Tower of Babel challenge--dungeon with a language barrier

[Nepherti]

The party:
Ratfolk monk
Ratfolk barbarian
Human paladin
Human cleric
Goblin wizard
Human sorcerer

The spell Comprehend Languages is currently blocked. Long ago, people abused magic and took it for granted. The gods have punished the people by taking away certain spells, such as those used for easy communication and travel. Now one of the gods has found a group of adventurerers with a language barrier and is testing their worth.

Three members are from tribal areas, the ratfolk and the sorcerer,
The others are from a European area, and have very little steel and no armor.
They are level 4.

The purpose of the dungeon is to prove that they are already attempting communication on their own despite the gods curse. If successful, the god of travel will give them access to each others languages.

I have one which involved colored tiles, the played must figure out which color is safe lest be shocked.
Another involved even weight distribution on a pivoting floor.

I'm stuck as to monsters though. I can link to pictures of my maps/notes if it would help.

[Choon]

I don't think the monsters would matter in this theme so much as forcing them to communicate about tactics and such. So pick any monster and put it at a tactically superior yet beatable position as long as they somehow coordinate and communicate in-battle.

[Legion42]

A good way to go would be to follow the theme of the dungeon/tower. If you don't have one, define it. Is is a demon tower, a natural cave system, a jungle monolith or a desert palace? Do you want the living challenges to be intellegent or animalistic?

Having an hyper intelegent/wise creature like a sphynix might be interesting. Asking each language group a portion of a riddle in their language with the answer being dependant on the combination of the individual answers.

Other intellegent monsters challenges could be about group unit tactics. overcomming an entrenched enemy group through teamwork.

Using plant creatures and animal creatures that are familiar to certain memebers of the party may lead those members to try to take leadership roles to avoid problematic descisions.

A fun in-house created plant I've used is a spore producing fungus that was mutated in a null magic environment. The spore cloud does not harm the players, but instead produces a 5ft radius null magic zone when disturbed. so the zone is one 3x3 square. the fungus grows in patches of 5ft squares at toadstool height (2-3 inches) outdoors and upwards of 10-12 inches in good conditions indoors. Every 3 inches of growth increases the radius by 5 ft.

these little guys create interesting situations where teamwork is neccessary when magic would have gotten them through something easily.

[Owly]

There is an idea from Lair of the Kobold King that might work for you. There is a room situated in the middle of the dungeon, where there are brass tubes connecting different rooms to this chamber; the former head of the monastery would sit and listen to conversations and give orders in various rooms. If the players are clever, they can even mess with the kobolds in the different rooms, as the kobolds themselves were unaware of the "listening chamber's" presence.

I might suggest too, that there are conversations that can be overheard, and important instructions written-down that only certain party members can comprehend.

You might have small ledges and tunnels that overlook important places/doorways/ceremonial chambers, where a ratfolk could sneak and (for example) hear some guards chatting about something the party would be interested in...or an important journal the ratfolk can't read, but the humans can, detailing what the BBEG is up to.

Maybe there's a weird knotted rope found on a locked chest, that is actually instructions left by goblins for goblins (because we know goblins hate written language, as it steals words from your head). That knotted rope is a "code" giving instructions how to shut off the traps guarding that chest (and the BBEG can't figure it out).

All in all, I would be tempted to create a certain scenario where the baddies are sitting around trying to make their evil plan happen, but all the pieces are in different languages. The party comes along, and figures it out and thwarts them.

- Instructions from the bad guy's Chelaxian overlord. The gods' curse prevents them from reading just what he/she had intended.
- A journal detailing what the BBEG is up to.
- Goblin "code" warning of certain traps and secret doors
- Guards that can be overheard
- An inscription on a statue in a defiled religious shrine. The bad guys defiled the shrine, but the phrase inscribed there will give a blessing and open a door the villains cannot open

just some ideas

[Nepherti]

I like the idea of a sphinx-type of guardian. It is jungle mountains. To get a visual, think meso-American. The goblin was previously a human who was randomly and permanently transmuted into a goblin (player wanted to play a goblin), so he knows nothing about goblins or their culture. I like the knot thing, perhaps I could put it there for RP value. The ratmen speak goblin, so it might be interesting to see the goblins reaction.

I thought of a group of guardian clerics who know nothing of the inside of the Tower. They are there to supply the party. "Take x-amount of items you think may be useful." they tell the party. I will put a few sweet items there, but the party will find them utterly useless in the tower. Other items, if thought about, may look mundane but be incredibly useful. A small mirror to do the 'laser pointer trick' on a monster that hits hard but is easily distracted by shiny things, just one example.