Twisted Shrine, Adept (Patreon)

Hello folks, this week's map is the Twisted Forest Shrine (25x25), the winner from the poll! I wasn't sure quite how twisted to make this one, but I felt that some creepy crystals and pointy vines would be a nice place to start. Partially, because I thought it wouldn't look unnatural in versions of the map with different, more cheerful, palettes, and wouldn't be too hard to present as the way the shrine is supposed to be. 

1. I had a few iterations of this map that I went through after deciding that the shrine should probably be in a more dramatic location. Originally I was planning on it being on a small hill in the forest, with the stream just winding nearby, but it felt a little underwhelming and the changes in elevation didn't read particularly well. This version, with a small island and bridge, is much more interesting and will make for more exciting combat considering the limited options for movement.

2. For whatever reason, I didn't try to reuse any old rock walls for this map, which would have saved me a lot of time. I think I decided that I wouldn't have enough with the elevation I had in mind, and trying to stitch them together wouldn't be worth the effort. In hindsight, I probably could have saved an hour or two with some pieces from similar forest maps, with new chunks connecting them, but what can you do. 

In fact, I think the only reused assets for this map are the trees and rocks. The trees are mostly those I made for the Fey Encampment, which I wisely saved in a PNG for just this reason. Now that I'm thinking about it, it might be time to put together a fresh batch of rocks, ones that perhaps stand out a little less. Whenever I start to recognize certain rocks popping up, that's about the right time to start anew.

3. I decided this time to go with my creepier forest palette, which I felt was right for this map's content. The yellowing grass and golden glow are great for getting across a kinda 'rotten' feel, which seems like it works well with the 'twisted' vibe. I think I could have gone a bit softer on the vignette around the edges of the map, which I've been receiving complaints about, but I felt that this one didn't feel right without a bit more framing. If you're one of those who have messaged me about that recently, know that I'm still committed to taking steps away from that effect for your sake. 

Anyway, I thought that giving you Adepts the Sunny version would be a nice compliment to the regular spooky palette, since you could transition from one to the other when a ritual is completed or something like that. I'm sure you could come up with some fun setups for how to use the two together, so I wish you the best of luck!