Exploration Mode: Master Pathfinder 2E's Exploration Mode and Level Up Your Game!

A Deep Dive into Exploration Mode and examples in Pathfinder 2E! Exploration Mode is on page 479 of the Core Rulebook.
Foundry Modules:
PF2e Exploration Activities - www.foundryvtt-hub.com/packag...
PF2E Exploration Effects - www.foundryvtt-hub.com/packag...
00:00 - Introduction
00:39 - Travel Speed
02:18 - Exploration Activities
04:18 - Avoid Notice
05:06 - Defend
05:31 - Detect Magic
06:12 - Repeat A Spell
07:39 - Follow The Expert
08:56 - Hustle
09:29 - Investigate
11:03 - Scout
11:35 - Search
12:55 - Skill Based Exploration Activities
13:52 - Rest and Daily Preparations
16:02 - Tracking Exploration Activities
19:24 - Closing and Thanks!
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[@Bloodfencer1990]

I think the reason we all forget about Exploration Mode is because mos tof us are used to the more free-form exploration from other systems and editions. It's kinda hard getting into the routine of picking your activities and doing everything nice and orderly when everyone is used to just yelling at the GM what they want to do in complete chaos.

[@slystrategist]

Thanks for watching and the comment!
That's a good point and I agree. Even with all the reminders and modules I have in Foundry I still forget and these activities can be so beneficial!
Don

[@Bloodfencer1990]

@@slystrategist Especially with the Scouting activity having no skill requirements and giving a party-wide benefit to initiative is so strong. It's perfect for that one party member who doesn't know what else to do.

[@slystrategist]

@@Bloodfencer1990 Exactly and another great point!

[@MrBigODad]

I played PF1 for a long time and whent back to D&D during 5e. I have DM'd for 25 years and just switched to PF2 as I was growing stagnant with running 5e. I wanted a challenge, and I've always enjoyed Paizo adventure paths much more than Wizards. Exploration was one that I was still trying to grasp, but based on this video, a lightbulb lit up. I actually think dungeon crawl can now actually be faster. Thanks for making a great informative video. May you role nothing but critical success in life and at your gaming table.

[@slystrategist]

I really appreciate that and I am quite happy that I was able to give you a hand! Thanks for the wishes and I hope all your games go well!
Don

[@slystrategist]

Make sure that you are getting the most out of Exploration Mode in Pathfinder 2e! Discussing your options and some ideas on tracking the party's Exploration activities on the table and in Foundry.

[@tylerjohnfrederick]

Good vid

[@slystrategist]

Thanks for the comment and for watching, I appreciate it!
Don

[@Mirekluk]

The one thing that confuses me a lot is the fact it's a MODE.
For example, yes I understand why you'd want to have abstract downtime, and have it be it's own mode. But with exploration, it's way wider.
You could use it as narrative segments between encounters and time tracker, or you might find yourself in a dungeon where it's mostly working like "At the start of the encounter, what have you been doing" while not really affecting the way the dungeon is played out (compared to games without it).
My players don't like much dungeon crawls, so my interpretation might work, but it's suddenly slightly different approach from most TTRPG I've played. Travelling for example is either hand waved or meticulously homebrewed.
So yeah, I'd appreciate advice, because running it like D&D feels kinda wrong to me.

[@slystrategist]

That's a good observation! I can give you my opinion as Exploration Mode is a bit less defined than the other modes and hope that that helps but let me know if I got your request wrong.
Exploration mode is REALLY more free form. The book even says "While encounters use rounds for combat, exploration is more free form. The GM determines the flow of time..."
As far as travel, I have seen travel handwaved in total but I usually see distance as a variable in a time equation for time of day or dates. My example is more like "it takes you 2 days to get to Merciful Bay" or "it takes an hour to get to Gauntlight" and is more used to determine any random or planned encounters and Rest and setting up watch/encounters in the night.
For me, the Activities that the characters are doing help to determine the time that things would take and the level of importance (time vs activities) depends on what type of group travel they are doing
This is how I like to play it
- Long term Group Travel - overland it's main purpose is to determine time/date and rest schedules and the Exploration activities are used to determine the length of time travel would take and the PCs awareness or stance for rolling initiative on an encounter (or even needed to don armor/armor-less for sleeping characters).
- Short term Group Travel - for dungeon crawls and more active group movement (like hostile cities or encampments). The Activities (Hustle, Avoid Notice, Detect Magic, Defend, Scout, Search, etc.) is the most important element and time is secondary and calculated based on what activities the PCs are doing.
Don

