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 public-auditorium-themed battle map from the Campaign Builder: Castles & Crowns Map Folio (out this month!).
Campaign Builder: Castles & Crowns arrvives this month! 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, who wouldn’t?) you can still apply this article’s structure toward designing your own battle map and one-shot adventure.
What’s in the Theater?
The Theater map is a location made for bardic performances! A central stage is superimposed on an urban background and surrounded by seating stands, balconies with more seating, and lots of angles for clear lines of sight toward the middle of the map. Here are a few noteworthy terrain features you might notice at first glance.
- Center Stage. Note the distinct lack of cover in the center of the map. Whether on stage or in the standing area before it, vacate ASAP in the event of a firefight.
- Theater Seating. Four staircases connect the balcony seating to the ground floor stands, perfect choke points or hiding places. Notice the best seats in the house across from the stage (and the blind spots directly behind them).
- Backstage. Three dressing rooms/storage closets exist behind the red curtains, though only two doors offer access to these otherwise dead ends.
Good Reasons to Visit the Theater
An interesting location serves no purpose if your PCs lack a reason to go there. Here are a few hooks to get your players to the theater:
- Bottle Episode. You and your group need a break from chasing villains and delving dungeons. A night at the theater should do the trick. Nothing can go wrong!
- Gig of a Lifetime. You’ve landed it; the big one. Performing a sold-out show at the theater. Only problem is, you know your enemies will be there too, watching in the crowd.
- Undercover Meeting. Whether for an exchange of goods or information, your contact settled on the theater as your next meeting place.
Popular Bardic Performances
A good bard knows all the hits. Roll a d10 and consult the table below or take your pick of a popular bardic performance to riff on.
| d10 | Encounter |
| 1 | The Dance of Summer Knights, a sylvan ballet with a single ballerina among a sea of armor-clad performers. Done well when the armor doesn’t interrupt the performance. |
| 2 | The Ratatosk Hop, a lively jig that is sure to get everyone in a tavern or theater on their feet. |
| 3 | Das Lied der Drachen und Riesen, a popular festival stage play detailing a mythical battle between giants, dragons, and a land torn asunder between them. |
| 4 | Wererat in Zobeck, as written by kobold playwright Snamck Slam Diss I Dare You I Double Temple Dog Dare You. |
| 5 | Oh Bori, Oh Bori, Bearded White as Snow a joyful, somewhat irreverent, winter holiday song. |
| 6 | Love in the Time of Cackle Fever, a romantic tragedy that is also chock full of mnemonic devices for dealing with hags. |
| 7 | Spears, Gears, and Other Things You Shouldn’t Throw at Aridni, a cautionary tale full of mirth and cracks at fey creatures that probably wouldn’t appreciate seeing the play firsthand. |
| 8 | The Ninety-Nine Songs of Mardiyya, an opera recently revealed to be less a recounting of truth and more a romanticization of an imprisonment beneath the faraway Palace of the Spirits. |
| 9 | Scarlet Ibises in Flight is a bawdry song that no self-effacing bard to the peoples would perform without. |
| 10 | Yaga Goo Yaga Yaga Goo Ya, a rousing song sung in defiance to Old Grandmother. The song isn’t complete until someone gets splattered with stew, oatmeal, or some other gooey substance. |
Loot the Theater Seats
You take your seat but you just can’t get comfortable. Or maybe something pokes you in your back pockets. Roll a d10 and consult the table below or pick the worst loot to find in your theater seat.
| d10 | Loot |
| 1 | Something Informative. A playbill or gazetteer that outlines the evening’s planned festivities and amenities. |
| 2 | Something Enigmatic. A handheld puzzle or curiously coded text, something to keep you occupied for a while. |
| 3 | Something Gross. The scraps of a sticky sweet, spat out and stashed beneath the seat. |
| 4 | Something Lucrative. A bit of forgotten coin or a gemstone caught in an unnoticed pocket-escape. |
| 5 | Something Scandalous. Incriminating evidence that implicates two or more attendees in illicit acts. |
| 6 | Something Cheerful. A small party favor placed beneath nearby seating, meant to delight attendees. |
| 7 | Something Dangerous. An unsheathed weapon or volatile substance. Is this planted for a future assault? |
| 8 | Something Deceptive. A discarded disguise. Who did this belong to, and are they still here? |
| 9 | Something Belonging. A monogrammed or distinctively owned article of clothing, could earn a reward if returned. |
| 10 | Something Eldritch. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. |
New Spells to Bring Down the House
What theatrical villain is complete without a few on-theme spells up their sleeve? Try these cunning, clamorous tricks. After a big fight in the theater, you could even place these new spells on some scrolls, or sheet music, as rewards to be found backstage.
CLEF’S COLLAPSING CRESCENDO
4th-Circle Arcane (Evocation)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S, M (a sheet of tin and a mallet)
Duration: Instantaneous
An immense cacophony of sound crushes targets under the weight of the moment.
You create a reverberation of sound that crashes down on a point of your choice within range that you can see. Each creature within a 10-foot-radius sphere must make a CON save. A creature takes 6d8 thunder damage and is knocked prone on a failure, or takes half as much damage and is not knocked prone on a success.
At Higher Circles. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th circle or higher, the radius of the spell increases by 10 feet.
FINALE FATALE
3rd-Circle Arcane (Evocation)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a light source such as a lantern or torch)
Duration: Instantaneous (*1 minute)
Bided time, stage presence, and limelight pours into a final, show-stealing strike.
You wait for the opportune time to attack a target with all the lights and action of a final performance. Make a melee spell attack against a creature within your reach. On a hit, the target takes 3d6 psychic damage plus 1d8 radiant damage for every action you have taken since both you and your target last rolled initiative.
*If this spell kills the target, you emit bright light for 10 feet and gain temporary hit points equal to the radiant damage dealt. This effect lasts for 1 minute.
