Hex Crawls Done Right — Why Most People Run Them Wrong (YouTube Video Transcript)

(00:00:00) Your YouTube transcript will appear here (00:00:02) Hey folks, Ten Car here coming to you (00:00:04) from the tavern. Uh, today we're talking (00:00:07) about a hex crawls done right. Not the (00:00:09) sloggy fill in the map homework that Joe (00:00:14) the lawyer complained about. Not walk (00:00:17) through 600 hex's until your eyeballs (00:00:21) bleed. (00:00:23) It happens. but actual hex crawl play (00:00:27) the way it was meant to work in old (00:00:29) school D&D. (00:00:32) If you've ever wondered why some people (00:00:34) love hex crawls and others hate them (00:00:38) with a passion, it comes down to one (00:00:41) thing, one simple thing. (00:00:45) Most people are probably running them (00:00:46) wrong. So, let's fix that. (00:00:52) Let's clear the air a little bit. A hex (00:00:55) crawl is not the follow. A hex crawl is (00:01:00) not clear every hex. (00:01:03) That is a fallacy. (00:01:05) A hex troll is not fight every monster. (00:01:10) Another fallacy. (00:01:12) It's not color in every square like a (00:01:15) geography assignment. I know Joe made a (00:01:17) comment like that. It's not (00:01:22) It's not a wilderness mega dungeon where (00:01:25) every hex must be checked off. And (00:01:29) no, no, no. That's the version that (00:01:31) burns people out. And that's the version (00:01:35) Joe was railing against. And that (00:01:37) version is boring. It is mindn numbing. (00:01:42) It is repetitive (00:01:44) because it's not a game anymore. It's a (00:01:46) checklist. (00:01:48) A proper hex crawl is not about (00:01:50) exhaustive mapping. (00:01:52) It's about meaningful travel decisions (00:01:55) in an unnown world. (00:01:58) So what is a hex crawl? (00:02:03) It's a strategic travel puzzle. It's a (00:02:08) discovery engine. (00:02:10) It's a resource management challenge. (00:02:12) And we've spoken about resources. (00:02:15) It's a narrative generator. (00:02:19) I know if you like things pre-plotted, (00:02:24) you may have problems even with (00:02:27) a well-designed hex crawl. And it's a (00:02:30) way to make the world feel big, (00:02:32) dangerous, and alive. People don't (00:02:36) explore hex's because they should. (00:02:40) They explore them because that's the (00:02:43) faster route from point A to point B. (00:02:46) That's where the rumors are talking (00:02:48) about. So, let's go explore it. That's (00:02:52) where the treasure caravan vanished. (00:02:55) And we want to get that treasure. (00:02:58) That's the only path around the flooded (00:03:00) valley. And we need to get to the other (00:03:03) side. (00:03:05) Or that's where that weird smoke plume (00:03:07) is coming from. And we're hearing rumors (00:03:10) about that. And there might be treasure. (00:03:14) The hex's don't matter. (00:03:19) Let me repeat that. The hexes don't (00:03:20) matter. It's the decisions (00:03:23) that matter. (00:03:26) So, (00:03:28) let's talk about purposeful travel. (00:03:31) Every journey must have a destination or (00:03:35) a mission. If players are just (00:03:38) wandering, it's your job as the GM to (00:03:41) drop (00:03:43) [clears throat] the following as needed. (00:03:45) Rumors, (00:03:47) signs, (00:03:48) tracks, (00:03:50) weather events, (00:03:52) and and no, not the weather event that I (00:03:54) dropped back when I was running the (00:03:58) Greyhawk box set and I killed a party (00:04:00) with a blizzard. Not those kind of (00:04:02) weather events. (00:04:04) I was young. I was a teenager. What can (00:04:06) I tell you? Uh, NPC requests, right? You (00:04:10) can (00:04:11) have somebody recruit the party, send (00:04:15) them in a direction, or at least attempt (00:04:18) to looming threats. They're heroes, (00:04:21) right? They're going to want to be (00:04:24) heroic. (00:04:26) Players should never be asking, (00:04:29) "Why are we going through this forest?" (00:04:33) They should always know why. (00:04:35) Even if they don't know what's coming, (00:04:38) what they're going to encounter, (00:04:41) what's at the end of this travel or in (00:04:44) the middle of it, but they should know (00:04:47) why. (00:04:50) Discovery, (00:04:53) it's not about