Astral Marketplace [50x40] | 16 Variants, Scene, and Item!

“The man at the gate wore no armor, yet the void bent around him as if afraid to touch his skin.
“State your purpose,” he said, tapping a ledger bound in something that looked too much like hide.

“I came to trade,” I answered, though my voice sounded thin even to my own ears.

He smiled and dipped his quill into the angel’s falling waters, where the ink flared silver. “Trade is easy here,” he said as he wrote my name into a page that had been blank a moment before. “It is the leaving that costs.”

Heya everyone, hope you're all doing well. Here is our latest release, this time we have a three-way collaboration between me, JamesRPGArt, and Abyssal Brews! As always, James has created an amazing scene of the map, and Abyssal has crafted a wondrous item to go along! Hope we've inspired you with this content, so you may let your creativity unleashed in your sessions!

Collaborators

"Hey! I'm James, a concept artist and digital painter who has a great passion for running and playing a wide variety of role-playing games. I have created animated scenes for many locations in Wizards of the Coast official adventures and in addition many of my own personal world locations. You can browse and download entire list of locations so far from my website jamesrpgart.com. This is the best place to view and access my work. I myself use these as a great way to set the scene and immerse my players into the world. I know that other Game Masters and players could do the same. In addition to using these for Curse of Strahd, a creative GM could use these as inspiration for a unique location in any home brew game."

AbyssalBrews is a team of two creators putting together fully-illustrated magic items every week for 5E as well as Pathfinder 2E. With monthly extras like creatures, ancestries, and more they are curating a growing library of content for your games. They have over 250 items in their catalogue that are accessible the moment you join as well as convenient formats like tarot-sized cards and Foundry VTT modules.

You can find them all on their Patreon

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Patrons get the beautiful scene and an animated version of it by James, alongside extra item cards of the First Night!

FREEBIES AT THE END OF THE POST

Variants

Rewards

• Base, Eclipse

• Gridded and Gridless versions (jpgs, webps, pdfs for printing)

• 4k and 8k versions of each file

GET THE JPGS/WEBPS HERE
GET THE PDFS HERE

• Base, Eclipse

• Red Galaxy, Noxious, Portals, Massacre, Raid, Meteor Swarm

• Gridded and Gridless versions (jpgs, webps, pdfs for printing)

• 4k and 8k versions of each file

GET THE JPGS/WEBPS HERE
GET THE PDFS HERE

• Base, Eclipse

• Red Galaxy, Noxious, Portals, Massacre, Raid, Meteor Swarm

• Colortide, Asteroid, Strange Crystals, Alien Colony, Black Hole, Obelisk, Destroyed, Eldritch

• Scene by JamesRPG+Item By Abyssal Brews

• Gridded and Gridless versions (jpgs, webps, pdfs for printing)

• 4k and 8k versions of each file

GET THE JPGS/WEBPS HERE
GET THE PDFS HERE

Map Description

The Astral Marketplace drifts upon islands of broken stone, each one afloat in the cold black of the void like scraps of a shattered world that never cared to fall. Every isle bears a merchant’s stall or a crooked tent of star-silk, where strange wares are traded by hands that tremble at heights that have no bottom. Semi-floating bridges stretch between them, swaying though no wind can be felt.

At the heart of the market stands an angel of pale marble and dull gold, its face carved in a sorrow too deep for prayer. From its cupped hands pours a fountain of astral water, liquid starlight that pools in a basin of floating crystal before misting into the air. The glow touches every corner of the marketplace, staining the traders in silver and shadow alike, so that none can tell where holiness ends and hunger begins.

Adventure Hooks

The Angel Who No Longer Blinks
Merchants swear the statue at the heart of the marketplace once shifted its gaze, just slightly, following those who lingered too long beneath its pouring astral waters. Now it stands frozen, unblinking, while customers vanish between the drifting stalls. The last victim left behind a journal filled with sketches of eyes hidden inside clouds.

Waters of the Fallen Star
The fountain’s liquid has begun to burn with faint silver fire, and those who drink it see fragments of distant futures. Several patrons have already leapt from their islands chasing visions only they can see. The caretakers claim the angel has started pouring from a corrupted source.

The Island That Drifted Away
One of the floating stalls has broken free of its tether and is slowly gliding into the astral dark. Its owner remains behind, weeping, claiming that something priceless still waits inside. Every hour that passes, the island grows harder to reach.

The Uninvited Tollkeeper
A silent figure now stands on the bridge of light that links the central statue to the outer stalls. No one remembers hiring them. They demand a single coin from each traveler, yet the coins vanish the moment they are handed over.

Variant Hooks

Githyanki Raid Variant
Crimson-skinned raiders descend on silver skiffs, slashing tethers and hurling merchants into the void. The angel statue is scorched by astral fire, and the fountain runs wild, flooding the air with drifting shards of starlight.

Abandoned Variant
The islands hang empty, stalls overturned, wares frozen in place as if their owners simply stepped out of existence. The angel still pours its endless waters, though no footsteps disturb the glowing pools.

Ancient One Variant
From the darkness beyond the farthest islands, titanic tentacles rise and coil around broken stalls. The statue’s serene face cracks as something vast peers through the market, studying it like a toy.

Meteor Swarm Variant
Fragments of burning stone rain through the astral sky, shattering islands and tearing bridges of light apart. The fountain’s waters vaporize on impact, leaving behind clouds of glittering dust and screaming echoes.

This will be all for now astral-voyagers! Until next time, have some wonderful rolls!
~Demetrius