afternoonmaps

Starlit Tower Battle Map - Launch

Added 2021-10-31 18:14:03 +0000 UTC

Hello adventurers! Here is our next battle map, a multi-level map I’ve called Starlit Tower. I wanted to make an arcane tower map that was useful in a number of different circumstances. This could be a wizard tower, a home to some magical being, a teleportation tower, or a place specifically designed for some sort of arcane ritual. The star motif kind of developed as I created this layout, I think it's kinda cool :)

The next map on the list is a Fey Valley, very magical, colourful, and lush. I’ve also added a new map to the current list, the Junkyard. Take a look at the list below for some of my thoughts :) I’ll be working on the Fey Vale next!

Fey Vale (Fairy Valley) - CURRENTLY WORKING ON
A valley filled with verdant foliage, colourful flowers, and giant fungus. Everything here seems to glow with natural magic. Just the place to encounter some fey or a couple of rabbit folk.
Bathysphere (ship with diving bell)
I’ve always thought it would be cool to use a Bathysphere in a battle encounter, or as part of a sequence of encounters. So I think I’ll create a ship/boat with a diving bell that can be dropped into the depths of the ocean. Also, a variant for Spelljammers would be rad :D
Junkyard (City Dump)
A city or town dump. Lots of piles of refuse and detritus. An old shack for the caretaker with chains for whatever they use for guard duty, I imagine it’s more exotic than a couple of Dobermann :P

Thanks so much for your support, have a spooky and safe Halloween, and as always happy adventuring! Now let’s go climb this tower, hope you haven’t been skipping leg day, it’s a long way to the top!

Map Descriptions

Exterior
The tower stands before you, a grey stone structure reaching to the heavens. Around its base are angled stone struts, creating a stable foundation for the impressively tall building. Its exterior is covered with intricate stone carvings and metalwork inlays that spider up the walls like metallic veins. At its peak, a crown of pale blue lights illuminate the roiling clouds above.

Entrance hall
Entering the building you step into a large circular hall. On either side are slightly raised platforms surrounded by brass railings, with bookshelves and suits of armour standing against the walls. At the back of the hall is a desk, a few papers lay scattered on its surface. At the centre is a spiral staircase leading up into the levels above.

Library
This room is packed with bookcases, some fitted against the curved walls, others free-standing, making shadowy narrow aisles between the shelves. A number of desks and tables sit between the shelves, books piled up around them. The books, scrolls, and parchments fill the room with a dry, musty scent. Tall windows let in shafts of glimmering light, illuminating motes of dust floating in the still air.

The Star Room (Teleportation Room)
The top of the tower is narrower than the lower levels. The room is full of pale blue light, emanating from the intricate metal lanterns that hang from the exterior of the tower. Large arches are cut into the walls, leaving the room open to the sky beyond. You feel exposed to the elements up here, and yet no wind disturbs the room. Around the walls are simple wooden pedestals, on each is a small porcelain vase. Crisscrossing the floor are glowing lines making up the symbol of a many-pointed star.

Notes and Tips

30x45 grid map
This would work very well as a lonely wizard tower for some solitary practitioner of the mystic arts. Or it would work as part of a larger arcane facility or school full of students.
The tower has been abandoned, every time someone new takes up residence they vanish within weeks, no one knows why. Turns out the rooms switch into different planes of existence randomly (or not so randomly), add in monsters to fit, with little hints of what’s to come, temperature changes, wisps of smoke or frost crystallizing across the windows.
An invisible creature haunts the halls. Give the party one or two looking glasses they can use to hunt for it, the creature doesn’t like this and will try to smash the glasses when confronted.
A secret sect has infiltrated a magical institute. The party must fight their way to the top of the tower to prevent the release of some ancient evil from a pocket dimension.
Have a Dragon or other flying monster circle the tower as the players fight their way up. Blast the rooms with a breath weapon once in a while, give the party a chance to take cover each time.
An apprentice has tried to animate some objects to get their chores done faster. Animate some books to attack the party as they enter the library! Add some stools and maybe a mop or two to get the full fantasia vibe :P
Use this as a Teleportation tower. There could be an invasion from another location, enemies are holding the teleportation circle to let in the invading force. The party must fight their way up and defeat the intruders. This force could be a rival group of wizards, an evil wizard school, or beings from another dimension using the teleportation circle as a way into this realm.