Haunted Henge, Adept

This week's map is the Haunted Henge (40x50), a map made for druidic rituals deep in the forest! Now, I'm just an innocent mapmaker who doesn't pick sides, so whether your party is for or against druidic rituals is completely up to them and their DM. But, just in case they're as neutral as I am, your alternate version looks a fair bit spookier than the original with an eerily glowing pool in the middle, so maybe that'll push them one way or another.

 1. As I recall, back when I made this one I was stuck wondering how I was going to make sure this wasn't just a normal stretch of forest with a circle of stones in the middle, because the starting concept here was just 'stonehenge but in a forest'. I opted for a nice branching stream to add some interest to the bottom half of the map, an easy enough way to add some rougher terrain and add some more natural obstacles to the terrain. In hindsight I think I probably should have been a little more bold with how much water I added, maybe even putting the circle on the edge of a swamp or something. The current amount of water just feels a little unimportant to the map, but that's just my opinion.

 2. Outlines! I'm guessing I didn't have to draw very many new props for this one, the trees and rocks all look familiar to me. That isn't to say there was a lot to draw and detail still with a map this large- the grass, water, shoreline, dirt, and standing stones all needed my attention, together requiring a lot of time to do properly.

At this point I had to decide what to place in the middle of the circle, which previously I had left a little vague. I recall trying out a few different altars and stone platforms before going for something a little more simple and druidic, just a little pool of water (?). I think I probably could have worked out something a little flashier, like a crumbling statue or a tree or some big tree roots, but oftentimes I find that simpler is best. Or, at least, simpler maps are easier for most people to use in their campaigns.

 3. You guessed it, it's the same palette I used for all my Haunted maps.. or at least an earlier version of it. Looking back at some of the later ones, many became much more subdued with lower contrast, like the Druidic Ruins which similarly contained a fair amount of cut stone. I think I probably made the right choice in making them less brightly colored, but right now I feel that I could have maybe found a middle ground. Looking between this map and the Druidic Ruins, I can't help but feel that I might have gone too far in the other direction, but what's done is done. I doubt I'll be returning to this haunted forest setting for at least a year, so I have more time to consider it.