Category: Free Horror DnD Battlemaps

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

Cursed Crystal of the Shadow Free Battlemap & Adventure

Grab this free TTRPG battlemap of Cursed Crystal of the Shadow, plus the adventure prompt for it with a witch coven. VTT-ready, download today!

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Cursed Crystal of the Shadow Free Battlemap & Adventure

Invisible Friends

One day you receive a letter from a concerned mother who has heard word of your good deeds from a family relative you helped once. She asks for you to come to her village, and investigate the disappearances of young girls, saying that she is worried for her own daughter but their lord isn’t giving anyone permission to leave the village. In the letter, the woman writes that she can pay you in jewelry that has been passed down through her bloodline for many generations.

When you go to meet with her, the mother will be in tears as she invites you inside her home, saying that her daughter has now gone missing, too. She explains that young girls have begun going missing for about a month now, and no-one has been able to find them. The whole thing smacks of magic, and it terrifies her. Strange, shadowy… things… have been spotted in the woods, the mother explains. It reminds her of this village’s dark history, repeating itself again.

If you ask what she means, she’ll explain that many generations ago little girls went missing and it turned out a coven of evil witches had been indoctrinating them. The witches couldn’t be killed, but eventually heroes trapped their spirits were trapped in a small, red gemstone. The crystal was buried somewhere in the forest, because they couldn’t find a way to destroy it without releasing the spirits again.

Just like last time little girls-even her own little girl-have started going missing again! The mother will burst into tears again at this. However, unlike last time, a part of the forest is beginning to die and all of the villagers have been forbidden to go there.

Should you-not a villager-go to the part of the forest that is dying, you will find a young girl humming happily to herself while sitting on a small wooden stump, at a larger wooden stump “table” surrounded by more small stump “seats”. She is pouring an imaginary teapot into an imaginary cup, before putting it down on the “table” in front of a life-sized doll made out of sticks and twine, with a deer’s skull for a head. Two more of the dolls sit at the table. The girl will say here you go, drink it while it’s hot, before gasping and turning around to look at you.

If you ask the girl what she is doing, she’ll say adults aren’t supposed to come here. If you ask her again, she’ll haughtily explain that she is having tea with her friends. If you ask why she is all the way out in these dying woods, she’ll say that the other girls were always mean to her, but not her friends. She tried introducing her friends to her mum, but she told her they were imaginary. It hurts her friends’ feelings when people say that, the girl will whisper, before continuing in a normal voice that that’s why she built them bodies and now they play out here. In the forest, where they won’t be bothered by meanies. The girl will finish by sticking her tongue out.

Should you try to take the girl back to the village, saying it’s dangerous out here and children have gone missing, she will shake her head and refuse to go with you, saying it’s not dangerous and her friends keep her safe. But if you try to take the girl by force, the “dolls” will suddenly move, standing up sharply and staring you down, before one says in a hollow, woman’s voice to leave the girl alone.

The other dolls will start bickering to the first, saying in a different woman’s voice that they were meant to stay still if anyone else came out here, but the first will quip that they’re meant to watch the girl and that’s what they’re doing-whether it means ridiculous tea parties or whatever, they have their orders and gods know she’s waded through enough shit already in the name of the High Priestess.

If you draw any weapons, the young girl will grow visibly distressed and try to step between you and the dolls, saying please don’t hurt them, they’re her friends. At this point, a few more girls will run out of the woods, asking what’s going on. When they see you, they’ll drop anything they’re holding and rush towards the dolls. The dolls will tell them that they had to drop the pretense because you were going to take the girl.

Should you point out that the first girl said the other girls were mean, the first girl will awkwardly say that yes, well the girls always USED to mean to her but her friends asked her to bring them here and now they’re nice!

If you ask the dolls what they are, they’ll say that they are the first girl’s friend and that she’s very special to them, but you wouldn’t understand that. Then one of the young girls will step forward with her hands on her hips and look at you with a completely un-childlike gaze, saying that you should leave.

Should you refuse, the other girls will begin to attack you with weak magical spells, while the dolls will attack with their twiggy claws or antlers. When this happens, the first young girl will begin crying and screaming. If you come close to killing any of the girls or dolls, they will start fleeing over a river towards a giant, red, crystal that’s partially unearthed, while making snide remarks to each other about how it’s someone else’s fault this is happening and the High Priestess won’t be pleased they got them into this mess.

If they get to the crystal, it will begin to glow brightly. A commanding woman’s voice will then demand to stop the fighting, before saying enticingly that she is willing to make a deal. She says that if you leave the girl with them, they will “leave” the other girls so you can take them back to their families.

The other girls, now cut and scraped up badly from the battle, will be horrified at this-saying to the crystal that she can’t do this and where will they go, but the High Priestess will shush them all, saying they can return to the crystal without dying and that they can figure out what to do about it AFTERWARDS.

