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Arena of Blood

Firstly an explanation.

I am a DM and have been running a pretty successful game for a while. I had an idea for a battle map but the opportunity to use it slipped by as my players took a different path in the road. So I am posting the map here now that it's unlikely I will get to use it in my own game. I wanted to share my work and also get a feel of what people thought of it, how it may be improved and what parts people particularly enjoyed.

The setting could really be anywhere, for me it was deep underground in a cavern where a violent and evil race lived. They used the arena as a bloodsport arena and for religious blood sacrifice at the same time.

My setting had the Arena at the bottom of a cave with steep sides and only one entrance (to the south). The "floor" of the cave was mostly lava, though there are some small paths of sand covered stone where one can move around. Around 40 feet above the lava are the bridges.

As you can see from the image, there is an outer circle of bridges, linked to the central platform (20ft in diameter) with more bridges [c] (3 - 4ft wide). The arena is divided into 8 segments (excluding the central square of chain around the platform [b]). On initiative 20, roll 2d8 and the corresponding sections are filled with an anti-magic zone. Nothing magic functions in these zones. If the 2d8 roll the same number, apply the anti-magic zone to the correct number and re-roll the dice until you get 2 more unique zones. At the next initiative of 20, the zones are reset.

There are some things of note in the image.

On the southern cliff [f] is a portal into the arena. This is the only (official) way into or out of the arena. Combatants (or sacrificial lambs ?) enter the arena through here wearing only armour and with no weapons. Weapons of various types are placed sporadically around the arena, with the majority of melee weapons (and some shields) in the centre, bows, crossbows and arrows towards the outside.

For the first turn, all 8 segments are filled with the anti-magic effect, after which standard 2d8 rolls decide where the anti-magic effect will be.

Ropes [d] run between the outside ring and the inner platform [b] at the compass points, N, E, S, W. These ropes can be run across to get quickly to the centre or to the outside. Acrobatics check DC 18. (The chains at NE, SE, SW, NW are above the map, are purely decorative and are supposed to help delineate the area of anti-magic for the players. One segment is the area between a rope and the next chain, floor to ceiling).

At the corners of the map are the magical devices that generate the anti-magic field [e]. There are 8 of these and each one lights up with a red glow when the corresponding segment is activated.

I've left till last my favourite point. The Blood Fountain [a]. A creature can be killed by throwing them into the Blood Fountain and making an attack. If the attack hits, the creature is killed outright. Whatever health the creature had right before its death is transferred to the killer. Any additional hit-points past maximum are awarded as temporary hit-points.

Beyond that, it's just a good ol' fashioned blood match! I hope people like it and if anyone has any questions I'll do my best to answer them.