Monsters & Mazes

  https://youtu.be/h_jLgzDdjxE?si=TixNuU2AYCkvZEH0 Here I give a basic rundown and an example of how a day may play out.

Now for the real goodies. With what's here you'll have everything you need to start Hexplore24, and the best part is its all FREE. Wilderness Hexplore by Jed McClure. IMHO the best procedural hexcrawl generator.   https://pdfcoffee.com/wilderness-hexplore-revised-pdf-free.html   The folks at Necrotic Gnome were generous in providing the entirety of Old School Essentials Classic Fantasy SRD free of charge. If you're unfamiliar with OSE, it is a retroclone of Moldvey Basic/Expert B/X) Dungeons and Dragons. OSE SRD: https://oldschoolessentials.necroticgnome.com/srd/index.php/Main_Page OSE Generators: https://oldschoolessentials.necroticgnome.com/generators/ Need a setting unique setting? Reddit user Lixuni98 converted two 2e D&D campaign settings to OSE. Dark Sun is a post-apocalyptic wonderland wasteland hellbent on killing you. Needless to say, its awesome. Thankfully, Lixuni98 provided terrain mechanics in the revised edition. Player's Handbook: https://

This is a but more philosophical than previous posts, so grains of salt and all that. Treasure cannot be bought, that includes magic items. Think about it. If you could just walk into a shop and purchase a magic item...why is it that those items are not lumped in with the mundane gear listed in the players handbook? Moreover, if you can just buy a hot ticket magical whatchamacallit...so can anyone else and they don't need to be adventurers to do so. Any coffeeshop NPC can save up enough glitter to swipe that +2 flaming longsword, "cuz its super kewl"...or whatever slang the kids these days use. The magic shop trope has its appeal, but once you really really look closely...it questions your role as a PC. Why not just get a normal job, collect a paycheck, and save your money like Bob the Barrista?  How do you avoid this? Make it so that magic items require adventuring to obtain, by having them only available out in The Wilds.  Treasure should be a reward, not a participatio

Participants of Hexplore24 are strongly encouraged to keep a log of their daily activities in The Wilds. Something akin to written journal entries by one or more of the characters. Theoretically, characters who had made it safely back to The Town would then recount what they’ve found and what areas to steer clear of, giving contextual information as they update The Map. What may start off as simple bulletpoint entries, can evolve into elaborate game summaries, detailed stories written by the you recounting each adventure, potentially becoming a creative outlet in their own right.  A session log can be as simple as: DAY: x/366 HEXES EXPLORED: [insert numerical designation for relevant hexes] FEATURES FOUND: [hex number:feature]  ENCOUNTERS: [hex number:encounter:result] Notes: [add whatever additional information] < this is where you can “story" it up Your log can be a simple notebook, or a dayplanner with enough room for note-taking. You are also encouraged to keep a digital re

 In a typical West Marches campaign, there is a pool of players (around 10 to 14) that schedule when and who will be at the next game session. This rotating roster means that no two sessions have the same exact players at the table for each game.  Hexplore24 deviates slightly in this regard. Instead of a pool of players, you'll have a pool of characters. When one group is experiencing "downtime" in The Town, getting ready for the next expedition or recovering lost hit points...there is nothing stopping you from rolling up a new crew and sending them out into The Wilds in search for gold and glory during that time. It's a good idea to keep a calendar handy to mark when characters are available to adventure. "Downtime" = no adventures taking place. You can roll to obtain new party members and/or retainers each day, if that's a needed condition for the next foray.  If the roll fails, then add an additional day in town. If group B returns before group A has

The Town: The adventure is in the wilderness, not the town — As per previous posts, be careful not to change the focus to urban adventure in The Town instead of exploration out in The Wilds. Once you have the characters start talking to Town NPCs, you'll will have a perverse desire to stay in town and look for adventure there. “Town game” was a dirty word in West Marches, and that carries over to #hexplore24. Town is not a source of information. You find things by exploring, not sitting in town — someone who explores should know more about what is out there than someone in town. The Town is for rest, recuperation, recruiting, and resupplying for the next foray into the wilderness.  The Town is safe and boring, The Wilds are wild and dangerous and where all the action is. The Table Map: One of the major ways information is shared will be the table map.  "When the game first started the PCs heard a rumor that years ago when other adventurers had tried their luck exploring the We

#hexplore24 is a sandbox game. Period. There is no predetermined story. How can there be? Everyday is procedurally generated. I know that this concept will be the one that gets the most pushback. If you want to play in a pre-written adventure...go play another game, because this one is not for you. The characters explore that sandbox one day at a time, and everyday has the potential to bring adventure. The characters  get to explore anywhere they want, the only rule being that going back to "The Realm" is off-limits — there are no adventures in the civilized lands, just peaceful retirement. Your characters have no idea what is out there beyond civilization, neither should you. How boring would it be to play a game that you already know what happens? Might as well grab a novel off the shelf and call it quits. There is no mysterious old man sending the characters on quests. No overarching plot, no "quest boards", no pre-planned BBEG, no railroads, just an overarching