dungeon

This isn’t my best-looking map by any stretch of the imagination. I struggled to find a way to shade it while making it obvious that the dungeon is situated underwater, and I had to fall back on some free vectors of the lighthouse and rocks that form the surface because I completely forgot to draw them in. At some point in the (probably near) future I’ll go back and draw this up with a bit more polish (including fixing the wonky dome at the bottom).

Disclaimers aside, it’s probably fairly obvious that this map takes a large chunk of inspiration from the Bioshock series and Sealab 2020. I doubt it’s ever something I’ll get to run my players through, but it was fun to design and once I’ve populated it I may write it up as a free standalone adventure.

The elevator descends on chains from the lighthouse above through a clear tube that allows a perfect view of the darkening ocean surrounding it and the glowing lights of the complex far below. The elevator opens up into a large atrium with more tubes that branch off into the sea, containing walkways that lead further in to the base. The Overseer Lives in the domed chamber at the top of the base, with a direct passage to the atrium that is guarded at all times. The chamber below his contains a private elevator that leads directly to the hangar dome on the seabed.

The westernmost passage from the atrium leads up to the guards’ room and down to a elevator used to transport captives and criminals down to the dungeon built in the to floor of the ocean. This elevator shaft contains huge sliding steel doors above an airlock door of sorts that opens directly in to the ocean. In the event of an attack on the base or an uprising in the dungeon the steel doors slam shut and the airlock opens, allowing the water to rush in to the base and flood the dungeon below.

The second level of the base contains general living quarters for those who live and work here – barracks, kitchens, dining rooms and the like,

The bottom floor of the main complex leads to individual labs and research centres that are suspended from the complex in a circle that expands out beyond the dungeon and hangar below. Each of these research centres can be jettisoned from the complex in the event of an emergency, when they will fall to the seabed below.

The large domed structure on the base of the ocean is the hanger, which contains the Overseers fleet of aquatic vehicles and the bulk of his weapons cache.

I’m a little torn when it comes to populating this map, truth be told. It obviously lends itself well to a scifi setting, and could definitely be made to work in a more Jules Verne-ian steampunk-feeling world. My group play in a traditional (ish) fantasy setting, though, and I’m really curious to see what I can do to this base to make it work in that kind of world without feeling anachronistic. That’s for a future post, though – along with a better quality map.

The Hall of Whispering Gods serves as the last test for initiates wishing to gain access to the mysteries of the Ancients. The long, narrow corridor is lined with statues of the Ancients embedded in the stone of the walls themselves. Each statue whispers unholy secrets to those who pass, testing their will and their sanity and leaving them either dead or wise beyond belief.

Their long walk is observed by Elders and tutors from the balcony rooms set to either side of the hallway. Their discussions are not for the ears of the initiates, but their judgement will be cast down in the ritual chamber that lies at the end of the walk. There initiates will either be welcomed in to the fold, or else sacrificed to the Ancients to atone for their unworthiness.

The Hall of Whispering Gods was a quick freehand sketch, hence it not quite lining up to the grid. I also tried a different approach to shading the borders – I’m aware that my maps look a little too much like cheap knockoffs of Dyson’s fantastic creations, and I’m trying to find my own style. This isn’t it.

If you use this map, please do let me know!

Click to embiggen

This week I found myself having to run a game two nights in a row. We’ve only just begun our campaign, and one player couldn’t make it to the first session. She also didn’t have a character yet, and had never played the game before, so I thought it best to get her over for a semi-solo mission (my girlfriend, who is also in the group, agreed to play a one-off character to accompany the new player on her first quest) in order to go through character development, teach her how to play, and get her levelled up.

It also had the added bonus of allowing me to develop some more of the world (both based on what happened in the game and the character she ended up creating) and to thread some plot elements in to the ongoing campaign that will be introduced naturally by another player, not through me in the shape of an NPC or a fudged Insight check that leads to inappropriate exposition.

So, with very little prep I sketched out a rough map and populated it – with Kua-Toa, because they’re hideous and I’e always felt like they don’t get used enough. Obviously with two level 1 characters going up against them I had to scale them back in difficulty, but it allowed me to introduce them to the campaign very early on so that I can have some fun with them when the PCs are more able to face them – deep in the Underdark, at full power, rather than weakened and starving on the surface.

If you like the look of the map, please feel free to download the higher-resolution versions. I’ve provided colour and black-and-white options, with and without grids, and a brief overview of how I used each room in the dungeon for this very specific encounter. Of course, you’re free to do whatever you want with it – and if you do use the map, I’d love to hear from you about it in the comments.