Maze of the Blue Medusa 5E (Inactive)

Game Master TPJ

Maze of the Blue Medusa
The Hyperfunctional Megadungeon for the 21st Century

Infinite broken night. Milky alien moons. Wavering demons of gold. Held in this jail of immortal threats are three perfect sisters...

Maze of the Blue Medusa is a dungeon. Maze of the Blue Medusa is art. Lethal gardens, soul-rending art galleries, infernal machines -— Maze of the Blue Medusa reads like the poetic nightmare of civilizations rotted to time, and plays like a puzzle-box built from risk and weird spectacle.

There is a rumor of an empire, ancient and lost to time. An Empire ruled by three perfect women who could never do wrong, and who would never die. And though they were beautiful, ageless, and merciful, the kingdom that grew around the Triarchy was the most monstrous yet made. A tyranny of torture and pain that could never end while the three immortal sisters lay at its center like pearls in a poisoned shell. Until one day it did. The women disappeared and were never seen again. The Empire slowly faded and fell, leaving only a memory, like a nightmare recalled at dawn.

For those who follow such things, MotBM just won multiple ENNies at GenCon this year. I've been eager to run this adventure since I first picked it up a couple months ago.

**Disclaimer**
This adventure does contain some mature content. As needed, I will adjust to ensure we stay within Paizo's Community Guidelines. If you are easily offended by artistic representations, this may not be the adventure for you.

Why 5E and not Pathfinder?
The adventure isn't system-specific, but clearly favors roleplay over crunch, so I feel that 5E may be a better fit for this than Pathfinder. And I really like 5E. I really like Pathfinder too, but I feel this fits 5E a bit better.

About Me
I'm still fairly new at this. I'm currently DM'ing another PBP game, and I've been back at this for several months after many years away. Some might say it's crazy to try to run an adventure like this. I'd say they're right.

The Setting
This adventure is system and setting agnostic. Because we're playing it in 5E, it may very well begin in the Forgotten Realms, or it may not. Don't worry about it. Aside from the beginning hooks, the entire adventure will be within the Maze.

The Details
I’m looking for 4-6 players to participate, starting at level 3. This is a long adventure, and I’m expecting gameplay to last for many months. To be considered for play, post in the thread below with your answer to the following scenario, 500 words or less:

“You must steal a painting that is important to you. Describe the painting you steal and how you steal it.”

The painting can be any real or imaginary work of art. The candidates with the most creative responses will be selected. You may post in-character or not. Just be creative.

I will accept responses until Saturday, September 10th. Players will then be selected and notified by September 14th. You will have additional time after to complete your character. Gameplay will start in late September.

Dotting.

Question: Does the answer to the painting-theft scenario have to refer to how the character we're submitting would do it, or can it be independent of our character submission? That'll probably have an impact on what types of characters people make.

Another question: How reliant on maps will this campaign be? Is it an issue if maps can't be viewed regularly/consistently?

Yet another question: What are our potential motivations for delving into this dungeon? Treasure? Knowledge? Saving lives? What should we do (or not do) in order to make sure we produce characters would actually go on this adventure?

@Jiggy,

As I stated above, you may give the response in-character or not in-character. I'm looking to gage creative writing and thinking.

I haven't yet decided on how to handle maps. It may be done through Google Drawings, it may be a large amount theatre of the mind. I'm still working on it. The map of the Maze is based on a large painted mural created by one of the authors, and it's not really a traditional map. There's a lot that's unorthodox about this adventure, which is why I want to try running it.

Without spoiling anything, the Maze is basically a sandbox world of it's own. There is a mystery at the heart of it that can be solved, but no one specific motivation. Any of the ones you mentioned could be applicable. Pick something that works for you.

Hello DM Critic! Dotting for interest and I'm going to start working on a submission.

-Would a Warforged from the UA 5e supplements be alright by you for a character? I'm getting the idea that mechanics are going to be less important then finding a clever strategy or solution to a puzzle. Still I do have a fun idea for a Warforged character that I wouldn't mind giving a go.

I hope to reply again soon with a submission post.

@Warsor,

If you can make it work and come up with a plausible hook and backstory of how you got mixed up with the other characters, then go for it.

