Location generator

If you find yourself with a number of empty hexes, and you want to come up with something to put in them, then this article is for you. It will help you generate a list of locations for each hex, based on its terrain and level of civilization. Once you're done, you will know exactly what kind of locations you should create for each hex. Alternatively, you could use it to determine what type of location you've found on the fly if you're playing solo.

Civilization level (CL)

The presence of a city the size of Springhaven probably indicates that the hex in question is of Civilization level 4.

Each hex should have a civilization level according to the following table, representing how civilized (or populated) it is. Determine it randomly, or choose manually. This affects what kind of locations show up in the hex - there are more settlements and other signs of intelligent life as the civilization level increases.

1d6 Level Civilization
1 0 None
2 1 Very little
3-4 2 Some
5 3 Above average
6 4 High

Determine type of location

Now that we have the Civilization level, we can start to generate locations for it.

  1. Refer to the column corresponding to the terrain in the current hex.
  2. Then, for each location, roll 2d6 and add the civilization level (CL) to determine the type that particular location should be. If you get a dash, then there's nothing there.

After some of the results, there is a number, such as "Camp 2". The number represents the age of the location, and will be used later to determine whether the location is still inhabited by the original inhabitants, abandoned, or even ruined.

For example, let's say you're working with a Grasslands hex of Civilization level 3. To generate a location type for it, you roll 2d6 and get a 7. Adding the Civilization level of 3, you get a total of 10. Looking it up in the table in the Grasslands column, you determine that the location in question is of type Water. In the next section, we can determine its sub-type.

2d6+CL Swamp Grasslands Forest Hills Mountains
2 Landscape Landscape Magical Water Magical
3 Ancient ruins Magical Ancient ruins Vegetation Ancient ruins
4 Magical Ancient ruins Religious Landscape Lair
5 Dungeon 3 Trading post 1 Hermitage 3 Magical Religious 3
6 Hermitage 3 Religious 2 Hunting lodge 3 Trading post 2 Water
7 Religious 3 Lair Lair Lair Vegetation
8 Lair Vegetation Vegetation Religious 2 Monument
9 Vegetation Camp 2 Camp 2 Lair Landscape
10 Camp Water Water Mine Mine
11 Water Dungeon 2 Dungeon 2 Military 2 Camp
12 Settlement Settlement 1 Landscape Monument Military 4
13 Monument Military 1 Settlement 2 Settlement 2 Structure
14 Structure Structure Structure Structure Settlement 3
15 Trading post 2 Monument Monument Camp 2 Trading post 2
16 Graveyard Graveyard Graveyard Graveyard Graveyard

Type and sub-types

In the next section, we will randomly determine how many and what types (from the following list) of locations are in the current hex.

  1. Ancient ruins
    • Shrine, temple, tower, settlement, city
  2. Camp
    • Hunting camp, logging camp, bandit camp
  3. Dungeon
  4. Graveyard
    • Burial mound, cemetery, crypt
  5. Hermitage
  6. Hunting lodge
  7. Lair
    • Inhabited, abandoned
  8. Landscape
    • Ravine, canyon, moor, cave, peak
  9. Magical
    • Wizard's tower, teleportation ring, portal
  10. Military
    • Fortifications, watchtower, keep, castle
  11. Mine
    • Quarry, mine
  12. Monument
    • Standing stones, monolith, statues
  13. Religious
    • Shrine, temple, monastery, druid circle
  14. Settlement
    • Outpost, hamlet, village, town, city
  15. Structure
    • Bridge, dam, aqueduct, tower, mega structure
  16. Trading post
  17. Vegetation
    • Copse or clearing, fungi forest, petrified forest, garden, orchard
  18. Water
    • Pond, lake, waterfall, hot spring

Location age

This is where the number after some of the location types in table above comes in.

  1. In the below table, go to the row with the number that appeared after the location.
  2. Roll 1d20 to determine if the location is inhabited, abandoned, or ruined.
Age Buried Ruined Abandoned Inhabited
1 1 2-3 4-20
2 1-4 5-10 11-20
3 1 2-7 8-13 14-20
4 1-2 3-11 12-16 17-20
5 1-3 4-17 18-19 20
6 1-8 9-20

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