Underdark Rockpools Battle Map - Launch

Hello Adventurers! Here is your next map release, a rugged coastal map at the edge of some underground lake or ocean. I wanted most of the ground covered in shallow to deep rock pools so you could have fun with them. Tactically, they could have things living in them, be filled with toxic substances, or maybe they are just uneven terrain, making combat a little more hazardous.

Next Maps

It's the Clan Crannog coming next, and Camp Frost Bone will come later.

• Clan Crannog (Iron-Age Roundhouse)
  So, what's a Crannog? A Crannog is a circular iron-age house/hut built on a lake/loch as an artificial island, with a pier leading out to it. They were used for defence, and often, important people lived in them. This would be perfect for a clan of warriors, a place to fortify, and a fun and unique location to defend or invade.

• Camp Frost Bone (Village of Bones)
  I love the idea of using unusual/locally available materials for building shelters, and bones are an obvious choice for a fantasy setting. This will be a rough group of huts and tents created from large bones and animal skins. They would be useful for encounters with tribes of monsters and humanoids alike.

As always, I want to thank you lovely people, for supporting my creations. The holiday season will soon be upon us so December will have a wintery map or two. I often use Patron ideas for my releases, so please post your suggestions here. As always, have a wonderful weekend, and happy adventuring! Now, let's go rock-pooling! Who knows what treasures we’ll find washed up on this dark coastline… odds are, it will be something with tentacles and a thirst for blood, but you just never know. Maybe this time, it won’t be.

Downloads

The files, thumbnails, and tags can be accessed on the Map List Page. You must be logged in to Patreon and signed up to the correct tier to access them. Remember, you are only charged for map releases; you can download all the old maps at no extra cost!

Map Descriptions

The path tunnels through brittle, sharp-edged rock resembling serrated teeth or chipped glass. The ground is covered in shards of rock, crunching underfoot and glittering in the torchlight.

Ahead, the tunnel opens into a vast cavern and onto the shore of a large body of water. A faint, blue-green glow emanates from bioluminescent algae drifting along the water’s edge. The soft light illuminates just enough to see hundreds of rock pools, their still surfaces occasionally disturbed by the odd ripple or splash. The air is cold and damp, with a slight metallic scent and a faint trace of decay.

Notes and Tips

• 30x45 Grid Map

• This could be the edge of a vast underground ocean, a small half-submerged cave, or simply a coastline along a body of water in a desolate land.

• The Rocks of this region are melted and resemble flint or glass. They're brittle and sharp, with edges that can cut the unwary. Falling or being pushed against them may result in injury.

• Reverb/Feedback: Sound or other energy is reflected or reverberates through the rock. Magic could reflect and go haywire here.

• The pools can be shallow or deep. They could also be connected, allowing a creature to pass through them and appear in a different location.

• The liquid does not need to be water. It could be oil, some gelatinous substance or acid.

• Water and food can be problematic in any underground adventure. Rockpools can be a source of both, but food can fight back, and water can have strange or unhealthy properties.

• Have a player dragged into a pool, with the possibility of them being pulled under.

• Spawning Pools: These pools are the spawning ground for some unimaginable horror of the deep. The little scamps are starving and want nothing more than to swarm out of the pools and eat your party. Mummy could also get upset.

• Tentacles from the Deep (holes): What lives below the pools is probably mostly tentacles. This doesn’t need to be complicated. Just have tentacles erupt out of the pools and attack the party. Or the tentacles could come from the water to drag players across the pools and into the water.

• Washed Ashore: Some giant sea creature has washed ashore. Its carcass is beached among the rockpools. Either it's dead, and scavengers are eating it (and don’t much like the party getting close). Or it's not quite dead, and the party is surprised it still has some fight in it.

Variants

Snow variant for both above and underground encounters. Lava or Nine Hells variant for a bit of spicy heat.A Desert variant for teasing your players with the possibility of water ;) And a Tropical or Beach variant for a place to catch some seafood.