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Worldbuilding & Map Start

This takes about 10 minutes. You are not building a whole world — just enough to start moving.

Solo Quick Start

1. Character 2. World 3. Exploration 4. Session Loop

  • Step 1 — Make a character

    You need a name, a concept, and a few items. This takes about 5 minutes.

    Make a Character First

  • Step 2 — Pick a map style

    If unsure, pick hexgrid — it is the easiest to start with and grow later. Pointcrawl is fastest if you just want to name a few places and begin.

  • Step 3 — Seed your region

    Name one home settlement, one nearby danger, and place three unknown sites: one opportunity, one threat, and one mystery.

Step 4 — Pick Your First Objective (d6)

Roll a die or just pick one.

First Objective Picker (d6)

d6 First objective
1 Scout a route to a rumored ruin before a rival group claims it.
2 Salvage one working relic component needed by your settlement.
3 Survive a local shortage by finding water, fuel, or medicine fast.
4 Deliver a message or package through territory that just became unsafe.
5 Verify whether a nearby landmark is real, false, or already occupied.
6 Recover a missing person last seen near one of your three unknown sites.

Continue to Exploration Continue to Exploration Open Solo Session Loop Check Settlements

That is everything you need to start. The sections below are reference material — read them when you are ready to go deeper.

Duet and Table Routes

Duet Route

  1. Build map around one clear personal objective and one opposing clock.
  2. Keep travel choices to 2-3 meaningful options at each step.
  3. Ensure each route has at least one non-combat progress path.

Table Route (Party)

  1. Create three starting routes with distinct reward profiles.
  2. Tag each route with one role spotlight (scout, face, muscle, support).
  3. Keep regional pressure shared so party choices reshape the same map.

Player Quick Rules (Solo World Start)

  • Name your starting settlement and one nearby danger.
  • Choose your first objective: scout, salvage, or survive.
  • Reveal new map details only after travel or rumors.
  • Keep one blank area on your map every session for surprise.

Referee Procedure Loop (First 30 Minutes)

  1. Choose map mode from the table below.
  2. Place one home base and three unknown sites.
  3. Connect sites using your map mode rules.
  4. Roll one regional pressure and one opportunity.
  5. Start play and reveal only what your character can learn.
  6. After each session, add one discovered route and one changed condition.

Map Mode Chooser (No Jargon)

Mode Best for How it feels Prep load Pick this when...
Grid strict distance and tactical counting board-game precise medium you want exact movement and clear counting
Hexgrid wilderness exploration and unknown frontiers open exploration with direction choices low to medium you want travel discovery and easy region growth
Pointcrawl named routes between known or rumor-driven places route-choice and destination drama low you want quick starts and meaningful travel decisions

Pick in 10 Seconds

  • If you are unsure, pick Hexgrid.
  • If you want fastest startup, pick Pointcrawl.
  • If you want strict movement geometry, pick Grid.

Sci-Fantasy Region Seed Table (d12)

d12 Seed
1 Crashed orbital spine leaking rare alloys.
2 Pilgrim route passing through a forbidden sink crater.
3 Trade town powered by an unstable relic reactor.
4 Fungal marsh where maps become inaccurate each dawn.
5 Warlord checkpoint taxing all salvage traffic.
6 Buried transit line with intermittent active stations.
7 Shrine-complex that rewrites local weather patterns.
8 Nomad flotilla that sells old world coordinates.
9 Glass desert hiding pre-collapse antenna forests.
10 Cliff city split by factional water rights.
11 Machine monastery preserving forbidden augment schematics.
12 Ruin-field where gravity shifts on storm nights.

One-Click Deep Dives

Map Structures

Travel and Pressure

World Response

Advanced/Edge Cases

  • Hybrid works well: hexgrid for region scale, pointcrawl for cities and dense ruins.
  • You can convert from pointcrawl to hexgrid later without restarting campaign fiction.

See Also