afternoonmaps

Ruined Village Battle Map - Launch

Added 2021-08-31 21:04:48 +0000 UTC

Hello Adventurers! I’ve finally finished off our latest map, the Ruined Village. It’s a general map that can be used for any encounter that needs some ruined dwellings. I’ve spent a long time drawing rubble for this one! Hopefully, it will work for a bunch of wilderness encounters in those classic spooky abandoned settlements sprinkled across every fantasy world ;)

Next months maps

I apologize for not getting to my Bamboo Forest map before the end of the month, it will be the first one I work on in September! Next month will also be a slightly lighter content month for me. I could really do with a short break to recharge my batteries, I’ve not actually had a holiday in well over two years. That means after the Bamboo Forest map I’ll be releasing just one more paid map in September. I will also collect together a small set of map assets to release as a free patron-exclusive pack at the end of the month, to thank you all for your patience!

With that out the way I want to thank you all again for supporting me, I’ve been doing this for a while now and I can’t tell you how much it has changed my life for the better. I hope to continue creating beautiful battle maps for the tabletop community for years to come. All my love to each and every one of you! Now, let’s go explore this abandoned village… it's only trespassing if you get caught!

Map descriptions

From the edge of the village, you see a number of tumble-down buildings long since abandoned. Most of the roofs have collapsed, leaving wooden and earthenware tiles shattered across the ground, mixed with rafters, and bricks from the crumbling walls. The odd building remains surprisingly intact, their entrances resembling dark cave openings.

As you make your way through the buildings towards the small square at the village center, odd furtive sounds break the unnatural silence:

A loose pebble bounces down a rubble mound
A crow is startled into flight, cawing angrily at something unseen within a building
A wall shifts as if a weight has been pressed against its other side
Shuffling, always just beyond sight around the next corner

The village square is only a few dozen feet wide, a well, half-collapsed, sits to one side. The buildings around its edge have remnants of gardens at their fronts, now overgrown with spiky weeds, completely reclaimed by nature. The whole place seems to have been slowly absorbed back into the ruggedness of the surrounding wilderness.

Notes and Tips

30x30 map grid
Line of sight on these types of maps is very important. Make it clear to the players they can not see through many of the structures, or give them a chance to see through walls due to the condition of the structures around them.
Creatures can and should use elevation to create fun combat dynamics. Have monsters climb onto walls and jump from one building to another.
Walls can collapse when disturbed. Loud noises, concussive explosions, and monsters intentionally pushing walls over can all be a hazard to player characters and other monsters alike.
Zombies! A place like this has probably been abandoned for a reason. The walking dead is as good a reason as any. The zombies hang around in the buildings that used to be their homes, only coming out when they sense food nearby. Theme your zombies! Blacksmiths, tavern wenches, farmers with hay hats, it adds so much to a zombie encounter!
The village was abandoned without explanation and the players have been tasked to find the reason as another settlement is planned for the local area. Whatever it was should have happened quickly to not leave anyone alive to ‘tell the tale’. It could be as simple as an Orc raiding party or as complex as the whole village being trapped in a pocket dimension created by a local hag coven (which has now taken up residence in the ruins).
Have someone still be living in one of the houses, they could be extremely skittish and have vital information for the party. Imagine Newt from Aliens ‘They mostly come at night… mostly’.