Travel that is the adventure. Build a map worth crossing, fill it with encounters that mean something, and let the players decide where the campaign goes next.
Written by Matthijs Holter · system-neutral · PDF and print on DriveThruRPG
Each book takes one part of running a hexcrawl and makes it usable at the table. Start anywhere. Book one is the natural first step.
Most campaigns skip the travel. A hexcrawl plays it. Every day on the road costs something, every hex hides something, and the map fills in as the players push into it.
The series gives the GM procedures for that: the exploration turn, encounter tables that carry meaning, and a region whose history explains why the ruins are where they are. The books are short and built to be used with the map open beside them.
One reviewer on DriveThruRPG put it simply: it cuts straight to the point, and it is built to get you playing with a minimum of up-front work.
The method. How to build a map worth crossing, what a day of travel costs a party, and how to keep the journey interesting at the table.
What the party meets out there, and why it is there. Encounters that reveal the world, force choices and connect across sessions.
A region a table can believe in, built in an evening. Every hex points to at least one other: what caused it, or what it causes.
Matthijs Holter's own starting region. Thirty hexes, ready to run with the method from the first three books, so you can sit down and play.
The bundle on DriveThruRPG only charges you for the books you do not already own.
Any fantasy RPG. The series is system-neutral and written for GMs who run Shadowdark, OSR games, 5e, Pathfinder 2e or something else. The procedures sit on top of the rules you already use.
No. Each book stands on its own. Book one is the best place to start if hexcrawling is new to you, because it sets up the exploration turn the other books build on.
The guidebooks in one bundle. DriveThruRPG only charges you for the books you do not already own, so it works as an upgrade too.
Books one to three are print on demand from DriveThruRPG as softcovers. The Thornwall Frontier is out as PDF, with print to follow. Shops can order at retailer terms on the vendor page.
The Hexcrawl books are labelled Contains AI-Generated Content on DriveThruRPG, and we want to be open about why. AI tools were used in early drafts and development. The final text, the editing, the layout and the illustrations are done by people. None of the art is AI generated.
Matthijs Holter writes the books. Karl Otto Kristoffersen edits and publishes them, Michael Sollien does the layout and Nicolai Strøm paints the covers.
