I dream big, and for years, my projects were often unwieldy and overwhelming and frankly just too ambitious. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned how to tame those impulses and keep my projects to a manageable scope. Unfortunately, that reasoned approach went right out the window when I started my Baruun Khil setting. It’s over 600 hexes!
Despite my years of wisdom, I looked at that and went, “Yeah, totally doable.” 🤦🏻
Creating a map on this scale is like staring at a blank canvas, trying to figure out where to put the first mark—except the canvas is the size of Costa Rica. It’s overwhelming. It’s discouraging. It feels impossible. But the only way out is through, as my best friend is fond of saying.
With that adage in mind, the question then becomes, how does one prep that much content? The answer is like that old riddle, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Bite-sized Pieces
The first step is to break up your map into different regions, with each region consisting of 8-12 hexes. Thirteen or 14 hexes is fine, too, but I wouldn’t go smaller than eight—that’s too granular. Ideally, the hexes in each region should have something in common beyond proximity. Perhaps they are a cluster or range of mountains. They could all have the “arctic tundra” biome, or maybe it’s the kobolds’ home territory. Whatever organizing principle makes sense to you.
Content Budgets
The next step is to assign a “content budget” to each region. This is a number that represents roughly how much content you’re going to put into a region. For Baruun Khil, I used two types of content: treasure, which represents how much loot is in a region, and the very boringly named content density, which represents how much content there is in the region to discover and explore, such as hidden sites, dungeons, and that kind of stuff.
You’ll also need a scale for each type of content. Here’s the one I use for content density:
| Content Density | Hexes with Hidden Sites | Dungeons / Region | Flavor Sites / Region | Total Sites (Est.) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – Very Low | 10 – 20% | 0 – 1 | 1 – 2 | 2 – 4 | Mostly wild terrain; used for pacing or contrast. |
| 2 – Low | 20 – 30% | 1 | 2 – 3 | 4 – 6 | A few secrets and one dungeon. |
| 3 – Moderate | 30 – 50% | 1 – 2 | 3 – 5 | 6 – 10 | Standard balance for frontier regions. |
| 4 – High | 50 – 70% | 2 – 3 | 4 – 6 | 10 – 14 | Exploration-rich; good for long stays. |
| 5 – Very High | 70 – 100% or more | 3 – 5 | 5 – 8 | 14 – 20+ | Epic ruins, cultural hubs, mythic zones. |
The “Hexes with Hidden Sites” column may be confusing. The values in this column are a range of percentages that indicate how many hexes in the region should have hidden sites. For example, let’s say you’re working on a region of 12 hexes. You want to assign this region a moderate content density with 40% of the hexes having hidden sites. 40% of twelve is 12 × 0.4, which works out to 4.8, so four or five hexes should have hidden sites.
Using a percentage to determine the number of hidden sites in a region establishes a balance. All other things being equal, a region of 8 hexes and a region of 14 hexes have the same proportion of hidden sites.
I may have overthought this, though. If percentages aren’t your thing, you’re free to just assign numbers here like we have for the other columns.
Also, “flavor sites” are hex landmarks or hidden sites that don’t necessarily have any mechanical content but provide campaign lore or other insights into the setting. It could be a little roadside shrine that memorializes the time Bartholomew made Serak the Preparer cry. This works especially well if the PCs are on the road to Bartholomew’s kingdom.
Here’s the scale I use for treasure:
| Treasure Rating | GP Budget | Magic Item Budget |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – Very Low | 250 – 500 gp | 1 consumable or none |
| 2 – Low | 500 – 1,000 gp | 1 – 2 items (common) |
| 3 – Moderate | 1,000 – 2,000 gp | 2 – 3 items (uncommon) |
| 4 – High | 2,000 – 4,000 gp | 3 – 5 items, may include 1 rare item |
| 5 – Very High | 4,000+ gp | 5+ items, including rare or very rare |
Once you’ve set the budget for each region, you’re off to the races! You know how many dungeons you need to design for a given region, how much treasure to put in it, and so on.
Eating that elephant seems manageable now, even if your work is cut out for you.
Region Types
“Not so fast,” you may be saying. “Six hundred hexes divided into regions of 8–12 hexes is still more than 50 regions!” That’s a fair criticism. You might be tempted to roll 1d5 for each scale for each region, and that’s a valid approach if you want that kind of randomness in your prep.
Personally, I don’t want to just randomize the content of each region; I’d like for there to be at least a little rhyme and reason to it. The solution is to classify each region based on character level and when you expect the characters to explore it:
| Type | Expected Player Level | Typical Ratings | Description / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Region | Levels 1 – 5 | Density 4, Treasure 2 – 3 | Starting zones and borderlands. Establish world richness; frequent clues and rewards, but limited payout. |
| Mid-Frontier Region | Levels 5 – 10 | Density 3 – 4, Treasure 3 – 4 | Middle frontier. Fewer distractions, but each discovery matters more. Often 1–2 major dungeons. |
| Deep Frontier Region | Levels 10 – 15 | Density 2 – 3, Treasure 4 – 5 | Late frontier. Leaner, more dangerous areas. Every dungeon or ruin is a Big Deal. |
| Mythic Realm | Levels 15+ | Variable density, Treasure 5 | Mythic or endgame regions. Content may be sparse or dense depending on the tone (e.g., ancient city ruins = dense; ash plains = sparse). |
The early frontier regions will be those the party explores first and will act as their safe haven outpost and the surrounding borderlands. That’s maybe 3 to 5 regions. Roughly half of the remaining map will be mid-frontier, consisting of moderate content density and moderate treasure rewards. The remaining regions will be deep frontier, which will have less content but more danger and more reward per site. Finally, you’ll want to sprinkle in some mythic realms. These are special areas that deserve special treatment, like lost valleys and ancient cities. They’ll contain lots of treasure but have variable content density. Once you’ve determined each region’s type, you can use the guidelines above to set its content density and treasure.
Final Thoughts
Not only does this system turn prepping 600 hexes into a manageable task, it also allows you to start your campaign before you’ve prepared every last hex. Just break your map into regions and assign each region a type, then assign content ratings. This process gives you confidence about what will go into each region without having to work out all the specifics. As the party explores the map, you can prep regions as needed, always one step ahead of the adventurers.