Underdark Fork, Adept (Patreon)

I'm back! This map is the Underdark Fork (30x40), a forked stream in the Underdark between jagged cliffs and glowing mushrooms. Also, your alternate version of t his map is a continuation of last week's- I've swapped out the stream for a bottomless pit! Honestly, adding bottomless pits to a map feels surprisingly fitting for the Underdark, it adds that extra bit of danger that I feel should usually be present down there. Pretty fun, I think!

1. Similar to last week, I'm working out how claustrophobic I want these Underdark maps to feel. This one is a bit less confined than the other with just a few ceiling-height walls to express that this is a cave. I think I'll continue making maps with a similar level of framing, maybe leaning away from big gaps in the center. Caves are tricky though, I don't have an easy time coming up with underground terrain compared to forests, and also mushrooms aren't easy to populate a map with compared to trees. Tricky stuff.

Note that I removed the raised platforms in favor of adding small ledges and ramps. I think the raised platforms were my attempt to work out a way to indicate stalagmites but missed the mark. I'm still working on how to draw stalagmites in a way that makes sense from a bird's-eye view, but for now I'm shying away from that.

2. Lots of outlines here, not many (any?) of which I could bring over from previous maps. That'll be a bit of an issue going forward if I don't find a way to whip these up faster, but I'm hoping I'll come to be a bit quicker at drawing these kinds of ledges. Speaking of which, I'm leaning away from outright rock walls in these maps as I usually draw them, at least for expressing great heights. I really don't think my usual rock walls express that sort of thing very well so I would rather figure out something better. Last week's tiered jagged cliffside worked really well so I'm hoping to capture that sort of look again. I don't exactly think I nailed it this time, something about it feels too structured and even, but it works. 

3. God, I had such a hard time coloring this. I think I spent as much time color-picking and shading this map as I did drawing it, if not more. I tried out the water as just about every possible color and the mushrooms as every shade of green, blue, and purple. Nothing looked quite right to me, but this final palette felt the most correct. Honestly I'm still not happy with it, but this is often how it goes when I start drawing maps in a new environment. Maybe next week I'll try out another crystal cavern so I can get fresh eyes on this one again.