[@Mirekluk]

@@slystrategist I'll let you know you do understand main gripe I have. The rest are details that make picture.
While I can get behind it being freeform, I think I can come up with 3 quite exclusive styles (string them as you want, but one doesn't suit other situation)
1) long distance travel that at least is broken into hours ( making it less "let's just get there" to "how do we get there"). Travel here is treated as adventure, not getting to it. Here I can see exploration mode excel.
Second would be hostile but big enough location (think ruined city, sewers etc) here I can see 1-10 minutes. Here it seems to also work quite well.
Third would be room by room exploration. Here, aside from activities themselves being useful, the rest doesn't fit with me. Too many breaks in scenes( no encounters, just pcs doing something NOW not continuesly.
And last thing that comes to mind : if you play in time increments, you can break it down so that any information that warrants change in exploring comes at end of segment, making it so the entire team adapts at once, so we're back to I do this for the segment. This doesn't work in last situation. Players advance too fast, react all the time in way smaller time frame. So how do you handle changing activities, or breaking exploration scene for PCs to do something. Is it well put?

[@slystrategist]

Hmmm... that's a good question too.
In your third scenario, I would generally try to prompt the players that they may want to adjust their tactics with narrative like:
"You feel an ominous mood come over the area, like something is waiting" might be to prompt to Scout or Avoid Notice
"As you listen at the door you hear a clank of metal and a hint of quiet movement" might be to prompt to switch to Defend or to draw their weapons
"As you walk into the corridor you see old bookcases and papers spilled on the floor, but you also notice dust motes in the air" to let them know that the area was recently disturbed and they might want to have a martial Defend while you high perception or Keen Eyes players Search as you move through the area.
My thought is that Exploration mode tactics are really built for your faster-paced third scenario and players don't use them enough... myself included because I forget their utility in the excitement of exploring.
Don

[@Mirekluk]

@@slystrategist that's what I meant when I said that situation changes between segment's. It's just that there is lot more encounter mode timeframe stuff to do in dungeon, so even one room might break a segment, because we usually don't think in those terms room = turn,/segment.

[@slystrategist]

@@Mirekluk Gotcha... yup, in a dungeon or other situation where there is going to be a series of encounters there is much more to keep track of!

[@xezzee]

The players are moving trough the forest on road walking. First one is Scouting, Second one is avoiding Notice and third one is Searching as Exploration Activities.
Group of Goblins up ahead in trees are laying in ambush waiting for players to walk under them to get the drop on them as Hidden Exploration Activity.
Now how would this encounter go?

[@slystrategist]

Thanks for the comment!
Well, I guess it would depend on whether it's a standing ambush (bandits on a pinch point waylaying travelers) or an ambush because the Goblins know the players are coming... more so you can determine the correct DC adjustment if you choose to do so.
When two groups encounter each other and one side is hidden, you roll stealth vs. perception DC to see who can see whom (on the party side in your example the only one that would also get this check is the one that was avoiding notice). You also use this same roll for initiative for those who are trying to use stealth to hide so you are only rolling one time per character/creature.
First, the party would be traveling at half speed. The player that said they were using Search as their Exploration Activity may spot any hazards the goblins set. The player that said they were using Scouting as their Exploration Activity would grant their party +1 to initiative rolls (Whether using Perception or Stealth). The only tricky one would be the player that said they were using Avoiding Notice could roll a Stealth check instead of a Perception check both to determine their initiative and to see if the goblins notice them.
So two things although it's still one roll:
- The goblins would use their stealth roll vs. the party's perception DC (not the perception roll for initiative). If a goblin wins initiative and beats a Party members perception DC, he is hidden to that character and the PC would be off-guard to him. The PC could then use a Seek action on their turn to try and find that hidden goblin.
- If a goblin wins initiative but fails to be beat a PC's perception DC, the goblin goes first but isn't hidden to that character and the same for the player that was avoiding notice
Aside from that it's just a normal roll for initiative: the Goblin's Stealth versus the Party's Perception... except the one that was avoiding notice which would be stealth and would get a check against the goblin's perception DC. The Party would still get the +1 for scouting.
I will say the the GM Core (and the Gamemastery guide says the same although that version is more geared toward rest and the new GM Core omits that language) state:
"Surprise Attacks
Surprise attacks should be used sparingly, even in
dangerous areas. The fact that PCs are usually in a group
scares away most animals, and setting a watch can deter
even more attackers. Surprise attacks are most likely if
the PCs did something in advance that would lead to
the ambush. For instance, they might be ambushed by
bandits if they were flaunting their wealth or showing
off expensive items earlier in the session, or they might
be counterattacked by enemies if they attack the enemies
first, only to retreat to rest."
Don

[@xezzee]

@@slystrategist and what if the onenperson specifies they are searching for Hidde Creatures?
If you say they can't search for hidden creatures you only force the whole game to be ran in encounter mode so they can seek for creatures instead of Objects. Thus should he not have Perception roll against Goblin's Stealth DC?
The idea that if you don't see ambus you start combatbunder the goboins but if uou see the goblins you start 100ft before walkingnunder the Goblins? The other benefit also is if uou roll random encounter and Merchant is hiding close by the player who seeks creatures might find them instead of the merchant suceeding the roll and staying hidden to never be found.
The topic of Searching for hidden Creaturse as Exploraton Activity is never talked. No one explains how it would work and effect the game. Like do you need to choose to sesrch for Objects or Creatures?
And again, if you say "you can't seek hidden enemies as exploration activity" we will be playing 100% Encounter mode just to travel between two towns so I can seek every other action while Rogue sneaks and at that point the thirdnplaying who was scojtingnwoild also roll Seek instead of keeping watch 😆 so it has to be allowed or we run in to big problem that DM has to say No you can't do what you can do.

[@slystrategist]

@xezzee I wouldn't say that you can't run the game how you would like to ever or attempt to force anything... Play the game how you would like to and how it is fun for you !
Different GMs run Exploration mode different ways and you can see that in some of there threads:
www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/uidorf/about_search_exploration_activity_and_creatures/
www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/13hp8na/searching_for_enemies_in_exploration_mode/
paizo.com/threads/rzs437v6?Search-Avoid-Notice-Observant-Explorer
You can choose to allow creatures in the search activity if you would choose to even if it's not specifically written in the rules.
Don

[@scottlette]

I am still trying to get my head around ‘modes of play’ while trying to run Kingmaker. Getting there.

[@slystrategist]

Thanks for watching and the comment!
I haven't tried kingmaker yet but I have looked into it and the Kingdom Rules / Influence subsystem. Oof... there is a lot to it but it does look like fun!
Don

[@ScavengerKing]

I'm just so nonplussed on how to run this inside a dungeon. Do I need to keep track of how many feet are in my dungeon for travel speed? How do I prepare a dungeon for exploration mode? Is it like a pointcrawl, do I need to prepare a big map beforehand?

[@slystrategist]

Thanks for watching and for the comment!
Exploration mode is really more free form. So I can tell you how I run it and see it run but the book even says "While encounters use rounds for combat, exploration is more free form. The GM determines the flow of time..."
So for me for dungeon crawls and more active group movement (like hostile cities or encampments) the Exploration Activities (Hustle, Avoid Notice, Detect Magic, Defend, Scout, Search, etc.) is the most important element and time is secondary and calculated based on what activities the PCs are actively doing aside from those.
I don't consider time for distance being that important in a 80 foot hallway unless they are stopping to do something really active like repair, craft, heal, or Seek/Detect Magic/Read Aura with more precise accuracy. It does not take very long at all to move down a hallway even if you are being slow or cautious. For example if we are walking down a corridor in Abomination Vaults and the rogue stops to listen at the door... I don't really track that time but if they were inspecting for traps or doing a detect magic to see if there is anything magical on the other side of the door that would be 10 minutes (or whatever is appropriate for the defined action they are actively doing). If they managed to talk to a creature instead of a combat, that conversation might take 10 minutes of in-world clock time.
I hope this helps!
Don