Points of interest and hints of what kind of treasure can be had there. Write up a hundred of them & scatter some around the heroes' stating locale & hold some back for random travel. “What's Hag's Crag?” “A local merchant tells you it's a rocky fortress now occupied by a band of ogres who waylay travelers for their goods then retreat up to the fortress. Imagine what riches must be held there!”
This is great, thank you! I like the treasure map idea. The map itself is a treasure - I'm thinking my players will find a crude map in the goblin chief's chambers on their first adventure. Nearby monster dens & other goblin or Orc tribes will be marked, allowing the players to select the difficulty of their next encounters w/out me railroading. Other ways to make hex crawls more exciting are make them a kind of game within a game. For example, with big parties (or if the players have a small army of hirelings & retainers), house rule the larger the party size, the more likely PCs will encounter wandering monsters. You can even show your players your "formula" for rolling random encounters. So is it better to split the party? What is the optimal party size to avoid detection & not be too weakened in combat? Another idea is let the players find a magic item that tells them the distance to the closest big treasure hoard. But not the direction. Let the players figure out how best to triangulate the exact location. (Not fun if your players hated geometry in high school.)
This is quickly becoming my main channel for old school DMing assistance. Great content, this video was very helpful, I never even knew about treasure maps!
This has been recently an evergreen discussion. The thought I've had is using Mythic Bastionland style Myths/Omens, but instead for other games use Dungeon World Fronts and the Wilderness Travel Rolls. Each 1-3 (see Mythic Bastionland) you encounter a Grim Portent of a Danger of a Front. Then you can search those out or not, but it keeps the "narrative" forefront and focused.
I think I'm kind of following where you're going with this. Basically, whatever's going on "in a region" (define that by whatever hexes you feel said thing would range in), you'd find signs or encounter omens of that thing just passively traveling. And it's up to the players to interpret that and decide whether or not they'll pursue that lead at the moment... if it doesn't come to them, first, that is. 😈
@@GUNDAMURX73 Correct! In Mythic Bastionland, the PCs have Oaths to seek the Myths, but in a DW Front, you kind of have to be bought into the idea of seeking them out.
Hear, hear. Mythic Bastionland is a treasure. I have over a thousand PDFs and books, but Mythic Bastionland is the first in a minute that had me pause and appreciate the concepts. An excellent resource.
Awesome video, thank you. I have been following this whole series and its been helping a ton with understanding how to do all this sandbox stuff in an actual fun way.
I think it really comes down to whether or not your players demand to have their hands held by a unified plot/narrative. Both types of campaign can fail: a narrative campaign can fail to hold the attention or interest of the players, and a "sandbox" campaign can fail to have players interested in it. But adaptable players can makes something of both styles.
Have been thinking how to add more tension to hex crawls. What about making the quest a scavenger hunt, where the PCs are competing with NPCs (or another team of PCs?) to find a magic item. But not sure how to balance it so the team with a head start doesn't have an unfair advantage. Or what if the PCs are being chased by bounty hunters? Like the Nazgul chasing Frodo, Sam, Merry & Pippin. This can push the PCs to exhaustion if they have to force march to a safe haven. Or... they could attempt to lay an ambush on their pursuers.
@@alexhfgcs331, that's not aimless. That is a goal, an aim, a purpose. Hopefully there's enough inspiration/ encouragement to promote such gameplay/ interest in a sandbox. Otherwise more enticement is needed.
@@sleepinggiant4062 , I can't figure out what your comment is pointing at or underlining. Were you agreeing with the video's premise or identifying a shortfall?
Just found your channel and I LOVED your videos on sandboxing! I have a somewhat random question that I might've missed at some point. Where is the 8bit map you have used as thumbnail from?
I made it myself! But you can make your own using Hex Kit: cone.itch.io/hex-kit and the 8-bit tile sets by Zeshio (note that under Pixel-Hex there is also a demo set that is free. It is different tiles than the other two you have to pay for): zeshio.itch.io/pixel-hex zeshio.itch.io/pixel-hex-2
Every hex is surrounded by 6 hexes. Just roll a d8. The NPC’s rumor is about whatever point of interest is in the corresponding hex, with 7 & 8 being the hex the heroes are in.
Hey man! I have an upcoming game I am going to be sandboxing and I would love to get on the phone or discord with you for 10 minutes to pick your brain if you're down for it. Let me know if you'd be willing to do that. Regards
Check out Enchanted Nimbus for more Hex Crawl goodness here! tinyurl.com/bde847sm
This is super handy, I will be running a hex crawl sandbox in the very near future!
Best of luck with your games!
Love your stuff and especially all the sandbox and old school discussions
Thank you!
Points of interest and hints of what kind of treasure can be had there. Write up a hundred of them & scatter some around the heroes' stating locale & hold some back for random travel.
“What's Hag's Crag?”
“A local merchant tells you it's a rocky fortress now occupied by a band of ogres who waylay travelers for their goods then retreat up to the fortress. Imagine what riches must be held there!”
