There was a thread here about designing a campaign setting one hex at a time-placing the starting adventure/module in the center hex then placing other modules in the hexes around it. Can someone point out or link to that thread?

Was it related to Wilderlands of High Fantasy?

Quote from: JongWKWas it related to Wilderlands of High Fantasy?

No, it was just generic campaign design. I want to say it was a thread started by Pundit, but I'm not sure.  Heck, it may not have even been on this message board.

What's stopping us from doing that here, and now?

Let's say that the hexes are 24 miles across, just like in the D&D RC.  Here's my hex:

MAIN FEATURE: Town

Nestled in the green rolling plains of is the quiet, placid community of Shrubton.  Home to about 600 or so farmers and loggers, Shrubton is wholly unremarkable except for one unique feature in the woods just a half-mile out of town :

A talking statue.

Every ten years, on a night during High Summer,  the rain-worn statue sings a woeful song of longing and loneliness.  The locals just think it's haunted (probably by the maiden whom it depicts) and leave it at that.  They're a practical people.

The arcane sorceror who has hired the party to ecort him there, however, is not so convinced that it's so mundane a thing as a haunting -- he's heard of strange runes that encircle the bottom of the statue, and being the ever-curious sort of NPC who unwittingly does things like release a banshee from her stone prison, he simply must go to investigate.

Good idea doc, I think this deserves some building up. One hex over...

The Abandoned Beacon

An artifact from a more dangerous time. Beacons were like lighthouses on land. Manned at all hours, the beacons were signal lights to used to pass emergency information between the castles of Hartford and Sturrock. Most have been dismantled, but this remained up as a monument to a time when such great projects were needed to ensure safety. Today it is said to be structurally unsafe and full of dangerous nocturnal creatures.

Today the monument is a equal opportunity supply outpost/bazaar for the bandits that troll the road. Run by a wizard and his monsterous henchmen, he carved a basement under the beacon to ply his trade. He also enforces a strict rule that no robberies can happen within sight of the beacon. This has allowed the place to exist for many years without notice, and has given the wizard time to know the beacon well enough for him to uses his powers to install many dangerous and clever traps to hide his true location and keep the curious out.

      Dear James --

I want you to know that I will always love you very, very much.  I never stopped and I never will.  But Rotwang! has taken me into his arms because, without me, he is nothing.

Goodbye, James.

Love,

-- Your Idea

Hex aa-26 or whatever is a mostly rocky hills dotted by scrubby little farms where large families subsist on tubers and sheep-herding.  A small group of goblins also lives here.  They maintain mushroom farms in the wet caves under the hills.  Most of the time the humans and goblins live in peace, even going so far as to trade sheep and potatoes for shroomwine and goblin shoes at once-a-year meet-ups.  But when things get tough on the goblins they form raiding parties that rustle sheep in the night.  An adventuring party poaching the goblins indiscriminately will actually increase the violence in this region.

Quote from: jrients... trade sheep and potatoes for shroomwine ...

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?  Is that, like, hallucinogenic?

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?  Is that, like, hallucinogenic?

Heck if I know.  I just pushed the words shroom and wine together.

Ok, I'll play.

One hex out of Scrubton (opposite the beacon) on a windy hillside is the Old Chestnut Inn.  It is a run-down reminder of better days when the region was more populous and prosperous.  Only a few rooms on the first floor are used these days (the large common room, a couple of smaller private rooms, and a small kitchen). The second floor has partially collapsed and has been sealed off (along with the part of the first floor onto which it fell).  There is a cellar, but that too has been partially sealed off due to the damage from above.  Still, on some nights, strange noises can be heard from its depths.

The inn is always dark and cold inside, being lit by a few candles at most (there is no fire pit).  Hardly anyone ever stops here anymore, and those that do don't linger long, staying just long enough to sleep for a few hours and have a quick meal.

The innkeeper is a gruff old man of few words.  He stays in a shack near the inn, usually coming to the inn itself only when a traveler calls seeking shelter.  He has a habit of disappearing into the nearby woods for hours at a time.

Although it has been sealed off, occasionally dim lights (as if from a candle) can be seen through windows or cracks in the second story.

Quote from: TechnomancerAlthough it has been sealed off, occasionally dim lights (as if from a candle) can be seen through windows or cracks in the second story.

They's ale-yuns innere, by Cracky, frum Mars!

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!They's ale-yuns innere, by Cracky, frum Mars!

Heh, this is turning into a nice old-school setting.

Ehhh, you can put anything in there, obviously.  There's no real reason to listen to me, unless...you know...there's a fire, or something.

By the way, we mapping this?

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!Ehhh, you can put anything in there, obviously.

Sweet! On the opposite side of the beacon from Scubton is Cthulu, and he's hungry.

Or is that too much?

Quote from: James McMurraySweet! On the opposite side of the beacon from Scubton is Cthulu, and he's hungry.

Or is that too much?

Sure, man.  I can't guarantee that I'll swipe that for my version of the map, but you just crack open that ice-cold can of Loco-Brand Red Pop and ride the Funtrain to Gobbletown.