter might be located. Usually does not require a roll and also already gives a +1 circumstance bonus to initiative on the next encounter.

Detect Magic: Magical traps and items as well as creatures who might have magic.

Other activities don’t really cover gathering information, instead focusing on giving players some benefits when they enter combat or letting the group travel faster.

Conclusion

Pf2e’s exploration rules are freeform while also giving some structure to play. I certainly think they could be used to great effect in many tables. The impact they can have on prep is also interesting.

I remember doing a deep dive into these a while ago. However, it was good to look at these rules again. I admittedly don’t use these rules however, it might be time to change that.