Autumn Riverside Ruins, Adept & Expert (Patreon)

Hello there Adepts/Experts! My alternate version for you this week is a color swap, this time with lots of nice oranges and reds for some autumnal vibes. I used to make this kind of alt version a lot, but I hadn't made so many forested maps for some time so I figured I was overdue. While this kind of swap doesn't change how the map plays out it does change the context somewhat. This palette makes me think of harvest time in a fantasy universe, setting up witchier encounters or battles against blighted plants. I guess I'm saying that this is more Halloween-y, and I like that about it. 

I revisited this map and fixed that dang bridge up, you can find that version here!

1. My original design for this map was a little different. I started off wanting more of a ziggurat structure on the side of the river with various staircases climbing it, but as I thought about it I liked the idea less and less. I couldn't think of a good reason why this place would exist really, it struck me as out of place. It didn't have the right shape to be an ancient alter, it wasn't the right design to be a fort, it wasn't throne room-y enough to fit that bill. I liked the overall shape though, so I stepped it back a bit and went with a more typical ruin, just standing walls and columns to break line of sight. A little boring, sure, but it's functional enough and makes the map useful to the most possible people, which is the goal for each of my maps. 

I think if I were to revisit this one, I'd put the ruins on an island in the middle of a forked river and give them a more fort-like shape. This one is a little too similar to my Forest Stream map in my mind with ruins that are too much like those from Desert Fountain. I guess it makes sense that my maps look like each other, but I would rather they not. 

2. I tried something a little different this week, I stitched together the rock walls from a number of older maps. Rock walls are quickly becoming my least favorite thing to draw and I had gotten off to a slow start this week, so I figured I'd try it out at least and see what I thought. It turned out rather well actually and took about a quarter of the time, though it does make me feel remarkably lazy. I doubt I'll do this again. 

3. Looking at the coloring for this one I'm starting to think it's about time I switch up my forested palette a bit. Something about the grass's green just doesn't look right to me anymore, it's a little too emerald and not enough yellow. I'll do one more with this palette so as to scrape together 6 grassy maps to post in a pack on Roll20, but after that I'll be trying something new out. The autumn version of this week's map is a step in the right direction, though I think I overdid its vignette slightly the contrast and lighting is about right. We'll see!