Written by: Written by: J.A. Iris (DesViper)

Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons expands on D&D 5e’s iconic dragons through the lens of Fizban the Fabulous, an eccentric archmage and avatar of the dragon god Bahamut himself! He introduces new draconic classes, spells, monsters, and even a new campaign type: the dragon echo campaign. This article highlights the best maps to use alongside Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons.

10. Dragon Lair Series

Of course, what is a dragon without its lair?! The Dragon Lair Series features excellent entrances and arenas to accompany the dragon lairs outlined in Fizban’s Treasury. This series also includes lairs for more dramatic dragons, such as the nightmare and void dragons Fizban has yet to catalogue. These maps also have variations to accommodate more dragon types: the Green Dragon Lair - Snow map would be excellent for a silver dragon, Dragonscale Peak - Underdark would be perfect for a Deep Dragon, and the Clockwork Dragon Lair Exterior - Forge map would fit a red dragon-occupied forge. This series is invaluable to dragon encounters, and surely Fizban himself!

9. Dragon’s Hoard

Once our heroes delve into the dragon’s lair and slay the mighty beast or anxiously await its return, they deserve a reward! The Dragon’s Hoard map gleams with gold and jewels, a well-earned treasure after a hard-fought battle.

Or… is it suspiciously lush with treasure? These mounds of gold could instead be hoard mimics in disguise, patiently waiting for overeager adventurers to dive in. The huge, vaulted room would make an excellent arena for any number of traps to punish plunderers or for fights over the piles of gold. The Big Pit variation offers the most dastardly trap: once the heroes discover the hoard to be empty, the floor falls through to the true lair beneath, where the biggest, baddest final encounter awaits the soon-to-be-rich heroes.

8. Great Library - Chrono Room Night 

For a less intense encounter, Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons begins with the Elegy of the First World, a mythological tale of the first dragons descending from primordial chaos to shape the world from the stars. The Great Library would surely contain such a story, including its variations across time and culture. Fizban the Fabulous himself could tell the tale in the Chrono Room, weaving the walls and ceilings into the constellations in the sky where the first stories of the world are etched for all time.

7. Jungle Temple Entrance

Fizban’s Treasury also mentions the Cult of the Dragon, a secretive organisation of dragon worshippers who believe undead dracoliches are key to their apocalyptic vision. This cult is the main antagonist of the Tyranny of Dragons adventure (article for the best maps for that campaign coming soon!), but many such cults could populate the various D&D 5e settings. 

The Jungle Temple Entrance is a great fit for a secretive dragon cult. They or their minions may ambush the heroes the moment they cross the rickety bridge or wait until they solve a puzzle to open the temple, revealing the Open variation. Once inside,w they may find themselves in one of the dragon lairs featured earlier in the article, now occupied by dragon cultists. 

6. Tomb of Sand

The Tomb of Sand makes for an excellent tactical challenge against a great blue dragon. Do the adventurers take the dragon head-on across the narrow bridge, or do they risk traversing the moat of sand below? Fizban’s Treasury also features numerous draconic minions to accompany the blue dragon, such as ancient mechanical defences and animated dragon breath. The Broken Bridge and Sand Storm variants could add a twist to the fight as the dragon turns its lair against our heroes!

5. Cave Temple

Fizban the Fabulous also describes monks who take inspiration from flying dragons and practise a new form of martial arts in the hopes of finding spiritual unity across the planes. Ascendant dragon monks may find themselves in need of a place of spiritual enlightenment… or, more likely, a powerful relic, and the Cave Temple is exactly the map for such an encounter.

For a dramatic reveal after an ascendant monk demonstrates such enlightenment, the Portal variation fills the map with mystical purple light. This variation could also suit a dragon echo campaign moving to another world on the material plane, mystical knowledge linking worlds across time and space. 

4. Alchemy Dungeon

In the Treasury’s bestiary, Fizban also catalogues a number of monstrosities created from dragons and their flesh: dragon blood oozes, hydra-dragons, and draconic centipedes (oh my!). He also describes “draconians”, beings warped from dragon eggs through foul magic. All of these monsters have to come from somewhere, and the Alchemy Dungeon is a perfect place. 

Entering from the bottom of the map (after some arcane security, of course), the adventurers find a huge, glowing vat of… something… alongside incubation chambers in various states of repair. After crossing a narrow bridge over a chasm, yet more glowing chambers greet them, and surely the alchemist responsible for the town’s misery catches them before they reach the library full of tomes on how to craft these draconic monstrosities. 

3. Ancient Stepwell 

Many dragon encounters begin with the dragon swooping in from above, crashing into the heroes, and blasting them with fire. But after the dramatic entrance, the encounter can find itself in a monotony of claws and bites. Don’t forget, the dragon can still fly once it’s attacked! The Ancient Stepwell map can capitalise on the vertical nature dragon fights deserve with nine tiers on one map! Just as the heroes make their way to the shrine at the top of the map, the dragon arrives, but instead of crashing into melee range, it perches on the high walls and blasts them from afar. This turns a 90-foot conical breath into a 90-foot diameter circle, easily filling the lower levels of the stepwell. Such a height advantage is guaranteed to make a memorable dragon fight.

2. Grand Duke’s Plaza - Last Stand

Fizban’s Treasury expands the typical dragon progression with great wyrms, the most powerful dragons in any world. After emerging, such a mighty dragon is sure to wreak havoc on the nearest city, or worse, the campaign’s home city! The Grand Duke’s Plaza - Last Stand would be an ideal place for our heroes to defend against such a great wyrm. The rest of the city sits ablaze as the wyrm bears down on the capitol building, and the barricades at the bottom of the map are no match for the gigantic dragon! Then, after snatching victory from the wyrm’s jaws, another variation could serve for the celebration. 

1. Mountaintop Observatory - Cosmic Dragon Night

While Fizban suggests a great wyrm as the finale to a dragon echo campaign, high in the Mountaintop Observatory, an even greater dragon could form, a truly time-spanning dragon of colossal, serpentine proportions! The heroes will have to use all the lore, spells, and magic items Fizban has to offer to defeat such a god-like being.

Alternatively, the cosmic dragon could be an eldritch dragon, more ancient and powerful than Bahamut, Tiamat, or Sardior. The heroes may even travel to the mountain in search of the dragon’s wisdom or power rather than attempt to fight it. If they choose violence, you can refer to the stat block below to embody such an awesome being.

Honourable Mentions

Here are a couple of maps that didn’t make the cut for Top 10 Maps for Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons but would still make great additions to a campaign drawing from the book. 

• Tutelary Turtle Island: Fizban’s Treasury expands on the dragon turtles mentioned in the Monster Manual, adding a dragon turtle great wyrm and a corresponding lair. The tutelary turtle island could serve as a mobile base for a campaign, especially a dragon echo campaign chasing a dragon across time and space. 
• Fortified Dam: like the Ancient Stepwell, the Fortified Dam could also capitalise on dragons’ verticality in combat. An aquatic dragon could perch atop the dam, protecting the reservoir it uses as its lair.