Hex 0500 - Cradle Wood

Here is a sample page from the hex crawl booklet I am building for the Westmarch campaign. The upper left quadrant has the name and terain type. N = 3 means that we check for encounters three times on 1d6 when traveling across the hex; we check encounters once per hour, with 1-3 on 1d10 meaning an encounter occurs while exploring in the hex.

The wandering monster table has only four monster entries. This is because 1) there really won't be that many chances to roll on the table, which obviates the need for variety and 2) to enforce the idea that "this hex contains X" for any given hex.  

When a monster entry comes up (or in some cases, the Faction entry I suppose) we roll on Table 1 as well to see what kind of encounter it will be.

The Faction entry shows who controls the hex, or in the case of a wild hex, the most likely named NPC or faction the party will encounter. This hex is adjacent to the fort ruled by Lord Atlan, so it is most likely you would meet his men or even himself (and I would shade toward the latter, because it's cool to meet named NPCs.)

The Special tells us that there is some feature in the hex; a town, village, landmark of note or wondrous locale. 

Cities are placed and marked on my map. Any time we roll a wonder for the second time in a hex, it is a landmark instead. 

Her is my landmark generator. It is overly complex; I'm not sure what to do about it except just make stuff up at the play table. Maybe I should use it to generate some landmarks beforehand so I have a list? Here is a stable link to the .pdf.

Running the Labyrinth

Labyrinths seem like they would be a perfect thematic element in the dungeon. But actually running a labyrinth is a pain. Describe every 10’ section? Make infinity directional choices? You could be playing it for longer than the characters are actually navigating it. Snore!

So how do we add the labyrinth into the dungeon in an engaging and compelling way? How do we make it feel labyrinthy but skip to the good parts?

First, do not draw the labyrinth. Do not let the players map. Just block out an area on your map marked “labyrinth.” Mark off all the connections with the outside world/dungeon.

Rather than draw out the passages, draw a flow chart between encounters. If some of them have to go in a certain order, flow chart them that way. Otherwise, roll them randomly as your hapless sods bumble about in there. Make sure one of the encounters is “big boss room” and another is “the exit.” (Which exit can be up to you or chosen randomly.)

When the several characters enter the labyrinth, be very clear about who has the light sources. This becomes important later. 

Describe the labyrinth theater of the mind style. Give it a theme. Or for a large space, give each section a different theme with a different flow chart. Make one encounter on each table “change sections.”

Now here, this is tricky. For every ten-minute Turn, roll 1d6. On a 1-3, it’s a keyed encounter - a room. On a 4, it’s a wandering monster. On a 5-6, no encounter. 

After each encounter, give the character with the best Wisdom save a chance for a saving throw. If he misses it, tell the characters they split up! Push two of the light source figures chosen randomly to two edges of the battle mat. Then have the several players roll a die for each of their figures. Odds go with one source and evens with the other. 

They’ve lost track of each other! 

This will happen unless they have taken an affirmative step to stay together - usually something with rope or twine. Even if they have marked the walls with chalk, half of the party will lose the trail. 

After each encounter, remove one encounter from the table and replace it with “they meet up again.” 

If that result comes up when there is only one group, choose a different encounter. 

Never force them into more than two groups because it bogs things down at the table too much. But getting split up? Very scary and interesting. 

Note that at no time is there a map. It forces the players to fly blind. 

Wandering monsters in the labyrinth

Some labyrinths won’t have any wandering monsters. That’s fine. 

Some won’t have any keyed rooms. That’s fine too: we call those “dungeons.”

And of course every labyrinth needs a Minotaur. That’s the rule. If you don’t have a Minotaur, you’re a doo doo head.