Ideas for low-level Trial of Magic

[RndmNumGen]

So I'm going to be running a one-shot game sometime next week, and I was going to have the characters tackle a Dungeon of Trials, with one trial catered to each character in the party; the Trial of Perception would have the PCs avoiding multiple traps, the Trial of Strength would pit them against a challenging foe, the Trial of Faith would have them need to cross a chasm(bridged by an invisible Force effect) without knowing about it, essentially taking the challenge on by faith that the bridge is there...

I'm not sure what to do for the Trial of Magic though. I was thinking of something involving teleporters and binary switches, but that's more mathematical than arcane. Then I thought of working something out with star charts/lunar cycles, but my players don't pay a lot of attention to that stuff and I don't want to give them a puzzle they can't solve. I want something that would take them maybe 20-30 minutes to figure out.

Anyone have some ideas I could use?

[shortround]

What is the party make upÉ Just taking a shot at it regardless of that information:

A logic puzzle involving low cl scrolls of dispel magic and a lot of exploding runes. My friend did a puzzle that involved a set of jenga pieces: had to build the tower # of levels or something awful would happen and fluffed it liker an odd arcane lock mechanism. Our barbarian sort of just adamantine weaponed around it though. Maybe the spellcaster has to get up on an altar and focus on manipulating some sort of arcane hoozit while the rest of the party protects him from distractions.

[JoeYounger]

So I'm going to be running a one-shot game sometime next week, and I was going to have the characters tackle a Dungeon of Trials, with one trial catered to each character in the party; the Trial of Perception would have the PCs avoiding multiple traps, the Trial of Strength would pit them against a challenging foe, the Trial of Faith would have them need to cross a chasm(bridged by an invisible Force effect) without knowing about it, essentially taking the challenge on by faith that the bridge is there...

I'm not sure what to do for the Trial of Magic though. I was thinking of something involving teleporters and binary switches, but that's more mathematical than arcane. Then I thought of working something out with star charts/lunar cycles, but my players don't pay a lot of attention to that stuff and I don't want to give them a puzzle they can't solve. I want something that would take them maybe 20-30 minutes to figure out.

Anyone have some ideas I could use?

I think for the trial of faith, instead of having an invisible bridge it should be an invisible windy path. As you get out there you find floating signs with questions (read that as know: religion checks) that will reveal if they should continue left, right or straight. have a couple of these so its not just a, "ok, we walk across it" type encounter.

As for the trial of magic, I'd say that it should be like an alter or something set up, that he has to go up on while the rest of the party protects him, but there should be an item for him to funnel his arcane energy into. it takes a minimum number of spells cast into it to finish the challenge. Say if youre all level 10, it requires 18 levels of spells. 0 level spells count as .5 levels unless youre playing pathfinder, then they dont count. so he burns several of his low level spells to finish the trap, and depending on how big of spells he is willing to sacrifice he can control how long the party has to fight off the bad guys who are coming to get the caster.

[dextercorvia]

Trial of Magic. Teleport Scatter Trap that places each character in a different 5ft square that is warded by a Veil. The Veils are Force effects in a variety of colors that deal 1 pt. of energy damage to anyone touching them. They break line of effect, not line of sight, and they prevent all objects, sounds, etc to pass through. To bypass each veil requires the right school of spell be cast upon it. A successful DC20 knowledge Arcane check will divine the general nature of the situation. Individual checks that are higher than taking 10 would allow for will correlate the colors to the schools of magic. There are also runes on the wall that a Decipher Script check of the same DC (or Comprehend Languages spell) will crack, giving him two chances to learn the right combination.

If he is an Abrupt Jaunt conjurer, that gives him the ability to get one or two out without cracking the code.

[Mantarni]

Trial of Perception was already traps. Make it unique.

Trial of Magic should illustrate a point about magic. So have various magical effects keep occuring in more intense and chaotic fashions -- fire, ice, illusions, teleporting, stun, etc, you can just throw it in at your whim. It takes place in an endlessly repeating room, same room no matter which 4 directions they go in, but it will only be able to hit them if they are moving away from the center of the room.

Nothing they do stops it or changes the effects (although the patterns and elements may shift around randomly) until they all sit down in the middle of the magical chaos and do nothing, because the key to magic is patience.

A hint for this might be that the effects lessen subtly for a few rounds when someone is knocked prone (only have individual targeting for prone stuff), and continue lessening in severity when more people are sitting. If even one person is standing or moving, there will be the bare minimum of effects popping up. When they all sit, you can arrange the magical effects in some artistic arcane shape around them or something.

[Con_Brio1993]

Out of curiosity, what stops a character from throwing an object into the chasm and revealing a bridge is there?

