Winding Creek, Adept
Added 2024-12-29 21:34:06 +0000 UTCHi Adepts! This is the Winding Creek (30x30), a mid-sized plains map with just a little creek and some small ledges, simple stuff but that should be plenty to work with for a fun encounter! I like the thought of a character pressing themselves up against the side of the trench here in an attempt to gain just a little cover from someone firing off arrows from above, or another character flopping down into the creek to get out of a wizard's line of sight. Not incredibly flashy or dramatic, but it can be exciting I think!
1. Yup, that's a creek! The real consideration here was how much I wanted to build on this simple concept. As I drew I often considered sprinkling in a few bushes down by the water or maybe just one or two smallish trees near the edges of the map, but I kept reminding myself that December is my busiest month of the year and I needed to get 4 maps put together with less time than usual, so the plan was to keep it simple.
So, a straightforward stream in a plains was the idea. I couldn't just leave it so plain though, so I wanted to draw it to look like it's at the bottom of a sort of trench, like a large ditch or something. There's one in town I drive by occasionally that was my inspiration, it has very steep walls and some little ledges leading down to a tiny stream.
2. This might be simpler than usual but it did require a good bit of fine detailing on account of all the mini ledges. Placing them in a way that felt natural was trickier than expected, I didn't want them too regularly spaced or too similar in size or shape as any others nearby. Beyond that, fairly simple stuff.
3. Color-wise, I wanted to keep using the palette as my previous map, the Forgotten Graveyard, which was an Autumn map. Without the trees, however, I felt that the autumnal vibes weren't really coming across. I still stuck with it, tweaking everything a bit just to help it all pop, but I don't think you could really say this is an Autumn map. I think the colors look very nice, though, so I'd call it a success!
