Hexcrawl Procedures Supplement

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OgreMage
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Re: Hexcrawl Procedures Supplement

Post by OgreMage »

Thanks for making this supplement, I'm really interested in it. I did a solo-playtest and I have a few questions about how you handle certain things.

Note: I have never DMed a hexcrawl before - so maybe there are rules/assumptions I'm missing.

1. Do you have a suggested character level? I made 4 PCs of 1st level. But I was wondering if it's assumed you are more than 1st level (I think BX assumes wilderness travel begins at 4th level?)

2. What do you do for food? A week of rations is 10gp. My characters traveled for a week, ending back in town at the end of the week. But never got any coin in their travels - since they usually had to run, and only killed a hawk which didn't have any coin. I used a "foraging" rule I found in another retroclone, but even that doesn't produce enough food for my characters to continue wandering. Now I guess they need to give up wilderness exploration and get day-jobs in town! Are there rules for hunting/foraging that makes this more viable in BFRPG? I couldn't find any, but maybe I just missed them. Obviously I could just ignore food and assume they are hunting/forage enough food as they go, but I figured tracking food was normally a main feature of doing a hex crawl.

3. Does BFRPG have rules for how far away creatures are when you encounter them? I used rules for this I found in another Retrtoclone because I couldn't find them in BFRPG.
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CptClyde
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Re: Hexcrawl Procedures Supplement

Post by CptClyde »

Thank you and welcome to BFRPG!!
Great questions. And of course there are no real "right answers" but here is what I do:

#1
I always start at level 1 and intended this to be used that way but not required. Yes it is true that wilderness encounters are VERY dangerous to 1st level PCs but that is sort of the point for me. I like the deadliness and realism of why no one becomes an adventurer, it's dangerous to leave town! :o)
Keep in mind that though it is brutal (and realistic) if you encounter a deadly foe and run it will probably only be able to catch and kill the slowest PC. I usually play it out round by round as everyone tries to run for their lives (sometimes in different directions and even getting lost by failed Wisdom rolls to regroup later lol) and when the monster(s) catch the slowest PC and finish them I roll moral check to see if they are motivated to bother chasing. If no one is in sight I may reduce the chance of chase.

#2
I allow my PCs to carry 7days of rations for free (no encumbrance, no cost) from their home town. My thought being they are residents of the town and can find free food from garden/animals/family etc. I don't bother charging for it. However, that assumes they return to their hometown. If visiting another (found) town, they must pay for their food. If they want to pack MORE than 7 days, it will cost money and encumbrance. We found this to be a reasonable balance between fun and accounting.

#3
i deal with this by making a "spot" check for the monster and PCs and have tried multiple different methods but not entirely happy with a particular one yet. Currently I roll a d20 under 13 to see if a wild animal(or animalistic monster) detects the party. The PCs roll d20 under their Wisdom (and a ranger can add his level to his Wisdom). Who ever rolls under their target number by the most wins the contest and "detects the enemy first". I roughly judge the distance at which enemy is detected by how much the success was by. That is how many rounds of movement away they are detected.
Ex: The party happens upon an owlbear in the forest. Ranger Rick is level 5 and has a Wis of 12 so has a target number of 17 to detect the owlbear. He rolls a D20 and gets a 10. The owlbear needs a 13 but rolls an 11. Rick notices the owlbear first and can decide to hide/ambush/retreat. He will notice the owlbear at 10 rounds worth of movement away. Depending on the party's next action the owlbear can make additional "spot checks". If Rick and the party decide to turn and run the owlbear will never know they were there. If within earshot distance or line-of-sight though the owlbear may get one more,especially for loud armour clad fighters running for instance.
feel free to add situational modifiers as well. This is where Rangers really start to shine, capable of saving an entire party.
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CptClyde
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Re: Hexcrawl Procedures Supplement

Post by CptClyde »

Added a new revision (r18).
Changes:
-25XP awarded for each cave/dungeon room explored (same as hex exploration reward)
-Added optional method for interpereting cave die drops. Any rolled number which is NOT listed on the table can be used as a ceiling height indicator in that area.

