Sewer Junction Battle Map - Launch

Hello Adventurers! Our next map launch takes us underground into the sewers to a junction of pipes and a large open chamber with the potential for a significant encounter with something nasty. The sewers of any great city are full of myth, folklore, and the waste of thousands of citizens. Take a look at my notes and tips for some fun ideas.

And just a quick apology for being a little late with this release. I had to travel at the start of the month, and now I’m rather sick with a cold. I hope to get the next release out by the end of this month or very early next. Sorry for the delay!

Next Maps

I’ll be working on the Creepy Hollows map next, with the Refurbished Half Pint Pub coming next month.

• Creepy Hollows - I want to create a simple travel map with a creepy countryside vibe, using an old fixture of the countryside, a 'Hollow'. It will feature a country lane dug in between fields and woodland. Its sides are steep, creating a narrow passage that makes for easy ambush and is perfect for spooky encounters in the mists of early morning or moonless deep nights.

• Refurbished Halfpint Pub - I have always loved one of my first map ideas, the Half Pint Pub. It is a tavern run by halflings with a cute rustic vibe. I want to completely redo the map with a much more ‘hobbity’ feel and allow for an upstairs floor with the ability to connect it to the cellar map I created a couple of months back.

Thanks so much for your continued support. I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for so long. I recently looked back on my old maps and realised just how many fun locations I’ve created over the years. None of that would be possible without your help, so thank you all, both new and long-standing Patrons. You’re amazing! If you have map ideas, please send them my way! Have a wonderful weekend, and as always, happy adventuring!

Now, let's go find the reason for all these city worker disappearances. It's probably just giant alligators or something normal like Ratkings… standard sewer stuff!

Downloads

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

Map Descriptions

The ladder descends into darkness, its rungs slick with moisture. An overpowering stench of humanoid waste assaults your nostrils, making it difficult to breathe. The air is increasingly warm and humid as you make your way down the ladder. The street noise fades as you descend, replaced by the drip of water and the low echoing of cavernous spaces.

Stepping off the ladder, it takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the darkness. Looking around, you find yourself in a long tunnel with stone walkways along either wall. Running down the length of the tunnel is a sludgy river. It's best not to look too closely at what may be floating past. Ahead, you can see a rusty metal bridge that spans the river and beyond an opening into a larger space.

Making your way to the end of the tunnel, you enter a large circular chamber filled with water, or more precisely, liquids of various types. The brick walls are covered in grime and masses of congealed fat. Entrances to other tunnels and pipes leading off into darkness. The chamber is ringed by stone walkways and metal bridges. Two metal walkways cross the pool, connecting the two largest tunnels. At the centre is machinery that works as a sluice gate, allowing water to pour into a hole at the centre of the chamber.

Notes and Tips

• Sewers can often result in cramped combat encounters, so I’ve tried to provide a more open environment. Larger monsters, such as giant alligators, sludge monsters, blobs, giant crabs for coastal cities, and urban-themed dragons, can be utilised in such locations.

• Toxic locations! Sewers are highly toxic places, from the liquids and sludge the party must wade through to the very air they breathe. It should be unpleasant and dangerous to spend time here. Random pockets of flammable gas, poisonous gas, noxious smells that make PCs gag and disease-carrying sewage. Make the location really, REALLY difficult terrain to be in. If your players decide to investigate a shiny knickknack in the sludge, it might be time for a constitution save. 

• Walkways and railings - Across the junction is a network of walkways and railings, some are not in the best condition. These are slippery and have the potential to be dangerous if navigated hastily. In combat movement on them may require a dex check with a failure resulting in a slip or fall into the water below.

• Missing Workers? Sanitation workers have been disappearing from the city sewers. What could be causing this? Predatory rats? Illegal dumping from a nearby arcane tower creating mutants?

• Bandits be gone! - Why not have a group of bandits or thieves use the sewers to ambush people coming home drunk from the tavern? The party must investigate the sewers and are ambushed in the junction. So many tunnels to have bandits jump out of!

• Wererats: Everyone loves a good Lycanthrope. Get the silver ready for some good old-fashioned stabbing, and your boots ready for some running! It’s time for a wererat chase through the sewers!

• The Great Sewer Wyrm - The great wyrm of the system collects the treasure lost to the sewers by careless city residents. Legend has it it lives at this junction. Below the surface, it sits on a horde of false teeth, brass buttons and bronze hearing trumpets.

• Siren of the Sewers - A Sea Witch has taken up residence in the sewer, this junction being its home. Sewer workers have been lured to their deaths here, and some are used as vessels for her dark, corrupting magics.

• The Hermet of the Sludge - A hermit lives here. He is said to possess knowledge of a fighting style little known in the realm. Seeking him out will result in a challenge of fighting skills on the walkways above the sludge.

• Death from Above - As you pull the lever, a loud screeching sound echoes throughout the chamber before fading away, leaving only the sound of dripping and …sizzling? Looking down, you notice a small steaming hole in your boot. “It's above me isn’t it?” you would have said, but the ooze has already dropped onto you.

Variants

I've added a version with almost no 'water'. This gives you more room to fight and allows you to change the map to the 'water' version as the fight progresses. Or you could start off with the sewer full of 'water' and drain it to reveal something nasty!

 Fat-burg! I've created a giant blockage you'll need to clear. Maybe something is living on it?

 Again, with and without water.

 And I've created an extra sewer tunnel map in case you need a travel map for the sewers.