Chapter IV: Exploration

The Pen & Dagger RPG    Directors & Mythmakers Guide      Chapter IV: Exploration

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.

— T. S. Eliot.

With a story staged and challenges poised, the heroes are ready to venture into the world. Exploration is the journey to Rivendale in Lord of the Rings, the descent under the fireplace grate in The Goonies, and the plane crash in The Edge. It is the glue of the game.
Most of the mechanics for exploration are provided in Chapter VII of the PHB under Exploration and most gameplay is covered by skill challenges. However, two specific dangers of exploration are covered here: Afflictions and Traps.

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Afflictions
Traps

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Afflictions

Poisons, diseases, curses, and other debilitating effects can be a chilling tool in your story's arsenal. Whether delivered by a drink, a trapped lock, or a rat bite, afflictions can have rapid or long-term effects on heroes.

AFFLICTION CATEGORIES

There are three main categories of afflictions. Curses, diseases, and poisons.
Curses are arcane or divine hexes that prevent their victim from taking certain actions or punish them for doing so. Curses are often afflicted through magic or exposure to another cursed creature. Their impacts can vary widely, and they can grow worse in strange intervals, such as by moon phase, after forbidden actions are taken, or when random events occur.
Diseases are slow-acting afflictions that are often contagious. They are traditionally delivered by contact, injection, or inhalation. Diseases may affect a creature without them being aware and can grow worse over days or weeks.
Unlike other afflictions, diseases aren't subject to successive applications.
Poisons are toxins which, when introduced into a creature's body, damage or kill it. Contact, injected and inhaled poisons usually apply their effects immediately, while imbibed poisons may take effect slowly. Most poisons must be remedied quickly to prevent their worst effects.

RESISTANCE SUCCESS LEVELS

Resisting or failing to resist an affliction results in varying effects.
Critical Failure: The affliction progresses two severities, even exceeding its severity.
Failure: The affliction progresses to its next severity.
Limited Success: The affliction progresses to the next severity but cannot progress on the next interval.
Normal Success: The affliction does not progress.
Major Success: The affliction regresses one severity.
Critical Success: The affliction regresses one severity and cannot progress on the next interval.
Critical Success with a roll of 20: The affliction is cured.

SUCCESSIVE APPLICATIONS

Afflictions other than diseases grow worse with successive applications. If a creature is subjected to another instance of an affliction they are already under and fails to resist it, instead of taking the initial effect, they take the next severity effect. With successive applications, an affliction can exceed its maximum severity level as an excess of the effect is introduced to the target.
In example, a dire centipede might inflict necrotic II poison with its bite. A bitten creature already under the effect of necrotic poison that fails to resist suffers the next severity of necrotic poisoning. If it was afflicted by the initial effect only, the second bite would deal the secondary effect. If under the secondary effect, the third bite would inflict the tertiary necrotic effect.
The static traits of all afflictions are listed in the Afflictions Table. In addition, several traits vary by affliction.
Resisted By

Resisted By

Each affliction targets a specific ability score. A successful ability attempt is required to resist the affliction itself and/or its effects.

Initial Effect & Severity

Initial Effect & Severety (I,II,III,IV,V)

Not all instances of afflictions are as potent as others. The extent of damage an affliction can cause is limited by its severity. Severity V represents the deadliest possible affliction of its type while Severity I is the weakest possible.

For example, a swarm of tiny centipedes may deliver Paralyzing I poison when they hit, only inflicting the Initial Effect of a -1 rank penalty on defenses. A large scorpion, on the other hand, might deliver Enfeebling III poison with its sting, and victims may suffer everything between its initial -1 rank penalty on attacks and its tertiary effect of being weakened.
Severity effects are cumulative, but a hero gets to attempt to resist each level at the affliction's interval.
Unless an affliction specifies otherwise, its Severity V effect is permanent, even if the affliction is removed.

Onset

Onset

An affliction's onset is the time it takes for its initial effect to occur. Curses and most poisons deliver their initial effect instantly. Diseases and imbibed poisons usually deliver their initial effect after some time has passed.

For afflictions with onset periods other than immediate, a hero may not know they've been affected. In such cases, you roll their attempts to resist to keep them unaware of their peril.

Interval

Interval

An affliction's interval is the time that elapses between its onset and each subsequent stage of its severity.

