Mapping OSR: Hex Kit Poll Results
Region Development the Gnomestones Way
Welcome back to the land of Gnomestones, where we’ve been soloplaying Mythic Bastionland with a focus on the Domain, Authority, and Warband sections. We built a system for battalion combat during the Mythic Bastionland Jam, and now we’re looking for an opportunity to test it out within the Gnomestones canon. The hour is afoot, the game is at hand!
Last time on Blogstones, we asked the community which of the following two Hex Kit maps they preferred:
After some highly questionable data processing, the vote across four subreddits and five discords is as follows:
26 votes for the map on the left
91 votes for the map on the right
4 votes for both
24 votes for neither
Those voting for the map on the left commented that it looked more fun, full of adventure, and conducive to player choice. Interestingly, the Mythic Bastionland discord and subreddit both voted in favor of the left. People also said that the map on the right could fit as a small region within the map on the left.
The majority of respondents preferred the map on the right, commenting that it’s more enjoyable to look at and easier to read. Respondents liked the natural, relatively quieter color palette on the right, and found the map less cluttered. Commenters disliked the clashing colors on the left, and were distracted by the unfinished river.
Responders found the colors on both maps to be bright, verging on overwhelming. A good suggestion was to reduce the thickness of the black lines between the hexes, but this is not a custom option in Hex Kit. Perhaps this Black Spot Tile Set could be the ticket to a more balanced aesthetic. A helpful community member also gave a list of links for community created Hex Kit tile sets.
In all transparency, the river is unfinished because I got bored with the map on the left, leading me to create the map on the right in the first place. The map on the left was made with direction from Mythic Bastionland’s random generation charts. The tools worked great when we made a slightly different style of map earlier this year, but in this instance they created a cluttered and chaotic Hex Kit map.
In the end, Gunderschnute’s got your shoe, because it turns out they were the same map! Heehee hoho haha hoohoo!
What initially appeared as two versions of the same region are actually sister domains and neighboring seats of power. Here I’ve combined the two maps plus some edits to smooth the colors of the landscape, especially on the left side. Storywise I’m not ready to finish the region, but I’ve filled in the middle section and the perimeter with suggestions of wilderness to get a complete look. Here’s the map without the boxes.
You’ll note that there’s more to do before it’s complete. The left side is unfinished and the coastline (particularly tricky in Hex Kit) needs work. Do you have any feedback for this version of the map? Do the orchards stand out too much? How about the wasteland in the southwest area? Is there a biome type missing?
For now, this map is looking pretty good. Starting with random rolls on Mythic Bastionland charts and a dream, we’ve created two intriguing domains as part of a greater region. Though they originally shared some of the same rolls (like broken walls and humble halls), they are now represent distinct provinces, brimming with creative potential.
It’s also quite a big map (912 hexes!). To keep it manageable as we start off the action, we’re going to narrow the focus down to the section the community liked best.
At this point we can upload the image of this map to Excalidraw, where it will serve as a background for our Hexwar. We’re using numbered icons as tokens to indicate the location and strength of warband units.
Time to start playtesting our Hexwar? I’m eager to start pushing units around, but there’s a couple of things in our way. First, we don’t know what cause the armies fight for, so it’s hard to determine the right tactics. Second, our goal is to playtest the Hexwar in the context of a Mythic Bastionland game, so I’d like to roll stats for a knight to center the action.
You’ll notice that a couple of the tokens have special indicator lines, signifying that the warband is led by a knight. One of these tokens is stationed at Ulf’s Mantle, a hinterland sentry tower perched high in the Mountains of St. Vrune. Here we find the first hero of our story. Introducing Sir Tollix Twinewinder, Hero of Kaltas Pass, the one they call The Weaver Knight.
Thanks for joining us on this gnoteworthy episode of Gnomestones! Next time we’ll be generating stats for Sir Tollix using Mythic Bastionland rules, brewing our villain’s plan with Tome of Adventure Design, and set the terms of revolutionary upheaval with MurkMail’s event mastery matrix. Until then, remember to keep a rutabaga under your pillow to ward off Gunderschnute!