Another question: Given that this is 5E rather than Pathfinder, what exactly do you mean when you mention "minmaxing"? You brought it up more than once, so it must be important. But usually when I hear someone talking about "minmaxing", they seem to mean stats that go both below and above the range of the heroic NPC array, and/or assembling a stack of bonuses on something that's larger than the speaker would like.

But you can't really do either of those in 5E: you can't dump/buy a stat lower/higher than the standard array, and everybody's using the same proficiency bonus. (That's one of the things I like about 5E, personally.)

So what is it exactly that you're trying to discourage people from doing? Should we not put our highest score in our most-used stat or something? That would be a weird definition of "min-maxing" considering that each class writeup includes quick-build advice that tells you to do exactly that. So surely that's not what you mean.

So... I guess I don't really know what I'm supposed to not do. Can you clarify? Thanks.

@Jiggy,

Don't sweat the numbers. Build a character who is an interesting story. That's all I'm saying.

I really shouldn't, I'm in so much and applying to so many games... but this sounds really interesting and I do love 5E. I'll probably be back with a submission and response soon.

Would you allow me to use this? I'd love to play a character who is slightly mad and believes that a certain painting will somehow give him control over fate.

@ULTRAGEEK,

I'll look it over. Unless it's something horribly imbalanced or game-breaking, then I'll probably allow it.

Note: this is not in character. It's just for the application requirements. I'm not sure what character I want to make yet.

@bookrat,

I like it! Nicely done!

@ULTRAGEEK,

I've looked over the Gambler archetype. It seems to exercise the proper restraint, so I'll allow it, with one caveat, that you can't also take the Lucky feat should you either build a variant human or choose a feat at 4th level.

Should we build a character capable of surviving within the maze without support, or will the characters be visiting settlements and towns on a somewhat regular basis?

And one other question: what's the motivation for going into the maze? Having that will help me come up with a character concept.

Introductory Hook

(This is information I should have included in the introduction, and if I had it at the time, I would have. Let’s say in the tradition of old-school adventures, there is a specific way to enter the maze, but the motivation and opening hooks have been left to each DM. What follows is my own small contribution to the story.)

The maze is self-contained, possibly other-worldly. There may be multiple exits though.

The characters who participate have all been having vivid dreams for several months, about a painting depicting a woman in chains. In the dreams she continually calls out for help.

Last month, after making inquiries, you learned that the painting is real, and is part of an exhibit by a private art dealer in the city of Vornheim, which you'd never heard of before. The dreams keep telling you that you must steal the painting. Additionally, your dreams now tell you when you have it you must hang it in a certain location at a certain time, all of which you will understand when you actually have it, and then you can free the woman. Attempts to find out further information about the painting reveal only that it is quite old, and the possible title of the painting.

Three weeks ago you discovered directions to the city of Vornheim, in a location where you were certain there was no such city. Everyone you ask acts as though it's always been there, but when pressed they can't give you specific details. You embarked immediately on a journey to go to Vornheim and steal the painting.

Two days ago you arrived in Vornheim, a very large, dense city. The inhabitants seem to be oblivious to the goings-on of the outside world. You can’t believe you’d never heard of this city before and know nothing about it. You question your own sanity. You wonder if it appeared out of nowhere, or if something had tampered with your memories of it.

Today, you met other individuals who have had the same dream about the same painting. Nobody knows why, or what your connection is, other than that you must put together a plan to steal it, and you only have one day left to do it. You realize you need to all work together.

Some of the adventurers may already know each other. The realization of the shared dream has given the situation gravitas, and you are determined to steal the painting and help the woman who haunts your dreams.

I'll leave it to the participating players to work out connections with other characters.

Astute characters will deduce that the dreams are more vivid during certain parts of the month, connected with lunar cycles, which provides a clue about the painting and the quest.

Astute players will deduce that I've already given away the title of the painting.

Further details will be filled in when gameplay begins. I’m hoping this is sufficient for building a character while still maintaining the mystery about the adventure. It should also be something you can tack onto your character history so that you still have much flexibility in creating your own character.

That's perfect. It's exactly what I was looking for.

Now that I've gotten into another game, and since I also intend to start another campaign of my own this fall, I think I'd better be realistic and withdraw from this recruitment. Happy gaming, everyone!

