What babe?The babe with the power.
What power?
i still enjoy the idea of a sentient maze creeping across the land.Infiltrates the party's headquarters in the middle of the night and the party doesn't realize until one of them wakes up thirsty and goes for a glass of milk and wonders why he can't find the kitchen all of a sudden.
yep they end up in someone else's room, preferably the opposite gender, shenanigans brew. the maze wins by purposefully sowing dissent and confusion in it's victims.
yep they end up in someone else's room, preferably the opposite gender, shenanigans brew. the maze wins by purposefully sowing dissent and confusion in it's victims.i still enjoy the idea of a sentient maze creeping across the land.Infiltrates the party's headquarters in the middle of the night and the party doesn't realize until one of them wakes up thirsty and goes for a glass of milk and wonders why he can't find the kitchen all of a sudden.
I picture it a lot more like this.
I picture it a lot more like this.yep they end up in someone else's room, preferably the opposite gender, shenanigans brew. the maze wins by purposefully sowing dissent and confusion in it's victims.i still enjoy the idea of a sentient maze creeping across the land.Infiltrates the party's headquarters in the middle of the night and the party doesn't realize until one of them wakes up thirsty and goes for a glass of milk and wonders why he can't find the kitchen all of a sudden.
was it this? because i'm at work at the link is blocked.
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As a Planescape fan, I also have to give a shout out to the Lady of Pain's mazes. The Lady of Pain is a mysterious being who never speaks but merely appears periodically within Sigil; the torus-shaped city at the center of the Outer Planes. Although she's generally believed to have power on par with a minor deity, nobody dares worships her for she appears suddenly before those who offer her prayers; cutting them to ribbons as the shadow of her bladed headdress passes over them.
Those who somehow threaten the peace or safety of the city itself eventually take a wrong turn down an alleyway or corridor. They attempt to backtrack only to discover that they can't find their way to where they were. Although the environs appear familiar, additional exploration only leads them further and further astray. That's when the horror of their situation becomes clear; they've angered the Lady of Pain and so she has cast them into their own personal extra-dimensional maze from which they are unlikely to ever escape.
They race around in desperation through areas that seem superficially similar to the city they know so well; offering them a false hope that they're close to escaping. Finally, gaunt from hunger and standing upon teetering legs, they loose themselves either in death or madness, but always with the certainty that the way out lay just beyond the next corner...
What power?
The power of voodoo!
was it this? because i'm at work at the link is blocked.I picture it a lot more like this.yep they end up in someone else's room, preferably the opposite gender, shenanigans brew. the maze wins by purposefully sowing dissent and confusion in it's victims.i still enjoy the idea of a sentient maze creeping across the land.Infiltrates the party's headquarters in the middle of the night and the party doesn't realize until one of them wakes up thirsty and goes for a glass of milk and wonders why he can't find the kitchen all of a sudden.
Yes, yes it was.
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So a dwarf, a kobold, and a minotaur go into a bar.
The Dwarf gets drunk starts bragging about what great masons all dwarves are and how their stone cities will last thousands of years if not until the end of days.
The Kobald gets drunk and starts bragging about what great trap-makers all kobalds are and how they're just as good at working stone as any stupid dwarf but never get a chance.
The Minotaur gets drunk and starts bragging about what great explorers all minotaurs are and how they never get lost and that it was a pity the three of them couldn't make something together to reflect the prowess of their races.
The other two take him up on his challenge and the three of them end up building the Maze to End all Mazes. It's filled with magical and mundane traps and teleportation circles and loot and points that summon random monsters for adventurers to fight. Having done that the three then go and get drunk again and start talking about getting even more of their kin together to build a city, but that's a different story.
What power?The power of voodoo!
Who do?
Who do?What power?The power of voodoo!
I do!
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Who do?What power?The power of voodoo!
your voodoo, b+@*@!
The maze is what remains of a series of catacombs.
The maze is what remains of a series of catacombs.
first one is basically Manhattan.
The Winchester Mystery House was built to confuse the vengeful spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles. It seems to have worked, as the Widow Winchester was not, in fact, killed by vengeful spirits.Thank you for that. Made my day so far.
Then my work here is done :)
The maze is what remains of a series of catacombs.first one is basically Manhattan.
Now consider that every corridor and intersection looks exactly the same. People have gotten lost down there and died.
