Run DnD hexcrawls in style with this RPG toolbox

Don't know how a DnD hexcrawl works? This RPG hexcrawl toolbox has all the instructions you need, plus 150 physical tiles split across eight biomes

DnD hexcrawl toolbox - a lavishly illustrated RPG hexcrawl constructed from cardboard hexes

It’s easy to run a D&D adventure in a titchy location like a dungeon or cave, but when a DM wants a game to involve travelling vast expanses, or exploring a landscape, the humble DnD hexcrawl is often their first port of call. For DnD fans not well-versed in the art, or seeking something to add bling to their table, Portuguese RPG publisher Games Omnivorous has produced the Hexcrawl Toolbox.

It comes complete with 150 illustrated tiles that can be arranged in endless combinations, as well as a guidebook to hexcrawls filled with random tables and camping tips, which will work with any tabletop RPG. According to Games Omnivorous leader Andre Novoa, the company hopes to have created “a foundational accessory for modern hexcrawling”.

Games Omnivorous began work on the Hexcrawl Toolbox in March this year. It launched a Kickstarter for the project on November 29, and has raised $51,000 at time of writing, more than five times its original goal.

It’s the RPG publisher’s most ambitious project to date, and Novoa says sorting the logistics of a physical production of this kind has been tricky. However, he says: “The physical format of a RPG is a huge part of it. How tactile a book is, the way the colours shine on the pages, the textures… It’s always a big aspect of every project I work on.”

“We love the idea of hexcrawls and putting out physical tiles in front of the players seems to always surprise them, helping them to immerse in the worlds being explored.”

Games Omnivorous has experimented in the past with “products in odd physical formats”, the most unusual of which, Death Robot Jungle, is a ‘system-agnostic’ RPG setting that comes in the form of a vinyl LP.

DnD hexcrawl toolbox - a guidebook to RPG hexcrawls

With the Hexcrawl Toolbox, the publisher is seeking to attract both seasoned players and newcomers. “We wanted to design a product not only useful to players with experience in RPGs and hexcrawls, but something that could also be used as an introduction to new people in the hobby. We went back and forth successively to try to get the balance right. We can only hope we achieved it.”

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