Ex Novo
Authors: Martin Nerurkar & Konstantinos Dimopoulos Publisher: Sharkbombs Pages: 60 Session Length: 1-3 hours Players: 1-4 (solo or cooperative)
Overview
A map-drawing game where players collaboratively generate settlements with rich histories, landmarks, and factions. Starting from a blank map, the game guides players through founding a settlement, then playing through dramatic historical events that shape its development over time.
Role in The Western Horizon
Primary Scale: Settlement Used For: Founding new settlements, establishing starting locations, creating settlement histories Sections Updated: 02 - Settlements, 01 - Session Zero
When to Use:
- Session Zero: Generate the starting settlement
- Campaign Expansion: When players establish or discover new settlements
- Historical Context: To retroactively develop a settlement’s backstory
Core Concepts
Settlement as Palimpsest
Settlements are layered documents where history is visible in the present. Districts, landmarks, and factions bear the marks of past events.
Geographic Foundation
Terrain determines resources, defensibility, climate, and cultural attitudes. Geography isn’t decorative—it’s the reason the settlement exists.
Factions as Living Forces
Factions with symbols, influence levels, and relationships. Power tokens make faction influence concrete and trackable.
Events as Catalysts
Historical events shape the settlement — wars, discoveries, disasters. Each event has mechanical consequences that leave visible marks.
Scale Through Detail
| WH Tier | Settlement Type | Ex Novo Age | Regions | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | Village | Nestling-Budding | 6-9 | 5-10 |
| 5-10 | Town | Grown | 9-12 | 10-20 |
| 11-16 | City | Aged-Elderly | 12-18 | 20-40 |
| 17+ | Capital | Ancient | 20+ | 40+ |
Key Elements
The Map as Primary Artifact
Hand-drawn map is the central output—not polished, but a working document that evolves.
Resource Economy
Resources generate power tokens that factions compete over. Tied to terrain, can be depleted/captured/enhanced.
Power Token Economy
- Citizen Tokens: Population, placed on districts
- Power Tokens: Factional influence
- Growth Pool: Unallocated potential
Timeline as Chronicle
Tracks all Development Phase events chronologically. Explains why the settlement looks and functions as it does now.
Integration with Other Systems
→ Beak, Feather & Bone: Landmarks become BF&B’s unlabeled map, factions become community roles → Street Magic: Districts become neighborhoods with thematic identities → Kingdom: Factions become Kingdom roles, resources inform crossroads ← Microscope: Historic periods inform settlement age and founding ← Chronicle: Settlement-focused history creation
Practical Workflow for WH
Session Zero (90-120 min, Full Generation)
- Setup: Choose tier, determine region count
- Founding Phase (30 min): Geography, terrain features, resource, factions
- Development Phase (40 min): Historical events
- Detailing (20 min): Landmarks, key NPCs
- Document (10 min): Photo map, type up timeline, create wiki stub
New Settlement During Campaign (30-60 min)
- Quick Founding (15 min): Geography, resource, 2 factions
- Key Events (15 min): 3-5 events explaining current state
- Adventure Hooks (15 min): 1 landmark per faction, 1-2 key NPCs
Background Settlement (5 min)
- Choose terrain type and founding resource
- Create name, note 2 factions
- Add to regional map
Essential Tables Reference
All tables use 2d6:
- Terrain–Geography (p. 36)
- Terrain–Features (p. 37)
- Purpose–Location (p. 38)
- Purpose–Decision (p. 39)
- Power–Paradigm (p. 40)
- Power–Relationship (p. 41)
- Events Table (p. 42-59): 18 categories × 6 results = 108 events
Last updated: 2025-12-07 Processed from: ExNovo.pdf (2nd Edition)