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I want to create a really far-out dungeon for my players to explore during their second adventure out of the beginners box. I want it to be really dangerous but I kind of dont want it to be full of traps and I dont want them dying at the hands (or tentacles) of just any old monster.It also has to inspire horror, comedy,frustration,hopelessness, embarrassment, and WHAT JUST HAPPENED?? moments. Pretty much a Tomb of horrors meets an abandoned Detroit circus' hall of mirrors used by the local insane asylum as extra housing for their inmates.
The players will be there on a rescue mission for the daughter of the mayor of the town.
(Dont split the party)
When the players enter the dungeon and open the first trapped door, they will be presented with a slide. When they get on it, they slide down a hall and have a 50-50 shot of going left or right. Left leads to a big room with a small amount of fall damage. The room is filled with a _______ (I dont know yet) monster of some type. If they go right they take the small amount of fall damage but end up in a type of steam punkish BAR for Robots that someone had built. They have a chance of getting into a bar fight with an inanimate object and receiving small damage.
Left
After dealing with the monster, the survivors go through rooms some of which are trapped. This area has the only save vs death trap. I will provide a few chances to save vs death however. If they go the correct way they meet an ancient man sitting in his throne. Im going to pass him off as a super-intelligent being and attempt to waste the time of the adventurers with redundant go get me this and that missions before they realize he is a complete moron that has the key to the next area and simply needs to be killed.
Right
(Rape is an illegal activity, but it is in this context a fictional circumstance in a fantasy setting done by fantasy objects. Please delete this if it violates the rules of conduct here on the forums.I do not condone or advocate rape or any other illegal activity.)
After going pretty much the only way out of the robotic bar they are confronted by a robotic rapist. Yes. Raped. Violently. By a robot.Male or female. Does not matter. Providing they fail diplomacy checks and cant fight it off. After the robot has been dealt with, they enter a maze with a gnome skeleton guarding it with a club. Think about it. In fantasy, why is it just human skellies guarding junk?
When I say "mindflayers" I mean the little brain things that control corpses. I forgot their names.
Left and Right eventually meet up. They find a giant room thats being used by the local townspeople as an orgy room. Old people, young the mind flayers that are affecting them are the ones controlling the mess.
After whatever happens there happens, they find a prison where the mindflayers are keeping the person/s they are after. They escape for the reward.
How can I make this adventure more sick and twisted without becoming cliche and "Try hard"
What kind of traps could I use that would create various emotions listed above?
One idea I have is BACON. Thrown on the player by a gnome skeleton, and then after they are like (What the crap?) A bear attacks and gets +4 on his attack rolls. (I will throw actual candied bacon at the players) so they can munch on it.
Any ideas?
After re-reading my post I must clarify
"Old people, young the mind flayers that are affecting them are the ones controlling the mess."
Means old people and young adults.
Adult situations only involve adults. Obviously.
I want to create a really far-out dungeon for my players to explore during their second adventure out of the beginners box. I want it to be really dangerous but I kind of dont want it to be full of traps and I dont want them dying at the hands (or tentacles) of just any old monster.It also has to inspire horror, comedy,frustration,hopelessness, embarrassment, and WHAT JUST HAPPENED?? moments. Pretty much a Tomb of horrors meets an abandoned Detroit circus' hall of mirrors used by the local insane asylum as extra housing for their inmates.
So you're saying you'd like an adventure that looks like a David Lynch film, but plays like a David Cronenberg film?
I commend you!
I think you were talking about Intellect Devourers? Is that what you meant by Mindflayers?
Here's an idea that I've been toying around with.
Magnetic Ceiling/Floors
All your PC's metal armor and weapons become a hinderance more than a help.Also, invisible enemies in a smoke filled room. All sorts of creepy there.
Amazing,creative ideas! I shall use these thanks!
I want to create a really far-out dungeon for my players to explore during their second adventure out of the beginners box. I want it to be really dangerous but I kind of dont want it to be full of traps and I dont want them dying at the hands (or tentacles) of just any old monster.It also has to inspire horror, comedy,frustration,hopelessness, embarrassment, and WHAT JUST HAPPENED?? moments. Pretty much a Tomb of horrors meets an abandoned Detroit circus' hall of mirrors used by the local insane asylum as extra housing for their inmates.
So you're saying you'd like an adventure that looks like a David Lynch film, but plays like a David Cronenberg film?
I commend you!
I think you were talking about Intellect Devourers? Is that what you meant by Mindflayers?
Yes, Intellect Devourers. One of my favorite monsters. I have no idea why I keep forgetting their names.
You may want to refer to the old movie Labyrinth: it's full of Muppets and David Bowie, but underneath that are a number of ideas that can be mined by a GM who wants a creepy and disorienting (but not immediately fatal) dungeon. I also suggest putting on a Danny Elfman musical score (it really doesn't matter which movie, although Beetlejuice is my personal fave) to listen to while you design. Also, chutes. Dungeons still have pits, but for some reason one-way chutes are out of style. (Don't forget to have the chute open out into what was once the Pit of a Thousand Spikes and is now the Pit of One Big Fat Rust Monster.)