If you ask why you shouldn’t just kill them all, the High Priestess will laugh and say that you can of course kill them, but then the little girls will die too. You see, there’s no way the girls are going back to their families unless the witches CHOOSE to leave their bodies. The only way you can kill the witches would be to kill the bodies they’re in, and somehow destroy the stone-a feat no-one so far has managed. Then, the High Priestess says smugly, you’ll have the pleasant experience of telling their families what happened to their little girls.

Should you agree to the deal, the coven will keep their word and leave the bodies of the young girls for the crystal. The young girls, now themselves again, will burst into tears and tremble with fear and pain, begging to go home to their mommies. However, the spirit of the High Priestess will possess the first girl, who has been groomed for the role for a number of years. Then, in her new body, she will place a hand on the crystal, and utter a word that shatters it. She will then stand up and stretch comfortably, remarking that her sisters were incompetent to mess up such a simple plan so disastrously, and that she supposes she should thank you for ridding her of them. She will then try to leave the area, where she will plan and educate herself so-once her body is old enough-she can regain the political sway and power she once held in ages past.

Should you refuse to make a deal and kill all the girls and dolls, then make to destroy the crystal (which has been weakened by the spirits of the witches escaping, if you look closely you can spot some cracks running through it) the spirit of the High Priestess will flee the crystal and attempt to possess the first little girl. If she succeeds, the most peaceful outcome might be capturing the first girl using non-lethal force and restraining her, as perhaps someone else will know how to exorcise the spirit from her body.

If you return the scared little girls to their mothers-one of which was the daughter of the woman who hired you-the parents will be balling their eyes out in relief, and shaking as tenderly as their children. All the mothers of the missing children will give you what valuables they can as thanks for such a priceless gift; that of returning their loved ones to them. They will then say you will always be welcome in their village, whatever you need in future.

Should you instead return to them bearing news of their dead daughters, they will cry tears of grief but say some part of them knew their little girl was dead, or that they had lost hope days ago, or how some part of them has died as well, etc, etc. But the woman who hired you will pay you as promised, then soberly request you leave her alone to her mourning.

GM’s Notes:

The coven has been grooming the first young girl to become the body for their High Priestess for a very long time, as she has a natural affinity for magic that will make the High Priestess more powerful. That affinity is what allowed the young girl to hear the spirits of the witches, before she made them “bodies” out of the sticks and skulls she found lying around in the forest.

When the coven was sealed away in the crystal, the gemstone was little bigger than a ruby. It has been growing slowly over time while the witches syphoned energy and life from the forest around it, killing the greenery but building up enough power to eventually escape. However, the spirits of the witches cannot live long outside the crystal, unless they find a “host” body to attach themselves too. It is hard to possess adults, but children have less willpower.

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December 30, 2021
Free TTRPG Battlemap – Hag’s Blood Tree

Click image to download this free TTRPG battlemap of this Hag’s Blood Tree, then keep scrolling for the detailed adventure prompt written for it.

When entering a remote, country town you notice that no-one’s out. Everyone’s inside their homes and even the tavern is locked. If you look closely you can see some of the locals peeping, scared, from their windows.

Should you knock on any door, a scared local might come out and tell you that no-one goes out anymore unless they need to, and you shouldn’t either. If you enquire further about this, they’ll hastily tell you that at night people have been disappearing from the village, and that every morning there is a trail of different animal prints leading away from an empty home.

It’s horrible, they say. But they explain that they really should be inside, so if you want to know more you best talk to their mayor. With that, they’ll give you directions and as-politely-as-possible close the door in your face.

If you go talk to the mayor, he will cautiously answer the door to his house before inviting you inside. Invited to sit down at his table while making you a cup of tea, he’ll say that yes, the other villager was correct, there have been some horrible disappearances around town. The vanished people always have tracks leading away from their houses, tracks from different animals which change every night.

Some of the locals have tried to follow them, he’ll explain, but they lead into the Dark Forest a few hours walk away. The place is cursed, you see—it’s usually not a problem as they don’t go there, but now folks are being dragged there against their will and… well, they never return.

If you’d be willing to go out and kill whatever’s doing this, they’d all be incredibly thankful, and the town will scrape together what wealth they have to reward you. Should you agree, he’ll thank you wholeheartedly before telling you to find the latest set of tracks and follow them to their source.

When you go out, you will see a variety of different animal tracks leading from a bunch of empty houses, some tracks older than others. The most recent are those of a bear.

Should you follow them, they’ll lead away from the village and into the forest. The area will begin to grow dark, and the sky grey. Eventually you will arrive at a giant tree with a door in its base, and the tracks go inside. You can hear begging and pleading from somewhere higher above.

If you go in, the tracks will lead to a spiral staircase carved into the inside of the tree, leading up. Should you use them, you’ll find yourself inside a study with a glowing red sigil carved on the ground. Outside, the begging voice is louder—and it’s accompanied by an eerie red glow.

When you step out, you’ll see a series of red pools filled with skeletons, chained to the sides of the pools. In one of them is a screaming peasant woman, and standing over her is a tall, thin shadowy figure wearing a tattered brown cloak, bear fur across its shoulders, and a horned deer skull over their hood.

