I've been having fun building interesting characters, and I hope you've been at least somewhat entertained with my crazy and terrible ideas, but unfortunately I've once again been somewhat semi-forced into the role of Game Master. But I'm sure the weird inter-personel relationships of my rag-tag gaming group would bore you immensely, so I'll proceed to my question:
After picking up a copy of 'Distant Worlds' and eagerly devouring it's contents (one of the reasons I was barely hesitant to become GM once more), I became fascinated with the concept of a interplanetary campaign. So I planned a campaign that would take my players from the petty squabbling of the River Kingdoms to the very stars themselves.
Now that my long-winded introduction is over, I require help with one thing. I planned on them having to chase after a former member of the party (my character actually) who betrayed them. The trail would eventually lead to Galt and the mysterious 'Maze of the Open Road', a living Hedge Maze that contains portals to other worlds. My problem is this: I have no idea what to put in the maze itself. I need to make it challenging, but I don't know how. The game is tomorrow and I still have diddly squat. Everything else is planned out except for this, so I was wondering if the community could help me with this small roadblock.
So in essence, how do I make a magical hedge maze?
One thing I would suggest, is picking up some ideas from Harry Potter Goblet of Fire, book and movie.
To me, maze means minotaurs and traps. If you go with the Harry Potter aspect, throw in a sphinx or group of pixies with riddles. If they can't answer the riddles, or refuse, the pixies harass but don't harm them. If they attack or react violently, the pixies will unleash their wrath. If the PCs try and solve the riddles, and have fun asking their own riddles, or correctly guess the riddles, the Pixies reward them with some treasure.
Beyond that, what are you looking for? Monster ideas? Traps? Encounters? Oddities? Loot?
What level will the PCs be when they enter? This would really help us generate ideas.
We'll they're level 5 right now, but its also Gestsalt.
I'm looking for ways to make it challenging, without resorting to things like generic monsters and traps. I need things like interesting mechanics for mazes, or weird riddle traps or something. Help with making riddles would be great, if you could give it.
Also, if it helps, the particular portal they'll be looking for is the one that takes them to the Pyramid of Arl, on Akiton.
I bookmarked this place in case I ever got to run a riddle adventure. They also have a list of Traps and Tricks if you want some ideas. Some of them are kind of dumb or unfinished, but some of them are awesome.
At 5th level, I'd suggest the Pixies as one encounter. They can be pretty annoying by pulling pranks on those that can't answer the riddle, changing hair color, mud in the face, ice down their shirts etc. But if you're a good sport about it, and have fun, they'll reward you. One could imagine a group of Pixies living in a maze that lots of adventurers enter to travel to other realms, many of them probably don't make it and they can easily collect the treasure.
Something to think about is lesser used creatures like Shambling Mounds hiding in the hedges. Make the hedges are magical in that they allow plant creatures to move through the hedges freely.
Might want to include creatures with different kinds of tactics than normal. For instance, say a Shadow that doesn't keep attacking, instead, it travels through the hedges taking swipes and making hit and run attacks on parties. Maybe it was a fey creature in life, and in death, it still wishes to cause as much chaos as possible, without really trying to kill the creatures it encounters.
If you want some other 5th level NPCs to use as rival parties exploring the maze for different portals, I've got a list of them.
Maybe the party comes across another group of adventures in a fight that is over their head, and the party jumps to their defenses and together they defeat their foe.
I don't really know anything about the Maze you mentioned or the Portals, I haven't had the chance to read up on that area, so all I can give is ideas at the moment.
The maze appears in a pathfinder society scenario. Perhaps you might look it up?
I think it involved the Red Raven or something like that.
Well sh*t.
Please excuse my language but that means I now have to come up with an entirely new idea to take them from the stolen lands to Akiton. The only one I can think of is having them go spelunking in an old azlanti ruin.
Wait, hhhhmmmmm........aren't there some Azlanti ruins in the Protectorate of the Black Marquis???
So what do you plan on doing?