Test of the Bear, Test of the Owl

[Denamort]

I'm presenting my players with six test they'll need to pass to obtains the keys that open a door. Each test is centered around one of the six atributes. But I can't think anything for the test of the Bear and the Owl, so I come to you for help, playgrounders. This are the other test, if you want to know.
The Test of the Bull has the players trapped in a room being flooded. They'll have to swim across the room, pressing jammed levels (strenght check to move). The levers are all over the room, with one in a plataform you have to climb or jump to. Also, there will be big slabs you can move to block some of the water, gaining time.
The Test of the Cat consists of several plataforms hanging over a pit. They have to use balance to prevent falling from the plataforms. The bottom of the pit is filled with Mechanical Horrors (Spider-like constructz, from MMII or FF, I can't remember know) that will climb the walls and attemp to jump towards them. A succesful Tumble will let them avoid the bug and so on.
The Test of the Eagle presents an scenario where they have to give someone (probably a Sucubi) something in exchange for the key. I haven't worked out the details yet. To succeed, they'll have to trick the creature into giving the key before they pay what was promised, either by using Diplomacy or Bluff.
The Test of the Fox is your clasical riddle or logical problem. The two guys, one lies the other tells the truth or maybe a riddle like "The more there is of it, the less you see" (Darkness), that kind of stuff.

[Sucrose]

Test of the Bear could be an airlocked chamber full of poisonous gas. In order to reach the other end, you must make successive Fortitude saves against the poison, or hold your breath for an extended period (at the end, you can vent the gas, and let through your frailer compatriots without the danger).

For Test of the Owl, perhaps some sort of chamber full of near-identical orbs; you need to find the one that will exactly match a groove in the wall. Successive Spot checks.

[Pokonic]

The Test of the Bear revolves around a long passage. The problem is that the whole place is filled with mildy necromantic gass, and as such have to walk thru it, grab the key on its little holder, and then manage to run before the mist leaking into the room vi now-opened vents (now necrotic because of the gas) starts to form puddles on the PC's path that can melt skin and bone in seconds.

The Test of the Owl revolves around a single chamber. Inside is a collection of a single kind of powerful Outsiders, all of which are fakes besides one. The PC's may talk to any one of them, but if they choose the wrong one the task that they need it's help with (the goal is to get the correct outsider to tell them the correct password), it's password causes the door they need to go thru to go into another section of the area and are forced to deal with minons that the wrong outsider summons. The door leads to a room with the key within it.

[tyckspoon]

Bear:
They advance down a hallway toward a large block. The block has many handholds on it; if all of the characters work together, they can easily drag it out of the way. The desired key is in an alcove behind the block. The difficulty is that the hallway is speckled with traps/the air is filled with poison gas; as they advance down the hallway, they must make repeated saves against exposure to poison or fall unconscious (not damaged, but clearly unable to aid in the objective of the room.) If too many of the party get knocked out, they will not have enough hands left to move the block.

Similarly- the party must run on a large treadmill, the action of which slowly removes some obstacle blocking their path. Simple enough. The catch? As the obstacle gets removed, the temperature of the room increases. At some point the group must start making saves against heat exhaustion, as per the environmental conditions rules. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/environment.htm#) Anybody who fails is Fatigued.. which means they can't run any more. They get pitched off the treadmill and everybody remaining has to work even harder and take longer to finish the job.

[Darkomn]

Kill two birds with one stone: fight an owlbear:smallwink:

[Anxe]

(High fives Darkomn)

Bear could also be Concentration checks as those are based off of CON.

I like the identical orb idea for the Owl test.

[Funkyodor]

You could make it a combination test and do both at once. Instead of poison gas as mentioned by several people above, why not use nausea inducing effects in a tunnel that loops back into a gas free room, along the way there is something they need to spot / listen / do. Or someone injured and sickened in the tunnel they can bring out and Heal check back to normal?

[MonkeyBusiness]

I don't know about the bear, but the owl test might involve the owl's two main attributes: hearing and moving silently.

Owls are able to use their hearing to pinpoint the location of a moving target (such as a mouse) so perhaps the test would involve magical blindness that forces the participant to track using only hearing. However, if the participant fails to move silently, the target relocates.

