Rules Index | GM Screen

Random Map Generation

Source Ultimate Campaign pg. 158
Not everyone has the time to create a detailed map to use in-game. An example map has been provided on page 159 to photocopy and easily drop into play, but you and your players can also use the following rules to create a whole new map randomly during play. This can empower your players to discover the unexplored world around them. The options presented below are intentionally designed to be generic types of temperate terrain; adjust them for your own game. In a frozen wasteland, plain hexes could represent great expanses of icy ground, while in an arid climate they could represent massive alkali flats. Use these examples as a springboard to create a unique campaign of exploration.

To generate a new map, begin by selecting a hex on your blank map as the starting point. Then decide the type of terrain for that starting point (such as a settlement in a forest hex). From that point onward, the reins of exploration are in your players’ hands. Let them decide which direction they travel, and let each player take a turn generating the next hex by rolling 1d20 twice to determine the terrain type and terrain element for that hex using the tables below.

d20	Terrain Type
1-3	Forest
4-6	Hill
7-8	Marsh
9-10	Mountain
11-13	Plain
14	Settlement
15-16	Water
17-20	As previous terrain type

d20	Terrain Element
1-3	Difficult
4-6	Feature
7-10	Hunting Ground
11-12	Resource
13-14	Secret
15-20	Standard

Archives of Nethys

Rules Index | GM Screen

Random Map Generation