The figure will turn, and appraise you. It is an emaciated man in his 60s wearing tattered clothes. There are small herbs and dried roots tied to his belt, some knives, and a number of bone and feather necklaces strung across his chest.

He will eye you coldly, before saying that he does not wish to harm you—that he is only there to finish his work. Meanwhile, the woman in the pool will beg for you to save her, saying that the shapeshifting monster is going to kill her!

If you ask him to let the woman out of the pool, he will shake his head, saying that he can’t do that. If you ask him why, he’ll explain that he is a druid who travels the world. The land calls to him when it is wounded, and he travels there to heal it. He is doing the same here.

The woman at that point will yell that she did nothing to this area, it’s always been cursed! Her people always kept away from it. He’ll then quip that he walked amongst her village for a few days, long enough to learn that their ancestors fought a war here—a war vile enough to taint the land around it and turn it into this (he will waive his bony hand at your surroundings).

Then he will explain that he has sacrificed 11 people thus far, and only one more is needed before the ritual is complete, and the forest will be cleansed of the taint the sentient species have cast over the natural world. That sacrifice is the woman in the pool, he will say, pointing a near-skeletal finger at her.

Should you try to take the woman out of the pool—who will be in hysterics over this last statement—the man will smoothly step between you; saying that if you try to take her by force, he will use any means necessary to stop you.

GM’s Notes:

If your players stop the druid’s sacrifice, the area will remain cursed despite the 11 who have already died. However, if they let the woman have the life sucked out of her as the druid completes the ritual, the bubbling red waters will change to blue, and the surrounding plants resume a glowing green color. Birds will sing loudly and animals will dart around the forest—and, seeing this change, if your players return to the village, the locals will assume they defeated the evil which lived there and reward them for their deeds.

Perhaps your players can convince the druid, that if there is only one last sacrifice left, he could sacrifice himself. After all, why does an innocent need to suffer and die to save a forest, if she had nothing to do with it and it was all the mistakes of her ancestors? He is, after all, the one who wishes to heal it.

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December 8, 2021
Free TTRPG Battlemap – Shadowlands Library

Click image to download this free TTRPG battlemap of Shadowlands Library, then keep scrolling for the detailed adventure prompt written for it. 🙂

Guards approach you in a town you visit, saying you look like adventuring types, how ‘bout you help them with a problem they have with some hysterical women? The women are in some sort of religious order and won’t get out of their hair about some sort of magic, but it’s way beyond the guards to handle.

If you agree to go with them, they’ll take you into the barracks and introduce you to some stressed women in robes. The guards casually hand you off to them, saying you understand magic stuff and whatnot.

The acolytes will approach you quickly, wringing their hands as they explain their problem. They say they’re from a library about a day’s walk from town and something terrible’s happened! They are the Sisters of Secrets, who protect ancient and powerful books, and now a sister has been possessed by one of them. The book is using her to cast a spell that brings an evil realm into this one. If she is allowed to succeed, everything will be overrun by darkness and horrible shadow-creatures!

If you ask why the book suddenly possessed her, the oldest of the sisters will explain that one of their younglings dared their friend to read one word from the book as a joke, not understanding how dangerous it was. The girl was possessed by it just from getting too close, so dangerous a tome it is! Now you must kill her to save this realm, it is the only way.

At this point the youngest acolyte will interject, saying that’s not true! She’s got a book in her hands and claims to have read about a scroll which can be used to eject the spirit of the book from her friend’s body, then she’ll survive if you defeat the spirit. The girl even knows where the scroll is in the library.

At this point the matron will shake her head, explaining that since her friend has been possessed by the book, even if she survives, she will never be the same again. Such things have happened in the past, and the book drove the possessed mad from the terrible knowledge they gained while under its influence.

At this point the young girl will burst out in tears, begging you not to kill her friend and saying it’s all her fault.

If you choose to try save the girl’s possessed friend, she will give you instructions as to where to find the scroll in the library.

Should you agree to the job, the women will thank you profusely, saying you can read any of the safer books you choose after the disaster is averted. The matron will then give you directions to the library, as well as how to find the secret room within it, where the book is located; bidding you ride fast and sure.

Once on your way, as you draw close to the library the forest around you will begin to grow dark and twisted. Red sap will leak from deformed, dying trees with leaves like ash. Large fungi with glowing red spots release crimson spores, which spiral like embers throughout the air. And the bone-dry dust disturbed by your mount’s feet will stink like wet coals.

The area will darken like night by the time you reach the library. It is as ruined and twisted as the forest around it. If you find the scroll and then the secret room, the girl will be floating inside; her hair and clothes defying gravity, eyes glowing red. She is chanting the same spell again and again, her voice hoarse. Before her is a giant book, glowing red. The book is chained to pillars.

She’ll notice you very easily, and once she does will begin casting other devastating spells at you.

Should you manage to read the scroll, a red spirit will be pulled from her screaming body. The girl will fall to the ground, unconscious, but the spirit will be furious. It’ll continue casting spells voicelessly.

If you manage to defeat it, the spirit will disappear and the book slam shut loudly. The ground will shake and suddenly the area is pristine; there are warm braziers glowing around you, all the mushrooms are gone, and the forest has resumed its original, verdant state.

