@ The Shadow Piggy: Did you use any of these and how? How did your players solve it?
And here a homebrew riddle + self-made dungeon for the same players-group (they have not encountered it yet - it will feature in book three of the adventure campaign...
The group has to retrieve an item for a NPC who cannot do it himself.
In my case it is the leader of a grippli-tribe (cough the frog-prince cough) who was trapped by the evil queen into giving up his artefact of shape-change, which would grant him the transformation into a human male whenever and as long as he wants.
Now the item is 'protected' by various monsters in a dungeonesque maze-like building that is acessed through a cave.
The group has to win his (and subsequently all his underlings) favor and secure his help in the upcoming fight against the evil queen. In oreder to achieve this, they have to retrieve said item.
Dungeon - about LV 6:
Through the cave, inside the mountain - one huge octagonal room. The group enters through one door (put any thap there you want, or just let the rogue use hils lockpicks DC 25 at least.
on every side of the room are two doors. It doeas not matter through wich tha group entered. In the middle of the floor there is an inscription in common, or if you want it to be harder, any other language (in my case German: " Die dreizehnte Tür führt dich zu deinem Schicksal") " The thirteenth door will guide you to your destiny".
The twelve doors are numbered: 1 trough 12. In the middle of every one of the 8 walls there is a burning torch (= between 2 doors each).
The players have to figure out how to pass through to the next level.
When they get through, the come into another room, that looks similar to the first one, exept that there is a huge marble ball in the middle in which a sword sticks out from the top. If the players try to remove it, it will not work.
a) nothing will happen
b) there is a sleep-spell on it, that will last 1d20 minutes.
In this room, they will encounter 2 dead bodies of grippli-rangers/fighters and one berely living grippli veteran-fighter/barbarian.
while literally breathing his last he tells them: "It's a trap!"
The group now has to pass through this room as well. If they try to apply the same method like last time, I will not so regrettfully have to inform them, that this will not work by letting the first one (unless they pass through the door simultaneously, only one person will get through) draw a monster from a pouch (challengerating depends on the group level, or the GM rolls a D6, or make the players roll a D6 muahahaaa). He/she has to overcome the monster before beeing able to go back through te door.
This continues until the group has figured out:
they may pass through to room No. 3:
This room is also octagonal, but there are no doors, exept the one they went through. In the middle of the room is a huge well. There are some chests, broken adventuring gear (whatever you want to put in there) + an item, magic or masterwork (in my case for the cleric of the group)for a groupmember who hasn't got one yet.
There is also the dead body of an adventurer (in my case a cleric or paladin of Iomedae).
The group will look around, get to close to the well and will have to fight against 3 hags (coven: 2 sea hags, 1 green hag)
Insert traps at your discretion, generally make the group work for it and eventualle let them gein the artifact (cough golden ball cough).
When passing through the door, they get back to room 2.
Walking through any door will result in having to fight against monsters drawn from any Callengerating-pouch of your choice.
To get back, the players have to
My thoughts on the rooms: this works if they are all connected by magical portals. This dungeon could be remnants of ancient azlanti ruins the evil queen adapded for her purposes (apart from beeing a sorceress herself, she does have court-mages and wizards).
The portals are not meant to be destroyed. A goog enough knowledge arcana check could reveal their purpose if the players have gone through them a few times. detect magic would only blind the character using it.
I am a bit shaky on how to do this actually: How and when can a magic-user make which skill-check to gain the information? Is there even a chance on him/her realising what the group is dealing with apart from it beeing magical?
I will let them realise, that these are magical portals, but not the inner workings of them (the group will be busy with fightin anyway).
BUT: if this is total bogus and anybody has a better idea, please help a poor innnocent and generally very nice (oh the irony!) GM out....
If any of you want the dungeon-maps, PM me :-)