Still interested; at this point I'm thinking a rogue, although that may change.

Astute players will deduce that I've already given away the title of the painting.

Alice in Chains? (You mentioned the class of that name in the first post)

@Loup Blanc, Close, but no cigar. The title is in the text of my first post.

I was referring to the Alice class is from A Red & Pleasant Land, a campaign supplement/adventure by one of the co-authors of Maze of the Blue Medusa that was released a couple years ago, very loosely based on Alice in Wonderland and Dracula.

It was primarily designed for D&D Basic clones, but there are several 5E conversions that people have come up with, such as this one or this one.

Meh, worth a shot. You'd mentioned Alice specifically, as a class reference but I wasn't sure of just what, and then your painting description is a woman in chains. Maybe it's because I like the band, but it seemed like a decent reasoning.

Still working on my character concept as well as a response to your writing prompt, but I'm definitely still interested.

Hmm sounds interesting...Hey there Loup:)
I'll put forth 'Blue Medusa' as the title ;)

Yeah. It's either Maze of the Blue Medusa, as that's art (but more likey referencing the title of the adventure itself as actual art), or its False Chanterelle.

I'm actually betting on the latter, as the woman in the picture is not the women described in the Triarchy. However - she looks like them and is mistaken for them. Hence, she is the False Chanterelle.

Astute players will deduce that I've already given away the title of the painting.

I rest my case. :)

I am going to dot this for reading pleasure. Unfortunately I don't have time for another game.

If no-one else is interested, I'd be interested to know what take of Alice you are using?
Would it be wrong to wrong to have an Alice character about be about 14? It seems to fit better, but if the adventure is mature I'd rather not usher towards things best left alone...

Would it be terribly odd to have her just be English? As we start at 3rd level, she could always have fallen to the realms via a convenient mirror or rabbit hole?

@spinningdice

This is not the literal Alice from the Lewis Carroll books, but a character class inspired by her. The class (also known as "The Alistair" for males or simply "The Fool" for gender-neutral) is based on the Rogue class, with light armor and simple weapon proficiency. The main features of the class are the Exasperation Table (shown in the 2 links), and the d100 level up table. As such, a character of this class may be of any race or gender, and is not limited to the actual works of Lewis Carroll.

Exasperation table (from A Red & Pleasant Land):

In times of unusual stress Alices may become Exasperated. This Exasperation causes fate to take notice of the Alice, and then to aid her. The Alice says or thinks something like “Oh I can’t conceive how I ever fell into this deplorable circumstance!” or “We are indeed doomed and now birds will gnaw our eyes.”

Practically speaking, an Alice may express Exasperation once every real-time game hour (as games focus almost exclusively on stressful times, these represent the periods during which the gods are most likely to take notice).

When this happens, the Referee should roll the dice on the Exasperation Table...

The d100 level up table is rolled whenever the Alice class gains a level. It will grant random new abilities to the character.

I would suggest reading up more on the two links in my post above for more details if you might be interested in the class. The class was created for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, which is basically a weird horror-themed version of the old D&D Basic rules from the 80s, but several individuals have done 5E conversions.

Since this is a pbp game, how will the "once per hour of game time" be handled?

@bookrat

I'm sure I can adapt something. Perhaps once per page/50 posts, once per couple encounters, something comparable. I've had to deal with spell durations in other pbp games (Mage Armor mostly) and usually it's been by DM's estimate.

When all else fails, perhaps just wing it? :)

That sounds good.

Sorry I haven't posted a character concept yet - I've been under the weather this week and have had a difficult time thinking. I've made two other characters for two other games in applying to - but I just can't quite get the character I want for this game.

I'm kind of hoping that I'll get some more inspiration from others as they post character concepts. Or perhaps I'll play the trinket game again (roll on the trinket table and design a character around the trinket) - that's how I came up with the asventurer's league character.

Okay, as a random idea, How would a Tiefling Alice sound?

Lys was from the village of Soren, out in the middle of nowhere. Nothing much ever happened in Soren, it appeared on maps, but had no real presence in the world. Disasters always seemed to avoid it, few travellers saw any reason to visit and few people saw any need to leave.

