Category: Free Demonic DnD Battlemaps

Download these free demonic DnD battlemaps & be ready to play in minutes! Many come with system-agnostic adventures written just for them. Perfect for VTTs.

  • Devilbend Auction House Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap 

    Devilbend Auction House Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap 

    Devilbend Auction House Free 40x30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap , with a hidden and distinctly evil basement level replete with a variety of group or isolation prison cells, torture cages, and a portal to the hells. VTT ready!

    Devilbend Auction House Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap, with a hidden and distinctly evil basement level replete with a variety of group or isolation prison cells, torture cages, and a portal to the hells. VTT ready!

    If you’d enjoy more DnD resources like this Devilbend Auction House Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap, Luke and I have released our newest Hardcore GM’s DnD bundle of 520 large, 40×30″ DnD battlemaps (double the size of those in the Quarantine Bundle) with 255 fantasy adventurefor $39. It’s your chance to have a great deal on some of our most beautiful maps! We guarantee that is something here for every GM—no matter what setting you prefer, from large cities to underwater seascapes.

    Paying just $39 rather than full price saves you over 98%! Take a look at all the extra maps you can download with one click in the Hardcore GM’s DnD Battlemap Bundle here

  • Felforged Stronghold Free 60×40 DnD Battlemap

    Felforged Stronghold Free 60×40 DnD Battlemap

    Felforged Stronghold Free 60x40 DnD Battlemap, with hellish fire and magma lapping against charred and blackened rocks. VTT ready!

    Felforged Stronghold Free 60×40 DnD Battlemap, with hellish fire and magma lapping against charred and blackened rocks. VTT ready!

    If you’d enjoy more DnD resources like this Felforged Stronghold Free 60×40 DnD Battlemap, Luke and I have released our newest Hardcore GM’s bundle of 520 large, 40×30″ DnD battlemaps (double the size of those in the Quarantine Bundle) with 255 fantasy adventurefor $39. It’s your chance to have a great deal on some of our most beautiful maps! We guarantee that is something here for every GM—no matter what setting you prefer, from large cities to underwater seascapes.

    Paying just $39 rather than full price saves you over 98%! Take a look at all the extra maps you can download with one click in the Hardcore GM’s Bundle here

  • Haunted Manor Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    Haunted Manor Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    Level 1 of our Haunted Manor Free 40x30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure, featuring the haunted ruins of a mansion with a disturbing past. VTT ready
    Level 1 of our Haunted Manor Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure, featuring the haunted ruins of a mansion with a disturbing past. VTT ready
    Layer 2 of our Haunted Manor Free 40x30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure, featuring the haunted ruins of a mansion with a disturbing past. VTT ready
    Level 2 of our Haunted Manor Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure, featuring the haunted ruins of a mansion with a disturbing past. VTT ready

    Haunted Manor Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    The Haunting of Bellview Manor

    While eating dinner at a tavern in a small town, two distressed parents burst in through the doors. Quickly scanning the room, they set eyes on you and approach. The woman explains in a hurried voice that her two teenage sons entered an abandoned manor known by the village to be haunted on a friend’s dare earlier in the day, and they haven’t come back. They’ll pay you to go get them, but you must leave soon lest something terrible happen!

    They give you instructions for how to get there and urge you to hurry. Should you go, the manor is a short hike from the town on a nearby hill. As you get closer the road degrades visibly and becomes overgrown with tall weeds. When you finally lay eyes on the manor however, there are lights shining from the windows.

    Knocking on the door, it’s opened by a friendly butler. Should you mention that you thought the mansion was abandoned, the butler’s face falls, and he explains sadly that they have had to cut many of the staff so the building has come into disrepair, but it is very much still in use. He gestures to the cobwebs in the rest of the entry room, saying that he can understand why some people might describe it as abandoned.

    If you ask after the missing boys, he shakes his head, saying they haven’t had any visitors, but he’d be more than happy to help you check the grounds for them in case they are fooling around somewhere. But first, he invites you to come inside and dine with Lord Aldenbracht, as his Lord has just sat down for dinner and there is enough to share. It would be a shame to dine alone as they haven’t had company in a long time, due to the rather unfortunate state of the manor.

    Should you agree, the butler leads you inside and through a large, dusty foyer. As you approach the dining room you hear loud noises, as if someone moaning in pleasure, paired with sounds of eating. Ushering you into the dining room, you see a long table laden with a feast, and at the end sits presumably Lord Aldenbracht; a morbidly obese man eating with the rush of one starving, gravy dribbling down his chin as he chomps through pork pies and roasts.

    The butler introduces you, and the Lord simply acknowledges your presence with a nod, before gesturing at the food in an invitation to partake. Sitting at the table, should you try the food, it’s incredibly delicious; like nothing you’ve ever eaten before, and all other food pales in comparison. You feel compelled to eat far beyond fullness, to the point of pain, and even then you can’t seem to stop.

    Mid-way through the meal, with Lord Aldenbracht eating a seemingly inhuman amount, the butler returns and whispers something in his ear. Both excuse themselves, Aldenbracht wiping his greasy chin with a linen before removing his considerable paunch. He has a sickly, rattling breath as he leaves the room.

    Having finished your food and after waiting what seems like a long time, there is still no sign of the Lord or his butler. Feeling a little sick from all the decadent food, you begin exploring the mansion.

    If you look in the kitchen, you find the remains of a human body lying on the butcher’s block. The body is scarred, like that of a warrior, and smells too old to have been the missing teenagers. Nearby are spices, some of which have already been rubbed into slices of meat taken from the torso. There is no sign of a cook, however.

    Further in are abandoned servant sleeping quarters which look like they haven’t been used for a very long time. There is also a small storage room that smells strongly of different spices, and something repugnant like decay. Should you open any of the crates, hordes of rats will pour out, leaving behind small, empty vials and jars that appear to have once held herbs and spices, tonics, or essential oils, but dried up long ago.

    There’s also a secret alchemical room. Inside it are mixing containers and powders, as well as notes detailing how to “pacify animals strong enough to fight back”, thus making them willing sacrifices. Should anyone try any of the powders, they all taste slightly different (peppermint and apple, another of cinnamon, honey and ginger, one tastes of liquorice and the last of savory spiced roast pork), but all are delicious and intoxicating, making the imbiber lightheaded, giggly for no reason, rather slow of wit and willing to agree to almost anything.

    Exploring more around the kitchen, you find an office. There’s a ledger book detailing decadent food expenses, as well as an opened letter sent by a man looking for his missing brother, who disappeared on a business trip and was last rumored to have visited this manor. It asks if the Lord perhaps knows what happened to him? Did he grow ill, or move onwards? Which direction did he head? He must know the fate of his brother so that he can finally rest and say goodbye in his heart.

    There is also a secret servant quarters, which are long abandoned, as well as a hidden room with shackles and a stretching-rack. The timber of the rack is bloodstained and scratched deeply, with a few human fingernails stuck deep in the wood.

    Moving onwards and heading back through the foyer, you find a long-abandoned washroom. It has a steaming bathtub, full of warm blood.

