1E Hex Crawl Suggested Travel Rules
Hello everyone. I would like your advice on how I should handle hex crawl travel for my solo game using the primarily 1E rules but dipping into 2E if necessary. I plan to run a solo hexploration adventure using a generator and I have my party rolled up and ready to go. However, I want to put rules around how many hexes my party can travel in a day by foot, assuming each hex is 5 miles across, and take into account terrain difficulty that might reduce my movement speed. I also want to make rations important and have rules around required consumption and allow for the possibility of foraging or hunting while traveling as a way to preserve the precious iron rations as I will be exploring unknown lands and can't predict when / if I will encounter a village, town or inn to resupply from.
I've done some Internet research and came up with the following guidelines which seems to make sense to me but they also don't seem to follow the 1E Wilderness Survival Guide which reads much more vague. I'm ok not following 1E exactly if it means having a more structured homebrew system that feels like my party has to actually worry about surviving out in the wilds and not just hand wave it. I probably won't incorporate rules around proper clothing based on climate / biome as this seems unnecessarily complicated.
Here are my notes that I found:
One hex = 5 miles (flat-to-flat).
Daily movement = movement rate ÷ 3 miles per day (1e DMG rule of thumb).
[Movement Rate] [Miles per Day] [Hexes per Day]
[6"] [12 miles] [2 hexes]
[9"] [18 miles] [3-4 hexes]
[12"] [24 miles] [4-5 hexes]
[18"] [36 miles] [4-5 hexes]
[24"] [48 miles] [9-10 hexes]
Terrain Modifiers (Apply to Miles/Day)
[Clear / Grassland] [x1.0] [24 miles - 4-5 hexes]
[Forest] [x0.5] [12 miles - 2 hexes]
[Hills] [x0.75] [18 miles - 3 hexes]
[Mountains] [x0.5] [12 miles - 2 hexes]
[Swamp] [x0.5] [12 miles - 2 hexes]
[Desert (hot)] [x0.75] [18 miles - 3 hexes]
[Jungle] [x0.5] [12 miles - 2 hexes]
[Road / Trail] [x1.33] [32 miles - 6 hexes]
Time to Cross One Hex (5 miles)
[Movement Rate] [Hours per Hex]
[6"] [~4 hours]
[9"] [~3 hours]
[12"] [~2 hours]
[18"] [~1.5 hours]
[24"] [~1 hour]
These assume clear terrain; apply terrain multipliers to adjust.
Navigation & Getting Lost (1e DMG)
[Terrain] [Chance to Get Lost]
[Clear] [10%]
[Forest] [50%]
[Hills] [30%]
[Mountains] [50%]
[Swamp] [50%]
[Desert] [30%]
[Jungle] [50%]
If lost, the party drifts 1d6 × 10° off intended direction until corrected.
Ration Consumption
One character consumes one “ration” per day
*A ration = 1 day’s worth of food.
If a character does not eat for a day → penalties begin
After 1 day without food:
*Character becomes fatigued (DM adjudication: –1 to attack rolls, ability checks, and movement penalties are common).
After 2–3 days:
*Strength and Constitution checks begin to fail
*Movement rate drops
*Spellcasters may be unable to regain spells
*Morale penalties for henchmen and hirelings
After several days:
*Characters become weak, unable to march, and eventually incapacitated
*Death by starvation is possible after ~10 days (1e DMG guidance)
Do these rules seem reasonable? What about water consumption? Is water something you hand wave assuming ration consumption happens or do you actually track that for your party? Is there more accurate or specific rules I should be following in a specific reference book?
What is everyone's favorite way to handle what I'm trying to do?