I just ran my group through the Labyrinth of Vecna in 3FOE last night. I'm posting this because I read a thread where Erik Mona posted that mazes didn't work in D&D, which caused me to think about why this is the case. I agree that they are problematic, and this is one possible solution for those DMs out there looking for a way to make this encounter more fun.
When my group opened the Vecna door, they were each teleported into random individual spots in the maze. I drew the maze out on the battlemat and numbered each axis, rolling a d24 and a d30 to determine where they landed (that’s right, 2 dice proving their worth in a world that shuns them!). Of course, this had to be fudged a little to accommodate walls and such. I had the map on the table in front of me and all of my players sitting about 6 feet away, unable to see the maze. I also split up the bad guys into patrols, since they knew about the teleport trap. They had no idea where intruders would be popping up, so they spread out.
I described the choices in direction that each PC had, and they were able to visualize it for the most part, but it was disorienting. That's exactly what I was going for. I wanted them to be off their game. They didn't know where they were and they had no one to watch their back! It created a sense of urgency and danger. I think this is lost when the entire group just hacks their way through a maze as it is being drawn.
As fate would have it, the samurai and the ranger/rogue found each other within 2 rounds. The bard was trapped in a 5x10 room with no apparent doors. She found the secret door after a few rounds and was only 15 feet away from the cleric, who was already locked in combat. The NPC fighter (who was played by a visiting friend) found himself staring at a pair of kenku right off the bat. The patrols kept finding him, even though I was rolling randomly for their movements. He barely moved the entire time and had a pile of dead kenku all around him when it was over. I think the group enjoyed this encounter; it certainly made for a nice change of pace for me.
I can see where other DMs may have a problem if the place where they play is not set up to handle the logistics described above. Otherwise, I think the basic idea could be transplanted effectively.
Happy dice-chucking!