D&D's official virtual tabletop, Maps, is now available for everyone with a D&D Beyond account—no subscription required!

With the Maps VTT, you can play with your party in a shared digital environment and utilize various tools to help you prep less so you can play more.

If you're looking to see what Maps can do, here's a homebrewed, standalone encounter that you can run in Maps tonight with minimal prep, and that can lead into the Heroes of the Borderlands adventure or be slotted into any existing campaign: Camp Ambush.

• Setup on Maps
• Camp Ambush
• Running the Encounter
• Continue the Thread in Heroes of the Borderlands

• Use Maps Today
• Sign Up for an Account

Setup on Maps

Using D&D Beyond's Maps VTT, everyone with a D&D Beyond account can easily create a virtual map that sets up strategic play:

Map

We are using the Grass Field map from the Basic Maps pack that is available to all users. To suit your campaign, select any other map and adjust it with Stickers to fit the encounter.

Stickers

Place Bedrolls or Tents for each character around a campfire. I like to add a 20-foot overlay around the campfire, denoting what space is considered Bright Light for the characters.

Tokens

Place a Goblin Boss and Wolf token in the trees to the north of the party. Two Goblin Warrior tokens go in the southwest trees, and a Goblin Warrior and Wolf token go in the southeast trees. Make sure to hide them (Shift + H), so you don't get any accidental reveals.

Fog of War

Areas with trees in this encounter are Heavily Obscured, so you can add Fog of War over them for added effect.

Preparing the Encounter

Open up the Combat Encounter sidebar and hit "Add All Tokens." This will allow you to quickly fill in Initiative when fighting breaks out. Now, we're ready to roll.

Camp Ambush

Robson Michel

Encounter for Level 2 Characters

Situation. A pack of goblins and their trained wolves prowl the roads, waiting for travelers to let their guard down so they can strike. They want captives and valuable gear to sell. The goblins time their attack for the dead of night, hoping to catch their prey at a disadvantage.

Hook. This ambush can happen on any wilderness journey where the characters make camp.

Leveling Up this Encounter

You can adjust this encounter for level 3 characters by adding more Goblin Warriors and Wolves as necessary.

For a party between levels 4-6, you could replace the Goblin Warriors with Bugbear Warriors, the Goblin Boss with a Bugbear Stalker, and Wolves with Dire Wolves.

The Encounter Difficulty calculator built into Maps uses rules from the Dungeon Master's Guide to help you dial in the encounter difficulty that's right for your party!

Running the Encounter

The Hostile goblins attack during the deepest part of the night.

Spotting the Ambush. A character on watch can make a DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check to try to discover the danger that lurks near. On a success, they hear leaves rustling or twigs snapping from the trees beyond the firelight.

Surprise Attack! If the goblins go undiscovered, the two Goblin Warriors to the west use their Shortbow attack to try to down whoever is keeping watch. If necessary, the Wolves are sent in to finish off whoever is awake. The Goblin Boss and remaining Goblin Warrior sneak in and attempt to restrain sleeping characters with Rope.

If a Fight Breaks Out. If the alarm is raised or battle breaks out, all of the goblins charge in to attack and subdue the characters. Any character that is reduced to 0 Hit Points and not outright killed has the Unconscious condition but is Stable. The goblin boss and wolves fight to the death. If any goblin warriors remain alive when the goblin boss is killed, they attempt to flee.

Continue the Thread in Heroes of the Borderlands

While this encounter is built to stand on its own and can be dropped into nearly any campaign, your party may want to dig deeper into the goblins' motives.

If this is the case, you could have the goblins be part of a larger cult bringing strife to the surrounding regions. The cult's leader, who has gained access to a source of profane power, sends the cult's minions out into the frontier to collect fodder for their rituals.

The characters can learn about this evil society by asking around a nearby settlement or interrogating a captive goblin.

Want to skip the prep? This mystery can lead the characters straight into the events of Heroes of the Borderlands. The Digital Adventure Pack, which is now available on D&D Beyond, is stocked with everything you need to run the adventures, plus 19 quickplay maps that you can spin up on D&D Beyond's Maps VTT in seconds!

Mike Bernier is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.