pointcrawl
June 26, 2022
A system for generating locations based on Wanderhome.
worldbuilding #
Themes and Domains #
As you explore the world, use Elements and traits to outline the places you find. You can use elements and traits with a hex grid to procedurally generate the map as you travel, or you may instead use it only for landmarks and places of interest.
1. Wilderness #
Places untouched by folk where our more than human counterparts live in the present, mostly uncaring about our history or futures.
Desires (choose one): quiet, food, be left alone, growth, to observe, to slow down
GM Moves #
This Theme can:
- Provide something needed at a cost or challenge.
- Make sleep difficult or pensive. (reclaim something)
- Strike at you out of need and without malice.
Domains: #
- Swamp - where the wild bogs you down and invites you to be introspective
- Coast - where the wild washes away and calls you to imagine what’s beyond
- Jungle - where the wild surrounds you and invites you to observe life abound
- Lake - where the wild is still on the surface and invites you to reflection
- Mountain - where the wild challenges you and invites you to consider your next step
- Savanna - where the wild exposes you and invites you to look at what’s around you
2**. Crossing** #
These liminal places mark the transition of what was and what could be. Not quite here, not quite there, but on the way to anywhere, here the journey may phase subtly or shift jarringly into its next stretch.
Desires (choose one): yearning, holding hands, remember last time, to carry rumours, to surprise, to join, to separate, to send off, to meet.
GM Moves #
This Theme can:
- Introduce you to someone from far away;
- Introduce you to an obstacle to your journey;
- Reveal a new or unexpected direction or destination.
Domains: #
- River - it challenges you to stay true to its course and may take you further than you wished.
- Road - it challenges you to persist and may introduce you to other journeys.
- Gate - it challenges you to consider which side is truly being kept away and may charge you entry.
- Outpost - it challenges you to question what civilisation is and may warn you of its fears.
- Bridge - it challenges you to cross troubled waters or bottomless gaps and may…
- Port - it challenges you to listen to faraway tales and may invite you to sail.
3. Community #
Folk band together to thrive, survive, overcome challenges, or simply get by.
Desires (choose one): peace, freedom, isolation, abundance, safety, relations
GM Moves #
This Theme can:
- Offer a hearty meal and a humble place to rest.
- Ask for help with little or nothing to give in return.
- Rally to protect what they hold dearest.
Domains: #
- Village - folk who live close to and look after each other.
- Lair - folk who are driven to stick together in a place others fear.
- Troupe - uncanny folk who have found a family on each other.
- Coven - folk who gather to share lore in secrecy or seclusion.
- Den - folk who find or carve for themselves a life in retreat or refuge.
- Wild - folk who are more than human and intertwine in ways we can’t fully understand.
4. Opportunity #
Places where you must gamble with, or struggle against power, risk, and challenge, all the while yearning for something you may or may not know what is - and whether it can be found.
Desires (choose one): a better life, scheme, challenge, profit, power over others, influence, fame and fortune, a second chance.
GM Moves #
This Theme can:
- Offer payment for dangerous work.
- Hold you onto its rules and power figures.
- Make you feel cornered or lost.
Domains: #
- City - it bustles and struggles with open and closed doors, and it tempts you with chaos and variety.
- Fort - it is uneasy, suspicious and alert and it tempts you through glory and strife.
- Tower - it observes avidly what is below and it tempts you through knowledge and secrets.
- Court - it is ambiguous and ambitious, and it tempts you through gossip and alliance.
- Market - it trades in things and information, and it tempts you through desire and illusions.
- Guild - it tempts you through wealth and influence.
5. Respite #
For some, these places represent a downbeat, while others are looking forward to them. Restless souls may find fleeting calm or feel anxious to move on, while weary travellers can fuel their spirit to carry on.
Desires (choose one): news, quiet, break boredom, loud music, grand tales, company, take a breath, sate hunger and thirst, money, renown, respect, relief, memory.
GM Moves #
This Theme can:
- Make you feel safe, even fleetingly or deceivingly;
- Show a different side of someone when they are relaxing;
- Let you eavesdrop on a juicy rumour, with or without a cost.
Domains: #
- Camp - it welcomes you to huddle up and invites fond memories.
- Tavern - it welcomes you to sate your hunger and inspires you to get into an argument.
- Oasis - it welcomes you to quench your thirst and inspires you to renew your resolve.
- Garden - it welcomes you to appreciate care and nurture and inspires you to admire some beauty around you.
- Shrine - it welcomes you to humble yourself and inspires you to relieve yourself of a burden.
- Clearing - it welcomes you to take a momentary break and inspires you to assess the next step.
6. Discovery #
What can be learned in places hidden, secluded, forgotten or isolated from the world at large? Places of discovery can reveal secrets as mundane as gossip or as fantastic as otherworldly horizons.
Desires (choose one): to teach, to learn, to hide, to dazzle, to covet, to reveal, to bargain, to lock or unlock a doorway, to show a different angle, to give or receive something.
GM Moves #
This Theme can:
- Reveal a secret or a hidden truth, however unpleasant;
- Show the master when the student is ready;
- Point out what is hidden in plain sight.
Domain: #
- Library - this place reveals knowledge abound but keeps it behind your ability to find it.
- Ruins - this place reveals the inescapable passing of time but keeps it behind the promise of the unearthed past.
- Court - this place reveals treacherous relationships and keeps them behind etiquette and poise.
- Waste - this place reveals desolation and loneliness, and it keeps it that way.
- Deep - this place never reveals too much or too far, and whatever it keeps, you’re not hidden from it.
- Horizon - this place reveals the vastness of the world, and keeps it within the reach of your heart.