How to Design and Draw a D&D Hex Map! (Includes Free Template Download!)

[@ChristopherFinchProfile]

I like it! You realize that a what you are really making isn't a map, but a fun game board. Which is genius.

[@althesilly]

I think I would print out a copy for myself and then give my players a blank copy and over time glue cut out hexes as they explore the map, for some good old exploration gameplay. I think I would give them the hex and explain what type of terrain the next hex over is and say nothing else. I would also probably use some kind of secret or point of interest for a hex that they could stumble across or spend time and search for. I am taking this idea from the way the Pathfinder Kingmaker exploration worked (at least what I understand how it works).

[@JPCoovert]

That's an awesome idea!!!

[@bookwormbon482]

What about making secret markings with an invisible ink pen... And an unlockable/ magic item is the purple light to see the ink

[@viciousyeen6644]

@@bookwormbon482 I love that idea! Will try that out with my group someday

[@ronkneller4348]

I'd love for a video of one of your dnd sessions. My friends and I just started playing and I'd like to see how you approach being a DM.

[@JPCoovert]

The logistics of filming and editing a session still seem very complicated to me. But I will definitely do a video about how I approach being a DM!

[@ronkneller4348]

@@JPCoovertAwesome, thanks for reaching out.

[@joshuap.3048]

@@ronkneller4348 you could also check out Critical Rolls D&D campaigns, they are amazing!

[@ToonGrin]

@@JPCoovert If you need an editor we can help with that.

[@1rishpotat0]

@@joshuap.3048 If you like vulgarity, yeah, sure.

[@omnistudio3493]

Thanks for the shoutout! It was so fun making these maps for you! Love your content!

[@bookwormbon482]

Amazing work!

[@bookwormbon482]

Do you ship to the UK?

[@mushroomsoda4422]

do you no longer make maps?

[@boxworker]

Would love a video about creating depth in a map, holes, mountains, caverns, etc. Been great watching all your DND videos they are really motivating!

[@JPCoovert]

Great idea!!!

[@adridoesthings]

this just inspired me to get into the design of my adventure! keep up the amazing art/d&d content

[@erikpoblete8945]

your illustrations are so clear and neat. love your drawing style.

[@beckett746]

Hi JP, just wanted to comment that I think your the most underrated youtuber out there, and I hope you have a great day. Keep the great videos up! :)

[@sapientmuffin]

JP, found your channel via Map Crow. You’re awesome man! I’ve never drawn more than stick figures and such in my life, and here I am spending my morning drawing a hex map. (And having a blast as I do!) Thank you for making these encouraging and inspiring vids! And Happy New Year! 🎉🥳

[@jonathan-sx9hv]

Omg thanks so much I was DRAWING hexes on an A2 paper. I was so frustrated until I found this video. Thanks so much💪💙

[@thecandidman]

Would love a video for someone literally starting out for what materials you use. Pens, markers, etc. What you'd recommend? Love these videos. When I get that chance, or rather, give myself the chance, I'll be sitting down to watch these all over again to try and drawn my own DMs campaign map! Keep it up JP!

[@JPCoovert]

Great idea! I’ll definitely do that in the future!

[@SteveHarpsterDraws]

Great video. The maps are way cool looking!

[@brentvincent4430]

Hi mr Steve say hi to Tyler for me

[@RollforDrama]

Thank you this was such a fun video and I appreciate showing the step by step

[@russell_cox]

That leather map is awesome!

[@Vanilla.Biscuit]

You've inspired a journey for me but through a digital approach

[@lydia93klarinet]

wow i really love your video's! its my first time as a dm but i have some new options to help my players. thank you!!!

[@alexandreferreira8346]

Beautifully made. Thanks for sharing!

[@monsterhobbiesageofsigmar]

Greetings from Monster Hobbies in High River, Alberta, Canada. This looks amazing! I printed off 10 of the hex grid sheets. Hopefully my map will work out as well as yours did! Thank you for showing me how to do this.

