D&D Maps for Heroes of the Borderlands (Starter Set)

Written by: Annie Shi

With Heroes of the Borderlands arriving as part of the newest Dungeons & Dragons starter experience, a whole new wave of DMs are stepping into the hobby’s most iconic setups: a lone stronghold on the edge of danger, surrounded by wilderness that hides both opportunity and danger. 

This adventure revolves around three core areas: the Keep on the Borderlands, a social hub where characters can rest, resupply, and gather rumors; the untamed Wilderness, where exploration and unexpected encounters unfold; and the Caves of Chaos, a monster-filled dungeon complex waiting beyond civilization’s edge. Together, they create a compelling gameplay loop: prepare in the Keep, brave the dangers of the wilds, delve into the dungeons, then return to safety changed by what you’ve survived. 

As the Caves of Chaos module already includes detailed dungeon maps for each cave complex, this guide focuses instead on expanding the Keep on the Borderlands—with its memorable NPCs and urban locales—as well as the surrounding Wilderness, where travel encounters, monsters, and cult activity bring the frontier to life. 

1. Keep: Guild House — Village Hunting Guild

The Guild House of the Keep is led by Guildmaster Toryn and serves as the center for artisans and merchants within the keep. It offers equipment and research services and ties the Keeps’ economy and knowledge directly into the broader regional conflict.

This Village Hunting Guild map supports this location with a large communal hall where players can rest and meet other NPCs, as well as an equipment shop and other facilities.

This map includes an illustrated player-facing scene, perfect for drawing the players into the atmosphere of the guild hall. 

2. Keep: Temple — Solar Cathedral

The Temple of the Keep is a space for blessings before expeditions and recovery after disasters. Clerics like Fazzir can provide healing, guidance, and quests that connect the party to broader dangers, such as the Cult of Chaos. 

This Solar Cathedral map emphasizes that role through atmosphere and scale; stained glass casts colored light across pews and altars, and a two-storey map provides a sense of vertical structure that reinforces the Temple’s authority in this settlement. 

3. Keep: Inner Bailey —  Jousting Tournament

The Inner Bailey is the Keeps’ martial center, where guards train, and recruits are tested. This area can be used for contests, sparring matches, demonstrations, and other celebrations that reinforce the Keep’s defensive culture. 

Sergeant Shannik oversees training here and assigns tasks and chores such as installing a catapult atop the Great Tower. This Jousting Tournament map, with its dozens of variations, is flexible enough for combat drills one session and festivals the next. 

There's also an illustrated player-facing scene that lets you show the Inner Bailey from the crowd’s perspective, placing players directly in the action.

4. Keep: City Streets — Urban Locales

While the Caves and the surrounding Wilderness carry much of the adventure’s combat and exploration, the Keep—with its streets and shops providing downtime, rumors, side quests, and character-building interactions—is where the social pillar comes into focus. These places humanize the frontier and remind players of what they’re protecting. Plus, conversations here can often seed hooks for the wilderness or cave adventures. 

This modular city map set is perfect for making the Keep your own. Dozens of different shops with weather and seasonal variations will keep your party’s downtime visually fresh and reinforce that this settlement continues to live and breathe between expeditions.

There's also a hand-illustrated City Streets scene, great for grounding your players’ urban exploration in a vivid, street-level perspective.

5. Wilderness: Trail — Forest Pass

The Trail connects the Keep to the Caves of Chaos and serves as the party’s main route into danger. The surrounding forest—and the trail itself—creates space for random encounters, social interactions, and surprise threats. Every journey along it can trigger events on an encounter table that introduce NPCs, clues, and combat. 

This Forest Pass map, with its clear central road, makes travel scenes easy to stage, while the dense woods on either side provide cover for hidden dangers. 

6. Wilderness: Hermit’s Hut — Hidden Witch’s Hut

After hours on the trail, the party comes upon a humble hut in the woods, which belongs to a wary hermit banished from the Keep. 

This interesting social encounter introduces rumors that connect back to the fens and the temple, and this Hidden Witch’s Hut map is perfect for grounding this scene in a secluded, lived-in forest refuge. 

7. Wilderness: Occult Ritual — Dragon’s Memorial (Massacre)

Deep in the woods, the party encounters cultists gathered around an eerie stone idol. This scene introduces the Cult of Chaos operating beyond the caves, and can escalate into combat, deception, or ominous supernatural consequences if the ritual is completed.

This Dragon’s Memorial map provides a clearing where the ritual is the focal point. Its dozens of variants, such as the pictured massacre version, allow you to adjust the tone of the cult’s presence in your game. 

8. Wilderness: Sacred Spring — Healing Cave Spring

Deep in the forest, the foliage opens into a tranquil grove where a clear spring bubbles up. The water carries primal magic: drinking from it restores health, and it offers a way to cleanse evil artifacts from the cult. 

This Healing Cave Spring map gives this moment weight, providing a luminous space that feels incredibly memorable and sacred. 

9. Wilderness: Giant Spider’s Nest — Baba Yaga’s Domain (Spiders)

Deep in the woods, the party stumbles into a maze of camouflaged webs stretched between trees. When two Giant Spiders descend to attack, some characters may begin the encounter already trapped in the sticky web. The terrain is difficult, obscured, and dangerously flammable, turning this simple encounter into a chaotic battlefield.

The spider variant of this Baba Yaga’s Domain map fits that structure perfectly, with dense webbing and suspended egg sacs crowding a confined clearing. 

10. Wilderness: Fens — Banshee’s Moor (A New Day)

The Fens in the Wilderness are a sodden wetland filled with buzzing insects and treacherous footing. Reeds obscure vision, standing in water slows movement, and the mud hides threats ranging from thirsty stirges to territorial lizardfolk, and even a spy-for-hire lurking in the reeds. 

This Banshee’s Moor map captures that environment stunningly with its murky water and rickety wooden walkways.

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