Fall Forest Shack, Adept & Expert (Patreon)

Howdy Adepts & Experts, your alt map this week has got a nice little fall color swap because I just can't get enough of these colors! I like how the tone of the map changes with this palette, much more gloomy and a little foreboding. My personal campaign is set in a tropical climate, so consider this an outlet for all the yellows, browns, and oranges pent up inside me.

I think I would use this map as the home of a hermit, or maybe a poacher, you've been sent to look into. How about this: there have been reports of a large beast stalking the woods enraged and attacking travelers; a hunter has a small shack in the woods but hasn't been seen in a couple of weeks, would you mind checking in on him? Maybe he knows something about the beast. This more or less a story line I've used before with the end goal of the players baiting the beast into an ambush using bear traps they purchased from a local blacksmith (and it went very well I think!). My twist was that the hunter had captured the beast's cubs and had them caged in his cellar, which is what caused the beast to go into a frenzy in the first place. 

1. This map came about with relatively few problems or struggles. The idea I had in mind was of a small cabin a short way from a path through the woods. Initially, I liked the idea of a pond with a rickety dock, but as I started the rough sketch I decided I liked the map better with rock ledges rather than with a slope down to a pond. There are a couple of reasons I use so many rock ledges: they break line of sight, setting up the sneakier players with the downside of reduced visibility, and make for much more interesting lighting. 

2. After the rough sketch, I decided to cut and change a few things. I didn't put any bushes on the map, which is a little unusual for me, because I really didn't think they added enough to the map to warrant them. Does this mean that stealth and cover will be a little more difficult, but ain't that just life sometimes? Another thing I changed was the placement and size of rocks, using many small rocks scattered around the map rather than a couple of large clusters of boulders (which is a feature in many of my maps). The boulders always stand out too much to me, and while they make for reliable cover I just despise the way they look. I compromised here and there with this map but I'm still figuring it out. 

One more thing, I tried drawing the rock ledges differently (again), and I'm really digging how it came out! I doubt it looks any different to you guys, but as the one drawing them, it's a huge difference. They don't follow my typical formula for rock ledges as much as usual, a little more loosey-goosey, with some Hash Marks (TM) thrown in for small added details. As the first thing I drew, I also used a somewhat thicker brush (15 strokes rather than 10), a good decision in the end as I think almost everything of interest pops very well!

3. The palette was more or less taken directly from the Forest Clearing map, though notably there weren't any patches of dirt or rock walls in that one. Picking a color for the dirt path was an adventure, though not a particularly exciting adventure. I've always struggled with picking shades of brown and tan (they're just colors I don't have an eye for I suppose), and even now I'm not content with the color I settled on, a little too yellow. It's an easy fix though, so I'll put this on my growing list of things I'd change about my maps if I ever got around to it (no). 

Early on I made a decision to give the inside of the cabin a dusky, grayish palette with the intent of making it seem old, dusty, abandoned, or just currently unoccupied. Of course, it's ultimately up to you to decide the story behind all my maps, but I try to set you up with small story elements whenever I get the chance ;)