Hexcrawl Example of Play

Gygax's 1st Edition Dungeon Master's Guide contained an "example of play" section giving a transcript of table talk as the players moved through the Monastery Cellars & Secret Crypts provided just a couple pages earlier. This section was instrumental in my learning how to referee a dungeon crawl in the Old School way, but I've never seen something equivalent for a Hexcrawl. So I'm going to post my own Example of Play, in case others go searching for one as I once did.

Our party consists of Amber the Lawful Fighter and Betty the Chaotic Cleric. The two have returned to the starting village, used the gold they looted from the goblin-occupied castle to stock up, and decided to accompany their new Dwarf NPC companion back to his home in the eastern Rock Halls. The sun is rising on a new day, a crisp Autumn breeze from the north contrasts with the oceanic winds to the west, and the party prepares to set out. 

DM: "All right, you have six directions you can head - east and west are direct, you can also head northeast, northwest, southeast, or southwest." 

Amber: "I guess we head southeast until we hit the river, then follow the river straight east." 

The village is just a couple miles north of the river, so I don't roll a chance to lose direction. They also recently cleared the goblins in the southeast ruins, so I don't roll a wandering monster encounter.

DM: "It's a couple of miles, but eventually you cross into the next hex and stand on the banks of the West Ember River. It's several hundred feet across and slow-moving as it plods its way west to the Eschaton Sea." 

Betty: "We continue East for the rest of the day. I'll mark of rations for each of us."

DM: "It's a peaceful, quiet trip, the gold-and-red trees only occasionally betraying the sound of some animal running through or some mysterious creaking in the distance. You travel 3 more hexes before the sun finally sets behind in the distant east. Do you make camp?" 

Amber: "Yes, we'll divide the night into 3 watches. Betty will go first, then me, then the Dwarf." 

Betty: "If nothing happens on my watch, I'd like to meditate on the immortality of Nakhet the Immortal Sorceress."

I roll random encounters through the night; they're camped on the bank of a river, a popular destination for wandering animals, so random encounters will happen on a 3:6. Nothing on Betty's watch; an encounter on Amber's, the table revealing a pack of wolves will approach the party; nothing on the Dwarf's watch.

DM: "Betty, you spend your watch in peaceful meditation. The watch switches, and Amber, after a few hours of carefully monitoring the treeline for any signs of Chaos - besides your morally-unnerving traveling companion - you begin to hear twigs snapping and leaves crunching, slowly and rhythmically." 

Amber: "Betty! Dwarf! Wake up! Something's coming!" 

Betty: "The Dwarf and I scramble up and grab our weapons." 

DM: "A pack of [2d6] 5 wolves slowly marches out of the shadow of the trees and into the dim glow of your campfire." 

Amber: "I throw them two rations."

Reaction roll; 9. The wolves gleefully tear into the free food they don't have to fight for.

Betty: "We run into the woods at full speed and keep running until we're certain we've lost them." 

Now they've done it. They are running blindly into the dark, and didn't specify northeast or northwest, so I decide for them with a 1d2 - northeast. They don't know that, of course. The moment they step into the woods, another encounter check, this time on a 3:6. A 6. Lucky for them. The checks will happen with every hex they cross into and every loud noise they make. This was a much more dangerous decision than fighting the wolves, or even just trying to scare them off with fire.

 DM: "You run for [d4] an hour, tearing through the woods in a desperate attempt to lose the wolves and cover your scent, hardly paying attention to where you are until you finally come to a halt. You're surrounded by thick oak trees and piles of shed amber and crimson leaves."

Amber: "Which way is it back to the river?" 

DM (smiling maliciously): "You don't know." 

Betty: "Can we see the stars?" 

Weather check. A 5.

DM: "A few light strings of clouds block a few patches of the sky and the trees block the rest, but you're able to see through just enough to tell that the sky is mostly clear." 

Betty: "I climb the closest tree. When I get to the top, I look for the North Star and use it to point us southeast. That should take us back to the river. Do I need to make a strength check?" 