The target could be a magically animated or clockwork "mouse" that simply zooms around a maze that the player must navigate in the darkness. Being a mouse, it would have means of escape through little tunnels the player can't access. Thus, it might seem to "disappear" from one spot (as it zips down a mousehole) and "reappear" in another.

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[u-b]

Long exhausting walk / crawl / DC5 climb up / etc. through a maze full of difficult terrain will nicely do both, especially with hidden passages to spot and all those navigation checks. Set a time limit so they could not rest or attempt every route and you have the test.

[Diskhotep]

I recommend the combination tests previously mentioned, but the pcs are also being chased by a dangerous creature they aren't allowed to injure or kill... the Test of the Owlbear.

[Denamort]

Great ideas everyone, thanks!

The ones for the test of the Bear are great, but I'm not convinced about The Test of the Owl being linked with Spot. Yes, the skill is linked to that atribute, but it doesn't seem like something a wise character would necessarily be good at. The stereotypical wise character is the "Old Wise Man", who is sometimes blind. I like Pokonic's idea about doing Sense Motive checks on several Outsiders to find wich one is telling the truth.

[Socratov]

Well, the test of the bear must either target concentration or ye olde fort save. the fortsave is nice here, but expand on the subject a little. let's say it targets both! The payers will require to take a hallucinogenic substancedisableing them to move, but will enable to let them see patterns, then while completely borked out of their minds the players will require to make concentration checks until they 'see' where the key is. But to get the key, they will have to make no more then 3 fort saves, so they can move again. From this ritual they gain the Key of the bear's endurance, having endured the test of the bear.

For the owl you will need to target willsaves and perceptionchecks (professsion won't help you here). The player will be placed in an illusion. In this ilusion the player will be confronted with a dilemma (try and be creative here, also, insert loophole from a player's backstory). The player will be able to interact with the illusion (a bit like the hologram will Smith encounters in I, Robot ). To get to the whereabouts of the key the player must solve the dilemma by showing wisdom. After the player sovles the dilemma, he will have to make a willsave to disbelieve the illusion. Success means the player still knows the location, fail means mindrape into forgetting the location. Once at the location, The player will have to make a spot check to see the key, and presto, the player will have followed through the test of the Owl.

[Anxe]

I was thinking using spot kind of like in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade. You have to pick the correct cup out of all of them, but it may not be the best-looking cup. The problem is that this one isn't necessarily driven by a straight skill roll.

[Jay R]

The test of the Owl is one of two things.

Either the answer to some common-sense based questions. (You are alone in a cabin with only one match. It's cold and wet out. There is a stove, lamp, and fireplace, but you only have one match. Which should you light first? The match, of course.

The alternative is a problem that must be solved by making hard decisions. You are in a room, and the door will open only if you sacrifice one of your number. In this room is the party and one stranger. He is the one who will judge your party's response. If you kill him, the door will never open.

Or you can tell them, "Any one of you can escape this room alone, simply by being the first one to say, 'I escape.'" Follow this announcement with 30 seconds of complete silence. Then say, "Alternatively, you can each free the one on your left, if you all agree to do so." Note that if any one of them escaped alone, they can no longer escape together.

[J-H]

Test of the Owl
-Use the old knight/knave riddles (one always lies/one always tells the truth)
-Have a "test" similar to the table of Grails in Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade
-Use something involving runes or stones that have different alignments but are otherwise identical. Clerics/Paladins should be able to sense good/evil.

Test of the Bear
-Poison-testing? Maybe something where a certain number of cups of poison have to be drunk in order to exit the room, with the number dependent on the number of party members. It's then up to them to spread the poison around efficiently so that nobody dies.

[Jay R]

Test of the Owl
-Use the old knight/knave riddles (one always lies/one always tells the truth)

Here (http://xkcd.com/246/)'s a great one.

[Grey Watcher]

I don't know about the bear, but the owl test might involve the owl's two main attributes: hearing and moving silently.

Owls are able to use their hearing to pinpoint the location of a moving target (such as a mouse) so perhaps the test would involve magical blindness that forces the participant to track using only hearing. However, if the participant fails to move silently, the target relocates.

