Split Cavern, Adept (Patreon)

Hi Adepts! This map is the Split Cavern (40x30), featuring a highly deadly endless pit in an otherwise simple cavern with some little winding tunnels around the edges. Crossing over this pit shouldn't be too much trouble for most adventurers.. unless you happen to add additional hazards the make the jump trickier. Swarms of insects flying above the chasm, wet and slippery rocks, and giant muscly enemies with no regard for their own well-being who want to pile drive meddling adventurers into a pit of endless darkness are all free game here.

1. Yup, simple design really. My first pass at this sketch actually had a big circular hole in the middle which I wanted to feel like a bug hive , but that didn't fit the space too well and I didn't feel like adjusting the rest of the sketch to feel more buggy. The chasm I swapped in breaks up the space very nicely and provides a lovely and obvious hazard for you to work with and your players to fear. The split also makes the cavern feel like an arena almost, which felt cool to me as well.

2. Thank god I'm getting faster at drawing these caves, I was falling so far behind for the first few Underdark maps I was making. This one is actually coming out a day earlier than expected which is amazing for me- I rarely take days off from mapmaking. That was one of the nice things about all those Haunted maps I was making last year, forests are so simple to make so the only tricky thing was the coloring/shading.

This time around I decided not to include either glowing crystals or giant mushrooms, opting for a more simple look. I did try to place crystals in this map, but the little tunnels didn't feel right clogged with them and the larger spaces felt awkward with the bigger crystals taking up so much room. There's a simplicity to the final design which I enjoy, a kinda generic cave, so I'm content.

3. Honestly, I'm shocked at how easy and fast it was to color/shade this map. I don't think I approached it any differently but it was so stinkin' easy that I wrapped it up in half a day, no problem. I suspect this is because maps always strike me as more complete when something eye-catching takes up the middle of the map (the chasm) and something more subtle takes up the edges (the winding tunnels).

Ideally I'd also try to include a 3rd point of interest to truly make the map feel full and intricate, but 2 points of interest make for a somewhat simpler and easier to use design that doesn't overwhelm at a glance. If I were to have to add more here maybe I'd expand the chasm to fill the middle a little more, or perhaps I'd break up the map into 3 pieces instead of 2. A camp might have been fun here as well, but I think I'd have to change the layout of the cave itself so as to make it seem like an actual decent place to make camp (adding a source of water would be a good start).