Old Watermill Battle Map - Launch

Hello adventurers! I’ve been working hard on our latest map, the Old Watermill. This is the kind of map I love working on. Well, I love working on any theme, but rural country-style maps do have a charm and a calming effect on me. I looked at how Mills worked back in the day and tried to lay out the location so it would function as a ‘fantasy’ but working mill. Points of interest are the Millpond, the wheel mechanism, the grinding stones and the grain store. I’ll explain more in the Map Notes below.

Next Maps

I’m working on the Roadside Shrine for the end of the week. After that, I’ll be creating a Schoolhouse map next month, along with a Geode Cave (Crystal Cave).

• Roadside Shrine
  This will be a travel encounter map, a simple roadside shrine where people leave offerings to a local god or spirit. Leave some coins on it to tempt your players ;) That kind of thing.
• Traditional Schoolhouse (with a magical flare)
  I like the idea of using something like this as a really flavoured location. Think old-style desks, a playground outside, and some other themed rooms, but with a hint of magic school.
• Geode Cave (Crystal Cave)
  I think a cave covered in crystals would be a cool location and be something new for me to create. Should be useful for boss fights in general.

Thanks so much for your support! I got a few great suggestions from you, wonderful people. Please keep them coming, they have sparked my imagination. Have a wonderful week and as always happy adventuring! Now let's go buy some flour, nothing like a good bit of baking RP :D

For this release, I’ve cut out the upper floors for people to use as layers in VTTs that can use them. And as always you can find the files to download on the Map List page here. Remember you have to be a Patron and signed in for the links to work.

Map Descriptions

Exterior

As the watermill comes into view you can see an impressive waterwheel turning slowly, its rotation powered by the sluiceway that drains the millpond above. The three-story stone building is roofed with dull orange tiles, its few windows are small and dark, the shutters hanging open. From within, you can hear the creaking of the mechanisms that work to grind the grist that will become flour and finally bread for the locals.

Spout Floor (Wheel mechanism)

Entering the mill you find yourself in a dark musty room, damp but alive with the creaks and moans of machinery. A large wooden wheel slowly rotates against the wall, transferring the power of the waterwheel to the roughly cut wooden cogs that fill the mill’s interior. Against the left wall is a large bin covered in flour. At the back of the main room is an archway leading into a workroom filled with tools and boxes. A door to the right opens into a small living space. Worn stone steps against the left wall lead to the upper floors of the mill.

Stone Floor

The dusty air takes on a hazy quality, lit by sunlight filtering through the mill's small windows. The rhythmic churning of the millstones seems to echo through the entire structure. Cut into the wooden floor is a trapdoor, with a rope threaded through its centre. Wooden shafts spin slowly, bringing energy from the lower floor to the two millstones. Above the millstones, hoppers shake slightly, funnelling grain from the level above into the centre of the stones. Wooden steps lead to the upper floor

Bin Floor

The top floor of the mill is only partially covered in planks, creating a wide walkway with gaps on both sides. The floor is packed with sacks of grain and a large storage bin. The rafters of the roof are covered in decades of dust and cobwebs, the air is dry, while the sounds of the machinery are only slightly lessened up here.

Notes and Tips

• 30x45 Grid Map
• This map has three levels (Watermill 101).
  • Spout Floor: This is the base of the building, where the wheel mechanism is stored. This is also where the flour is funnelled by a ‘Spout’ into sacks or a bin. Grain is hoisted through a trap door on this level up to the top of the mill.
  • Stone Floor: Named for the millstones that grind the flour. This floor has the millstones on it, as well as lots of cogs, pulleys and mechanisms to transfer the water power to where it's needed.
  • Bin Floor: This is where the grain is stored before its milled. It's basically just a loft with a big bin in which the grain is placed. The bin then funnels the grain into ‘hoppers’ below that feed the millstones.
• Mills were a fundamental utility of Western medieval society. They processed the flour that fed the populous and were extremely important for the health and well-being of the local population. And so any disruption to their service was bad! If you can’t grind your grain into flour there is no bread to feed your family!
• Grinding by night: In Serbia and other Eastern European areas, Watermills are meant to be connected to both good and evil (God and Satan). And so they are a meeting place for evil at night. Demons, Vampires and Fey are all rumoured to visit the mill at night, so locals will not visit a mill after nightfall. Maybe some evil creatures mill something unique by night, a magical grain, or the souls they steal from the innocent.
• The Kvernknurr: The Watermill Growler
  A Norwegian Watermill monster, the Kvernknurr is a stout creature, with long arms and a huge gaping mouth. It lives in millponds, or more precisely in the water below a waterwheel. It will stop the wheel from moving by gripping it with its arms or even biting it with its massive mouth. If a miller has not respected the monster it will stop the wheel from turning. You could use the stats from a Troll and modify them to your taste, maybe have a bite or swallow attack. The encounter could take place outside around the millpond, or the creature could live in the space below the interior wheel on the ‘Spout Floor’.
• The unpopular Miller: You had to stay on the good side of a Miller, after all, they provided an essential service. They were known to think of themselves above common people and Millers had a reputation for being mean-spirited. So make your miller a bit of an ass, maybe they have upset something that is now infesting their mill. It could be a spirit or something that lives in the rafters of the building and harasses anyone that enters.

Variants

As always you get day/night and lit versions of all the maps.

You also get a Snow version for when winter comes around.

And I wanted to create a dark pine forest vibe for those more gothic settings.

And for those on VTTs with layers/levels. You also get cutouts for each floor.