This is great, thank you! I like the treasure map idea. The map itself is a treasure - I'm thinking my players will find a crude map in the goblin chief's chambers on their first adventure. Nearby monster dens & other goblin or Orc tribes will be marked, allowing the players to select the difficulty of their next encounters w/out me railroading.
Other ways to make hex crawls more exciting are make them a kind of game within a game. For example, with big parties (or if the players have a small army of hirelings & retainers), house rule the larger the party size, the more likely PCs will encounter wandering monsters. You can even show your players your "formula" for rolling random encounters. So is it better to split the party? What is the optimal party size to avoid detection & not be too weakened in combat?
Another idea is let the players find a magic item that tells them the distance to the closest big treasure hoard. But not the direction. Let the players figure out how best to triangulate the exact location. (Not fun if your players hated geometry in high school.)
This is quickly becoming my main channel for old school DMing assistance.
Great content, this video was very helpful, I never even knew about treasure maps!
Glad its helpful!
This has been recently an evergreen discussion. The thought I've had is using Mythic Bastionland style Myths/Omens, but instead for other games use Dungeon World Fronts and the Wilderness Travel Rolls. Each 1-3 (see Mythic Bastionland) you encounter a Grim Portent of a Danger of a Front. Then you can search those out or not, but it keeps the "narrative" forefront and focused.
I think I'm kind of following where you're going with this. Basically, whatever's going on "in a region" (define that by whatever hexes you feel said thing would range in), you'd find signs or encounter omens of that thing just passively traveling. And it's up to the players to interpret that and decide whether or not they'll pursue that lead at the moment... if it doesn't come to them, first, that is. 😈
@@GUNDAMURX73 Correct! In Mythic Bastionland, the PCs have Oaths to seek the Myths, but in a DW Front, you kind of have to be bought into the idea of seeking them out.
Hear, hear.
Mythic Bastionland is a treasure. I have over a thousand PDFs and books, but Mythic Bastionland is the first in a minute that had me pause and appreciate the concepts.
An excellent resource.
I haven't check out Mythic Bastionland yet. But anything Chris McDowall is worth looking into.
Your hexkit maps look so slick.
the practical advice in this video is gold, thank you for sharing!
Glad it was helpful!
Awesome video, thank you. I have been following this whole series and its been helping a ton with understanding how to do all this sandbox stuff in an actual fun way.
Glad it helps!
Great advice, thanks!
Essential advice. Thank you!
I think it really comes down to whether or not your players demand to have their hands held by a unified plot/narrative. Both types of campaign can fail: a narrative campaign can fail to hold the attention or interest of the players, and a "sandbox" campaign can fail to have players interested in it. But adaptable players can makes something of both styles.
Thank you for the video, it had a lot of unique tips in it :) I am about to run my first hexcral super hyped to try out the treasure maps
Really like you Videos! Down to earth and very informative 👍🏻
Thank you!
Have been thinking how to add more tension to hex crawls. What about making the quest a scavenger hunt, where the PCs are competing with NPCs (or another team of PCs?) to find a magic item. But not sure how to balance it so the team with a head start doesn't have an unfair advantage.
Or what if the PCs are being chased by bounty hunters? Like the Nazgul chasing Frodo, Sam, Merry & Pippin. This can push the PCs to exhaustion if they have to force march to a safe haven. Or... they could attempt to lay an ambush on their pursuers.
Wandering aimlessly is boring regardless of the amount of freedom you have.
What about "I want to know whats there"?
@@alexhfgcs331, that's not aimless. That is a goal, an aim, a purpose. Hopefully there's enough inspiration/ encouragement to promote such gameplay/ interest in a sandbox. Otherwise more enticement is needed.
Wandering aimlessly is, indeed, boring, which is why they should be wandering aimfully (is that even a word?)
@@LaMirah - exactly. Freedom alone isn't enough.
@@sleepinggiant4062 , I can't figure out what your comment is pointing at or underlining. Were you agreeing with the video's premise or identifying a shortfall?
Just found your channel and
I LOVED your videos on sandboxing! I have a somewhat random question that I might've missed at some point. Where is the 8bit map you have used as thumbnail from?
I made it myself! But you can make your own using
Hex Kit: cone.itch.io/hex-kit
and the 8-bit tile sets by Zeshio (note that under Pixel-Hex there is also a demo set that is free. It is different tiles than the other two you have to pay for):
zeshio.itch.io/pixel-hex
zeshio.itch.io/pixel-hex-2
Every hex is surrounded by 6 hexes. Just roll a d8. The NPC’s rumor is about whatever point of interest is in the corresponding hex, with 7 & 8 being the hex the heroes are in.
The other thing I've found useful is to give every new character (not player) a new hook when they join the group
Hey man! I have an upcoming game I am going to be sandboxing and I would love to get on the phone or discord with you for 10 minutes to pick your brain if you're down for it. Let me know if you'd be willing to do that.
Regards
Shoot me an email (my contact info should be in the about section).