Let’s Make a Hexcrawl Setting

[Daztur]

OK, I've been mucking about in Word and Libreoffice looking at how to set up links and cross references. From what I can tell with Word I can enter in bookmarks and make a cross reference that tells me the page of the book mark but when I change what page the bookmark is on the references don't update. With Libreoffice they do.

So what we could do is stick in page number references using Libreoffice (the conversion has a few weird side effects like weird page breaks but should be easy to clear up) so instead of (or in addition to) saying what hex to refer to it says what page to refer to. So we stick in a bookmark that says "Lady Natala" and put in a cross reference that is both a link (so if you click on it it sends you to Lady Natala) but also a page number reference that tells you what page information about Lady Natala can be found on so it works as a physical book as well as a PDF.

Seems like that'd work, thought it'd be a bit time-consuming to enter in all of the bookmarks and references to them.

So next things to hammer out:
-Want to change the font and other format details? I notice you're using pretty different ones from mine. I think mine crams in more words per page since it has two columns and uses the pretty compact Century Gothic font for most text, although of course the pictures bloat it up a bit.
-How specifically to organize the stuff at the head of each region and the stuff that gets shuffled off to the appendixes. Your appendixes are pretty different from the stub ones in my version.

I think that the really vital ones for the appendix are races and religions. Most other text can be put into the region that it's based in. What about "stories?" They're pretty nebulous and a bit hard to sort.

The final thing is how to go about organizing hexes with lots of sub-hexes (Shuttered especially) a lot of them are really ripe with stuff that can get shuffled elsewhere and reorganized, but how to organize what's left? Organizing stuff in Shuttered according to the order it was written (as it is now) is probably not the best bet in the long term. But what about the hexes with just one or two subhex, thinking about what to do with those...

 

[Electric Wizard]

I haven't weighed in much on formatting. But I also like the idea of gazetteers divided between people, creatures, some history and hex descriptions. We have to make sure that each "edition" is more or less self-contained, with plenty of connections inside the region and a good sense of cohesion. Connections outside of the region (stories) could be written as hooks to get readers interested in other places, or at least inspire them to think about what they might want to put off of the hex map's borders.

I can a hex with only one or two subhexes being easily combined into one slightly larger hex.

 

[Daztur]

OK, I think that Sanglorian’s Gore write-up is basically on the right track when it comes to changing the format of the main compilation and we can get to work on that next month once some format stuff gets ironed out.

However, I really really want to also create some bite-sized bits of this setting that’ll be easier for people to digest than the whale of the compilation, no matter how well-organized it is, and I think I’ve hit on a good format.

Sample here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6z-iUIH4P8aeWNsZGUzM2ZJY0U/edit?usp=sharing (19^th century art included may not be entirely work safe)

The basic idea is that each gazetteer would be a 36-page mini sandbox that has more utilitarian information but without sacrificing the depth and flavor that makes this setting special.

How this would work is that each gazetteer would cover 19 hexes (one central hex and then two hexes in every direction, huge hexes like Shuttered could get their own gazetteer). Whenever there’s a bit of the map that has a chunk of 19 hexes like that, we could get to work on writing up a gazetteer that covers that corner of the world, with a bit of overlap being OK. Of course right now there aren’t any solid blocks of 19 described hexes, but there will be soon.

In these 36-page gazetteers each of the 19 hexes would get their own page. The remaining 17 pages would be used for the introduction, general overview information about the region covered by the 19 hexes, specific locations (think one page dungeons) within those 19 hexes and some short appendixes (including critter listings). If one hex needs a lot of detail it could run over to a second page but in general I’d prune some of the description out of wordy hexes and stick the extra stuff in the appendixes or introduction.

