Hello Adventurers! It’s the end of November and with Black Friday and Cyber Monday upon us it’s fitting that the last map of the month is a bank vault. I like the idea of setting an encounter in a Bank, running a bank heist with your players or foiling one sounds like a whole bunch of fun!
I went with a Victorian style layout with brass bars and cages all over the place for the cashiers and workers. The hall is open enough to have a standoff with some robbers, and I’ve made sure to keep the two level vault spacious enough for a range of encounters.
Have a wonderful rest of the weekend and as always happy adventuring! Now let’s get onto the map notes.
Introduction
The Bank is full, the queue for deposits is long. You get in line and glare at people ahead of you holding long complicated looking forms, an old woman directly in front of you is carrying a bucket of copper coins. You swear under your breath.
The Cashiers sit behind their counters in brass barred cubicles, behind them notaries and clerks work at long desks counting money and tallying up figures. The huge metal vault door glints at the back of the hall, locked tight by intricate gnomish engineering and secured by magic.
With a sudden shout a scruffy looking man throws back his robes to reveal a silver rod in each hand. “Nobody move this is a robbery!” he shouts. Two hulking half orcs step in front of the doors, preventing anyone from leaving. A guard jumps to his feet, in an instant the robber points a rod his way and a flash of light erupts from its end. The guard drops to his knees and falls face first to the ground, his body smoking slightly.
“You heard me! I said nobody move!… Now everyone on the floor!”. The crowd of frightened bank customers collectively hesitate, unsure if they should move or not. “Floor! Now!” The robber screams, pointing his wands at random people. The crowd drops, leaving you and your companions standing amongst a sea of cowering civilians. A bucket of copper coins spills across the tiled floor, you sigh and draw your weapons.
Notes and tips
- 30×30 grid map
- When your players next need to deposit coin have them role-play the encounter and drop a few bank robbers into the crowd to mix it up a little.
- Banks need security, especially if they are temporarily protecting something unique. Have your party camp inside the vault to protect said item. Obviously someone will break in and find the party there.
- The party could try to perform a bank heist themselves. This will need much planning and some high explosives, or some explody magic!
- The Bank could be a cover for some kind of organised crime. Everyone working there turns out to be cutthroats and ninjas in disguise!
- You know bank managers are almost always evil, it’s a universal constant. They could be a devil and be trying to buy souls for money loans.
Variants
We have a day/night version of the Bank vault.
We also have a strange ‘cult’ variant with secret meeting hall under the public vault. This also comes in day/night variants.
