I love treasure maps, that odd, often-eschewed item old D&D instructs you to periodically hand out in its magic item table. They're just so neat, and they have the pleasant effect of rewarding adventure with adventure. But they're hard to improvise, so I've put together six for you to enjoy. They're a bit more generic, and I'll give some advice about how to adapt them to your situation.
I made all these maps as physical artifacts, but of course you'll just have the images. I will comment briefly on the different methods I used in case they inspire you to make your own.
Map 1: folded in half four times, then refolded over and over, tore off the edges, distressed the edges while folded, crumpled up a couple times. Dipped briefly in tea cup, which accidentally split it along the over-mishandled first two folds, resulting in four quarters. For this map I wanted a small island that could be easy to plausibly place off any given coast. It mingles landmarks, cryptic warning symbols, a specific route, and a series of three circles indicating steps towards the treasure. As I said, my splitting of the map was accidental, but it works out that the PCs could work to complete the map as an adventure, starting with the bottom left, using another to cross-reference where the island is, and getting the other two in the process of learning how to get to the goods.
Map 2: poured tea onto a plate and laid the paper on it, flipped, removed to dry, tore the edges off, folded twice, then rolled up like a scroll, distressed and carried in my pocket for a while. The route suggested is pretty clear, but there's more obvious ambiguity about what might happen if you take an alternate route. The right-to-left puzzle in the notation is simple but should hopefully be satisfying.
Map 3: pressed into the bottom of a wet sink, flipped and pressed on other side, allowed to dry, tore off edges, folded four times, notched hole in a corner (center of the page), distressed variously, tore fragment out. This one, centered on a river joining, uses the acquisition of necessary items (two keys) to ensure the journey has incident, and ends with the counting of paces, which I wanted to try out. This was also my first try at putting notes on the back. It's fun!
Map 4: crumpled up into a ball, tore off edges, crumpled into a ball started with a different corner each time. Makes a lot of use of monster icons to attract and repel PCs.
Map 5: tore bottom section, utterly soaked in water, accidentally tore, left to dry, folded, rolled up into a scroll, distressed edges. Wanted to do a pirate map, ended up doing a whale city. Not the most original, but I think players would be excited by it.
Map 6: pressed into the bottom of a wet sink and flipped, left to dry, tore off edges, folded in half, then folded in thirds, then folded "road map style". This was my attempt at a smaller-scale map, with no real journeying, just getting to grips with one area.
In terms of how I designed each map, I figured that it should be pretty easy for the PCs to locate the area being charted based on landmarks or phrases. I wanted each map to have at least three steps so that it felt like a proper process, and used a combination of standard geographical marks and doodles to indicate landmarks and hazards. For inspiration, consider hazard symbols and dungeon signs and children's' drawings of monsters.
Treasure maps are an interesting departure from dungeons. While they both have risk and reward, treasure maps provide an intended solution. Counterbalance that by giving real hazards and problems on that intended route, and considering what interesting things might happen if players want to skip a step. Draw the occasional landmark outside this route to tempt them to explore. Traps should be treated as already foreshadowed if they're marked on the map (scary!), and the treasure should be a little extra juicy to "sell" the endeavor, and commensurate both to the danger of following the map and the situation in which the map was found. I'll suggest some for each map, but you should modulate the coinage and such to fit your needs.
Map 1
At low tide, there is a point which is easily forded, from which someone following the map can come to a stream with a notable rock on the far side, crossing, and skirting between a woods and steep hills before wrapping around and climbing up a particular hill at a set of switchbacks. Once there, they can find a cave that leads to a chamber with three warrior statues, two of which wear swords but the middle one having only an empty scabbard. Filling the scabbard triggers the opening of a secret door, leading to a chamber with an ancient wheel mechanism and a collar with a chain running into the wall. If the wheel is turned, the chain retracts and, if someone or something is in the collar to prevent it from retracting into the wall, a hidden hatch in the ceiling opens and the treasure slowly descends to the floor.
