This week I have for you a bridge-focused map. I thought it would be interesting if the party had to cross the bridge to get to an important city of some kind, but the roads are all heavily guarded since a war between two of the most powerful kingdoms could be starting any day now.

Deep inside the forest of Eldweyn there’s a beautiful place, lush with trees and the singing of birds, where the water is clear as a crystal and a strangely alluring tree–old as the forest itself–entangles its roots on the greenest grass you’ve ever seen. ‘Tis a place where beautiful voices can be frequently heard and peace of mind reigns supreme. But beware, travelers, for if you’re not careful you just might forever be enthralled to the will of the forest guardians who protect the sacred tree.

You hear from the local folk about strange disappearances happening around town, good people vanishing from their homes at the dead of night, never to be seen again. Whispers tell the tale of horrible agonizing sounds coming from deep within Fallen Owl Cave where ancient ruins, remnants of an era long past, have stood for centuries. It now befalls to you the task of seeking the connection, if any, between these events.

For this week’s map I wanted to make a really large cave, something more like underground ruins of an ancient civilization, for a boss encounter of sorts. I thought it would be cool to have a very big monster come out of the water or from the big hole in the ground. I added lots of big rocks for more cover possibilities both for the party and any minions you might be controlling in your encounter.

For this one I wanted to make the entrance to a dungeon that is located in a forest area alongside a road. I thought that a possible hook could be that the players hear rumors about strange sightings near a ruined Dwarven fortress and they have to set off and investigate.

For this very first D&D battle map I painted a very cozy-looking fisherman’s shack in a forest area. The idea with this map was to have two entrances to the shack, one by the front and another by the back. The interesting part about the back entrance I figured, was that it would have a balcony. And to reach said balcony the players would have to climb the rocks that surround it.