Luke Gearing's masterwork Wolves Upon the Coast has put me in a hexcrawl kind of mood.
The game I'm working on right now is called THAUMOS, and it puts the players in the boots of quite potent wizards, working with their retainers and lackeys to gain power and influence across the land. To make that sort of game work, you need land!
The idea is that the party will start in Fort Bergengard (0601), a gaggle of apprentices sent south by their master to annex this region to his dread empire. The map is divided into three city-states (from east to west: the Flowerlands, the Duskenlands, and the Crownslands) hemmed in by mountains, swamps, ocean, and the cliffs of a high plateau.
Magic items shown in bold are all drawn from my list of 50 System-agnostic Magic Items. Spells used and Dooms suffered by NPC wizards come from the various Lores of monosophia.
0101: Failed Mine
A lonesome peak leans at an unnatural angle, supported by inner veins of iron melted and cast by some unnatural primordial force. A band of entrepreneurs from Dancing tried to start an iron mine here, but they were slaughtered by goat-men. Their families would be grateful for their remains.
0201: Goat-man Nomads
Fear of Henstooth has driven this clan of goat-men west across the White Snake River. Soon, they will be forced around the northwest corner of Snakehead Lake and come into direct conflict with the Triplets.
0301: Grey Hills
Here the wizard Henstooth jealously guards the Midnight Tower, built of deep blue stone on a confluence of ley-lines. She harries scouting parties from Dusk with bands of wolves and bears, herself taking the shape of a giant vulture. She knows that Smoker could crush her if he made a concerted effort, and fear is consuming her. Henstooth wears Grandmother's Jaws.
0401: Skaffenfals
Here Bear River plunges a full bowshot down a granite cliff. Rival clans of eel-men live at the top and bottom of the falls.
0501: Screamer
A winged terror lairs in these peaks. survivors are never clear on its exact nature, only that it has vast wings and emits piercing shrieks. Screamer was once a wizard, a survivor of the third Doom of Beasts who slew the Ur-Predator and claimed the ultimate hunting form.
0601: Fort Bergengard
Gateway to the north, a stone-and-steel cork plugging the only pass through the mountains. Lady Ghaith, disdainful of everyone and everything to the south, commands. She would very much like to be rid of the creature Screamer that lairs to the west. She wields Aigenthwait.
0701: Apex Temple
Steps carved into the mountainside lead to a peak with a perfectly flat top, as if cut by some massive blade. Every full 24 hours spent here staring up at the sky carries a 3-in-6 chance of learning a new Secret of the Heavens, and a 1-in-6 chance of instant death as the sky claims an offering. Deliberate sacrifice may draw the eye of a prince of the upper air.
0102: Goat-man Raiders
A party of a dozen goat-men is scouting new homelands for their tribe. They have been happily pillaging the outlying farms of the Triplets for a few weeks. Their leader, Ouluo, wields Corbie's Claw.
0202: Snakehead Lake
White Snake River does not lose its strength as it passes through, a strong current down the middle of the lake. The rest of the waters are milk-pale and placid. The lake is unnaturally deep, but any straight length of wood touched against the bottom becomes an implement of power. Further contact between such an implement and the water of the lake dissolves the wood like sugar.
0302: Dusk
Ring-city surrounding the Dusktower (pale purple stone). Confluence of ley-lines. Home of the wizard Smoker, although he spends half his time at the Noontower. Administrated by Blackfingers, a failed apprentice who uses his magic to hunt sedition. Smoker's moniker comes from the interaction between his robes and the 2nd Doom of Fire.
0402: Curds
Town with an economy based on beef and dairy, sometimes called "the milk-jug of Dusk." Ruled by a plutocratic council of five cheese-lords. The town's mascot, Dun Bess, is missing.
0502: Bearbridge
Town of farmers and fishermen, sitting at the eastern end of the bridge from which it takes its name. Trade has slowed in recent years as the relationship between Dusk and Bloom has cooled. However, enterprising merchants from Curds still make the long trip over the pass to the North, and for that they must pay the toll at Bearbridge. The local leader One-ear, a massive and jovial man, does his best to retain the favor of both nearby cities. He carries Bullkiller and knows Secrets of Flesh (1, 3, & 9). He uses his detached ear to spy on his fellow villagers.
0602: Floral Banners
The Brass Maiden's armies muster here, churning the fields to mud. Lord Dhommen (wears the Champion's Helm) commands troops who are growing weary of waiting for orders. He is unsure whether the Maiden intends to strike east towards Dusk or north toward Fort Bergengard.
