Humanoid Hordes and Hex-Fillings

Humanoid Horde Details

So there's gonna be some gnolls or goblins or mongrelmen or just some people in the next dungeon. Use these tables to figure out what their deal is.

Roll d20 on each table or, for super-quick generation roll d20 and use the same number on all 3 tables

Aspect (this only makes weird humanoids, if you want more normal ones, just skip this step)

1 Lewis Carrol-esque
2 Clones or twins
3 Decadent
4 Drunk
5 Drugged
6 Enslaved (or slavers)
7 Experimented-upon
8 Friendly
9 Giant
10 Hyperintelligent
11 Immobile
12 Insane
13 Militarized (like Tolkien orcs)
14 Mutants or cripples
15 Nurgley
16 Religious
17 Sexy
18 Soulless
19 Steampunk
20 Tiny

Hierarchy

1 Magocracy--lead by d4+1 wizards, shamen, witches, etc.
2 Lead by a single wizard, witch, shaman, etc.
3 d4+1 leaders with d6 more HD than the rest
4 A single leader with d8 more HD than the rest
5 Obey the whisperings of a bizarre idol
6 Lead by a member of a more intelligent species
7 Lead by a wizardy/witchy member of a more intelligent species
8 "Lead" by a member of a non- or animal-intelligence species (giant ape, froghemoth, yellow mold, etc.) whose wishes are interpreted by a priest or witch
9 Lead by a hyperintelligent member of a usually non- or animal-intelligent species
10 Lead by an upper caste--roll on "Aspect" table above to determine the characteristics of this caste--d4 of them
11 Lead by the crippled or deformed (a bloated queen, sacred paraplegiac, etc)--d4 of them
12 Lead by the withered and old. d4 wiser and weaker than the rest
13 Multi-tiered organization: roll d12 on this table twice--the first roll outranks the second
14 Multi-tiered organization: roll d12 on this table thrice-the first roll outranks the second and the second outranks the third
15 Symbiotic unimind
16 Complex: Roll d12 on this table for the supreme leader, roll d10 for the "bodyguard" class, roll d12 on this table for the advisors
17 25% are berserk warrior-types 2hd more than the rest and +2 damage. 2 handed weapons, maybe
18 Sophisticated: as 17 plus roll d12 on this table
19 Sophisticated: as 17 and 13
20 Sophisticated: as 17 and 14

Allies (roll twice)

1-10 None
11 Mounted (on horses or centipedes or whatever)
12 Small attack animals (dogs, boars, lizards, etc.)
13 Swarm bombs (jars of bees, wasps, snakes, etc.)
14 d4+1 Monsters on chains (otyughs, carrion crawlers, etc.)
15 1-2 Gigantic monsters (mammoths, trolls, etc.)
16 Priest/witch raises dead to fight with host as zombies when they fall
17 Half their force is another intelligent species (roll on the tables above for it if you have time)
18 d4+1 Golems or steampunkish devices
19 Mutual-defense treaty or agreement with another distant local monster or group
20 Use strange monsters with weird attacks (basilisks, mushroom men, etc.) as shock troops

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What's In This Here Hex?

Michael Curtis' original Hex Dressing table is intended for when a hex is scoured and "something interesting" is found.

This one can be used that way and can also be used any time a wilderness encounter is called for so you can see what kind of landscape you're fighting in.

It can also be used just to figure out what's in a hex if you're prepping a map in advance, though beware it's not very naturalistically "weighted"--you have as much chance of finding a giant skeleton as a bog.

It's no good for drawing a big hex map since there's no way to get continuous rivers or mountains out of it.

1-20 Consult this table

21 Freakishly tall peak allowing you to see major features 2 hexes away in all directions (or twice as far as result 4, at any rate).

22 Corpse of megasized creature (dragon, giant, airwhale, etc.). Scavengers?

23 Extra thick forest of distinctive local flora (bamboo, twisty doomforest trees, mangrove swamp, etc.) movement halved and ambushes likely.

24 Site of ancient battle. Unburied corpses. Careful search will turn up 1-a magic weapon or piece of armor 2-an ancient map 3-angry undead 4-items of historical value 5-warrior magically preserved by an old spell who doesn't know what year it is or speak the local palaver 6-roll twice, d6 and d4.

25 Site of recent battle. 1-3 two local factions 4-local faction vs. fantastic beast or fantastic army 5-6 local faction vs. faction of distant land

26 Mist-bound valley. Roll under int + ranger level (if any) to avoid going the wrong way.

27 Small fortress/outpost. Abandoned.

28 Small fortress/outpost. Predictable local faction.

29 Completely inexplicable architecture half-built and then abandoned. Relatively recent.

30 Sheer cliff

31 Abandoned inn

32 Quicksand or tarpit.

33 Lake. Not a hex-worth, but big enough.

34 Pile of severed 1-heads 2-feet 3-hands (right) 4-ears

35 Remains of a doomed caravan. Various trade goods scattered around for a 1/4 mile.

36 Remains of abandoned village built in trees.

37 A landscape of huge, smooth Colorado-Springs-esque boulders

38 A giant's shoe or sock.

39 Recent meteor crash site.

40 Why is there a boat here? There's no water...

41 Desert or flat grassland or burnt landscape or something otherwise totally flat. Unusual features of adjacent hexes visible if they're tall enough to be above the horizon.

42 Vine-choked ruins of an old monastery or fortress form an aboveground maze, walls 15' high

43 Den. Recent.empty. Wolves or local equivalent begin tracking party here. They will attack once the PCs are asleep.

44 Salt lick or watering hole. Most major local fauna are all in evidence

45 Old bear traps.

46 Orchard. Edible fruits. Harmless.

47 Ruin of old castle

48 Crumbling aqueduct

49 Colossal statue

50 River with dam

51 Ruins of a giant's home

52 Spiky rock formations, 5-20 feet tall

53 Well. Water in it. 40% chance of a duck

54 Lonely monastery w/xenophobic monks

55 Freakish crystal formations. There'd be a 10% chance of gnomes if gnomes didn't suck

56 Ruined siege engine--1-siege tower 2-ballista 3-catapult 4-juggernaut

57 Recently burned settlement

58 A crowd of statues. Medusae? Basilisks? Art-crazy population? Weird religion?

59 Ancient, massive mollusk shell d20x100 feet across

60 An unusually large herd of whatever the local herd animal is

61 Thin crust of earth over lava. Occasional ground-level caulderas--10-20' across

62 Salt lake

63 Harmless, immobile, wallowing animals everywhere--turtles, seals, etc.

64 Ex-garden, now overgrown. Strange flora

65 Tracks of horses and warbeasts. A great host is afoot

66 Twisted freakscape due to excess magic, chaos-infection, passing of demons etc.

67 Abandoned asylum

68 Abandoned prison

69 Abandoned library

70 Stepwell

71-80 Roll twice. Keep rolling if you re-roll this result

81-85 Roll thrice. Keep rolling if you re-roll this result

86-00 Landscape typical of this area