Joe Wetzel of Inkwell Ideas is running a geomorph contest every two weeks. Each contest has a different secret ingredient – and the winner gets a set of DungeonMorph Dice!

Last contest was thrones, and I got a runner-up prize for this geomorph that I drew:

It got extra points for the skeleton in the cell and the elevation changes. I like it and definitely plan on using the main mushroom throne cave room in an adventure soon.

The current contest’s secret ingredient is LAVA. I feel like I should be putting air quotes around it like Dr Evil discussing “magma”. It also started while I had a motherfucker of a nasty migraine going on. So I changed my style for this one.

Drawing a map with a migraine required I switch to different tools than usual. Plus I couldn’t get the Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Head On” out of my head while drawing it, so the whole thing was drawn to that one song.

The lava didn’t come out quite as I hoped, but the map does look a lot like how I feel right now, and I’ve wanted to get that style of crosshatching to work for a while now, so this was the perfect opportunity to experiment with it. It’s got a darker, clashing, deeper, claustrophobic feel to it… I just wish the lava was more evocative.

Totally different toolset than I usually work with, substituting my usual fine-tipped Sakura Microns for a pair of classic Sharpies.