For each hex’s page I’d use the following format (as you can see in the PDF sample):
-Hex number and name on top.
-Quick overview for a DM in a hurry. It contains the same kind of stuff that you’d get in a traditional hexcrawl like Wilderlands of High Fantasy.
-Two encounters which’d be critters or other stuff PCs could run into within that hex. So basically a DM who doesn’t want to read a lot ONLY has to look at the overview and the encounters and can run things just fine. The encounters use Land of Nod-style stats that are as close to generic D&D as possible. The exact stat line could be changed around and should also include treasure; I just threw it together quickly.
-Then on the left there is some art and some connections noted with page numbers and hyperlinks. Often there’ll be white space here for the DM to make notes.
-On the right there is the hex write-up from the compilation. It can be pruned to make it fit or have bits shunted off into the intro/appendix of the gazetteer.
-On the bottom there is a more involved random encounter chart. It includes more than just the critter the PCs run into but also some other ideas to spark the DM’s imagination (but the DM can just roll the first column if in a hurry). Some results will be nonsensical in which case the DM can think up some bizarre justification (which is very much in the spirit of the setting), reroll or throw out the bits that don’t make sense. How it works is the DM rolls 2d6 for each column and gives the PCs a -1 (or more) penalty if they’re noisy and in a big hurry and a +1 (or more) bonus if they’re being slow and sneaky. So the nasty stuff gets low numbers, the nice stuff gets high numbers and common stuff falls in the middle (which isn’t quite the case in the sample since I threw it together quickly). In nice hexes the encounters would be padded out with non-combat encounters while other hexes would have a nastier selection.

Edit: maybe also have some encounters just be seeing signs that the given creature is around somewhere like Heget footprints.

So for example (rolls: 11, 9, 7, 7): a sailor falling in love with a lungfish just off the coast. OK, let’s say that the Heget’s magic misfired and now a shipwrecked sailor has been driven mad with love for a random lungfish and is swimming out to meet his love while shouting bad poetry. If the PCs don’t save him he’ll drown but will resist any attempt to save him and his shouts will attract nasty things. Sounds fun, very much a Shrouded Lands random encounter.

The specific random entries could stand to be improved and there’d be a lot of copy and pasting between nearby hexes (so you’d often encounter stuff that lives in an adjacent hex while wandering around).

The basic idea is to include everything a DM needs to run an adventure in that hex, our current write-up has a lot of great ideas but it doesn’t have a lot of the nuts and bolts that I like to prep out before running an adventure. These gazetteers would have more of that.

Thoughts? Damn that’s long, sorry for blathering on so long about all of this, but I think I’ve hit on something cool.

 

[Sanglorian]

Daztur
OK, I've been mucking about in Word and Libreoffice looking at how to set up links and cross references. From what I can tell with Word I can enter in bookmarks and make a cross reference that tells me the page of the book mark but when I change what page the bookmark is on the references don't update. With Libreoffice they do.

So what we could do is stick in page number references using Libreoffice (the conversion has a few weird side effects like weird page breaks but should be easy to clear up) so instead of (or in addition to) saying what hex to refer to it says what page to refer to. So we stick in a bookmark that says "Lady Natala" and put in a cross reference that is both a link (so if you click on it it sends you to Lady Natala) but also a page number reference that tells you what page information about Lady Natala can be found on so it works as a physical book as well as a PDF.

Seems like that'd work, thought it'd be a bit time-consuming to enter in all of the bookmarks and references to them. [1]

So next things to hammer out:
-Want to change the font and other format details? I notice you're using pretty different ones from mine. I think mine crams in more words per page since it has two columns and uses the pretty compact Century Gothic font for most text, although of course the pictures bloat it up a bit. [2]
-How specifically to organize the stuff at the head of each region and the stuff that gets shuffled off to the appendixes. Your appendixes are pretty different from the stub ones in my version. [3]

I think that the really vital ones for the appendix are races and religions. Most other text can be put into the region that it's based in. What about "stories?" They're pretty nebulous and a bit hard to sort. [3]

The final thing is how to go about organizing hexes with lots of sub-hexes (Shuttered especially) a lot of them are really ripe with stuff that can get shuffled elsewhere and reorganized, but how to organize what's left? Organizing stuff in Shuttered according to the order it was written (as it is now) is probably not the best bet in the long term. But what about the hexes with just one or two subhex, thinking about what to do with those... [4]

[1] Sounds good – I'll let you know if I think of an alternative approach.

[2] Oh, I think your font and format are good. I just went with the easiest formatting options for me to knock together a document quickly. That said, I think there's one thing you should definitely do and that's use styles ('Heading 1', 'Body text', etc) more – and I could make custom styles for you ('Hooks Subheading') etc. I think using them will make everyone's life easier in the long run.

[3] I think if we start collecting things that belong in the appendices, it'll become clearer which appendices we need. I'd definitely say Creatures, Religions, Stories, Other Nations, History, Appendix N, Races, Organisations at a minimum.

[4] I'd like to move towards more subheadings in hexes. This could include the existing subhexes, but also other times when we discuss multiple things in the same hex – it doesn't hurt to put in a subheading to highlight the different details.