It was not long before the young girl was accused as the cause of all this chaos, and hedging their bets they sent her out into the world (properly provided for of course)...

Before I follow this rabbit-hole any further does that seem like a reasonable start, or am i on the wrong track completely?
Thinking a combination of the film Horns, mixed with Good Omens through a lens of Lewis Carroll's whimsy.

@spinningdice,

Looks like you're off to a good start.

I've been looking closer at the 5E conversions for the Alice character, and I feel this one is closer to the original version, and keeps things more random.

DM critic, I sent you a PM.

1d6 ⇒ 51d100 ⇒ 78

Here's my character submission (Bookrat). Statistics and backstory are in the profile.

Still need to purchase equipment. 2k is a lot. Can we buy an uncommon magic item for 500 gp?

What about proficiencies? Can we purchase training to gain new proficiencies?

@bookrat

1. Magic items - Yes, you may spend your gold on magic items or any other equipment within the budget.

2. Proficiencies - Per the PHB you can spend 250 gp to purchase training for an additional language or tool proficiency. I'll limit it to two at the most.

You'll want to hang onto some of that gold since Vornheim, being a large city, is not cheap, and you never know when you may to hire or bribe individuals in your quest for the painting.

Character complete. Purchased a rope of climbing for 500 GP and Acrobatics for 600 GP. All that, combined with the more mundane gear, leaves me with a handful for whatever may be needed in the city. Roughly 500 GP left, dissemenisted amongst various coin and gems.

I was debating submitting for this, and decided to give it a go. All my PbP games as a player are dead, and I would like to be a player in something.

I am not sure what direction I want to go in, so I'm open to suggestion for team roles. I liked playing a crooked wizard when I did briefly, a stuffy rogue chamberlain (again briefly), and there is a lot of stuff I would like to play like monk or paladin.

Also, let me think about the scenario a bit more.

I was debating submitting for this, and decided to give it a go. All my PbP games as a player are dead, and I would like to be a player in something.

I am not sure what direction I want to go in, so I'm open to suggestion for team roles. I liked playing a crooked wizard when I did briefly, a stuffy rogue chamberlain (again briefly), and there is a lot of stuff I would like to play like monk or paladin.

Also, let me think about the scenario a bit more.

There are two and a partial character submissions so far:

• My own, a Halfling wild Mage sorc heavily flavored towards thievery (criminal background, skills and spells slanted towards breaking and entering, etc..). Little bit of combat and face built in as well.

• And there's a warforged fighter (eldritch knight). Looks to be focused as a switch hitter, moreso on the melee. Spells seem to be around utility with a bit of face built in (comprehend languages).

• The partial submission looks like it's aiming for The Alice class. The Alice is a unique class made by a third party that focuses on random character advancement and random assistance from powerful beings. They're mostly spec'd as rogues, but the abilities they gain when they level up are dependent on a random table. No build has been presented.
  

As far as abilities go, we have a fighter with a bit of Spellcasting. A spellcaster with a bit of rogue abilities. And potentially an Alice (rogue with random abilities).

Lacking are areas of knowledge (magic, divine, nature, or otherwise) and divine spell casting. However, more melee and ranged support is always nice. Buffing roles are always good. And on a personal note, I love seeing a class played more than once in a game - really highlights the difference in characters. :) So if there's something you're dying to play and someone else already had a build for it, I say go for it.

Rolling:
Trinket: 1d100 ⇒ 97
Trinket: 1d100 ⇒ 6
Level: 1d100 ⇒ 84
Level: 1d100 ⇒ 47
Level: 1d100 ⇒ 19

Still a work in progress but Lys

Lys looked at the painting, it was of herself, but not of herself. It was a clearly a cat, but there was something of the look of Lys about it, it had her curious eyes, her curious teeth and her curious ears... no they were horns, on Lys at least, on the cat they were obviously ears.
It looked smugly self-satisfied, I hope I don't have that expression, I've precious little to be smug about thought Lys to herself, with a frown.

"Well I suppose if one must do a thing, one must do it correctly.", after the attendant walked past she glanced around, pulled out her knife and cut the painting from it's frame - after all, it was the image she was after - not the value of thing, she pouted a bit, it was still too big to conceal on her person. Oh how bothersome. She rolled the painting up bound it with string, always carry string and you'll never be bored and threw it out of the window.

