Exploring hexcrawls, pointcrawls, and other crawls to see if everything is actually just a pointcrawl. How we can reduce the illusion of choice and instead have players make meaningful decisions?
Classic example of this - the first version of Power Grid (called Funkenshlag) was a ‘crayon rails’ style game where you drew power lines on a hex grid. However the vast majority of the lines were just drawn directly between cities, and had very little variety from play to play. So three years later Friese released Power Grid with a point-to-point map.
Oh wow, I had no idea there was an earlier Power Grid. Sounds like the perfect example!
Side note: My group used to play Power Grid all the time when it came out 20+ years ago. It was my first exposure to a dynamic market (fuel) in a board game, and it absolutely blew my mind. Eventually we moved away from it and mostly played new games. Recently dug it out to try again to see how it holds up two decades later... and it was really good. Felt every bit like a modern board game design. Classic.
You already kinda mentioned it, but a quick fix is as easy to add danger icons to longer paths in pointcrawl. You dont know what danger it may be, but you see the longer path has 3 danger icons (3 Rolls in a specific table) and the short path has just one. BUT! The short path end location has a known danger or obstacle.
Not an RPG but Trench Raid by Lisa Smedman can be a good example for this. It's a solo hexcrawl wargame where you roll dice to see what surrounding hexes are before you move.
I have not, and that's an excellent point. Personally I've been kind of obsessed with the idea of scouting and reconnaissance in war games since I discovered the scouting "mini game" in Tony Bath's *Setting up a Wargames Campaign* book.
Since then I have Incorporated it into all of my play/dm/referee-ing.
I made a scouting mini game using playing cards for my Skirmish battle game. It could easily be used solo right out of the box, so to speak, because it alters the deployment of forces at the beginning of the tabletop miniatures game.
I think creating a scouting/recon procedure for a solo RPG would be relatively simple, it could use cards or dice depending on your goal.
I decided that I’m actually on team point crawl. In my big science-fiction game (Starguild: space opera noir) the map of known space is a point crawl. However, there are choices to be made. Moving along the lines between nodes is the safe way of travelling between stars. It is possible to chart a course between two stars and not travel along a line though. This is a much more risky navigation challenge, however. An additional complication is that the map comprises several quadrants. Each quadrant is a different hyperplane and if you want to go between two stars which are on different hyper planes then that becomes extremely dangerous. Most of the time most people just travel along the existing routes. That’s safe. But choices to colour outside the lines are important for the game.
I think your points are valid, if a hex map is used primarily as way for players to get from point A to point B. If a hex map is instead a representation of the campaign state, those 'extra' hexes instead represent potential sources of information and/or resources. Giving hooks for PCs to pursue to generate new (or further current) goals, serve as clues to possible obstacles, threats, or allies, or provide information and logistical support to mount and extend expeditions into the world as they pursue their own interests.
It also gives the GM a way to gauge how the players are interacting with the campaign world and the effects they have on the factions and forces in the campaign, engendering reactions to the party's presence.
I agree. They both have their uses, and a hexcrawl works very well in that type of GM-led game. It's honestly one of my favorite things in classic TTRPGs.
I think it collapses into a point crawl in non-GM exploration games as I was thinking about with Exclusion Zone Botanist.
I love the point crawl maps in Eco Mofos! Six points per map linked by paths or hidden paths and they can have loot, a hazard, or hazard and loot. When you enter a new point you roll for signs of any adjacent hazard so you can choose whether to continue on that route or find a detour that might be safer but takes more time (watches). Every time you enter a new point you roll for environment, feature and encounter. It's a great mix of planning and surprises.
The standalone expansion Islands of Weirdhope takes the pointcrawls a step further and sets it on the seas with islands linked by currents which can affect how difficult travel is. I haven't had the chance to play it yet but the quickstart has some really cool rules for pointcrawl naval travel, ship combat and troubles. Such as using a ship with an engine will get you somewhere faster but you risk disturbing the monsters from the deep.
Oooh, this sounds interesting. I'm currently working on an exploration-based (i.e. not pre-generated and fixed) pointcrawl map for EZB: Epsilon. Curious to see how others have handled it, as I'm not the first person to try this. I'll check it out!