You could make it a pyramid maze, which were constructed for religious reasons and to honor the pharaohs. Iirc the mazes were designed to guide/confuse (idk) the spirit of the pharaoh to the best afterlife.
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Ooo, I know. Maybe it is a bar on top that is ran by vampires. But below the bar... that is an ancient subterranean temple. The purpose of it is to attract patrons and the unlucky ones become food.
The bartender seems very familiar... almost like you have seen him as a bartender at another bar somewhere before...
Or maybe this: http://oglaf.com/labyrinth/
Note: the linked page is safe but much of the site is NSFW.
Is this all? :-P Thanks for the ideas! there are many really useful in there :-)
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I still enjoy the idea of a sentient maze creeping across the land.
Reminds me of an old D&D module that featured mimics (normal ones and some larger than average ones as well) disguised as an abandoned village.
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Maybe its not a maze, but the god of all mimics who is sleeping/birthing more mimics. Those goblins? Mimics. That chest? Mimic. That skeleton? Not a mimic... but a BUNCH OF MIMICS! That stump? Wolf in sheeps clothing! how did that get in here?
But then your players would just attack everything, wake up the god mimic and it'd eat them.
I heard this in the tone of voice of that one scene from the Simpsons where Smithers has to try to buy drugs for Mr. Burns.
"MIMICS? You want MIMICS?"
"Necklace, is mimics! House is mimics! Ornaments is mimics!"
"No Domestic money! ...our money is mimics."
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A maze which is half real and half illusionary (impossible to get through if you believe the illusions), both filled with traps. In the distant past it was used as a proving ground for an order of master illusionists.
A small group of hopefuls were sent into the maze together, and while they weren't allowed to attack each-other directly, they were encouraged to lead each-other astray and into danger with further illusions, making the whole thing random and somewhat cobbled together. Those who made it to the center first were given the rank of 'master' of their order.
okay okay new idea, a maze that is actually a giant rubix cube that is operated by levers inside, you have to pull levers to make the rooms change to get the colors to match which opens the exit.
use ladders because they work both ways.
it was made to stop stupid people from wandering into a dungeon.
This ancient maze is like a lock in which the correct path is the key, the wrong path however equals (pum pum pum pum) death. And like all things worth locking it holds great value. Small locks for simple things, but huge maze locks for... whispers say immortality... others say untold riches... only one way, in this case very literal, to find out....
(The Worm: If she'd 'ave kept on goin' down that way she'd 'ave gone straight to that castle)
okay okay new idea, a maze that is actually a giant rubix cube that is operated by levers inside, you have to pull levers to make the rooms change to get the colors to match which opens the exit.
I played through a GM's home-brewed extradimensional library/dungeon modeled after a Rubik's Cube back in the 90s. He got the idea to make a sequel to the classic Dungeon Magazine's "Ex Libris" adventure; which featured a 16 room 2D slide-puzzle layout for its library/dungeon.
Ratcheting it up to a 3D Rubik's Cube was a clever notion on the GM's part, but trying to unravel a 54 room shifting dungeon from the inside proved to be rather tedious enterprise for the players.
well it wouldn't be a maze if it was easy to get out.
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My favorite "maze" storyline is Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Death Gate Cycle
Basically after a long drawn out war, the Sartan (wizards who cast spells via elaborate gestures and full movement) sundered the world into 5 realms, Fire, Earth, Water, and Air with the 5th being a labyrinth prison for their enemies, the Patryn (rival wizards who cast using glowing runes tattooed on their flesh)
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Well, minotaurs don't get lost in mazes, so, in their mind, a maze could be as good a lair as an normal one. If they would contruct one, it could be maze-like.
Giant Ants or monsters with Hive mentality could build maze-like lairs.
Consider 3d dimensinal mazes, with diagonasl, ups and downs, also consider non square mazes. I made one maze back in 3.5 made by Beholders and Grells, very cool.
A maze which is ... (impossible to get through if you believe the illusions), both filled with traps.
Ooo... an illusionary maze which is impossible to get through if you disbelieve the illusions.
*rushes off to drawing board*
as mentioned earlier... if minotaurs, kobolds and dwarves worked together to make a maze...
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This ancient maze is like a lock in which the correct path is the key, the wrong path however equals (pum pum pum pum) death. And like all things worth locking it holds great value. Small locks for simple things, but huge maze locks for... whispers say immortality... others say untold riches... only one way, in this case very literal, to find out....
