Stately Throne Room, Adept

Hello Adepts! This week's map is the Stately Throne Room (17x32), and your alternate version is a dark recoloring with the court's braziers lit, giving the map very dramatic lighting. If you're got lots of flair, maybe start off the encounter with the darkened map and swap to this version as the braziers magically light ablaze, instantly showing your players that their presence is known and the baddie knows how to make an entrance!

1. Obviously, a lot changed after my initial sketch of this map. I found the layout to be particularly tricky as I struggled to nail something royal and sleek without being over-designed. The alcoves lining the hall were an early cut, becoming windows fairly easily in an attempt to come up with clear light sources and make the layout make sense (assuming there's a castle or courtyards surrounding this place). Mostly though, I cut the alcoves because the simpler design was a little more satisfying to look at early on, though I regretted the decision later as I started to feel the layout needed a little more excitement.

The stairs similarly were cut before I even drew them, feeling a little too 'game-y', like an obvious attempt at forcing varying heights to the terrain. My research into actual throne room designs backed me up there, as most actually have a pretty straightforward layout. Don't get me wrong though, I'm usually more than happy to play toward the game-y-ness of what I'm doing here, but this time I didn't think it would be terribly appropriate. Call it instinct I suppose, or just my right as the artist.

2. Outlines are pretty simple when doing indoor areas, at least once I've come up with a layout. This time I gave myself more guidelines than I usually do though. Typically I use the 1" grid as an aid while drawing the map, but this time I set myself up with 1/2", 1/4", and 1/8" grids as well. They were massively helpful for keeping smaller details consistent and are largely responsible for why so much of this map's elements don't line up neatly with the 1" grid, cutting a quarter or an eight of the way through the grid instead. I'm still trying to decide if that's a good thing, but I'm pretty sure it isn't bad at least.

The only thing about the outlines I'm actually unhappy with is the tile floor, which hides the gridlines in a terrible way- I need to stop using this pattern. To help the grids stand out, I've placed a particularly thick grid below the props and on top of the floor details, but still it isn't as clear as I would like. Live and learn I suppose. 

3. This was tricky as well, striking a balance between gleaming opulence and satisfying shading. I think I did moderately well but my shading tends to make things look a little grimy, an effect that I usually welcome but seemed inappropriate here. Other than that though, I think the lighting is particularly satisfying here, perhaps my favorite instance of indoors-shading yet. I'll have to make a point of breaking down what it is that I find so appealing, but I suspect it's the multiple light sources creating complex shadows.