Tar Pits Battle Map - Launch

Hello Adventurers! Here is our next map release, a sticky mess likely to hinder the passage of even the hardiest adventurer. Making a pool of black liquid look cool was a bit of a challenge but I’m happy with the final results. The edges of the pools are cracked and dry, but still treacherous with soft tar under seemingly solid ground. I imagine this would work as a deep canyon the party is traveling along, or the lair of some monstrous creature.

Next maps and updated map list

I’m going to experiment with a slightly different format for my map schedule going forward. I’ll still be creating 2-3 maps a month, but they will not be listed for completion by the end of the current month. I’ve found having a rolling deadline for the end of each month to be quite stressful and leads to a time crunch as the month comes to an end. It puts unnecessary pressure on me and doesn’t help improve the maps. In all likelihood there will be little to no change for you, you’ll still get 2-3 maps a month at the same pledge and cost. I’ll just be less frazzled at months end ;)

With that out of the way, we have some awesome maps coming up!

• Ruined Arcane Tower - CURRENTLY BEING WORKED ON!
  A few levels of an ancient tower where the top levels have been completely blown out by some arcane accident. Probably some forbidden ritual gone wrong, it’s completely safe now though… probably.
• Fey Vale (Fairy Valley)
  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

If you have any other ideas for new maps please let me know, I keep a list of all your suggestions and often use them as inspiration for new maps. And with that, I want to thank you all for your support, I can’t really describe how much it means to me. So all the love to you all, have a wonderful week and as always happy adventuring! Now, let’s make our way through these pools, be careful not to step in the wrong place or you could end up in a ‘sticky situation’… (I’m sorry).

Map description

Read before the party can see the pits

A rancid chemical scent hangs in the air, a rotten sulphurous tang that bites at the back of your throats. The few plants that grow here are stunted and sickly, grey mottled leaves wilt in the unnatural warmth that seems to radiate from the earth itself.

The Pits

Ahead of you are pools of dark viscous liquid that bubble sluggishly. A mixture of heated water and liquid tar, oily patterns glisten on the pool’s black surface. Towards the edges of the pools, the tar is cooler and has begun to congeal, cracking and hardening. Bones, discoloured by heat and tar, litter the area, the remains of creatures that unwisely entered this unhealthy place.

The Ruined Walkway

Through the centre of the tar pits winds a ruined stone walkway. Once a way to cross the pools safely, the walkway has long since fallen into disrepair, parts of it completely submerged, the rest slowly crumbling into the sticky black sludge.

Notes and Tips

• 30x30 Grid Map
• The pools of tar are hot but not harmfully hot. However, once a creature is stuck in the pools, it will take a strength check to pull free. If a creature fails it is stuck until it succeeds. If there is no time limit, have them succeed automatically but give them a level of exhaustion from the effort.
• The edges of the pools are sticky and treacherous. It is difficult terrain, have creatures moving over it make a dex save to see if they slip and fall.
• The stone walkway is old and unstable, have it shift when players step on it, your choice how it affects the players. Are they thrown into a pool? Go on, you know you want to!
• The pools are infested with puddings, slimes, or jellies, theme them for the map and have fun dissolving things!
• This would make a frustrating but interesting lair for a creature the party is tasked to hunt down.
• Ancient magical slime has been oozing up from the earth, the creatures that lived in these pools have been transformed and corrupted by its influence! Tar alligator? Sure because alligators aren’t scary enough.
• Skeletal creatures are attacking the local towns, they are all covered in black goo! This is an obvious location to hunt for the cause. Have a Necromancer be summoning skeletons from the pools as the players arrive. Also, set the skeletons alight at some point, flaming tar skeletons seems like an improvement over standard skeletons.
• The tar pits are a vital resource for a local tribe. A group of bandits has moved into the area and taken possession of the pits.
• Dangerous flying creatures roost along the cliffs around the tar pits, taking advantage of the pits to attack unwary prey. Land predators could also visit the pools looking for easy prey stuck in the tar.

Variants

Snowy Tar Pits! (Yes there is a night version for all you people running (RotFM)

Hot Springs or Salt pools

Have some killer monkeys chilling in some snowy hot springs!

Or how about some lava to go with your Nine Hells story arc!

And night versions of all the map variants