Hexcrawl help

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Brock Savage

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I could use a little help fine tuning a hexcrawl.

For a 10x10 hexcrawl I am imagining a core of irradiated desert surrounded by badlands, which is in turn surrounded by mountains, jungle, or ocean making up the borders of the map. Obviously I am not running a reality simulator here because it is on a weird alien planet is this set up even remotely plausible? The only badlands I am personally familiar with are the American Southwest and Death Valley, CA in particular (I lived there for a little bit).

I have come across multiple blogs and forum posts advising GMs to start hexcrawls in the middle of the map. I understand why that is desirable but unless the players teleported to or were born in the location the PCs would leave a trail of explored hexes across the map on their way to the starting hex. Is there something I am missing here?

Also if anyone knows how to use Worldographer aka Hexographer 2 I would appreciate learning how to change the hex number pattern. I want 1st column to start with 0101, 2nd column to start with 0201, and so on. My attempts to Google this have failed me.
 
Is this a fantasy or a sf hexcrawl? They could start in the middle if they had just crashed their spaceship as in Planet of the Apes. Not sure what the fantasy equivalent would be...
 
For a 10x10 hexcrawl I am imagining a core of irradiated desert surrounded by badlands, which is in turn surrounded by mountains, jungle, or ocean making up the borders of the map. Obviously I am not running a reality simulator here because it is on a weird alien planet is this set up even remotely plausible?

If the ocean is making up the borders of the map, then it sounds perfectly plausible as a large island.

The only badlands I am personally familiar with are the American Southwest and Death Valley, CA in particular (I lived there for a little bit).

I would start with what the source of the irritation is, or what caused the irradiated core? Was it some kind of attack by a ship in orbit? Perhaps the surrounding badlands have been glassed and its a jagged terrain of glass shards and bubbling pools of molten glass. Was there a mining accident that released the radiation? If the centre was being mined, perhaps the surrounding badlands are made up of unstable spoil heaps and toxic tailing pools (home to some nasty critters). Maybe a starship crashed and its warp core is the source of the irradiated desert. The resulting badlands might then be comprised of huge boulders and other ejecta from the impact. Maybe there was an experiment that went wrong, what was the experiment and how might it be used to describe the badlands? Other questions you could ask yourself is how long ago did this happen and what was the terrain before it happened. You could have a carbonised alien forest, a charcoal desert.

I have come across multiple blogs and forum posts advising GMs to start hexcrawls in the middle of the map. I understand why that is desirable but unless the players teleported to or were born in the location the PCs would leave a trail of explored hexes across the map on their way to the starting hex. Is there something I am missing here?

The few times ive ran a hex crawl, I've always started near the edge. Not sure why starting in the middle is a thing, unless its like adventures discussed in the OSR Fatigue thread and some folks don't want the paid job that leads them to a certain point, they just want to start right at the action and let the characters figure the rest out.
 
Most of the advice I've seen on hex crawls tends towards the borderlands model, were you have have a civilized border along the edge of the map. I'm guessing that won't work as well for the kind of hexcrawl you have in mind. You could start the players in a society that considers the outside world to be taboo. Only rumors exist of the world outside their borders. Now, the players have either been exiled or given some special dispensation to travel into the outer world.
 
Is this a fantasy or a sf hexcrawl? They could start in the middle if they had just crashed their spaceship as in Planet of the Apes. Not sure what the fantasy equivalent would be...
The author of Carcosa calls it "weird science fantasy horror" if that helps at all. I was initially going to have the players emerge from cryogenic pods as amnesiacs in the middle of the map but decided against that in favor of a more traditional model.

If the ocean is making up the borders of the map, then it sounds perfectly plausible as a large island.
Thanks man. I was actually inspired by New Guinea which is tied with Stalingrad for the title of Most Nightmarish Battlefield of World War II. .

I would start with what the source of the irritation is, or what caused the irradiated core?
Center of the map is Skull Mountain beneath which lay the City of the Ancients. I never ever gave this much thought as to why it was surrounded by desert and broken land beyond an unspecified disaster related to the extinction of the Snake Men millions of years in the past.
At the height of their powers, the Snake-Men destroyed themselves by releasing ultratelluric forces impossible to control.