Electric Wizard
I haven't weighed in much on formatting. But I also like the idea of gazetteers divided between people, creatures, some history and hex descriptions. We have to make sure that each "edition" is more or less self-contained, with plenty of connections inside the region and a good sense of cohesion. Connections outside of the region (stories) could be written as hooks to get readers interested in other places, or at least inspire them to think about what they might want to put off of the hex map's borders. [5]

I can a hex with only one or two subhexes being easily combined into one slightly larger hex.

[5] Sounds good – looks like the gazetteers are popular.

Daztur OK, I think that Sanglorian’s Gore write-up is basically on the right track when it comes to changing the format of the main compilation and we can get to work on that next month once some format stuff gets ironed out.

However, I really really want to also create some bite-sized bits of this setting that’ll be easier for people to digest than the whale of the compilation, no matter how well-organized it is, and I think I’ve hit on a good format.

Sample here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6z-...it?usp=sharing (19^th century art included may not be entirely work safe)

The basic idea is that each gazetteer would be a 36-page mini sandbox that has more utilitarian information but without sacrificing the depth and flavor that makes this setting special.

How this would work is that each gazetteer would cover 19 hexes (one central hex and then two hexes in every direction, huge hexes like Shuttered could get their own gazetteer). Whenever there’s a bit of the map that has a chunk of 19 hexes like that, we could get to work on writing up a gazetteer that covers that corner of the world, with a bit of overlap being OK. Of course right now there aren’t any solid blocks of 19 described hexes, but there will be soon.

In these 36-page gazetteers each of the 19 hexes would get their own page. The remaining 17 pages would be used for the introduction, general overview information about the region covered by the 19 hexes, specific locations (think one page dungeons) within those 19 hexes and some short appendixes (including critter listings). If one hex needs a lot of detail it could run over to a second page but in general I’d prune some of the description out of wordy hexes and stick the extra stuff in the appendixes or introduction. [6]

For each hex’s page I’d use the following format (as you can see in the PDF sample):
-Hex number and name on top.
-Quick overview for a DM in a hurry. It contains the same kind of stuff that you’d get in a traditional hexcrawl like Wilderlands of High Fantasy.
-Two encounters which’d be critters or other stuff PCs could run into within that hex. So basically a DM who doesn’t want to read a lot ONLY has to look at the overview and the encounters and can run things just fine. The encounters use Land of Nod-style stats that are as close to generic D&D as possible. The exact stat line could be changed around and should also include treasure; I just threw it together quickly.
-Then on the left there is some art and some connections noted with page numbers and hyperlinks. Often there’ll be white space here for the DM to make notes.
-On the right there is the hex write-up from the compilation. It can be pruned to make it fit or have bits shunted off into the intro/appendix of the gazetteer.
-On the bottom there is a more involved random encounter chart. It includes more than just the critter the PCs run into but also some other ideas to spark the DM’s imagination (but the DM can just roll the first column if in a hurry). Some results will be nonsensical in which case the DM can think up some bizarre justification (which is very much in the spirit of the setting), reroll or throw out the bits that don’t make sense. How it works is the DM rolls 2d6 for each column and gives the PCs a -1 (or more) penalty if they’re noisy and in a big hurry and a +1 (or more) bonus if they’re being slow and sneaky. So the nasty stuff gets low numbers, the nice stuff gets high numbers and common stuff falls in the middle (which isn’t quite the case in the sample since I threw it together quickly). In nice hexes the encounters would be padded out with non-combat encounters while other hexes would have a nastier selection. [7]

Edit: maybe also have some encounters just be seeing signs that the given creature is around somewhere like Heget footprints.

So for example (rolls: 11, 9, 7, 7): a sailor falling in love with a lungfish just off the coast. OK, let’s say that the Heget’s magic misfired and now a shipwrecked sailor has been driven mad with love for a random lungfish and is swimming out to meet his love while shouting bad poetry. If the PCs don’t save him he’ll drown but will resist any attempt to save him and his shouts will attract nasty things. Sounds fun, very much a Shrouded Lands random encounter.

The specific random entries could stand to be improved and there’d be a lot of copy and pasting between nearby hexes (so you’d often encounter stuff that lives in an adjacent hex while wandering around). [7]

The basic idea is to include everything a DM needs to run an adventure in that hex, our current write-up has a lot of great ideas but it doesn’t have a lot of the nuts and bolts that I like to prep out before running an adventure. These gazetteers would have more of that.

