There is a large map of the Ohm Basin visible in the Foundry divided into hexes. The map shows all of the hexes that have been fully mapped by adventuring parties, plus a number of hexes of general knowledge to any residents of the Ohm Basin. Pathfinders traveling in unmapped territory take a -2 circumstance penalty to navigation checks in that hex. A hex usually must be mapped to have a chance to find hidden features, build settlements, or conduct other such activities.

The map is divided into regions, each of which has its own Average Encounter Levle (AEL). AEL is used to assign DCs and XP rewards for various activities in the region. Expeditions solely for the purpose of mapping, exploring, or other overland activities are generally treated as having an ECL equal to the AEL of the destination region, although restrictions on character levels are usually more lax for mapping expeditions than for other types.

Adventuring parties may designate a character as the Cartographer for an expedition (characters may serve in more than one role). To create a map of a hex, a party must resolve the following in order:

1. The party must spend 8 dedicated hours mapping the hex, not moving, resting, or spending downtime from overland travel, wherein the party must resolve any random encounters during the 8 dedicated hours.
2. The party pathfinder must resolve a navigation check using the DC for travel through the hex. Failure will cause the party to get lost, or other consequences narrated by the DM.
3. The party's cartographer must succeed on a Knowledge (Geography), Profession (Cartographer), or a similar skill check with a DC based on the AEL of the hex.

If all steps are successfully resolved, the hex is mapped and the party is awarded 100*AEL XP divided evenly among its members upon return to Barrow's Maw. The mapped hex is added to the official map.

If a party intends to search a hex, it must complete the following checks in order:

1. Spend 8 dedicated hours searching a hex, not moving, resting, or spending downtime from overland travel, wherein the party must resolve any random encounters during the 8 dedicated hours.
2. The party pathfinder must resolve a navigation check using the DC for travel through the hex. Failure will cause the party to get lost, or other consequences narrated by the DM.
3. The party pathfinder must succeed on a Spot or Survival check with a DC based on the AEL of the hex. The DC may be modifier by circumstantial factors, such as the size and visibility of the object of the search.

Research uses the same set of rules as downtime professions, with the “cost” representing the depth of knowledge and difficulty needed to answer the question. Once a gp value equal to the cost of the research problem has been reached, the research is finished, any excess gold is lost and cannot be converted to other projects.

Find a monster
Cost: 10 gp × [monster hit dice]; skill: Knowledge (X), where X is based on monster type. If you wish to find Dragonhide to craft armor, consult the SRD entry on Dragonhide to determine how large the dragon you need to kill is.

Add a monster to polymorph/wildshape repertoire
Cost: 15 gp × [monster hit dice]; skill: Knowledge (X), where X is based on monster type

Find rumor of a natural wonder
Cost: 10 gp × [AEL of map region]; skill: Knowledge (Geography)

Find rumor of a forgotten dungeon, ruins site, etc
Cost: 10 gp × [AEL of map region]; skill: Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Architecture & Engineering) or Knowledge (Nobility)

Learn ritual for a weapon of legacy
Cost equal to 1/20th ritual cost; skill: Knowledge (Arcana) or Knowledge (Religion) as appropriate

Locate a weapon of legacy
Cost equal to 1/20th of the “nonlegacy game statistics” price; skill Knowledge (History), or other as appropriate to the item

Find rumor of a specific magic item
Cost equal to 1/20th price of magic item, must be added to dungeon/site/wonder research of an appropriate ECL for the item, skill: same as related site research
Example: Player wants to find a specific scroll of a level 2 spell (cost: 150gp), so the player researches a dungeon of AEL 1 (this is allowed since an AEL 1 dungeon encounter could drop a level 2 scroll as loot) with cost 1 * 15 gp = 15 gp. The total cost is 15gp + 1/20 (150gp) = 22.5 gp. The skill used may be Knowledge (History), or the DM may rule for example that Knowledge (Nature) may be used because the scroll relates to nature.

Recover Special Material
Cost equal to 1/20th the value of the material.

The ECL of the expedition will always match the PC who is recovering the material, and will contain additional rewards at the discretion of the DM who is running the expedition. The party will usually recover more of the particular material, with the amount depending on the ECL of the expedition. The party will never recover less of the material than they set out to find, so long as they successfully complete the expedition. Note that a crafter only needs 1/3rd of the value of the finished product in raw materials to craft an item made using those materials. For example, a crafter would need 1,005 gp worth of Adamantine to craft an Adamantine Longsword, since an Adamantine Longsword is worth 3,015 gp. Also note that excess material is a trade good and would thus be sold at base price (though player characters may wish to buy it for higher than base price due to the scarcity).

Certain actions using Gather Information in Barrow's Maw may also be taken:

Learn information about a faction (see table):
Cost: 10 gp × [Obscurity]²

Find an expert (cumulative +2 on research checks):
Cost equal to one quarter the cost of the research check in question

Find rumors (add a one time gp sum to research progression)
¾ of gp progress made on a find rumor check may be added to research progression once per research question