    Further down the corridor is a strange worshiping room with pews. At its head is a statue of a flayed man pinned to a cross, his face and body contorted in extreme ecstasy. Looking at it, you feel drawn in, and as if something is compelling you to drop to your knees and worship the terrible visage. It is hard to search the rest of the room due to the allure of the statue, but should you read any of the scrolls, you learn that His name is Syealoss, and that he yearns for flesh sacrifices. The scroll details how to prepare and celebrate the highest offering–a young innocent. You can’t forget the horror you learn, and feel something dark and unsettling shroud your soul as a result.

    Opposite the small temple room is a gentleman’s room, with a map inside it. Should you look, it leads to a place labeled “Underground Ruins of Halbrak Village”, with a question mark next to it. Next to it is a letter from someone named Lord August, suggesting that great power can be claimed by the worthy, should they be bold enough to take it.

    The next floor up is in equal disrepair, with abandoned cobweb-strewn bedrooms for nobles and servants alike, though the rooms with hearths all have crackling fires lit. The air rushing through the chimneys creates an eerie, howling sound throughout the manse.

    One of the sumptuous bedrooms has a squeaky timber under the rug, and should you fold it back and lift up the loose timber, you find the remains of a human skull.

    Should you visit the library, within you find The Crimson Cookbook. It details hundreds of decadent recipes, but they only include human flesh as the meat. If you read it to the end, afterwards, when you look at people, sometimes you’ll find yourself wondering what they would taste like if cooked as one of the recipes.

    There is still no sign of the butler or Lord Aldenbracht. There is another storage room, which reeks strongly of death and decay. Should you open any of the crates or barrels, they are filled with dry, crusty blood soaked clothes and shoes, as well as some low-value personal affects, including toys.

    Lastly, there is a room where eerie purple light filters below the door. Should you enter it, you see four inhuman skulls with glowing eyes in each corner of the room, a blood-splattered floor with a sinister sigil burned into it, as well as a table with seats and a shining orb on it.

    Should you look into the orb, you’re suddenly transported in your mind to a dark void where a disembodied voice talks to you. You can’t remember exactly what was said, but when you return to yourself you find the orb cracked.

    Afterwards, normal food doesn’t taste the same. It all tastes off somehow. And now, in its place, human flesh smells and looks delicious. When you sleep, you have vivid, tempting dreams of eating it.

    Once the orb cracks the visage of the manor suddenly disappears and the manor takes it’s true form as ruins all around you, the eyes of the skulls are no longer glowing but the orb on the table remains cracked. You can hear loud banging and calling from a hidden room attached to the room you’re now in, where a roof has partially fallen in and collapsed. Should you clear some of the rubble, the two teen boys cry with relief and thank you, saying they were exploring the ruined manor on a dare when the ceiling collapsed, trapping them inside.

    If you ask them about Lord Aldenbracht or the butler, or otherwise mention anything that happened to you, they give you odd looks and explain that Bellview Manor has been a ruin for over 100 years. It is said their ancestors rose up against the Lord for some reason, locking everyone inside and burning them alive.

    There is a sarcophagus inside the room the boys were trapped in. Should you look inside, you find the remains of a creature that looks like it might once have been a woman, with long gray hair attached to the skull. However, all the limbs are slightly too long, the proportions aren’t quite right, and she doesn’t seem quite human. Her hands are clasped around some kind of amulet on a chain, and if you move them to see it, you find a small version of the flayed, ecstatic man.

    Once you set eyes on the symbol, you feel drawn to take it, and hold it covetously close around your neck and under your shirt, where it will whisper to you…

    GM’s Notes:

    Only the first player to look at the orb is transported to the other place, and it happens so quickly that none of the other players should notice their mental absence. To everyone else, the orb should just seem to crack as soon as they walk into the room.

    What’s really happening in this manor is that Lord Aldenbracht and his family, and servants, were involved in some sort of sinister, cannibalism cult roughly 100 years ago. While they started snatching travelers and poor locals discreetly, soon they grew brazen about it and eventually it grew so bad that the peasants devised a plan to rise up and kill the evil growing in the manor, as well as gain retribution for their loved ones.

    As a result, the manor has in fact been in ruins for almost 100 years, and even though exactly what happened here has been long forgotten, the peasants still do not go there, for almost no-one comes back. The two boys only went there on a dare by a friend, and when they didn’t return, their terrified friend ran to confess to their parents what they did, which sent their parents off to get help at the tavern.

    What your players experience is a haunting, an echo of the great evil that occurred here. It’s been lingering over this place, haunting it for the last century, but as time goes on the haunting has grown weaker. Sometimes the manse is as the players experienced it, sometimes it’s just ruins. The two boys were lucky to find it only as ruins. But, now that the orb has been broken, the haunting of the building has ended–but perhaps it has transferred something sinister onto the player who looked into it.

    If you’d enjoy more DnD resources like this Haunted Manor Free 40×30 Multi-Level Battlemap & Adventure, Luke and I have released our newest Hardcore GM’s bundle of 520 large, 40×30″ DnD battlemaps (double the size of those in the Quarantine Bundle) with 255 fantasy adventurefor $39. It’s your chance to have a great deal on some of our most beautiful maps! We guarantee that is something here for every GM—no matter what setting you prefer, from large cities to underwater seascapes.

    Paying just $39 rather than full price saves you over 98%! Take a look at all the extra maps you can download with one click in the Hardcore GM’s DnD Battlemap Bundle here

  • Nightmare Abode of the Unseelie Court Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    Nightmare Abode of the Unseelie Court Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    Nightmare Abode of the Unseelie Court Free 40x30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure
    The Nightmare Abode of the Unseelie Court Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure, featuring a dangerous nightmare. VTT ready!

    Nightmare Abode of the Unseelie Court Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    Sweet Dreams

    When you lie down to rest after a long day, you feel like you’re about to fall asleep when your rest is disturbed by a faint buzzing sound. You try to ignore it, but the noise persists. When you look around to find the source of the disturbance, you notice that you’re not in the same place you laid down just minutes ago.

    You are in an old forest, with trees so tall the canopy blocks out the sun. The leaves are red, the colors of Fall. Some of them detach from their trees and drift to the ground in a perpetual rain of desiccated vegetation. The air smells dry, laden with strange, tangy spices and the unmistakable aroma of death.

    The buzzing noise returns and you notice something flitting between the trees. Something small and winged, which hovers for the briefest moment before darting into cover once more.

    While you try to figure out what’s happened, the small creature flits out of cover and hovers a few feet from your face. She is a faerie no larger than your hand, with tiny pointed ears, diaphanous wings and an expression of unvarnished glee on her face.

    “Oh yes, you’ll do just fine here,” she giggles, flitting about randomly to look at you from different angles. “I’m Elisha, and we’re going to have so much fun together!” Should you inquire where you are and how you got here, the faerie laughs.

    “You’ll find out where you are soon enough,” she assures you with a sly wink. “As for how you arrived, it’s magic! Perhaps part of you wanted to be here, and the Court has a way of making people’s dreams come true. Oops, I’ve gone and tipped my hand! Come, let me show you.”

    Elisha flits away, glowing slightly to guide you through the gloomy conditions. Should you follow, she leads you through the trees towards a clearing that lies beyond. Here, you see a huge stump of a once-great tree, which has been converted into an abode for people of your size.

    Screams can be heard coming from within the structure, the distinct sounds of suffering and madness. Around the giant tree stump more faeries gather, laughing with sadistic glee at the suffering of people here.