In example, a carrion crawler's tentacles immediately deliver paralyzing IV poison with an interval of 1 round. A hero struck by a carrion crawler's tentacles must succeed on a Dexterity attempt or suffer a -1 rank penalty on defenses. On the start of their turn, they must resist again or suffer being slowed. If they fail to resist and are still poisoned at the start of their next turn, they must resist again or be immobilized. If they fail to resist and are still poisoned at the start of their next turn, they must resist again or be paralyzed.
Most afflictions have an interval of a round, minute, hour, or day. Afflictions with an interval of instantaneous have all their effects occur at once. A medusa’s stare, for example, requires a series of Dexterity attempts to made until the victim resists or is petrified.
Afflictions with an interval in hit points affect creatures whose hit points are equal to or below the interval multiplied by the severity, with each effect occurring in reverse order as a creature's hit points drop below the interval. A creature that has its hit point reduced below an interval must immediately resist or suffer the next severity of effect. Likewise, a creature whose hit points rise out of an interval is no longer subject to the previous severity.
For example, An-Tami has 46 hit points and encounters a dragon with a Terrifying III aura with an interval of 15 hit points. Because her hit points exceed 45 (15 x 3), she is not subject to its aura. However, when she is struck by a claw for 10 damage, she must immediately resist or suffer the aura's initial effect (-1 rank on attempts). She fails to resist and is hit again, her hit points dropping to 26, and she must resist again or suffer the Terrifying II effect (fleeing). She fails and flees and is hit for 12 damage. With her hit points reduced to below 15, she must resist the Terrifying III effect (immobilization). Again she fails. Then she is healed to 46 hit points and all the Terrifying effects end, for now.

Duration

Duration

An affliction's duration defines how long its effects last. Most quinary effects are permanent, regardless of duration.

Method

Method

An affliction's method defines how it is acquired.

Contact afflictions are acquired when a creature touches them, such as brushing fingers over belladonna leaf.
Hearing afflictions are acquired when heard, such as when hearing a banshee's scream.
Ingestion afflictions are acquired when imbibed or eaten, such as drinking iocaine powder.
Inhalation afflictions are acquired when inhaled, such as breathing in ungol dust.
Injection afflictions are acquired when they pierce a creatures flesh, such as through a bite from a snake or a cut from a dagger.
Sight afflictions occur when seen, such as locking eyes with a medusa or looking upon the hideousness of a sea hag.

Afflictions

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___Affliction___	Resisted_By	Initial Effect (I)	Secondary (II)	Tertiary (III)	Quarternary (IV)	Quinary(V)
Enfeebling	Strength	-1 rank on attacks	Fatigued	Weakened	Suffocating	Suffocation
Paralyzing	Dexterity	-1 rank on defenses	Slowed	Immobilized	Paralyzed	Heart Stoppage
Necrotic	Constitution	Lose HP = Level	Lose ¼ Max HP	Lose ¼ Max HP	Lose ¼ Max HP	Lose ¼ Max HP
Blinding	Intelligence	Cannot gain Advantage	-1 rank on attempts	Blinded	Unconsciousness	Braindead
Dementing	Wisdom	Cannot Attack in Concert	Cannot have allies	Confused	Helplessness	Insanity
Depersonalizing	Charisma	Critical Failure Initiative	Unreliable attacks	Unreliable defenses	Unconsciousness	Personality Loss
Petrifying	Dexterity	Slowed	Dazed	Immobilized	Stunned	Petrified
Lycanthropic	Constitution	Enrage on wound	Enrage	Polymorph	Memory Loss	Mindlessness
Zombifying	Intelligence	-1 rank on Int Attempts	Slowed	Unreliable defenses	Confused	Zombie
Terrifying	Wisdom	-1 rank on attempts	Use move to flee	Immobilized	Helplessness	Heart Stoppage
Possessing	Charisma	Dazed	Stunned	Dominated Attack	Dominated Turn	Possessed

Example Afflictions

Blinding

Blinding afflictions paralyze the cognitive capacities of the mind, eventually leading to blindness and brain death.

Id Moss	Blinding Poison II	Onset 10 min
Interval 1 min	Duration 1 hour	Method Ingestion

Blinding Sickness	Blinding Disease III	Onset 1 day
Interval 1 day	Duration Permanent	Method Ingestion

Gibbering Mouther Spittle	Blinding Poison III	Onset Immediate
Interval Immediate	Duration 1d4 rounds	Method Contact

Dementing

Dementing afflictions disrupt the brain's ability to behave rationally, eventually leading to unstoppable cackling and permanent insanity.

Toadstool Poison	Dementing Poison I	Onset 10 min
Interval 1 min	Duration 1 hour	Method Contact

Cackle Fever	Dementing Disease II	Onset 1 day
Interval 1 day	Duration Permanent	Method Inhalation

Umber Hulk Gaze	Dementing Curse III	Onset Immediate
Interval Immediate	Duration 1 min	Method Sight

Depersonalizing

Depersonalizing afflictions strip a victim of their personality, washing away all traces of self.