Soon after, the Sisters of Secrets will arrive. They’ll rush to the fallen girl, who will wake, screaming and crying. One of them will read another spell from a book, and she’ll fall comatose again, groaning and mumbling in her sleep.

Her friend will be sobbing onto the comatose girl’s shoulder.

The matron, her eyes haunted, will thank you for stopping the spell and saving the girl. She’ll explain that some of the sister’s will take her to a healer in a distant land, one who has experience with magical ailments. Though she’ll never be the same as she was before, maybe they can do something to ease the girl’s burden.

She’ll then let you choose from any of the safer books in the library to study, which hold highly valuable knowledge.

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November 1, 2021
Free TTRPG Battlemap – Eldritch Sky City Battlements

Click image to download this free TTRPG battlemap of Eldritch Sky City Battlements, then keep scrolling for the detailed adventure prompt written for it.

You’re a guard for this city that was built to imprison and watch Gormos the Ancient One. Every day you stand at your post in the lookout towers, taking shifts with your fellow fighters. Beneath you the magically talented, elite warriors known as Keepers wander in and out of the city with important duties.

The highest of their order are the Gem Masters, and each morning you watch as a group of them descend the vile tentacles of the eldritch horror known as Gormos, all the way down to his slippery, deformed body. There they check that magical crystals which were embedded within his flesh generations ago are still functioning; dampening the monstrosity’s powers and ensuring he cannot escape to consume the world.

Only, today, the Gem Masters haven’t returned. Hours crawl by, slowly, and tensions rise. Your superior begins to look nervous, and you catch glimpses of her talking to several Keepers who hurry in and out from the fortifications in the hopes of updates.

Just as talk of a planned Keeper expedition begins surfacing, one of the Gem Masters clambers over the edge of the floating city, collapsing on the stone path. He is covered in blood and bleeding from several deep gashes. “We are under attack!” the man yells hoarsely, just as giant, parasitic mites crawl over the lip of the city; climbing up from the surrounding tentacles.

WHAT’S HAPPENING? The mites are parasites which feast and breed on Gormos’s swollen body. They burrow into his flesh, surviving off his blood and the mucus which coats his slimy skin. Usually, the Gem Masters kill what mites they can during their daily checks of the crystals, but today they were betrayed.

The surviving Gem Master, named Z’oggath, killed his brethren, cutting down those who trusted him—though he claims his group were overwhelmed and killed by the parasites. Due to his betrayal, he has inherited the position of the lead Gem Master, and now declares that this tragedy happened due to the negligence of others from his order.

He will attempt to use the turmoil he stirs up to overthrow the current leader of the Keeper Order. He has done this because he is mad—for living nearby the eldritch horror, listening to the constant whispers in the mind, causes all those to go mad, eventually. It is only a question of when.

Usually, the madness shows by the victim’s eye colour changing to violet, however Z’oggath’s eyes are delayed in undergoing the change. It is the custom of the Keepers in this city to humanely execute those among them who begin showing signs of this madness, but this Gem Master has hidden it well. If he remains undetected and achieves his goals, he will blind himself as soon as his eyes begin to change, and disguise it as a horrible accident.

Once he becomes leader of the Council of Keepers, he intends to spread his madness to the others, and convince them to free Gormos. For the horror’s whispers in his minds have told him that the monstrosity isn’t what their histories have told them, that they have been lied to, and must free Gormos to see what gifts he will bestow upon the world…

GM’S NOTES:

This adventure prompt is a prequel to the one written for Ruined City of Chained Horror, where Z’oggath’s plans have reached fruition and Gormos’s release is imminent.

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August 31, 2021
Free TTRPG Battlemap – Ruined City of Chained Horror

Click image to download this free TTRPG battlemap of a Ruined City of Chained Horror, then keep scrolling for the detailed adventure prompt written for it.

While traveling you watch a large ship like nothing you’ve ever seen blaze through the heavens, only to crash and slide upon the earth. As it lands you see dirt and debris sprayed everywhere, and if you run up to it and open a jammed metal door you will find only two dead men inside as well as a beautiful but injured woman with violet eyes.

The dead men have piercing wounds and the woman clutches an injured arm with a deep cut. Around them are warped pieces of metal and partially broken equipment. She will explain that they were impaled by some of the ship’s damaged internals when they crashed, and that they had been transporting an artifact back to her people before the ship suffered a malfunction.

She begs you to help her finish the mission as her people are in dire need of the artifact to fix their dying city. The ship doesn’t seem to have suffered too much damage and she believes it will fly again, but the ship can only be flown by two people and her colleagues have both perished.

If you help her, you’ll find the ship works fine. Once it reaches a certain speed in the air the blue sky will warp around it, streaks of it twisting with misty grey until only silvery mist and a black sky with very few stars surrounds you. Suddenly out from the swirling mist come chunks of rock that, if you manage to dodge them, turn out to be the still-smoldering ruins of a floating city.

