Commodore
*eyeroll*
So one page dungeons. Who doesn’t crap on them? Generally systemless (ugh), devoid of broad context (argh), and focused on art and look over content (REEEEEE). I acknowledge all of these issues, and freely admit I find most one-page dungeons utter drek...but I still like the idea of One Page Dungeons. The idea of a small, compact structure designed to encapsulate a complete night’s session on a single page is worth pursuing. Nobody here needs to be told that brevity is admirable but I’m especially concerned with how a D&D session gets structured. The long-term TTRPG campaign is the king of all gaming experiences but the fact remains that when you manage to get 4-7 adults to sit down for three or four hours there have been real sacrifices made in each individual’s life to carve out that time and it’s ideal to strive for as much of a complete and satisfying experience as is possible in that single session. A one-page dungeon tries, typically, to deliver something along those lines.
And then there’s this other thing, the One-Page Hexcrawl. Take all the complaints about a one-page dungeon, throw out the simple structure that is an actual dungeon site, and then add in the controversy that is the vague and ill-defined hexcrawl procedure. Rather than look at a single session, a one-page hexcrawl implies at least a miniature campaign. Done badly, this hexcrawl is just a pretty map with sites of random interest without any motivation given to actually travel around. A lazy designer will just say “Gold = XP! Advancement system encourages exploration!” Okay, but practically there needs to be something more.
drive.google.com
Enter this adventure. A little tropey, but very solid setup: Necromancer opens crypt (0101), get overwhelmed by an entity, now seeks to tear the veil of reality and bring forth the dark entity upon the material plane. What makes this hexcrawl pop is that there’s a timer; each morning a die is rolled and either a blight advances, changing the hexes, or else the necromancer teleports to the nearest unblighted town to tear the veil; once all towns are blighted, entity comes forth. While this is going on, there are also standard sites of interest, like a logging town with a deer god cult, deceptive nymphs in the lake, a bandit king in the fort, etc. Along with how each feature and hex type changes with the blight this suggested a large number of factions in a tumultuous little vale (I opted to scale the hexes 6 miles).
All I’m asking for in an adventure is some fresh ideas, an evocative map, factions (or “stuff going on”), and some kind of impetus. Even though Lest These Dark Energies is statless and doesn’t provide a strict random encounter table it does mention what’s typically found in a hex (e.g., “cattle herds, centaurs” for the plains), coupling that with a tension pool let me add all the random encounters I needed, pulling from quick SRD references for creatures. Is this kind of thing something for you? No idea, but I got four good 3-hour sessions from it and it’s free. Roane Beard doesn’t seem to have made much else but I hope he writes again. This kind of thing really does put to shame the massive campaign doorstoppers that work so extremely hard to deliver less contented in dozens more pages.
And then there’s this other thing, the One-Page Hexcrawl. Take all the complaints about a one-page dungeon, throw out the simple structure that is an actual dungeon site, and then add in the controversy that is the vague and ill-defined hexcrawl procedure. Rather than look at a single session, a one-page hexcrawl implies at least a miniature campaign. Done badly, this hexcrawl is just a pretty map with sites of random interest without any motivation given to actually travel around. A lazy designer will just say “Gold = XP! Advancement system encourages exploration!” Okay, but practically there needs to be something more.
116_Roane Beard_Lest These Dark Energies Devour Us All.pdf

All I’m asking for in an adventure is some fresh ideas, an evocative map, factions (or “stuff going on”), and some kind of impetus. Even though Lest These Dark Energies is statless and doesn’t provide a strict random encounter table it does mention what’s typically found in a hex (e.g., “cattle herds, centaurs” for the plains), coupling that with a tension pool let me add all the random encounters I needed, pulling from quick SRD references for creatures. Is this kind of thing something for you? No idea, but I got four good 3-hour sessions from it and it’s free. Roane Beard doesn’t seem to have made much else but I hope he writes again. This kind of thing really does put to shame the massive campaign doorstoppers that work so extremely hard to deliver less contented in dozens more pages.
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