Campaign: The Dragon Wars cycle has begun again, with the dragons emerging from their mountainous lairs to rain their hellish breath on the civilized races for the ninth time. People once again flee to the fortresses and castles of old for protection. The Dukes and Barons all look for heroes willing to reclaim ancient weapons to defeat the beasts.
Homebase (Hex 0) (0002): Built in the third cycle, the sturdy stone walls of Angstorum have withstood the attacks of dragons and the draco-men. Its tunnels and deep chambers, hollowed out by dwarfs, serve as an underground city for those willing to stay so close to the mountains. Traders make the risky trek at night, drawn by the lure of recovered treasure in exchange for needed goods.
Three Hexes
(Hex scale is a day’s foot travel – 24 miles. See below)
0101: “The Teeth”, a day’s journey of broken, blasted lands, site of many battles between the dragons and the races. Weapons of renown lie clutched in the skeletal hands of the dead, guarded by vengeful spirits and cunning dragon-men. Dragons circle above, looking for signs of coming battle.
0102: The Winsding Forests are no more, blackened and burnt stumps sit mute on the barren hills that were once home to the fair Foresters. Dragon-men, ash-ghouls and worse prowl among the deserted villages and hamlets. The tomb of Fair Lady Elsbeth is said to lie here, bearing witness to her sacrifice to free the races of dragons.
0201: “The Burning Throat” These mountains serve as dragon ayries to the younger, more aggressive beasts. If they are not fighting each other, the dragons eagerly seek out any foolish enough to enter. Treasure can be found here, hoarded by the lustful dragons, or brought as tribute by the dragon-men.
Every week, I will be posting “Three Hexes” – simple campaign starters to show that you don’t need to do a lot to have interesting settings for people to play in. Feel free to use these in your game, campaign or as ways to spur on your own creativity and imagination!
I’ve purposefully left a lot of detail out because these are supposed to spur on your imagination! The scale is what I would use in my own world, but if something else suits you better, then go for it. I measure my hexes by a day’s foot travel. I may have the features moved about on the hexes for clarity, if they don’t suit you, move them!
Three Hexes by Michael “Chgowiz” Shorten (chgowiz@gmail.com) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.