Also, if you can find them, look through S2: White Plume Mountain from 1st ed AD&D, and the Grimtooth's Traps series (there's a hardcover out that would be 3.5/PF compatible) - for the latter, you'll want two- to three-skull traps to dominate.
Ooooh Dominate. I hadnt thought of that one. Most def gonna use it. I will check that movie out too.
What about a chute that opens to nothing (Winchester Mansion style) so the players fall about 1 foot and spend 20 minutes trying to find some secret key or something thats not there? The dungeon is designed to frustrate among other things. I think that would do the trick. :p
(Rape is an illegal activity, but it is in this context a fictional circumstance in a fantasy setting done by fantasy objects. Please delete this if it violates the rules of conduct here on the forums.I do not condone or advocate rape or any other illegal activity.)
After...
I would advise against this. It is not a subject to be treated lightly, and there is a good chance one of your players personally knows a sexual assault victim or is one themselves.
My current gaming group is made up of college students and graduates who met playing Pathfinder Society. At least three of the five people personally know a sexual assault victim, and at least two of those people have gamed with sexual assault victims. The other two might know some victims, but I haven't asked because that is a horrible question to start a game with.
Please don't make assumptions about your players. One of the players in my game lost a family member to a terrorist attack. Others have family in the military. Some are religious, and some are atheist to the point of not wanting to even pick a deity for their character.
A group of people who sit down at a table to share a hobby often have an entire history of things that do not come up in polite conversation. Your games will run smoother if you avoid potential landmines like this one.
Did I mention Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? It's provided children with accidental nightmare fuel for decades - it's rich in goodness. Consider the suction tubes... the baleful polymorph-inducing food... the teleport trap that reduces you to 1/15 normal size... and, of course, the Nut Room with its link directly to the main incinerator. Mmmmmmm, childhood trauma tastes so good!
Now, to be helpful. This is a great idea, along the lines of Alice in Wonderland. You could have food at the robot bar that has different effect on constructs and people. Therefore the PCs could chug an awful tasting brew (Fort save DC 12 to avoid spitting it up) and gain a benefit or detriment. Keep the numbers small (no more than plus or minus 2 or use the fountain table from the beginner box) and your PCs will enjoy playing with it all.
Cantrip and first level spell effects also could make sense. I could even see a hallway of mirrors where the PCs gain bonuses or negatives depending n their reflections. Mirror makes then tall and thin, a bonus to deflection AC or Reflex. The mirror makes them short and fat, either slow down their speed or up their Con since they are "beefy." You can work out a series of effects and have the monsters standing in some good ones (goblins standing in a "long" mirror to gain height, etc.) Then the PCs can have fun bull rushing people out of the square so they can gain the mirror bonus.
Also, don't be surprised if people get bored if you separate the PCs for too long. One side could take much longer to deal with, especially if the dice randomly put all the heavy hitters in the section that requires role-play to complete quickly.
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If you're going to randomly split the party, then consider re-splitting it periodically. Having all the casters in one group and all the melee players in the other or other unbalancing factors could cause problems, so you may want to liberally pepper the dungeon with chutes and teleportation traps that only work once or have long automatic reset times-- that way if one group is too ill-equipped for the room you sent them to, you can have a member of the other half of the party shunted off to join them, only to trade back another member in the next room. Did one side take some nasty hits in combat and don't have a healer? "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Kyra right over!"
As for surreal rooms, I agree with the Alice in Wonderland suggestion, and follow it up with Psychonauts. Every level is a weird mindscape with different rules and a different theme. Perhaps plenty of Will saves to disbelieve... or to resist a Hypnosis charm. "Everything in this room is made of candy!" "Wait, no, that's a rusty chain you're chewing on!"
A fun sort of trap that a gm of mine used...
There is a large iron ceiling door and a lever next to it. As the players enter the room fully, the door behind them closes and the room begins to fill with water. As the players frantically try the level, it's hard going to pull it down all the way. Finally the lever is pulled and the door above opens. The problem becomes that the player who pulled the lever is unable to remove his hand from it.
In explanation, the lever is slightly jammed requiring 2-3 rounds to pull it fully. It is also covering in sovereign glue, which takes a round to set. The pc who pulled the lever generally becomes frantic, with discussion of cutting off arms due to ensue. The best part? The water is really universal solvent.
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You want creepy on a level that will damage a psyche?
Make a corridor filled with the mannequins from Condemned: Criminal Origins (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPP5Ja7YNas).
Make it so they are unable to be damaged or do damage when being observed.
Very similar to the weeping angels from Doctor Who (S3E10 - Blink - 2007), just much more terrifying and unsettling.
Try this map. If this doesn't make your players confused as hell, nothing will.Try this link instead.
0.o
I added a second level. When past the brain fiend room, the pcs go down a ladder. (This is where the mannequins come in) They appear as two mannequin spectators in the back of the theater. A voice is put into the pc's minds and basically they are forced to do a Romeo-Juliette style play. Every time they dont do as the voice tells them, the lights go out and turn back on, the mannequins in the crowd one seat closer. (If they get up on stage, they stab a pc to death/serious injury.The players quickly find out that they are on the last scene and are about to be forced to kill themselves via poison lowered to the stage. A perception check shows that the voice is coming from a LARGE psionic-brain in a jar up on the balcony. The "master" brain.
