PDA

View Full Version : Puzzle ideas for a necromancer's library?



Edge of Dreams
2012-10-18, 05:55 PM
The players in my Runequest game (Runetali) are going to be delving into a dungeon that is actually a necromancer's secret library. The guy who created it was a necromancer (and possibly also a lich) with strange ideas about security - he wanted to make sure that only a fellow necromancer could access his store of magical tomes.

To that end, he built seven barriers, each of which has a different test that must be passed. I've got six of the seven figured out so far. Each has a phrase above the door that indicates the valued quality required to pass. The player characters are NOT necromancers, but I believe they should be able to find alternate solutions to these challenges.

I might change the order of these later, I dunno.

1) "Sacrifice of Flesh" - the switch to open the door is trapped in a really obvious way with spikes. A follower or zombie is supposed to be sacrificed.

2) "Resilience of Bone" - the switch is behind a magic flamethrower. A skeleton minion could survive the flames.

3) "Absence of Fear" - the switch is behind a magic forcefield that only living flesh can pass through, and surrounded by a fear aura that forces a will save.

4) "Strength of Body" - the door is guarded by animated stone statues that try to crush you

5) "Mastery of Spirits" - a wraith guards the door. He can be appeased, beat up, or freed from the spell that binds him into service.

6) "Knowledge of Secrets" - a question is written on the wall, and there is a set of runes with which to answer it. Divination magic will answer it easily.

7) "Speed of Thought" - Aaaaaand this is the one I need help with.

The puzzle should be something that requires primarily mental ability, and possibly with a time-limited component such as a trap that slowly closes around you and will crush you if you don't solve the puzzle fast enough. I could really use some suggestions for something cool and thematically appropriate. I also want to make sure it is something that can be solved both out-of-character and with in-character skill rolls to get hints if the players get stuck.

Suggestions? Feedback on the other 6 barriers?

Acanous
2012-10-18, 06:01 PM
4 seems unusual for a necromancer. Why would they care about being physically mighty? Why is he using Golems at all, when he's necromanticly themed?

I'm not familiar with Runequest. If it was DnD, I'd suggest negative energy traps there.

Edge of Dreams
2012-10-18, 06:09 PM
4 seems unusual for a necromancer. Why would they care about being physically mighty? Why is he using Golems at all, when he's necromanticly themed?


Point taken. I'll consider reworking that one.


I'm not familiar with Runequest. If it was DnD, I'd suggest negative energy traps there.

I'm pretty much working with a D&D-style setting comparable to Faerun or Forgotten Realms. Negative Energy doesn't specifically exist in the rules system, but I could certain create something appropriate from existing spells. Runequest tends to do the kind of thing where there's only a couple of spells that do direct damage, but they can be re-flavored to be ice, fire, lightning, darkness, or whatever else you want based on what school of magic you learned the spell from.

NichG
2012-10-18, 08:07 PM
Speed of thought could be something like a simple logic puzzle with a very obvious timer (include a prop for this), while something about the chamber or area forces you towards making the choice. An example (though not appropriate for a library) would be a fast-moving river with a fork coming up and a series of signs that comprise the puzzle, the answer to which tells you which one goes to safety and which goes to a waterfall. For a necromancer's library you could do the stereotypical 'crushing wall' trap, where there are two/three doors that the party much choose between before the wall forces the issue.

tbok1992
2012-10-18, 11:51 PM
How about this challenge: "Rebuild this ogre skeleton before the black sand runs out of the hourglass, or the bones will turn into a whirling maelstrom OF DEATH!"

Also, for 4, why not replace it with "Lack of Heart" and put it at the end. It'd contain a set of manacles on an altar, with a bowl for collecting blood at its end and a sacrificial dagger sheathed at its head, which automatically teleports a loved one of one of the party members into the manacles. The players have to kill said loved one and let their blood drain into the bowl to open the door. Though you probably should only use it if you want to be sadistic.

MesiDoomstalker
2012-10-19, 12:03 AM
How about this challenge: "Rebuild this ogre skeleton before the black sand runs out of the hourglass, or the bones will turn into a whirling maelstrom OF DEATH!"

