Author(s)

Matt-GM

talespire://published-board/UGFuZGVtb25pdW0gLSBQYW5kZXNtb3MgVHVubmVscw==/79a63e754d675cb2ee3e128169601c37

Features

- The Plane of Madness, strongly chaotic and mildly evil-aligned

- The entire plane is a maze of pitch-black, claustrophobic tunnels and caverns that twist in on themselves

- The tunnels are constantly blasted with howling winds, sometimes as strong as the gales of a hurricane

- The winds are maddening, carrying the screams of Pandemonium's inhabitants through every tunnel and corner of the plane; creatures exposed overlong to the noise slowly go insane

- The wind is blinding and deafening; flying grains of sand and dirt sting the eyes; speech can only be heard at screaming volume

- Torches and nonmagical fires are immediately extinguished by the gales, and spellcasting with verbal components is very difficult

- There is no "up" in Pandemonium; gravity is relative to whatever twisting surface one treads on; a person can walk on any wall or cavern roof, and never really knows whether they're traveling up or down

- Most creatures avoid Pandemonium at all costs, and so the plane is largely uninhabited, but one will find encounters with the lost and the insane, who were unable to find a way out before madness overtook them; a few demons, slaadi, and unfortunate githzerai stumble their way into Pandemonium from Limbo or the Abyss, and forget the way they came

- The gods and powers of the multiverse use Pandemonium as their dumping ground, consigning all sorts of cursed artifacts, unkillable monsters, and terrible secrets in the twisting tunnels, hoping such things will be lost forever

- The few native creatures to Pandemonium are Howler Demons, and the Howling Dragon; both channel the maddening winds of the plane as a weapon, and both are quite insane

- The Bleak Cabal has an outpost on Pandemonium, and are the only Sigil faction that willingly travels here; their philosophies of the mindless chaos of existence are reinforced by the plane

- The cursed river Styx travels through some passages on Pandesmos, the plane's most merciful layer. If a body has a boat, they can ride the Styx out of Pandemonium and into the neighbouring Abyss (though that isn't much more pleasant); one touch of the Styx's waters, however, takes a creature's memory, and identity, forever

Notes

DISCLAIMER: This map is supposed to represent the "plane of madness," and it's not an easy one to inflict on players; it's experimental in that it is designed to be intentionally maddening... so dark and disorienting that the party quickly gets lost, and becomes unsure what direction they're going, where they've been, or where they need to travel.

Some tunnels also go nearly straight up and down, as Pandemonium's gravity is relative to every cavern wall; letting players walk along the ceiling, if they wish, finding new holes or vertical tunnels they'd never consider if they were thinking horizontally.

Players are meant to traverse the inside of the horseshoe-shaped caverns - if a mini ever gets on the roof of a tunnel, put them back inside. I spent a lot of time sealing the chaotic, rocky walls of the tunnels so that minis wouldn't clip through and fall out of the map, but it may still occasionally happen, and require a DM's intervention.

Recommend players use the arrow keys instead of dragging the mouse to move their minis. If a mini is ever fully lost, as a last resort, there's an atmosphere block outside the map that sets lightning to default brightness - the block can be seen at an eerie purple string of light on some stone floor tiles near the portal (blue fire ring). There's a 2nd atmosphere block directly next to the portal that restores the map's darkness.

I would also make it very difficult for players to brighten their surroundings with spellcasting or "magic light," as this ruins the maddening atmosphere of the plane. Have the howling winds extinguish fires and ruin the verbal casting of spells, or have the cursed, pitch-black rocks of the tunnels suck the light from their magic.

At first glance, every winding passage looks the same, but there are distinct landmarks if folks look carefully. Players are meant to leave markers and think smart in order to track their progress, and make sure they're not going in circles... but this style of play isn't appropriate for every table.

If you think your players will just get frustrated, I suggest not using this map at all, and consider theatre of the mind instead, to convey the maddening atmosphere of Pandemonium without pissing everyone off. Don't bother trying to brighten the map, as more light just ruins the mood and makes the dungeon look bad.

Hide volumes can be switched on and off if geometry from an upper level interferes with player visibility. The portal (blue fire ring) can also be closed with a hide volume.

There are several hidden treasures throughout the map, including 3 mysterious black chests at creepy altars with hooded statues; DMs might use these chests for ancient, cursed artifacts, or pieces of a portal key that might lets players escape Pandemonium.

Players can also exit the dungeon by finding an underground passage connected to the River Styx, and paying the fiendish boatman for a ferry ride.