    “This is the Unseelie Court, newcomer,” Elisha brags, gesturing expansively at the ominous glade. The other faeries greet you with a mixture of applause, derision and laughter, though their attention is diverted from their evil play for only a few seconds.

    “You may have been thinking about faeries being all sugar and spice, and all things nice,” Elisha continues. “But we’re nothing like that. Honestly, how could anyone be so boring? No, we’re much more interesting than our stupid cousins and I’ll be happy to show you exactly what I mean!”

    “Hey uh,” one of the other faeries remarks when he looks at you, “are they supposed to have brought all their equipment with them?” Elisha looks at you with a blank expression before a look of consternation crosses her tiny face.

    “I thought YOU were supposed to make sure they were unarmed before coming here!” she squeals as she flits away at top speed! The other faeries see you as a threat and close in to protect the Court! They’re small but deadly, wielding tiny spears with razor-sharp tips and many of them have fey magic to use against you.

    Should you defeat the first wave of the faeries, the abode before you beckons. If you take the stairs and head inside, you see other people tied to the walls, clearly the subject of brutal torture from the evil fey.

    “You have to destroy Elisha,” one woman whispers weakly. “Only then will this nightmare end. Go!” Should you heed her advice, you can take the stars to the top of the structure where you will find Elisha and a few of her close consorts.

    “You’ve ruined everything!” she blurts, arms crossed in child-like anger. “We will have to make short work of you, but don’t kill them my sisters! We want to make them pay for this insult!”

    You face off against Elisha and should you defeat her, she lies on the floor breathing her last breath. As she passes, you suddenly feel sleepy. You cannot keep your eyes open, and all turns to darkness.

    You gasp awake, looking around you fearful of what you may find, only to discover you have awakened in the place you originally fell asleep! You are uninjured, and left wondering if it all a nightmare, or did it really happen?

    If you’d enjoy more DnD resources like this Nightmare Abode of the Unseelie Court Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure, Luke and I have released our newest Hardcore GM’s bundle of 520 large, 40×30″ DnD battlemaps (double the size of those in the Quarantine Bundle) with 255 fantasy adventurefor $39. It’s your chance to have a great deal on some of our most beautiful maps! We guarantee that is something here for every GM—no matter what setting you prefer, from large cities to underwater seascapes.

    Paying just $39 rather than full price saves you over 98%! Take a look at all the extra maps you can download with one click in the Hardcore GM’s DnD Battlemap Bundle here

  • The Black Tower Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    The Black Tower Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    The Black Tower Free 40x30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure
    The Black Tower Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure, featuring a witch who needs you to test her anti-thief security. VTT ready!

    The Black Tower Free 40×30 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    Beta Test

    While visiting a local inn for a rest, you are startled when a woman in elaborate robes made of black sable cloth appears in a puff of magical smoke in the middle of the common room! She coughs a little and sweeps the smoke aside with a few waves of her hands, then looks around the room and spots you at a table.

    “Ah, you’ll do!” she remarks after a cursory examination. “I am Genevieve, a witch of no small renown in this region. You may have heard of me perhaps? Maybe? Anyway, you appear to be just the sort of person I’m looking for. May I join you for a moment?” If you agree to hear her out, she takes a seat at your table and collects her thoughts.

    “It may not look like it, but I recently retired from an adventurous life and bought a nice little tower for myself. I have a great deal of magical treasure from my years of travel, and I’m simply paranoid about my new home being burgled. Aside from the loss of money and magic, the blow to my prestige would be insurmountable! The other wizards would never let me hear the end of it, you know.

    “To that end, I have given great thought to security measures in the tower, and I think I’ve come up with a number of devious traps and fearsome creatures to dissuade the most accomplished thieves. But I need to know for sure!

    “I propose to hire you to break into my tower, if you can! You know, test the doors, avoid the traps, dispatch the guardians of certain doom, that sort of thing. Just understand, I won’t be pulling any punches, so don’t hold back. To make it worth your while, I will part with a magical item of great pow— I mean, reasonable power. What do you say?”

    If you agree to this unnecessarily dangerous mission, Genevieve beams at you, then raises a hand and you are enveloped in a cloud of smoke! You cough and sputter for a moment, but the smoke clears rapidly and you find yourself standing outside a small tower of black stone, somewhere in a forest.

    “Up here!” calls Genevieve, drawing your attention to the roof of the tower upon which she stands. “Off you go then, do your worst!” The front door of the tower beckons!

    If you’ve the skill, you could attempt to pick the lock, but you might also notice there is a trap above it that will drop heavy rocks on your head if you tamper with it! If you’ve no skill to deal with either of these things, you might be able to bash your way in and take the damage from the rocks.

    Beyond the door lies a large chamber with stairs rising on either side, and a few smaller rooms. There are stone statues here that immediately begin to move as soon as you enter, stomping across the floor to intercept you! If you defeat the stone golems, you hear Genevieve’s voice from above.

    “Perhaps stone golems weren’t the best choice for the atrium,” she says, thinking out loud. “I might replace them with iron golems covered in spikes! Yes, that sounds deadlier. Anyway, proceed!”

    As you take the stairs, you might notice there is a tripwire along one of the steps. If so, you could disarm it, but if not, you are pelted with an assortment of dead fish! Aside from the smell, they are launched with enough force to do significant damage!

    Once you make it to the first floor, you notice a swirling pattern of air above the atrium. It coalesces into a number of air elementals, which move to attack! If you defeat them, Genevieve mutters some choice words from her position above.

    “I was really conflicted about using those. There’s lots of space for them, but they just don’t hit hard enough. I shall have to reconsider them in the next iteration. Never mind my prattling, onwards and upwards!”

    If you make it to the second floor, you find an opulent yet practical area that Genevieve lives and works in. The carpet beneath your feet is plain yet soft, and it is as you’re wandering around the area that the carpet starts to move! It rises from the ground and a fang-filled mouth opens wide as it tries to eat you!

    The carpet is huge and tear-resistance, and seems almost impervious to magic, but if you defeat it, Genevieve appears in a puff of smoke and applauds.

    “Well done, you defeated the Carpet of Certain Death, my final security measure. I bet you didn’t see that one coming! Still, you did defeat it and now I have a pile of torn carpet scraps to deal with. Maybe I should replace it with a chest of gold that has teeth? I don’t know, it sounds a bit cliché to me.

    “Anyway, I took copious notes and I’ll have to put some thought into improvements. Here, take your pick of my low-end magic items before I send you back to the inn. Thanks again!”

    If you’d enjoy more DnD resources like The Black Tower free multi-level 40×30 DnD battlemap & adventure, Luke and I have released our newest bundle of 520 large, 40×30″ DnD battlemaps (double the size of those in the Quarantine Bundle) with 255 fantasy adventurefor $39. It’s your chance to have a great deal on some of our most beautiful maps! We guarantee that is something here for every GM—no matter what setting you prefer, from large cities to underwater seascapes.

    Paying just $39 rather than full price saves you over 98%! Take a look at all the extra maps you can download with one click in the Hardcore GM’s DnD Battlemap Bundle here

  • Upside Down Portal Free 40×30 Battlemap & Adventure

    Upside Down Portal Free 40×30 Battlemap & Adventure

    Download this Upside Down Portal free 40×30 battlemap & adventure, featuring missing children and a nightmarish monster. VTT ready!