Also, for 4, why not replace it with "Lack of Heart" and put it at the end. It'd contain a set of manacles on an altar, with a bowl for collecting blood at its end and a sacrificial dagger sheathed at its head, which automatically teleports a loved one of one of the party members into the manacles. The players have to kill said loved one and let their blood drain into the bowl to open the door. Though you probably should only use it if you want to be sadistic.

Problem with your suggestion of number 4. The Necromancer would, rather quickly, run out of loved ones to sacrifice to access his own library. And that assumes necromancer's have loved ones, which is a stretch.

Socratov
2012-10-19, 01:23 AM
hm... speed of thought... this could both be thought of as psionics (literally acting at the speed of thoughts), or doing something dextrous (acting with the speed of thought, i.e. very quick).

the first you can use only if it is aplicable, the second could come as a test of skill or some kind of reflex save like thing (like in DnD). I'd model in on a floor which slowly fals apart when tread upon with traps. So the person should be running and reacting before he can actually think of it. Or a hallway where walking somehwere will activate a fireball trap, forcing the player to react really fast or be roasted (switch at the end to deactivate).

Averis Vol
2012-10-19, 01:38 AM
for seven there could be a wall of force in the middle of a large pit, separating an open door from on the other side from your group and an obvious lever on their side. Now, when they pull the lever the wall goes down and the door shuts in x rounds (however many is appropriate for your group.) now they have to get across and in the door, once in theres a smaller lever on the other side that resets the trap. so if only one of your group makes it over they can reset it for the rest and so on and so forth. It requires quick wits and quicker abilities to get over in time. If they dont there can be consequences like bolts of lightning to teach them a lesson or summoned monsters before it resets.

Hope this helps, and good luck, it sounds fun.

Saidoro
2012-10-19, 08:35 AM
Also, for 4, why not replace it with "Lack of Heart" and put it at the end. It'd contain a set of manacles on an altar, with a bowl for collecting blood at its end and a sacrificial dagger sheathed at its head, which automatically teleports a loved one of one of the party members into the manacles. The players have to kill said loved one and let their blood drain into the bowl to open the door. Though you probably should only use it if you want to be sadistic.
While completely untenable on its own this is actually built around a decent idea. Try renaming it to "strength of commitment" or something like that and replace the actual loved one with a very good illusion.

Kornaki
2012-10-19, 09:17 AM
The floor is made of magic (in whatever sense that this makes sense in your campaign). An antimagic field starts growing from one corner of the room, causing the floor to disappear. Any attempts to cheese the trap by flying are met with a harsh fall into a pit of vipers or something because of the AMF.

The door out also is made of magic and vanishes as the AMF hits it. Of course this means the AMF is also hitting the floor, so the characters have to be ready to jump at the right time. If they haven't figured out the trap by the time it hits the door (for example by using detect magic to understand why the floor is disappearing, and realizing it will make the magical door disappear too), it becomes impossible to jump across and they fall into the pit.

The door should be positioned so if they're just running away from the disappearing floor they don't get to accidentally be next to the door when it vanishes

Jacob.Tyr
2012-10-19, 12:50 PM
Why not go with something requiring an intelligent undead?

Negative energy field(Fluff with whatever you want) that deals obscene con damage to anything entering it, which would not affect undead, surrounding a switch that activates in the presence of anything with an int score. Lets say it deals 1d6 con damage per round, and each round you add a number of counters equal to your int bonus to opening the door. When the counters reach 10 the door opens. It resets if you leave before the door opens.

Any undead, lacking con, will be unaffected by the negative, but ones without an int bonus will never open it. Anything living with an int bonus will probably be killed by the trap before ever being able to open it.

Samuel Sturm
2012-10-21, 12:16 AM
For the last trap, use the resetting trap trick. A 10'x10'x10' room, doors on opposite sides, with a small red button in the floor, marked "reset". When you enter the room, the doors seal and the ceiling starts to lower. If you push the button, the roof raises back to 10', and starts to lower again. If you don't touch the button, the roof lowers until it is 3' from the floor, at which point it stops and the far door opens. Speed of thought is useful, but why does a necromancer care about time? :smallbiggrin: