Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide


Chapter 1: Running the Game / Running Exploration

Fleshing out Exploration

Source GM Core pg. 38
The more narrative pace of exploration mode means that you, as the GM, have a lot of freedom to emphasize important parts of the adventure to your players through evocative language and dramatic timing.

Evocative Environments

Source GM Core pg. 38
As the PCs explore, convey their surroundings by appealing to the players' senses. This sets the scene, gives them a better sense of their environment, and can be used to foreshadow what they might find ahead. When determining which details to cover, think about what's familiar versus novel. A new dungeon might have similar architecture to previous ones but feature ancient structures that set it apart. You can use the PCs' familiarity as a tool to single out what's new. When preparing for a game, imagine yourself in the environment and jot down a few notes about what you would sense. Conveying these details keeps the players on the same page about what they sense, even if each character responds to it differently.

Keep in mind that the more you explain something, the more important it seems. This is valuable for you to drive interest, but can also be a mixed blessing, since describing something inconsequential to set the mood can lead players off on a tangent. Sometimes, the best solution is to find a way to make that unimportant thing as important as the players think it is!

Flow of Time

Source GM Core pg. 38
Exploration mode is rarely measured down to the second or minute. If someone asks how long something takes, the nearest 10-minute increment typically does the job. (For long voyages or similar activities, the nearest hour might be more appropriate.) You convey the passage of time through your descriptions, but not just by addressing it outright. In a roleplaying game, information and time are linked. Time will seem to slow down the more detail you give. Think cinematically! A long voyage through a series of tunnels works well as a montage, whereas progress searching a statue for traps could be relayed as a series of distressing details in quick succession and would feel more tense due to that precision.

With that in mind, when is it best to speed up or slow down the passage of game time? Usually, you'll slow down and give more description when you're establishing something or progressing the story. When the PCs enter a dungeon or a new area, describe how it feels, slowing down to give the players a sense of what's ahead. When a PC stops to do something important or makes a key decision, slowing down gives that moment its desired weight. You can also adjust the flow of time to reflect PCs' mental states. As a PC returns home after decades away, you might pause to ask the player what their PC is feeling, matching time to the rush of memories and emotions filling that PC's thoughts.