Should you land, a small group with violet eyes will be there waiting for you. When you emerge from the ship, they will congratulate the woman for returning the last artifact and sincerely thank you for aiding her quest. They will then explain that time is of the utmost essence and ask you to hurry with them.

If you go along you will be led down a series of stone walkways floating amongst the mist. You can see large, dark things moving out beyond the paths and buildings, cutting swathes in the clouds like coiling snakes. Almost in sync with the dark shapes are the sounds of metal scraping and clanking, echoing throughout the ruins.

Bodies are fresh on the ground around you, alongside smoldering stone, and it is clear this destroyed city was recently the site of a great battle. Some of the fallen without violet eyes are still alive but badly wounded, writhing on the ground in agony. Noticing the survivors, the leader gestures for some of the group to break off to “help” them, with orders to catch up when they’re done.

If you ask what happened the group will tell you that there is no time to explain, that they must hurry if the city is to be saved in time.

The group stops at the center of the city, after guiding you through a series of narrow, broken corridors and rickety wooden pathways as some of the main roads were completely broken. Beneath you is a glowing blue pit at the bottom of the swirling mists, but the pit moves and you realise what you’re looking at is a series of sharp teeth descending into a gargantuan, grotesque maw. If you look at it for too long you’ll begin to hear whispering voices, but you can’t quite make out what they’re saying.

Another one of the dark shapes passes by you, this time moving into the lurid light of the hideous mouth. It is then you realise that the dark shapes you’ve been seeing are giant tentacles that seem to be attached to whatever this foul creature is. Connected to the tentacles are humongous metal chains that trail off into the mist below.

‘Gormos the Ancient One, your freedom will finally be complete! Please let your first gift be the salvation of this city!’ Says a blind man, his hands high above his head grasping your artifact alongside another. They are both beginning to glow violet and hum.

WHAT’S HAPPENING? The ship came from a demi-plane, which was created long ago as a prison for this eldritch god; a primordial horror from before time immemorial. Gormos the Ancient One once sought to destroy the world and everything within it, but the founders of this city managed to chain the monstrosity here.

He was too powerful to leave without guardians, however, so those who chained him created this floating sky city to prevent his escape. Generations passed, the descendants of the heroes fortifying their minds and training themselves in magic and steel to ensure Gormos didn’t escape.

Their lives were short and hard, for there was nowhere else for them to go and living near this eldritch horror drove them all mad eventually—it was only a question of when. For generations, they had structures in place so that anyone exhibiting signs of the madness—what they called “the corruption”—would be killed as kindly as possible. One of the last signs was violet eyes.

Usually the longest these protectors lived was to their late 30s, but recently a leader managed to hide signs of his madness by permanently blinding himself and making it look like an accident. Then, when the time was right, he killed those on the council who would be a threat to him. With them out of the way, he convinced many of the remaining protectors that they had been lied to about Gormos, who had lived peacefully in chains beneath their feet for generations, and that the god should be released so they could see the great gifts he would bring the world.

Despite the charms of their leader, some of the protectors did not believe his corrupted words. Many of them died fighting against those who would free the eldritch horror, and that magical warfare is what resulted in the utter destruction that you see around you now.

A family of protectors had been working on building a large skyship in secret for the last three generations, with plans to announce it and use it to fly the two artefacts and the rest of their people out of the demi-plane when it was finally finished. Through removing the artefacts that had created the plane, they would destroy it, and finally kill Gormos the Ancient One.

However, the ship wasn’t ready to fly. With the threat of Gormos’s escape looming, two brothers from the family tried to steal both artefacts, but only managed to gain one. Improvising, they launched the ship too soon, planning to hide one of the artefacts in the material realm—enough to stop Gormos from becoming fully free—before returning to take the second one, as well as the surviving protectors.

A group of protectors remained behind to ensure their escape amidst the chaos, but none of them noticed the cultist who followed the brothers and smuggled herself in behind them. Miraculously, the ship flew—and while the brothers were celebrating their arrival in the material plane, the cultist stabbed one of them in the back before he could react, and the other only managed to slice the woman’s arm before she killed him, too.

She then attempted to fly the ship on her own, but the ship crashed due to not having enough pilots. The two men in the ship were not insane, and unlike the cultists, their eyes were not violet.

If you decide to stop the release of Gormos, you will need to fight the cultists and claim at least one of the artefacts to stop the ritual that will complete the horror’s release. Once you have it, if you try to get back to the ship, cultists will emerge from different alleyways as you run, trying to cut off your escape.

The surviving protectors, who remained behind to ensure the two brothers escaped, will come to your aide. If you only have one of the two artefacts, they will insist you go back and get the other one, but if you don’t they will break off to find it.

Should you manage to make it to the ship, if you fly away as fast as you can you will see Gormos’s already partially-freed tentacles rise up and grab the remains of the floating sky city and drag it down, swallowing it in his maw. If the protectors are with you they will gasp and wail in horror at seeing their home destroyed.

Once the ship is flying fast enough, the colours of the sky and surrounding stone will once again run together in a twist before leaving only clear blue skies with white, fluffy clouds as you soar over the material plane.

