Hexmap Settlement Generator

Here's the settlement generator promised in the last post! Some more direct Traveller inspiration in this one. There's probably room for improvement, but it seems to work well enough

Like Traveller's generator, this is meant to jog your imagination, rather than provide a complete description of a site. The regions will be full of city-states rather than kingdoms, though of course you could interpret the results differently.

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SETTLEMENT GENERATOR

This generator produces settlements that can be described with a code of four more letters, eg. BED-BC. The first letter indicates size, the second government, the third laws, and the fourth and following religion.

1. Settlement presence

For each hex, roll 1d6 and apply terrain modifiers. All relevant modifiers are added together. For example, a dry hill hex on the coast would have a total modifier of -1. A result of 4 or more indicates a settlement.

• River [+1]
• Coast [+1]
• Island [+0]
• Plains [+0]
• Forest [-1]
• Dry [-1]
  
• Hills [-1]
• Mountains [-2]

2. Size

For each settlement, roll 2d6 and apply terrain modifiers again. This shows the size of the settlement. A natural roll of 2 is always a ruin.

• 2-     (  )  Ruin - Roll 2d6 without any modifiers. This shows the number of inhabitants before the settlement fell to ruin.
• 3       A  Lair. 1d10 inhabitants. [-4]
• 4-5    B  Hamlet. 1d10 x 10 inhabitants. [-2]
• 6-8    C  Village. 1d10 x 100 inhabitants. [-1]
• 9-10  D  Town. 1d10 x 1,000 inhabitants. [+0]
• 11     E  City. 10,000 + 1d10 x 1,000 inhabitants. [+1]
• 12+   F  Major city. 20,000 + 1d10 x 1,000 inhabitants. [+2]

Keep in mind that the settlement is not necessarily a village, town etc. It could also be a monastery, a fortress, a bandit camp, and so on.

A town or city probably shares its hex with several smaller hamlets and villages.

3. Government

Roll 2d6 and apply the modifier from size.

• 2-     A  None [-2]
• 3      B  Imposed [+0]
• 4      C  Powerful being [+0]
• 5      D  Religious [+2]
• 6      E  Tyranny [+2]
• 7      F  Oligarchy [+1]
• 8      G  Absolute monarchy [+1]
• 9      H  Feudal monarchy [+1]
• 10     I  Factions [-1]
• 11     J  Democracy [+1]
• 12+  K  Magocracy [+0]
  

Government types are explained below.

4. Laws

Roll 2d6 and apply the modifier from government. All laws above the result are also in effect.

• 3-        A  Lawless.
• 4         B  Theft outlawed.
• 5         C  Slaying and assault outlawed.
• 6-9      D  Creation of undead outlawed.
• 10-11  E  Magic outlawed.
• 12+     F  Carrying of weapons outlawed.

5. Religion

Roll 1d6.

• 1  A  Animism
• 2  B  Physical god
• 3  C  Local god
• 4  D  Common god
• 5  E  Common pantheon
• 6       Roll twice more on this table

Religion types are explained below.

Governments

• None: No government.
• Imposed: Conquered or ruled from outside.
• Powerful being: Ruled a powerful nonhuman being.
• Religious: Rule by religious leaders.
• Tyranny: Unrestrained single ruler.
• Oligarchy: A small group is in power.
• Absolute monarchy: Monarch with weak or no vassals.
• Feudal monarchy: Monarch with vassals who hold power of their own.
• Factions: Several factions compete for control.
• Democracy: Citizens get to vote on laws and/or rulers.
• Magocracy: Rule by mages or magic.

Religions

• Animism: Belief in the spiritual essence of all things.
• Physical god: A physical being or object is worshipped.
• Local god: A god unique to this settlement.
• Common god: A god also worshipped elsewhere.
• Common pantheon: A pantheon of gods also worshipped elsewhere.

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Here's a new map I rolled up to test the settlement generator out, and here are the settlements:

13 BED-BC
18 CEF-C
20 DFC-A
22 BDF-C
24 BAB-E
26 CCE-D
31 FKD-C
32 DGE-D
38 DED-ABC
40 DHD-A
43 DED-E
47 BGD-E
51 BHE-C
56 BED-C
58 EJE-B
59 BAE-B
71 AAB-C
84 (C)GD-A
88 DFC-C
90 CJD-D
91 CHC-D
92 CDF-A
97 DGB-D
98 DDF-BB

The major city of 31, ruled by mages, stands out as the major power of the region.

The next largest city is in 58, a democratic island nation. It has outlawed magic - perhaps fearing infiltration from its rival?

The small settlement in 13 worships a physical god and a local god... maybe a cult whose tyrannical leader is worshipped side by side with a nonphysical god?

The settlement in 97 seems like a rough place, as its monarch allows killing and assault without legal punishment.

In contrast, the religious settlement of 98 just to the south does not even allow the carrying of weapons. There are probably tensions between these two...

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Seems like there's some stuff to poke at!