Potential obstacles are many. The skulls and shipwreck are meant to indicate treacherous shoals that surround much of the island, and approaching from the wrong side can be costly. To the east of the hills reside three cyclopes (or other dangerous eye-themed resident) who are habitual cannibals. The woods themselves probably have some Gygaxian wildlife and therefore danger, but may have overgrown detritus that serves as a clue about the treasure's original owners. The secret doors in the cave can be found and forced open, but they are trapped-- the first with a vial of the deadly violet Dolorfetor gas (save vs death) that breaks if the door is opened without the scabbard's fulfillment, while the second drops a wight that would have been retracted if the door was opened in the proper way.
The broken tower may just be an old lighthouse, the entrance to a dungeon, or contain an omen about the cyclopes or forest inhabitants. It's hard to make out, but there's a drawing of a hut on the islet between the tower and the main island-- perhaps the residence of a sand witch or marooned sailor seeking the treasure. The northern coast has no apparent features, so it would be a good place to put and additions intended by the DM.
Suggested treasure: 5,000 silver pieces of eight, 3,200 gold dubloons, a masterfully crafted saber with turqoise inlays (worth 400 gold), rare manuscripts of mythology, ritual observances, and history that have survived a cultural purge (worth 1000 gold),
a scroll of water breathing, and a helmet and leather shirt coated in
basilisk scales.
Map 2
"City of the Birds" might be a famous nickname for any settlement convenient to the DM. The lines running past it might be a river or a road. Going five miles west will lead to a canyon running between two high cliffs. It is guarded by a vicious dragon-sized bugge with pale striations and many-segmented body (stats as umber hulk). Eventually coming to a larger river canyon, stepping stones hidden by the water allow an easy crossing, from which the party can climb ancient steps carved into the cliff towards ancient brick burial mounds. If the entrance stone of the leftmost stone is rolled away, the party can navigate through a series of tunnels (using the arrows indicated to select which of branching tunnels to take, reading right to left like with the text) to the treasure cache.
If the party wants to veer left to avoid the bugge, they will find an alternate canyon to travel through, where they will encounter a war party of nomadic archers who include these cliffs as being among their wide range. Happy to attack travelers, if instead befriended they can share scents they manufacture to repel the bugge. The bridge downriver is dilapidated and disused, and cover the lair of the bugge's offspring, which may ambush the unwary (stats as umber hulk, no confusion attack, -1 HD, -2 reaction, each turn attacking someone on the bridge has a 2-in-6 chance of collapsing it). The fort at the falls is home to a jackalwere and her squad of girlboss poachers and gold-hunters, sworn enemies of the archer nomads. Finally, if a wrong turn is taken in the tunnels under the brick mound, there's an equal chance of encountering a random dungeon monster, an ancient pit trap, or getting lost.
The people of the City of the Birds are unaware of the treasure, but must have some knowledge of the canyons and the nomads. It is possible that another party of treasure-hunters can be found here, about to start their own expedition. If the party veers right to avoid the bugge, they'll have to scale the cliffs, but if they do they might find an adobe fortress under siege from a dungeon below, howling whirlwinds that threaten to push them off the cliffs, or simply rough and jagged terrain. There is a second set of steps upriver that may be safe or not, and they are closer to another set of brick mounds, which may be simple tombs, conceal strange monsters, or be home to minor treasures of their own, or, of course, dungeon entrances.
Suggested treasure: gold jewelry worth 4,000 coins, an enchanted lacquered ceramic-bladed +1 axe, a quartz crystal amulet, and the cursed Gatestaff.
Map 3
There is no apparent reason to start in the hill where the first arrow originates, but if the party does so, they will find an old shack that conceals an old adventuring party's hideout dug into the hill, now long-abandoned. A search will reveal a fragment of paper, the missing section of the map!
