Want a fresh take on how to create a vague map during the first session of your campaign?

Want a fresh take on how to create a vague map during the first session of your campaign?

Want a fresh take on how to create a vague map during the first session of your campaign?

[1] Assign one compass point per player, randomly or at their choice: North, South, East, West, Here or Elsewhere. Elsewhere could mean another country, planet, or dimensional plane.

[2] Describe the terrain of that area (or choose it randomly) and give it an evocative name.

[3] If it is your homeland, name one good feature of its landscape, inhabitants, culture or history. If it is foreign, name one thing your people fear about travelling there. The GM will balance the scales, adding threats or wonders as required, perhaps asking players whose characters are foreign to a homeland chosen by another player.

[4] Any directions left unchosen are unknown to you, to be discovered during play. Place a dense forest, vast desert, formidable mountains or even an ocean in the way, to explain why no-one has returned with a description of the place. Mayhap it is rumoured to be guarded by a monster?

[5] If there is a steading in your homeland, you lead the creation of its stats. Foreign steadings are either generated collaboratively, or in secret by the GM, as required.

[6] Should anyone complain about unnatural geography, either work/play together to explain it, or simply exclaim “MAGIC!” and move on for now.

8 thoughts on “Want a fresh take on how to create a vague map during the first session of your campaign?”

  1. I like the idea, but I would probably try to get this information with questions phrased to the characters. What significant feature does Sir Matt remember about the North? What happened the last he was there that made him leave? Etc

    So, great questions, but I’d try get the answers from the characters rather than the players. Which I think is what you were intending anyway.

  2. Thinking more on this maybe you could make a bunch of single hexes with various bits of terrain on them – swamp, forest, desert, ruin,etc – and shuffle them to the players.

    One at a time they could flip, place it on the regional map, and describe the area and what happened to the character at that location.

    You could tie the process to your questions, or even link it to the bond creation phase as an extra link:

    Ezekiel trusts Matt with his life … because he save him from the slavers at Blacktooth Swamp … which is located over here

    The predrawn hexes just give some variety to the terrain types: it’s a sacrifice of complete creative freedom, but it might help if you had a new group or players that struggled when put on the spot.

  3. I’m about to make a deck of terrain inspiration cards, sorted alphabetically, one card per letter. Here’s the current list:

    Academy

    Alps

    Aquifer

    Archipelago

    Arctic

    Arena

    Barracks

    Basin

    Beach

    Bog

    Bridge

    Brook

    Caldera

    Cave

    Cavern

    Canyon

    Castle

    Catacombs

    Cemetery

    Chapel

    Chasm

    Citadel

    City

    Cliff

    Coast

    Crater

    Crater Lake

    Dell

    Delta

    Desert

    Dunes

    Dwarves

    Elves

    Farm

    Fen

    Field

    Forest

    Fountain

    Gaol

    Ghost Town

    Glacier

    Glade

    Gnomes

    Graveyard

    Grove

    Grotto

    Hill

    Hills

    Inlet

    Inn

    Island

    Isthmus

    Jungle

    Keep

    Knoll

    Lake

    Library

    Limestone Upland

    Marsh

    Meadow

    Mesa

    Mine

    Mire

    Monastery

    Monument

    Moors

    Mound

    Mountain

    Mountains

    Mudflats

    Observatory

    Oasis

    Ocean

    Oxbow lake

    Palace

    Peninsula

    Pit

    Plain

    Plateau

    Port

    Prison

    Quarry

    Rainforest

    Ravine

    Ridge

    Ruin

    River

    Rockpools

    Scree

    Sea

    Shipwreck

    Shrine

    Sinkhole

    Spire

    Spring

    Standing Stones

    Stream

    Swamp

    Tavern

    Temple

    Tomb

    Tower

    Town

    Tundra

    Tunnels

    University

    Valley

    Vault

    Village

    Volcano

    Wastes

    Waterfall

    Well

    Wetlands

    Wood

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