Castle Dungeon Battle Map - Launch

Hello adventurers! Here is your Castle Dungeon battle map (mini Dungeon), ready for your players to explore or more likely be thrown in ;) I researched and brought together various elements from different dungeons from medieval history. There is an Oubliette, single and communal cells, a pit and a torture chamber. All put together in a dungeon that could sit under any castle, keep, palace or city stronghold.

Next Maps

I decided to theme the restaurant as a Pie and Mash shop, which I think is a fun theme for this map, I’ll be getting that finished by the end of the month. I’ve also added a Mill as our first map for next month, that one should be cool, I’ve enjoyed working on other village-style maps and this should fit quite nicely with those.

• Pie and Mash Shop (Restaurant - Suggested by Clapperson and Luís)
  This will be a city map based around a café/restaurant theme with a dining area, kitchens and front/back alley. I like the idea of an old-style Pie and Mash shop, or a ‘Greasy Spoon’. Certainly different from your regular combat location, which will hopefully spice up the encounter :D
• Water Mill (with Mill Pond)
  I love Water Mills! They look cool, have all this funky machinery inside and work in a rural setting in mostly any campaign. There are a few folktales and some folklore around Water Mills I’ll be including in the text.

Thanks so much for your support, I’m trying to mix up the themes and uses of my maps and get some good variety going, if you’d like more of a specific theme or environment, let me know and I’ll try to fit them into future releases! I hope your week is going well and as always happy adventuring! Now, let's plan our escape from this unescapable Dungeon… does anyone have a lockpick?

You can download this and all my other maps on the Map List Page. You must be a Patron and be logged in the access the download files.

Map Descriptions

Guard room

As you make your way down the spiral staircase, a musty odour of damp stone hangs in the air. Reaching the bottom you step out into a cramped room with a vaulted ceiling. Against each wall are cupboards, chests and racks full of rusty weapons. A single heavy door leads further into the dungeon.

Cell Block

Stepping through the door you enter a dimly lit corridor. To your left and right are cells, each with a heavy wooden door containing a small, barred window. Looking into the cells you glimpse shadowy figures huddled in the corners, their faces obscured by darkness, the odd sniff and whimper of fear can be heard from within.

The Pit Room

At the end of the corridor, you come to a larger circular chamber. Here, the cells are arranged around the edge of the room, smaller than the previous cells, they are little more than alcoves with chains attached to the back walls. Cages hang from the ceiling, swaying slightly as their occupants shift inside. In the centre of the room is a grating, covering a dark pit.

The Torture Chamber

As you make your way around the room, you notice an archway barred by an iron gate off to the left. You push the gate open and walk up a short flight of steps. The room is shadowy and dominated by a large wooden rack, its ropes and pulleys stained with old blood. Iron pincers, whips, and other instruments of torture hang from the walls, casting sinister shadows in the flickering torchlight.

The Oubliette

Another archway is barred by an iron gate, and behind it is another heavy wooden door. As each door is opened another is revealed further down the dark narrow corridor. Finally reaching the end you see a small well, covered with rusted iron bars. Cool dampness emanates from the well, you get a sense there is a cavity below.

Notes and Tips

• 30x45 Grid Map
• Add this to any Castle, Palace or Stronghold. It could be a public jail or attached to a Courthouse.
• Prison escapes can be really fun to run, but you need to make sure there are feasible ways for your party to escape. Give them options like:Corrupt or sympathetic staff/jailers.
  Other prisoners just need some extra help to initiate their plans.
  External forces change the situation, such as someone trying to break out another prisoner, uprisings or fire.
  
• Store player items in a storeroom within the jail or at least give them an idea of their location. Balancing fights when your party is without weapons, armour and gear can be painful and honestly not that fun for the players.
• Prison Break: Your whole party has somehow been captured and imprisoned. They could be at the very bottom of the Dungeon and need to escape and fight their way out. At each stage, they will need to fight a set of guards, until they reach the entrance, where they will find their gear. At the large chamber, the torturer comes to investigate the noise. He could fight with a whip and other torture-style weapons.
• The Pit: The pit can be used as some kind of fighting arena. Think of the opening of Army of Darkness. Something lives down there and it's not ‘natural’. Maybe it was captured there years ago and prisoners are fed to it to keep it from trying to escape.
• Something from the Dark: Something from the depth of the earth has made its way into the dungeon, and the King wishes you to clear it out. Maybe it's some kind of Undead, and it's turned the prisoners into its minions. Maybe a prisoner has made a pact with a demon and devil and now the prisoners have demonic powers at their disposal.
• The Prison Boss: A crime boss has been imprisoned in the dungeon and has over time cemented his control over the prisoners and even some of the guards. The party must infiltrate the dungeon and eliminate the boss and his thugs.

Variants (Delver Tier)

All the variants come with lit and unlit versions.

I've created a flooded version, alligators can be used as prisoner disposal!

And I've added a spider variant for a more monster-based encounter. Imagine a huge spider crawling out of the central pit!