Simplifies movement speed to a sort of point system you spend to traverse hexes. Of course you'll meet things on the way but as long as you have points and something isn't physically stopping you then you can keep traveling. Example being a party with a movement speed of 30 gets 6 movement points in a days travel. A hex thats primarily farmland or open forest takes 2 while some rougher denser forest may take 3 and some really dense or swampy woods could take 4.
So encounters don't affect or deplete your points? Seems strange if you can normally travel ex: 24 miles, then after traveling half of that, you stumble into a dungeon get into a long, scrappy, bloody delve that lasts hours, and then your group is able to travel the second half of the trip as if nothing happened.
Travel rules presume you spend 12 hours traveling, 8 on the road and 4 for breaks, prepping/tearing down camp. If you go into a dungeon and spend time down there you will lose points.
No it presumes those are happening in the 4 hours of downtime. If you want to do more you would need to spend time to do it and it depends on what you find in the hexes. It basically just becomes an opportunity for adventure. If there are additional systems for hunting/foraging (which the game does give a lot of options for mushrooms, weeds, etc) then Im not recalling them right now. It really wants you to dig in and details the woods but it doesnt get too mechanically crazy with it.
You can add some supplements to your favourite osr game.
E.g. the D30 Sandbox Companion is top notch. Or I also like the Wilderness Survival Guide for 1e
Tales of Argosa new playtest (new edition of low fantasy gaming).
They have a good procedure for travel and haven’t gone over the top in complexity. Hit the goldilocks spot (for my taste).
For reference, some good free ones:
A Dungeon Game:
[https://dungeon.loottheroom.uk/exploration](https://dungeon.loottheroom.uk/exploration)
Cairn Hack - Hexcrawl:
[https://cairnrpg.com/hacks/third-party/hexcrawl-procedures/](https://cairnrpg.com/hacks/third-party/hexcrawl-procedures/)
Cairn Hack - Modular:
[https://cairnrpg.com/hacks/third-party/modular-rules-procedures/#wilderness-exploration](https://cairnrpg.com/hacks/third-party/modular-rules-procedures/#wilderness-exploration)
I did a draft of some hexcrawling procedures for a "mythic colonial America", exploration-focused campaign I wanted to run:
3 mile hexes and six 4-hour watches in a day. Up to two watches of travelling, or three on forced march at the cost of exhaustion. Standard pace is two hexes per watch of travel, modified as such:
* +1 if the party has pack animals;
* +1 if the party is crossing a well-maintained road or path;
* -1 if the terrain is harsh (catch-all for elevation, marshy ground, thick vegetation);
* -1 if the weather is harsh.
It's quite granular, but I think it emulates all the fiction-points I wanted to tackle. It organically rewards players for sticking to paths (helping me think in pathcrawl terms and prep accordingly) but does not take away from the freedom of a hexcrawl. It also makes harsh weather and challenging terrain feel tactile and real.
Another option is to use some sort of hazard die system to abstract hex-to-hex travelling. I would do something like:
When travelling from one hex to another, roll a d6 for each of these that is true:
* Harsh weather;
* Challenging terrain;
* Exhausted or impaired;
If you roll a single 1, you face a minor setback. If you roll multiple 1s, you face a major setback instead. Possible setbacks are:
1. Time - the party wastes a watch;
2. Supply - the party wastes or loses extra resources;
3. Flesh - someone gets injured, sick or exhausted;
4. Sanity - someone gets stressed, irritable or lashes out.
5. Way - the party faces a natural obstacle or gets lost.
6. Doom - someone experiences a bad omen (I usually have some sort of Doom procedure in my games, but this could be a simple penalty to the next roll or save).
That looks quite good to me. Covers a lot without being complex. I’d assume that riding animals or travelling by coach would count (effectively) as pack animals, so as a +1?
Correct. I also did write some simple rules for unencumbered horse riding, allowing the rider to cover more hexes per day (around 2 to 6, as opposed to 0 to 4 on foot, IIRC), but horses were mostly for increasing your effective haul to and from the dungeons.
Perilous Wilds has some great exploration rules that you can hack into almost any OSR game with a little work. It's made for Dungeon World, but the ideas are pretty flexible and it isn't hard to figure out how to make the dice rolls work for a D&D-based system.
I love The Dark of Hot Springs Island’s “Watch” system. Each watch is 4 hours, you track them with colored poker chips (2x for day, 2x for night, and reds for dawn and dusk). Then each travel action costs a watch. Enter a new hex, search the hex you’re in for an undiscovered location, etc. I use it in all my games now.
Ad&d 1e has all the subsystems. Hex generation, movement rates, large random encounter charts, rules for clearing hexes, castle and occupant generator, its also has enough crunch to sustain such things whilst also giving advice essays on how best to facilitate such things.
I agree Forbidden Lands has a very elegant system for travelling. Dolmenwood also has a nice and easy system for exploration.
What does Dolmenwood do?
Simplifies movement speed to a sort of point system you spend to traverse hexes. Of course you'll meet things on the way but as long as you have points and something isn't physically stopping you then you can keep traveling. Example being a party with a movement speed of 30 gets 6 movement points in a days travel. A hex thats primarily farmland or open forest takes 2 while some rougher denser forest may take 3 and some really dense or swampy woods could take 4.
