Week Three of Hexplore24 — Summary and Reflection
Week Three of Hexplore24 — Summary and Reflection
Read my full hexplore24 posts here
The Story Continues…
Background: Set in the mystical New-Old Lands, where "old lands" mysteriously vanished and reappeared after a century, "Hexplore24" follows Belus, a cleric, and Satis, a witch. Starting from Beacon, a town established to unravel the lands' enigmatic history and absence of people, they embark on a quest filled with unknowns.
Previously (Day 8-13): Belus and Satis, battling the harsh winter elements, return to Beacon in anticipation of a well-earned rest. However, they are met with a town in turmoil. A mysterious messenger has delivered alarming news: Witches from Beacon have been taken hostage and are now subject to a ransom by an unknown adversary. Having been the last to encounter the Witches before this unsettling event, Belus and Satis join a rescue expedition. The team is led by Malla, a seasoned hunter, and includes Blain, a young noble, along with his bodyguard Aima. Together, they set out on a critical mission, delving deeper into the untold dangers and intrigues of the New-Old Lands.
Day 14-15: With a storm brewing on the horizon, the party works to make quick progress as they head towards unknown enemies in the lands that no longer feel as empty. This feeling is reinforced by the discovery of wild crop grass, suggesting recent farming in the area. They begin to notice figures watching them from a distance. A blizzard forces them to stay camped for a day, focused on survival, yet even through the storm, they see the figures continue to watch them.
The ruins of a town carved into a rock wall, and a mysterious orchard, are just a few of the discoveries this week.
Day 16-17: Once the storm subsides, the party is able to travel again. However, they drift off course and end up in steep, icy hills where, sadly, one of their mules falls and dies. Even here, the watchers are visible, and the party debates what to do about this mysterious and imposing presence. The next morning, they find the remains of a burned and razed village carved into the sides of a rock valley, signs of a violent history. They continue their journey, getting back on course, and camp near what appears to be an orchard, though in winter, there are no signs of who planted or tends to it. Unnervingly, the watchers continue to be seen spying on them from afar.
Day 18-19: A new storm keeps them stuck, struggling to find enough wood to stay warm. That night, six strangers—lost and half-frozen in the storm—stumble into the camp, begging for warmth and shelter. These travelers, who lost their equipment while being chased by monsters before becoming lost in the blizzard, reveal they are from the New-Old Lands. This means they may hold answers to many of the party's most pressing questions. However, given their poor health and the raging storm, everyone spends a day hunkering in tents, focused on either healing or gathering more wood for safety. Mahbe, the leader of the new travelers, shares a legend that may hold tantalizing clues about the calamity that caused the New-Old Lands to vanish 100 years ago.
Day 20: With improved weather, the party resolves to continue their journey to rescue the witches. Unnerved by continued sightings of the mysterious watchers, they ask the travelers about them and learn that the watchers are a group called the Afah, who were rebels hunted by the king, persecuted for their magic and religion. They captured the king's son and vanished for years before it became known they were living in this area. The heroes are warned that the Afah are not a friendly group. The travelers then ask to join the party, as they cannot safely travel on their own without proper gear until spring. They are hesitantly welcomed, and the new caravan travels on. That evening, Malla and Satis have a tense encounter with a herd of mammoths, narrowly avoiding being trampled. Thanks to some quick thinking and Satis' magic, they are able to trap one mammoth, half-buried, in the ground, planning to return the next day to kill and butcher it, providing food for their nearly twice as large caravan. That night, the watchers, the Afah, are seen again, an ominous sign of trouble to come.
Detail of the Day 20 campsite: you can see markers for past encounters with the toad, the deadly beetles, the graves of the dead peddlers, and the recent mammoth encounter. This hex has not been easy on our travelers.