    Upside Down Portal Free 40×30 Battlemap & Adventure

    Forgotten Elder Blood

    One day while walking to a remote town situated in a dark redwood forest, you pass a lone, playing girl of about 13 who is drawing an unusual monster in the dirt road with a stick. There are some cuts and scrapes on her body. If you try to talk to the girl, however, she is too shy to say anything and will start running back to town.

    When you arrive at the town, the place seems partially abandoned and many of the houses are boarded up. You hear voices from the tavern. If you go in, there’s a meeting where the townsfolk are discussing the disappearances of local children.

    They’re clearly frightened, and talking over one another about how the kids have been snatched from their rooms from behind closed doors. The kids will scream or call for help but by the time the parents rush in, they’re just gone. But sometimes there’s… Disturbing signs. The children aren’t just disappearing, there’s something snatching them!

    Then a very old man will shake his cane at the crowd, insisting that it smacks of “Elder Blood” but the others will brush him off, saying that’s just a myth and there’s never been any sign of Elder Blood being real.

    At this point the locals notice you, and are excited to see that you’re an adventurer. They ask if you could investigate the rooms where the three missing children have disappeared, and then hunt down the monster that took them.

    Should you go look at the houses, the distressed parents of missing children will lead you to the rooms of their lost children. There are three in total, and in general the rooms look normal. There are toys scattered about, some scribbles on the walls, or they are otherwise neat children’s rooms. There’s no damage to the door, walls, or window.

    If you look closely in the rooms, you might find fingernail scratches leading under the bed-as if a child was dragged there unwillingly. The scratches end under the bed, however, and there is no further damage there or signs where the child went. There’s also sap, from a specific kind of tree, but you haven’t seen any in the area.

    As you approach the last room, however, you’ll hear noises from within. The voice of a child, saying “Mom, I’m scared…” But if you go inside, there isn’t the missing child¬-instead, there’s what appears to be an inhumanely tall figure, with pale, slick skin. It’s playing with the blocks on the ground, but when it sees you its face will split apart into a giant mouth and roar at you, with tentacles bursting from its back and writhing, before it disappears into a puff of black smoke that implodes upon itself and vanishes.

    You might remember the monster the little girl was drawing on the side of the road, as it’s similar to what you just saw. If you ask the locals about the girl, they’ll explain that she’s an orphan whose parents died in a tragic accident some years back, and give you directions to where she lives.

    If you go to the girl’s home (she lives in her deceased parent’s house) and she sees you, the color will drain from her face. She will try to run away into the forest.

    Should you manage to catch her, she will cry in distress and say that she didn’t mean to do it. If you ask her what she’s talking about, she’ll explain, sniffling, that the other children were always mean to her. Usually she’d run into the forest and it would be OK, but not last time. The main bully followed her, and pushed her up against a tree after having thrown rocks at her while she ran away.

    She was so scared, the girl explains, she screamed and then the tree split open and a monster came out. It killed him, she says, and she managed to escape. At first, she thought the monster was her friend, because after the main bully disappeared, so did two of the others. But now it’s started coming after her and she’s terrified of it. She can… Sense it. It’s full of hatred, and fear, and confusion-and it’s coming after her.

    At this point the old man from the town meeting will call out to the girl from afar while away, asking if she’s alright. As he approaches, he says he was worried about her so came to check in. Seeing you, he’ll ask what you’ve learned about the disappearances so far. If you tell him, he’ll sigh and nod his head, saying he thought as much.

    He’ll then tell you about the Elder Blood, saying it’s a gift the bloodline of the villagers held, but that it hasn’t been seen in at least six generations¬-until now. He says it gives those who have it strange and powerful psychic abilities which has historically kept their village safe from all kinds of calamities. However, the old man explains, the gift is incredibly dangerous. He says he was one of a select handful trained to recognize the Elder Blood in others, as an untrained mind with the gift can wreak untold havoc. It takes many years of training and mental discipline to control.

    He’ll then explain that the girl has the gift, but cannot control it consciously yet. If you ask if the monster is just a figment of her psyche, he’ll shake his head and say no, explaining that the monster is very real. He’ll say that, very occasionally, one highly gifted in these abilities can tear a rip into another dimension, allowing monsters like the one you met to come through. The monsters, called Imitators… Well, they take on aspects of their victims, for a time. What they said before they die, memories of where home was. They eventually fade, but until they do it allows them to better hunt new victims with.

    The old man says that you need to go to the tree where the rip is and defeat the monster that’s been coming out of it-but that you need to take him and the girl as well. The girl will be bait, the old man explains, saying that the two are inexorably linked seeing as she summoned it here.

    The girl will protest at this, but the old man will look at her sharply and ask if she’d rather the monster hunt her while there are friendly adventurers ready to kill it, or to snatch her in the night like it did those other children?

    She’ll pipe down at this, beginning to cry quietly, while the old man continues to explain that once the monster is dead he’ll try guide the girl into closing the rift she created. She needs strong emotions, such as fear, to utilize her powers and close the rift. If she doesn’t succeed, he concludes, more monsters will keep coming through.

    Should you let the girl guide you to where the tree is (prodded by the stern old man), the monster will emerge from the rift, sniffing after her with a sightless face. It has the ability to faze between dimensions with a puff of black smoke as you saw in the child’s bedroom, and will attack with bites and its tentacles from its back (which have little toothy protuberances on them).

    While you are fighting the monster, the old man will guide the girl in closing the rift. She will struggle but eventually it will seal, and she’ll faint with a bloody nose from the effort.

    Once the monster is dead, the old man will come up to you for a quiet word. He’ll explain that if the village learns of what happened, they will want her dead. It’s been a long time since they’ve seen the Elder Blood, and they’ll be afraid of it. He asks that you keep the source of the monster to yourself, but tell them that it has been dealt with, so that he can take the girl on and train her as he was taught to do. It is a precious gift, the old man explains, and one which must not be squandered.

    If you go back to the village and lie to the townsfolk, saying that you found and killed the monster, but omitting the other important details, they will all be relieved and pay you with some valuable relics they’ve passed down through many generations. However, the parents of the dead children will break down into tears, having been holding onto hope that perhaps they had just run away or were missing.

    Should you tell the villagers the truth instead, they will work themselves up into an angry mob over what happened, and set out to kill both the old man for doing nothing to stop the “young witch” and the girl for her dangerous abilities. But, if they reach the girl, her stress will open another rift while her and the old man will vanish without a trace.

    GM’s Notes:

    Try make sure your players see the monster jump scare in the child’s bedroom. If you get the feeling they’re not going to go see all the rooms, put it in the first, or the second, that they visit.

    If your players decide to follow up the path of the tree sap instead of visiting the girl, the locals will explain that there’s only one tree like that in the forest, before giving you directions. It is the tree that contains the rift, and the sap that was on the monster from where it crawled through.

    The old man came to check on the young girl with the Elder Blood because he knows he was right about the blood and was worried that you investigating the monster would lead you to believe she was a witch and try to kill her or turn her in to the other villagers.

    The girl is the one who accidentally killed her parents, when she was much younger. One day, while having a tantrum, they just disappeared. Other villagers eventually found their bodies in the forest later, at the bottom of a cliff, and had assumed they had slipped and fallen down while walking together. They didn’t believe the then very young girl’s story of her parents just disappearing.

