When I think about exploration in D&D, I think of two different things.
1: Exploring wilderness. This is a classic, medieval Western European Dark Ages trope. "We are a tiny village surrounded by uncharted wilderness."
This is supported by the hexcrawl style of play. But 1/
1: Exploring wilderness. This is a classic, medieval Western European Dark Ages trope. "We are a tiny village surrounded by uncharted wilderness."
This is supported by the hexcrawl style of play. But 1/
But, the core rules don't support this. The PHB doesn't have any mechanics that reference or support exploring uncharted provinces, and converting them into explored. There are no rewards for doing so, except the generic "experience" you could reward any player for any activity.
There's *an* adventure that's hexcrawly, but "a design pillar" should be supported in the core rules.
There's another context in which I think of "exploration" and that's "going to the bottom of a dungeon."
There's another context in which I think of "exploration" and that's "going to the bottom of a dungeon."
The desire to see "what's next?" If there's another level, I want to explore it. The desire to see "what's next" used to be so strong that, when we got to the end, we refused to believe it! I bet there's a secret door! Let's search! (more exploring).
But the game doesn't reward the players for doing this, except through generic "experience" which you earn by doing *anything*.
D&D from 1974 to about 2008 rewarded exploring dungeons with Cash and Magic Items, both of which were at LEAST useful and often CRITICAL to your PC.
D&D from 1974 to about 2008 rewarded exploring dungeons with Cash and Magic Items, both of which were at LEAST useful and often CRITICAL to your PC.
So you were very strongly motivated to explore. Without exploring, no magic items. Without magic items, no defeating monsters.
I think the good ship S.S. Exploration Pillar has sailed. The popularity of the game right now is based on two things; Teamwork and Heroism. And that is 100% the best strategy for D&D. "We are going to work together, to save the world."
So folks who want exploration as a core pillar need to look elsewhere. Which they should. It's a mistake to rely on any one game to serve all needs.