Thoughts? Damn that’s long, sorry for blathering on so long about all of this, but I think I’ve hit on something cool. [8]

[6] 19 hexes sounds a bit forced – what about regional gazetteers ('Where the Bears Rule', 'Over the Edge') that aim to cover about 19 hexes but won't necessarily be exactly that number or be in a square?

But all the other parts sound great.

[7] I like the more involved random encounter chart, but I'm not sure that it belongs in every hex. What about one at the beginning of the gazetteer, for all (or some) of the hexes in the gazetteer? That could create a more dynamic setting, where creatures and people travel outside of their hexes and interact with creatures and people in other hexes – and it leaves room in each hex entry for 'something extra' – a hex on a temple might have a few new spells, or a hex on a castle might have stats for the captain of the guards and his elite soldiers.

[8] Don't apologise! I think it's great that we're talking about this and the gazetteers sound like fun.

 

[Daztur]

Quick note: one big reason I want to do some small stuff is chutup said on his blog about this project "perhaps too complex to actually use." And if that's true for chutup (who wrote a lot of the best content for this setting) that's probably really really true for a lot of newbies seeing the big damn compilation. So I think writing up some bite-sized bits is something I really want to do. Also I took on two new freelance gigs last month so I have even more subway time (when I get all this stuff done) traveling between different offices so I have time to crank out some stuff for the foreseeable future.

Gotta run soon, but in agreement with you on the compilation stuff. I don't use enough shortcuts like "styles" or entering in page breaks, I just do things manually. I still have MS Works on the brain I guess.

Agreed on not being exactly 19 hexes in a circle but something around that number should work as long as there's no "holes" in the chunk of hexes.

For the random encounter stuff I'm really torn on that since it takes up a lot of space to have a separate one for each hex. That's not a big deal with the Heget one but there'd be space issues with the wordier hexes. On the other hand having each hex have its own random encounter table gives each its own character and there would be a lot of overlap (for example if an ogre lives in Hex 11.11 it'd show up in Hex 11.12 as well).

I'd like the random tables to give the following results:
-Often run into common regional stuff and stuff native to that hex.
-Sometimes run into stuff from neighboring hexes.
-Rarely run into things from a few hexes over.

Not sure how to do that without having a table for each hex. Hmmmm...

Also there are some hexes that are REALLY self-contained with stuff that lives there that doesn't live elsewhere while in other places there's stuff that's native to a big slew of hexes...

So what're people thinking for the first gazetteer? Maybe the Barrier Peaks? That's pretty self-contained, mostly done and in a nice blob. Other ideas? Bears are popular, the NW corner has a lot of stuff, but not my favorite stuff. Central Thring is also pretty fleshed out. Could also do Shuttered but that'd be harder to organize.

 

[Sanglorian]

Quick note: one big reason I want to do some small stuff is chutup said on his blog about this project "perhaps too complex to actually use." And if that's true for chutup (who wrote a lot of the best content for this setting) that's probably really really true for a lot of newbies seeing the big damn compilation. So I think writing up some bite-sized bits is something I really want to do. Also I took on two new freelance gigs last month so I have even more subway time (when I get all this stuff done) traveling between different offices so I have time to crank out some stuff for the foreseeable future.

Gotta run soon, but in agreement with you on the compilation stuff. I don't use enough shortcuts like "styles" or entering in page breaks, I just do things manually. I still have MS Works on the brain I guess.

Agreed on not being exactly 19 hexes in a circle but something around that number should work as long as there's no "holes" in the chunk of hexes.

For the random encounter stuff I'm really torn on that since it takes up a lot of space to have a separate one for each hex. That's not a big deal with the Heget one but there'd be space issues with the wordier hexes. On the other hand having each hex have its own random encounter table gives each its own character and there would be a lot of overlap (for example if an ogre lives in Hex 11.11 it'd show up in Hex 11.12 as well).

I'd like the random tables to give the following results:
-Often run into common regional stuff and stuff native to that hex.
-Sometimes run into stuff from neighboring hexes.
-Rarely run into things from a few hexes over.

Not sure how to do that without having a table for each hex. Hmmmm...