    This adventure was written for our Ravenswood Adventurer’s Guide. If you’d like 6 more adventures and maps for this location, plus even more info and world building for the city, lootable items, NPCs, and more, check out the guide this was written for!

    If you’d enjoy more TTRPG resources like this Upside Down Portal free 40×30 battlemap & adventure, Luke and I are currently offering 520+ battlemaps for $39. It’s your chance to have a great deal on some of our most popular battlemaps! With over 520 total maps that are now also FoundryVTT ready, we guarantee that is something here for every GM—no matter what genre or setting you prefer, from grimy dungeons to beautiful overgrown ruins.

    Paying just $39 rather than full price saves you over 96%! Take a look at all the extra maps you can download with one click here

  • Infernal Soul Engine Juggernaut Free 40×30 DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    Infernal Soul Engine Juggernaut Free 40×30 DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    Infernal Soul Engine Juggernaut Free 40x30 DnD Battlemap & Adventure
    Download this Infernal Soul Engine Juggernaut Free 40×30 DnD battlemap & adventure, featuring a marauding demonic death tank. VTT ready!

    Infernal Soul Engine Juggernaut Free 40×30 DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    The Mysterious Case of the Giant Death Machine

    While staying at a small town during your journey, you hear a commotion going on out in the town square. Should you choose to investigate, you find twenty or so villagers arguing with a portly, middle-aged man in expensive clothing. The people sound like they’re complaining about fields of crops that have been burned and trampled!

    “It’s common brigandry, nothing more,” the portly man – apparently the mayor – assures them, much to the annoyance of the crowd. “I’ll have the town watchmen patrol the area and deal with the miscreants. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more important affairs to attend to!”

    The crowd mills around the town square, grumbling and talking amongst themselves. Should you wish to inquire further about their plight, you hear tales of strange rumbling noises and terrifying screams during the night. While you ponder this, a small woman with long brown hair, oversized spectacles and a number of satchels draped over her shoulders steps forward.

    “I’m terribly sorry to eavesdrop,” she remarks in a crisp, educated accent. “I am Stephanie Culpepper, local detective. I think you should take me to the scene of this crime, post-haste! If my guess is correct, we will find important evidence that supports a theory I’m working on regarding disturbances in the local area. And you,” she adds, looking in your direction, “would you be so kind as to accompany me? You’re clearly equipped for, shall we say, ‘unforeseen circumstances’.”

    If you decide to go with them, Stephanie implores the farmer to take you to the field where these disturbances occurred. You walk for nearly half an hour along a narrow road until you reach the farmstead in question. Just past the quaint house lies a field in ruins, with crops burned and crushed, as was described!

    Stephanie rushes past you and starts examining the ground, taking care to tiptoe through the devastation in case she accidentally ruins some evidence. She pulls a large magnifying glass out of one of her satchels and examines a crushed stalk of wheat in greater detail.

    “It’s just as I thought,” Stephanie beams with a triumphant smile. “This farm was destroyed by a giant, rolling juggernaut powered by the souls of the innocent, and crewed by forsaken spawns of darkness from hell itself. Judging by this residue, it came through a portal from beyond this world through arcane magic, but the texture indicates the foolish spellcaster was destroyed as soon as the portal manifested. Got their comeuppance a little early, I should think!. Come along, we have to stop that thing before it lays waste to more farmland!” With that, she dashes through the fields, following the trail left by your foes.

    The farmer seems dumbfounded by her theory and gives you a shrug, but should you follow Stephanie based on this flimsy evidence and spurious reasoning, you hurry to catch up.

    Stephanie grows increasingly determined to catch up to the cause of all this. If you have a way for all of you to travel more rapidly, Stephanie will be extremely grateful. Otherwise, after hours of travel you sense a strange tremor in the ground.

    “Do you feel that?” she asks. “It’s close now, very close! This way!” She rushes onward and before long, you can see and hear a huge, hulking juggernaut grinding its way across the burned and crushed landscape. Of greater concern is another farmstead just beyond it, clearly the next target for this improbable machine!

    “Boffins and crumpets,” Stephanie cries, “the people in that farmstead are in danger of being brutally eviscerated and turned into a fine paste! We have to help!” Even from here, you can see the beast-like monstrosities on top of the juggernaut, eager for the blood of innocents to be spilled. You spy a stairway at the back you can use to fight your way on board. Once you’re ready to go, you charge in, with Stephanie staying back a bit, ready to cover you with some sort of elaborate crossbow.

    A few of the infernal creatures shoot bolts of fire at you from the top deck as you climb the stairs, and fight the guards that move to prevent you boarding the juggernaut. Should you prevail, you find yourself in the bowels of the juggernaut, where strange, arcane machinery propels it onwards.

    “Don’t worry, I’ve got just the thing to stop this contraption in its tracks,” Stephanie assures you. She reaches into a satchel and pulls out a wrench, and throws it into the gears. The machine groans as gears break and the whole juggernaut grinds to a halt!

    “That’ll save the farmstead, but the monsters operating this thing need to be finished once and for all. Let’s go and clean their clocks, shall we?” The stairs up beckon from nearby, leading you to the top deck where a host of infernal monsters await, under the guidance and supervision of their commander, wielding a long, vicious sword.

    “Look at that bloated slug,” Stephanie remarks as you deal with them, “fat from feasting on the flesh of innocents, forcing his lesser brethren to fight for him while he drools at the prospect of gorging on our tender, innocent flesh!” Stephanie shoots her crossbow at the leader, drawing him into the fight where you can face him down!

    If you survive the battle, you are cheered by the townsfolk and treated to a feast in your honor.

    “Another mystery solved,” Stephanie remarks, dusting off her hands and ignoring the strange look you give her. “Come, let us enjoy the festivities while we may, because while we may have restored the peace, miscreants, ne’er-do-wells, and hell spawns from the nether world do not sleep!”

    You are presented with a bag of gold for your efforts, and you get to keep the infernal monster’s vicious sword, too!

    GM’s Notes:

    You can use demons, devils, or some other monstrous foe to populate the juggernaut.

    If you enjoyed this Infernal Soul Engine Juggernaut Free 40×30 DnD Battlemap & Adventure, Luke and I released the Hardcore GM’s bundle of 520+ large, 40×30″ DnD battlemaps (double the size of those in our famous Quarantine Bundle) with 255 adventures for $39. It’s a great deal on some of our most beautiful maps and adventures! I’m sure there’s content in it you’d have so much fun running for your friends, from large cities to underwater seascapes. Paying $39, rather than full price per map ($3 – $4.50 each), saves you over 98%! Take a look at all the extra content here.  

    Otherwise, I also recommend our latest bundle of system agnostic campaign sourcebooks, filled with battlemaps, locations, NPCs, loot, AND adventures! Luke and I love them so much, they have some of our favorite adventures in quite often grimdark or Lovecraftian horror settings. If you’re not sure about it, download our favorite campaign sourcebook for FREE—it’s about a super whacky location that will have your players roaring with laughter. That is, if their sense of humor is anything like ours 😉 

  • Temple of the Forgotten Ones Free DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    Temple of the Forgotten Ones Free DnD Battlemap & Adventure

    Temple of the Forgotten Ones | Free 40×30 D&D Battlemap & Adventure
    Temple of the Forgotten Ones free DnD battlemap & adventure

    Temple of the Forgotten Ones Free DnD Battlemap & Adventure:

    Dark Side Effects

    You receive a letter from Professor Klaus, the man responsible for resurrecting the inhabitants of Nevermore. It is stamped with a black wax seal engraved with an owl–the symbol of his family. Inside, the letter requests your company for an urgent matter that he needs your help investigating, with the promise of fair payment. 

