A Pen and paper RPG blog
Time for a quick OSR-ish map. The temple of N’Xroth was destroyed decades ago, but locals claim that evil spirits still linger. Perhaps the purge wasn’t as thorough as the Order of the Crimson Dawn would have hoped.
If you prefer, here is version without the grid.
As usual, this map is free (see below), but if you want to tip me, check out my patreon page.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Some time ago, I drew a castle/monastery that I called Castle Dread. That map had a couple of access points to lower levels and here is one suggestion for what those might contain. I have a couple of thoughts about the rooms, but feel free to substitute as you wish.
First, the main burial chamber has been sealed off. The wall can be determined to be new with an easy perception/etc. check (adjust to your system). Inside you might have either an empty grave or a reanimated corpse of a noble.
Then there are a couple of secret doors. This part of the dungeon contains a few “preparation” rooms, a watch point overlooking the sea and a couple of holding cells. There is also an elevator leading down (I hope to draw the second level later).
Here is a black and white version, if you prefer that.
As usual, this map is free (see below), but if you want to tip me, check out my patreon page.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
A ship carrying valuable cargo was attacked or just sunk due to unfortunate weather. However, the (undead?!) crew managed to salvage most of the cargo to nearby caverns. The players might want to loot the wreck out of sheer greed or perhaps the ship was carrying a cargo that was imperative to whatever world-saving they’re doing.
For foes, you can use whatever aquatic creatures you want or as I initially, thought, let the ship have an undead crew that is still patrolling the area and guarding the cargo.
However, be careful not to disturb the kraken!
Here’s also a black and white version.
This map is free, but if you want to tip me, check out my patreon page.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Back to ink-only maps. Castle Dread might have started as a monastery or a chapel a long time ago, but due to its location on the coast, it was soon upgraded to a small castle to keep an eye on the marine traffic passing by. However, the castle has has been abandoned longer than anyone remembers. It is still in relatively good condition, but most people stay away from it. Even hardened bandits haven’t made camp there. There are two secret trapdoors that lead to catacombs beneath besides the obvious stairs inside the chapel.
Feel free to place any monsters – or mundane foes into this keep. I will add dungeon levels in a separate map later, but unfortunately, you will be on your own on that front for the time being.
Here is a black-and-white version without the grid.
This map is free, but if you want to tip me, check out my patreon page.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Here’s a small dungeon built inside multiple smaller ‘islands’ next to an underground river. I kept experimenting with the colored pencils and I think this turned out quite nice, but damn that these take time to color!
The dungeon has a few rooms of undetermined purpose and on the right corner, there is a small prison. The bridge to the prison can be lowered in the water to make it at least a little harder to escape even if the prisoners would get away from their cells. If you feel like it, the water can have any number of deadly beast.
Here’s also a version without colors. However, the scan has a couple of fuzzy spots that I noticed only after I had colored the map…
This map is free, but if you want to tip me (and get first access and higher resolution), check out my patreon page.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Here’s a map of a small village. I experimented a little with colored pencils and some parts turned out OK. No backstory this time, but this should be easy to fit to almost any situation where you need a map of a generic small village.
Here’s a little ‘lighter’ version, if you prefer that.
This map is free, but if you want to tip me (and get first access and higher resolution), check out my patreon page.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
It has again been a while without a map, so here’s one to get this year started.
This is small hall for negotiation. A monastic order is famous for arbitration and mediation. The disagreeing parties bring offering that they leave at the altars before entering the hall. If the negotiations take a long time, there are a couple of rooms to rest. The monks of the monastery encourage small parties, so usually there are only a handful of people on each side.
To use this in your game, perhaps the players are hired to protect a merchant or a noble during their stay. There are a couple of tunnels from which assassins might enter to try to stop the negotiations. Or if you’re so inclined – or rather if your players are – they might be the ones using tunnels. Depending on your plans, this could be a simple job or a start of something far more sinister – for example, how come the assassins could dig their tunnels freely so close to the monastery?
Here’s a version without background.
This map is free to use according to cc-by-nc-sa, but if you want to tip me (and get first access and higher resolution), check out my patreon page.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Just to give a possible background, the town might have been founded only decades ago by a captain in the imperial navy who either felt wronged or just couldn’t resist the lure of the open sea and promise of riches. In either case, if there ever was an original name, it is already forgotten and the town is now known only as the Traitor’s cove.
The town itself has a small fort and few permanent settlers. However it is frequently visited by less reputable entrepreneurs who wish to trade their cargo of questionable origins or lay low for a while.
Here are a couple of alternative versions: Without colors and without background.
These versions are free to use according to cc-by-nc-sa, but if you want to tip me (and get first access and higher resolution), check out my patreon page.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
I actually found this map on my hard drive where it had been sitting for a couple of months waiting for the final touches. This was also a quick one and I wanted to get it online without any more delays. Possible current occupants might be bandits, orcs (or equivalents), some undead creatures or even larger beasts (a manticore?).
This might be the last map of this year, but operations will continue in January.
A version without the grid is available here.
These versions are free to use according to cc-by-nc-sa, but if you want to tip me (and get first access and higher resolution), check out my patreon page.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
So, It’s been quite a long while without a map here – if you don’t count the #mapvember -maps. This is a really quick one and I didn’t have much of a backstory in mind when I drew this (no planning, no Ctrl-Z, no guiding grid). In any case, it has a small hideout or a study in the middle of a lava stream and I think it could be easily incorporated into almost any dungeon crawl. Hope you like it!
These versions are free to use according to cc-by-nc-sa, but if you want to tip me (and get first access and higher resolution), check out my patreon page.
And if you’re looking for a version with a grid, you can find it here.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
