The Frontier Town of Driftwood - Hi Resolution Day, Night, Desert & Snow Variants! (Patreon)

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Background

Driftwood was one of the first major frontier settlements out in the Freeholds, on the edge of the empire. The community is well established, and everyone knows one another. Indeed most of their stories are so interwoven as to be impossible to untangle. Though the town itself is relatively small, all of the estates and ranches in the area consider themselves ‘Drifters’, a local nickname for the townsfolk. Even the bandit outfits in surrounding hills feel an intrinsic tie it.

The very nature of living so far out from civilisation, on the edge of hostile untamed territory, means that everyone here is used to a life full of dangers and hardship, but despite the many differing personalities and moral codes, the community keeps itself going. In recent weeks however, a new danger has emerged. An illness is sweeping through the population that causes a kind of madness and insatiable, cannibalistic hunger in those who are affected. Worse, they cannot easily be stopped, often rising up and carrying on after even the most fatal of wounds.

Although Dr Sawyer has some theories, no one knows the cause of this illness. It is quite likely to have something to do with whatever Father Bennett is doing each night in the caverns below the Church, so close to the towns water source (and more importantly the source used by the local moonshiners who deliver to the ranches and estates). Unfortunately, only Mother Ira has any inkling that Father Bennett is up to more than just his daily sermons, and she certainly won’t tell.

The caverns below Driftwood are as vast and extensive as the town itself, although despite only being 50ft below the hard rock surface, most of the populace don’t even know they exist. Those who do are cautions to not stray too far, as the dark winding tunnels are home to many dangers. Adventurers exploring the depths need to be wary at all times, but if the answers to the towns current problems are anywhere, they will be somewhere down here.

Grid Information

GRID SIZE – 34x88 (300DPI)
VTT SIZE – 4760x3080 (140DPI)
RECOMMENDED PRINT SIZE – A0x2/ANSI Ex2

Design Notes

The Frontier Town of Driftwood

Click the links for more information about each location, as well as individual maps and design notes for each.

• 01 – Driftwood Church
• 02 – School House
• 03 – Mother Ira’s Orphanage
• 04 – Water Pump
• 05 – Graveyard
• 06 – Lockstar Hotel
• 07 – Deadeye Saloon
• 08 – Colter’s General Goods
• 09 – Colter’s Gunsmith
• 10 – Driftwood Bank
• 11 – Sheriff’s Office
• 12 – Dr Sawyer’s Surgery
• 13 – Civic Bureau
• 14 – Drahomir’s Stables
• 15 – Big Sam’s Sundries

