v1.4

Hexcrawls are awesome! They changed my game forever. But I found existing rules complex and/or included needless abstraction. Thus, I wrote my own. I also published a pdf

PROCEEDURES

Morning

  1. Roll weather
  2. Consume food/water
  3. Break or sustain camp
  4. Choose a travel direction and pace
  5. Roll navigation

Day

  1. GM describes points of interest (POIs)/changing weather/terrain/landmarks...
  2. Roll random encounters once per hex (more if it makes sense)
  3. Roll navigation on direction change
  4. Exploring or hunting takes 1/2 day travel time
  5. Foraging can be done en route when not on roads but requires a slowed pace

Night

  1. Make camp
  2. Consume food/water
  3. Stand watch
  4. Roll encounter

TRAVEL

Hexes are 6 miles. PCs can travel 3 hexes per day at a normal pace; 4 if moving quickly or mounted. Mountains or swamps slow the party to 1 hex per day. Pushing further risks fatigue.

Type Distance/Time
Mapping 1/2 hex per day
Hunting 1/2 day
Exploring 1/2 day
Travel swamp/mountains 1 hex per day
Travel normal 3 hexes per day
Travel forced/mounted 4 hexes per day

Weather

Roll 2d6: the leftmost die is type of weather, the other severity.

Weather Severity
1. Rain/fog/snow 1. Epic
2. Storm 2. Fierce
3. Wind 3. Intense
4. Heat/cold 4. Moderate
5. Clouds 5. Gentle
6. Sun 6. Perfect

Navigation

Skip navigation rolls when following a road/river/compass/spell/landmark on clear day.

D6 Effect
1 Loop back to point of departure
2-3 Veer one sextant left of intended destination
4-5 Veer one sextant right of intended destination
6 Arrive at intended destination

Discovery

PCs discover POIs in the sextants they traverse. Eg. if the party is traveling NW through a hex and there's a POI in sextants 2 or 5, they should discover it.

    _6_
  5/   \1
  4\___/2
     3

POIs might also be discovered if the PCs:

  • See smoke/light/landmark
  • Hear noises
  • Smell something
  • Observe evidence of it
  • Explore the sextant

PCs can see 3 miles of flat terrain and 1 hex per 50' of elevation (tree/hill/cliff)

Fatigue

PCs risk fatigue from lack sleep/food/water, forced travel, heavy burden, miserable conditions or injury. Consuming food/water and resting a day in comfort and safety cures fatigue.

Level Effect
1 Disadvantaged skill rolls
2 Speed halved
3 Disadvantaged attacks and hallucinations
4 Drop all bulky items
5 Speed = 0
6 Death

#hexcrawl #hexy #ttrpg