The few times ive ran a hex crawl, I've always started near the edge. Not sure why starting in the middle is a thing, unless its like adventures discussed in the OSR Fatigue thread and some folks don't want the paid job that leads them to a certain point, they just want to start right at the action and let the characters figure the rest out.
Okay good. I was scratching my head at that advice and you've convinced me to ignore it.

Most of the advice I've seen on hex crawls tends towards the borderlands model, were you have have a civilized border along the edge of the map. I'm guessing that won't work as well for the kind of hexcrawl you have in mind.
Actually Baulderstone Baulderstone this is exactly the model I want to use. The PCs are leaving the nominally civilized Realm of Man to find their fortune in the so-called Terror Zone. I know it's not imaginative on my part but I think there are good reasons people have relied on that model for years.
 
Actually Baulderstone Baulderstone this is exactly the model I want to use. The PCs are leaving the nominally civilized Realm of Man to find their fortune in the so-called Terror Zone. I know it's not imaginative on my part but I think there are good reasons people have relied on that model for years.
Originality is overrated when it comes to adventure design. You want some as a spice, but you'll generally end up with enough emergent originality during play that you can rely on a lot of tropes when prepping. I used to waste so much energy trying to avoid the obvious, but players who sign up for a game want to experience its tropes.
 
Originality is overrated when it comes to adventure design. You want some as a spice, but you'll generally end up with enough emergent originality during play that you can rely on a lot of tropes when prepping. I used to waste so much energy trying to avoid the obvious, but players who sign up for a game want to experience its tropes.

Honestly, this is where I'm at as a GM. I've never even run the tropes to the extent that they're played out for me.
 
Middle of map or edge of map both can work and it can depend on the setting. If there is a city or significant populated area in the middle of the map (City State of the Invincible Overlord in Wilderlands of High Fantasy for example) then that works fine. A West Marches style setting where town is safe, "back there" is safe, "out there" is where the adventure is wouldn't make sense to start in the middle unless "town" is really the only civilization in the area and there is no "back there."
 
This is how I started my last 5e hex crawl and, yes, it was in the middle of the Map:

You don't remember the last few days. In fact, you're not even sure it was a few days.

For all you know, it could have been much longer and you suspect as much, since several items in your possession are worn from heavy use, your use, yet you have no recollection of ever owning them.

The only recent memory you do have was when you and your companions stepped out of the magical gate on that lone hill just a few minutes ago.

What circumstance brought you here? What was on the other side of the gate you stand just outside of? And what were you doing during those (possibly few yet possibly more) days you can't, or won't, remember?

Perhaps your party was exploring an underground cavern, populated with deadly traps, vicious monsters and untold treasures.

Perhaps you were in a desert, out of water and desperately dodging masked nomads, magical sandstorms, and giant worms.

Perhaps, even, your group was on another plane of existence, one with purple trees, gods walking among mortals, and great insanity-inducing mysteries.

Whatever the case, you're all here now, somewhere, on a windswept hill, just outside an inert magical, blue-metal gate, trying to get your bearings and seeing nothing even remotely familiar around you.
 
Hey guys thanks for the help I have one another dumb question. I am using a small 10x10 grid of 6 mile hexes because coming up with 100 interesting locations or features is tough. I don't want the players to feel compelled to stay in the grid due to social contract nor do I want to make up some BS excuse why they can't leave. On the other hand, this 10x10 area of wilderness has untapped dungeons, ruins, and even a lost city. Returning to the Realm of Man means slightly less danger (more likely to get killed by another person than a monster) and a lot less profit (untapped dungeons ruins etc are less frequent). Is it cool if I flat out tell players that? The whole reason they are travelling to the zone is for money power and status.
 
There is no right or wrong answer.

I tend to give both the players and their characters strong in-game hints to things like that. Obviously I don't know the specifics of your game, but if I was doing it I would go for something like finding an old journal or data file (if its sci fi), or even a talkative spirit or AI. Perhaps the journal's author describes the untapped riches of the realm and the constant danger of everything that doesn't walk on two legs wanting to eat him and laments missing the simplicity of taking on a paid commission and only having to watch his back when other people are around. I would also make sure the characters know where the route out is, so they know they have that choice.

