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.
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.
Absolutely! I should rephrase from the fictional perspective. I was thinking IRL and typing quickly, on the train.
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.
^THIS^
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
Nice. As long as the cards are hex shaped I’ll be happy.
Limestone Upland seems a bit specific.
Ezekiel Lake I thought so, too, but I cribbed it from Pathfinder Ultimate Campaign or Game Mastery Guide or something.
Well, to be fair, it does allow the GM to ask an interesting question!