0702: The Devilspipe
Fume-spewing volcano. Lair of the wizard Flamewatcher (Fire 1-12, Flesh 2, Sea 11). Every week spent studying the volcano grants access to a random Secret of Fire (do not re-roll duplicates). Flamewatcher suffers from the 3rd Doom of the Heavens, and so cannot leave his mountain lair. He will share all his lore in exchange for a cure. Flamewatcher shares the volcano with a phoenix who pines for him with unrequited passion.
0103: Dancing
Farming village cradled in a bend of the Black Snake River. Glanneth leads, a hero after killing four goat-men with Fletcherskip. Makers of animated straw-men, and eager to sell them as porters.
0203: The Triplets
Borders between the towns of Thatch, Lure, and Rye have blurred over the years, with a tangle of bridges built across the Black Snake and White Snake. However, the three towns remain stubbornly independent, maintaining separate governments and codes of law despite their ties. Bad blood among the ruling class has prevented them from mounting a campaign against either the Snakehead Bandits to the east or the goat-men to the northwest. Notable figures include Snowhead, a white-haired young urchin who scams newcomers using the Peddler's Pouch.
0303: Snakehead Bandits
A group of mercenaries has taken to preying on caravans between Dusk and the Triplets. Thus far, Smoker has been stretched too thin to deal with them, but the bandit leader Brell (bears the Soulclaw) knows his luck is bound to run out.
0403: Glass Tree
The road skirts near the forest here, and when the moon is high at night a strange glow can be seen through the trees. Hidden in a secluded glade grows a tree of glass, heavy with many-colored fruits and emitting a soft melody. The tree is guarded by razor-limbed glass dryads. Plucking a fruit causes the branch it grows on to shatter, spraying razor-sharp glass three paces in every direction. A fruit so plucked can be used as an orb, serving as an implement of power, although humming the tree's melody in reverse will destroy it.
0503: Ruins of Flussgard
A once-mighty fortress, reduced to rubble. The vaults below are full of traps and murder-golems, guardians of the Golemlord's treasure that have long outlasted their master.
0603: Bloom
The city of flowers. Ruled by the Brass Maiden, who wears Shae's Mantle and wields Dominion. Greydorre and Golden Grass have shielded her from the passage of years, but their power is stretched thin. She is secretly desperate for a more permanent solution to mortality.
0703: Wolf Lake
Packs of wolves roam the northern and western banks. To the southeast, clear waters gradually choke on brown mud until they blend into the swamp.
0104: Pitchfork Tower
A slender spire of dark stone rises right at the edge of the high plateau, visible from below for miles around. Two-thirds of the way up, the tower splits in three, a seemingly-impossible architectural marvel. Two rival sorcerers dwell within, locked in a bitter struggle over the third tine.
0204: Yoxosotinax
Small village hidden by a dense wall of pine trees. The villagers are all of Üxan ethnicity and speak no Thraish. They do not remember how their ancestors arrived here. Led by Gurüm, a simple shepherd who came to power when he discovered the circlet Authority.
0304: The Knotwood
The trees here grow tangled together, forming a three-dimensional maze of wooden bridges, platforms, and tunnels. "The Green Prowler," a Woken Tree, hunts bearers of fire or steel. Protruding from its body is the Oakheart; ripping the staff free turns the monster into an ordinary tree.
0404: Ash Town
Small hamlet, kept alive only by the patronage of the wizard Smoker (he rests here when traveling between Dusk and the Noontower). Also notable for its fine guard dogs, of which there are 1d6+2 available for sale at any given time.
0504: Claybone Fields
The site of an ancient battle between Üxan colonial forces and the armies of the Golemlord. The smashed golems are inert, but the many human bones rise each night into a skeletal parody of martial array, dressed in corroded Üxan mail, their spears thirsty for living blood.
0604: Mintford Ferry
The currents of the Wolf River are strong and unpredictable between Wolf Lake and the junction with the Bear River. The only safe way to cross is on the ferry, run by an old man named Mint. He is secretly a minor wizard (Sea 4 & 9), and he occasionally demands extra payment halfway across the river, sinking the boat and swimming to safety if refused.
0704: Julip
Village nestled in a stinking swamp, center of a network of marsh-dwelling families. Led by Aila, who metes out justice using the axe Rexxenvalt. The tail from a blue-headed swamp rat can be made into an implement of power, although the touch of blood will dissolve it.
0105: Jungle of the Mushroom-People
The dense jungles of the high plateau house a civilization of their own, fungal rather than mammal. The human inhabitants of the plateau have treaties with the mushroom-people, but strangers not making the proper obeisance will be drugged and collected for domestication.
0205: Sheer
Town, guards the base of the only descent from the high plateau for a hundred miles. Padrix (wears the Horatian Greaves) commands the guard force. He obsessively studies what little is known of the civilization on the high plateau, and has become enamored of their strange culture.
