The Corruption: A Journey Deep into the Heart of Crazy Town (Patreon)

Let's talk about what this map is intended to be and what I think you should use it for instead. This is a fortified dwarven steelmaking facility that has been infected by the Far Realm. The hellish, alien dimension is slowly pervading reality from below, where the barrier between the realms has weakened the most.

That's cool and all, but hear me out: hallucinogenic drugs. The party is sent to an abandoned steelworks to recover an advanced dwarven steelmaking crucible. The party will expect that there must be orcs or something living there, but there aren't. There's nothing, they can just walk in and get it.

But here's the thing: on the way, they accidentally ingest some kind of powerful, mind-altering substance. Maybe they fill their waterskins in a creek the locals call the "Stream of Visions." Maybe the local mushrooms just put out a lot of spores this time of year. In any case, the party consumes a Hunter S. Thompson quantity of hallucinogens without realizing it and strolls into the empty steelworks.

As they begin to explore, the psychotropic substance kicks in and things turn into Fear and Loathing in the Forgotten Realms. There's stuff coming out of the walls, monsters everywhere, it's just insanity. At the bottom, they fight some sort of heinous, demonic beast that just flat out wipes the party. Everyone dies. And then they wake up on the floor. Pounding headache, but no monsters. Everyone's alive. When they make it back to the nearby village, someone's like, "Oh, no one told you not to drink from the stream? Oopsie."

The end. That's what I'd do with this map, anyway. I like playing mind games with the players and this is one I don't think they'd see coming. I can't promise they'll like it, but I'd say they'll remember it.

Next up, I'll be drawing the Travelers' Ruin from the Black Loch. It's an abandoned building occasionally used by passing sailors to meet up and have a few drinks before getting on their way. After that, I'll be drawing whichever map wins the Black Loch Conclave, which should be finished fairly soon.

Anyway, that's it. Let me know what you think of the map! And if you've got any other ideas for it, I'd love to hear them.