Shan Hai Jing Wilds — Solo Hexcrawl Oracle Kit (Printable PDF, System-Neutral)

Walk off the edge of the map.

More than two thousand years ago, unknown writers compiled the Shan Hai Jing, the Classic of Mountains and Seas. It is a strange guidebook that goes mountain by mountain across the known world and beyond. Its foxes have nine tails. Its one-legged cranes bring fire, its white deer bring flood, and its gods have human faces and tiger bodies.

Shan Hai Jing Wilds turns that old guidebook into a solo journey. Draw a card to find out what lies in the next hex, ask the oracle yes-or-no questions, and meet the creatures of the Classic on the road. It works with any rules you already like, or with none. A one-page traveler sheet is all you need.

What's inside

• 54 oracle cards. There are six suits, one for each book of the Classic (South, West, North, East, Centre, Beyond). Each card has a yes/no answer (No, and… / No / No, but… / Yes, but… / Yes / Yes, and… / Twist), a Verb · Noun prompt, a terrain, a path direction for when you are lost, a creature with a MEET flag one time in three, and a one-line scene.

• 30 creatures, loosely adapted from the public-domain Classic. Each has lore in plain English, signs to look for, what it wants, a boon, a story hook and a d6 reaction table. You'll meet the nine-tailed fox of Green Hill, the faceless dancer Dijiang, Jingwei who fills the sea with pebbles, the Torch Dragon and the headless warrior Xingtian.

• Six d66 tables, 216 entries in all: Weather, Omens, Terrain Features, Travelers, Spirits, Rewards & Costs.

• One-page solo rules, with a worked example of play.

• Hex map sheet, hex log, journey journal, and a traveler sheet with a bestiary checklist.

• Card index, so you can play with two six-sided dice instead of cards.

• Printable cards: front-only sheets (every card is complete on the front), duplex sheets with mirrored backs, crop marks, 9 cards per page, poker size 2.5 × 3.5 in.

• US Letter and A4. Each comes in a cream screen edition and a white printer-friendly edition.

Files

• 31-page book in four PDFs: Letter and A4, each in screen and printer-friendly editions

• Card PDFs: front-only and duplex, Letter and A4

• README and licence

How it plays

Each day you roll the weather and choose a direction. When you enter a hex, you draw a card. The card tells you the terrain, and you roll a feature. If the card says MEET, you look the creature up in the Bestiary and roll its reaction. Whenever you don't know what happens, you ask the oracle. When you rest, you write a few lines in your journal. A journey ends when you find what you came for, or when your Resolve runs out.

About the source

The Shan Hai Jing is anonymous, ancient and in the public domain. Every entry here is a loose retelling written for this kit. No modern translation was used. Creatures keep their Chinese names in pinyin, with the original characters, so you can look them up.

System-neutral: this kit is not affiliated with, endorsed by or designed for any particular game or publisher.

Licence: personal use. Print as much as you need for your own table, and stream or share your actual play. Please don't resell or re-upload the files.

AI disclosure

The text of this kit (rules, bestiary entries, tables, card prompts) was written with the help of AI tools, then reviewed and edited by me. All visuals are procedurally generated vector graphics made by code: mountains, ornaments, card designs and maps. No AI image generator was used. The scripts that draw them were written with AI coding assistance.

FAQ

Do I need another RPG to play?

No. The one-page rules and the traveler sheet are enough. If you have a favourite system, use it for characters and fights, and use this kit for exploration, encounters and answers.

Do I need to print the cards?

No. Every card is listed in the Card Index. Roll a d6 for the suit and a d10 for the number (re-roll 10s) and look it up. The d66 tables need only two six-sided dice.

What size are the cards, and how do I print them?

Poker size, 2.5 × 3.5 in (63.5 × 88 mm), 9 per page. Print at 100% / "Actual size". For the duplex file, print double-sided and flip on the long edge. Print one test sheet first.

Is this a translation of the Shan Hai Jing?

No. It is a game inspired by the Classic. Creature write-ups are loose retellings with game material added. The original text is public domain, and no modern translation was used.

Is any of the art AI-generated?

No. Every image is drawn by code from simple shapes (procedural generation). The text was written with AI assistance and reviewed by me. See the AI disclosure above.

Can I use it for actual-play videos or streams?

Yes. Please credit and link the page. You may not redistribute the PDFs.

Will it work on a tablet?

Yes. The screen edition is designed for reading on a tablet, and the printer-friendly edition saves ink.

Try it first: the free 8-card sampler (US Letter and A4) is here: https://payhip.com/b/5W6UV

Also on itch.io: https://hskstudio.itch.io/shan-hai-jing-wilds