Beyond the hex

5 easy steps to make a map for your solo RPG sessions

This week, I’m sharing how I make maps for RPGs. There’s no correct way to do it. But this way is easy, simple, and effective, so I can keep playing without derailing my solo sessions with thousand-year-old trivium about imaginary places.

I’ve broken it into 5 steps you can do on your own with some dice, a piece of paper, and a pen.

Step 1: Draw 4 circles

The most basic essence of any map is showing the relationship between regions. To do that, all you really need is 4 circles.

Draw a tiny, tight circle at the center of the page. That’s your capital.

Add a small circle around your capital. That’s the demesne controlled by the power seated there. This is about 6 miles in diameter: small enough to patrol and big enough to feed about 8,000 people living in your capital. That’s a large city for the Iron Age.

Circle it again. This is a day’s ride from the capital in any direction, or about 48 miles in diameter. This is where towns start to develop to support the capital’s needs and patrol their own minor baronies.

Finally, add one more circle that reaches the edge of the page. That’s your borderlands, where all those keeps and creeps are. That’s about another day’s ride from the capital. From here, your capital’s power stops, and so does your map.

When you’re finished, your map should look something like this:

This map might seem small, but this area is a little larger than Connecticut and a little smaller than Wales. Take it from a forever DM: you’re never going to need more than that.

Step 2: Draw 1 line and 2 dots

Civilization doesn’t happen without water—even with magic. You ain’t transmuting water 10 gallons at a time for thousands of people, forever.

So, add a river to your map by drawing a simple line through it, using the clock as a guide. Roll a d12: that’s where your river enters your region. It runs directly to your capital city. Again: you ain’t creating water for 8,000 people.

Roll a d12 again to see where the river exits your map.

When you’re finished, draw 2 dots somewhere on the river beyond your demesne. These are towns, home to about 1,000 people each.

Your map should look something like this now:

Step 3: Add d4+1 dots and triangles

Now we’re beyond a day’s ride, out toward the borderlands. Out here, populations are small, desperate, and vulnerable to enemies and monsters.

Add d4+1 dots near the borderlands using your d12 clock again. These are villages where about 100 people live.

Add that many triangles. These are your ruins, where all the loot and monsters are. If they appear in the same places as one of your villages, that village becomes a ruin, laid low by plague, raid, or dragon fire.

Shouldn’t the ruins be beyond the borderlands?

I’m sure there are ruins there. But those I know about are only known by rumor, song, and news that travels by hoof or foot. Those I hear about are on the outskirts, too far for the patrols to bother with but close enough to find.

Now your map is starting to take shape.

Step 4: Add the terrain

For this step, you’ll need to decide what your bright spots of civilization do to survive and thrive. How do they exploit the resources around them? Why does this place exist?

Roll 1d4 for your villages, 2d8 for your towns, and 3d12 for your capital, comparing the results on this table:

Villages will stay small like this, and towns can be a little more developed. Only the city can have a castle, the true seat of power.

If I roll the same result twice, I double its potency — a fort becomes a keep, and a farm becomes an estate.

With your population centers settled, add terrain that represents them. This doesn’t need to be fancy or pretty. It just needs to show the place’s relationship with the land.

1. Farms: hatch marks work fine.

2. Livestock graze and need lots of water.

3. Lumber: Lollipop trees

4. Forts are called “forts” — simple.

With some terrain, your simple map is starting to look more complete.

Step 5: Add the names

Every RPG player loves this part.

Name your villages, towns, capitals, and ruins. You can make this your own. I like to name places after people or the local region.

For ruins, I give them names that locals would call them—their real names lost long ago. They’re misspelled or misremembered because their names are kept by illiterate folk and broken men.

When you’re finished with your map, you’ve got a petty kingdom of your own to explore.

This is all I need to get started and keep rolling. And there’s still tons of white space on this thing. There’s bound to be loot there.

Keep drawing.

—Odinson