    Should you go to the man’s small house near his laboratory, he welcomes you inside distractedly before inviting you to take a seat on one of the sumptuous leather couches. The room is dark, and filled with strange, half-burned items and paintings which survived the initial destruction of Nevermore. 

    Once settled, Klaus offers a pot of thick, shockingly sweet, tarry coffee before saying “I appreciate that you came to hear me out, especially after you’ve already risked yourself to save my town once. I would appreciate it further if you were to keep this conversation between us, regardless of if you accept my offer or not. You see, I am beginning to suspect something is terribly wrong with those I resurrected. 

    “Some–but not all–of the oldest among those I brought back are experiencing memory loss, missing time, and anyone else observing them describe their behaviour as that of… mindless undead. I don’t know what could be causing this phenomenon, but it’s getting worse. Because of this, I need you to acquire scrolls regarding the goddess, Everbreath. The problem is, the temple I discovered her teachings in initially has become overrun by cultists who have misunderstood her ways. They are violent, and willing to sacrifice innocents to bring back those they love. 

    “I need you to go to that temple, and bring me five books from the library there. They are bound in purple leather, and I need them at any cost. Those books are the only ones I haven’t read, for they deal with the goddess’s… darker teachings. However, if there are answers to be had, I suspect that is where they may be found.” 

    Should you enquire about the pay, the distracted-looking Klaus starts, before apologising and offering “I am the only one who knows how to access the treasure beneath the Lost and Found store. I have been using it to fund my endeavours, however I am willing to entrust the small hoard to you if it keeps my town alive and well. Will that serve?” 

    If you come to an agreement, Klaus nods and hands you over a map that leads to the temple, advising you not to regret the deaths of any therein. “They are ruthless and evil,” he warns, “and if you let a single one survive, they will merely sacrifice more innocents to resurrect their brethren later on.” 

    The journey to the temple takes two weeks via horseback, and you find the building carved into a huge cliff in a remote forest. There is a male and female acolyte standing outside, one wearing gray robes and the other black. As you approach, they hold out their hands and tell you to stop, saying that they do not recognise you, nor are you expected. 

    Should you explain why you’re there, the acolytes listen quietly before exchanging a few hand signals with each other. Then one nods, and invites you to follow them into the temple, while the other runs on ahead to talk to the other cultists inside. A perceptive adventurer might sense nefarious motives, but should you follow the acolyte in, he leads you past other cultists who watch with raised eyebrows as you’re taken deeper into the temple. 

    The acolyte leads you into a guard room containing three of their brethren, plus the acolyte who ran ahead. The three strangers block the entrance behind you, as the two acolytes meet to unlock the door of a cell; holding it open and advising you, in no uncertain terms, to get inside. Should you protest, they spit that “We know of your Professor Klaus, and he does not understand our goddess, Everbreath. As a result, she has delivered you to us as worthy payment for eternal life. We don’t advise you resist.” 

    Should you fight back, the cultists attack with prayers which drain your life, or daggers and bows which have been tipped in some kind of mild sedative.  

    If you kill one of the acolytes, the other wearing black robes will scream and say a prayer to their goddess. As they do this, one of their arms unravels like a ribbon blown into the wind and evaporates in black mist, leaving nothing but a bloody stump. However, as you watch, the acolyte you killed is resurrected–not as an undead, as the inhabitants of Nevermore are, but as living, breathing flesh; their wounds healed. 

    The guards at the back of the room are wearing similar gray or black robes, and should you kill any of them, those wearing black robes will sacrifice limbs, or say prayers with seemingly no price, to resurrect their fallen brethren. 

    Once the guards and acolytes are all finally dead, you continue to move through the temple, fighting similar cultists in black or grey robes. When you finally find the library, the five books Klaus is looking for feel warm to the touch and are bound by thin, gold chains. They are the same strange burgundy as Klaus’s eyes, not the purple he described. 

    When you emerge from the library, you hear crying and pleading from a large room down some stairs, as well as chanting. Should you go see what’s happening, you find the rest of the grey-robed cultists in a large room, firmly leading some peasant prisoners out of small chambers they were previously locked inside, and towards an altar overseen by three statues. Black robed cultists are standing at the sides of the room, while supervising the proceedings is a man in a burgundy robe, who watches with cold eyes the same color as Klaus’s. 

    If you interrupt whatever it is they’re doing, the burgundy-robed cultist holds up his hand to stop the proceedings, and says in a deep and echoing voice “You who have killed so many of our own; I am Grand Master Malfus. I will let you leave this temple safely, including with those books you have stolen, under the agreement that you allow us to bring back those you have sent to the next worlds.” 

    Should you ask if that involves sacrificing the terrified peasants, Malfus nods curtly, saying “What your Klaus refused to understand is that Everbreath is a goddess with three aspects. They are the Giver, the Taker, and the Gambler,” he gestures towards the statues before continuing. “Thus, there are many ways to resurrect the dead. One can sacrifice a life for a life to the Giver, pay the Taker with something precious–a limb, someone dear to you (though you’ll never know who she’ll take), years from your life, a part of your destiny… Or one can make a bet with the Gambler. 

    “If you win, the Gambler will grant you what you desire. But if you lose, it is said that she’ll take your soul to trade with the other gods for her own, fickle ends. You could end up in the hells, or worse–a war between gods. The tricky Gambler has even been known to grant her losers what they desire, while keeping their soul, if she is in a merciful mood–but this often leads to the losers not realising what they have lost until it is too late. 

    “Because of this, the way we are resurrecting the dead is the wisest, most merciful path. This way, the souls of those sacrificed can be judged by Death, and go to their afterlife. They are not payment for the Taker, or winnings for the Gambler.” 

    Should you point out that Klaus managed to harness the power of Everbreath without sacrificing, paying, or making deals, the man shakes his head and says “I doubt it, and I suspect so does he. More likely, he made a deal with the Gambler without realising it. That is why he needs the books dedicated to that aspect. Go, see if the man still has his soul. Moreover, see if anyone in the town he supposedly resurrected has their soul. I think you will find it… enlightening.” 

    If you ask how to tell if someone’s soul has been taken by the Gambler, Malfus grins and says that their eyes will look like his own. 

    Should you leave and let the cultists sacrifice the innocents, everyone you killed will be true-resurrected. However, they will keep their word, and let you leave in peace without holding grudges in the future. 

    If you instead fight and save the peasants, once the cultists are defeated Malfus surrenders and accepts death stoically. Before he is slain, he warns you that there is a sixth burgundy tome that was lost to time. If Klaus somehow finds it, he may be able to find a loophole in his deal with the Gambler–but in all his own years spent searching, he himself was never successful. Malfus remarks that he hopes Kalus succeeds where he failed. 

    When you return the books to Klaus, he sits and his face pales as he reads them. Then he says in a soft voice “It is as I feared. The souls of those experiencing mindlessness are slowly drifting away from their bodies. Left unchecked, they will be taken by the Gambler in payment. Everyone I resurrected must have made a bet with her on the other side–and those who lost are the ones experiencing these symptoms now.” Then he glances at his eyes in a tarnished mirror, before grimacing at his own reflection. 