DM: "No, if you're competent enough to have slain those goblins, I assume you're competent enough to climb a tree. I will roll a random encounter check though, since you're going to be making some noise... Lucky you, the forest is awfully quiet tonight. You reach the top and yes, you can see the North Star, once an object of worship among the ancient Elven empire and now your savior in the darkness. You can make for the southeast hex and get back on the river bank." 

Amber: "We follow her directions." 

DM: "All right, but you're all lost, in darkness, and none of you has had much sleep after a full day's marching through the wilderness. Any to-hit rolls are going to be at a -4 penalty."

Betty: "We could camp out here and start going in the morning." 

Amber: "That's a terrible idea, the DM is rolling random encounters anytime we make any noise. Something's bound to find us. Let's just try to move slowly and quietly, take the penalty for moving slowly, and get out of this hex. It's giving me goosebumps." 

Another random encounter check as they discuss plans without whispering. A 1, but the table reveals that it's a unicorn. It'll keep its distance, and the PCs don't have the means to notice it, but it will follow them and may join any other combats the party gets into. 

DM: "Sounds like you're headed southeast. All right then, you slowly and cautiously march through. It takes the rest of the night to move slowly but an encounter will be on a 1:10... Good job. Dawn begins to creep through the trees as you finally see them thin out and clear to the familiar waters of the West Ember. You're back on track."

Betty: "Do we see our campsite?" 

DM: "No, you assume that's in the next hex or so west."

Amber: "We left our rations and some of our supplies there. The wolves are probably gone and if not, we can be the ones slowly creeping out of the woods this time. Let's head back to that hex and try to recover what we can." 

The party crosses back a hex and recovers only 2 rations the wolves did not eat during the night. The rest of their equipment is safe.

Betty: "We haven't got enough food to get us through the day. We'll have to hunt and forage." 

DM: "It's a full day's activity." 

Amber: "So it is, but we don't have much choice. Betty will spend the day fishing in the river, I'll spend the day hunting, and the Dwarf can spend the day chopping trees so we have some defenses for our campsite tonight." 

Foraging checks, one d6 for Amber and Betty each. It's a +1 to Betty because it's still salmon season in the West Ember. It's near the tail end of the season, it would be a +2 if it was at peak. Amber fails to catch anything, but Betty succeeds. Another d6 - she catches enough food for 4 people.

DM: "Betty catches a substantial amount of Ember salmon. Some of it has to be cooked and eaten today, but combined with the rations you've salvaged, there's enough to see everyone through tomorrow as well. You can spend another day here continuing to hunt and forage, or you can press on tomorrow, then spend the day after searching for food."

Betty: "Let's take the chance, get through the night, and press on. There's a good chance something will come for us instead, which could make the problem much easier to solve if we can kill it." 

The night watch proceeds as with the above process. No random encounters are rolled. The party starts out the next morning, electing to continue their passage straight east along the river. Weather roll - cloudy, with dense fog in the morning. A d6 is rolled for encounters - a 1. It's a Knight from the local stronghold. How exciting. 

DM: "A few hours into your travels you're two hexes east when you start to hear a heavy, rapid clip-clop sounding to the north. Something is coming for you." 

Amber: "Clip-clop? Is it a horse?" 

Betty: "Can we see it?" 

DM: "Not through the lingering fog, though you can tell it's coming toward you. You can either wait here to see what it is, or attempt to flee." 

Betty: "I bet it's a horse, which implies a rider. And I know we're in lawful territory, and my traveling companion is obviously a deluded follower of rules and traditions, so I'm willing to bet we'll be safe. Let's stay." 

Betty has made a wise choice - the Knight is an emissary from a local lord whose stronghold lies in this hex. The party is invited to the castle, where the Lord challenges them to a joust. If the party wins they may stay in his castle as guests for up to a week - if they lose, they must hand over a suit of armor. Knowing how short they are on food, the party accepts the challenge...