I normally intercede out of game when I know the group have misinterpreted something and are about to go on a wild detour to nowhere and have come up with their own red herrings. One of the guys emailed me after the last session to ask a series of questions to see if he understood the situation correctly. on one of the points, I simply told him he was way off base and to avoid everyone wasting their time, and allow them to focus on the other clues. Sometimes you just have to nip something in the bud and because it wasn't during the game, it was easy to do it that way. Otherwise I might have made a roll and said "your intuition is telling you that's not the correct path to follow."
 
Also if anyone knows how to use Worldographer aka Hexographer 2 I would appreciate learning how to change the hex number pattern. I want 1st column to start with 0101, 2nd column to start with 0201, and so on. My attempts to Google this have failed me.

Not sure if you still need to know, but in Worldographer you can change the Hex numbering by clicking on the Wheel/Spoke next to Show Numbering in the View Options section.

1602893629787.png
In those settings you want to set Order Numbers to COL_ROW, make Separator a blank value, and set Pre-Pad #'s to 10s digit.
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Not sure if you still need to know, but in Worldographer...
I appreciate the solution and have a couple more things I can't figure out.

  • When I generate a map I want the odd numbered columns to shift one hex lower
  • I want to import the classic B/X map legend symbols but am having no luck finding them. I was surprised they weren't included or even on Drive Thru for sale.
 
As for planetary geographic logic... eh, don't sweat the details too much. Just some strong coherent rules so as to be somewhat relatable to players, like: "Gravity makes liquids seek their level," & "Mountains are significant barriers to easy travel of fluids & gases." So when you do break the rules there is a grounded fictive space to work with which allows room for wonder to still awe. If everything is unique and special at all times then nothing is.

I am doing similar of late, so here's some of what I do:

* Assume the PCs know what they know, but are unlikely to know every nook & cranny. Means that local areas and commonly-traveled routes are well-known, but the hinterland is unknown in detail & each hex can be deep-dived further. (Honestly, how in-detail do you know your own 6-mile hex, let alone each 6-mile hex around that? Answer is usually .enough to get what I need to be comfortable." Same with PCs.)

*Look at the geography and determine who major powers would control what, for which logistical reason, and until where (contestible or not) range. Those are the known locations and borders that must be defined and will be encountered.

* Seed my regional maps with dice rolls determining which hexes get a Notable Checkmark. Randomizes some points of interest which spurs creative relation to known locations, or at least the land's past. Those are the Easter Eggs to color up, hide, and let find.

As for software, can't help; I use Crayolas. :heart::music:
 
I appreciate the solution and have a couple more things I can't figure out.

  • When I generate a map I want the odd numbered columns to shift one hex lower
  • I want to import the classic B/X map legend symbols but am having no luck finding them. I was surprised they weren't included or even on Drive Thru for sale.
I'm not positive that I understand the numbering question, but if I do, then setting the 1st column to zero should work.
1603141541797.png

The B/X map symbols should be available in the default program as "classic" in the symbol settings.

1603141198292.png
 
I'm not positive that I understand the numbering question, but if I do, then setting the 1st column to zero should work.
View attachment 23426

The B/X map symbols should be available in the default program as "classic" in the symbol settings.

View attachment 23425
What I mean is how the hexes are arranged. X being hexes and 0 being blanks:

Default is like so:

X0X0
XXXX
XXXX
XXXX
0X0X

I want it like

0X0X
XXXX
XXXX
XXXX
X0X0
 
I believe you would do that in the Tools->Expand/Shrink Columns/Rows and then enter a value of -1 for the left margin. However, that is a paid/pro feature so I can't test that out as I only have the free version.
I already tried it and it only removes/adds columns and rows.
 
In Hexographer this was impossible to change and I can't see anything to alter it here, so imagine it's fixed.
 
In Hexographer this was impossible to change and I can't see anything to alter it here, so imagine it's fixed.
Damn I guess my Hexographer/Worldographer maps wont match up with the hex maps I printed out. Not cool.

