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Hello everyone. I would like your advice on how I should handle hex crawl travel for my solo game using the primarily 1E rules but dipping into 2E if necessary. I plan to run a solo hexploration adventure using a generator and I have my party rolled up and ready to go. However, I want to put rules around how many hexes my party can travel in a day by foot, assuming each hex is 5 miles across, and take into account terrain difficulty that might reduce my movement speed. I also want to make rations important and have rules around required consumption and allow for the possibility of foraging or hunting while traveling as a way to preserve the precious iron rations as I will be exploring unknown lands and can't predict when / if I will encounter a village, town or inn to resupply from.

I've done some Internet research and came up with the following guidelines which seems to make sense to me but they also don't seem to follow the 1E Wilderness Survival Guide which reads much more vague. I'm ok not following 1E exactly if it means having a more structured homebrew system that feels like my party has to actually worry about surviving out in the wilds and not just hand wave it. I probably won't incorporate rules around proper clothing based on climate / biome as this seems unnecessarily complicated.

Here are my notes that I found:

One hex = 5 miles (flat-to-flat).

Daily movement = movement rate ÷ 3 miles per day (1e DMG rule of thumb).

[Movement Rate] [Miles per Day] [Hexes per Day]

[6"] [12 miles] [2 hexes]

[9"] [18 miles] [3-4 hexes]

[12"] [24 miles] [4-5 hexes]

[18"] [36 miles] [4-5 hexes]

[24"] [48 miles] [9-10 hexes]

Terrain Modifiers (Apply to Miles/Day)

[Clear / Grassland] [x1.0] [24 miles - 4-5 hexes]

[Forest] [x0.5] [12 miles - 2 hexes]

[Hills] [x0.75] [18 miles - 3 hexes]

[Mountains] [x0.5] [12 miles - 2 hexes]

[Swamp] [x0.5] [12 miles - 2 hexes]

[Desert (hot)] [x0.75] [18 miles - 3 hexes]

[Jungle] [x0.5] [12 miles - 2 hexes]

[Road / Trail] [x1.33] [32 miles - 6 hexes]

Time to Cross One Hex (5 miles)

[Movement Rate] [Hours per Hex]

[6"] [~4 hours]

[9"] [~3 hours]

[12"] [~2 hours]

[18"] [~1.5 hours]

[24"] [~1 hour]

These assume clear terrain; apply terrain multipliers to adjust.

Navigation & Getting Lost (1e DMG)

[Terrain] [Chance to Get Lost]

[Clear] [10%]

[Forest] [50%]

[Hills] [30%]

[Mountains] [50%]

[Swamp] [50%]

[Desert] [30%]

[Jungle] [50%]

If lost, the party drifts 1d6 × 10° off intended direction until corrected.

Ration Consumption

One character consumes one “ration” per day

*A ration = 1 day’s worth of food.

If a character does not eat for a day → penalties begin

After 1 day without food:

*Character becomes fatigued (DM adjudication: –1 to attack rolls, ability checks, and movement penalties are common).

After 2–3 days:

*Strength and Constitution checks begin to fail

*Movement rate drops

*Spellcasters may be unable to regain spells

*Morale penalties for henchmen and hirelings

After several days:

*Characters become weak, unable to march, and eventually incapacitated

*Death by starvation is possible after ~10 days (1e DMG guidance)

Do these rules seem reasonable? What about water consumption? Is water something you hand wave assuming ration consumption happens or do you actually track that for your party? Is there more accurate or specific rules I should be following in a specific reference book?

What is everyone's favorite way to handle what I'm trying to do?

Hey all!

I'm planning to have a conversation with an older player who hasn't played since 2e and I have only played 5/5.5e and thought there could be a decent bit of conversation about what's changed, what's stayed the same, campaign themes/settings, dynamic of players and DR'S, etc.

I plan on transcribing the conversation and doing a blog post of the conversation so I would like it to be engaging to a the player base at large rather than just me indulging my own curiosity.

What are some questions or topics you think we should dive into?

I think it’s about time I retire my 14th level monk. He is getting very old, and he looks it. From years of rough workouts, his hands and forearms, and even his feet are very calloused. His constitution score has plummeted and he has osteoporosis. He continues to pray and meditate 3 to 4 hours every day, hoping to open his mind to the mysteries of the universe and the spirit world. And finally, his charisma score has gone down since the evil druid put a curse on him that gave him everlasting, bad breath. In his younger years he was handsome, active, and happy. Now he is just a super calloused, fragile mystic hexed with halitosis.

Do you follow the DMG guide of a "Standard Expense" of 100gp/level/month?

Do you include rent in the above Standard Expense or charge it separately?

How much would/do you charge monthly for, say, renting a common-quality room in an Inn?

Do you require spell casters to shop for Components or is that also included in the Standard Expense?

Bonus Question: How do you handle it if a Character runs out of funds??