The Arid Wastelands

Board

Enter The Arid Wastelands… 

This is the first installment for my homebrew campaign world

There are a few tidbits of information that are critical for your parties success (or failure) in the wastelands. 

1. There is only one source of water in this map, make sure your party brings plenty of it. 
2. There are barely any resources for your party to utilize, they will be stretched thin and grow exhausted. 
3. PLAYERS CAN DIE INSTANTLY HERE — Watch out for holes, some of them are very, very deep…
4. The desert is a place of very little food… beasts and monstrosities here tend to be very, very hungry. 
5. This map was DESIGNED TO GET YOUR PARTY LOST, so use that to your advantage game master!
6. Kill your parties compass, make them climb to the tops of cliffs to figure out where they are at. 

::SUGGESTIONS FOR THAT SPICY FLAVOR::

Utilize your games stress mechanics to their maximum on this map, your players will not forget it. 

• Exhaustion – Beat your parties ass, it isn’t easy climbing up sandstone cliffs or trudging through soft sand for hours. If they don’t eat or rest, they gain exhaustion. If they are knocked unconscious (or HP drops to 0) during battle, add 1 level of exhaustion. Your players will think twice about doing reckless things, and will take travel through the wastelands very seriously. 
• Encumbrance – Ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal pain; No one wants to haul all that gear through the desert… what should we drop? If your players are starting to get exhausted, let them drop things to relieve that exhaustion; Make that trade off count. 
• Thirst/Hunger – Absolutely utilize thirst and hunger here. Your party should be stopping very often to drink, and they should be aware of how much water and food is consumed. Make them announce that they are stopping to drink, don’t assume it. 
• Stress – It adds up, and when you’re hungry, thirsty, and tired, it adds up fast. You can implement a simple stress mechanic to your game, just look online)
• Breaking stuff – Your party is climbing sharp, jagged rocks and trudging endlessly through sand that is uneven, shifts under their feet, and constantly is causing them to have to check their balance. Have them roll occasionally to see if they trip or fall, and have them roll to see if anything breaks. I’m a fan of killing compasses and breaking water skins. 
• Logical Inventory – It doesn’t make sense letting someone carry 47 shortswords, so don’t let them. In my games, it has to make sense for something to be able to be carried, otherwise they are going to town and hiring people to carry stuff for them or donkeys, or you get the idea. 

The whole point is to test your party and push them to their limits. I’ve had desert campaigns bring players to eachothers throats trying to figure out how to not die, the table can get interesting. 

But in the end of the night, it’s just a game. Have fun! 

I’ve increased the size of the map to where it’s 1.5 times bigger than it used to be, and have added in some vegetation (dead bushes and what not) to some areas, I relocated the oasis and have included a bush wildfire asset to the table and a smaller oasis if you’d like to increase the amount of places to find water. 

NOTE::: The dragon in the picture is set to the largest size it can be, for reference.

Enjoy! 

Special thanks to…

Gogots – for some random scatter, and the start of the oasis. 

Gengus – Small dragon skeletons