[@jeremyharrell2208]

this has been immensely helpful in drawing my first ever kingdom map thanks alot

[@dungeonx1939]

Thank you so much, I made a hex map for my first series as DM, this hex map I am gonna use as chapter 2 Greets Ben

[@SmileyTrilobite]

In some places I'd like to see your mapwork as you speak, but your gestures are good at punctuated what you're saying. I also think the current 5e rulebooks could have more cohesively organized/shown how rations, encumbrance, encounter tables, visible and hidden landmarks, healing, and exhaustion link up into the wilderness experience.

[@ProfBoggs]

I was not aware of blue pencils, so thank you for going into the weeds.

[@rconnor2006]

This was really cool--more D&D stuff please! DM tips and ideas would be great! :D

[@TrashPanda.Garage]

Love your videos as always awesome stuff!!

[@lastsonofkrypton3918]

Thanks so much bro, between these templates and your other video on how to draw the icons my OD&D campaign map is going to rock! (commented for algo love)

[@CONTINGENCY_sys]

Long distance travel is actually much easier mechanic'd by other more basic means. To make it easier think of travel with stats or with dice. For stats take the average of total player stat mod, Either dex or con works well for this. Dex for complicated terrain, Con for durational terrain. Mod is days of travel or miles traveled, you decide the speed. You can use dice as well d4 for weeks, d6 for days, d8 for hours, d10 or d12 for minutes. Building out a foundational travel mechanic is fun and can be customized to your own private spaces easily. Decide stat or dice first and then decide what makes it fair and applies best with consistency. Making it easy and believable creates positive forward thinking gameplay. Hope this helps you build a system that works well for your space. Have fun creating!

[@CONTINGENCY_sys]

If you use hex, you can use stat mod for # of hex traveled in a day as well. The options are endless!

[@shadowpulse4022]

wow great video and thanks for the downlaodable template.

[@mathieud4770]

Pretty cool, thanks for the tips! Hope you'll keep going with RPG material

[@JPCoovert]

got a new world map video coming in the next couple of days!

[@HermitDad1980]

Excellent video. Would you mind making another video just on drawing the different types of terrain for the hexes in the Tolkien style? I'm not terrible at drawing, but I'm not super good either, and I think just a little bit of a how to would be super helpful. Thanks again for your work, have a great day!

[@marcowiz]

Very inspiring! Thank you!

[@GreenPaladin7]

Love the map!

[@Rejoice1631]

Other than my issue with the Omni Link, your videos are Great, sir.!.!.!

[@petercampana9615]

Really enjoyed this (sorry, just found it now!). My drawing style is similar to yours, so I really found it useful!

[@Dethilion]

No swamps? Aww :( endless fields of sorrow are a must have

[@SurfaceDweller]

Great map!

[@kasparsvitols7649]

I'm inspired to do something like that. Thanks!

[@maingim7748]

Thats so Cool....

[@TheBreadPirate]

Wait, you use Terranigma Sound effects?!? 14:47

[@simonvegablanche2325]

Amazing video! Also in d&d 3.5 it explains something like this but I like much more how yo did it

[@JPCoovert]

ohh interesting! I have the 3.5 handbook, I'll have to go back and look.

[@simonvegablanche2325]

@@JPCoovert perfect, thoug I think it uses squares instead of hexagones, but it is something like that, at least what I remember

[@Pasquali369]

You ought to paint the wooden Omni Studio map. It would be really cool!

[@Krisstonehaven]

Is there any chance you could do a very bold, black hex map outline. so that I and my children could put it under other pieces of paper and see the hex Map through it?

[@craigjohnson167]

Was the link removed? I can't find the info for that Omni Studios.

[@pierrecavalet3022]

man this content is amazing

[@FlorisKegel]

Hi, I have a quick question! what's the scale you used for this map?

[@m.a.packer5450]

This will work great for my TFT games

[@soliscrown1272]

Great hex map! 🗺

[@lorenzoinglese6369]

Thanks for the hex map

[@bookwormbon482]

Love this!

