Hexcrawling

Hexcrawls

A hexcrawl is a form of overland travel in which a map is divided into hexagonal shapes. In Brighter Worlds hexes are assumed to be approximately 6 miles across.

This hexcrawl procedure is created to support the specific sort of campaign I run with Brighter Worlds. It assumes a significant amount of travel, isolated adventure sites on a hex map, rarely revisiting the same locations, and interacting with a recurring cast of fellow travelers. If you’re not running a game where these specifics make sense, the general framework is easy to tweaks.

Watches

Watches are six hour blocks that divide a day into morning, noon, evening, and night.

It takes a Watch to travel to a neighboring hex, explore the current hex, or rest.

The party must rest for at least one Watch each day or become deprived.

Travel Roll

When traveling to a new Hex roll two d6, one light colored and one dark colored. If both dice match, a Travel Encounter occurs.

The light colored die is the weather die. High numbers intensify the weather, low numbers calm it. The climate and local environment determines the type of weather.

The dark colored die shows what’s happening in the current hex:

  1. Recent activity (roll Encounter).
  2. Nearby activity (roll Encounter).
  3. Weather on the horizon (pre-roll weather).
  4. Local normality, the sort of wildlife or activity you’d expect to find here.
  5. Local normality
  6. Local weirdness, something strange and unexpected that’s unique to this area.

Travel Encounter

Roll the two dice again.

The light colored die shows what it is:

(If on a road roll twice and keep the lower.)

  1. Friend!
  2. Friend!
  3. Local Quest, something from the rumors or quest hooks of any nearby locations.
  4. A Local, someone from around here.
  5. Wildlife or a Local
  6. Wildlife, something from around here.

The dark colored die shows what that result is currently doing:

  1. Traveling
  2. Hanging Out
  3. In Trouble
  4. Working
  5. Special, something unusual or unique
  6. With… (roll another Light Die)

If both dice match, the situation is intensified.