Geography
Geography is the substrate everything else sits on. Hexes, terrain, routes, wilderness space — the physical world players move through and that gives settlements their context.
In engine terms, Geography is the opposite face of Settlements. A settlement without regional context is just a map; geography without settlements is just empty terrain. The founding resource — the post that connects a settlement to its hex — is what makes either one meaningful.
Geography nodes are the most mutable layer. Players traverse them constantly but rarely observe them in detail, which means most hexes are provisional canon — real enough to exist on the shared map, undefined enough to develop when someone looks closely.
In This Folder
| File | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| Hex Map | The three-mile hex as coordinate system, travel speeds, visibility |
| Travel & Complications | Encounter tables, waypoints, weather, zooming in vs. montage |
The Hex as Coordinate, Not Container
A hex doesn’t contain content — it provides coordinates for content. “There’s an herb garden in hex 7” means somewhere within that three-mile stretch, there’s a patch of silvervein moss. A single hex can hold multiple discoveries.
The hex is how parties from different sessions reference the same location. It’s the shared coordinate system that makes the persistent world persistent.
Geography and Lore
Most lore delivery during travel happens through geography — players moving through hexes encounter the seeded discoveries the GM placed in response to their goals. The hex map is the physical layer; the lore pool is what makes hexes worth entering.
Where This Connects
Terrain generation comes from Hexmancer and Perilous Wilds. Settlement founding connects settlements to specific geography nodes. Factions claim geographic territory — routes, resources, outposts. Dangerous sites found during travel become quest nodes.