- Idea 1: Storms are fun in hexcrawls.
- Idea 2: Giant Monsters are fun. Yes? Yes.
I trust you see where I am going with this.
Rules
In addition to the normal features of a hex, the presence of one of these Titans adds some sort of environmental effect and additional things to encounter to the hex it's in.
The Titan should move about the map, but not nearly as quickly as PCs. It's a mountainous lumbering beast. Untested suggestion: Number the 6 hex directions. Once per day, roll 2d6, move the titan in that direction if you roll doubles.
Combat stats aren't given to the Titans for the same reason that combat stats aren't given to a hurricane.
Some Example Beasties
Flood Serpent
Flood by Sandara |
On the horizon (visible in neighboring hexes)
Environmental Effect
: Torrential downpours. Banks overflowing. Ankle-deep water even where you might not expect. Poor visibility. Need sheltered high ground to rest.
: Torrential downpours. Banks overflowing. Ankle-deep water even where you might not expect. Poor visibility. Need sheltered high ground to rest.
Appearance
: A raging river, rising into the air, and then flowing wherever it pleases.
: A raging river, rising into the air, and then flowing wherever it pleases.
Behavior / Desires
: Capricious. Sometimes languidly arcs through the sky. Sometimes rapidly tears apart towns with sadistic glee.
Things to Discover or Encounter Nearby
- Bountiful fauna. Animals flee the floods, but mysteriously more than could possibly live in these areas.
- Strange fauna. Creatures subtly wrong in form. Alien mutations. When killed, their bones perpetually leak water.
- Landlocked Pirates. Special boats that allow them to sail along in the wake of the serpent's storms, pillaging evacuated villages.
- Her sociable children. In calmer waters within the serpent's hex, you can find strange smaller serpents assigning quests and promising various wet boons. Personally, I wouldn't trust the things. But if you think stealing a dozen cats in exchange for a sword that gives the wielder extra blood sounds like a good time, that's your prerogative.
Lucas Roussel |
gavi-gavi |
Penumbral Hound
by Muroid |
On the horizon (visible in neighboring hexes)
Environmental Effect
: Darkness. Like night during the day. The sun and moon appear constantly eclipsed. Light from large fires just doesn't seem to carry as far. Need held light sources to navigate.
Appearance
: The stars blacked out by an indistinct silhouette. Two bright eyes like rival moons. An occasional glint of giant teeth.
: The stars blacked out by an indistinct silhouette. Two bright eyes like rival moons. An occasional glint of giant teeth.
Behavior / Desires
: Slowly and carefully plod across the forest. It wants to be left alone. It wants to contemplate the stars. It wants to sleep.
Things to Discover or Encounter Nearby
- The cult of Mother's Shadow. Blindfolded titan-worshippers, skilled in echolocation. Core dogma is that none who see the Hound's face should live to speak of it.
- Wizard vision. Spend enough consecutive time near this beast and you'll begin see the unseen. Permanent if you spend at least a full consecutive lunar cycle in the Hound's hex, or a week there without sleep.
- Shadow pits. Places of deep shadow (small pits, crevices, overhangs) become physically deeper within the Hound's domain. Sometimes open to inhospitable worlds.
- Snarls of titan fur, tangled in tree-tops. Can be woven into coarse, scratchy, uncomfortable cloaks which cling to shadow and help hide the wearer.
The Swine Which Seeks to Unite the Earth and Sky
MtG card art by G-Host Lee |
On the horizon (visible in neighboring hexes)
Environmental Effect
: The earth reaches towards to sky. Trees grow upwards at visible rates. You feel lighter on your feet and can lift more weight. Random updrafts and downdrafts. Whole chunks of land lift up into floating islands. No fall damage. Bulky items easier to hold in inventory.
: The earth reaches towards to sky. Trees grow upwards at visible rates. You feel lighter on your feet and can lift more weight. Random updrafts and downdrafts. Whole chunks of land lift up into floating islands. No fall damage. Bulky items easier to hold in inventory.
Appearance
: Thick vegetation spiraling upwards into the air, carrying masses of debris with it. Pieces flake off and float into the sky. The entire tangled grove always looks at least vaguely like a giant boar.
: Thick vegetation spiraling upwards into the air, carrying masses of debris with it. Pieces flake off and float into the sky. The entire tangled grove always looks at least vaguely like a giant boar.
Behavior / Desires
: Uproots earthen structures and hurls them into the air. Carefully avoids damaging obelisks and towers. Bows in deference to particularly impressive spires and mountains.
Things to Discover or Encounter Nearby
- Foreign Isles. Some of the large floating chunks of rock have been drifting along behind the Swine for decades, and are host to strange endemic species.
- Skywood. Plants which have passed through the Swine's body become buoyant in air and desirable for building flying ships. Incredibly difficult to collect in large quantity without getting crushed.
- Vanguard Birds. A society of birdmen worship the beast, and zealously attack anyone who comes near (that can't fly). Easy to bribe with shiny objects.