[@ZephaniahL]

Are there advantages to hex maps over squares?

[@ceranko]

Thats awesome!

[@lesha313]

Hey! Nice Work! Could you link in PDF the map you've just done? Thx ;)

[@JPCoovert]

Not making this map available because it's for my personal game. Other videos have freely available assets though!

[@andizzle195]

What scale would this map be considered? Provincial, kingdom, continental (I’m assuming not this one)? I have a continental map I’ve drawn the borders of, but no idea how to scale it so I can get in depth enough for Kingdom and Provincial while still only using one sheet of paper for each region.

[@JPCoovert]

You get to make up the scale! Drawing 3 trees in a hex can indicate an entire forest if you want. What's important is telling the players how long it takes to travel thru a hex.

[@Waftey]

Can you do this on a large scale for wargaming?

[@justinschramm8481]

The laser etching? You can but it all depends on the size of the laser. Omni studio can do up to a 19" x 27" I think. You could always piece it together though.

[@tristebateleur2384]

Hey i cqnt find the moment he says the ratio. How much miles/km an hex is supposed to be?

[@mattiaperry95]

You should really made a public drive when you post all those material. Some sort of archive for everyone to download (only you can upload obviously :) )

[@JPCoovert]

Some of my videos have downloads in the descriptions! But I'm keeping some of the stuff, like this hex map, to myself for now. You might see it pop up in something cool later though ;)

[@angelalewis3645]

You’re so cool!

[@GenuineMattyC]

What happened to Omni Studio? There is no info in the video description.

[@JPCoovert]

Not sure!

[@jeromebrunat2470]

Superbes vidéos. Tu pourrais faire des cartes pour du steampunk stp ?

[@joshuap.3048]

How to make a World Map!?!?!?!?!?!

[@JPCoovert]

That's next!!!

[@Zarala2010]

@@JPCoovert Is it by combining a bunch of Hex Maps? JK, awesome maps. :D

[@Vanilla.Biscuit]

@@Zarala2010 I think that's 1 way to be honest

[@Vanilla.Biscuit]

@@Zarala2010 another might be simplification, like making details less dense in hexs etc ie 1 page vs 6 etc

[@Jok4PT]

Plzz more videos like this

[@benjaminbriney5248]

where do you find hex paper?

[@JPCoovert]

printed myself! link the description!

[@sylvnfox]

I did the same thing for a map of a campaign I was running for my nephews only diffrence is I made the coast lines less sharp.

[@thynir0665]

How about a small town an village maps.

[@JPCoovert]

Will definitely tackle that!

[@TheWindyweather]

I guess I would have scanned the key, then cut it up and used a tool like Inkscape to paste the parts over the template to make the final map. A lot less drawing of the same symbols over and over. But I'm not a good artist like you are.

[@JPCoovert]

That would be a great way to do it!

[@Greedilox]

What is A. Wood, T. Forest and T.F mean?

[@X.davidWilliams]

Huzzah!

[@ShaneKennedy-gt8nl]

Thanks

[@Scott-du2cg]

How do you make roads or trails on a map like that sir?

[@JPCoovert]

The thick black lines are roads :)

[@Scott-du2cg]

@@JPCoovert how would you make trails with a different color?

[@JPCoovert]

@@Scott-du2cg Make a different type of line with a different color maybe? You should experiment! Try out a few different options when making the key.

[@неизвестныйканал-ы5э]

Да ты просто Господь Бог!!!!

[@obaits3225]

I know it’s an old video, at least on mobile the Omni studios link is broken

[@passolargo2298]

ÓTIMO VIDEO. PENA QUE EU NÃO CONSIGA ENTENDER NADA QUE ESSE ARTISTA DIZ. (BRASIL)

[@lorenzoinglese6369]

Amazing

[@gregorcykf]

Your omni-studio link sends you to a trojan horse site. Web security will lock your computer

[@trashpanda5869]

I’ve consistently run into trouble because my needs are very unconventional. My core problem is that I want to make a map of a smaller region, and I don’t know landmasses of the world. I somehow have to bring very cultures and biomes into close proximity. With a nearby island that they can co-inhabit. Do you have tips for how to approach this problem?

