Appendix A2: OSR Procedural Hexcrawling

24 Oct, 2023

Old-school rules for procedurally generating a hexcrawl, based on Appendix A from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. These tables can be used to produce an infrastructural layer on top of an existing terrain map.

You can also find these tables as a PDF on my Itch page:

Table I.: Periodic Check

d20	Result
1-3	Continue straight - check again in 1 hex
4-6	Obstacle (TABLE II.)
7-9	Side Path (TABLE III.) - check again in 1 hex
10-12	Path Turns (TABLE IV.) - check again in 1 hex
13-15	Settlement (TABLE V.) - check again after leaving
16-17	Dungeon (TABLE VI.) - check again after leaving
18	Dead End (check other directions for trails)
19	Ambush (as Wandering Monster)
20	Lair (as Wandering Monster)

Table II.: Obstacle

d20	Result
1-8	Guard post
9-15	Toll house
16-20	Gated wall

Table III.: Side Path

d20	Result
1-5	Left 60 degrees ahead
6-8	Left 60 degrees behind
9-13	Right 60 degrees ahead
14-16	Right 60 degrees behind
17-18	Forking Path (Y)
19-20	Crossroads (X)

Table III.A.: Path Width

d20	Result	Details
1-8	Standard Road	1x
9-12	Highway	1½x
13-16	Maintained Trail	⅔x
17-18	Game Trail	½x
19-20	Special Passage	TABLE III.B. and roll again

Table III.B.: Special Passage

d20	Result	Details
1-6	10’ Stream	1-15: Bridged, 16-20: Obstacle
7-12	20’ River	1-10: Bridged, 11-15: Boat, 16-20: Obstacle
13-16	40’ River	1-10: Bridged, 11-15: Boat, 16-20: Obstacle
17-18	60’ River	1-10: Bridged, 11-15: Boat, 16-20: Obstacle
19-20	20’ Canyon	1-10: Bridged, 11-20: Obstacle

Table IV.: Path Turn

d20	Result
1-6	Left 60 degrees ahead
7-10	Left 60 degrees behind
11-16	Right 60 degrees ahead
17-20	Right 60 degrees behind

Roll path width on TABLE III.A.

Table V.: Settlement

d20	Result	Details
1-3	Single dwelling	Pop.: 1-12
4-6	Thorp	Pop.: 20-80
7-9	Hamlet	Pop.: 100-400
10-12	Village	Pop.: 600-900
13-14	Town	Pop.: 1,000-6,000
15	City	Pop.: 10,000-60,000
16-17	Castle
18-20	Ruins	TABLE V.A.

Table V.A.: Ruins

d20	Result
1-5	Single dwelling
6-7	Village
8	City
9-11	Castle
12-15	Shrine
16-20	Tomb

Table VI.: Dungeon Entrance

d20	Result
1-4	Cave
5-8	Chasm
9-11	Castle Ruins
12-14	Tomb Ruins
15-16	Shrine Ruins
17-18	Stone Doors
19	Step Pyramid
20	Tree Hollow

#dnd #hexcrawl #osr #procgen #solo-rpg