Edit: Is there a way I can easily print blank hex maps on Hexographer/Worldographer that don't look like garbage? Like a 10x10 hex map blown up to 8.5" x 11". I need to get this ready by Sunday


On a side note while working on this thing I find it hilarious that "jungle" and "swamp" have been largely replaced by "rainforest" and "wetlands". Presumably because jungles and swamps are unpleasant and dangerous places whereas rainforest and wetlands sound like vacation spots.
 
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On a side note while working on this thing I find it hilarious that "jungle" and "swamp" have been largely replaced by "rainforest" and "wetlands". Presumably because jungles and swamps are unpleasant and dangerous places whereas rainforest and wetlands sound like vacation spots.

Black Vulmea Black Vulmea could probably cover it more in depth, but essentially "jungle" and "swamp" are usually tropical or sub-tropical, while "rainforest" and "wetland" cover the same kind of terrain in all climates, if I'm not just talking out of my ass.
 
Black Vulmea Black Vulmea could probably cover it more in depth, but essentially "jungle" and "swamp" are usually tropical or sub-tropical, while "rainforest" and "wetland" cover the same kind of terrain in all climates, if I'm not just talking out of my ass.
That's good. I thought it was part of the general trend towards vague, euphemistic language in the States.
 
Black Vulmea Black Vulmea could probably cover it more in depth, but essentially "jungle" and "swamp" are usually tropical or sub-tropical, while "rainforest" and "wetland" cover the same kind of terrain in all climates, if I'm not just talking out of my ass.
Jungles are rainforests, but not all rainforests are jungles, frex, temperate rainforest such as that found in Washington state, British Columbia, and Alaska.

Swamps are wetlands, but not all wetlands are swamps, frex, a tidal marsh, a shrubby fen, a peat bog, vernal pools.

Rainforests and wetlands are climate-neutral in that they can be found from the equator to just a bit short of the poles.

So, no ass-talking that I can detect, Panzerkraken Panzerkraken. :thumbsup:
 
Hey guys thanks for the help I have one another dumb question. I am using a small 10x10 grid of 6 mile hexes because coming up with 100 interesting locations or features is tough. I don't want the players to feel compelled to stay in the grid due to social contract nor do I want to make up some BS excuse why they can't leave. On the other hand, this 10x10 area of wilderness has untapped dungeons, ruins, and even a lost city. Returning to the Realm of Man means slightly less danger (more likely to get killed by another person than a monster) and a lot less profit (untapped dungeons ruins etc are less frequent). Is it cool if I flat out tell players that? The whole reason they are travelling to the zone is for money power and status.

To my way of thinking, completely okay to explain it as “Explore the Terror Zone for Fun and Profit!”

These days I pitch my campaigns to my players. I give them a broad outline of what I’m thinking to have as a campaign, and give them an idea of what will (and won’t) be a part of that particular campaign, assuming it gets off the ground.

I see it as offering enough information so they can have informed consent regarding g the social contract of the game.
 
One last Hexographer/Worldographer question. Where can I find icons that don't look like garbage? Specifically the features such as towns, tombs, fortresses etc. Drive thru doesn't have what I want and I've even spent some money on the sets.
 
One last Hexographer/Worldographer question. Where can I find icons that don't look like garbage? Specifically the features such as towns, tombs, fortresses etc. Drive thru doesn't have what I want and I've even spent some money on the sets.
When I last went looking in 2019 the Inkwell official ones were the best. I'm not aware of any better looking that this:
 
Perhaps it is too late to participate, but I'm enthusiastic about this recent kickstarter project, which created 'analog' hexmapping tools that I think will provide a great way to hex crawl:



Two things I like about this are that you can present a nicely scaled map at the table, and the map can be laid down (even created de novo) one hex at a time, which lets groups explore while controlling the amount of information they have about what lies in various directions (i.e., if you are in closed terrain maybe every direction is a mystery, whereas if you are in a hills hex surrounded by lower terrain you might see several hexes in each direction).
 
There is some very interesting stuff in Into the Wyrd and Wild that deals with exploration and wilderness encounters, as well as generating 'outdoor dungeons'. All analog, but it's was an informative read. The whole book is my current favorite treatment of exploration and resource management generally out of all the games I've read, not just OSR games. Well, Veins of the Earth is about as good for extended underground travel but I don't really do Underdark, or haven't in a long time, so I've had far less occasion to use it.
 
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