Hell’s Keep Battle Map - Launch

Hello Adventurers! I’ve been working hard this month to get you two maps, this is the first of those, a weird Keep built to ‘keep’ something in, rather than out. A castle in Czechia inspired the concept for this map. Houska Castle was built on the site of a gateway to hell, preventing hellspawn from escaping, or so the folklore goes. The layout resembles a ‘Star Fort’, and I can’t deny the pentagram motif did slip in there, it is a gateway to hell after all. Take a look at the map notes for ideas on how to run the map in your campaign.

Next Maps

The Guarded Way will be with you just before Christmas (assuming everything stays on track), with the Smithy and the Undercroft/Cellar coming in January.

• The Guarded Way
  It's a classic troupe, the party needs to get somewhere quickly and the fastest way is through a narrow path guarded by some ancient magic or evil curse. I’ll make a narrow ravine full of jagged rocks, scraggly trees and strange statues that guard the path. I’m not 100% sure of the exact theme, but it's going to work as a short gauntlet-style combat.
• Smithy/Armorer/Fletcher
  I’d like to make a Smithy with a forge, anvil and other crafting items. More than likely I’ll add multiple tools and machines for different crafts, so it can be used as a place to get armour and weapons made.
• Cellar or Undercroft
  A wine cellar or undercroft for a tavern or larger home/mansion. This will be a fairly simple map with a few rooms filled with barrels, boxes and forgotten items. Simple but very useful for those times when you need a cellar map for a building.

Thanks so much for your support, both new members and my wonderful long-term Patrons. Content creation can be wonderful but also a little stressful, having your support really does make all the difference. I hope you all have a wonderful end of the year! Now let's prevent the spawn of hell from escaping. Get your Boomstick ready, note down some quippy one-liners and I hope you memorised the special incantation.

Map Downloads

As always you can find the downloads on the Map List Page along with all my other map releases. Remember you need to be logged in as a Patron and be signed up to the correct tier for the links to work for you.

Map Descriptions

The road weaves up through a dark forest, its loamy ground muffling your footsteps. Ahead you see an ominous sight, a stone Keep barely more than a squat tower with fortifications at its top. Two single-story buildings are attached to its base, between them is a small courtyard enclosed by walls and a wooden gate, reinforced with iron bands and studs.

Inside the gate is a small courtyard with training dummies on one side. The buildings have small slit windows, making their interiors dark and claustrophobic. At the back of the courtyard, against the tower walls is a switchback staircase that climbs up to the fortifications.

As you reach the top of the stairs you can finally see the inside of the Keep. Its walls are built in a star formation, their width at least 10 feet thick. Strangely, the fortifications around the top of the walls are focused inwards rather than outwards. Large Balistas are pointed down into the centre of the Keep, spikes cover the interior walls.

The Keep surrounds a seemingly bottomless pit that takes up most of its interior. Jagged rocks line the pits crumbling walls like teeth. Smoke drifts up from the shadows below, adding a sulphurous note to the cold air. A staircase leads down around the interior wall, with iron gates and fences lining the way. Hanging over the pit is a rickety wooden lift, swaying gently in the breeze. It looks poorly maintained.

Notes and Tips

• 30x45 Grid Map
• This Keep is designed to keep something contained. Some creature climbs out of the pit and must be put down each time this happens.
• The lift could be used to lower brave souls into the pit, sacrifices to whatever lives below. These could be convicts or random sacrifices, or maybe they could choose to do this to prove their worth. One or two people need to winch it up and down using the wheel on the platform.
• The ballistae (Bolt Throwers) can be fired once every few rounds at a specific cone of fire. Either find specific rules or simply put a round counter on each Balista and define their cone of fire. They could be used to take out larger monsters that would be hard to defeat without them. NPC guards could help reload ballistae (Bolt Throwers).
• The spikes on the interior help prevent monsters from climbing the walls, which may give the players extra time to use ranged attacks before things get up close and personal.
• Use the ‘tooth rocks’ as platforms, monsters and players can use them to move around the pit.
• Add small and large flying monsters to the fight.
• There are piles and boxes of rocks around the fortifications which can be used to throw into the pit.
• When an attack is likely, red flags are flown above the fortifications.
• Soldiers do not stay at the Keep, sleeping at the Keep is not advised (the dreams can be extremely disturbing). A light contingency of guards keeps watch and at the first sign of danger, a signal is sent to the local barracks.
• A Sacrifice to Darkness: The pit leads to a hell dimension. It has been a tradition to send sacrifices into the pit, by use of the lift, for generations. Each year a single person is chosen by lottery and sent into the pit. This year it's the turn of someone significant to the party, they must race to save the person, but what if this triggers an attack from below?
• The Bite of the Law: Giant devilish bats or other monstrous creatures live in the caverns below the pit and ravage the land, or at least they did before the Keep was built. These creatures must be fed and so convicts are sent into the pit each night to feed the creatures. However, when there are not enough convicts to go around wayward travellers may have to do. If the beasts are not fed they will attempt to escape the pit and feast on the locals.
• Demon Moon Rises: A sect of demon worshipers plan to attack the keep on the night of the Demon Moon, when demons are at their strongest. The party must fight both demons from the pit and their worshipers as they attack the keep from below. Only the dawn will save them! But will they last the night?

Variants

Day/Night and Lit variants of all the versions

A neutral background location for using this in a city, or on another plane.

A snow version because it's that time of year? Is this Christmassy or Krampussy? Oooh! Is this where Krampus lives and every year he fights his way out to punish naughty children?

And I've created an arena variant for all the versions.