Traditional hexcrawls will often included hexes keyed with encounters like this one (from the Wilderlands of Magic Realm):Ī charismatic musician sits on a rock entertaining a group of Halfling children. And note that I said “location”, not encounter. Third, the system is built around the assumption that every hex on the map will have at least one keyed location.
It’s built around having the players constantly making new discoveries (even in places they’ve been before). The structure, therefore, includes a lot of rules for navigation, getting lost, and finding your way again. Second, building on that, the structure is explicitly designed for exploration. Therefore, the hexes in this hexcrawl system are a player-unknown structure. Although I find the abstraction of the hex extremely convenient on the GM’s side of the screen (for tracking navigation, keying encounters, and so forth), I’m of the opinion that it has negative effects on the other side of the screen: I want the players interacting with the game world, not the abstraction. Although still very much a work in progress, over the next few days I intend to do exactly that.īefore we get to the actual hexcrawling, however, I want to take a moment to clarify what my design goals were (and are) for this project.įirst, I wanted a structure which would hide the hexes from the players. Since then I’ve received several requests to share my rules for hexcrawling. It wasn’t until Necromancer Games brought the Wilderlands back into print and Ben Robbins’ West Marches campaign went viral that people started to rediscover the lost art of the hexcrawl.ĭuring my discussion of game structures, I mentioned that I had been developing and playtesting a robust structure for hexcrawling. 2 nd Edition removed hexcrawling procedures from the rulebooks entirely. By 1989 there were only a few vestigial hex maps cropping up in products and none of them were actually designed for hexcrawl play. Initially a core component of roleplaying games, the hexcrawl structure slowly faded away. (4) Whenever the PCs enter a new hex, the GM tells them the terrain type of the hex and triggers the encounter or location keyed to that hex: The PCs experience the event, encounter the monsters, or see the location.
Determine the hex the PCs start in and track their movement. (3) Use (or design) mechanics which will let you determine how far the PCs can move while traveling overland. (It is not necessary to key all of the hexes on the map.) Using the numbered references, key each hex with an encounter or location. Additional features like settlements, dungeons, rivers, roads, and polities are also typically shown on the map. In general, the terrain of each hex is given as a visual reference and the hex is numbered (either directly or by a gridded cross-reference). As part of my essay on game structures in roleplaying games, I specifically discussed the basic structure of the hexcrawl: For more information about Wizards of the Coast and current versions of their games, please visit their website at. This app is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. * Print the map and then draw cities, roads, dungeons, rivers or anything else you need on it - your imagination is the limit.ĭungeons & Dragons® is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast. * Save your maps to local storage so you can carry your entire campaign in your pocket. * Print whatever is on the screen - so you can print the whole map or just a small portion. * Pinch and zoom or pan with two fingers to see the whole map or zoom in to focus on details. * Seven symbols to choose from: Mountains, Hills, Forest, Desert, Grassland, Water, and Blank. * Make maps of any size by choosing the number of rows and columns from the menu. * Choose from either pointy-top or flat-top hexes. Make a mistake? Just pick a different symbol and tap the hexes to change.Ĭhange hex types or map size without losing your current map! (Though it will look a little different as the rows and columns move around.) Use the symbol picker to choose a symbol and then tap on the hexes to see your map take shape. Hex Map Maker is designed to make maps similar to those from the old Dungeons & Dragons® Expert set for use in pen and paper role-playing games. Easily make and print old-school style role-playing game hex maps!