0305: Black Snake Bridge
The old stone bridge collapsed a year ago, and workers from Crowns have built a makeshift string of barges to take its place. The collapse was engineered by conspirators from Fetchport, who hope that without a river crossing Crowns will lose its grip on the lands east of the Black Snake River. Work is led by Ethal, who wears Grogangrip.
0405: Kettle
Fishing town named for a nearby rock formation. Led by Elmore, an ancient man who secretly harbors anti-Crowns sympathies. A unit of elite soldiers from Crowns is stationed here, under the command of Wexxen. Their nominal mission is to assassinate the wizard Smoker as he travels between Dusk and the Noontower, but they have so far been content to laze around terrorizing the locals. Wexxen carries Glassrazor (a gift from Thraix), but he is too afraid to ignite it.
0505: The Noontower
Bone-white stone, built on a confluence of ley lines. The wizard Smoker spends half his time here, the other half in Dusk. The tower is tended by Smoker's apprentice Meadow. She uses the Bow of Years to send messages directly to Dusk. If she calls for help, Smoker will arrive in eight hours, having used the Demon Bridle to ride a horse to death and beyond.
0605: Ruins of Darxax
Cliff-city. The only foothold Üxan ever gained in the North. Destroyed two generations ago by the forces of the Golemlord, who lost his own life in the siege. Now it is nothing but an enormous tomb, haunted by a single surviving murder-golem which bears the stone Claywaker in its forehead.
0705: Wheel-on-the-Island
Town of sailors, merchants, and corsairs. Thraish, Üxan, and the sailors' argot Salt are all spoken here. Stammer, a minor wizard, rules by acclaim of his fellow captains--word of his brilliance in fending off raids from Nüx has spread as far as Crowns. However, he has fallen in love with the Brass Maiden, and some are beginning to doubt his ability to protect Wheel's independence from Bloom. He wears the Galilean Boots.
0106: Vlaagos
Cliff-city. Despite its poor harbor, ships are constantly docked to trade for the fruits, spices, and ointments of the high plateau. The ruling class are giants, eight feet tall and hairless--the result of careful breeding and a strict chemical regimen that begins in the womb. Led by Uldraa, a wizard who knows the secret of commanding lightning (Heavens 11). She carries Might.
0206: Fetchport
Once a city, killed by its proximity to the more prosperous Crowns. Clinging to life on fishing and what little trade passes down from the high plateau through Sheer and Vlaagos. Led by Rexxa, a fiery young woman who killed her predecessor in a duel. She carries Cloudcutter.
0306: Crowns
Thriving port city, ripe with trade from Üxan via Kaxarax. Ruled by triumvirate of merchants-lords: Lenna, Thraix, and Dhommas. Lenna is the sister of Stammer, and hides her use of Dream-magic to gain influence. Thraix is a retired pirate; he wears Raker and suffers crippling insomnia (Lenna has stolen the sleep from his eyes). Dhommas is a charlatan-turned-prophet, whose latest pseudonym comes from the magic ring he wore until it was recently stolen (he is desperate to get it back).
0506: The Dawntower
Pale yellow stone, built on a confluence of ley lines. Üxan soldiers guard it, led by Rü, a skilled hypnotist. They have no wizard to claim the tower, but they will lay down their lives to prevent a foreigner from controlling it.
0606: Nüx
Colonial Üxan outpost, lifeline to Darxax before its fall. Ruled by Darüx Sotin, Darüx Gum's cousin. Sotin is an expert hypnotist but a poor leader: recent failed raids against Wheel-on-the-Island have his commanders muttering mutiny in the taverns.
0207: The Isle of Scales
Temples to a long-tongued god. Men born with webbed feet and gills. Women who give themselves to the creatures of the deep. A king who feasts on human flesh. Here one may learn Secrets of Flesh and Sea, but at what cost?
0507: Karaxax
Colonial port of Üxan. Hemmed in against the bay by a petrified forest. Ruler is Darüx Gum, a scholar and master hypnotist. he pays lip service to Üxan, but secretly yearns to rule the island as a king. Gum wields the Papermind.
0607: Locust Temple
The living god of a long-vanished insectoid civilization waits within, chitin and mandibles untouched by the eons.
Random Encounters
Anywhere
Duskenlands
Crownslands
Flowerlands
Border Regions
Üxan Colony
Open Sea
For aesthetics' sake, here's a copy of the map without all those hex numbers in the way. I love the look of these old-school tiles, but I guess if I ever want to publish this map I'll have to draw my own. That'll be a different kind of adventure!