If you managed to grab both the artefacts and take them with you, as soon as they are removed from the demi-plane it will be destroyed—killing Gormos if he wasn’t free to escape first.

But if you only have one, the other will have been destroyed with the city. Thus, Gormos will remain; eternally fighting his chains that, without the strength of the protectors to reinforce, will eventually crack and break…

If you’d enjoy more maps like this free TTRPG battlemap of a Ruined City of Chained Horror, 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, we guarantee that is something here for every GM—no matter what genre or setting you prefer, from grimy dungeons to beautiful overgrown ruins.

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August 10, 2021
Free TTRPG Battlemap – Mindflayer’s Lair

Click image to download this free TTRPG battlemap of a Mindflayer’s Lair, then keep scrolling for the detailed adventure prompt written for it.

While walking the city streets you’re approached by a portly man wearing a black coat and leather gloves. He seems a little nervous as he approaches you, but quickly explains that his master has sought you out from far away and wishes to have dinner with you at the best tavern in the city; The Ocean’s Bounty. He wishes to discuss an incredibly lucrative business arrangement that requires someone of your particular skills…

Before leaving, he tosses you a small coin purse that jingles with the sound of gold and gems, claiming you’ll receive an even larger purse should you join them at dinner.

When you arrive at the tavern the portly man is waiting for you at the door. He invites you in, but the tavern’s completely empty—apart from a shadowy figure close to the fireplace, sitting in a large wooden chair engraved with the likeness of an octopus.

They motion you over, and as you approach you see he is a man of pale complexion, with a jewelled necklace and large, gem-encrusted rings on his hands.

Once sitting, he begins discussing philosophical topics such as free will, eventually getting around to his need of experienced sell-swords for a thesis he is in the midst of creating. He is researching mindflayers, creatures of malicious intent, domination and selfishness.

He thinks these creatures are not inherently so, but that the elderbrain takes away their free will by passively warping the minds of those that sleep within its domain; causing them to crave dominion over others at all costs. But to prove his theory, he needs you to infiltrate a colony and dispose of the brain so that he may study the results via one-way scrying devices. In return, he will pay great riches, including rare magical artifacts.

WHAT’S GOING ON? The man who has hired you is not what he seems, if you search for information about him around the city you will find he is a wealthy benefactor to many noble charities, and owns many properties around the city including the tavern called The Ocean’s Bounty. What you will not discover is that he is a mindflayer in disguise. He wears a powerful magical amulet that changes his appearance so that he may walk among humans, as well as a plethora of other magical rings and items.

The strange thing about this mindflayer however, is that he is not like the others. He acts with kindness and concern over what is moral, and he wants to know why. Why do his brethren all act in unison with their desire for dominion, but not him? Is he just an aberration? A freak within his own species, or is there more to it? What is free will, truly?

If you’d enjoy more maps like this free TTRPG battlemap of a Ruined City of Chained Horror, 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, we guarantee that is something here for every GM—no matter what genre or setting you prefer, from grimy dungeons to beautiful overgrown ruins.

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April 22, 2021
Free TTRPG Battlemap – Darrowmeer Burial Grounds

Click image to download this free TTRPG battlemap of a Darrowmeer Burial, then keep scrolling for the detailed adventure prompt written for it.

An unnatural fog has descended on the township of Darrowmeer after their burial grounds were desecrated by grave robbers and while the robbers were dealt with the mist remained. You’ve been tasked with entering the burial grounds with a priest to reconsecrate the mausoleum, however the priest is concerned that this action could cause the dead to briefly rise from their graves in anguish and attempt to stop the ritual.

When you enter the mausoleum, you’re greeted by five ghostly figures hovering over broken tombs, they introduce themselves as Lady Jane, a cleric and worshiper of the light, The Red Duke, a fighter and renown knight, Silvia Greenbarrow, a druid of the sacred grove, Elmeth Zigoth, a famous wizard and Jarnock, ranger of the great reachs.

Each offers to assist you in your goal of reconsecrating the mausoleum but will not work with the others, during this time of talk they jest with each other and boast about their personal prowess and achievements during their life.

Each ghost will offer you a unique boon while the consecration in progress which are listed below:

Lady Jane will assist in the consecration which will cause holy damage to any undead that enter the mausoleum every turn, and change your weapons damage type to holy.

The Red Duke will empower you, increasing your critical range and damage for each enemy struck down.

Silvia Greenbarrow will grow large blossoming rose bushes covering up to 10 squares with sharp thorns that cannot be passed through, any who try take slashing damage.

Elmeth Zigoth will grant you a random arcane symbol based off the result of a D4 each turn that grants different effects:

1. Double your movement speed and gain flying.

2. Triple your movement speed and jump height.

3. Double your movement speed, you may move through walls and enemies as if you were a ghost.

4. You may teleport up to double your movement speed, teleporting does not provoke opportunity attacks.

Jarnock will summon animal spirits to assist you in your battle, healing your wounds and increasing your resilience to damage as well as environmental effects.

