Exploration Activities

Be generous with what you allow your players to discover information on, but don't go in depth with this information. If a character learns everything they need to know off the infosphere, they won't bother interacting with the rest of the setting! It's best to use Access Infosphere to give general information, guidance, and clues to your players and to direct them to other NPCs and locations relevant to the adventure—this makes Access Infosphere a useful tool for everyone.

A character can't retry a check to Access Infosphere, but they can perform a follow-up search based on newly discovered information. If a player is slowing down the game with their incessant searches, tell that player they've found all they're capable of discovering from the infosphere for now, and consider decreasing the amount of information you provide in the future.

This activity doesn't enable characters to automatically find every single magical aura or object during travel. Hazards that require a minimum proficiency can't be found with detect magic, nor can illusions of equal or higher rank than the spell.

When characters find something magical using this activity, let them know and give them the option to stop and explore further or continue on. Stopping brings you into a more roleplay-heavy scene in which players can search through an area, assess different items, or otherwise try to figure out the source of the magic and what it does. Continuing on might cause the group to miss out on beneficial magic items or trigger a magic trap.

Follow the Expert is a truly versatile activity that lets a PC who's lacking at a skill or exploration activity have a better chance to succeed. It provides a good way to help a character with a low Stealth modifier sneak around, to get a character with poor Athletics up a steep cliff, and so on. Usually, a character who's Following the Expert can't perform other exploration activities or follow more than one person at a time.

It's important that this doesn't become too rote. Let the players decide how one of them is helping the other. The description can give you more to work with and add flavor to the exploration beyond just the mechanics. Also, if one PC helps another in the same way over and over, that could be a sign of character growth. If the envoy has helped the soldier Avoid Notice over and over, the soldier is essentially receiving training in Stealth at that point and might want to consider taking or retraining a skill increase to make that true. Connections like these can breathe life into the characters and their relationships, and it can help promote camaraderie and interactions between characters.

As with Detecting Magic, the initial result of Investigating is usually enough to give the investigator a clue that leads to a more thorough examination, but it rarely gives all possible information. For instance, a character might note that the walls of a bedroom are covered with occult symbols, but they would need to stop to read the text or even determine that it's written in blood.

With a successful Perception check while Searching, a character notices the presence or absence of something unusual in the area, but this doesn't provide a comprehensive catalog of everything there. Instead, it gives a jumping-off point for closer inspection or an encounter. For instance, if an area has both a DC 30 secret door and a DC 25 trap, and a Searching character got a 28 on their Perception check, you would tell the player that their character noticed a trap in the area, and you'd give a rough idea of the trap's location and nature. The party needs to examine the area more closely to learn specifics about the trap, and someone would need to Search again to get another chance to find the secret door.

If an area contains many objects or something that will take a while to search (such as a computer full of files), Searching would reveal the computer, but the PCs would have to examine it more thoroughly to check the files.

You roll a secret Perception check for a Searching character to detect any secrets they pass that are hidden in a place that stands out (such as near a door or a turn in a corridor), but not one in a more inconspicuous place (like a random point in a hallway) unless they're searching particularly slowly and meticulously.

The rules for Searching deliberately avoid giving intricate detail on how long a search takes. That's left in your hands because the circumstances of a search can vary widely. If the group isn't in any danger and has time for a very thorough search, that's a good time to allow them to automatically succeed, rather than bothering to roll, or you might have them roll to see how long it takes before they find what they're looking for, ultimately finding it eventually no matter the result. Conversely, if they stop for a thorough search in a dangerous location, their efforts might draw unwanted attention!

PCs might get to attempt another check if their initial search fails. It's best to tie this to taking a different tactic. Just saying “I search it again” isn't enough, but if a PC tries a different method or has other tools at their disposal, it could work. Be generous with what you allow, as long as the player puts thought into it! If you know a search isn't going to turn up anything useful, make that clear early so the group doesn't waste too much time on it. If they're determined to keep going—which they often are—you might have them find something useful but minor in the search.

The list of exploration activities isn't exhaustive. More appear in special subsystems and adventures, and you'll often need to create your own. When making your own, it's usually fine to just consider whether the effort required is comparable to theother exploration activities and go from there. If you're having trouble, find a comparable activity. For example, if the PCs are Swimming as they explore, consider that travel speeds are based on the equivalent of 1 action per 6 seconds, and that other exploration activities the PCs can keep up without getting tired are generally based on alternating between 2 actions per 12 seconds, averaging to 1 action per 6 seconds. (Defend, for example, is based on using 1 action to Stride then 1 to Raise your Shield, which is why the PC moves at half Speed.) Hustle is a good example of an activity that can't be done indefinitely, so you can use it as a model for strenuous activities where the PCs are using the equivalent of 2 actions every 6 seconds.

When improvising an exploration activity, consider some advantages and disadvantages of that activity to inspire you. What else might the PC be neglecting while doing this activity? How does it interplay with activities that the rest of the party uses? If the new activity seems like it's a better option than other activities all or nearly all the time, chances are you might want to adjust it so it's more balanced.