Moments later an innocent little girl walked out of the museum just as shouts and alarm sounded behind her, she gave them an innocent smile as they searched her and then walked around the back of the building, picked up the a painting and continued on her way.

[ooc]Hmm, that came out better in my head, it started well, but got lost somewhere near the end.../ooc]

Hmmm... I think I will do a human warlock then. I'm debating on pact between The Seeker (The Faithful UA), The Archfey, or The Undying Light (Light, Dark, Underdark! UA).

I like the idea of being a mysterious charming vagabond doing odd jobs for simple payment of food and shelter, someone who is known to be very strong but lacks the ambition and desire to achieve more than his basic needs. He has misplaced idealism about ownership and property, and blames too much of the world's problems on personal greed. He also has a misplaced feeling of nobility surrounding being poor, and is proud of his detachment from personal goods. That's not to say he goes to a vow of poverty extreme, he still understands he needs a certain amount of equipment to accomplish the jobs he takes.

You must steal a painting that is important to you. Describe the painting you steal and how you steal it.

The aging man now known as Wan’di is proud of his upbringing, but not in the way most should be. His childhood served as the counterexample to his being. Son of a now long-dead general born in a household whose untamed opulence was taken with the blood of foreign sovereigns, Wan always pushed the boundaries of what he was allowed to do. He would always sneak into the city or out into the king’s wood, and after spending three days lost in the lower city he was found and brought home only for the family who had taken a hungry boy into their home to be summarily executed. Spared from the grim details, Wan’s father impressed on him that it was his actions which bore such consequence; that his father spares those who leech from the system and refuse to work hard enough to succeed in life for as long as they know their place. Following this event a depressed Wan never lost his wanderlust. He was able to temper it by spending more and more time exploring his father’s extensive “collection” of art plundered from around the world.

That is where he first felt Her presence. The entity has no name, but Her soft voice and motherly tone never rejected Wan’s choice of pronouns. She told Wan the true stories behind the artwork. How his father’s prized sculpture was a forgery, leaving this false Chanterelle worthless despite the kingdom’s contrary appraisal. She also pointed out how the popular mosaic wall was actually made locally by an artist commissioned to put good use to the broken ceramic artwork shattered by looting soldiers; how the headless nude female statue was actually a depiction of Sune taken from a famous temple that was only partially restored. She also told Wan his favorite painting of an infant was of a real person who saw her father murdered for that piece – and how she still lives to the north. Wan asked Her how he could return the painting, and She told him of two options: grow old and compliant and bring his then inheritance to the woman’s children, or retreat with it to the ancient tower on the compound and leap from the roof with it in hand. Both actions will bring the painting home, but with a leap of faith he could heal some of the wound his father left in the girl’s heart instead of helping her descendants cope.

Long disillusioned with the importance of his house and nation, Wan’di took the painting to the tower and leapt from the roof believing in the power of Her words. Magic bloomed within him and sent him sailing softly to the ground… three hundred miles north of his home. It was there Wan thanked her and began his life on the road, delivering the painting after overcoming the hardship of escaping a tyrannical kingdom’s borders to a now middle aged woman who cried uncontrollably in front of a now thirteen year old boy.

Trinket: 1d100 ⇒ 74 -> A wolf's head wrought in silver that is also a whistle.
Magic Item: 1d6 ⇒ 4, 1d100 ⇒ 42

Let me know if anything it missing.

@hiiamtom, Everything looks great so far.

@spinningdice, Also looks great so far, but you are missing something in the painting submission. Read back over my first post and you'll find it. :)

Just to avoid having to click through, I focused damage and utility through ritual casting. With the pseudo planar travel I wanted to make someone involved with other planes (I chose Seeker, so the Astral Plane), and I wanted to make a miscreant or outsider who did so with good intentions.

I want to see how things go first, but I may multiclass to boost my damage - probably favored soul sorcerer using my patron as the source of that power as well.

Hmmm, still can't make the thievery sound quite right, but I've added the required reference in there.
I can no longer edit the post above, but have added the story the doc/draft profile here

@spinningdice That looks good.

Still looking to submit, just been really busy....

@Spazmodeus, You have till September 10.