Okay, so your players are exploring a 12 mile hex, and the rules in the first module tell you how long it will take to explore that hex. Unless there's an event in that hex, though, all you really have to say about it is "okay, you didn't find anything". 12 miles of real-world space would have potentially several different geographic features, but all we have is a map with limited detail, and some general descriptions like "Kameland is like X".
I'm wondering if anyone has developed a system or method of some sort for dealing with exploration WITHIN a given hex where there are no specific events listed, such as "You see a wide plain with grasslands and two large hills about 5 miles from you. There is a small lake between you and the hills, surrounded by trees."
|
I'm wondering if anyone has developed a system or method of some sort for dealing with exploration WITHIN a given hex where there are no specific events listed, such as "You see a wide plain with grasslands and two large hills about 5 miles from you. There is a small lake between you and the hills, surrounded by trees."
I posted this originaly in THIS THREAD
(here it is again...)
Like the previous poster - I have already rolled to determine the presence of any random encounters for unexplored hexes and taken the advantage of the prep time to really work up the encounter (before the sessions).
Like the "naked man in the river" add in that someone did, I added a few bandits that had been fishing and become charmed by a nixie for instance. I added a treant. Add some encounters where one creature is up against another - I had one with a dire wolf trapped in a beartrap being accosted by boggards trying to stab it. Who do the PCs help? I had a dire boar race out of underbrush towards the PCs - the PCs prepared to fight it as charged them, but it ran right by - only to be seen that a troll was chasing it. Extra prep time allows for these agendas. Thats why I prefer doing it this way.
Aside from creatures - make exploring fun or exciting by inserting topographical and geographical locations; above and beyond the obvious ones already noted in the module.
Heres what I suggest: take some time to view some panoramic photos online of landscapes, to get some inspiration of what terrains and features the PCs may encounter.
In place of random encounters w/ creatures, I describe options in terrain to the players. Describe how a set of hills comes down to meet a valley and cuts this way or that, bisected by a small river (most small creeks etc won't show up on the map as a river - but it doesn't mean they don't exist). Give the players options: you can scale this side of the hills - it looks quite steep and slow going and the wind look like it's shearing up there; you can head south towards the smaller hills to see if you can find a pass to the north, or cross the river here to the west and follow the canyon through the hills to the west though being in the canyon will trap you with little option of retreat.
Then have each "option" pose a "challenge" - whether it's swim, climb, survival, tracking, perception....something. Let there be something discovered - so that they wonder what would be discovered the other way. A rare plant? Tracks? An old war totem from a savage humanoid tribe. Ancient ruins of....something. Barbarians? A wizards tower? An old temple? or Shrine? barrow mound? Ancient civilization? etc etc etc. It doesn't have to HAVE any creatures. The fact that it was discovered is an encounter in and of itself.
Ultimately, encourage your players to see this as an oppotunity to explore and discover - and hopefully engage in this campaign more than they have in the past.
For instance: in most other campaigns, the maps and setting are already published and written. Droskars Crag in Darkmoon Vale is a perfect example. This campaign allows for the possibility for the PCs to name their own unchartered but notable topographical and geographical locations.
We all have little local areas with special names on them that locals know about: Pinecone hill, Redwood Grove, Devil's Peak, Devil's Canyon, Devil's Fork, Horseshoe Bend, Wolf Canyon, Blueberry Hill, Apple Hill, Cedar Creek, Billy Goat Bluff, King's Crossing, etc etc etc. What about known features to man such as "Halfdome" at Yosemite, or "Old Faithful" at Yellowstone, on a larger scale is Grand Canyon etc. These had to be named by someone! Or if we go to places popular in fiction: MountainTop where the Watchtower of Amon Sul was built, or Ford of Brunen where Arwyn fended off the Nazgul with the rising creekwater. These places when they are named gain stories of their own. The PCs are in a position to "write" these stories. Few other campaigns allow for this.
Provide these options and terrain features, allow for them to be explored and navigated. Use great pictures of scenery and landscapes to fuel your imagination to describe what the PCs see to explore. It doesn't have to be a drawn out affair - it just adds life and spice to the campaign.