Ungol Dust	Depersonalizing Poison III	Onset 1 round
Interval 1 round	Duration 1 min	Method Inhalation

Mad Clap	Depersonalizing Disease II	Onset 1 day
Interval 1 day	Duration Permanent	Method Inhalation

Sea Hag Sighting	Depersonalizing Curse III	Onset Immediate
Interval 1 round	Duration 1 min	Method Sight

Enfeebling

Enfeebling afflictions sap the strength out of creatures, rendering them too weak to fight, and eventually breathe.

Belladonna Leaf	Enfeebling Poison II	Onset 10 min
Interval 1 min	Duration 1 hour	Method Contact

Filth Fever	Enfeebling Disease III	Onset 1 day
Interval 1 day	Duration 30 days	Method Injection

Purple Worm Sting	Enfeebling Poison IV	Onset Immediate
Interval Immediate	Duration 10 min	Method Injection

Lycanthropic

Lycanthropic curses cause the victim to enrage when injured or turn partially or fully into another creature during a full moon. Unlike other afflictions, a lycanthropic curse only affects its victim while the moon is full. In its worst stages, the victim can't remember their actions while under its effects or loses control of their actions completely.

Lycanthropic afflictions are not subject to successive effects. Some can never be fully cured.

Werewolf Bite	Lycanthropic Curse V	Onset Next Full Moon
Interval Full Moon	Duration Permanent	Method Injection

Necrotic

Necrotic afflictions destroy living tissue and can eventually kill their victims. Because necrotic afflictions only deal damage, they rarely have durations unless the wounds they deal cannot be healed (also reducing maximum hit points by the damage dealt).

Viper Poison	Necrotic Poison I	Onset Immediate
Interval 1 round	Duration -	Method Contact

Mummy Rot	Necrotic Disease IV	Onset 1 min
Interval 1 day	Duration Permanent	Method Injection

Bodak Gaze	Necrotic Curse V	Onset Immediate
Interval Immediate	Duration -	Method Sight

Paralyzing

Paralyzing afflictions sap a creature's ability to move.

Centipede Venom	Paralyzing Poison I	Onset Immediate
Interval 1 round	Duration 1 hour	Method Injection

Ghoul Fever	Paralyzing Disease V	Onset 1 day
Interval 1 day	Duration Permanent	Method Injection

Ghoul Sweat	Paralyzing Curse IV	Onset Immediate
Interval Immediate	Duration 1d4 rounds	Method Injection

Petrifying

Petrifying afflictions turn creatures to stone.

Medusa Gaze	Petrifying Curse V	Onset Immediate
Interval Immediate	Duration Permanent	Method Sight

Possessing

Possessing afflictions place their victim under the control of another being. As the other creature takes control of the victim's mind, they experience difficulty focusing and directing actions. Once a being is fully possessed by another, the possessor may be able to leave and repossess its victim at well.

Ghost Touch	Possessing Curse V	Onset Immediate
Interval 1 night	Duration Permanent	Method Contact

Vampire Gaze	Possessing Curse IV	Onset Immediate
Interval 1 round	Duration 1 min	Method Sight

Terrifying

Terrifying afflictions set victims shaking, fleeing in fear, or frozen to the point their heart stops.

Dragon Presence	Terrifying Curse III	Onset Immediate
Interval 15 hit points	Duration 10 min	Method Sight

Banshee Wail	Terrifying Curse V	Onset Immediate
Interval Immediate	Duration 1 min	Method Hearing

Zombifying

Zombifying afflictions turn their victims into zombies.

Zombie Bite	Zombifying Disease V	Onset 10 min
Interval 10 min	Duration Permanent	Method Injection

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Top | Traps

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Traps

Few hazards of exploration are more feared than the trap. Many would-be heroes have been blindsided by a trap and found themselves poisoned, skewered, or buried alive. However, a simple trap out of nowhere is usually only fun for the DM. This can be remedied by bringing all the heroes into a tense action. To build a cinematic trap challenge, follow these three steps.

1. Encounter
2. Reaction
3. Resolution

ENCOUNTERING A TRAP

Since most traps or their triggers are hidden, the initial attempt for the heroes to perceive a trap is usually made by you. Intelligence or Wisdom attempts utilizing the Perception skill are the primary rolls for trap detection and when traps are intentionally hidden, this attempt is made at disadvantage. Additionally, a trap or its trigger is usually only visible by the hero entering the trap's area or interacting with a trapped object, thus other heroes make their perception attempts with unreliability. A hero intentionally investigating for a trap can negate a trap's detection disadvantage. Some heroes, such as barbarians, may also have bonuses to detect traps.

Encounter Success Levels

The success to which a hero perceives a trap has varying effects.

