Temple Dig Battle Map - Launch

Hello Adventurers! Here (finally) is our next map release, it’s a rather large archeological dig site excavating an ancient temple. It’s ripe for fun with all sorts of buried treasures and more than likely buried evil. I took inspiration from numerous sites around the world including India, Thailand, South America, and Europe.

Our next map will be a Ruined village, mostly walls, the odd section of burned floorboard and roofing, should be a very useful general map. And finally, assuming I can fit it in before the month’s end will be a Bamboo forest, a rather fun and unique environment to add to your fantasy world.

As always I want to thank you all for your support, it really does mean the world to me :) I very much hope your month so far has been good and always remember to keep adventuring! Now let’s go dig up something expensive and probably cursed.

Map Descriptions

The Dig Site

The dig site is quiet, tools lay abandoned on the ground next to pits dug into the sandy soil. At the center of the site is a huge excavation, a giant pit containing the remnants of an ancient temple complex, its buildings remarkably preserved. The temple walls are covered in carved stonework, undecipherable writing, engravings of macabre rituals, and weatherworn statues of forgotten gods looking on in silent disapproval.

The Excavation

An earth ramp leads down into the temple complex. The sides of the trenches are held back by planks of roughly cut wood and sections of ancient crumbling stonework. The floor is a mix of dirt, gravel, and stone. Sections of the earth have been carefully scraped away to reveal flagstones, stairs, and walls. Dark openings lead into buildings long abandoned by the living.

The Temple Interiors

The interior is dark, the air musty with a heavy scent of damp earth. The walls are covered in carvings and engravings, showing scenes of myth and legend depicted in intricate detail. In places, the walls have begun to buckle under the immense weight of the earth that surrounds them.

Notes and Tips

• 30x45 grid map
• Remember to use the different levels in combat to add tactical advantage to your mobs!
• The temples are half-buried within the cliffs that are to the north and east of the map.
• There are many reasons this temple could be being excavated. Some basic themes are fabled wealth, knowledge, lost technology or powerful magical artifacts.
• This ancient temple is rumored to contain the ‘Eye of the Gods’, a huge gemstone said to have been set into the forehead of a statue at the center of the temple complex. I mean what could go wrong? Pry the gem free of the god’s statue… done! Or, maybe the statue comes to life and tries to kill the party.
• The priests of the temple were the custodians of ancient and more than likely dangerous knowledge. Maybe some powerful spell granting everlasting life, written on the temple walls. Whatever the knowledge is, it’s bad news and almost certainly there is a curse involved. Let’s be realistic, the priests are all probably undead creatures now, ready to crawl out of the walls at the first sign of a comprehend language spell :).
• Golems! Clay, stone, or metal, all function very nicely to bludgeon the party to death.
• And finally, magical artifacts/weapons! Having an avatar of the temple’s god wield the artifact in combat would be fun. The party gets to see at close range what it can do.
• The archeologists could be missing, killed by something from the temple, or they abandoned the site after hearing strange noises at night. The party could be hired by them, or their Patron to investigate what is going on.
• Have fanatics of the god attack the site or maybe the fanatics are excavating the site, trying to free some dangerous ancient evil.

Variants

Desert - A simple desert version!

Forest - Forest/woodland version, great for temperate regions.

Snow - Winter/snow version for those far north adventures!

Blastedlands - A Nine Hells/Blastedlands style map for use on the planes!