I lurv this adventure and I especially like the rotating labyrinth, but I am already dreading the player reactions to the gauntlet of Symbols in an already trap-packed dungeon (I am feverishly practicing my maniacal face of glee for the Stinging Wasps). Any ideas on suitable replacement puzzles, critters or snacks for a couple of these?
Creative Director
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I lurv this adventure and I especially like the rotating labyrinth, but I am already dreading the player reactions to the gauntlet of Symbols in an already trap-packed dungeon (I am feverishly practicing my maniacal face of glee for the Stinging Wasps). Any ideas on suitable replacement puzzles, critters or snacks for a couple of these?
Honestly... you can just cut the symbols entirely and the dungeon should still be plenty filled with danger. Symbols are no fun if the party has no way to deal with them, which is why we included that sidebar about the symbols in the first place. Handle them with care, and omit them if you want. The symbols aren't load-bearing traps, after all. :)
Even if the party has no way of dealing with them, they still deserve to eat at least one of the symbols! I love the "I prepared Explosive Runes today" aspect of them. I suppose there's enough going on with the two ladies roaming around that the loss of a couple won't hurt the effect.
Thanks for the quick reply!
We did a Symbol-ridden Dungeon adventure a while back and it was a mess. The rogue wanted to disable them, but could find no reasonable way to do so--they triggered at such long range that she couldn't even see them. And the effects were purely annoying for player and GM. We spent a lot of time fussing over areas of effect.
I'd take them out. They sound like a lot more fun than we've found them to be in practice.
Mary
After all the cheese players try to use to come up with charge damage that averages at 90+ points by level 7, or persistent divine metamagic buffs, I say give 'em a couple of symbols in the face two times.
After all the cheese players try to use to come up with charge damage that averages at 90+ points by level 7, or persistent divine metamagic buffs, I say give 'em a couple of symbols in the face two times.
So the tree of game balance must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of PCs.
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To be honest, I would never use symbols in a way that means the rogue can't get to it to disarm it, or they can't circumvent it in some way, that's just a way to piss off your players. If it's a situation where they can't spot it before they get within 60 feet of it, I change the triggering condition from sight to read, touch and/or pass through/under. Or I give it a password and provide some means of the players finding out what that password is, or at least give them some indication that it's there so they can be aware it's going to hit them.
I know this does kind of stink of dumbing down the bad guys, but symbol-ridden dungeons can be a great way to freak out the party, so long as they don't feel like they're being repeatedly smacked around with infuriating effects and given no means of dealing with it.