The target could be a magically animated or clockwork "mouse" that simply zooms around a maze that the player must navigate in the darkness. Being a mouse, it would have means of escape through little tunnels the player can't access. Thus, it might seem to "disappear" from one spot (as it zips down a mousehole) and "reappear" in another.

.

So, they're playing Hunt the Wumpus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt_the_wumpus)?

Whatever the details, I'd make sure that multitple kinds of checks can be used. For the Owl, there are four main things I can think of that rely on Wisdom: Will saves, physical perception, social perception, and understanding. The last of these will be difficult to quantify, but, in general, something along the theme of discerning what is true/real/trustworthy from what is false/fake/treacherous.

For the Bear, as has been mentioned, something you can get around by toughing it out with high hit points, strong Fort saves, or concentration works. Instead of a toxic poison, I like the idea of a simple task, complicated with the air being tainted with a hallucinogen. Characters can either rely on their Fortitude Saves to avoid hallucinating in the first place, or Concentration to keep working despite the hallucinations. (I might make the Fortitude Save harder than the Concentration, only because working while desperately trying to shut frightful horrors (or distracting delights) out of your head makes a much better story than "You smell something odd, but nothing happens.")

[gkathellar]

Kill two birds with one stone: fight an owlbear:smallwink:

Looking at the title, I had every expectation that this thread would be about Owlbears, and am disappointed that it's not.

[deuxhero]

(You are alone in a cabin with only one match. It's cold and wet out. There is a stove, lamp, and fireplace, but you only have one match. Which should you light first?

This reminds me of a puzzle!

[Socratov]

the thing is, riddles are for the test of the fox (targeting int), i'd say both wisdom and constitution (owl and bear respectively) are great targets for tests including drugs where the bear test should be all about purging/abolishing the substance (may be even going through detox effects) while the test of the owl should be all about interpreting. Just let the target be under an illusion (like programmed image) which tells you where the key is after you asked the right answers which has much more to do with wisdom then answering a riddle (although it is a riddle in itself, but the knowing of an answer is different then interpreting the right questions and answers).

[WildPyre]

For test of the owl make it something where they have to exhibit patience. Where they have to literally do NOTHING while every instinct tells them they need to leap into action. Perhaps skittering creatures, or moving mechanisms that if left unchecked will eventually unlock the door, but if interupted the whole thing gets reset.

[Lonely Tylenol]

I would make the Test of the Owl something akin to a room with no doors, no windows, nigh-impenetrable, magically fortified walls, and no apparent entrance or exit. Etched in the wall (or spoken through a magic mouth, or something of that sort) are the rules of this challenge: anyone may leave the room at any time, by declaring the name of one person who they sacrifice in order to leave. The person they declare is dropped to -1 hit points and dying and is teleported back into the entrance room, as is the person who declared the sacrifice, having failed the test. The only way to succeed the test is to declare yourself as a willing sacrifice; if you do so, you're teleported instead to a room with the key, or teleported back to the entrance with the key and in perfect health.

The reasoning being, of course, that a truly wise and just person would put the group before themselves, and would gladly sacrifice themselves before they would sacrifice somebody else.

[Anxe]

I would make the Test of the Owl something akin to a room with no doors, no windows, nigh-impenetrable, magically fortified walls, and no apparent entrance or exit. Etched in the wall (or spoken through a magic mouth, or something of that sort) are the rules of this challenge: anyone may leave the room at any time, by declaring the name of one person who they sacrifice in order to leave. The person they declare is dropped to -1 hit points and dying and is teleported back into the entrance room, as is the person who declared the sacrifice, having failed the test. The only way to succeed the test is to declare yourself as a willing sacrifice; if you do so, you're teleported instead to a room with the key, or teleported back to the entrance with the key and in perfect health.

The reasoning being, of course, that a truly wise and just person would put the group before themselves, and would gladly sacrifice themselves before they would sacrifice somebody else.

The problem with that one is that if one person says another person's name, they both disappear. The party would assume that the namer made it out successfully and would probably repeat the process. The puzzle too easily results in a TPK.

