Hexcrawls and Dungeons

Hexcrawls & Dungeons

← Wiki home

The SDX Tray contains a full prep workflow: format a hex scene, paint or generate terrain, place POIs, key exploration data, add fog and coordinates, then generate linked settlements or playable dungeons. A separate Dungeons tab paints or procedurally creates square-grid interiors.

---

Hex workflow

1. Format the map

Open Hexes → Format Map before placing terrain.

Choose the orientation and requested width/height. Current formatting sizes the scene to the chosen grid dimensions with whole far-edge hexes; Foundry's normal staggered half-hex behavior remains at the appropriate top/bottom edge.

Formatting changes scene dimensions/grid. Duplicate an existing keyed scene before reformatting it.

2. Choose a tile source

The Hexes tab separates:

• bundled default tiles;
• bundled colored tiles;
• custom tiles;
• symbol/POI assets.

Custom tile dimensions and placement are saved per client through the tray. Choose one consistent source/dimension set before bulk generation.

3. Paint or generate

Click a terrain tile and paint hex cells manually, or expand the procedural generator:

• seed;
• map dimensions/current formatted scene;
• biome/elevation/vegetation parameters;
• Generate;
• Clear generated tiles.

A seed makes the procedural layout repeatable with the same inputs. Clear only targets tiles marked as SDX-generated; it is still destructive and asks for confirmation unless an authorized API caller forces it.

4. Place POIs

Switch to Symbols and place point-of-interest art. The tray tool rail adds:

• undo/redo;
• scale down/up;
• rotate left/right;
• horizontal mirror.

POI scale is remembered per client. Decor painting uses the same quick transform controls.

5. Flatten

Flatten Hexagons consolidates the painted result for a lighter finished scene. Treat it as a commit step: keep a duplicate if you expect to repaint individual tiles later.

---

Hexplorer and keyed hex data

Enable Hex Tooltip / Hexplorer on a hexagonal scene. The Edit Hex dialog has two tabs.

Details

Field	Purpose
Show to Players	Whole-record visibility
Image	Hex illustration
Hex Name / Zone / Zone Color	Region identity
Terrain / Travel	Table-facing movement description
Notes	Individual text rows with player visibility
Features	Keyed locations with discovered state

Exploration

Field	Purpose
Status	Unexplored/exploration progress
Cleared / Claimed	Campaign state
Reveal Radius	-1 world default, 0 current cell, 1+ rings
Reveal Cells	Extra comma-separated grid offsets; Alt-click can add
RollTable UUID	Table rolled on entry/travel
Chance	1–100%; blank/default is always
First Time Only	Prevent repeat entry rolls

Hex records are scene-specific and stored in SDX's internal hex-data Journal. Do not edit that Journal manually.

Procedural hex content

Hex context tools can generate:

• settlements with named NPCs, shops, taverns, factions, relations, quests, and a Watabou map link/configuration;
• text-only keyed dungeons;
• playable dungeon Scenes.

Generated settlements/dungeons create or update Journal pages, add a feature to the hex record, and register the content for cross-referenced quests.

Playable hex dungeon

The playable flow asks for dungeon type and size, then:

1. creates and views a new square-grid Scene;
2. runs the procedural dungeon geometry;
3. generates narrative rooms from the actual placed-room graph;
4. creates an Overview plus one Journal page per room;
5. places numbered SDX pins linked to those room pages;
6. records the Scene/Journal back on the source hex;
7. returns the GM to the previous viewed Scene.

This gives room text and map geometry the same room count and adjacency.

Hex Fog

The fog tool hides/reveals exploration cells. The default movement reveal radius is one ring. Per-hex records can override it and can name additional cells.

Right-click the Hex Fog tool to choose optional shaders. Enable Fog Effects is off by default; leave shaders off on low-power clients while still using the underlying reveal system.

Coordinates

The globe tool cycles coordinate display states:

• hidden;
• margin/axis labels;
• labels in cells;
• Shadowdark zine mode.

Configure Coordinates controls fonts, colors, outline, opacity, label size, numeric/letter axes, modifier key, and click-label duration.

Zine mode uses staggered 000/100/200 column headings with two-digit rows and skips the cropped edge column on hex-column maps. This is designed to align with printed zine keys.

Solo Hex Mode

The compass tool enables the module's solo exploration flow on supported hex scenes. It works with Hexplorer/fog data; turn it off before doing broad GM map edits so movement does not advance exploration unexpectedly.

---

Dungeon Painter

The Dungeons tab is square-grid oriented. Choose assets for:

• room/floor tiles;
• interior walls;
• doors;
• outer walls;
• stairs;
• decor.

Useful controls include:

• paint tiles or doors;
• no-Foundry-walls mode;
• wall shadows;
• curved walls;
• auto-rebuild walls;
• flatten current elevation Level.

Players only see this tab when Allow Players to Paint Dungeons is on, and their changes are committed through the connected GM.

Procedural dungeon generator

Expand Procedural Dungeon and choose:

Control	Examples
Layout	Rooms & Corridors, Caves, Mixed, Classic/rot.js
Biomes	Random/selected room themes
Rooms / density / branching	Layout scale and connectivity
Room size	Small-to-large bias
Stairs Up / Down	Generated transition markers
Clutter / decor lights	Dressing density
Walls	Texture, color, width, shadows, curved cave boundaries
Seed	Repeatable layout

Generation operates on the active Scene and current elevation Level. It clears only SDX-generated documents at that level before rebuilding, then creates floors, walls, doors, biome props, stairs, decor, lights, and Regions according to the selected options.

The public API hard-caps especially expansive values such as rooms, stairs, and clutter. See Developer API.

Biomes and decor

Open the Biome Editor to:

• enable/disable built-in biomes;
• add custom biome definitions;
• override built-in keys;
• reset custom data.

The Decor tray accepts:

• individual files;
• folders;
• URLs allowed by the UI;
• imported Dungeondraft object packs.

Use Manage Dungeondraft Decor Packs to preview, enable, hide, and maintain those packs.

Multi-level dungeons

On Foundry v14 elevation Levels, generation and flattening respect the current Level. SDX can create:

• per-level generated documents;
• defineSurface Regions;
• changeLevel stair Regions;
• level-aware decor;
• template/effect elevation metadata.

Switch to the intended Level before every generation call. A stair graphic does not become a working transition until its Region links the correct two Level IDs.

---

Troubleshooting

5×5 became a larger map. Update SDX and format again on a duplicate scene; older format logic added buffer cells.

Generated tiles use the wrong dimensions. Reformat the scene and confirm the active tile set before generation.

Hex tooltip button is disabled. The active scene is not using a supported hex grid.

A hex entry RollTable does not fire. Confirm its UUID, chance, first-only state, and that the token actually entered/traveled through that grid cell.

Dungeon content and map room counts differ. Use the playable hex-dungeon flow, which derives text from placed geometry, rather than generating text and map independently.

Generation changed the wrong elevation. Activate the desired Level first and restore from your duplicate if needed.

---

Related: Map Generators · Journal Tools & Pins · Developer API