These are my passion projects for the year. They are the world/campaign maps for THORN and DUSK respectively.
As you can probably tell, I've been bitten by the hexcrawl bug. I close my eyes and I see hexes. Hexflowers bloom one into the next.
What's the plan?
Well, every day I'm going to make a couple maps. Based on my rough math (some of which you can see in the top image), if I make around 3 hexes a day, everyday, I should have both of these maps filled out by the end of 2025. That's also assuming I start in February, giving me the next two weeks to get the foundations of all this set down.
Why am I doing this?
It's fun! I love world building, and I love games. Hexcrawls feel like the perfect hybrid of the two.
It's also a project that I can take on in little bite sized increments, something that will fit my very busy/hectic lifestyle.
I don't have to do exactly 3 each day. But if I can average something like that, I should stay on track.
Where am I posting this?
My Patreon! At least, to start. Patrons will get early access to these maps as I start to fill them in, one subsection (the lettered hexflowers) at a time.
The idea is to eventually post these in a sort of almanac type thing, that would be a world and setting book, but also something gameable for THORN and DUSK. As the hexes and maps get further developed they will eventually make their way to itch, in some fashion, but Patrons get first dibs.
How to hexcrawl?
Well, remember when I said I need two weeks to get foundations down? That's not just the maps, but the hexcrawling rules. I'm very close to posting the updated THORN rules, which will include a preliminary rules supplement called Crawl, that can be used to explore these maps. That will get posted on Patreon and itch in the coming days!
DUSK is a bigger lift to get to that point, as I'm experimenting with upgrading it to my TIER system. That system seems a better feel, and will match the hexcrawl vibes of the game nicely.
Both of these will be written in ways that you could slot them into any sort of sci-fi/fantasy game. That's because both THORN and DUSK don't have things like health and stats, or specific skill checks/challenges. As such, they are pretty system agnostic.
That's all for now! Consider joining my Patreon to get early access to this stuff, otherwise wait for it to make its way to itch.
Oh, and I haven’t forgotten the monthly updates. There’s one coming later this month, with a lot of news to share. See you all in a week or so.
-Spencer
Quick question: How much do you plan to change the rules of Thorn? I recently bought the game and was about to dive into a thorough read, but now I’m wondering if it’s better to wait for the updated rules.