Designing Action-filled Hills for your DnD Game | Thematic Terrains (YouTube Video Transcript)

(00:00:00) Your YouTube transcript will appear here (00:00:00) If you want to give your adventuring (00:00:02) party a landscape that feels expansive, (00:00:05) exposed, and strategic, then hills and (00:00:08) highlands are a great choice. A rolling, (00:00:12) uneven terrain full of ridges, valleys, (00:00:15) and rocky outcrops. Travel here can feel (00:00:18) long and lonely with the wind in your (00:00:21) ears, and the sky stretched wide (00:00:23) overhead. In classical storytelling, (00:00:26) hills and highlands often represent (00:00:29) transition, vanish, and the space (00:00:31) between civilization and wilderness. (00:00:34) They are less daunting than mountains, (00:00:36) but more rugged than plains. Sort of a (00:00:40) middle ground full of possibility. Hi, (00:00:42) welcome aboard the Earth Mote. I'm (00:00:44) Randall. Welcome to my thematic terrain (00:00:47) series where we'll explore different (00:00:49) terrain types for our hex crawls and (00:00:52) sandbox campaigns. We break down their (00:00:55) unique themes, features, and kinds of (00:00:58) monsters that call them home. So, let's (00:01:01) go ahead and climb into the hills for (00:01:03) this week's episode of Thematic Terrain. (00:01:08) As with any of our terrain types, I (00:01:10) think the best place is to start by (00:01:12) looking at how hills and highlands have (00:01:14) been framed in human culture and (00:01:17) literature. Nature and landscape carry a (00:01:20) symbolic weight, and the hills are no (00:01:23) different. They've long stood for power, (00:01:26) burial, isolation, and vision. By (00:01:29) leaning into some of these ideas when (00:01:31) designing our sandbox, we can make our (00:01:34) hill hex's feel purposeful rather than (00:01:37) just a space between forests and (00:01:40) mountains. Number one, hills as vantage (00:01:43) and watchfulness. Because hills rise (00:01:46) high above their surroundings, they've (00:01:49) always been tied to power and (00:01:51) perspective. Hill forts, watchtowers, (00:01:54) and beacons are some of the oldest (00:01:56) fortifications in history. Symbolically, (00:01:59) standing on high ground means awareness, (00:02:02) vigilance, and often superiority. In (00:02:05) literature, characters who climb hills (00:02:07) often do so to gain insight, (00:02:09) perspective, or foresight. A place where (00:02:12) truths are revealed to them. Number two, (00:02:15) hills as burial and memory. Across (00:02:19) Celtic and Norse traditions, burial (00:02:21) mounds and barrerows were raised in the (00:02:24) hills. Folklore paints these as places (00:02:27) of spirits, ghosts, or hidden doors to (00:02:31) the other world. Hills hold the weight (00:02:34) of history. They remind us of what came (00:02:37) before, the ancestral dead. In many (00:02:41) cultures, they were seen as thresholds (00:02:43) between the living and the underworld. (00:02:46) Number three, hills as wilderness and (00:02:49) loneliness. Highlands often appear in (00:02:52) storytelling as places of isolation, (00:02:55) wandering, and hardship. The weather is (00:02:59) harsher, the terrain is slower to travel (00:03:01) through, and settlements are fewer and (00:03:04) farther between. In romantic poetry, the (00:03:07) lonely highlands were where solitary (00:03:10) travelers faced themselves, both (00:03:12) literally and symbolically. In a game, (00:03:16) hills can emphasize the endurance of (00:03:18) travel, long sight lines, and a sense of (00:03:22) exposure. Number four, hills as sacred (00:03:25) and transitional spaces. Because hills (00:03:28) sit between the earth and sky, they're (00:03:31) often considered sacred. Ancient peoples (00:03:34) built shrines, stone circles, and (00:03:37) canaires at top hills, marking them as (00:03:40) ritualistic centers. Symbolically, hills (00:03:43) can represent revelation, the divine, or (00:03:46) limonality, the in between where the (00:03:49) spiritual touches the physical. They're (00:03:52) places of prophecy, ritual, conflict, or (00:03:56) ancient mystery. (00:03:59) So, with those themes in mind, let's (00:04:01) talk about how we can functionally (00:04:04) present hills and