Overview & Reflections
This week revealed a lot about the New-Old Lands and challenged me as a solo player in interesting ways. My decision to change the weather table, along with a method for random events to occur, had profound effects on the unfolding story and the dangers the party faced. A statistically improbable series of rolls on the Hazard die created the ever-present but not-yet confrontational Watchers, and my use of two new tools (new to my Hexplore24 playthrough) allowed new lore and history, as well as a tense life-or-death battle of wits, to emerge from the story as I played.
Baby, It's Cold Outside
Initially, I used Knave 2e’s weather table, which does not have any seasonal variation. Hoping that interpreting it in the context of winter would be sufficient, I began to feel that the lack of substantial seasonal variation would cause my year-long experiment in playing this game to lack its own turning of the seasons. So, I switched to Errant’s weather table, which has a unique table for each season. It is a much harsher table, with a high likelihood of weather so severe that safe travel is impossible. This change certainly made my hexcrawl feel a lot more wintery and makes me excited for March when I will switch to the milder Spring weather table.
The Power of “Random” for Local Effects
Last week I discussed adopting the hazard die to increase the amount of events and discoveries I had while hexcrawling. One of the less-defined results on the event die is a 4, which calls for some sort of Local Effect. I decided to standardize it with these results:
| 2d6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 2-5 | Weather Roll |
| 6-8 | POI Discovery |
| 9+ | Mythic Random Event |
This led to some very interesting discoveries and random events, with important effects on the story. Specifically, one Mythic event led to a mule falling to its death, and another resulted in a party of six strangers lost in a blizzard stumbling into the PCs’ camp. I'm very happy with how this has been working, and I'm looking forward to discovering how this continues to shape the story moving forward.
The Hazard of the Hazard Die
If you read any online conversation about hazard dice, a common concern is what happens when the same event is rolled several times in a row. While I didn’t have a long streak of a single result, I have had a period of never rolling an encounter for six days and counting. This was further emphasized by my most common roll being a 5, which results in seeing signs of the next impending encounter. This series of rolls led to a mysterious group of watchers following the party and observing them from a distance. On Day 20 we learned they are a group called the Afah and pose a serious threat to the party.
I am really happy with how this worked out, and I am very curious what will happen when I inevitably do roll a 1 and encounter these watchers. I’m planning on using the hazard die for the foreseeable future, and I’m curious what other narratives will arise from the permutations of rolls possible over shorter timeframes.
Emergent Lore via the One Page Adventure Crafter
With the introduction of NPCs actually from the New-Old Lands, I had an opportunity to learn answers to some of the many open mysteries about the New-Old Lands. However, this also presented a challenge — I much prefer solo games where the story emerges as if I am a player, rather than games where I explore lore that I’ve pre-written like a GM. Twice, I turned to the One Page Adventure Crafter to help these emerge, and I’m very happy with the results. I plan to continue to use the 1PAC for any complex histories, backstories, or lore that I need to generate as the campaign continues to evolve.
Whitehack Auctions: The Swiss Army Knife of Resolution Mechanics
Day 20 ended with a tense scene as two characters found themselves about to be trampled to death by a herd of Mammoths. After using magic to hide in the roots of a tree, they ended up having to face off with a Mammoth who was ramming the tree, trying to get to them. This is not a straightforward situation to play out using traditional mechanics — but Whitehack’s auction system excels in playing out unique situations like this. I used a slightly modified version of the procedure for solo play, and it led to a great scene.
I’m sure I’ll be using this tool again when unique situations arise, and I’ll write up soon the solo version of it I use.
Looking Ahead
Twenty days in and already my understanding of the characters, politics, history, and lore of the New-Old Lands has grown and changed considerably. I’m looking forward to seeing how these newly discovered forces will collide and complicate the story. I’m also pleased that my combination of rules is feeling further refined, and I hope to start sharing more details about the specifics I play with, including some of the custom tools I’ve been developing, as a way to give back to the larger solo community.
Finally, if you haven’t read it yet, I posted earlier this week about why I started this blog, and what my goals are for it. As we delve deeper into the mysteries of the New-Old Lands, I invite you to get lost with me on this journey of discovery and adventure.