Interesting notion. When presented that way, my first thought is that it sounds like something beyond the ability of mere mortals to have constructed; like something built by one or more primordial gods...
Maybe the maze merely appears to mortals as a puzzle meant to be solved. In reality the true significance of the maze is beyond mortal comprehension. Perhaps it is an early "rough sketch" created by a primordial being before he/she/it finally settled on the final configuration of the universe he/she/it would later create. Or maybe the maze is a physical manifestation of that same primordial being's mind; reflecting its convoluted though processes as well as compartmentalizing its various memories and ideas into physical rooms, locked away in the depths of the maze. Walking the maze is akin to exploring the primordial being's mind.
Either way, the maze was never meant to be found and explored by mortals. At some point in the past however that primordial being's creations discovered the maze and began exploring it; maybe they were angelic/demonic servitors or mortal beings. Whoever they were, navigating the maze allowed them to unlock the hidden workings of the universe and so gain profound insight into the nature of reality. Some used that insight to grow in physical might, others to develop arcane magic, others still to uncovered the secret to eternal life (or undeath), while a few persevered and succeeded in ascending to true divinity. This is how the earliest dragons, wizards, undead and gods, respectively, came into being.
Explorers must be careful while inside the maze however for destroying or removing the things they find inside risks changing the primordial being's mind; which in turn could change the nature of reality outside the maze in unpredictable ways. For instance, what happens if you kill the idea of a creature you encounter within the maze? Does it's entire race disappear or somehow change outside in the real world? Or what happens if an explorer purposefully adds an idea-thing to the maze? Might that addition be reflected in the outside world? Once you enter the maze, you may never find your way back to the world you entered from...
So what initially appears to be a physical maze or a puzzle to be solved is really just a hidden back door to the universe's secret "cheat codes"; something that was never meant to be exploited by mortals.
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Well, minotaurs don't get lost in mazes, so, in their mind, a maze could be as good a lair as an normal one. If they would contruct one, it could be maze-like.
Giant Ants or monsters with Hive mentality could build maze-like lairs.
Consider 3d dimensinal mazes, with diagonasl, ups and downs, also consider non square mazes. I made one maze back in 3.5 made by Beholders and Grells, very cool.
Also, don't minotaurs build their own mazes?
I just had this image of adventurers opening a door to a minotaur in a hardhat and carrying a pickaxe crying out pitifully, "Noooo, its not ready yet!"
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Interesting notion. When presented that way, my first thought is that it sounds like something beyond the ability of mere mortals to have constructed; like something built by one or more primordial gods...
Maybe the maze merely appears to mortals as a puzzle meant to be solved. In reality the true significance of the maze is beyond mortal comprehension. Perhaps it is an early "rough sketch" created by a primordial being before he/she/it finally settled on the final configuration of the universe he/she/it would later create. Or maybe the maze is a physical manifestation of that same primordial being's mind; reflecting its convoluted though processes as well as compartmentalizing its various memories and ideas into physical rooms, locked away in the depths of the maze. Walking the maze is akin to exploring the primordial being's mind.
Either way, the maze was never meant to be found and explored by mortals. At some point in the past however that primordial being's creations discovered the maze and began exploring it; maybe they were angelic/demonic servitors or mortal beings. Whoever they were, navigating the maze allowed them to unlock the hidden workings of the universe and so gain profound insight into the nature of reality. Some used that insight to grow in physical might, others to develop arcane magic, others still to uncovered the secret to eternal life (or undeath), while a few persevered and succeeded in ascending to true divinity. This is how the earliest dragons, wizards, undead and gods, respectively, came into being.
Explorers must be careful while inside the maze however for destroying or removing the things they find inside risks changing the primordial being's mind; which in turn could change the nature of reality outside the maze in unpredictable ways. For instance, what happens if you kill the idea of a creature you encounter within the maze? Does it's entire race disappear or somehow change outside in the real world? Or what happens if an explorer purposefully adds an idea-thing to the maze? Might that addition be reflected in the outside world? Once you enter the maze, you may never find your way back to the world you entered from...
So what initially appears to be a physical maze or a puzzle to be solved is really just a hidden back door to the universe's secret "cheat codes"; something that was never meant to be exploited by mortals.