Driftwood Caverns

• 01 – Father Bennet’s Hideaway – After his wife’s death, Bennett built her a tomb and dug the grave with his own hands, unwilling to let anyone else help. While doing so he discovered a crypt below his church filled with writings and artefacts that could supposedly be used to bring back the dead. He now spends every night here trying to understand the arcane scrawlings and find a way to bring his Dora back.
  Unfortunately his tinkering in dark magic has seeped into the town water supply. In his half-frenzied state, he has not even noticed that his own essence is slowly seeping away with it.
  Stairs (a) lead up to the tomb above.
• 02 – Necrosis Pool – Bennets uncontrolled attempts at black magic have affected the reservoir that the town pump draws from. It is not enough in itself to cause the madness effecting the populace, at least not yet, but when combined with some other elements it just might be.
• 03 – Body Stash – Needing bodies to practice on and too impatient to wait for a natural death, Bennett has surreptitiously taken the lives of some of the older townsfolk. The new graves marked with their names in the graveyard above are empty.
• 04 – Necromancers Lair Entrance – This ancient lair outdates the town by centuries. It seems to have been looted by Bennett of all of its books, scrolls and artefacts. Only the room to the south remains closed, the door locked from the other side. Frantic scratch marks on its surface seem new.
• 05 – Ritual Room – Seemingly used for some kind of blood sacrifice. A dagger is laid out on one of the three tables. The other two are bare.
• 06 – Tombs – Also looted by Bennett in his hopes to find the missing pieces to resurrect his wife. A secret tunnel leads from behind the wall in the SW chamber to 07, so far undiscovered by Bennett.
• 07 – Resurrection Circle – Six cages surround a podium adorned with a blazing symbol, seen often in the books and scrolls Bennett looted. It seems the final requirement for the resurrection ritual is the sacrifice of six living people, as their essence is drawn from them into the corpse.
• 08 – Flooded Caverns – Some 20ft below Bennetts ‘chambers’ the freezing cold water and pitch black darkness have stopped the minister from exploring this section of the caverns. It seems to be enough to keep the monsters that inhabit other areas out of his caves however. Hidden underwater tunnel in the SW leads to 09.
• 09 – Crossing – Some of the cavern floor has collapsed, exposing an ice cold pool of water. The pool to the east contains a hidden underwater tunnel that leads to 08.
• 10 – Abandoned Mine – Reuben Barrera, the wealthy prospector who owns the Lockstar Hotel above, bought the land for the hotel and decided the pitch included everything below ground as well. In hopes of finding a new vein of gold, he set about expanding the existing caverns, and despite some initial success, had to stop when his workers in the northern cavern kept falling ill. They complained of an overwhelming sense of dread and feeling of complete exhaustion within minutes of being in the area.
• 11 – Barrera’s Quarters – Although Barrera now spends most of his time in the mines to the north of the town, he keeps this room stocked with brandy and books for his down time, when he likes to write. Only Mistress Frieda, the Lockstar’s manager, knows about it. A ladder (b) leads up to the storage shed behind the hotel.
• 12 – Open Cavern – This large cavern is avoided by the few who make use of the caverns. It is often inhabited by creatures that have come up from the lower caverns. Its large size makes it hard to sneak around.
• 13 – Deadeye Saloon Store Room – Deadeye used to keep his barrels and stores in the saloon itself, but they kept getting raided by drunks looking for more booze, so he moved everything down here. Supplies have been getting low lately though, so he has started buying up stock from the moonshiners, just in case he runs out of the good stuff. A ladder (c) leads up to the deadeye bar above, the hatch is hidden below a rug.
• 14 – Escape Tunnel – Quick escape route for Deadeye and his more important patrons from the VIP room above. The tunnel to the east leads safely a few hundred metres out of town. A ladder (d) leads to the private booth in the saloon above. The hatch is hidden below the table.
• 15 – Bandits Tunnel – Jesse and Maybelle’s old gang use this tunnel when collecting information or weapons from Jesse. They have secured it to an extent from creatures ranging in the open cavern.
• 16 – Gun Drop – Jesse uses this as a dead drop to leave the guns she crafts for the bandits, who come through to collect them at night and leave payment. A ladder (e) leads to the smithy above. The hatch is hidden below the stairs.
• 17 – Lower Caverns – Leads deeper into the cave system that riddles the entire region. No one who has gone in has ever returned, but creature do emerge from time to time. Maybe they are looking for prey, or maybe they are escaping from even worse horrors below.
• 18 – Jail Break – One of the bandit gangs has dug a tunnel into this cavern, directly below the jail cells in the sheriff’s office. They plan to blow out the ceiling and supports to collapse the building above, and free their compatriots being held until their execution.
• 19 – Bandit Camp – The bandits have been working in shifts, digging and extending the tunnels. To save time, they are even sleeping down here.
• 20 – Bank Heist – Realising that the cave is very close to the bank, a tunnel has also been dug underneath the safe holding the gold supply and other valuables, which they will collapse at the same time. Although the bandits may not have really thought through the concept of detonating explosives in the confined area with their quarry above, they are at least ambitious.
• 21 – Underground River – Rushing water flows through. The current is deceptively strong, but can provide a quick escape to the river canyon outside of town.
• 22 – Drahomir’s Hidden Store – As well as running the stable, Drahomir acts as a go between and fence for the members of the town who want to do business with the various bandit groups, but not interact with them directly. This cave holds most of the stolen goods he is storing. He also has a boat to escape downriver if needed, but it is currently out of action.
  A ladder (f) leads to the stables above. The hatch is hidden below a stack of hay bales.
• 23 – Dead End Caverns – Big Sam’s moonshiners previously used these tunnels to gather water from the underground river for their product, but recently some of the creatures that usually roam the open cavern have crossed the river, so they are now forced to use water from the town pump instead. They have set up a new laundry service above as cover for the large amounts of water being used.
• 24 – Lost Treasure – The heavy steel door to this cave is locked and rusted shut. No one knows who owned it, but it is rumoured there is a treasure hoard inside. A large beast was left to guard it, but it is unclear what happened to the creature after its master went missing.
• 25 – Moonshiner’s Vault – The moonshiners keep most of their stills and stock in the cavern, only moving it to the store upstairs for shipment. The stills are made from copper, which seems to be reacting in a strange way to the water collected from the town pump recently, giving it an odd green shimmer. Big Sam has decided this is a valuable feature and has increased prices by 50%.
  A ladder (g) leads to the back room above. The hatch is hidden below the moonshine urns.