Wishing Well Battle Map - Launch (Patreon)

Hello Adventurers! I’ve been hard at work this week getting our next map ready, this one is the Wishing Well. It's a simple cave full of water, small waterfalls and some coins sprinkled around. I’ve added a Well in the top right of the map which your party will have to climb down to reach the cave. I also added a Well asset so you can add the entrance to other maps I’ve created. This would make an awesome place to encounter a wyvern or other dragon-style creature.

Next Maps

I’ll be moving on to the City Library next with the Meteor Crater afterwards.

• City Library
  I’ve created a few smaller libraries as alternatives before but never a proper City Library. If you need a place for research to go wrong, or find an ancient book that deals with some long-forgotten evil, this is your place. Also, it's good for holding cult meetings and secret societies.
• Meteor Crater (with crashed meteor)
  I like the idea of finding a large impact crater with a meteor at its centre. Something strange has hitched a ride on the meteor! This could make for a great mini-adventure and lead to more outer-plane adventures.

Thanks for your continued support. I’ve been thinking about posting more map creation and Table Top related stuff on social media, I tend to collect references and interesting facts that never make it into the notes, so I think I’ll start using my Twitter a little more. You can follow me on Twitter at @afternoonmaps. I’d love to get more map suggestions from you all, so please contact me here through Patreon or on Twitter for that as well. Thanks again, have a great weekend and as always happy adventuring! Now let's make a wish, don’t tell anyone or it won’t come true!

You can find all the download links on the Map List page (shortly after the launch). You need to be a member of my Patreon for the links to work!

Everyone gets a Well asset to drop onto other maps!

Map Descriptions

The old Well sits at the crown of a grassy hill. Moss grows on its stone brickwork, worn and weathered from uncounted seasons. Across the top of the well is a rough wooden beam, a rope is coiled around it, and at the end of the rope is tied a simple bucket, with a rusty iron handle. Looking into the well you see darkness and at the very bottom a glint of water reflecting sunlight.

Making your way down the rope you can’t help but focus on the creaking of the wooden beam and the rope as it strains under your weight. The further from the top of the Well you descend, the darker it gets and the more slippery the walls become. Below, you can hear the sound of running water.

The sides of the Well vanish, opening out into a cave, maybe sixty feet across. The walls of the cave are pitted with crevices, and in several places water spills from the rock into the cave below. A pool fills much of the cave’s floor with dark water and its surface glimmers with light from above. A small island juts out of the water, on its bare rock you can see copper and silver coins, even the odd gold coin glints in the meagre light.

Notes and Tips

• 30x30 Grid Map
• This can be used as a simple cave, rather than be connected by a well. Use one of the larger waterfalls as a means of entry. It will be a tight fit, but with a bit of pig fat, you can get your party to squeeze through!
• The waterfalls can be a means for monsters to enter or depart. The cave could start empty but at some point, the party notices slithering or skittering sounds as whatever makes this cave its home returns.
• You’ll need to get your party into the Well somehow. Climbing down can be hazardous, it's slippery and the drop will be painful. But don’t make it too difficult, the meat of the encounter should be at the bottom.
• The Worm in the Well: This would make a fantastic low-level dragon(ish) lair. Pick a low-level dragon-type monster, a wyrmling (a young dragon), a Wyvern, or some kind of giant lizard. The creature has to be something that can fit down a Well, so it's got to be slender. It could have been attracted by the coins dropped into the well and now it's harassing the locals.
• The White Woman of Well Hill: Some kind of even spirit inhabits the well. It's said if you look into the Well at Midnight and say its name, it will appear. A local teenager has gone missing and their friends insist the Woman in the Well took them. Use a modified zombie or spirit that crawls around on all fours, can hang from the walls of the cave and has that whole creepy ‘Ringu’ vibe.
• Foul Water: Something is polluting the Well water. The locals have heard strange sounds coming from below. Whatever it is needs to be removed. This could be some kind of grub, insect, or leech. It could be dragging sheep and other farm animals into the Well to feed on them, fouling the water in the process.

Variants

If you are travelling through the Feywild or Underdark, this would make for an interesting encounter!

I've also created a desert variant, a kind of underground Oasis.

And I really like the idea that the Well is home to a vampire gang, something along the lines of Lost Boys. Or the well could be cursed to be filled with blood, which would certainly attract vampires!