Updated XP table on the GM cheatsheet as well.
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dymondy2k
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Re: Hexcrawl Procedures Supplement

Post by dymondy2k »

I've been using the heck out of your rules playing in 'The Pit' so I thought I would offer some feedback. I hope this don't come off as too harsh I'm just a big fan of clarity and when I'm confused I want to point it out.

Treasure on knowledge entries, specifically coinage treasure. 'Roll randomly on the appropriate random treasure tables in the core rules.' This statement is really vague because there are no treasure tables for coins to roll against. There are the Treasure Types but those aren't determined by random rolls. May I suggest using the unguarded treasure list, using a 1d6 with a 1-4 being the treasure for their level and a 5-6 one level higher and then roll it out (or use the handy treasure generator on the website).
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CptClyde
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Re: Hexcrawl Procedures Supplement

Post by CptClyde »

Thank you I will take a look at it later this week.
greymark
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Re: Hexcrawl Procedures Supplement

Post by greymark »

Quick question ... what purpose does the 'Base Value' listed in Table 6: Settlement Size (Optional) serve?
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dymondy2k
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Re: Hexcrawl Procedures Supplement

Post by dymondy2k »

greymark wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:17 pm Quick question ... what purpose does the 'Base Value' listed in Table 6: Settlement Size (Optional) serve?
If I remember correctly if gives you an idea of how much gold the town is worth or has handy. Its usually used to gauge whether the town would have the money to buy stuff from you.
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CptClyde
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Re: Hexcrawl Procedures Supplement

Post by CptClyde »

I haven't made much use of it other than to guage roughly how big the local economy is. May come in handy for buing vast amounts of materials for stronghold building purposes or if things get really interesting: how much you could extort in ransom money after kidnapping their Lord/Duke/King.
horusofoz
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Re: Hexcrawl Procedures Supplement

Post by horusofoz »

Thank you for creating this supplement. I'm new to Basic and OSR in general. 5E/OGL refugee trying to hexcrawl solo to learn the system.

Can you please clarify what actions are required to:

Explore and map the wilderness - Is this just move into the hex and spend a "turn" exploring?

Clear a wilderness hex of monsters - The explanation indicates attempt tracking. Is this for every hex or just those where a lair has previously been identified?

Example
Starting a game with a town hex and the terrain of the surrounding hexes. I enter a hex bordering the town's hex and no encounters or points of interest are found.

Does that count as having explored/mapped the hex? Do I need to spend the equivalent of movement points or time to explore the hex? If so, do I roll another monster encounter check?

Can I clear this hex of monsters? If so, do I keep exploring or returning to the hex and attempting a tracking check until I locate a lair, defeat the creatures within, then count the hex as cleared?

Thanks for your help.
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Boggo
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Re: Hexcrawl Procedures Supplement

Post by Boggo »

horusofoz wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2023 6:37 am Thank you for creating this supplement. I'm new to Basic and OSR in general. 5E/OGL refugee trying to hexcrawl solo to learn the system.

Can you please clarify what actions are required to:

Explore and map the wilderness - Is this just move into the hex and spend a "turn" exploring?

Clear a wilderness hex of monsters - The explanation indicates attempt tracking. Is this for every hex or just those where a lair has previously been identified?

Example
Starting a game with a town hex and the terrain of the surrounding hexes. I enter a hex bordering the town's hex and no encounters or points of interest are found.

Does that count as having explored/mapped the hex? Do I need to spend the equivalent of movement points or time to explore the hex? If so, do I roll another monster encounter check?

Can I clear this hex of monsters? If so, do I keep exploring or returning to the hex and attempting a tracking check until I locate a lair, defeat the creatures within, then count the hex as cleared?

Thanks for your help.
My reading of the supplement is, entering and mapping the hex counts as having explored it, but it is not cleared until you have discovered and cleared a monster lair in it, so basically yes, if you want to clear a hex keep returning to it until you track a lair (or leave it uncleared and just keep exploring)
No matter where you go...there you are
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