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Minimal Hex Stocking and Connectivity

Overview

Minimal hex stocking is a wilderness prep procedure for building a playable region quickly. It assumes most hexes do not need elaborate keyed content. Instead, the referee identifies which hexes matter, expands only those, and then links them into a usable travel network.

Its main strength is that it produces regional causality without requiring a fully authored faction map.

Core Pattern

The procedure has three steps:

  1. Stock every hex with a very small content table.
  2. Expand only the non-empty results.
  3. Add cross-hex links between content nodes.

This turns sparse results into a connected wilderness rather than a flat scatter of points.

Standard Procedure

  1. Roll each hex on a simple table such as empty, settlement, lair, or weird site.
  2. Leave empty hexes mostly alone.
  3. For each non-empty hex, add one focused layer of detail.
  4. Apply a connectivity rule so some content hexes point to other content hexes farther away.
  5. Turn those links into rumors, trade routes, faction ties, migrations, or threat spillover.

Why It Works at the Table

  • Prep stays proportional to what players can actually reach.
  • Sparse maps feel larger and less overdesigned.
  • Connectivity creates reason for movement beyond nearest-neighbor wandering.
  • Regional politics emerge from links rather than lore dumps.

Connectivity Rule

The key move is non-local linkage.

  • A content hex sometimes connects to another content hex.
  • The destination is not just adjacent; it may be several hexes away.
  • The referee interprets the connection as trade, kinship, raiding, pilgrimage, infestation, shared ruins, or rumor flow.

This single rule creates larger structures from very little prep.

Content Expansion Menu

Different node types want different follow-up detail:

  • settlements: size, mood, relationship, need
  • lairs: creature, reach, treasure, pattern of threat
  • weird sites: category, clue, danger, reward

The point is not exhaustive keying. The point is enough detail to generate decisions.

Referee Procedure

  1. Stock the whole region quickly.
  2. Expand only the hexes likely to matter in the next few sessions.
  3. Use connectivity to decide where pressure travels.
  4. Convert links into rumors the players can actually hear.
  5. Add more depth only after play proves a node important.

Design Guidance

  • Resist the urge to key every hex.
  • A connected sparse map is usually stronger than a dense disconnected one.
  • Use connectivity to reveal who influences whom.
  • Let weird sites create mystery chains, not isolated curiosities.

Practical Comparison Rule

Use minimal hex stocking when you need a broad sandbox region fast and want emergent structure. Use dense keyed mapping when the campaign is focused on a small area that will be exhaustively explored.

See Also