While the party could try to skip to the very end with this, they will find it convenient to retrieve two keys. The first is kept by the guardian at the pawprint marker, either a werebear or perhaps a bear spirit. She agreed to keep it safe for the originators of the treasure map, and will probably assume anyone who has the map or knows the password is entitled to it, though she will ask after one of the old adventurers whom she grew attached to. From there, it's easy enough to head across the bridge to a town where, hidden under the roofing above the mayor's well, the other key can be found. From there, the party can head to the river across from the mill, where they will find a bell. If rung, the miller, an old river mage, will ferry them across but warn of the presence of ghosts and deadly monsters-- hydras and cockatrices and score-scores-- that infest the woods. Following the map should bring the party close enough to spot a tree with a very prominent branch, in fact another tree that has been grafted in to it to make a landmark. Following the map fragment, they then simply walk 800 paces away from the river, turn right and walk 800 more paces (for added challenge, seed that the person who made this map was a dwarf, meaning the distances should be less), then dig to find the corpse of an old wizard clutching a chest ensured with two enchanted locks. They easily accept the keys and give up their contents.
If the bear spirit is asked for a blessing, she will turn the querier into a bear. The built-out town downriver is suspicious of adventurers and criminals, and is home to a power-tripping sheriff who needs to distract people from his mishandling of a recent altercation between loggers. Camped at the point where the tributary feeds into the river is a devil of the crossroads, always looking to make a deal, especially when it relates to souls, lumber, fire, or dice. The river mage harbors an old envy for the treasure-hiders, and if told too much will do a full Scooby-Doo, using his spells of invisibility and ignition to drive the party away if he can get his hands on their map. If one enchanted lock is picked, the other stubbornly relocks itself. If someone attempts to force the chest open, it triggers a Rune of Cataclysm, sucking the chest and everything nearby (save resists) into a spooky otherworld.
There is a hut near the wooded home of the bear, home to a hermit who knows of (and disapproves of) the original adventurers and who knows (and holds a torch for) the bear, even keeping a mundane bear for her that once used to be a cleric of the Blind Army. The dam upriver doesn't have much going on, but is the meeting point for old hunters who can share rumors. The town with the well is home to some who remember the old adventurers fondly, and may know about adventure sites they never fully plundered or the final score they never came back from. The hills are probably full of orcs and owl women.
Suggested treasure: all the weird magic shit a wizard collects that his friends aren't sure are cursed or not. Six freaky coins (worth 23 gold), a vial of Naparmian Flame, a Ridan Steel dagger, a jar of Ziphos Nectar, an ivory scarab necklace, a viper skull cap, a Rod of Cancellation, a secret society symbol ring (2-in-6 chance of favorable notice by magic-users) and a tablet that serves as a scroll of Invisible Servant.
Map 4
This one is so damn wrinkled. For adaptation purposes, "south cliff temple" could be purely descriptive, it could be a name, whatever. In its cemetery, one of the headstones, belonging to someone with the name, surname, or epithet of "Red", is inscribed with an arrow showing the right bearing to take towards the river. Upon reaching the river, the party, passes up to the spring and through a tunnel to the other side, where they take a circuitous route to a prominent tree in an empty plain. From there, they go about halfway towards a prominent boulder and dig to find the treasure.
The bearing to reach the river is very specific; too far to the left and the party will encounter the river guardian, an eel-dragon (stats as amphibious giant squid), while too far to the right the party will encounter a conference of angry bugbears. While no apparent obstacle stands between the tunnel and the gnarled tree landmark, the flora of the plains conceals a giant dust beetle (stats as roc), liable to carry someone off and imprison them in a remote valley that serves as its nest. Off to the right of the map live a squad of centaurs, violent and murderous for drink but otherwise chill.
The south cliff temple probably doesn't know much about this treasure, but can provide hospitality and healing. Off to the left of the map in an acacia grove live several dozen elves, reasonable and skilled. They would be mad if you kill the river guardian. The notable stone that helps to triangulate the digging spot has a faint face in it, an ogre that was turned into stone. If freed, she will be a friend to her rescuer, and join them on adventures if allowed, blackmailing local artisans and hiring goblinoids on their behalf.
Suggested treasure: 9,500 silver coins, 6,200 gold coins, a Gift Card Maze containing a scroll of Flesh to Stone, a set of +1 rawhide leather armor, and Noah's Brush.