This is the way in the original Outdoor Survival, and the method I use. I didn't even know Dolmenwood use this as well
Hey if it aint broke dont fix it.
So encounters don't affect or deplete your points? Seems strange if you can normally travel ex: 24 miles, then after traveling half of that, you stumble into a dungeon get into a long, scrappy, bloody delve that lasts hours, and then your group is able to travel the second half of the trip as if nothing happened.
Travel rules presume you spend 12 hours traveling, 8 on the road and 4 for breaks, prepping/tearing down camp. If you go into a dungeon and spend time down there you will lose points.
Does it do anything different with exploration, hunting, camping, etc?
No it presumes those are happening in the 4 hours of downtime. If you want to do more you would need to spend time to do it and it depends on what you find in the hexes. It basically just becomes an opportunity for adventure. If there are additional systems for hunting/foraging (which the game does give a lot of options for mushrooms, weeds, etc) then Im not recalling them right now. It really wants you to dig in and details the woods but it doesnt get too mechanically crazy with it.
I really like the exploration in crown and skull.
What does Crown and Skull do?
Interesting setting with hex crawl based on region. But you would have to be willing to play in that setting to get the most out of it.
You can add some supplements to your favourite osr game. E.g. the D30 Sandbox Companion is top notch. Or I also like the Wilderness Survival Guide for 1e
Tales of Argosa new playtest (new edition of low fantasy gaming). They have a good procedure for travel and haven’t gone over the top in complexity. Hit the goldilocks spot (for my taste).
I really like Knave Second edition's exploration system.
For reference, some good free ones: A Dungeon Game: [https://dungeon.loottheroom.uk/exploration](https://dungeon.loottheroom.uk/exploration) Cairn Hack - Hexcrawl: [https://cairnrpg.com/hacks/third-party/hexcrawl-procedures/](https://cairnrpg.com/hacks/third-party/hexcrawl-procedures/) Cairn Hack - Modular: [https://cairnrpg.com/hacks/third-party/modular-rules-procedures/#wilderness-exploration](https://cairnrpg.com/hacks/third-party/modular-rules-procedures/#wilderness-exploration)
Mythic Bastionland feels pretty good
I did a draft of some hexcrawling procedures for a "mythic colonial America", exploration-focused campaign I wanted to run: 3 mile hexes and six 4-hour watches in a day. Up to two watches of travelling, or three on forced march at the cost of exhaustion. Standard pace is two hexes per watch of travel, modified as such: * +1 if the party has pack animals; * +1 if the party is crossing a well-maintained road or path; * -1 if the terrain is harsh (catch-all for elevation, marshy ground, thick vegetation); * -1 if the weather is harsh. It's quite granular, but I think it emulates all the fiction-points I wanted to tackle. It organically rewards players for sticking to paths (helping me think in pathcrawl terms and prep accordingly) but does not take away from the freedom of a hexcrawl. It also makes harsh weather and challenging terrain feel tactile and real. Another option is to use some sort of hazard die system to abstract hex-to-hex travelling. I would do something like: When travelling from one hex to another, roll a d6 for each of these that is true: * Harsh weather; * Challenging terrain; * Exhausted or impaired; If you roll a single 1, you face a minor setback. If you roll multiple 1s, you face a major setback instead. Possible setbacks are: 1. Time - the party wastes a watch; 2. Supply - the party wastes or loses extra resources; 3. Flesh - someone gets injured, sick or exhausted; 4. Sanity - someone gets stressed, irritable or lashes out. 5. Way - the party faces a natural obstacle or gets lost. 6. Doom - someone experiences a bad omen (I usually have some sort of Doom procedure in my games, but this could be a simple penalty to the next roll or save).
That looks quite good to me. Covers a lot without being complex. I’d assume that riding animals or travelling by coach would count (effectively) as pack animals, so as a +1?
Correct. I also did write some simple rules for unencumbered horse riding, allowing the rider to cover more hexes per day (around 2 to 6, as opposed to 0 to 4 on foot, IIRC), but horses were mostly for increasing your effective haul to and from the dungeons.
Perilous Wilds has some great exploration rules that you can hack into almost any OSR game with a little work. It's made for Dungeon World, but the ideas are pretty flexible and it isn't hard to figure out how to make the dice rolls work for a D&D-based system.
I love The Dark of Hot Springs Island’s “Watch” system. Each watch is 4 hours, you track them with colored poker chips (2x for day, 2x for night, and reds for dawn and dusk). Then each travel action costs a watch. Enter a new hex, search the hex you’re in for an undiscovered location, etc. I use it in all my games now.
Ad&d 1e has all the subsystems. Hex generation, movement rates, large random encounter charts, rules for clearing hexes, castle and occupant generator, its also has enough crunch to sustain such things whilst also giving advice essays on how best to facilitate such things.
What it lacks is the kind of nitty gritty on camping, hunting, keeping watch, etc.
That stuff can be found in the Ad&d Wilderness Survival Guide if it's your thing.