    Should you explain what Malfus said before he died, Klaus stands, driven to action. He hands you a silver locket filled with pictures of a family, explaining that it belonged to the man who hid the treasure before the town burned down, and that wearing it will reveal the entrance to the treasure hidden beneath the Lost and Found store. Then he tells you that he must begin packing his things, as he must find the sixth book before it’s too late. 

    If you question his ability, he remarks that he was the one who discovered a forgotten temple to an obscure goddess, and if anyone will be able to find the sixth book, it will be him. 

    Before he leaves, he grasps your hand in both of his in a firm handshake, thanking you sincerely. 

    GM’s Notes: 

    This adventure is designed as a follow up for an earlier, free one-shot, called The Town of Nevermore (written for Reanimator’s Clifftop Laboratory). We recommend taking a look at our Adventuer’s Guide to Nevermore if you’d like even more info and worldbuilding.

    Clerics worshipping the Gambler were burgundy robes, while those who worship the Taker wear black, and those following the Giver, gray. Thus, only those in black robes can make personal sacrifices to bring back those your players defeat, and only those in grey robes can sacrifice prisoners for the same thing. 

    If your players don’t kill Malfus, Klaus will have heard of the sixth missing book and mention it and his journey to find it after giving them the locket to access their treasure. 

    If you enjoyed this fTemple of the Forgotten Ones Free DnD Battlemap & Adventure, Luke and I released the Hardcore GM’s bundle of 520+ large, 40×30″ DnD battlemaps (double the size of those in our famous Quarantine Bundle) with 255 adventures for $39. It’s a great deal on some of our most beautiful maps and adventures! I’m sure there’s content in it you’d have so much fun running for your friends, from large cities to underwater seascapes. Paying $39, rather than full price per map ($3 – $4.50 each), saves you over 98%! Take a look at all the extra content here.  

    Otherwise, I also recommend our latest bundle of system agnostic campaign sourcebooks, filled with battlemaps, locations, NPCs, loot, AND adventures! Luke and I love them so much, they have some of our favorite adventures in quite often grimdark or Lovecraftian horror settings. If you’re not sure about it, download our favorite campaign sourcebook for FREE—it’s about a super whacky location that will have your players roaring with laughter. That is, if their sense of humor is anything like ours 😉 

  • The Plague of Justice Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure

    The Plague of Justice Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure

    The Plague of Justice Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure, about a prisoner who was experimented on seeking revenge. VTT ready!
    The Plague of Justice Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure, about a prisoner who was experimented on seeking revenge. VTT ready!

    The Plague of Justice Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure

    The Plague of Justice

    While walking the streets of a dwarven city you notice a elderly man have a coughing fit before falling down on the ground. Everyone moves away from him, none coming to his aid. If you approach him to try and help him, some of the bystanders warn you away, claiming that there’s a sickness spreading in the city and to steer clear of the elderly man.

    Regardless of if you help or not a couple minutes later several dwarves show up with a stretcher wearing apothecary masks. Two of them put the old man on the stretcher as the third man reassures the crowd that the city’s best alchemists are working on a treatment for this new sickness, and not to worry.

    If you question the apothecaries, they’ll say they don’t have time to go into details but if you want more information or are looking to help, you should go visit the barracks of the Silver Fist who are in charge of dealing with the sickness. They’ve even set up a quarantine camp adjacent to the barracks to keep the infected from roaming the tunnels while a cure is sought.

    When you get to the barracks and explain why you’re there, a dwarven man escorts you into a large chamber where three other dwarves are standing around a table having a conversation. They’re all wearing some form of chain mail armor with tabards of the Silver Fist. They motion you over, with the high paladin called Gudrun explaining that the sickness started spreading a few weeks ago. As best they can attain, the sickness may have come from the old catacombs as the first infected was a gravekeeper. He was one of a small group of individuals that are trained from youth to maintain the catacombs and care for the dead.

    This is of course where the first problem began, the catacombs are a sacred place and only those dwarves trained to be gravekeepers may enter. It is foretold that any dwarf born of the city who enters the catacombs without this training and before his time may have his soul put to rest just like the dead that already reside there.

    Unfortunately this first infected gravekeeper is now dead, while all the others have gone mysteriously missing and the sickness continues to spread. The apocotheries of the city are hard at work looking for a cure, but the sickness is mutating too fast for them to quickly find a solution without a sample of the original non-mutated disease.

    Gudrun continues that without any of the gravekeepers available he was about to risk sending some of the Silver Fist acolytes into the catacombs as he could wait no longer, however with your arrival you have given him a second option. Gudrun looks you in the eyes sternly and asks if you’d be willing to enter the catacombs and look for what may have caused this sickness, as well as retrieve a sample with a small hand-held device he can provide. The city would be ever in your gratitude and the Silver Fist itself would be willing to have a special weapon crafted just for you.

    You find the entrance to the catacombs at the end of an abandoned district of the city, a set of stairs carved into the stone that leads you deeper into the mountain and under the main portion of the city. Deeper in, corridors split off creating a maze-like structure. After traveling the corridors for several minutes you find your way to a large bronze door engraved with the silhouettes of dwarven ancestors, and on the other side you can hear muffled arguing.

    When you open the door you find five dwarven individuals who are covered in rags, with vile weeping sores, and deformed bones jutting from their bodies. Somehow however, they seem to be doing just fine. They look confused seeing you, before immediately attacking while incoherently yelling about some type of justice.

    Past the deformed dwarves is another bronze door that bars your way. When opened, it reveals a large chamber covered in ichor and fleshy tendrils. The air is full of buzzing as swarms of small insects fly around, and another deformed dwarf wearing a damaged suit of full plate and wielding a scythe is standing upon a raised platform.

    When you enter, the dwarf turns to face you claiming nothing will stop justice from being done to those who have, for so long, avoided it. If you question him about who he is and what he means, he’ll explain that his name is Daroc and he was once a gravekeeper but was kidnapped by a wealthy doctor called Rogar who experimented on him with horrible diseases.

    Daroc continues that when it was clear Dr. Rogar was not getting the results he wanted, he tossed him into the catacombs to die. Only he did not die, rather he became something new.

    Because of this, Dr. Rogar must pay for his crimes and will suffer as he did with the disease he was infected with.

    If you explain that the diseases he’s released are killing many dwarves in the city. He calmly explains that they’re collateral damage and when Dr. Rogar has been made to pay, he will personally bury each one of the fallen dwarves in the catacombs so that they may rest in peace.

    If you ask about the other gravekeepers, Daroc explains that his brothers and sisters were easily swayed to join him, all but the one–who escaped, releasing the sickness too soon into the city. However, the sickness is ready in full now and the time of justice is close at hand.

    He’s solemn at the fact you killed his deformed gravekeeper brothers and sisters, but also suggests that you may be swayed to join him, caressing a bony protrusion on his wrist that is slowly dripping some type of contagion. He, after all, will need a lot of help burying the bodies of the fallen after he is done.

    If you attack Daroc, he fights back with his scythe as well as commands several different swarms of lifesucking flying insects to attack you.

    After he’s dead, the chamber shakes as the fleshy strands within retract and start to wither and die before turning into black ash which quickly dissipates. When you return to the Silver Fist, Gudrun explains that it’s a miracle and that the sick just suddenly recovered. He’s keeping them in isolation for the next week to be certain but they aren’t showing any symptoms of the sickness.

