Page 108 - Dungeon Master's Guide

abandoned campsites, and other finds can add flavor to WILDERNESS FEATURES
your world, foreshadow future encounters or events, or
provide hooks for further adventures. o wilderness map is complete without a few
A wilderness journey might take multiple sessions to settlements, strongholds, ruins, and other sites worthy
play out. That said, if the wilderness journey includes of discovery. A dozen such locations scattered over an
long periods with no encounters, use the travel-montage area roughly 50 miles across is a good start.
approach to bridge gaps between encounters.
Mo STER LAIRS
A wilderness area approximately 50 miles across can
MAPPING A WILDERNESS support roughly a half-dozen monster lairs, but probably
In contrast to a dungeon, an outdoor setting presents no more than one apex predator such as a dragon.
seemingly limitless options. The adventurers can move If you expect the characters to explore a monster's
in any direction over a trackless desert or an open lair, you'll need to find or create an appropriate map for
grassland, so how do you as the DM deal with all the the lair and stock the lair as you would a dungeon.
possible locations and events that might make up a
wilderness campaign? What if you design an encounter MONUMENTS
in a desert oasis, but the characters miss the oasis In places where civilization rules or once ruled,
because they wander off course? How do you avoid adventurers might find monuments built to honor great
creating a boring play session of uninterrupted slogging leaders, gods, and cultures. Use the Monuments table
across a rocky wasteland? for inspiration, or randomly roll to determine what
One solution is to think of an outdoor setting in the monument the adventurers stumble upon.
same way you think about a dungeon. Even the most
wide-open terrain presents clear pathways. Roads MONUMENTS
seldom run straight because they follow the contours d20 Monument
of the land, finding the most level or otherwise easiest
l Sealed burial mound or pyramid
routes across uneven ground. Valleys and ridges
2 Plundered burial mound or pyramid
channel travel in certain directions. Mountain ranges
3 Faces carved into a mountainside or cliff
present forbidding barriers traversed only by remote
4 Giant statues carved out of a mountainside or cliff
passes. Even the most trackless desert reveals favored
S-6 Intact obelisk etched with a warning, historical
routes, where explorers and caravan drivers have
discovered areas of wind-blasted rock that are easier to lore, dedication, or religious iconography
traverse than shifting sand. 7-8 Ruined or toppled obelisk
If the party veers off track, you might be able to 9-10 Intact statue of a person or deity
relocate one or more of your planned encounters 11-13 Ruined or toppled statue of a person or deity
elsewhere on the map to ensure that the time spent 14 Great stone wall, intact, with tower fortifications
preparing those encounters doesn't go to waste. spaced at one-mile intervals
Chapter 1 discusses the basics of creating a 15 Great stone wall in ruins
wilderness map at three different scales to help 16 Great stone arch
you design your world and the starting area of your 17 Fountain
campaign. Especially when you get down to province
18 Intact circle of standing stones
scale (1 hex= 1 mile), think about paths of travel- roads,
passes, ridges and valleys, and so on-that can guide 19 Ruined or toppled circle of standing stones
20 Totem pole
character movement across your map.
MOVEMENT ON THE MAP RUINS
Crumbling towers, ancient temples, and razed cities
Narrate wilderness travel at a level of detail appropriate
are perfect sites for adventures. Additionally, noting the
to the map you're using. If you're tracking hour-by-hour
existence of an old, crumbling wall that runs alongside a
movement on a province-scale map (1 hex= 1 mile), road, a sagging stone windmill on a hilltop, or a jumble
you can describe each hamlet the adventurers pass. of standing stones can add texture to your wilderness.
At this scale, you can assume that the characters find
a noteworthy location when they enter its hex unl~ss SETTLEMENTS
the site is specifically hidden. The characters might not Settlements exist in places where food, water, farmland,
walk directly up to the front door of a ruined castle when and building materials are abundant. A civilized
they enter a hex, but they can find old paths, outlying province roughly 50 miles across might have one city, a
ruins, and other signs of its presence in the area. few rural towns, and a scattering of villages and trading
If you're tracking a journey of several days on a posts. An uncivilized area might have a single trading
kingdom-scale map (1 hex= 6 miles), don't bother with post that stands at the edge of a wild frontier, but no
details too small to appear on your map. It's enough larger settlements.
for the players to know that on the third day of their In addition to settlements, a province might contain
journey, they cross a river and the land starts rising ruined villages and towns that are either abandoned or
before them, and that they reach the mountain pass two serve as lairs for marauding bandits and monsters.
days later.

CHAPTER 5 I ADVENTURE ENVIRONMENTS