Hag's Lair | 30x40

Hello everyone, and happy New Release Monday! Today I am launching my newest map: the Hag's Lair.

This 30x40 map features a large underground cavern nestled under the base of a massive root system. I suggest a hidden entrance, like an illusion hiding the mouth of a cave or gnarled knot in a massive dead oak tree.

Within this map, you'll find a twisting collection of branches and vines holding a wooden cage suspended over an almost endless chasm. The sound of a rushing waterfall can be heard falling into the underground river that is hundreds of feet below. Surely, the hag you are hunting will no doubt put their precious prey in this cage to tempt your party to rescue them. Only then will they find out the hag's truest, most vile nature as they ignite the dry wood holding the cage and only allowing moments before their victims fall to their doom!

Heavily inspired by the hag's lair from BG3, I wanted to create a battlefield that mixes the hag's tricks with dangerous natural terrain.

If your party manages to push the hag back into their inner sanctum, the carved face on the rock ignites, asking the players morbid riddles or spewing poisonous gas from its mouth, making entering the doors extremely dangerous.

Once inside, you will find the inner sanctum of the hag's lair, including a mass bubbling cauldron suspended by writhing branches, more cages, potions, and pultices of all sorts of grim nature, and a large altar with the skulls of all those they have claimed.

Some of the witchy assets used in this map (like the little creepy dolls and wooden witch emblems), as well as the awesome twisting roots, were created by River Dog Studios (used with permission via their commercial license). You can find River Dog's awesome asset packs right here on Patreon!

My goal for this map was to create a flow of danger for your party to overcome. I added a natural entry way to the right of the map, showcasing grim altars and other grisly trophies to add a level of horror.

Grim faced carved tree and hanging hag trophies

The rocky terrain wraps around, and your players can spot a huge collection of vines and branches, almost resembling a gnarled hand of the hag, as they control the vines with their vile magic. Suspended from the vines is a cage that dangles over the drop hundreds of feet below, surely enough to kill any mortal that attempts the plunge! I added the cage to add a sense of danger and to add a wonderful opportunity to display the hag's prey to the players as if taunting them to take action. If you want to be even more dastardly, you could have the hag's prey be an illusion where your players risk their lives for nothing more than just magical air!

Where the hag's keep their prisoners

The only way to "safely" cross the chasm (since the bridge has been broken) is by way of a moldy, slippery, rotted log that bridges the gap between the rocks and certain doom. Much harder to balance across it when the hag is hurling spells at you!

Rotted log bridging the gap of the chasm

Finally, the inner sanctum of the hag's lair. A door bars the way with a stone-carved face and all manner of twisted and vile trophies. Inside, you'll find spell books, potions, alchemical components, more cages, and a massive altar where they conduct their dark worship. In the center is a bubbling cauldron, held up by vines and branches that seem to be alive and pulsating at the hag's command.

Hag's Inner Sanctum

Since this map is technically underground, I only added fog as a weather option; however, I did create two light variants for the outdoor lights. One normal and the other with eerie green orbs of light to add to the hag's strange and twisted magic.

Fog & Green Light Variant

Whether you're looking for a larger battlefield for a hag coven, expanding encounters like the Old Bonegrinder from CoS, or just want an epic hag-inspired lair, I hope this map will serve all your witchy needs!

Click on the download link below corresponding to your tier to download all the map files.

Download the Hag's Lair Here!

Download the Hag's Lair Here!

Download the Hag's Lair Printable PDFs Here!

Download the Hag's Lair Here!

Download the Hag's Lair Printable PDFs Here!

Download the Hag's Lair Here!

My goal for the Witch Woods map and the Hag's Lair map was to give you a few encounter locations for anything witch/hag related. There is so much potential with the various hags in the RPG-sphere, and they are some of my favorite encounters to run in any dark fantasy game setting!

This is the 1st of four extra-spooky maps I have planned for October! Stay tuned for the next Vallaki location, which might include your favorite toy-maker. I also have some spooky goodies for the misty shores of Saltmarsh and something dark, wet, and dangerous on the Lothburgh front. Happy October, all!

Cheers friends,

DM Andy