Chapter 2: The First Second Region
With the first region out of the way, it's time to transition into the "adding new regions" rules, which work slightly differently in order to maintain some degree of consistency as the world takes shape. Most of the rules are the same, but climate, terrain, and civilization are slightly tweaked.
The first order of business is to decide which direction we're going. Since we started in the arctic north, let's head southerly for this first second region.
- Determine Size
3d6 (12) yields another Small region, which will be 2d6 (7) days across. So, while this is the same "size category" as our first region, this one is over twice as broad.
- Climate and Terrain
First, we have to roll 3d6 (8) to determine the new region's geography relative to its neighbor—Same Climate (Alpine), but New Terrain. This requires a 1d6 (3), which yields a River terrain. So our new region is an Alpine River region.
Since River regions tend to be narrow and snaky, we'll wrap this new region around the southern half of the first one and then carry it on to the west.
- Civilization
Like Climate and Terrain, a new region's level of Civilization is determined relative to its "region of origin". This requires a 3d6 (5) roll, and yields a +1 relative civilization level, meaning that our new region is Civilized: Well-settled, relatively high population density, roads, and more map-worthy settlements. This works out great, since if there's going to be any true civilization in the tundra, it's likely to be found along some body of water.
- Settlements
A small, civilized region gets 1d3-2 (1) cities and 1d3 (2) towns, and this one is well-settled even by Civilized standards—especially in light of its geographical location. I decide to put the city near a bend in the river in the southwest of the region, and the two towns will also be river-front real estate to the east.
- Population Type
Another 1d6, 1d6 (6,1) roll — Elves! Some good ol' classic Snow Elves (or whatever?) up here in the bitter north of the world. And probably none too happy about the infernal activity on their doorstep, either.
In fact, at this point I go back to my Settlements and move both the city and the two towns to the river's southern bank, so that they will have the benefit of the river as an additional defense against any encroaching demonic shenanigans.
- Theme
And the final piece of the puzzle for Region #2 takes another 1d6, 1d6 roll (3,6) — a Rich region! It'll be interesting to see how that plays out with the surrounding area, but it seems like these snow elves are making out very well, all things considered. Most likely they're either running a flourishing river trade with their neighbors, or there's some other wealth being generated (perhaps via some sort of crafting industry).
That does it for the second region of this world, and the first "add-on" region: A small, alpine riverland playing host to some wealthy and well-settled Snow Elves.
As before,
a look at the map-in-progress, complete with some farmland around the major settlements. Not sure what they're farming, though, so if anybody who hails from arctic lands wants to offer suggestions as to the local agriculture, I'm all ears. =D