Map 5
Every morning, the rare Violet-Templed Gull visits Star Island. By following them back in the evening, one can find the enchanted Uncharted Isle which cannot be found save by those who have been to it before. On that island, a new constellation burns bright in the sky. By following the marked star in the sky for three days straight, (2-in-6 chance per day of a storm that threatens to throw off course, if the crew fails it goes inland toward the whirlpool or must backtrack to the isle after some minor damage) another unnamed island will be reached. Every three days, a pale whale with indigo patches around its eyes surfaces off the coast of this isle carrying a city on its back, its original inhabitants long ago slain by culture heroes and pirates. Braving the flotsam-drenched streets and a giant crab brings the party to the tallest tower, and descending that leads to a maze. By following the correct route given on the map, they will find the treasure.
Though unmarked on the map, there is a massive whirlpool that threatens the lives of all boats-- once you can see it, you're already too close. Absent a cool strategem, it's a save vs death or the boat is wrecked, and anyone who can survive getting sucked under, swimming away and up, and grabbing onto some wreckage will float miserably back to Star Island in 1d6 days (1-in-6 chance per day of attracting 1d3 sharks) The inhabitants of the Uncharted Isle are wary of outsiders, and if not confident in them may dispatch dìonachean to arrest and interrogate them in the palace. The whale will only stay floating for the three hours it needs to refill its lungs, and at that time will start to dive, fully getting under in just 10 minutes. If the wrong door is reached, the party will find a pile of twenty angry lacedons or the whale's blowhole chamber (save or get sucked in).
There is a fort on Star Island, and it is fed by some nearby town, but holds much interest in you if you're neither pirate nor privateer. The commander of the fort suspects the existence of the Uncharted Isle, and would pay for a guide to take them there. The unnamed island, in addition to having a cool volcano, could have some interesting ruins or signs of the civilization that settled on the whale's back.
Suggested treasure in a chest wrapped by a ligan-buoy to establish a continued claim according to maritime law: 4,800 gold coins, gems and precious stones (worth 1,700 gold), the Twisting Spit, an immaculate +1 fishbone spear that boils with intensity when underwater (as +1 flaming spear), and a Gust Jar.
Map 6
This map is of a smaller scale, covering a small but prosperous village which has just recently been left in ruin. It is actively been prowled by a T. Rex, or other dangerous but slow-witted monster. In the basement of the house marked "push your friends", there is a man cave with a banner reading "Trust to the gods, to your friends, and to perfectly aged wine." Behind the words "your friends" is a button that opens a secret door to a meandering tunnel under the thorp, heading directly to the treasure. However, the tunnel is trapped, and certain precautions must be taken. In another house's basement stands a custom shelf rack laden with wines from all over. Six of them, the driest, sit labeled in shelves that when all pulled out trigger a mechanism that disables a dart trap in the tunnel. (Those lacking wine knowledge can brut force it by pulling out all the shelves.) Another house has a wine window (like a milk door but for wine and in reverse), and if at least five pounds of weight are left in it, a falling ceiling trap in the tunnel is disarmed. In the church is a statue of a woman holding out her hand, which actually has a copper-coin-sized indent in it. If a copper coin is placed in the indent, it completes a circuit which disarms a lightning trap in the tunnel. Finally, the smithy's bellows, when worked, send hot air through pipes which banish the spores of the deadly Old Man Walking mushroom, preventing someone at the end of the tunnel from breathing them in. The party can then walk through the entire tunnel and find the treasure cache in a well-decorated hideaway.
Aside from the deadly traps and the T. Rex, there is a another danger, in the back entrance, a shack in the back end of a vineyard. A trio of wyverns have made their nest there, 1d3 sleeping at any given time.
Survivors from the town, now turned refugee, might be able to share rumors about the well-to-do but adroit wine-tasting club that hid this cache. Gods Grove (either God's or Gods', depending on the setting) and Still Lake are intended to help triangulate which town this is, but they might be notable locations in their own right.
Suggested treasure: fine vintages (worth 3,000 gold), bottle of Champagne of Levitation (4 servings), bottle of Merlot of Healing (2 servings), a Mindat war helm, a Deck of Many Things, and a Horn of the Barbarians.
