Frost Lair Battle Map - Launch

Hello Adventurers! I’ve managed to complete our next map this week, February is a short month, so I had to put in a few late-nights ;) It's a Frozen cave/dungeon that would work very well as a White Dragons Lair, but as with most of my maps, it would work for a bunch of other frozen encounters. Take a look at the notes for my suggestions.

I also want to wish every one of you the best in what has been a terrible few days. I hope you and your loved ones are safe.

Next Maps

At this point I’m not 100% sure if I’ll be working on the Troll Cave map or the Crossroads next, it really all depends on the collab release timings, so expect them both next month, but in no particular order :D

• Troll Cave (Collaboration project) - (Working on)
  I’ll be collaborating with some awesome tabletop creators for this one. The Troll cave will be part of a larger release and you’ll be getting extra stuff as part of the collaboration. I’ll give you more info once I’m sure I can ;)
• The Crossroads - (Working on)
  I wanted to create some general use maps along with my more heavily themed maps, so this one will be a useful Highway/Crossroads map, great for simple travel encounters. However, Crossroads have a lot of significance within myth and folklore, so I’ll be sure to provide some encounter ideas around that!
• Viking Fishing Encampment (Bart Heird suggested)
  A small group of Viking-style huts next to a lake or shoreline. I imagine this would work for a general tribal village. This will probably be a frosty or snowy map.
• Drow Surface Outpost (Caerdwyn suggested)
  I imagine some kind of bunker, hidden from view, with a place to muster troops, stage invasions, or hold captives before they are transported into the Underdark. This should work well as an entrance to the Underdark for any campaign.
• Kobold Den
  This map will be a complex cave system with plenty of tunnels and passages, along with locations for traps and ‘kill rooms’. Very much inspired by the ideas behind Tucker’s Kobolds (Google them, it's a fun story)

Your support as always is very much appreciated. Happy adventuring, and let's go explore this frozen cavern! And remember people, stay frosty!

Map Descriptions

Crystal Tunnel

The entrance to the tunnel is circular, the floor covered with a layer of compacted ice and snow. The walls and ceiling are made from clear ice, formed into huge crystalline formations. Cold light reflects off the faceted surfaces, the deep blue of the ice glowing from the reflected light. Your footsteps reverberate through the tunnel as you step forward.

Cave Entrance

The cave entrance is dark, impenetrable dark in comparison to the stark white of the frozen mountainside. As you enter your eyes begin to adjust, you find yourself in a widening tunnel, its surfaces glistening with frost and ice. In places, huge ice stalactites and stalagmites grow from the floor or ceiling, their undulating forms resembling statues frozen in place along the walls of the tunnel.

Ruins

You notice broken tiles under the layers of ice, the walls become uniform, stone bricks replacing ice-covered rock. This is an ancient structure, long since abandoned by its builders. Doorways have collapsed and in places frozen rock has burst through the walls, scattering ice and rubble across your path.

The Cavern

As you step into the cavern the temperature drops further, particles of ice hang in the air sparkling like motes of floating diamond. The floor is made up of compacted ice, smashed tiles sticking from its surface. The walls are covered in ice formations, and around the edges of the cavern are ice holes, dropping away into blue darkness.

Notes and Tips

• 30x45 grid map
• This map was designed as a White Dragons Lair, but with other locations to make for a more interesting encounter. Stage this encounter in multiple parts, with either minions or wildlife encounters within the cave system before the final showdown.
• The map could easily be cut up and used as separate locations. The cave systems and ruins could work as part of an Underdark exploration.
• It's always fun to make sure the environment has a part to play in combat. Stalactites could fall during the encounter, the ice could create difficult terrain at specific times. The ice holes could make for some fun obstacles.
• Have the dragon pick up a player and drop them down an ice hole. The difficulty of avoiding this or getting out afterward is up to you and how much you want your party to suffer! ;)
• The cavern could be home to a clan of Yetis. Long ago they worshiped a white dragon as their god. Now they protect a clutch of frozen dragon eggs from all invaders!
• This cavern is at the edge of a Frost Giants citadel, they come here to feed their captives to some great ice beast. A Remorhaz (Young for lower level parties) is always a terrifying choice. Maybe one of their victims was a famed adventurer in possession of some valuable magical artifact.
• Mammoth Graveyard! The last resting place of some fluffy elephants! It's OK, they are all dead now, shame the things that feed on them aren’t! Maybe go for giant ice grubs, or a Polar bear or two.
• Throw in some Ice Mephits, they can be a pain in the butt because of their ability to hide within ice. Their Death Burst can really hurt low-level players.

Variants

There is a Hoard version for each of the variants

For those that want a desert location!

Or maybe you want somewhere in the Feywild or Shadowfell