[@JPCoovert]

It's fantasy! Just make it up!!! Maybe the hexes can represent a shorter distance. And the biomes can stretch across multiple hexes

[@trashpanda5869]

JP Coovert opps I meant to post this on the fantasy world map video not this one 😅. But thanks regardless

[@DeathxStrike18]

You know omni is selling your map for 100-150? Also what is the distance between a hex and a 1x1 grid square

[@JPCoovert]

They aren't selling my map, just using the image as an example for the type of stuff they can print. Thanks for looking out though! 1 hex = 1 day travel by foot. :)

[@timpudoff726]

@@JPCoovert 24 miles? (normal pace?)

[@m.a.packer5450]

Travel shouldn't be hard: before they travel they pick a destination and make sure they have enough food and drink for every 20 miles (10 if rough terrain, double if on horses with no wagons)

[@JPCoovert]

True, unless they encounter something unexpected ;)

[@vanxthenecron3059]

I love your vids but i want to tell you and everyone who watched this please *never make a river go from ocean to ocean*

[@JPCoovert]

hehehe. that's a big lake up there to the north :P

[@bookwormbon482]

Genuine question: why not? Haha

[@vanxthenecron3059]

@@bookwormbon482 because rivers always flow from high to low, from moutains and hills into the oceans. Wouldn't make much sense for them to go from the ocean, across the hill, just to get into the ocean again, right?

[@theophrastusbombastus1359]

Panama Canal?

[@vanxthenecron3059]

@@theophrastusbombastus1359 well thats not a river :) but its cool to have exceptions like that, provided they are explained with lore, it adds detail to the world

[@Joshuazx]

With D&D exploration, use words like arbitrary, abstract, simplified, and assumed because we take take liberties with reality for ease of play. To be honest, the 5e DMG does not do beginners any favors! -Choose a scale. That means what distance does 1 hex represent? 1 hex = 1 mile? 1 hex = 6 miles? 1 hex = 24? etc. Usually, you use numbers that are easily divisible by 6 (1 hex = 6 miles, 12 miles, 18, 24, 36, 48, etc.). Or numbers that go into 6 easily (1 hex = 2 miles, 1 hex = 3miles). Standard hexes are at a scale of 1 hex = 24 miles because of how we fast people are assumed to march in a normal 8 hour travel day. -People are assumed to walk 3 miles per hour, for 8 hours per day, that's 24 miles / day at a normal pace. -People are assumed to walk 2 miles per hour, for 8 hours per day, that's 16 miles / day at a slow pace. -People are assumed to walk 4 miles per hour, for 8 hrs/day, that's 32 miles / day at a fast pace. -Difficult Terrain halves distances you can travel. 3 miles per hour = 1.5 miles per hour. If one hex is 24 miles, players travel 12 miles, or 1/2 a hex per 8 hour travel day. -Riding horses walk 4 miles / hour normal, 5 miles/ hour fast, 3 miles/hour slow (maybe, I don't know for horse speed!) -Flying creatures fly 8 miles / hour normal, 7 slow, 9 fast.

[@timpudoff726]

Excellent info, Joshua. JP, what was the hex distance for your map?

[@Joshuazx]

@@timpudoff726 Depends on the needs that the map is fulfilling. 1 hex = 24 miles is typical for large regions like a barony, 1 hex = 6 miles for smaller regions such as a zoomed in area within a barony. 1:24 is for journeying longer distances. 1:6 is for local distances.

[@bluefish5]

Nah dude. The travel rules for 5e are just junk :)

[@mangomariel]

I mean this is great and all. But you don't really need hex and squares, just use a ruler. 1cm = 5feet or whatever. That's it.

[@JPCoovert]

My players have never come to the table with a ruler. Grids and hexes simplify maps, making them easier to plan AND easier to play on.