Tanuki Tales
2012-12-27, 11:44 PM
I'm going to be starting a new Pathfinder game soon and the setting has a "wandering dungeon" created by a trickster god just for giggles. The reward at the end of the dungeon is a vision that puts them on a journey to discover the location of a potent artifact that can lead to a person's greatest dream or desire becoming reality (MacGuffin ahoy!). The party will be forming because the dungeon arriving causes a time stop effect and only a handful of individuals are exempted from the effect.
I have 28 trials so far (27 listed and spoilered below) and need 2 more to top everything off, so I appreciate any suggestions. Even though I'm running a Pathfinder game, any kind of logic puzzle or trial or what have you from any roleplaying game would work since the connection to actual game mechanics is tangential in most cases.
Also, no, I did not come up with most of these riddles/trials by myself. I've scanned the net (including here) for ideas already and they've got me this far.
Thanks in advance!
1. Shadow Fighting
The room starts off completely pitch black with no apparent exit save the entrance they came into it from, but as soon as everyone is in the room, four torches 20 feet off the ground burst to life, casting shadows towards the center of the room. The door shuts behind the group and the shadows coalesce into a towering humanoid figure wielding a thick mass of shadow (use the statistics for a Troll wielding a Great club. Its regeneration is undefeatable). The figure attacks the party and is only defeated if all four torches are put out. The door to the next room opens once this is accomplished.
2. Hopscotch
The room is very large and each floor tile is a five foot by five foot square, sufficiently large enough to hold a single person in its borders. Only a serpentine path of these squares is actually real, the rest being clever illusions that hide a terrible fate. The ceiling of the room is a mirror that reveals the true nature of the room. To jump from real tile to real tile is a DC 17 Acrobatics check (15 feet jump, with a +2 increase since you need to be checking the ceiling or quickly memorizing the correct place to jump). 5 successful checks lead you to the opposite side of the room, which is a 20 foot wide ledge. Failing the check or never checking the ceiling (with a 95% chance of choosing incorrectly) results in the character falling 100 feet (10d6) onto large, serrated spikes (3d6 initial, 1d6 for tearing oneself off). Once all living party members make it to the ledge, the door to the next room opens.
3. Blue and Red Guardians
The room is empty save for two doors, one red and one blue, each guarded by a ten foot tall knight carved from rock, one red and one blue. The two guardians will tell the party that only one of the two doors will lead on further into the dungeon, while the other leads to certain death. They will also tell the party that one of them tells nothing but the truth and that the other tells nothing but lies. Each party member must select one door by themselves and are allowed to ask one of the two guardians a single question in attempt to select the door correctly. The Red Door is the correct path and the Blue Guardian is the truth teller.
4. Giant Egg
The room is empty saved for a locked door on the other side (which requires a key to open) and a white egg that is wrapped in a purple ribbon with a bow tied to the top. Touching any part of the egg save the ribbon has the creature pulled into the egg (no save). The egg is filled with a vicious fluid that allows breathing for 3 rounds before suffocation sets in. The egg also contains the key to the door for the room. The only way to retrieve the key and save those stuck inside is to undo the ribbon, which has one part extended down enough for someone to grip and tug. Upon unwrapping the egg, it shatters and spills its contents.
5. Mirrored Worth
The room is strewn with trash that is hip deep, with an elevated dais and pedestal in the center of the room standing above all the detritus. The walls of the entire room are mirrors and they reflect a golden chalice sitting upon the pedestal (DC 10 Intelligence/Wisdom check to notice if looking). Every 10 feet moved through the trash causes 1 point of lethal damage as the group is cut up by the varying trash. Hidden amongst all the trash is 5 chalices identical to the image shown in the mirrors and 1 grimy chalice which is the real one. Finding any of the chalices requires a DC 25 Perception check and 5 minutes of digging. Digging results in 1d6 points of lethal damage as they are cut up by all the refuse. As soon as the group starts searching, 1d6+1 dire rats spawn and attack them. After being killed, another 1d6+1 will spawn after one minute has passed. Once the proper chalice is found and placed upon the pedestal, the trash will vanish, the damage caused by it healed and the door to the next room will open.
6. Shell Game
The room appears to be empty, with no exit on the opposite side. The first character to walk ten feet into the room is inexorably drawn to the center of the room as a massive stone cup slams on top of them, two others landing next to them. These cups will shift around at nearly faster than the eye speeds before stopping. The remaining players must then select where their group member is contained to move on. Failure will result in the death of the member and another will be taken for the game. None of the cups contain the character though, they actually hidden behind an etching of a turtle found along one of the walls. A character with a criminal background or used to dealing with them will recognize the truth of this scam with a DC 5 Intelligence check. Otherwise, the turtle will begin to bleed after 3 members have died. Touching the turtle releases the person contained behind it and the door to the next room opens.
