Foraging and Navigation

Wilderness travel requires someone to find the way and the party to secure food and water.

The DM may call for a Wisdom (Survival) check to avoid becoming lost when the party travels through unfamiliar or featureless terrain (dense forest, open ocean, underground tunnels). The DC depends on terrain complexity:

• Open terrain with landmarks: DC 10
• Forest or hills: DC 15
• Trackless wilderness, underground, or open sea: DC 20

A character proficient in navigator's tools or cartographer's tools can use those instead. The Natural Explorer feature (Ranger) prevents the party from becoming lost by nonmagical means in favored terrain.

Characters can forage for food and water while traveling at a normal or slow pace. The forager makes a Wisdom (Survival) check against a DC set by the terrain:

• Abundant food and water (forests, plains): DC 10
• Limited food and water (hills, coastlands): DC 15
• Very little food and water (deserts, arctic): DC 20

On a success, the character finds 1d6 + Wisdom modifier pounds of food and 1d6 + Wisdom modifier gallons of water.

Each character needs 1 pound of food and 1 gallon of water per day (2 gallons in hot weather). Going without food triggers exhaustion after 3 + CON modifier days. Going without water triggers exhaustion after 1 day (or half a day in hot weather, or if the character had less than half the required water).

Following tracks requires Wisdom (Survival) checks. The DC depends on terrain softness (mud is easy, stone is hard) and how old the tracks are. Rain, wind, and other conditions can raise the DC or erase tracks entirely.