Druidic Ruins, Adept (Patreon)

Hello folks, this map is the Druidic Ruins (40x40), a neat circular ruin inspired by the Ayleid ruins in Oblivion plus a few big dead trees to build on the witchy vibes. 

Your extra variant for this map is one I'm calling 'Golden' though really it's just inspired by Elden Ring, with a similar color palette and glowing golden trees. I've been replaying Elden Ring recently so this felt right! 

Additionally, I also prepared an extra variant (with night version) without the central trees, leaving somewhat ominous platforms for you to do with as you like. Place magical obelisks there which sling spells at the players, cultists protected by magical bubble shields, or big magical flaming crystals for your party to destroy thus weakening the boss in the center with each destroyed. Fun! 

1. As I mentioned, this was inspired by the Ayleid Ruins in Oblivion, which have a variety of designs but often feature a circular design and walkways. They also tend to have lots of rubble hanging around nearby, but I didn't much like the thought of making piles of rubble a major part of this map, the thought of the area being fairly clean of rubble felt interesting to me, like something has been tending to it.  

Also, I was on the verge of removing the extra 3 platforms around the main ruins but eventually decided to keep them in. I was a little worried that, without them, this map would feel a little underwhelming, and this way these ruins come across as a bit more grand, like they serve some sort of magical purpose. 

The layout with the stream cutting through also helps build on the grandiose feeling- any ruins with a platform built out over a body of water has got to be built there for a purpose.

2. Outlines, this time, were a minor pain. I'm 100% happy making ruins maps, but circular ruins are obnoxious. I made a few guidelines (big circles with strokes the same size as the bricks) for myself to help make things easier, but they still require much more care than square walls. Usually I can just throw down the lines for each individual brick without much thought, but with circles I would prefer it if the brick lines all pointed to the center and weren't all crooked. 

The bigger trees had to also be drawn fresh, and that's also a minor pain. When I drew all the small trees I intentionally drew a bunch of them at once so I wouldn't have to keep making more of the things for future maps because I can't draw them very fast at all. The big ones are honestly even more annoying to draw because the shapes feel a little too chunky when made bigger.  Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm pretty sure the problem is I obsess too much over the branches until I get sick of drawing them, then I rush it and get sloppy. 

3. And finally, the colors. I think I'm finally happy with the haunted palette here. The color and darkness of the trees trees helps them pop against the grass while still feeling like the the right palette for a haunted wood. The ruins are just a little purplish which contrasts nicely against the rest of the greens and browns without feeling terribly out of place. The fog is present and noticeable without obscuring the map. The water feels murky and subtly blue without catching the eye more than necessary. 

Thank goodness I'm finally content with the palette, because it's time to leave the Haunted Forest behind for a while- I'm finally getting a bit bored of drawing forests, I never thought it would happen. I'll revisit it briefly around Halloween again <3