HLD:RPG: Map Style Test

Hello Drifters,
We’re hard at work on the setting, and I wanted to just share with you a snippet of the map. This was a style test to see if we could do justice to the HLD map style, and honestly, I am very very happy about it. Welcome to the Poisoned Forest, this was the region where we ran our first playtests, and given its the biggest area that’s separated from our continent, it was perfect for a style test.

In addition, you may notice the hex-grid background. Hex-Grids were a popular aspect of AD&D and OSR styled games (including Forbidden Lands, a modern OSR game). The benefit of hex-grid maps is that it provides a structured increment of travel while at the same time, making each tile relatively unknown to the player, typically providing a roll-table of potential encounters/events. Anything could happen on the next tile.

The thing with older hex-grids is that they’re usually pretty lackluster on map features. Typically only showing a few named locations, making the world feel hollow (at least in my opinion). With Drifter, I want the map to provide ideas and inspiration, and so we’ve littered the map with several places and markers. Some of these are fleshed out while and others are undefined, allowing you to use as you see fit.

Anyways, I hope you all love it, and we’ll be sharing more about the world and setting as they get further fleshed out. v4.3 is coming, and I’ll talk more about the changes to abilities that will come with it.

Until the next update!!

Drifter Andreas