The following is an excerpt from the Commander’s toolkit of DANGER CLOSE, but I realized it might be useful in far broader applications. So consider this both a teaser as well as a full blog post explaining my method.
First off: This is DANGER CLOSE:
and you can find it here: https://dicegoblingames.itch.io/danger-close-tactical-skirmish-ttrpg
What is this?
This approach is inspired by the mission briefing map in Helldivers 2, and how missions in that game take place in a select area of a couple of square kilometers.
I made it to create interesting mission terrain for DANGER CLOSE, which has a military sci-fi theme, but I suppose this could be used for any kind of setting, really. The terrain generation is universal, and the Mission Elements do involve a “Landing Zone” and “Extraction Zone”, but you can easily just… not use that. Finally, it has a system for “Intel”, but that could also just be “rumors about the region”.
The Method
We need a hexflower; I like using https://hexfriend.net/, 3 hexes from the center.
Next, roll for the terrain type for each side of the hexflower. That’s 6 sides, 6 terrain types. In DANGER CLOSE, we have
- Open. Plains, fields, desert flats, parking lots
- Open (Slow). Wetlands, marshes, mud flats, flooded fields, shallow river crossings
- Covered. Light foilage, suburbs, rocky outcrops, industrial yards, ruins
- Covered (Slow). Dense forest, jungle, city blocks, trench systems
- Impassable. Deep water, cliff faces, chasms, lava fields, mine fields
I made a 2d6 table for interesting odds/distributions, but you can use whatever terrain is prevalent in the larger region.
Next, we connect matching border regions in interesting ways. Here’s where we get a bit creative. I went for:
I added some wetlands in the middle, because it fit.
Adding Points of Interest
For DANGER CLOSE, we need one or more Landing Zones (LZs, where the Squad can enter the mission), an Objective (where they need to go), and we see if there’s any Intel – hexes where the contents are pre-rolled/known beforehand, which allows for interesting tactical decision making.
- LANDING ZONE. Roll 1d6 and mark the corresponding orange hex as the starting LZ. Roll 1d6 again, and mark a second LZ. On doubles, the mission only has one LZ (Squad cannot choose).
- OBJECTIVE. Roll 1d6 for a colored zone furthest from the LZ(s). For instance: if LZ’s are 5 and 3, roll for zone Red. Roll d6 again for the precise hex. Re-roll if this ends up in impassable terrain.
- INTEL. Roll 1d6 to determine the level of intelligence available for the region.
- 1: None.
- 2-3: Three Sectors.
- 4-6: Two Sectors.
- Roll that number of Sector in advance. 1d3 to determine which color zone; 1-2 Red, 3-4 Green, 5-6 Blue. Roll 1d6 again to determine the precise hex. Re-roll if this ends up in impassable terrain.
- EXTRACTION ZONE. Roll 1d6.
- 1: Use the orange hex opposite the LZ.
- 2-3: Roll for random orange hex when objective complete.
- 4-6: Roll for a random orange hex.
This gave me:
With relatively minimal effort, this creates quite a few interesting options. In DANGER CLOSE, wetlands and dense forests require double the encounter rolls (and each terrain has certain properties in terms of cover and maneuverability in combat, but that’s not for now). If we look at the options for the mission, we have:
Yellow stars indicate an encounter. Going from LZ A seems to be the most optimal route – but I also went and rolled for the Extraction Zone, and got the lower left corner, in which case clearing that region by starting from LZ B might be more favorable.