time
in a dungeon environment, the adventurers' movement happens on a scale of minutes, in a city or wilderness, a scale of hours is often more appropriate, for long journeys, a scale of days works best, in combat and other fast-paced situations, the game relies on rounds, a 6-second span of time described in combat
movement
special types of movement
movement through dangerous dungeons or wilderness areas often involves more than simply walking, adventurers might have to climb, crawl, swim, jump, or even fly, to get where they need to go
speed
every creature has a speed, which is the distance in feet that the creature can walk in 1 round, this number assumes short bursts of energetic movement in the midst of a life-threatening situation, the following rules determine how far a character or monster can move in a minute, an hour, or a day
travel pace
while traveling, a group of adventurers can move at a normal, fast, or slow pace, fast is twice as fast as normal and slow is half as fast as normal, at normal pace a character travels 10 times its speed in feet ever minute, it travels its speed divided by 10 in miles per hour or its speed in miles per day assuming a 10 hour day
forced march for every hour of travel at a fast pace, two hours at a normal pace or four hours at a slow pace, each character must make a constitution saving throw, the DC is 10 + 1 for each previous saving throw, on a failed saving throw, a character suffers one level of exhaustion
mounts and vehicles if fresh mounts are available characters can cover larger distances at a fast pace, but this is very rare except in densely populated areas, creatures in wagons, carriages, or other land vehicles choose a pace as normal, creatures in a waterborne or airborne vessel are limited to the speed of the vessel and they don't suffer penalties for a fast pace or gain benefits from a slow pace (depending on the vessel and the size of the crew, ships might be able to travel for up to 24 hours per day)
difficult terrain the travel speeds assume relatively simple terrain: roads, open trails, or clear dungeon corridors, but adventurers often face dense forests, deep swamps, rubble-filled ruins, steep mountains, and ice-covered ground — all considered difficult terrain, you move at half speed in difficult terrain — moving 1 foot in difficult terrain costs 2 feet of speed — so you can cover only half the normal distance in a minute, an hour, or a day., hilly or mountainous terrain is even worse because you are traveling even farther because of the incline that is not shown on a flat map
activity while traveling
as adventurers travel through a dungeon or the wilderness, they need to remain alert for danger, and some characters might perform other tasks to help the group’s journey
marching order
the adventurers should establish a marching order, a character might occupy the front rank, one or more middle ranks, or the back rank, characters in any rank need enough room to travel side by side with others in their rank, when space is too tight, the marching order must change, usually by moving characters to a middle rank
fewer than three ranks
if an adventuring party arranges its marching order with only two ranks, they are a front rank and a back rank, if there’s only one rank, it’s considered a front rank
splitting up the party
sometimes, it makes sense to split an adventuring party, especially if you want one or more characters to scout ahead. You can form multiple parties, each moving at a different speed. Each group has its own front, middle, and back ranks
encountering creatures
if the dm determines that the adventurers encounter other creatures while they’re traveling, it’s up to both groups to decide what happens next, either group might decide to attack, initiate a conversation, run away, or wait to see what the other group does
surprising foes
if the adventurers encounter a hostile creature or group, the dm determines whether the adventurers or their foes might be surprised when combat erupts
noticing threats, passive
use the passive wisdom (perception) scores of the characters to determine whether anyone in the group notices a hidden threat, the dm might decide that a threat can be noticed only by characters in a particular rank, creatures moving at half pace gain advantage on this check while creatures moving at double have disadvantage
stealth
the characters can move stealthily, as long as they’re not in the open, they can try to surprise or sneak by other creatures they encounter, when moving at a normal pace characters have disadvantage on their dexterity (stealth) checks, stealth cannot be used at a fast pace
activities
creatures can pick one of the following
navigate
the character can try to prevent the group from becoming lost, making a wisdom (survival) check when the dm calls for it, if there is more than one character in the group pick one character to roll and have another help giving it advantage
noticing threats, active
a creature actively trying to notice threats can roll it wisdom (perception) if its passive wisdom(perception) fails to notice a hidden threat, the dm might decide that a threat can be noticed only by characters in a particular rank, creatures moving at half pace gain advantage on this check while creatures moving at double have disadvantage
draw a map
the creature can draw a map that records the group’s progress and helps the characters get back on course if they get lost, no ability check is required unless someone else needs to read the map but cartography tools are required
track
a creature can follow the tracks of another creature, making a wisdom (survival) check when the dm calls for it
forage
the character can keep an eye out for ready sources of food and water, making a wisdom (survival) check when the dm calls for it