Also there are some hexes that are REALLY self-contained with stuff that lives there that doesn't live elsewhere while in other places there's stuff that's native to a big slew of hexes...[1]

So what're people thinking for the first gazetteer? Maybe the Barrier Peaks? That's pretty self-contained, mostly done and in a nice blob. Other ideas? Bears are popular, the NW corner has a lot of stuff, but not my favorite stuff. Central Thring is also pretty fleshed out. Could also do Shuttered but that'd be harder to organize. [2]

(Writing this furtively at work, so I'll be quick too!)

[1] We could have a general regional random encounter table and then for the self-contained hexes their own random encounter tables. Another thought: what about a table that you roll different dice for depending on the hex? For example, the things found in the north of the region could be around the higher numbers, so you'd roll 1d20+1d6 to determine random encounters for the north, and things in the south could be around lower numbers, so you'd roll 1d20-1d6 (and the random encounter table would go from -5 to 25).

[2] Yeah, the NW is definitely filled in the most but I feel like it doesn't have a consistent theme or flavour like the other regions - it really is like a string of hexes. There's a patch that includes Blind Midshotgate that is only missing 7 of the 19 hexes. And bears are always cool.

 

[Triskaideka]

I plan to use Everdark to help tie some things in the NW together, since I mean it to be a decent sized town, suitable to be an adventuring hub.

 

[Daztur]

OK for the random encounters I like having them. Normally when PCs are spending a lot of time in the wilderness in a small area there’s a couple different locations and encounters they can run into. We don’t really have that so the random encounters provide basically all of the adventuring nuts and bolts.

The two main reasons not to have them:
-Take too much time to write them up: not so bad I don’t think, lots of copy pasta between different hexes is possible.
-Takes up too much space. Well they do. This is the main one. Could shrink it down a bit I suppose.

But look at the map Hex 11.01 is crawling with goblins and should have very few encounters with other sentient species. Hex 14.01 is crawling with bears and is going to have few if any goblins. But you can’t just make there be more goblins in the west and more bears in the east since in the middle there are bunches of half-orcs. Also a LOT of hexes have stuff that you’d encounter there and nowhere else, especially when you consider that the tables produce terrain as well. Hard to model that without making up bunches of different tables.

Or for another example in the Hex 20.16 write-up it says that there are crowfolk bandits about, which’d have it make more sense to only run into those specific bandits around here not evenly across a big swath of hexes.

Another thing that’s important is that some hexes should be very dangerous places and others should be safe. Have to model that without different tables but maybe some similar hexes should share tables.

Is a bit time-consuming, but just scatter bears throughout all of the hexes where bears show up could be workable.

Looking over the map maybe instead of a round chunk of hexes around the Pool of the Firebirds (which is pretty random and not my favorite bit of the map) maybe a strip off the western coast more or less from Everdark to the Cross? That has a more consistent feel (melancholic, giant pirates in cloud castles, misty, wet and gloomy feel). Also that gives us a bit of flexibility to meander along the coast and grab some of the best hexes while giving the more boring ones a pass.

Maybe:
Hex 00.02 the Pirate Kings: good stuff.
Hex 01.02 the Scorshia Birches: not my best hex but decent adventure seed for low level PCs, go harvest a bunch of rare wood and haul it back to sell it. Plays into the Oregon Trail aspects of D&D that I like.
Hex 02.03 Mount Scorshia: connects in with the theme of “lots of giants” and has some adventure seeds.
Hex 01.03 the Everdark: good base for adventurers. Can help tie the region together.
Hex 02.04: empty hex plunk in something with a lot of connections to other stuff along the coast.
Hex 01.04 the Chalk Cliffs: not many adventure seeds but fits into the giant theme.
Hex 02.05 Hoth Akbir: more giants and the local dungeon. Good adventuring site.
Hex 01.05 Laughing Sam: solid hex from chutup (right?) and good connections.
Hex 00.06: the Ocean of Bitter Regrets and the Dreamsong. I’m proud of this writing, good stuff here.
Hex 02.06 the Spawning Pool of the Salamanders: a bit random, maybe give it a pass?
Hex 01.06 the Warbling Coast: pretty generic but the entry is really short, can have cool stuff added.
Hex 02.07: Broderick’s Grove: entry is a bit of a stub, no much more than “redwoods grow here” could have something cool added.
Hex 01.07 The Saltwood: a bit random but Zuc’s OK. Maybe stick the druids here?
Hex 01.08 Broderick’s Estuary: pretty generic.
Hex 00.09 Salt Point: creepy lighthouse.
Hex 01.09 Fernsbank: solid hex.
Hex 01.10 Cave of Kull Cove: solid adventuring location, is based on a one page dungeon.
Hex 02.11 The Cross: good bookend on the other side.