[Grey Watcher]

I would make the Test of the Owl something akin to a room with no doors, no windows, nigh-impenetrable, magically fortified walls, and no apparent entrance or exit. Etched in the wall (or spoken through a magic mouth, or something of that sort) are the rules of this challenge: anyone may leave the room at any time, by declaring the name of one person who they sacrifice in order to leave. The person they declare is dropped to -1 hit points and dying and is teleported back into the entrance room, as is the person who declared the sacrifice, having failed the test. The only way to succeed the test is to declare yourself as a willing sacrifice; if you do so, you're teleported instead to a room with the key, or teleported back to the entrance with the key and in perfect health.

The reasoning being, of course, that a truly wise and just person would put the group before themselves, and would gladly sacrifice themselves before they would sacrifice somebody else.

That seems less like a test of Wisdom and more like a test of Good alignment.

[Lhurgyof]

Test of the owl? Sounds like a hall of mirrors to me. :smallbiggrin:

As for the con test, I like the idea of holding your breath. Perhaps some sort of under-water maze. What level are the PC's?

[Lonely Tylenol]

The problem with that one is that if one person says another person's name, they both disappear. The party would assume that the namer made it out successfully and would probably repeat the process. The puzzle too easily results in a TPK.


That seems less like a test of Wisdom and more like a test of Good alignment.

We are operating under the assumption that the party KNOWS it's a test, right?

Anyone that believes anybody testing them on how wise they are would actually let them get away scot-free by sacrificing one of their own comrades to save themselves failed both their Common Sense and Knowledge (Prisoner's Dilemma) check.

[Socratov]

ehm... players get antsy when asked for a sacrifice... I wouldn't go with a riddle either since it will be too much like the test of the fox. I'd still go with believing/disbeleiving illusions. It will be feeling more like perception/concentraion, willsaves... It has to be somthing unique unlike the other tests.

[Grey Watcher]

We are operating under the assumption that the party KNOWS it's a test, right?

Anyone that believes anybody testing them on how wise they are would actually let them get away scot-free by sacrificing one of their own comrades to save themselves failed both their Common Sense and Knowledge (Prisoner's Dilemma) check.

Aha, but Knowledge is an INT check. WIS would allow you to realize what a silly setup the Prisoner's Dilemma really is. :smalltongue:

As for it being Common Sense that the tester would want to punish the adventurer for throwing his own ally under the bus, that presumes that the tester himself is also of a Good (or at least non-Evil) alignment. Honestly, if I confronted with a series of deathtraps merely as a "test", I wouldn't so readily trust that the person who made the test had such noble ideas about how I should be treating my comrades. Maybe the tester thinks that to be truly wise is to put yourself above "petty" concerns like nobility, empathy, or being nice to your friends.

Plus, if you start to invoke gamer logic (and presenting an in-game challenge as an explicit test is a PERFECT excuse to let your players do so), it may be that the idea isn't about being all noble and self-sacrificing, but being wise and judicious, making an honest assessment about which team members will be most valuable (depending on how explicit the instructions are about what the "sacrifice" involves).

On a different note entirely, there's also the potential logjam as players try to figure out how to break through without sacrificing anyone, including themselves (because, even if they know they won't die outright, who wants to spend the climax of the scene unconscious in the lobby.

Also, if everybody blows the test once, the DM has two choices: it's either the world's most anticlimactic TPK, everyone gets back up and can't proceed with this adventure anymore, or they can just try the test again and, as soon as they figure out the gimmick, the whole noble-self-sacrifice thing becomes totally meaningless. Like that time we started deliberately impaling ourselves on the altar of The Raven Queen because we knew (thanks to an earlier clue) that it wasn't Stabbity Death, but Phenomenal Cosmic Powers.

[Mastikator]

Blatantly stolen from a game. Points to those who can tell where.

Test of the bear-
You face a beholder, in a bar, and the beholder challenges you to a drinking game. If you lose, the beholder eats you. The beholder drinks until it dies.

Test of the owl-
You face a mindflayer, the mindflayer uses mindblast on you, if you fail the will save it eats your brain, if you succeed it gives you the key.

[Lhurgyof]

Blatantly stolen from a game. Points to those who can tell where.

Test of the bear-
You face a beholder, in a bar, and the beholder challenges you to a drinking game. If you lose, the beholder eats you. The beholder drinks until it dies.


Why does that sound exactly like something a beholder would do JUST to prevent the party from advancing? :smallbiggrin: