05 March 2022

Scale and Hexes, a round-up of posts.

tl:dr; there is a *lot* of adventuring in a single 10k hex, this post is a round up of many wise sources.

This - Scale & Sublimation - was the jolt I needed to get going on this post. This is a round up on the theme of getting the sense of scale right - how much stuff should be in a hex - rather than the mechanics of running a hex-crawl. For the mechanics of hex-crawling Hex-based Campaign Design by Welsh Piper is one of the core references, lots of additional useful posts in the sidebar.

I based a good chunk of my 'take' on "In Praise of the 6 Mile Hex" from Hydras Grotto. In my own set up I had significant challenges switching between my 'realm scale' 13 kilometer / 10 mile hex to my fine grain 1.3km / 1 mile hexes but I finally got them resolved.

Siena's 6-Mile Hex on Coins & Scrolls is helpful for getting a sense of scale. They also have a whole series on creating a hex-map of which part 3 is particularly good for getting down to populating individual hexes.

Continuing on the theme of scale, Spriggans Den writes "how large does a setting have to be?" noting how much is encompassed by 1000 x 1000 miles.

Tao of D&D writes about scale on the ground to help realistically size content.

For another perspective on the scale of things see this magnificent analysis of the logistics of medieval caravans through the lens of the loot train battle from Game of Thrones season 7 by A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry.

A useful rule of thumb for adapting hexes for vertical relief is Naismith's rule - "Allow one hour for every 3 miles forward, plus an additional hour for every 2,000 feet of ascent."

Retired adventurer has a sub-system for populating content within hexes assuming a hex divides into 6 triangles (by connecting the corners through the centre).

Great Hex-crawl lessons learned from Nine and Thirty Kingdoms

Some more thinking on Searching a Hex by Stirges Suck with a fine grain procedure.

For more Thalian Musings compiles hex-crawl resources on blogs and on youtube

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