When you’re creating a hexcrawl, one of the central tenets of the exercise is to put a landmark in each hex. It’s something PCs don’t have to hunt for, and they can come across it pretty easily. When players talk about a hex later, they’ll probably remember it by whatever landmark is in it, and they’ll orient themselves on the map by them.
Thinking up an interesting, appropriate landmark for even a 10×10 hexcrawl still requires you to come up with 100 landmarks! Many of them will be cities or other havens that you wanted on the map anyway. But that still leaves a lot of blanks.
You’ll have a bunch of your own ideas. But if you run out of steam, consult the Fifty Landmarks table here for new ideas or inspiration. Pick one you like or roll a d50 to let fate decide (roll percentile dice and divide by 2 if you don’t have a d50).
Hexcrawls are an awesome way to play D&D or Tales of the Valiant RPG.
Check out Book of Hexcrawl, Part 1 to learn all the basics for starting your own hexcrawl!
Fifty Landmarks
d50 | Landmark |
1 | Abandoned temple to a good god |
2 | Abandoned temple to an evil god |
3 | Colossus statue of some creature on the encounter list for this hex |
4 | Massively tall tree, sticking far above the canopy |
5 | Floating palace in the sky |
6 | Obelisk with strange carvings on it |
7 | Earthworks in the shape of an arcane symbol |
8 | Inn operated by fey |
9 | Extensive barrows |
10 | An elephant graveyard of a monster type besides elephants |
11 | Dwarven fort, occupied by a skeleton crew of dwarves |
12 | Gorge or deep ravine |
13 | Burning cenotaph |
14 | Tall iron spire, rusting |
15 | Overgrown mansion |
16 | Desertified section of land |
17 | Crystalline growths |
18 | Ancient arena |
19 | Decorative grotto |
20 | Ranger lodge |
21 | Shrine to a forgotten god |
22 | Enormous gauntlet |
23 | Lake with half-sunken buildings in it |
24 | Lost city |
25 | Thick webbing between large items and objects |
26 | Volcano caldera |
27 | Ancient stone bridge (troll guardian optional) |
28 | Inactive magical portal frame |
29 | Burned out village |
30 | Hidden valley |
31 | Sacred grove |
32 | Ghost town |
33 | Hanging gardens on a cliffside |
34 | Abandoned mine |
35 | Sphinx statue |
36 | Goblin camp |
37 | Treetop village |
38 | Topiary garden |
39 | Line of megaliths pointing in a direction |
40 | Large cold spot, snows occasionally |
41 | Remains of a battle |
42 | Wizard’s tower |
43 | Roosting site for giant birds |
44 | Headwaters for a hidden spring |
45 | Monk monastery and training grounds |
46 | Remains of a golem workshop |
47 | Large crater |
48 | Petrified giant |
49 | Curiously well developed path across the hex |
50 | Majestic waterfall |
Thank you for providing such useful information. I’ve been having trouble coming up with many questions about this topic. I’ll stick with you!