When the consecration begins just as the priest feared, the undead begin to rise, dozens, perhaps even hundreds clamber from their moist graves and shamble towards the mausoleum. You’ll need to hold them off and protect the priest for five rounds.

After this time the consecration is complete and a large pillar of light will project high into the sky from the peak of the mausoleum breaking away the mists and allow the sun to shine once more, at this very moment all remaining undead fall to the ground defeated.

If you’d enjoy more maps like this free TTRPG battlemap of a Darrowmeer Burial Grounds, 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, 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.

April 14, 2021
Free Multi-Level TTRPG Battlemap – Haunted Orphanage

Click image to download this free TTRPG battlemap of a Haunted Orphanage, then keep scrolling for the detailed adventure prompt written for it.

You arrive at a ruined manor in a dark forest, at the behest of a man who discovered—on his alcoholic father’s deathbed—that the land was his inheritance, from his grandmother. But it has a bad reputation, so he’s paid you to inspect it and ensure it’s safe.

As you step into the overgrown courtyard, the ghosts of five adorable children materialize around you. They whine playfully, begging you to play a game with them. They’ve each hidden an object around the manor, and if you find it and return it to them, you win!

A short boy tells you that, far above, woody fingers clasp onto something that glitters with gold. One of the girls trills how, in the tallest tower, waits something soft, and comforting. A smaller girl adds that, under the water glistens a shining eye. Lastly, the ghost of the tallest boy advises that buried in the rubble, secrets are bound.

Should you find everything and return them, the children will squeal with delight. They’ll thank you, saying that’s the most fun they’ve ever had, and that they’re going to go now; before skipping off into the surrounding woodland and disappearing.

If you miss an item, the child responsible for it will grow angry and attack. If you’ve missed more than one, whichever children have been angered will coalesce into a more dangerous wraith; saying you’re just like the matron, that she didn’t like their games either. The more children there are coalescing, the deadlier the wraith will become.

WHAT’S HAPPENING? The manor used to be an orphanage, run by an abusive matron—the mother of the deceased, alcoholic father. She never let the kids play games, often beating them terribly for doing so. Until, one night, a fire destroyed the building and none survived.

The items the children have sent you to find are a golden pocket watch in the eagle’s nest, a teddy bear wrapped up in the spider’s nest, and a tiger’s eye gem in the flooded basement.

The last item, buried in a pile of rubble, was the journal of the orphanage’s matron. It details her struggles with the devilish, willfully misbehaving children who made her beat them. They knew no obedience, she writes, and surely would fail as adults in such a harsh world if she did not discipline them.

If you’d enjoy more maps like this free TTRPG battlemap of a Haunted Orphanage, 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, we guarantee that is something here for every GM—no matter what genre or setting you prefer, from grimy dungeons to beautiful overgrown ruins.

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March 8, 2021
Free TTRPG Battlemap – Bleakbarrow’s Broken Bridge

Click image to download this free TTRPG battlemap of Bleakbarrow’s Broken Bridge, then keep scrolling for the detailed adventure prompt written for it.

You’ve been paid by a worried father to find his missing son. He accepted a challenge with the other men to race to the nearest town to collect a token for a lady. Whoever collected it and returned it to her first would win her hand in marriage, as well as a considerable inheritance.

The problem is, this was days ago and all the other men are already back, without the package. He suspects his foolhardy son took a dangerous shortcut through the mountains, known as Bleakbarrow’s Bridge. No-one knows what’s up there, only that those who wander through it never return. He wants you to recover his son and bring him home safely. Or his body, so that he may give him the burial rites he deserves.

WHAT’S HAPPENING? The man’s son, being of a rather thin build, planned to outwit his brawny opponents by taking the shortcut through the mountains. This would have been a good idea if his belief that the other villagers were overly superstitious were actually valid.

While he made the first crossing safely at daytime and managed to collect the package from the far village, unfortunately for him his second crossing was at dusk. While he attempted to return via the broken bridge, the giant spiders who were nesting beneath it ambushed him.

Luckily for him, he can still be saved. He is paralysed and cocooned within the lair of the spiders, but still alive. For now. Unfortunately for you, however, the package dropped off him and fell deeper into the lair. Should you cut him loose, he begs you to try find it.

If you follow him you’ll find lots of loot on the dead bodies, as well as spider eggs which start hatching at the disturbance. Should the man be returned to the village safely with the package he’ll claim the lady’s hand in marriage—they did, after all, plan the challenge for his success, so he could finally win acceptance from her disapproving father.

If you’d enjoy more maps like this free TTRPG battlemap of Bleakbarrow’s Broken Bridge, 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, 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.

March 3, 2021
Free TTRPG Battlemap – The Living Manor

Click image to download this free TTRPG battlemap of The Living Manor, then keep scrolling for the detailed adventure prompt written for it.

You arrive in a town surrounded by cloying mist and greyish, decaying trees. Water pools in your footsteps and seeps out of the wagon-wheel ruts left in the thick mud of the road. Timbers on buildings are spongy with rot, and the mortar in stone walls has been worn away; allowing the damp breeze to whistle through the cracks.