Critical Failure: The hero misperceives the trap and triggers it, potentially pulling another ally into it.
Failure: The hero does not perceive the trap.
Limited Success: The hero does not perceive the trap but senses something, gaining a +1 rank bonus to their initiative against the trap.
Normal Success: The hero perceives that there is a trap in the area.
Major Success: The hero sees the trap and gains a +1 rank bonus on their initiative against the trap.
Critical Success: The hero sees the trap and its trigger and gains reliability on their initiative against the trap.
Critical Success with a roll of 20: The hero sees the trap, its trigger, and can immediately stop anyone in the party from triggering it, bypassing the reaction phase.

REACTING TO A TRAP

Just because a hero sees a trap doesn't mean that they can stop it from being triggered. When the party enters the reaction phase, everyone moving into the trap's area or interacting with the trap rolls initiative. Unlike other initiative rolls, this roll is kept secret from other members of the group to keep tension high. Most traps act on a normal success. A hero that perceived the trap or is informed of the trap and exceeds the trap's initiative can act before the trap is triggered. Some of the best courses of action can be alerting their fellows, pulling someone back, or trying to prevent the trigger from being triggered if they know what it is. Heroes that act after the trap are considered to have reacted to the information too slowly. If someone has not held them back or prevented them from interacting with the trap, they trigger it.

RESOLVING A TRAP

After the trap is triggered or stopped from being triggered, the resolution begins. If the heroes triggered the trap, they will have to deal with the consequences, be that finding another way around a pit, finding a different way to open a door, or resurrecting the rogue. If the party did not trigger the trap, they will likely still have to find a way to disarm or bypass it.

Manipulatiing A Trap

If the party chooses to disarm a trap, creatively get around it, or take control of its trigger, it's best to use a short skill challenge. Like any other skill challenge, trap challenges should involve the whole party. When manipulating a trap, the roles below provide a starting framework to build an inclusive challenge. With larger parties, feel free to require multiple people to handle the same role.

Brick Loader: Strong hands who can endure a difficult task over a long period, a brick loader holds up the doors of a pitfall so the trigger can be reset, keeps a board from tilting when strode over, or steadies the rum dubber on their shoulders.
Pair of Eyes: The lookout, the pair of eyes may watch for approaching trouble or to make sure that a piece of the trap or bypass is moved into place precisely.
Mastermind: Where engineers and trap experts shine, masterminds determine the best course of action and direct the timing over the disarm or bypass.
Rum Dubber: Dexterous heroes and those with the sleight of hand skill usually become rum dubbers, handling the fine work of manipulating the most sensitive component of the trap or acrobatically placing or holding a component of the bypass.

Manipulation Success Levels

The result of the manipulation determines how the skill challenge turns out.

Critical Failure: The hero triggers the trap, accidently knocks a friend into it, or something similarly unfortunate. The brick loader may fumble their task, the pair of eyes might think something is in the right place when it is not, the mastermind could misunderstand the trap's mechanics, or the rum dubber puts a finger fully wrong. If no other consequences are possible, a critical failure contributes 2 failures to the trap challenge.
Failure: The hero fails their job, contributing 1 failure to the challenge.
Limited Success: The hero fails their job, contributing 1 failure to the challenge, but can pass a +1 rank bonus to someone else, or fail at their job but not contribute a failure.
Normal Success: The hero succeeds at their task.
Major Success: The hero succeeds at their task and can pass a +1 rank bonus to someone else's attempt in the challenge.
Critical Success: The hero overwhelmingly succeeds at their task and can grant another hero advantage on their attempt.
Critical Success with a roll of 20: The hero wildly succeeds at their task and can erase another hero's failure or grant the party critical success on the trap challenge if there have been no other failures.

Trap Challenge Success Levels

The outcome of a trap challenge is determined its the number of successes.

All Successes (One or More Critical): Critical Success! The party's attempt to skirt, disarm, or control the trap succeeds and their future interactions with the trap do as well.
All Successes: Major Success! The party's attempt to skirt, disarm, or control the trap succeeds and their next interaction with the trap automatically succeeds as well.
One Failure: Normal Success! The party's attempt to skirt, disarm, or control the trap succeeds.
Two Failures: Limited Success. The party's attempt to skirt, disarm, or control the trap fails but they can choose to trigger it on someone to bypass it.
Three Failures: Failure. The party's attempt to skirt, disarm, or control the trap fails.
All Failures (One or More Critical): Critical Failure. The party's attempt to skirt or disarm the trap fails utterly and they are worse off for it, either through further injury, the breaking of tools, alerting of hostile forces, or the like.

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Top | Afflictions

The Pen & Dagger RPG    Directors & Mythmakers Guide      Chapter IV: Exploration