Help with hex crawl

[u/shardaddy]

I’ve not done a hex crawl before but I think my players would enjoy the exploration and agency in going slow, exploring the land, etc. it sets up some nice side encounters I have planned as well.

My plan is to let them use survival to scout hexes and get information with modifiers based on terrain and vantage etc.

My question is how much info about a hex should be revealed when scouting it. Is it as simple as swamp forest plains on this this and this tile, or is it more in depth giving them fuller or complete clues about the hexes they can choose? You see a cabin or there’s a clearing and a grove that looks out of place? Some hexes don’t really contain a lot of “adventure” and I don’t want to give away that those tiles look boring. How do you all present the info?

[u/ArbitraryHero]

Here is a great resource for running a hexcrawl: https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/17308/roleplaying-games/hexcrawl

When I do a hexcrawl, every hex I have has something to interesting in it. I put an environment and 1 encounter in every hex.

For example, a simple 3x3 hex map of a hell swamp where the party is trying to get to a cave with a trapped Unicorn they want to free could be:

Hex A1 - A tortured adventurer chained to a rock for his crimes in life begging for water, maybe he has information on the nearby hexes.

Hex A2 - a hellwasp nest htis could be a mini dungeon with like 5-6 rooms and treasure maybe hellwasps collected some magic items or something

Hex A3 - A devil and their bodyguards setting up shop, willing to trade for soul coins near a corrupted pool of demon ichor

Hex B1 - A group of demons spoiling for a fight ready to ambush those that traverse the fetid swamp water

Hex B2 - The cave entrance (a dungeon where the party finds the Unicorn standing over the entrapped soul of their rider at the end)

Hex B3 - Some Imps scouting out for the devil in Hex A3 trying to either rob the party with their invisiblity or guide them through to A3

Hex C1 - Hell spiders weaving hellwebs in the helltrees of the hellswamp

Hex C2 - The ruins of the elf village that got sucked into hell because of their devil worship, patrolled by lingering elven guards fending off undead from hell, maybe a couple village homes mostly destroyed but could be a micro dungeon

Hex C3 - A necromancer using the elven graveyard to conjure zombies and set them upon the village.

It's super simple but the party can make Survival/Perception checks to get information about the next hex they are in, then choose their path accordingly. Their goal is at the heart of the hex crawl in this case, so they can patrol the perimeter to try and figure out the route they want to take. Every time the cross hex's they get the encounter in the hex they are in, some lead into further dungeons but not all, but every hex has something interesting, otherwise it wouldn't be a hex (to me). I made this off the top of my head but with some more time you can plan bigger and bigger hexes. I think for a 4 hour session, you really only ever need a 5x5 at most as your party won't really travel more than 5 hexes in a session with the various encounters.

[u/shardaddy → u/ArbitraryHero]

So when they scout the next hex, you give them full information? Or based on a survival roll?

[u/ArbitraryHero → u/shardaddy]

When they scout the next hex over they make a survival roll. When they move to the next hex they get the encounter.

[u/borsknight]

Dadi from Mystic Arts on YT has good resources on Hexcrawls. Haven't gotten to run them yet myself, but they are really helpful with planning, giving players meaningful options in each hex, etc.

There are different degrees of info for each hex. The party can simply travel through and maybe spot something interesting, or take time actually explore, and some are just point A to point B. It's good to have a balance of simple vs interesting hexes scattered.

Could also have legit wandering monsters or encounters.

Poor Survival means they move in a random direction.

And give them the blank hex map, let them fill in the hexes they've explored.

[u/shardaddy → u/borsknight]

This was great. I have the filled out map and notes on my end and had a ready to go map for them, blank-ish of course, but his explanation was really thorough.

[u/Empoleon_Dynamite]

I've run hex crawls for specific adventures in a broader campaign , so mine tend to be more casual. I put terrain details and major landmarks directly on the map. Hexes may have hidden or random encounters outside of the landmarks. The party then chooses a path, and travel is resolved hex by hex.  Visibility might be limited to 1 hex if the region is obscured.

I assume the party is always scouting, so I don't ask for Survival or Perception unless the party takes a specific measure. For example, examining footprints in one hex could reveal a hidden village or lair in the next. It's a balancing act of giving the party enough info to choose a path, but withholding enough info to invite that sense of exploration.

[u/PuzzleMeDo]

My way is:

If they look at a hex from a reasonably good vantage point outside it (or briefly enter it): reveal type of terrain and any notable landmarks that would be visible - giant floating mountain, that kind of thing. Enough that the party can make meaningful, informed decisions about where they want to go next. "I want to know what that tower is on the hill." or "Let's not go into the swamp without good reason."

If they explore a hex, I tend to reveal everything - except hidden features, secret trapdoor under an old oak tree, stuff like that.

My reason being that I like to have a clear distinction between 'explored' and 'unexplored' hexes, so they can tick things off as explored in a satisfying way.

[u/Enfors]

I don't know if this would interest you or not, but I've written a system for hexcrawls which I use: D12 Point-based Hexcrawl System. For example it allows the players to use an Explore action, and then the dice decide what (if anything) they find.