It’s a good discussion because sometimes a pointcrawl is not only easier but better.
My favourite reasons for hexcrawls is the theme, the resource management and the “I discovered that!” feeling. Hex crawls just feel more “mappy” and real, and it is fun to work out how many days you’ll travel and food etc.
Point crawls could include these first two with illustrations in the background like your example, and resource requirements on the lines joining the points (this is a space for data I like to use).
The last thing I find hexcrawls do better is the ability to let players find secrets. Point crawls are just all layed out with too much perfect information. There is no explore just crawl. Maybe (I’ve not tried) the lines between could have clues or hidden locations? Go down a path that takes twice as long but find an unmapped location. Or maybe see something in the distance, that if you went off the path you could find a new point on the crawl.
Maybe this could be Point Explore TM and not Point Crawl?
This is a lot to think about! I think you are hitting on some of the key problems (design challenges?) I'm bumping into with Exclusion Zone Botanist. It's an open exploration game with no GM and randomized results for each location. My first instinct was hex crawl, which is why it's set up that way. But as I work on EZB: Epsilon I'm trying to challenge my assumptions and think about how it could be different/better. Pointcrawls started to come to mind.
But yes, I want it to be "mappy" as you accurately described! Hopefully carefully employed art will help.
The first time I played EZB I just wanted to roll bigger charts- leaf types were represented but I wanted more kinds of flowers in more kinds of bloom configurations (single, compound, racemes etc), different fruits and berries, with different seeds. As someone who loves plant taxonomy I was just thinking of soooo many combinations that were not represented, and then I wanted to doodle them in my field journal. *tips botany nerd hat*
With a pointcrawl you can avoid the “abstract fast travel” issue by adding procedural events to the travel lines. So you have “point of interest” —— “travel event” —— “poi”.
Also, you can make some points be interesting and some be blank, emulating the dungeoncrawl and/or slot machine, creating variety to travel.
'Travel' goes back to the hybrid character of 0e D&D. On one side, it was a 'dialog and discovery' game. On the other side, it was simulation and math. These always existed uneasily with each other. For 'travel', the 'simulation' side was exhaustion (and replacement) of resources. If 'the table' (GM+Players+System+Occasion) doesn't include 'resource attrition', then 'travel' is basically meaningless. It's just wandering around to no purpose and no advantage. If the players choose to move about the world, they should always encounter *something* of interest, even if it's just spying something in the distance.
My son and I played EZB a while ago. The hex crawl worked and it looked great. Maybe it’s a case of you can’t have your cake and eat it?
Could you have hex plus points? Maybe a train or shuttle system to go from point a to point b.
Or maybe a table to role three key locations on. One near, one far and one hidden?
Or maybe the points and lines between determine a third party or monster movement?
Maybe the points could be determined by a couple of d12 dice drops? They stay marked on the map as a 1, a 7 or 12 (or whatever). You know a 1 is typically a settlement, 7 a threat etc but only uncover exactly what they are once you reach there with a “settlement table” or a “threat table”
I'm so happy to come across this article, as I'm currently designing a game where the intention was a hexcrawl, but I was unsure. Now I feel much more certain that a hexcrawl is what I need! For the feeling of exploration and resource management, as well as generating a map with important locations that can be returned to, and change over time.
That's great! I do think (which I didn't explicitly call out and should have) that hexcrawls just feel more open world and give a sense of exploration. Even if there are an equal number of hexes and nodes, the hexes might *feel* more open.
As for locations to return to... could that be done on pointcrawls too? Imagine that all the nodes are empty and randomly generated. They could be marked as they were discovered and explored.
Classic example of this - the first version of Power Grid (called Funkenshlag) was a ‘crayon rails’ style game where you drew power lines on a hex grid. However the vast majority of the lines were just drawn directly between cities, and had very little variety from play to play. So three years later Friese released Power Grid with a point-to-point map.
The rest is history.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12166/funkenschlag
Oh wow, I had no idea there was an earlier Power Grid. Sounds like the perfect example!
Side note: My group used to play Power Grid all the time when it came out 20+ years ago. It was my first exposure to a dynamic market (fuel) in a board game, and it absolutely blew my mind. Eventually we moved away from it and mostly played new games. Recently dug it out to try again to see how it holds up two decades later... and it was really good. Felt every bit like a modern board game design. Classic.
