Hex Crawl Procedure (Patreon)

This is the current hex crawling procedure we're using in the office campaign. It's missing the detailed encounter charts, but they're specific to the game you're running anyway so they shouldn't be too missed. I'd love to hear about it if anyone uses them in an actual game, playtesting is red hot on this one, anything goes.

Anyway, here's how to hex crawl in a Troika wilderness:



# Movement
Pay Stamina equal to the number of hours taken to move anywhere. Hours taken are equal to the difficulty of the prevailing terrain of the target hex. Terrain difficulty is either light (2 stamina), moderate (4), or hard (8). As a general guide, light terrain is a level walk in the countryside, moderate terrain is anything you have to pick your knees up for, hard terrain is anything you could benefit from also using your arms in. Terrains can move between categories as circumstances dictate. For instance, during a wind storm a hot desert could become hard terrain.

Example terrains:

Light terrain includes meadows, steppes, savanna, grassland, roads.
Moderate terrain includes, hills, ruins, bogs and marshes with enough dry land to walk on, forests, hot deserts
Hard terrain includes, mangrove or other submerged wetlands, jungle, mountains, cold deserts.

Hexes

Hexes are assumed to be 6 miles across, 3 miles from the centre to the edge. When one stands at ground level in the centre of a hex the edges of the hex are just beyond the horizon.

When describing the surroundings, height should be intuitively used. 

- Mountains should be seen from 12 hexes away
- High things should be seen from 2 hexes away
- Low things should be seen when adjacent
(High things include anything higher than a townhouse)

This works in reverse. If you are standing on a mountain you can see 12 hexes away (though this might be in only one direction if you aren't at the top). If you are on top of a hill or a tower (high things) you could see everything within 2 hexes.

Dense terrain will, however, block sight out of a hex to anything other than a mountain. Examples of dense terrain are thick forests, canyons, high dunes, dense urban areas etc. Again, use judgement. 

A note on the hex edge being slightly further than the horizon: it's assumed the party will get up just high enough to see the neighbouring hex if possible by climbing a tree or the like. If you didn't allow for this you would have to expect everyone to eventually start making human pyramids everywhere they go.

Dying from exhaustion

It's fairly hard to accidentally over-spend on travel, since you can usually see where you are going, but even if you did, travel is not fatal. Anyone without the stamina to pay for movement may still move, however it takes x2 as many hours to move. A hilly area, for instance, would cost 0 stamina and take 8 hours to reach. Chances are a terrain feature (sand storm, bandits, alzabos) will finish them off.

Splitting the party

Sometimes different people in the party will have different movement times for a given hex. They must either slow themselves down and stick with the dawdlers or else go on without them. Once separated someone in either of the separated parties must successfully use a tracking related skill or test their luck to find each other in the target hex, otherwise they remain separated in the same hex.

Mounts

Mounts have 12 to 24 inventory slots if equipped with tack of some sort. Number of slots is down to the size and strength of the beast.

Mounts can carry riders. The rider(s) of any one mount may inflict their stamina loss due to travel on to the mount, in part or in full. Mounts do not spend stamina to move otherwise.

Transporting the unconscious

Anyone unable to move must be carried or otherwise moved by others. The people moving them must pay their share of the stamina cost of moving in addition to their own. This can be spread across multiple people (taking turns or some such).

## Encounters
Roll 1d6 for every hour spent to enter the hex being moved into. Of those dice rolled, re-roll any 1s on the following table:

1. Wandering enemy
2. Lair
3. Weather event
4. Hazard
5. Lost
6. Special

It is possible that a journey from one hex to another may involve multiple results. In these cases combine them into a single encounter. E.g. I roll an ogre, a manticore lair, and rain. I decide that an ogre has been kidnapped by the manticore and is being forced to read poetry to it in the rain and the pages are getting washed away causing the manticore to become more and more angry.

Wandering enemy

Re-roll the dice on the appropriate wandering enemy table. Determine encounter distance, optionally determine encounter mien, and improvise.

#### Running away
It's quite reasonable to avoid dangerous situations if you can. In these cases it is important to determine if the player party have been spotted. It is either obvious or you should set a probability such as "2-in-6 chance the ogre saw you" and roll with it. Ask them to test their luck if you like, and if any of them fail or refuse, they are all seen. 

If they aren't spotted then great, they leave. If they are spotted then they are stuck dealing with the repercussions. *Once an encounter has started it cannot end until all parties agree it is over and a turn passes.* This agreement can be verbal, it could be that one side runs away and the other lets them leave, it could be that everyone on one side of the matter dies.

Individuals can leave. One of the player characters could flee and the enemies could ignore them while fighting the rest of the party. In a sense, an agreement has been met, no one objected to that guy leaving. If someone in the opposing side had decided to do something about it then the escape would fail and instead turn into a running fight separated from the main tussle. 

In short, *on your turn you can run, but if anyone does anything about it before the next end of round token appears, you are still in the encounter*

Lair

As wandering enemy except the encounter is with the enemy's lair. Using your best judgement determine an X in 6 probability the enemy is there and check for their presence. Use or quickly sketch a lair map, place clues regarding the nature of the enemy (bandits will have fires, alzabos will have crushed bones etc.), improvise.

Weather Event

Roll on the appropriate weather strip for your area and implement the result. Multiple weather events can either be combined or interpreted as quick, freak weather.

Hazard

There will be a bank of hazards specific to you campaign and terrain. These might include magic fog, raining frogs, spike traps, avalanches, old hunter traps, etc. Environmental dangers which are not just normal weather or the like.

Lost

The party is lost. All other rolls are taken according to the starting hex, in which they stay. They still pay Stamina and waste time according to the destination.

Special

The party stumble in to the main hex encounter by accident. If there is no prepared hex encounter take a prefabricated encounter from your bank and place it here to be encountered. If the party know about and are not headed towards the main hex encounter also provide a banked special encounter to interact with.

## Encounter Distances
1. Ambush
2. Face to face
3. Near
4. Far
5. Edge of sight
6. Tracks/trace

If it is in doubt and important who sees who first offer the players the opportunity to test their luck. Whoever rolls and succeeds will have the initiative and can inform the rest of the party if there is time or desire. NOTE: When offering a test of luck to see someone first it is polite to inform the party if the consequences are immediately dangerous. One could even fully explain them, since they are moments away from experiencing it first hand anyway.

## Weather Strip

Pick that starting point on the chart below, that is the weather at the beginning of the campaign. When a weather event occurs roll 1d66, with the tens position representing UP and units representing DOWN. This will create a movement (or not) up or down on the chart. The new position is the weather change. Track where the weather is by circling it. When the weather goes over the stop or under the bottom is circles back around to the keyed position.

- Storm <
- Rain
- Fog
- Rain
- Mild
- Mild <
- Mild >
- Mild
- Hot
- Hot
- Hot
- Storm >

The nature of the weather will depend on the campaign but examples follow.

Rain, heat/cold, high winds: +1 to hex costs
Mild: No effect
Rain storms, hurricanes, heat waves: +50% to hex costs
Electrical storms: 1 in 6 chance you make a random character test their luck or get struck by lightning (as Fusil)
Fog: Party must test their luck or get lost. This will split the party unless those succeeding opt to stay lost with those who fail. ALTERNATIVE FOG 3 in 6 chance the party are lost regardless of other rolls, roll luck as previously mentioned to ignore the effect.

More exotic effects and weather types are possible.