Mushroom Cave Battle Map - Launch (Patreon)

Hello Adventurers! Here is our latest map release, a cave filled with glowing fungus, hiding a small colony of… something. Maybe they are goblins with huge milky eyes or kobolds with scales that glow in the dark just like their home. I really enjoy drawing organic stuff and having everything glow is always fun to work with!

Our last map for the month will be a Sea of Grass. An open plain with rocks jutting out from a waving sea of tall green grasses. Just the place to hide giant insects or maybe some velociraptors ;). Finally, I want to say welcome and thanks to any new Patrons and wish all the love to my long-time supporters! Now, let’s go explore this cave, ignore the furtive sounds coming from the shadows and bright glowing eyes watching you from the top of that toadstool, probably just rats…

Introduction

The dripping darkness of the cave system is warm and damp. Pillars of stone hang from the ceiling and rise up from the floor creating bizarre rock formations reminiscent of melted candle wax. The darkness seems to press in on the spluttering torchlight that illuminates the way, creating flickering shadows that dance constantly across the tunnel walls. Traveling deeper into this underground world you begin to notice growths on the walls. First Lichen and molds, then oddly shaped mushrooms and full-on toadstools begin to appear on every surface. Many of these fungi glow in the darkness, some a sickly yellow/green, others a cold blue, with the odd dash of purple and red mixed in.

In time the tunnel opens out into a large chamber revealing a spectacle that takes your breath away. A forest of mushrooms fills the space, their multicoloured glow casting pools of light across the ground, while seemingly intensifying the shadows between the giant tree-like growths. The strange alien beauty is breathtaking and yet there is something profoundly disturbing about this place. You are almost certain something watches you from the shadows and as you make your way into the chamber your suspicions are confirmed as strange calls ring out amongst the forest. Shadows dart between the trunks of the mushrooms, more calls echo around the forest, and as you continue forward you see signs of habitation. A mushroom cut to a stump, the remains of a campfire, a footprint in the damp soil of the cave’s floor.

One of your companion’s gasps. Standing just outside the torchlight is a shadowy humanoid, its eyes glowing red. As you watch more eyes appear behind it, others peak over the mushroom caps that tower above you. The strange calls intensify, filling the interior of the cave. Then with a final crescendo, the calls stop and every set of eyes blaze red before the very shadows themselves leap forward to attack.

Notes and Tips

• 30x30 Grid Map
• The glow of the mushrooms could illuminate some parts of the chamber with Dim light. Remember this when you have attackers running around.
• Use the elevation of the mushrooms to allow for enemies to ambush your players or simply attack at range.
• Some of these mushrooms can be felled in one sword swing. If your players need to reach an enemy atop a mushroom, attacking the ‘trunk’ isn’t a bad idea. Seed this info beforehand by describing how the trunks of the mushrooms look soft and spongy.
• This small village could be home to Kobolds, Goblins, Troglodytes, and Grimlocks. Or have them be a mutated version of some other creature. Myconids could also be used, maybe they have been corrupted by something evil in this location.
• The Mushroom spores mutate creatures into fungus monsters. Or take over their brains and make them defend the mushrooms to the death.
• Have the air be filled with spores that have hallucinogenic properties. Roll some secret con saves to see who is affected.
• Have mycelium grow across the floor of the cave, this white thread-like substance could have some negative effect or could create difficult terrain.
• The cave is home to a lost colony of people that worship the forest, covering themselves in the glowing pulp of the mushrooms, they kill all who enter.
• Flumphs! Use them in some way here! I love them :D

Variants

No Village - Those poor homeless monsters!

Standard cave - A nice dank cave is always useful!

Desert - A desert with river

Snow - Because everyone loves crossing a frozen river... did you just hear a crack?