WHOA I LOVE THIS IDEA! Hell, I might do something like this myself... This is amazing. :)
I want to create a backstory for a maze that I want to integrate in a campaign. I'm wondering if anybody has some original/classic suggestions about why the maze was build?
Not much to work with... It should be wound into how the encounter is meant to play out.
1) Why is it there? Is it there to keep people in? Is it there to keep people out? Is it a punishment or treasure vault? Mazes can be used as castle defenses to keep attackers single file or separate forces... It could be there for 'fun'... or gladiatorial sports.
2) Where is it? Is it part of an established dungeon/castle/kingdom? Is it some kind of supernatural event? Is it Fey?? (I love the hedge maze from Changeling: the lost....
3) Are there monsters in it? Why? What keeps them in? What keeps them alive?
4) Who came up with this idea? Why did a maze seem like a good idea?
If you can answer the question of 'why did I put it in the game...' The rest should logic it's way through.
On a separate note.... How do people tend to RUN mazes?
Personally I rarely find them fun. They're kind of a grind at best and monster gauntlet at worst...
I've run in them... and I've run them and they never seem to work as planned. SOmetimes it's just randomly calling out 'right, left, straight'... or more often 'always follow the right wall and you'll always beat a maze...' and the DM just describing encounters...
OR....
One player grabs some paper and sketches it out as described and then we have a map to look and the maze isn't that difficult....
So either way the idea of characters trapped in spooky labyrinth with who-knows-what around any corner... Never really happens for me.
Thanks Zelda Marie Lupscu! I rather like the notion too.
Local good (or bad, if it was the creator's intent) equivalent of feng shui intended to create the right (or the wrong) kind of (dis)harmony suitable for monsters.
...Interesting notion. When presented that way, my first thought is that it sounds like something beyond the ability of mere mortals to have constructed; like something built by one or more primordial gods...
Maybe the maze merely appears to mortals as a puzzle meant to be solved. In reality the true significance of the maze is beyond mortal comprehension. Perhaps it is an early "rough sketch" created by a primordial being before he/she/it finally settled on the final configuration of the universe he/she/it would later create. Or maybe the maze is a physical manifestation of that same primordial being's mind; reflecting its convoluted though processes as well as compartmentalizing its various memories and ideas into physical rooms, locked away in the depths of the maze. Walking the maze is akin to exploring the primordial being's mind.
Either way, the maze was never meant to be found and explored by mortals. At some point in the past however that primordial being's creations discovered the maze and began exploring it; maybe they were angelic/demonic servitors or mortal beings. Whoever they were, navigating the maze allowed them to unlock the hidden workings of the universe and so gain profound insight into the nature of reality. Some used that insight to grow in physical might, others to develop arcane magic, others still to uncovered the secret to eternal life (or undeath), while a few persevered and succeeded in ascending to true divinity. This is how the earliest dragons, wizards, undead and gods, respectively, came into being.
Explorers must be careful while inside the maze however for destroying or removing the things they find inside risks changing the primordial being's mind; which in turn could change the nature of reality outside the maze in unpredictable ways. For instance, what happens if you kill the idea of a creature you encounter within the maze? Does it's entire race disappear or somehow change outside in the real world? Or what happens if an explorer purposefully
Yes, ideas like this are freaking awesome. My only issue with moments of inspiration like this: Pathfinder is maybe not the best system for implementation. Pathfinder is a game of numbers - if a PC goes into a room which adds profound insight into the nature of the universe, what does that translate to in game terms? They fight some living nightmare, survive, and what... gain 1/day Augury? Get a permanent +2 to Wisdom? Grow a third eye which in turn grants a Divination spell and will grow in power as the campaign continues? Its hard to get a grand idea like the awesomeness of a primordial beings id as maze and translate that awesome through this system. Of course that's my opinion based on my weak GM skills; others may be able to pull this off and if so I bow to their incredible GMing!
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Frankly I've always enjoyed simple, practical reasons for mazes and dungeons:
- a prison
- a defense
- a lair
Taking these 3 basic concepts you can go all over the place. For example, take Prison. Add, say, a hobgoblin warlord with bugbear wardens. Suddenly this place looks like the Saw movies. The hobgoblin is Lawful Evil and a strong believer in survival of the fittest; his bugbear minions are neutral evil and track foes by fear. The "prison" then is for dissidents to the hobgoblin warlord's rule. Those who survive are a fitting challenge to the master himself; those who fail either die in hideous traps or are afflicted with a palpable fear (even surviving one of the true death traps inflicts the Shaken condition of a set amount of time) that can then be smelled by the bugbears who pounce on their prey and consume them.
