Dungeon Master's Guide

abandoned campsites, and other finds can add flavor to WI L D E RN E S S FEATURE S
your world, foreshadow future encounters or events, or
provide hooks for further adventures. No wilderness map is complete without a few
settlements, strongholds, ruins, and other sites worthy
A wilderness journey might take multiple sessions to of discovery. A dozen such locations scattered over an
play out. That said, if the wilderness journey includes area roughly 50 miles across is a good start.
long periods with no encounters, use the travel-montage
approach to bridge gaps between encounters. MONSTER LAIRS
A wilderness area approximately 50 miles across can
MAPPING A WILDERNESS support roughly a half-dozen monster lairs, but probably
no more than one apex predator such as a dragon.
In contrast to a dungeon, an outdoor setting presents
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
monument the adventurers stumble upon.
One solution is to think of an outdoor setting in the
same way you think about a dungeon. Even the most MON U M ENTS
wide-open terrain presents clear pathways. Roads
seldom run straight because they follow the contours d20 Monument
of the land, finding the most level or otherwise easiest
routes across uneven ground. Valleys and ridges Sealed b u rial mound or pyramid
channel travel in certain directions. Mountain ranges
present forbidding barriers traversed only by remote 2 Plu ndered burial mound or pyramid
passes. Even the most trackless desert reveals favored
routes, where explorers and caravan drivers have 3 Faces carved into a mountainside or cliff
discovered areas of wind-blasted rock that are easier to
traverse than shifting sand. 4 G iant statues carved out of a mountainside or cliff
5-6 I ntact obelisk etched with a warning, historical
If the party veers off track, you might be able to
relocate one or more ofyour planned encounters lore, ded ication, or rel igious iconography
elsewhere on the map to ensure that the time spent
preparing those encounters doesn't go to waste. 7-8 Ruined or toppled obelisk
I ntact statue of a person or deity
Chapter 1 discusses the basics of creating a 9-1 0 Ruined o r toppled statue o fa person or deity
wilderness map at three different scales to help 1 1 -1 3
you design your world and the starting area of your
campaign. Especially when you get down to province 1 4 G reat stone wal l , intact, with tower fortifications
scale (1 hex = 1 mile), think about paths of travel-roads, spaced at one-m i le i ntervals
passes, ridges and valleys, and so on-that can guide
character movement across your map. 1 5 G reat stone wal l i n ruins
1 6 G reat stone arch
MOVE M E NT ON THE M A P 17 Fountain

Narrate wilderness travel at a level of detail appropriate 1 8 Intact circle o fstanding stones
to the map you're using. If you're tracking hour-by-hour
movement on a province-scale map (1 hex = 1 mile), 1 9 Ruined o r toppled circle o fstanding stones
you can describe each hamlet the adventurers pass. 20 Totem pole
At this scale, you can assume that the characters find
a noteworthy location when they enter its hex unless Ru m s
the site is specifically hidden. The characters might not
walk directly up to the front door of a ruined castle when Crumbling towers, ancient temples, and razed cities
they enter a hex, but they can find old paths, outlying are perfect sites for adventures. Additionally, noting the
ruins, and other signs of its presence in the area. existence of an old, crumbling wall that runs alongside a
road, a sagging stone windmill on a hilltop, or a jumble
If you're tracking a journey of several days on a of standing stones can add texture to your wilderness.
kingdom-scale map (1 hex = 6 miles), don't bother with
details too small to appear on your map. It's enough S ETTLE M E NT S
for the players to know that on the third day of their
journey, they cross a river and the land starts rising Settlements exist in places where food, water, farmland,
before them, and that they reach the mountain pass two and building materials are abundant. A civilized
days later. province roughly 50 miles across might have one city, a
few rural towns, and a scattering of villages and trading
posts. An uncivilized area might have a single trading
post that stands at the edge of a wild frontier, but no
larger settlements.

In addition to settlements, a province might contain
ruined villages and towns that are either abandoned or
serve as lairs for marauding bandits and monsters.

1 0 8 C HAPTER 5 AD\ENTURE EN\I RO N M ENTS