afternoonmaps

City Docks Battle Map - Launch

Added 2022-09-21 15:57:52 +0000 UTC

Hello Adventurers! I've finally got the City Docks map completed. It's a rather large map with a good bit of shoreline, a bunch of piers and a decent amount of ocean for the inevitable Kraken attack ;) It should pair very well with my other city maps and could even be cut into two or three sections to make for smaller dock maps.

Next Maps

I’m really looking forward to our next two maps, the Lighthouse Isle map will go perfectly with this map, and should be finished by the end of the month. The Crime Lord’s Alligator Pit will be done as the first of the Spooky/Scary maps for October ;) If you have any suggestions for other spooky maps let me know in the comments below!

Lighthouse Isle
I’ve heard stories of disappearing lighthouse keepers and thought it would be cool to create a small rocky island with a lighthouse. It will have a small outer area surrounded by the ocean, with a few levels of a lighthouse interior. Should make for a fun one-shot or ocean travel location.
Crime Lord’s Alligator Pit
I’m still trying to think this one through. I imagine some kind of underground location or maybe a kind of hideout. Basically, it's the place for a crime boss to get rid of inconvenient people, bodies and the like.

Thanks so much for your support, I’m trying my best to keep the maps diverse and useful! I hope your week has been good so far and as always happy adventuring! Now, it's off to the docks for a pint in the cheapest pub in town, just be careful of the press gangs, we wouldn’t want to go on an enforced 3-year sea campaign!

Find the downloads for this and all my maps on the Map list page.

Map Description

General

The quayside is bustling with people of every description. Merchants hawk their wares to passersby, while sailors stagger from pub to pub singing drunkenly as they go. There is a constant stream of carts delivering goods to the waterfront, their drivers shouting angrily at every delay and obstruction. The overpowering stench of rotting seaweed drifts up from below the docks, while the aromas of exotic spices mix with caustic tar and strong spirits, all countered by a brisk sea breeze. Every cargo imaginable is stacked here, ready to be loaded onto ships bound for who knows where.

Notes and Tips

36x45 Grid Map
You can cut this map into sections for smaller towns/cities.
There are multiple levels to this map. The quayside and street are overlooked by the buildings at the edge of the map. The piers are at different heights which can be determined by the DM.
Many of the larger ships will not dock directly alongside the piers but will be anchored in deeper water.
Annual dockers swimming race: Have the dockers race from one end of the map to the other. During the race, a sea creature attacks the swimmers.
Maiden voyage: A new fishing boat is ready to take its maiden voyage, but for some reason, no fisherman will go near it. Turns out it was made using timber from an unlucky/cursed ship. Anyone setting foot on the ship will have bad luck and taking the ship to sea will result in an encounter with something nasty.
The haunted pier: One of the piers is haunted or unlucky for some reason. Have the party investigate why, with a final confrontation on the pier with some entity that haunts it or maybe lives under it.
Shadows from the deep: Something lurks in the water off the end of the piers. The guards have been called and adventurers have been summoned to defend the city.
- It could be a Kraken or an Aboleth attack, triggered by new fishing grounds or ships travelling into their territory.
- A boat has returned with salvage, which turns out to be part of a horde stolen from a Chuul. It wants its treasure back!
Dragged from the deep: A fishing boat has returned to the docks dragging a creature in its nets. It initially looks to be dead but as it is dragged closer to the piers the creature stirs and begins to attack.

Pirates from the Mists: Take inspiration from the classic film ‘The Fog’ and have ghost pirates attack the town from the sea hidden in dense fog. Maybe they turn out to be living pirates pretending to be ghosts to terrify the locals.