So you found a cool map that inspires your next one shot. Awesome! But you don’t know where to start filling it up. No problem! This week we are covering the theater, a plantation-themed battle map from the Campaign Builder: Castles & Crowns Map Folio (available now!).
Campaign Builder: Castles & Crowns is here! Monarchs and their realms get a zillion options make your worldbuilding deeper and more immersive!
Even if you don’t use this exact map (but really, why wouldn’t you?) you can still apply this article’s structure toward designing your own battle map and one-shot adventure.
What is the Vineyard?
As an idyllic retreat or unlikely warzone, the vineyard is a lush location that could offer the aromas of ripened grapes or sour mash, the opportunity to engage in manor house politics, or fend off interlopers. Here are just a few noteworthy terrain features you might notice at first glance.
- Grape Rows. Typically, grape rows reach approximately 4 feet in height though some can grow up to 6 or 7 feet tall! Keep that in mind when walking through the vineyard as the grape rows could offer cover, obscurement, and barriers to free movement.
- Plantation Estate. Nine rooms and a stable comprise the ranch-style floor plan of this country manor. Most intriguing of course would be the distillery where vats of grapes ferment while a massive pool of grapes waits to be squashed by foot.
- Arcane Hideaway. Make note of a secret cave hidden by a wall-adjacent keg that is likely empty. A summoning circle and altar here hint at the potential for some otherworldly hijinks.
Good Reasons to Visit the Vineyard
Reasons to visit a vineyard usually start on a more positive note, typically something with a nice floral bouquet that opens itself to the nose and carries hints of a summer dream and a peachy finish. Here are a few hooks to get your players to the vineyard.
- Local Tour. You’ve gotten an anonymous tip that the local vintners are up to no good, unnatural things in their business practices. Now, under the guise of a winery tour, you hope to ferret out the truth.
- Vacation Interrupted. You and yours splurged for an all expenses paid vacation in the vale, free from the rigors of dungeoneering life. But when giants and their minions attack you have no choice but to defend the vineyard, and your vacation, from this untimely interruption.
- Neighborly Visit. You’ve just bought the manor as your new home base and thought you would stop by with a baked treat and a friendly introduction. However, upon arriving at the vineyard you see no people, a lazy farmcat, and an abnormal number of rabbits around the grounds. Looks like you’re gonna have to investigate, especially since you have a sudden hankering for carrots and grape juice.
Random Encounters in the Vineyard
These encounters are designed to challenge and interest a group of four PCs in the second tier of play. If you are planning on building a one-shot adventure, roll a d6 and consult the table below for every hour you plan to play, rerolling any duplicates.
| d6 | Encounter |
| 1 | Three swarms of 1d4 + 2 giant wasps (use giant honey bee statistics (see Tome of Beasts 2) assault the vineyard in a drunken, deadly stupor. |
| 2 | Angry fieldworkers and day laborers revolt against the poor working conditions and bad pay, amassing as a bar brawl (see Creature Codex) to hold the head winemaker responsible. |
| 3 | An arachnocrat devil (see Tome of Beasts 2) gleefully planting spiders within the grape fields as little surprises. |
| 4 | An ettin (see Monster Vault) looking to get absolutely “grapple juiced,” as they call it. |
| 5 | 1d4 + 1 kobold alchemists (see Tome of Beasts 1) surreptitiously siphoning off casks of wine for their own resale. |
| 6 | 1d2 shambling mounds (see Monster Vault) disguised as grape rows menacing fieldworkers. These shambling mounds can lob bunches of grapes like slings and stones that potentially blind targets on impact (DC 14 DEX save to avoid being blinded). |
Vintner’s Secrets
Everybody’s got a secret and winemakers are no exception. A dirty secret gives PCs all the more reason to investigate the vineyard! Roll a d6 and consult the table below to determine what skeletons are in your vineyard’s closets.
| d6 | Secret |
| 1 | The winemaker is actually an awakened pig polymorphed into a human but the fieldworkers think of him as an eccentric genius. |
| 2 | The vintner was a wanted criminal who took over the vineyard in an attempt to hide from rivals. But they’ve grown to love the work, much to the chagrin of some old “associates”. |
| 3 | A pact bond with a fiend of excess ensures quality harvests for the vineyard but requires monthly sacrifices in return. |
| 4 | The grapes used for the vineyard’s most popular wine are not grapes at all but rather aberrant cherries grown by mistake. |
| 5 | The vintner has been pretending to haunt their vineyard for months in the hope of building local prestige to increase profits. |
| 6 | The grape fields all belong to a member of the fey nobility. They lease out the fields in trade of yearly tribute, but yields have grown slimmer and slimmer as of late. |
New Magical Beverages
Are you going to a magic dinner party and need an ideal gift for a wizardly host? Try one of these delightful wines sure to liven the mood and loosen lips. Even a barbarian will feel at ease in a social encounter with a glass of these tasty beverages in hand.
Three Gnomes Tripel Sekt
Potion, Uncommon 225 gp
This sparkling wine is made with a revolutionary gnomish brewing technique that has earned ire and derision from traditionally trained vintners. A luxurious mouth feel and heady aroma give way to not one, not two, but three distinct grape notes that roll over each other onto the tongue and palate.
When you take a sip of this wine, roll a d4 to gain a random effect:
1. advantage on your next CHA (Deception) check
2. advantage on your next CHA (Performance) check
3. advantage on your next CHA (Persuasion) check
4. make a DC 11 CON save with a bonus equal to the number of sips you have so far taken. If you fail, you immediately belch and gain disadvantage on all CHA checks. Each time you take a sip this effect lasts for 1 minute or until you take another sip.
Each bottle of Three Gnomes Tripel Sekt has enough wine for 1d4 + 2 cups. A cup lasts a Medium creature for 10 sips.
Happy Saint’s Riesling
Potion, Rare 725 gp
This bubbly white wine never seems to go flat, no matter how long it has been decanted. Made from magically infused white grapes that literally fly off the vine if not picked within the ripening window, this dry wine has strong notes of cracked pink pepper and spiced pear sure to tickle your palate.
When you fully consume a glass of wine, you gain the effects of both the levitate and feather fall spells for 1 minute (without the need for concentration). Each bottle of Happy Saint’s Riseling has enough wine for 1d4 + 2 cups. A cup is enough for a Medium or smaller creature to be affected.