In a recent game I ran for my players - they were exploring the hills SE of the StaggLord's fort...
Spoiler:
near the owlbears den
and I described one hex having a deep rocky valley with steep hills surrounding it on three sides - navigating to the top is a challenge - but at the top was this great big plateu roaming with elk - headed by a dire elk. The eagles in the area flew away and cried out when the PCs were heading up the hills - "warning" the elk of their coming etc. This was far more memorable than any encounter with another dire boar.
Another adjacent hex had the hills culminate downwards into a old dried up river bed canyon - most likely dried due to geological shifts that cause the ground to open rifts and change the flow the river at one time. The canyon has become home to many wolves. They could see a pack of them roaming about and a small cave down below with two more sleeping in the shade of the canyon.
It wasn't there meant for an encounter - the PCs were level 6 and 8 wolves CR 1 really wouldn't be much of a problem at all - it was just fluff for the story. Had the PCs wanted to kill all the wolves, I would have just hand-waved it as narration and described the PCs slaughtering them. However, knowing the wolves werent a threat and just part of the natural surroundings, the PCs let them be. One PC cast invisible, silence and fly - he went into the small cave to see it was just a little pocket in the rocks where they sleep - nothing more to it than that, then left. The wolves snifffed something was amiss, and snarled but by they time they were all on edge the PC had flown away. Due to the snarling, they dubbed the place "Snarling Canyon" The plateau with the elk has been dubbed "Huntsman's Ridge"
These have more lasting memories than any "random encounter" you could roll straight out of the book.
Feel free to share your own ideas and thoughts.
Robert
I posted this originaly in...(here it is again...)
Actually, it was your original post that got me to thinking about it. Your suggestions are great, and I've used some of them in my preparation. What I was looking for was something to randomly generate some of those topographical features. I've come up with the following, and will be using it. I plan to roll four times per hex, essentially making smaller "hexes" to make exploration more engrossing.
Light Green (area near Oleg's)
Roll Result Notes
1 – 4 Farmland, idle Once, over 100 years ago, this land was farmed by distant Brevian colonists. It has lain idle since the expansion failed.
5 – 10 Plains Flat or mildly rolling plains with occasional tree clumps
11 – 13 Plains w/water As above, with small water feature (lake or creek)
14 – 16 Hills A single large hill, surrounded by plains or idle farmland
17 – 19 Woods A small wood, perhaps a mile or two in length, surrounded by plains or idle farmland
20 -- Roll on Kameland or Narlmarch table
Kamelands
1 – 3 Kame dotted plains
Plains with several kames (rocky hills) not higher than 10'. Ground is grassy/weedy with few trees.
4 – 6 Large Kame
In addition to several smaller kames, there is one large rocky kame in this area, with a ledge 15 – 20 above the ground
7 – 10 Large Kame w/water
As above, with small water feature (lake or creek)
11 – 13 Structure
As 1 – 3 but with a small structure of wood or stone, deserted
14 – 15 Broken woods - As 1 – 3 but wooded
16 – 17 Plains Flat or mildly rolling plains with occasional tree clumps
18 – 19 Plains w/water As above, with small water feature (lake or creek)
20 -- Roll on Narlmarch table
Narlmarches
1 – 6 Forest Relatively thick but passable trees with undergrowth
7 – 11 Forest w/water As above, with small water feature (lake or creek)
12 – 13 Glade - The forest opens in this area, but the trees encroach around the edges
14 Structure - As 1 – 3 but with a small structure of wood or stone, deserted
15 – 17 Wooded hills As Forest, but hilly
18 – 19 Heavy Forest As 1 – 6 OR 7 – 11, but forest is dense and hard to penetrate (move and explore rate ½)
20 Burned Forest A fire scorched this area of the forest
Obviously, I'll use my own judgement on the logic of these rolls. It's more just to spur my own imagination on individual areas outside of planned encounter areas. Several results lend themselves to encounters, particularly structures.