LMFC 03: Hex Design for the Late Medieval Fantastic Campaign
I started developing a hexmap for the LMFC by working with a map published on Wikipedia.* It shows the East Frisian peninsula during the 14th century and includes a reconstructed coastline that has changed significantly over the past centuries due to flooding and land reclamation. The map also features the historical territories of East Frisia as well as some major settlements.
I decided to focus on the western part of the peninsula, simply because it is where I grew up. This is the area I know best, and I find it comparatively easy to navigate, for example when dealing with place names that have changed quite a lot over time. The area encompasses the historical territories of Norderland, the western parts of Brokmerland, Moormerland, and Overledingerland, as well as Emsigerland and Federgoerland.
Next, I put a grid of 5-km hexes (c. 3.1 miles) over the map as a basis for the campaign map. I found that a 5-km hex is something I can easily conceptualize when pulling information from other maps into my hexmap without accidentally starting a GIS-powered side project. It is precise enough to populate the map with a reasonable degree of geographical accuracy while still providing enough wiggle room for the inevitable compromises of the project.
Crowded Hexes
The LMFC features a densely populated rural milieu, especially when compared to the vastness of a D&D-style wilderness, where you might cross several empty six-mile hexes to get from one settlement to another.
There are, of course, stretches of sparsely populated land in the LMFC, particularly saltmarshes, swamps, and moors. But PCs traversing the map will not be in much danger of getting lost. The land is flat as a plate and, especially towards the coast, dotted with villages, many of them built atop artificial earthen mounds (Warften). Many villages cluster around large brick churches that serve as landmarks visible from a considerable distance.
While drafting the first hexes based on historical information, I noticed that some 5-km hexes would contain two or three settlements, as well as several more-or-less contemporary castles under the control of different chiefly families. These, in turn, constitute potential LMFC factions.
This makes for a very different kind of hexcrawl environment from the classic model of the party venturing into an unknown wilderness.
Hex Design
In contrast to many classic hexcrawls, the LMFC is not about exploring and mapping a dangerous wilderness. Instead, the hexmap features spatially interconnected communities, encounters, and adventure locations. One might therefore argue that the LMFC resembles a point-crawl more than a conventional hexcrawl. I nevertheless decided to stick with hexes because the setting implicates a whole range of small-scale conflicts between competing factions. Running the LMFC may create a need to track the movements of warbands, retainers, pirates, or other NPCs. Here, a hexmap might come in handy.
Each hex will provide an adventure location with several adventure seeds. For this approach, I draw heavily on Seann McAnally’s hexcrawl Times That Fry Men’s Soul (2017) as a source of inspiration. Times is a “weird history campaign” set in the late 18th century during the American revolutionary wars.
When writing up the hexes, my aim is not to include every settlement that might have existed around 1400 (no way!). Instead, I want to focus on one or a couple of sites and a handful of localized encounters. The referee can add additional locales to the map as they see fit.
PCs traversing the map will not necessarily have to interact with the content of every hex. Rather, each hex provides gameable material for the referee to draw upon when the players decide to look around, ask questions, or otherwise engage with their surroundings. Every hex can potentially serve as a starting point for an LMFC adventure.
As presented, the content of each hex is usually based on a combination of historical data, bits of folklore from across northern Germany, and shit I made up to underline the tone and themes of the LMFC.
Hex Structure
The description of each hex is usually centered on a single settlement or localized encounter, which is introduced in the first paragraph or paragraphs of the entry. This is followed by the sections Locales, Who’s in Charge?, Secrets, and Something Happens.
Locales: This section describes important locations within the hex, such as castles, churches, villages, and other built structures.
Who’s in Charge?: This section examines the local balance of power and highlights existing and potential conflicts. The description operates on several levels of analysis. Often, the focus is on the immediate local situation; at other times, it points towards the interplay between local and regional factors, such as competing chiefly families.
Secrets: This is often the longest section of an entry. It presents one or several secrets that can serve as adventure seeds. These secrets will mostly be related either to folklore and the supernatural or to the realm of intrigue, rivalries, and petty feuds.
Something Happens: This section presents one or more encounters tied to the Secrets or Who’s in Charge? sections. It is intended as a fire accelerant, as tool for the referee to draw (not to force!) the players into the content of the hex.
* Page “Ostfriesische Häuptlinge.” In: Wikipedia – Die freie Enzyklopädie. Bearbeitungsstand: 28. August 2026, 15:13 UTC.