MAP: Artificer's Workshop
Image: An inked map of a large rectangular chamber with rounded corners and a single entryway that has a sliding door closed. Taking up much of the center is a raised platform that divides the front half of the room from the back, with stairs on either side leading to both halves. The front room is marked with alchemical equipment in the top left, crates in the top right, and a small study area featuring a rug woven with a snake eating its own tail right below the banister of the raised area. The raised area features enchanting equipment and a variety of tables, with large pillars in each corner. The rear of the workshop features smithing equipment against the back wall along with casting supplies against the walls.
The heavy metal door slides open with a hair-raising squeal that echoes through the dimly lit chamber. A faint red and orange glow from the very back pulses in the darkness, broken only by crackling flashes of white-blue light from a raised platform in the middle, which seems to divide the hall into three, each equally littered with all manner of tools and crafting equpment.
Strange chemicals bubble away by the main door, pieces for a metal arm are scattered across the tables in the middle platform as gems are infused with lightning, and a freshly used forge awaits in the back. A new light pierces the room - two green slits that seem to flicker with movement while remaining stationary, like eyes that examine your party. Suddenly a grinding of steel fills the hall and a metal humanoid darts out of the darkness, to set upon the intriders within its lair.
Welcome one and all to the artificer's workshop. The boss battle map from the end of my last campaign. This area was repurposed from a chamber in a long-forgotten ruin in order to study the secrets of golems - a lost craft to the world.
I could go on and ON about the arc that led to this moment but suffice to say this villain needed to die in order to fulfill his own goal of releasing an elder god... but he didn't want to die. As such, he found a loophole; creating a golem body for his soul to be transferred to, and letting his body die to release the elder god. Although my party could not stop the transfer, they were able to stop the completion of the ritual that released the elder god... barely!
This encounter featured a large metal golem as a red-herring on the raised platform (by the top left pillar between those two 'clamps') for the party to focus on while the new (and first in my world) warforged artificer lay in wait on the far side of the room, out of sight due to the raised central area. Depending on the level of your party you can absolutely bring the golem to life as a defender for the artificer at any point during the battle.
I'd love to hear about how you use this map in your games though! You can download the map here, which measures 11x16 inches (including white space).