You already kinda mentioned it, but a quick fix is as easy to add danger icons to longer paths in pointcrawl. You dont know what danger it may be, but you see the longer path has 3 danger icons (3 Rolls in a specific table) and the short path has just one. BUT! The short path end location has a known danger or obstacle.
This is fun!
Yes! I saw someone do something similar on a pointcrawl map (I can’t remember where/who immediately). It’s a good solution, and simple.
Thanks for the comment!
Scouting, or ranging (😉), is a woefully neglected part of the exploration game in almost every RPG, and many Wargames for that matter.
I think because it’s hard to do without a GM or third party player with knowledge of the entire map. Have you seen any GM-less games do this well?
Not an RPG but Trench Raid by Lisa Smedman can be a good example for this. It's a solo hexcrawl wargame where you roll dice to see what surrounding hexes are before you move.
Interesting!
Link: https://www.compassgames.com/product/trench-raid-solitaire-patrol-command-on-the-ww1-western-front-pay-now/
I have not, and that's an excellent point. Personally I've been kind of obsessed with the idea of scouting and reconnaissance in war games since I discovered the scouting "mini game" in Tony Bath's *Setting up a Wargames Campaign* book.
Since then I have Incorporated it into all of my play/dm/referee-ing.
I made a scouting mini game using playing cards for my Skirmish battle game. It could easily be used solo right out of the box, so to speak, because it alters the deployment of forces at the beginning of the tabletop miniatures game.
I think creating a scouting/recon procedure for a solo RPG would be relatively simple, it could use cards or dice depending on your goal.
Now I want to design a game based around scouting and recon.
LoL I made one for Hissy Cat's "Postcards from the Front" postcard game jam, inspired by Bath.
And I kinda-sorta have a scouting procedure / hexcrawling procedure for solo gaming laid out for my "Four Against Darkness/Kal-Arath" game videos.
It wouldn't take much to turn that into a solo recon game.
I decided that I’m actually on team point crawl. In my big science-fiction game (Starguild: space opera noir) the map of known space is a point crawl. However, there are choices to be made. Moving along the lines between nodes is the safe way of travelling between stars. It is possible to chart a course between two stars and not travel along a line though. This is a much more risky navigation challenge, however. An additional complication is that the map comprises several quadrants. Each quadrant is a different hyperplane and if you want to go between two stars which are on different hyper planes then that becomes extremely dangerous. Most of the time most people just travel along the existing routes. That’s safe. But choices to colour outside the lines are important for the game.
Oooh, I like the idea of breaking the rules of the pointcrawl (non-line travel) but at significant risk. That's cool.
I think your points are valid, if a hex map is used primarily as way for players to get from point A to point B. If a hex map is instead a representation of the campaign state, those 'extra' hexes instead represent potential sources of information and/or resources. Giving hooks for PCs to pursue to generate new (or further current) goals, serve as clues to possible obstacles, threats, or allies, or provide information and logistical support to mount and extend expeditions into the world as they pursue their own interests.
It also gives the GM a way to gauge how the players are interacting with the campaign world and the effects they have on the factions and forces in the campaign, engendering reactions to the party's presence.
I agree. They both have their uses, and a hexcrawl works very well in that type of GM-led game. It's honestly one of my favorite things in classic TTRPGs.
I think it collapses into a point crawl in non-GM exploration games as I was thinking about with Exclusion Zone Botanist.
Thank you for your comment!
I love the point crawl maps in Eco Mofos! Six points per map linked by paths or hidden paths and they can have loot, a hazard, or hazard and loot. When you enter a new point you roll for signs of any adjacent hazard so you can choose whether to continue on that route or find a detour that might be safer but takes more time (watches). Every time you enter a new point you roll for environment, feature and encounter. It's a great mix of planning and surprises.
The standalone expansion Islands of Weirdhope takes the pointcrawls a step further and sets it on the seas with islands linked by currents which can affect how difficult travel is. I haven't had the chance to play it yet but the quickstart has some really cool rules for pointcrawl naval travel, ship combat and troubles. Such as using a ship with an engine will get you somewhere faster but you risk disturbing the monsters from the deep.