The people here move slowly, with dark circles under their eyes. The tavern is awash with a warm orange glow, and—seeking to buy supplies—you enter. Water drips from loose shingles on the ceiling and the stench of unwashed bodies, hard liquor, and vomit drifts over to you. It comes from an old man in torn, dirt-covered rags with bloodshot eyes, huddling in the corner with a near-empty bottle.

An old woman, seeing your adventuring gear, intercepts you. Her silver hair is tied in a neat bun and her red dress is worn, but clean and lovingly kept. There is a spark in her green eyes. She offers to buy you a bowl of hot stew if you listen to a proposal and will pay you handsomely if you accept.

She can’t stand to watch the life being sucked out of this town any longer. Nobody else believes her, but it was different when she was a little girl. The forests were lush, the fields green. The town was alive with trade and each spring they would have the most wonderful celebration. People would travel from all around to see it.

That all changed when the manor burned down. The family who founded the village had lived there, you see. And they were loved. But one day their baby boy went missing. Their oldest son, about six, claimed he’d seen one of the house staff handing him to a stranger. When no-one would tell them who gave the child away, they began torturing, then executing, their loyal workers—claiming they’d conspired to kidnap their baby and that they wouldn’t stop until he was returned.

The reality that those parents wouldn’t believe was no-one knew where the babe was. None had seen him. But the family just wouldn’t listen, and the bloodshed was immense. Far too many good people died.

And then, when they took a group of villagers to interrogate, there was talk of an uprising. After nights passed and those villagers didn’t return, the ones who were left marched up to the mansion. They locked the family inside and burned it to the ground…

Ever since then life has slowly drained away from this area. Slowly, so slowly almost no-one noticed, the produce began to rot in the fields, waves of pestilence struck, and livestock began to look thin and half-starved.

The old woman looks you in the eye and asks you to go up to that old mansion. To find the source of the curse and destroy it, once and for all. As a reward, she will give you a golden broach that has been passed down through many generations of her family. She takes it out from a hidden pocket, unwrapping it carefully. Delicate gold petals surround an emerald, forming the shape of a flower.

Eyeing the pricey reward, you accept. At that moment, the drunk staggers to his feet and insists that he’ll come with you. He claims he was a groundskeeper there as a lad and knows the area well. That he was never able to pay his respects to those who died and can act as a guide up the treacherous path.

You shrug and accept. He doesn’t speak much on the trip up to the manor, being slow to answer questions and often responding with grunts, not words.

The stench of the burned-out shell of the mansion reaches you before you see it, overpowering that even of the drunk. It smells like damp ash and decomposing flesh, causing you to gag and draw your shirt up over your nose. The drunkard pales and slows, letting you take the lead and lagging behind.

A few steps into the building the floor crumbles beneath you, but you manage to step back. Beneath you beats a decomposing heart, surrounded by writhing, rotting flesh. Thick tendrils of the tissue slide over the edge, leaving smears of blood in their wake, seeking to drag you into the pit and subsume you into itself.

You slash the tendrils with your sword, ducking beneath their searching forms and evading their grasp. It becomes a dance that you lose yourself in, blood from the horrible limbs spraying throughout the room. Breathing heavily from the combat, you slip on the slick tiles and can feel your heart leap into your mouth as you plunge into the pit.

You can feel the hot, wriggling mass of limbs pulsing beneath you, some of them wrapping around your neck, others your armpits. Desperate, you writhe around just enough to stab your blade through the heart beside you. It shudders, and as you wrench your blade out a jet of blood follows. The heart leans to one side, deflating, and the limbs clench; strangling you.

Just as you begin to see sparks dancing on the edge of your vision, another spark drifts past your nose. Orange, real. The limbs slacken and you feel yourself sinking as the flesh dissolves into embers, until nothing is left but ash. Feeling tiles beneath your body, you stand on shaking legs.

Standing over where the heart was, you see the bones of a baby boy. Footsteps ring out behind you and you turn to see the drunk, who rushes past you sobbing, before kneeling and cradling the bones in his arms.

The mists surrounding the town lift and the grey skies turn blue. Sunlight streams down through the remaining rafters, and a lone bird begins to sing.

The man, between sobs, explains that the baby was his younger brother and that he was responsible for the massacre. He’d been jealous as a boy and had been rough with him—he’d never meant to kill him! When he’d realised what he’d done, he’d hidden the body here, in the hidden passages only he had found. In his panic, he had told his parents he’d seen his brother taken by the maid—he didn’t think they would do what they did.

He’d been hiding down here when the villagers burned the house down… it’s the only way he escaped. He has been living in torment ever since. Now, with the curse lifted, he feels he can finally begin to redeem himself.

NOTES:

The reward the old lady offered is the Broach of Clearsight, which increases the perception and memory of those who wear it.

If the party refuses the drunkard, he will sneak up to the manor using a different route.

Should the planets on the mechanical model be aligned correctly, they will open a secret stairway leading to the heart.

If you’d enjoy more maps like this free TTRPG battlemap of a The Living Manor, 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, 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.

January 23, 2021