Is this a good idea? I dont want it to be EXACTLY Romeo and Juliette but I want it to lead to the idea that its not a great idea to drink the potion.
I have toyed with the idea that the players enter seeing it as a stage, then the scene fades into a psionic dream state with npc actors that arent there. They know its a dream and go along with the idea on the false premise that if they complete the play, (playing how they think the scene should go) that they get to leave.
(If they kill juliette in the first scene the scene flashes back to reality and the brain in a jar throws a fit. Then resets the scene after he demands they do it over.)
Good idea for this dungeon? Interesting boss?
Also, Im thinking about submitting this to Paizo as an adventure module. Giving you guys credit too. Sort of like a community project.
Is it interesting/good enough? Is it Paizo material? What aspects would I have to remove? (Obviously the rapist will be removed or replaced by a bandit of some sort)
Just make sure you're crystal-clear on one distinction - that the NPC (the brain in the jar} is the one trying to railroad the characters, not you-the-GM. Also, if you plan to submit an adventure with a riddle or trap (and this scene seems like a little or both), you'll want to address how to handle the situation if the PCs simply won't play along (running away, setting fire to the stage, etc.) in a manner that won't seem heavy-handed. (Also be ready for the unexpected. The party bard may ask the brain-in-a-jar to review a play script that he (the bard) wrote, and sidetrack the brain from Evil Director Mode into Evil Critic Mode...)
What I expect the players to do, is to figure out that doing as the brain tells them will kill them. (Drink poison) So at this point I would hope that they chuck a rock at the jar or whatnot.
I want them to disobey the brain. I see your point. They may just ignore the play anyways which will cause the brain to use mannequins to attack, stage lights to fall, and failing that, starting actual psionic combat against the adventurers. I am fascinated with the Role playing as you role play concept. The characters playing in a play would be such a strange experience. Especially if the lead female role was a half orc barbarian. ha ha. The brain (upon entrance) tells them that the only way to get out is to play in a final act of a play (actually about 2-5 minutes of real game time) and eventually he lowers a bunch of goblets on a platter and tries to bluff that its "not real poison" and etc.
This is where I expect the players to be like..Uh......No! *Rolls initiative*
If they actually quaff the poison..Bad news.
Players almost never do as expected. I'm really wanting to see what a group does in this scenario.
I just got the beginners box and noticed a piece of the artwork within portrayed a few characters on a stage fighting some kind of monster. Kind of cool as it is similar to my forced play idea. I think I will change it as it does not sound too fun to be forced to act in a play, but perhaps I could have the pc's solve a mystery within a play.
Here is a creepy idea that is devilish. I have a module I created years ago called the Test of Legends. In it was a fairly large room which had a Deafness permanently cast on it. Since no sound could take place characters inside the room where limited in their ability to communicate or cast verbal spells. This really only works well if there is no way back out but the one I will describe next.
Once in the room they will travel its empty length about 60 feet till they reach 2 archway doors who’s contents are both hidden by mist. The first archway (door) has depictions of angelic beings all around it and is done in lavish Ivory fixtures to give it a very angelic appearance. The mist inside it is white and more like a fog. The second archway to its right (door) is covered by depictions of demons and dark runes (which make no sense even with spells and are there for confusion only). The mist in this archway is dark red and smells terrible while the other smells of candy.
Entering the Angelic archway (door) will result in entering a 10 foot room which is completely covered with this mist that acts like acid. The acid burns skin at a rate of 1D4 damage a round.
Entering the Devilish appearing archway will result in finding a tunnel way that goes for another 60 feet and then carries on with your module with no ill effects.
The point of the test was Strength of Character. To determine if the character was brave enough to enter the demon door to face whatever enemies await them. Oddly enough those entering the Angelic doorway often stood in the mist for many rounds thinking that was part of the test and in some cases almost dying from the experience. Sinister
In the end the difficulty players faced was determining a route without being able to speak to each other. The party was always split on which way to go…
Enjoy the idea and use it if you feel it will be entertaining!
Not creepy but plenty of WTF and embarasment: A magic portal that teleports the party back to the beginning of the dungeon, but with their gender reversed, all guys are now girls and the girls are now guys, their clothes and equipment changed too. Harmless but funny so far, right? That's where the second part of the trap comes in. If they try to use the portal again to change them back, thay are teleported back to the entrance again, but they don't change gender again, instead all of their clothes and equipment are transported somewhere else (on a pile close to their feet if you are just being funny; the clothes can stay next to the portal if you want to be mean and force the characters to trek the dungeon nekkid.
If you want make this creepy and disturbing the second cross trough the portal doesn't make their clothes go away. It makes a mental change. Now their minds and preferences are changed to suit their new genders, they aren't guys phisycally transformed into girls, they ARE girls now (and vice versa). Tell the players to roleplay accordingly.