Xonthal's Maze Map Pack!

Hey all!

This one was a challenge, but I'm so excited to see it done!

Welcome to Xonthal's Maze, a massive magical hedge maze surrounding the tower of the powerful Archmage, Xonthal.

The tower began as his home and place of study and, over time, a small hamlet grew about the outskirts of the tower, inhabited by the wizard's apprentices, attendants and local farmers, herders and fishers. Over time, Xonthal disappeared under mysterious circumstances after dismissing and expelling all of his servants. Rumors swirled about the true nature of his disappearance, but little was discovered.

The village persisted, which has been released as a separate map to this one (though they exist on one, large map). The tower's most famous defense also persisted in the form of an enchanted hedge maze. Unlike an ordinary labyrinth, the maze is magically distorted and the paths shift in impossible ways, making normal navigation unreliable.

Attempting to cut through the hedge, climb or fly over the obstruction does not bypass the enchantment, as the maze's magic warps itself to space itself. The maze serves as both a deterrent and magical test, preventing unwanted visitors from ever reaching the tower unless they overcome its magic.

Click your appropriate Tier below, and you can go grab your download links!

Tier 1 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/tier-1-dungeon-81146477

Tier 2 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/tier-2-world-map-81312503

Tier 3 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/tier-3-master-87793681

Tier 4 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/tier-4-master-87797001

We are using the same great illustrated scene for the maze as we did for the village, by Yans Velazquez:

Here is a view of the village, maze and tower combined:

And here is the new section, which includes just the maze:

While the module calls for the maze to be encountered simply through a series of individual rooms in magical space, I thought having an actual, linear maze would be helpful for people not running the module, as well as those that would like to give their PC's the chance to make their way through a giant hedge maze, while completely being free to make changes or warp them around, as desired, due to the magic.

So, I took the several encounter areas and sprinkled them into the maze as one traverses the correct path, encountering all of them before reaching the tower at the center. I also included a small area with a sundial that is closed off from the regular maze, which the party can be placed within as they begin the maze, or during certain parts of the maze, as a small puzzle to complete to potentially reach the tower early and bypass some of the encounters.

The rest of the encounters are per the module, but you can use them however you wish. They include:

1. A pair of cyclops herders that challenge the party to a boulder-throwing contest.

2. A large pool of water filled with creatures that attack if the gem floating above it is taken.

3. A long stretch of beautiful flowers that turn may be more than meets the eye.

4. A pagoda perched atop a boulder in a pond with a monk brewing tea.

5. A collection armored statues upon a field littered with broken weapons.

The module also had a particular section for the players to encounter a Gorgon, but I thought it might be fun to have the Gorgon be present in the entire maze. The players could potentially hear it roaring occasionally in the distance, with it getting closer and closer as time draws on. They may have to best it several times, depending on how the encounter goes, and I thought it would be a fun construct to keep tension and urgency alive.

Toward that end, we have a great Sprite by Katsudon Art for the Gorgon:

And, as we have been doing now for the last several map packs, I've included a Morvold Creature Card for the Gorgon:

I hope you enjoy the maze and can torture immerse your players with a fun maze to solve with many challenges thrown in along the way!