Potential additional hexes: 00.03, 00.04, 00.05, 00.07, 00.08, 02.09, 00.10, 00.11, 01.11

Could work. Some bland hexes but they’re the short ones and have space for spicing up.

Alternatively I think the area of eastern Thring most of the Barrier Peaks (giving the stuff too closely tied to Shuttered a miss) and the area upstream of Blind Midshotgate Pool works well. Birlwood Hall provides an adventuring location, Where the Levee Breaks provides a hook (Witch Clans up to no good)

Maybe:
Hex 19.15 Chicken Dragon: a bit goofy but fun monster.
Hex 20.16 Castle Spiriwin: good hex would make for some fun adventures.
Hex 21.14 Birlwood Hold: good hex, solid base for adventuring locations.
Hexes 21.15 and 22.15: creepy ogre sisters, good adventure fodder.
Hexes 22.16 and 23.16: Witch Queen and her dogs good antagonist.
Hex 20.18 the Foolish Sages: these guys are funny.
Hex 22.18 Where the Levee Breaks: provides a hook to get PCs involved with the Witch Clans.
Hex 24.15 Phantom hex. Weird there’s no description of this hex anywhere.
Hexes 23.18, 23.19, 24.18, 24.20, 25.16, 25.17, 26.16 = witch clans.
Hex 26.17: a dungeon, adventuring site.
Hexes 25.18 & 19 could be stolen off of Blind Midshotgatepool

Fill in most some combination of 21.16, 22.17, 23.17, 24.17, 24.16, and 23.15.

Hmmmm, more hexes to fill in than the coastal strip, maybe hit the coastal strip?

Note: I’m giving the stuff in the NE corner of the mountains a pass since they’re connected too closely in with Shuttered, they’d fit better with the area between the mountains and the City with stuff like the White Road.

Note to self: Hex 25.19 doesn’t show up on the map.

 

[Electric Wizard]

Now that you mention it, eastern Thring would definitely be a fun, unique place to start a campaign. The only problem is that, as of now, it has only one potential dungeon. Let me help out with that! This hex is inspired by a legend of a medieval pope so pious that the only way he could grow spiritually was to summon demons to tempt him. If that's not Shrouded Lands worthy, nothing is.

Catacombs of St. Dulaine (21.16)

Long before the Witch Queen appeared, a small monastery dedicated to St. Dulaine rose from an island above this marsh. Its remoteness made its monks unusually esoteric. The theological texts from the monastery remain among the few scholarly works devoted to the Green Lady.

The monastery's last abbot, Moldenke the Aloof, believed himself above worldly temptations and tempted his faith by summoning imps and other minor demons. He defeated their temptations through faith and logic, but his repeated conjurations drew attention from more powerful entities. One night, when the stars and moon were right, the minor demons he summoned and caged for his own theological exercises broke free and destroyed the abbey with infernal glee.

Many of these demons still lurk in the catacombs beneath the abbey ruins. Their presence has corrupted the local flora and fauna. The berries around the abbey are poisonous. The bats are huge, malicious, and their wings erupt with flames when threatened. Adventurers who delve into the dungeon seeking old texts and relics report that skeletons, zombies, toads and spiders fill the tunnels.

Connections
-Lady Spiriwin (20.16) is convinced that some of the berries around the abbey could fatally poison her awful husband.
-Moor hounds (22.16) refuse to chase prey into the catacombs. Their quarry's relief is always short-lived.
-The Foolish Sages (20.18) desire the scrolls containing the dialogue between Moldenke the Aloof and the conjured demons. They are rumored to be hidden deep within the crypts.

Hooks
-Who was St. Dulaine?
-Which demons dwell in the catacombs?
-What secrets do Moldenke's dialogues contain?
-What relics await liberation?
-Why don't moor hounds follow their prey into the catacombs?

 

[Sanglorian]

Hmm, another thought just struck me - what about deliberately making incomplete gazetteers to reach out to new contributors? If every gazetteer had three or four unfilled hexes, there'd be a low entry point for contributors: there's three or four hexes just waiting to be filled, and here's a manageable-sized gazetteer of the stuff around them.