A question of Hexcrawling/Exploration

[Blackbrrd]

It was a group i only had one session with. They were upset I wasn't drawing a map, and that it seemed like "I didn't have any idea where anything was".

I have been in those players shoes, and it isn't really about you not knowing where anything is, but that they have no clue where their characters are.

Instead of picturing themselves in a town surrounded by forest with another village just north of it, up the road, they are most likely thinking of their character being in limbo with this grey mass around them.

As a DM you probably know what's around them, but I am guessing you haven't got the message across to your players and need to work on that aspect of your DM-ing. Giving them 7-15 of hexes of knowledge and some hints about what can be found outside of the mapped region is a good place to start.

It's more often an issue if you don't quite trust the DM, like when it's the first time you play together.

 

[JustinAlexander]

Do you show the overland map to the players before they've begun exploring?

It depends.

In one hexcrawl I've designed, it's all virgin territory. (The concept is basically that the PCs are Louis & Clark.) For this hexcrawl, the PCs have basically no map whatsoever and have to start their explorations blind. Over time they may be able to gain lore from local goblin tribes or ruins that will help them get a wider picture of the world beyond their current explorations.

In my OD&D open table hexcrawl, the local residents have a general understanding of the surrounding terrain: They know there are mountains up north because they can see them. They know the nomadic caravans travel east-west through the Gap between those mountains and the Intemperate Jungle. They know where the roads run between Caerdheim, Maernath, and the Thracian Borderkeep. The PCs in this campaign started with a map depicting the rough contours of the major terrain features (Barrier Mountains, Intemperate Jungle, Old Forest), but not drawn to any particularly accurate scale. The roads running between major settlements on this map, however, were very accurately marked with travel distances (because that information was of particular use to the traders who made the maps).

I'm currently roughing out the details for an Eclipse Phase hexcrawl that would take place in the Titan Quarantine Zone on Mars. For this hexcrawl, the PCs will be able to obtain very accurate maps of the terrain from orbital surveys.

So it really boils down to: What sort of map would common people have access to for this area?

If we're talking fantasy, then I would basically never show the PCs my actual hexmap: At best, they'd get access to a map handout that's been drawn based on that map.

It was a group i only had one session with. They were upset I wasn't drawing a map, and that it seemed like "I didn't have any idea where anything was".

If players want a map based on their own explorations, then they need to draw it themselves.

If you aren't giving them enough information to draw a map, then the problem is back on the GM.

 

[Agamon]

I agree that, if they want a map made during the game, they need to make it themselves. A GM has enough to do during the game. That said, yes, you also need to give out enough info for them to do so with some accuracy.

My group is playing ACKS and one of the PCs has the Mapping proficiency. I tell the group that he's the one making the maps and not to worry that I'll update them accurately after the game. My players have no problem with that.

 

[Nytmare]

My kinda failed, but still on the back burner exploration game is a Kingmaker/West Marches style game.

The entire motivation for the players was that they were being hired to map out a mostly unexplored and unmapped area so that a trade route could be established between two relatively isolated cities with an existing trade route.

As opposed to other exploration games I had run, I didn't really provide anything at all map wise. I didn't even give them a blank map to fill out, just told them that hexes were going to represent an area approximately 12 miles wide, and that they were expected to map an area bounded by an impassable mountain range roughly X days to the north, a bleak, black sand desert roughly X days to the west, and a blighted, undead wasteland X days to the south. Beyond that, they knew that there was one city on the edge of the desert, roughly due west from where they were starting, and another city just past the midway point nestled in the foothills of the mountain range.

 

[Rechan]

While I understand some of you like the "no map" or "draw your own map" things, that's not really my game style/what I'm looking for. The campaign's goal isn't 'draw a map' or 'explore' (or at least, I don't even know if any players are big on Exploration to begin with). I plan to draw a big poster map and display it, so that it's easy and speeds up play to chart distances, to see what has been uncovered, for players to decide to build roads or communities, etc.

In another thread, I posted how I'm likely going to just do a "anyone who shows up gets to game" attitude, because gaming with professionals in this area is too hard to work withe everyone's schedule. I can't count on a mapdrawer to show up every week to chart progress, etc.

My issue is just how much detail to provide on the overland map: geographical features or more extensive details.

 

[S'mon]

My issue is just how much detail to provide on the overland map: geographical features or more extensive details.

My last sandbox game I gave the players a map like this without any problems:

 

[Nytmare]

While I understand some of you like the "no map" or "draw your own map" things, that's not really my game style/what I'm looking for.

Sorry about that, when I hear hexcrawl/exploration, that's the kind of game I assume the person is talking about.

I plan to draw a big poster map and display it, so that it's easy and speeds up play to chart distances, to see what has been uncovered, for players to decide to build roads or communities, etc.

...

My issue is just how much detail to provide on the overland map: geographical features or more extensive details.

I guess that just turns into a question of how knowledgeable the players are supposed to be and how much secret information you want in the game.

If it's the kind of game where the characters themselves have a map, give them whatever info would be on the map. If they've heard rumors of a forgotten temple somewhere in the Forgotten Temple Woods, put a big question mark out there. If you want the Bandit King's Treefort to be a surprise later in the game, leave it off.

 

[Agamon]

My issue is just how much detail to provide on the overland map: geographical features or more extensive details.

It depends how much info you want them to have and how much exploring you want. The less on the map, the more exploring that needs to be done. If it's too detailed, there will be little exploring and it's more of a road trip to a destination.

So if the game is about the exploration, I'd make it a simple as possible. If the game is about the destination, add the details.

Also, I'm a bit confused. Upthread you mentioned that this is a new unexplored land. How did the PCs get a map? Or is it just that the player knows, but the PC doesn't?

 

[Melhaic]

[MENTION=463]S'mon[/MENTION]: What program did you use to make that map? It looks wonderful; just enough info to be useful, little enough so that it is evocative.

 

[Rechan]

How did the PCs get a map? Or is it just that the player knows, but the PC doesn't?

The PCs do not have a map. The map is for the players' benefit.

Sorry about that, when I hear hexcrawl/exploration, that's the kind of game I assume the person is talking about.

Ah. Perhaps there's some confusion then.

Here's my idea of Hexcrawling/Exploration:

"OK guys. Here's your starting location. Every Hex = 2 miles. Almost every hex has SOMEthing in it - resources, monster lairs/encounters, a site worth investigating, etc. If you just pass through the hex, you might encounter it but there's no guarantee. If you spend say, six hours searching an entire hex, then you will discover it. Pick one if you want to search."

Discovery then goes to a more focused Investigation/dungeon crawl/RP encounter/combat/narrative summary like "Hm you found some shiny rocks, perhaps there is a gold mine here".

"Let's just travel two hexes in this direction, towards the river." "Sounds good. You find nothing moving through the hexes, so you reach the river uneventfully." They don't just Encounter anything traveling through those hexes (as these are more hidden sites they will have to search) so they reach the river. I describe the river. "Let's travel up-stream!" "Sounds good." The next hex has a monster encounter. "We have some time to kill before we need to get back to base camp, let's explore the hex next to us thoroughly." "You find some sort of hut-like structure, and..." we focus on the investigation.

Later, "We have found a friendly village. But it took too long to travel here. Let's cut a path between our colony and this village, so travel is much easier, try to make a road." "Sounds good - that will reduce the amount of time it takes to travel through each Hex."