#hex23

This is my second weekly post summarizing the progress I’ve made on my hexmap for Dungeon23. My project for the year is “The Swamp of the Great Honker” a big swamp hex map. You can check out all of the posts for the project here.

This week has honestly felt a bit less exciting than the first week. I think a lot of us are already feeling that. I even forgot to do it two different days and had to make up for it the day after. But, I’m sticking with it, and I hope other folks can keep their spirits up about the project too.

Part of what’s made this week feel different is that it’s all hexes, and none of the other worldbuilding bits I threw in the first week. I think that might be a clue as to how to keep this interesting, at least to myself. So, I’m going to plan to get at least one item done outside the hexes each week, be it an encounter table, or a faction description, a new monster, or whatever else to add to the depth of the world that’s coming together here.

And, at the end of the week, it’s still nice to look back and see how much the map has grown in just the course of two weeks. I’ve finished the path of the canal through the quadrant of the map I’m focusing on now, and I’ve started the road that crosses it. Once those two are done, I’ll be diving into the spaces between them to add more.

I realized after taking this photo I’d forgotten to connect the road to the structure in Hex 64 to the road in Hex 45, so I’ve done that, but I can’t be bothered to do a new photo right now.

Day 8 (1-8-2023)

Hex #23: Canal through thick reeds. Heavy stench of marsh gasses wafting from nearby. 1-in-6 chance of encounter on canal encounters table.

Day 9 (1-9-2023)

Hex #43: Canal through thick reeds. Dead tree is stuck blocking the canal and covered in faintly glowing fungus. 1-in-6 chance of encounter on canal encounters table.

Day 10 (1-10-2023)

Hex #44: Canal through lighter reeds. Royal road crosses canal via high-arched wooden bridge allowing canal boats to pass underneath. 1-in-6 chance of encounter on canal or road encounters tables (roll 1d2 to determine which table to use).

Day 11 (1-11-2023)

Hex #64: Canal through lighter reeds interrupted by lock connecting this part of the canal to a higher section. Takes 1 hour to pass through lock in either direction. There is a large structure housing guards and a waterwheel-powered pump for the lock. Four mudwoggers serve as guards and operate the lock.

Day 12 (1-12-2023)

Hex #65: Canal through thick reeds. 2-in-6 chance of encounter on canal encounters table.

Day 13 (1-13-2023)

Hex #85: Canal through thick reeds. A flock of geese stands on the edge of the water staring menacingly. You get the feeling you shouldn’t linger here.

Day 14 (1-14-2023)

This is my first weekly post summarizing the progress I’ve made on my hexmap for Dungeon23. My project for the year is “The Swamp of the Great Honker” a big swamp hex map.

This week, I started out populating hexes in the northwest corner of the map. I thought about trying to go through the hexes in numerical order, but I decided against that because I’d like to focus on the coherent paths and locations next to each other, regardless of number, and leave blank hexes that will just be empty at the end of the project, since my map has more hexes than I can fill in the year. I also did a short write-up of the Mudwoggers, the native inhabitants of the swamp, and made an encounter table for the hexes along the canal.

I also redrew the northwest corner of the map with larger hexes, since I was having trouble fitting anything into the hexes I’d originally drawn. So, the original map will now be a key to the hex numbers for the whole swamp, but I’ll do zoomed in maps of particular areas as I’m working on them, and I’ll work on combining everything at the end.

Day 1 (1-1-2023)

Hex #1: Entrance to the “Royal Canal,” a wide canal carved through the swamp to connect the coastal cities to the capitol. Protected by patrol boats. Entrance has a small guard house staffed by “Mudwoggers,” the original inhabitants of the swamp who sometimes choose to work for the canal.

Day 2 (1-2-2023)

The Mudwoggers: The Mudwoggers have lived in the swamp since before humans walked the earth. Now, they begrudgingly share the parts of the swamp defiled by the humans’ canal and road, and some choose to work for them as guards. Their wide, flat feet allow them to walk on top of unstable mud and make them fast swimmers. They wear thick mats of reeds mixed with goose feathers for warmth and protection from harm. They fight with tridents, which they also use for fishing. They worship “The Great Honker,” a giant cosmic goose said to inhabit the heart of the swamp.

Day 3 (1-3-2023)

Hex #2: The canal enters the swamp. The reeds quickly become very thick and 2–8 feet tall, overshadowing the canal. 1-in-6 chance of encounter from the canal encounters table.

Day 4 (1-4-2023)

Canal Encounters

Big snake

Rats, lots and lots of rats

Alligator

Goblin pirates

Patrol boat collecting taxes

Sinking barge needs help

Mudwoggers fishers throwing rocks

Thunderstorm with lightning

Traveling merchant with shop on barge who also tells fortunes

Lizardfolk spies collecting information on the canal operations

Day 5 (1-5-2023)

Hex #22: Canal in thick reeds. A small, rickety looking dock is on the side with a narrow path leading into the reeds to the southwest. 1-in-6 chance of encounter from the canal encounters table.

Day 6 (1-6-2023)

Hex #21: A muddy path southwest through thick reeds. 2-in-6 chance of encounter from the outer swamp encounters table.

Day 7 (1-7-2023)

Today is the first day of my hexes for Dungeon23!

I’m starting with a very poorly drawn hex map and the first filled in hex, the entrance to a canal that cuts through the swamp.

I’m very excited to work on filling out this world and it’s inhabitants this year, and I hope some of you enjoy what you see here too.

I think I’m going to be following along this canal for a while before jumping back to fill in what’s off on the sides of it. Although I may take a day to flesh out the Mudwoggers a bit first, we’ll see how it goes.

Image Text:

Hex #1: Entrance to the “Royal Canal,” a wide canal carved through the swamp to connect the coastal cities to the capitol. Protected by patrol boats. Entrance has a small guard house staffed by “Mudwoggers,” the original inhabitants of the swamp who sometimes choose to work for the canal.