Oooh, this sounds interesting. I'm currently working on an exploration-based (i.e. not pre-generated and fixed) pointcrawl map for EZB: Epsilon. Curious to see how others have handled it, as I'm not the first person to try this. I'll check it out!
Thank you for the comment!
It’s a good discussion because sometimes a pointcrawl is not only easier but better.
My favourite reasons for hexcrawls is the theme, the resource management and the “I discovered that!” feeling. Hex crawls just feel more “mappy” and real, and it is fun to work out how many days you’ll travel and food etc.
Point crawls could include these first two with illustrations in the background like your example, and resource requirements on the lines joining the points (this is a space for data I like to use).
The last thing I find hexcrawls do better is the ability to let players find secrets. Point crawls are just all layed out with too much perfect information. There is no explore just crawl. Maybe (I’ve not tried) the lines between could have clues or hidden locations? Go down a path that takes twice as long but find an unmapped location. Or maybe see something in the distance, that if you went off the path you could find a new point on the crawl.
Maybe this could be Point Explore TM and not Point Crawl?
This is a lot to think about! I think you are hitting on some of the key problems (design challenges?) I'm bumping into with Exclusion Zone Botanist. It's an open exploration game with no GM and randomized results for each location. My first instinct was hex crawl, which is why it's set up that way. But as I work on EZB: Epsilon I'm trying to challenge my assumptions and think about how it could be different/better. Pointcrawls started to come to mind.
But yes, I want it to be "mappy" as you accurately described! Hopefully carefully employed art will help.
Thanks for your comment!
The first time I played EZB I just wanted to roll bigger charts- leaf types were represented but I wanted more kinds of flowers in more kinds of bloom configurations (single, compound, racemes etc), different fruits and berries, with different seeds. As someone who loves plant taxonomy I was just thinking of soooo many combinations that were not represented, and then I wanted to doodle them in my field journal. *tips botany nerd hat*
Hahah, that's great! And you are definitely not the only person who wanted more!
I think you'll like EZB: Epsilon. In the latest monthly update, I shared some of the areas being changed and expanded: https://omnes.exeunt.press/p/epsilon-002
With a pointcrawl you can avoid the “abstract fast travel” issue by adding procedural events to the travel lines. So you have “point of interest” —— “travel event” —— “poi”.
Also, you can make some points be interesting and some be blank, emulating the dungeoncrawl and/or slot machine, creating variety to travel.
Solid ideas. The interstitial travel points along the lines in particular.
Thanks!
'Travel' goes back to the hybrid character of 0e D&D. On one side, it was a 'dialog and discovery' game. On the other side, it was simulation and math. These always existed uneasily with each other. For 'travel', the 'simulation' side was exhaustion (and replacement) of resources. If 'the table' (GM+Players+System+Occasion) doesn't include 'resource attrition', then 'travel' is basically meaningless. It's just wandering around to no purpose and no advantage. If the players choose to move about the world, they should always encounter *something* of interest, even if it's just spying something in the distance.
My son and I played EZB a while ago. The hex crawl worked and it looked great. Maybe it’s a case of you can’t have your cake and eat it?
Could you have hex plus points? Maybe a train or shuttle system to go from point a to point b.
Or maybe a table to role three key locations on. One near, one far and one hidden?
Or maybe the points and lines between determine a third party or monster movement?
Maybe the points could be determined by a couple of d12 dice drops? They stay marked on the map as a 1, a 7 or 12 (or whatever). You know a 1 is typically a settlement, 7 a threat etc but only uncover exactly what they are once you reach there with a “settlement table” or a “threat table”
I'm so happy to come across this article, as I'm currently designing a game where the intention was a hexcrawl, but I was unsure. Now I feel much more certain that a hexcrawl is what I need! For the feeling of exploration and resource management, as well as generating a map with important locations that can be returned to, and change over time.
That's great! I do think (which I didn't explicitly call out and should have) that hexcrawls just feel more open world and give a sense of exploration. Even if there are an equal number of hexes and nodes, the hexes might *feel* more open.
As for locations to return to... could that be done on pointcrawls too? Imagine that all the nodes are empty and randomly generated. They could be marked as they were discovered and explored.
Thanks for your comment!