    If you explain what happened in the catacombs he’ll be shocked, explaining that he’ll look into Dr. Rogar and his dealings. He also holds to his agreement about having special weapon crafted for you.

    If you enjoyed this The Plague of Justice Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure, Luke and I released the Hardcore GM’s bundle of 520+ large, 40×30″ DnD battlemaps (double the size of those in our famous Quarantine Bundle) with 255 adventures for $39. It’s a great deal on some of our most beautiful maps and adventures! I’m sure there’s content in it you’d have so much fun running for your friends, from large cities to underwater seascapes. Paying $39, rather than full price per map ($3 – $4.50 each), saves you over 98%! Take a look at all the extra content here.  

    Otherwise, I also recommend our latest bundle of system agnostic campaign sourcebooks, filled with battlemaps, locations, NPCs, loot, AND adventures! Luke and I love them so much, they have some of our favorite adventures in quite often grimdark or Lovecraftian horror settings. If you’re not sure about it, download our favorite campaign sourcebook for FREE—it’s about a super whacky location that will have your players roaring with laughter. That is, if their sense of humor is anything like ours 😉 

  • Farmstead on the Styx Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure

    Farmstead on the Styx Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure

    Click image to download this free DnD battlemap of this Farmstead on the Styx, then keep scrolling for the detailed adventure prompt written for it. 

    Farmstead on the Styx Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure. Are you prepared to farm the hottest chillies in the realms of existence? VTT Ready!
    Farmstead on the Styx Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure. Are you prepared to farm the hottest chillies in the realms of existence? VTT Ready!

    Farmstead on the Styx Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure

    Devilishly Hot Chilies

    One day while looking at very expensive but high-quality magical ingredients from a small stand at a market, you get into a conversation with the retired adventurer who runs it. He is middle aged, with a grey beard and short hair, and wearing light leather armor with some weapons on his belt.

    He explains that, of all his products, his favorites are the chilies. He tells you he grows the hottest chilies in all the planes of existence—and that he sells each one with a true resurrection spell, because they will kill you, he laughs. It’s a big hit with the wizards, he finishes with a shrug and a grin.

    Then, after eying you, your clothes, and your weaponry a bit better, he’ll mention that he actually has a bit of a problem with his farm, and would be happy to give you the goods you need if you were to help him out in exchange.

    If you ask what the problem is, he’ll waive his hand nonchalantly and say just some trouble with neighbors. But, it just so happens his neighbors are well armed and have sent him a threatening letter saying they will attack his farm if he doesn’t leave, and given him a deadline.

    You can come with him to help out once he’s finished packing up his stall, if you like?

    Should you ask where his farm is, he’ll say it’s not a long journey from here at all, in fact you’ll be there quite quickly. He’ll then check a watch and say that whelp, sales haven’t been too good this morning so he might as well pack up early. Then he’ll step on something at the base of the stand and it will begin folding up on itself, growing smaller and smaller with each fold. When it’s the size of a folded pocket watch he’ll pick it up from the ground and drop it into a pocket on his chest.

    Then he’ll pull out a scroll from a different, too-small-for-a-scroll pocket and read over it with a hurried, mumbling breath. Then suddenly the world will spin into a spiral, like running ink in a bucket of stirred water. You’ll hear a loud pop and the world will untwist itself in new shades of reds and browns.

    You’ll find yourself in a high-walled garden next to the river Styx. Spirits in the river wail in distress as they are pulled along by the relentless currents beyond the farm, and the large house that sits on it. Over the sounds of the wails are strange, high pitched singing that comes from the plants, who are swaying and dancing merrily.

    The retired adventurer will dust his hands off cheerfully, before chuckling and explaining that one of his customers only ever pays with interplanar travel scrolls, so he has more of them than he knows what to do with! He’ll then turn out one of his small pockets and at least five scrolls too large to fit will fall out and tumble on the ground. He’ll gesture to them to emphasize his point, laughing and shaking his head, before opening his pocket and whistling. All the scrolls but one will then jump obediently back into his pocket on their own. The adventurer will point at the last and threaten it, and it will jump back into his pocket with a shiver and a squeak.

    If you ask him why the plants are singing, he’ll laugh heartily and say that the souls from the river make the best fertilizer for his plants, but they have unintended side effects. But the conditions in the Underworld are ideal for his chilies! Can’t grow them anywhere else.

    He’ll point over to an inlet on the river Styx where it stretches into his fields, calling it “The Well” and saying he often pulls up souls from there once they’ve had long enough to “marinade”. But you don’t want screamers, oh no those souls are hard to deal with, I just throw those ones back in, he’ll say with a shake of his head.

    Then he’ll start and say that amidst all the excitement he forgot to introduce himself! His names Rex, the man says, shaking your hand warmly. If you ask who Rex’s angry neighbors are then, noting that the farm seems awfully well fortified, he’ll grin and say they’re devils. They want to keep all the souls to themselves, he’ll chuckle. Their parents never taught them to share growing up, so we’ll have to teach them instead!

    He’ll point out the statues on the walls, saying that the fires they hold will ignite and form a wall of flames if a devil should attempt to cross the barrier. The biggest risk will be if they manage to break the gates down and also defending the banks of the farm from the river. You have two days to figure out a strategy and get ready before then, as that was the deadline they gave him to leave.

    You’re welcome to borrow some of his old equipment, he offers. Oh, and dinner’s served when the plants go quiet and fall asleep, come inside and join him then! He cooks a mean pot of chili, if you know what he means!

    Once the devils attack, they’ll break the gates down, and some smaller imps will come from the river Styx rowing small dinghies. There will also be some winged devils that come over the flaming walls.

    If the devils get too far into the garden, some of the plants will uproot themselves and begin fighting back angrily, throwing punches and kicks. Rex will also come out with you, in his old adventuring gear, and have a wonderful time slicing up devils with his old broadsword.

    Should you succeed at fending off Rex’s angry “neighbors”, he’ll chuckle and say that was the best fun he’s had in a long time, and that it makes him feel young again! Then he’ll go grab you any of the magical herbs you were looking for and gift them to you as thanks.

    He’ll also throw in a few extra interplanar travel scrolls, saying that you’re welcome to stop by for another pot of chili whenever you feel like it!

    If you enjoyed Farmstead on the Styx Free DnD Battlemap with Adventure, Luke and I released the Hardcore GM’s bundle of 520+ large, 40×30″ DnD battlemaps (double the size of those in our famous Quarantine Bundle) with 255 adventures for $39. It’s a great deal on some of our most beautiful maps and adventures! I’m sure there’s content in it you’d have so much fun running for your friends, from large cities to underwater seascapes. Paying $39, rather than full price per map ($3 – $4.50 each), saves you over 98%! Take a look at all the extra content here.  

    Otherwise, I also recommend our latest bundle of system agnostic campaign sourcebooks, filled with battlemaps, locations, NPCs, loot, AND adventures! Luke and I love them so much, they have some of our favorite adventures in quite often grimdark or Lovecraftian horror settings. If you’re not sure about it, download our favorite campaign sourcebook for FREE—it’s about a super whacky location that will have your players roaring with laughter. That is, if their sense of humor is anything like ours 😉