That would be the logical thing to do. Either you discover how deep the chasm is (based on the sound the object makes when it hits the floor), or you discover there is a bridge. Kind of defeats the faith aspect, but it would still be a valid solution.

[dextercorvia]

I should have asked sooner, but how low of a level is this?

Edit: Do you want something to teach them about magic, etc. or something that requires it to be overcome?

[RndmNumGen]

I'm not entirely sure what the party composition will be exactly, but I'm expecting a Ranger or Fighter, a Divine-focused character(maybe a Cleric, maybe a Paladin, maybe just a really devout Commoner), an Arcane class and a Rogue.
Out of curiosity, what stops a character from throwing an object into the chasm and revealing a bridge is there?

That would be the logical thing to do. Either you discover how deep the chasm is (based on the sound the object makes when it hits the floor), or you discover there is a bridge. Kind of defeats the faith aspect, but it would still be a valid solution.

I was thinking the force would bridge certain parts, but not the whole chasm; these parts would be 'watched' by(in front of) various statues of deities. If the discover the force bridge, they still need to figure out which parts of the chasm the bridge covers.

I like the patience idea among the elemental storm, btw... thematic and interesting. I hope it's not too obscure though... maybe I need to find a way to drop more hints other than lessening the effects when they slow down.

[Slipperychicken]

trial of faith

This one takes inspiration from the game Heavy Rain: the Origami Killer. Deprive them of their equipment, have them each alone in a small room that they can leave at any time. They have no contact at all with each other, and each can only pass the trial if everyone completes it. Give them each a rusty pair of garden shears. Have them cut off a segment of a finger, then another, each mutilation more grotesque than the last, finishing with an order to kill an innocent child, then an order to commit suicide. Each order is followed by a calm "Do you wish to continue? You may leave at any time". If one of them leaves the room, their mutilations/deaths stay with them. If they all complete the trial, they are reunited with their party, equipment, and limbs intact.


The important part here is that no one knows if another party member already quit and left. Oodles of roleplaying to be had. For all they know, it might all be for nothing. :smallamused:

[Mantarni]

*Plot to Saw 20*

Somewhere right now, an executive is writing this down while their franchise copyright lawyer recursively gears up his court summons.

[Fax Celestis]

Boil a bucket of water without touching it. Maybe it powers a steam engine that does something. Could also do something that requires gust of wind to power a turbine or whatever. Give out a wand of burning hands and a wand of gust of wind.

[Diefje]

A weight trigger to pass the test. They don't carry enough mass, so the solution is to conjure stuff, or transmute stuff into heavier materials.

A non-dangerous prismatic sphere that blocks the path, the right spells have to be cast to dispell it.

Passages that have to be reached with Fly/Levitate/Spider Climb/Featherfall/etc. Make sure the Climb DC is very high.

Multiple triggers around a room that have to be set off simultaneously. There's more triggers than you have people. Add a variety of triggers. For instance, a little weight trigger (conjure something on it), a heat trigger (set it on fire, or inversely douse a fire), and electric trigger (shock it, or inversely melt the conduit with acid), a simple lever can be manipulated with Mage Hand, etc.

A corridor with a force arrow trap at the end. The arrows are so potent they actually push back everything trying to pass, the way to deflect them is with force armor, either a force shield, or mage armor, or something along those lines. Force effects are all strictly magical so it'd be thematic to magic.

Schrodinger's cat with magic! There's two boxes, one has a live cat, the other a dead one. There's no way to know from the outside which one is which. If they open the wrong box, the live cat gets killed. They need to use Divination to find which box has the live cat. I guess you could also resurrect the live cat, or even Animate Dead it (hey it's still using magic, right?). The live cat has to then be placed on a princely cushion. It has to be that specific cat, if they resurrect the wrong one it won't work.

A simple detect magic trap. The way to pass it is to cast a buff on everyone. Simply wearing a magic item won't do, you have to be actually changed by magic (temporarily is fine). If you want to make it a bit harder, it could be a specific buff.

A bit more dangerously, they have to drink a poison to pass. The Fort DC has to be very high. In the next room there's a pile of scrolls, they have to find the Neutralize Poison scrolls.

[Slipperychicken]

Somewhere right now, an executive is writing this down while their franchise copyright lawyer recursively gears up his court summons.

Never watched the that sort of film, myself. Even so, why remake the wheel? Not like anyone's trying to sell this anyway :smalltongue:

[Con_Brio1993]

I'm just going to throw out a warning that your players likely will think of other solutions, instead of the one magical solution you desire. So if you punish other solutions heavily you should prepare for disgruntled players.