highlands within our (00:04:07) campaigns. These functions help shape (00:04:09) the narrative outcome of a hex or (00:04:12) region. And of course, you can mix or (00:04:15) match these different ideas together to (00:04:17) help create some variety. But I'm just (00:04:19) going to present them in isolation so (00:04:22) you get a good understanding and then (00:04:24) you can think a little bit further about (00:04:25) how you would maybe match them up. So (00:04:28) number one, we have the watchful (00:04:29) heights. Our symbolic role in this case (00:04:32) is going to be the high ground. you (00:04:34) know, really offering that perspective (00:04:36) and possibly control. Your narrative (00:04:38) function here is really, you know, maybe (00:04:40) it's a place of fortifications. (00:04:43) It could be known for ambushes or (00:04:45) possibly hidden watchers in the hill. Uh (00:04:48) tools for really kind of designing this (00:04:50) type of theme would be, you know, use (00:04:53) runed hill forts, maybe weird signal (00:04:56) fires or monsters that attack from (00:05:00) above. I would use this if you want your (00:05:03) players to feel kind of exposed and (00:05:06) observed or maybe if you want to (00:05:09) emphasize strategic control of the land, (00:05:11) use this function as well. Number two, (00:05:14) the haunted barrerow. So our symbolic (00:05:16) role here is really memory, death, and (00:05:19) ancestral weight. The narrative function (00:05:22) of this type of hills is to really kind (00:05:24) of present those haunted mounds, maybe (00:05:27) cursed cannons or, you know, restless (00:05:29) dead in your hills. Tools for designing (00:05:32) these would definitely be focusing on (00:05:34) those burial chambers, these barrerows. (00:05:37) You could have, you know, supernatural (00:05:39) things like fairy mounds, um, crypt (00:05:41) entrances disguised as grassy hillsides. (00:05:44) All these work really well to present (00:05:46) this. So, you're using this if you want (00:05:49) to have a theme of history resurfacing. (00:05:53) The past is literally rising from the (00:05:56) ground to meet your adventures. (00:05:59) Number three, the lonely highlands. Your (00:06:01) symbolic role here is going to be (00:06:03) focused on isolation, hardship, andor (00:06:06) endurance. The narrative function we're (00:06:09) trying to present is really sort of this (00:06:10) attrition through maybe exposure, (00:06:14) distance, or weather. Tools for (00:06:16) designing these types of hills would be (00:06:18) maybe sparse water or fog that obscures (00:06:21) their vision. Um, you could have hidden (00:06:24) predators or maybe nomadic hill folk (00:06:26) that to really highlight the idea that (00:06:28) this is isolated away from civilization. (00:06:30) Use these types of hills if you want to (00:06:33) test that survival and resource (00:06:35) management aspect, emphasizing the (00:06:38) journey as a trial for your party. (00:06:41) Number four, the sacred hills. The (00:06:43) symbolic role here is really one of (00:06:45) revelation, ritual, and divine (00:06:48) limonality. In this case, our narrative (00:06:50) function is using the hills as a place (00:06:53) of holy shrines, maybe druidic groves or (00:06:57) contested temples between faction. (00:07:00) Things to kind of build this up. I would (00:07:02) use things like stone circles, maybe (00:07:04) kairens or a holy site disputed by these (00:07:08) different factions. So use this if you (00:07:10) really want your land to feel kind of (00:07:12) mystical and possibly contested. You (00:07:16) know, you can tie it to higher powers or (00:07:19) ancient magic. And lastly, we have the (00:07:22) borderland hills. So the symbolic role (00:07:24) here is to really act as a threshold, a (00:07:27) frontier or some sort of contested edge (00:07:30) between powers. The narrative function (00:07:32) in this case would be a landscape of (00:07:35) skirmishes. Maybe you have bandits (00:07:37) involved or it's some other greater (00:07:39) factional clash. Tools for designing (00:07:42) these types of hills. I would focus on (00:07:45) watchtowers, you know, runed castles or (00:07:48) active fortifications, you know, (00:07:50) shifting patrol lines, things like that (00:07:52) that would make it feel like a hostile (00:07:56) environment. I would use this type of (00:07:57) theme if I want my hills to feel like a (00:08:01) tension zone between powers. sort of (00:08:03) this geographical border of conflict. (00:08:08) Let's go ahead and connect some monsters (00:08:10) to these functions to help emphasize and (00:08:14) support the different themes. So, for (00:08:16) the watchful heights, I would definitely (00:08:18) look to include some sky predators, (00:08:20) things like griffins and hippogris that (00:08:23) have that aerial advantage and can see (00:08:25) for miles around. maybe include harpies (00:08:28) that sing from ridges and lure hless (00:08:31) victims to their demise, things like (00:08:33) that. You could definitely use hill (00:08:35) giants, sort of staking their dominance (00:08:38) in the area. I would also consider any (00:08:40) sort of controlling humanoids that maybe (00:08:43) occupy the established fortifications. (00:08:45) These would work really well here, too. (00:08:48) For the haunted barrerow theme, I would (00:08:50) definitely focus on undead. So, your (00:08:52) whites, your revenants, skeletal (00:08:54) warriors acting as these guardians. And (00:08:57) you could use things like ghosts or (00:08:58) banshees that kind of tie into this (00:09:02) lost, forgotten burial place. For the (00:09:05) lonely highlands, you could also use (00:09:06) aerial predators, maybe things like (00:09:08) wyverns or manticores that hunt these (00:09:11) travelers that are far away from (00:09:13) civilization. You could use hill trolls (00:09:16) that maybe lurk in ravines looking for (00:09:18) their next meals. You could use things (00:09:20) like Bassilis that turn careless (00:09:22) wanderers to stone so they'll be lost in (00:09:24) the wilderness for all of time. These (00:09:27) would all work really well for this type (00:09:29) of theme. For the sacred hills, I would (00:09:31) focus on things like druids, dryads that (00:09:35) really kind of defend those sacred (00:09:37) sites. You can have pilgrims that are (00:09:40) making journeys to these holy locations. (00:09:42) You can include things like elementals (00:09:45) of earth and air. Maybe they're tied to (00:09:48) some sort of holy rituals or other (00:09:50) elemental spirits. That might make sense (00:09:52) here as well. And I would include things (00:09:54) like celestial or fa beings appearing at (00:09:57) these sacred sites. You could also (00:09:59) include devils or demons that might be (00:10:01) trying to desecrate these places. (00:10:04) Lastly, for the borderland hills, you (00:10:07) know, humanoid warb bands, um, humans, (00:10:10) hobgoblins, orcs, etc. All these would (00:10:13) make a lot of sense. Maybe they're (00:10:15) camping on ridges. Maybe they have some (00:10:17) sort of established fortification (00:10:19) they're at. You get the idea. You could (00:10:21) include things like null packs. Maybe (00:10:23) they're roaming the valleys looking for (00:10:25) their next victims. You could use larger (00:10:27) monstrosities, things like ogres, etins, (00:10:31) chimera, or even dragons as sort of (00:10:33) these roaming threats within these (00:10:35) contested borderlands. So hopefully that (00:10:38) gives you some ideas on how hills and (00:10:40) highlands can be represented (00:10:42) symbolically and thematically and how (00:10:44) they can make great locations for our (00:10:46) sandbox games. They're not just filler (00:10:49) terrain. They can offer vantage points, (00:10:51) haunted barrerows, lonely trials, sacred (00:10:54) spaces, or contested borders. Of course, (00:10:58) mix and match these ideas to make your (00:11:00) own hills feel rich and purposeful (00:11:03) within your sandbox environment. Let me (00:11:06) know in the comments below how you've (00:11:08) used Highlands in your campaigns before (00:11:10) and if there are any other archetypes (00:11:12) you'd like me to cover in the future. If (00:11:15) you enjoyed the video, don't forget to (00:11:17) like and subscribe. It really helps out (00:11:19) a lot. Check out Enchanted Nimbus, my (00:11:21) monthly newsletter. Thanks for hopping (00:11:23) aboard the Earth Moat. I'll see you in (00:11:24) the next one.