You can play this little game with many different monsters. Grab a Beastiary, turn to a random page, and find a creature capable of either building the place itself or appropriate to the setting. Then pick one of the 3 and go from there:
Monster: Imp/Type: a defense
The Speaker of Orcus: a cult dedicated to the demon lord of the undead, Orcus, summoned and bound a specific imp known as the Speaker of Orcus. This creature is literally the voice of the prince; his ability to Commune taps directly into Orcus' will. With this conduit of power the cult gleaned the creation secrets of some of the most fiendish undead imaginable and the high members were well on their way to immortality. The imp however demanded far more souls than most. The sheer volume of weekly sacrifices made the cult an instant target for destruction.
In response the Boneward was crafted. Miles of tunnels and corridors of ossuary with macabre purpose to confound and defeat any trespasser while the cult passed with impunity. Even better were the spells woven into the traps that caused hallucinations and weakened the minds of those entering. The way the Boneward was designed was to confuse mortals and cause them to commit acts of corruption and sin. At key points along the way these sinners could "Atone" by sacrificing themselves. The souls of the sinners then would be drawn through the labyrinth via dread necromancy to feed the Speaker of Orcus.
The maze's traps were so ingenious that they ensnared all of the lesser members of the cult itself. The highest members realized their folly and tried to escape the maze but were tricked by the Speaker. Abyssal fiends made short work of the masters and the Boneward was lost. The place was such a deathtrap that many heroes tried to navigate it in order to shut it down but they too were destroyed in its depths so the Boneward entrances were sealed and the place was left to rot.
It didn't die.
Now a century later a plague of undeath has been traced to the Boneward. The maze exists solely to protect one creature - The Speaker of Orcus. Some in the land once more desire its forbidden lore and would risk their minds and souls to have the power. Others have pledged themselves to the Speaker's destruction. It is believed that should the imp be found and slain, the Boneward can finally be destroyed.
This is a really fun thought experiment actually. Hopefully this is good inspiration.
Copy a Legend of Zelda temple, puzzles included, and see how long it takes for the players to notice.
Reminds me of an old D&D module that featured mimics (normal ones and some larger than average ones as well) disguised as an abandoned village.
C.f. "Colony" by Philip K. Dick.
As PKD described it: "The ultimate in paranoia is not when everyone is against you but when everything is against you. Instead of 'My boss is plotting against me,' it would be 'My boss's phone is plotting against me.' Objects sometimes seem to possess a will of their own anyhow, to the normal mind; they don't do what they're supposed to do, they get in the way, they show an unnatural resistance to change. In this story I tried to figure out a situation which would rationally explain the dire plotting of objects against humans, without reference to any deranged state on the part of the humans. I guess you'd have to go to another planet. The ending of this story is the ultimate victory of a plotting object over innocent people."
I like mazes, but most of my players do not. They don't seem to work well in game.
In my campaign setting, minotaur are residents of Elsewhere in full service to their rakshasa masters. They build great castles for them that make sense only to the rakshasa and the builder- all others are hopelessly lost within its Chaotic enviorns. A few foolish rakshasa kill their minotaur architects after they have completed construction to ensure only they know their way about their demense, but all of a minotaurs creations undergo subtle changes after their death ensuring none save another minotaur can find their way through without thorough exploration. A more than few minotaur live on Wune, and many entered into the service of dragons, creating grand labrynths that many dragons find amusing to explore and unravel. Medusae and a few others among the First Races also seek out minotaur to plan their lairs.
It really cuts down on annoying solicitors.
Seriously though, a maze is confusing only to people who are unfamiliar with it. For those who live there and have memorized the layout, it's just home for them, and gives them a tactical advantage in case of invasion.
Who do?What power?The power of voodoo!
You do!
You do!Who do?What power?The power of voodoo!
Do what?
Do what?You do!Who do?What power?The power of voodoo!
Who do you voodoo?
Do what?You do!Who do?What power?The power of voodoo!
Remind me of the babe!