completion, okay? The hex (00:04:57) map exists so players can choose the (00:05:01) safe route, the risky shortcut. (00:05:04) the unexplored valley, the mountain (00:05:07) pass, the abandoned fort they saw on (00:05:10) last week's rumor table that you were (00:05:12) rolling on. We have one of those, right? (00:05:16) We'll probably have to do a video on (00:05:18) that. They're not supposed to explore (00:05:20) every hex. (00:05:22) Exploration is incidental. It's not (00:05:26) mandatory. (00:05:28) It [clears throat] happens. It's not a (00:05:30) requirement. (00:05:34) Random encounters (00:05:36) aren't noise. (00:05:40) They're story signals. (00:05:43) those roles that you make, (00:05:46) whether you know 2d6 or whatever table (00:05:48) you decide to use (00:05:51) to reveal things like shifting factions, (00:05:55) migrating monsters, (00:05:58) weather turning bad, NPC caravans, (00:06:02) maybe a rival adventuring party, (00:06:06) something escaping from the mega dungeon (00:06:08) that they've heard rumors about. hints (00:06:12) about what lies ahead. And as an aside, (00:06:18) your random encounter tables (00:06:22) should be geared for where your party (00:06:26) is, (00:06:28) okay? Don't just take one out of some (00:06:30) random (00:06:32) cable out of a book. It should be geared (00:06:35) to your setting, your area. (00:06:39) again, probably another video at some (00:06:42) point. (00:06:44) Your map needs, (00:06:48) I don't know, 10 to 20 points of (00:06:50) interest, (00:06:53) three to five factions. And when I say (00:06:55) factions, that can be guilds, it could (00:06:59) be (00:07:01) um a maid school. (00:07:04) These are your power players. These are (00:07:07) your manipulators. (00:07:10) These are your patrons. (00:07:14) Three to six rumors. (00:07:16) I would go with six. (00:07:20) One to two big unknowns and one (00:07:26) major destination. (00:07:28) You want to turn into an urban campaign. (00:07:31) to get maybe a port city or trading (00:07:36) city. (00:07:38) You could have a major dungeon, not a (00:07:41) mega dungeon. (00:07:43) That's a totally different just saying, (00:07:46) but locations of interest and that's it. (00:07:51) Don't over plan this. A hex crawl lives (00:07:55) on landmarks, (00:07:57) not dozens of key hexes. (00:08:01) There will be people that disagree with (00:08:02) me. (00:08:04) That's fun. (00:08:08) How to run this travel without the slog. (00:08:12) Joe was talking about the slog. (00:08:16) Here's the secret. Hex crawl pacing is (00:08:20) days, (00:08:22) not minutes, (00:08:24) not hours. (00:08:26) The players say we head west through the (00:08:28) march. You roll encounters, (00:08:31) track resources, highlight a flavorful (00:08:35) moment or two, (00:08:37) but you don't describe every tree, every (00:08:40) mile, every random critter, every (00:08:45) trivial detail. (00:08:48) A good hex crawl, (00:08:52) it's beats, not filler. (00:08:54) Players make macro decisions. Hexes give (00:08:58) you structure, not script. And the (00:09:01) beautiful part, when run correctly, a (00:09:04) hex crawl naturally evolves into (00:09:08) the main play, strongholds, (00:09:11) factions reacting to each other, to the (00:09:13) players, rival adventuring parties (00:09:17) competing, (00:09:20) maybe allied mysteries unfolding, (00:09:24) players carving out their own corner of (00:09:26) the map. (00:09:27) You don't force story arcs, the world (00:09:32) writes them. And this is emergent play (00:09:35) at its finest. (00:09:37) So (00:09:39) that's Hex Crawls done right. Not a (00:09:41) grind, not a slog, not a color every hex (00:09:45) nightmare, but a living, breathing (00:09:49) campaign structure that gives your (00:09:52) players real agency. (00:09:57) It's a lot. Believe me, I know. If you (00:10:01) want more emerging play tools, hit the (00:10:03) like button, subscribe, and drop a (00:10:05) comment. Do you run hex crawls? Why or (00:10:08) why not? (00:10:11) I'll (00:10:12) highlight some of these uh comments (00:10:16) probably on uh a post here at the (00:10:18) tavern. Until next time, folks. Keep the (00:10:22) dice rolling, keep the travel dangerous. (00:10:26) Keep the tavern warm and God bless you (00:10:30) all.