7. Simplicity is not always truth.
The room appears to be empty save for a pedestal with a scrap of paper in the center of the room and a hole the size of someone’s head in one of the walls. The scrap of paper on the pedestal reads the following: “Man has but one, an ettin has two, Cerberus has three,
a Pyrohydra has four.” If a character places their head in the hole in the wall, a bright flash goes off, striking them blind for an hour. If they place a vowel into the hole (the answer to the riddle), either by making one with their hands, writing it on a piece of paper, carving it into an item or something similar, then the door to the next room opens.
8. The Fool
The room appears to be empty save for a man sized statue of stone found in its center. The statue depicts a jester with its eyes shut, its mouth turned in a frown and its arms behind its back clasped together. A placard on the statue’s base reads “The Fool I am, the Fool I must once more be.” In order to open the door to the next room the party must open the eyes of the statue, turn its mouth upside down and unclasp its hands while turn the arms to face upwards. The first two tasks are simple, while the last requires passing a DC 20 Strength check.
9. Rewrite the Path
The room is completely empty with a door made of stone on the opposite side. The door has no handle, hinges or apparent seams or cracks and no matter how hard they push or pull or strike the door, it does not budge. Written upon the door, in chalk, are the words, “Closed Penance”. If the characters erase letters until the word, “o Pen” remains, the door will disintegrate, allowing passage into the next room.
10. Swing to Freedom
The majority of the room is taken up by a pit of spikes that start one foot after the lip of the platform that is the threshold past the door. On the opposite side of the pit is a platform as well, but no door out of the room is apparent. 10 feet from the platform, hanging from the ceiling, is an iron ball with a metal plank crossing horizontally just above it. Decorating the wall on the side of the entrance is 30, 12 foot hooked poles. Though the party can draw the ball and chain to them, it does not have enough force to get them across. The party must start a pendulum starting, requiring 3 strength checks (DC 20, 15, 10) to get the pendulum starting. After the third swing, the energy dissipates, so each character must make a DC 20 Dexterity check to leap on as it swings away. Once all the party is across, the door to the next room opens.
11. A Warm Reception
The room is seemingly empty with a door present on the opposite side of the room, the floor made up of five foot by five foot tiles. The ceiling of the room though is a roiling pit of liquid magma; the oppressive heat easily felt once entering the room (DC 30 Will to disbelieve). A DC 25 Perception check will allow a character to notice that the corners of certain tiles are rounded instead of sharp like the other tiles. If a character steps on one of those tiles, gravity reverses and they are flung up into the lava pit, roasting alive. Passing by the tiles can also trigger the effect, requiring a DC 20 Reflex save to break free. If the character noticed the differing grooves in the tile, a DC 20 Acrobatics check allows them to move in such a manner that they avoid the effect entirely. Once they traverse the room safely, the door on the other side is found to be simply a painted indentation on the wall, with the following written upon “A leap of faith is the way.” The magma and the heat it puts off is a powerful illusionary effect, hiding a room cloaked in complete darkness. Only once the whole party has “fallen” into the lava pit does the light turn on and the door to the next room open.
Room: X- Safe Tiles Y-Gravity Reverse
XXYYXYXYXY
XYXXYXYXXY
YYXYXXYYXX
YYYYYXYYYYY
12. The Room of Spheres
The room appears to be empty save for five spheres that hover in the center of the room. Each sphere has a diameter of one foot and hovers three feet off the ground. The spheres are aligned in a horizontal row; two of the orbs (the second and fourth one) glow with a golden light, the other three being black as night. The party must touch the correct spheres in the correct order to solve the puzzle and open the next door. Touching the following orbs produces the following effects:
When the First Sphere is touched, the Second and Third Spheres change their lighting.
When the Second Sphere is touched, the First and Third Spheres change their lighting.
When the Third Sphere is touched, the Second and Fourth Spheres change their lighting.
When the Fourth Sphere is touched, the First and Fifth Spheres change their lighting.
When the Fifth Sphere is touched, the Second and Third Spheres change their lighting.
If all the spheres are glowing like the sun, the door to the next room opens.
If all the spheres are dark as night, the spheres turn an angry red, energy crackling between them and then exploding outwards. All creatures in the room take 5d6 points of untyped damage and the puzzle resets.
13. Tag. You’re It.
The room opens to a lighted antechamber with an archway that opens beyond into pitch blackness and a large door with a thick adamantine lock. The antechamber has a table with 10 hooded lanterns resting upon it and the following is scribbled on the wall:
“In the dark the maze does stretch.
They key to the door you must fetch.
Around the light, the lost do flit.
Beware your sight or Tag, You’re It!”
The party members must traverse the maze that the archway leads to and retrieve the key to the door to the next room. The maze is cloaked in utter darkness, that only the lantern or dark vision can see through. The maze has six intersections, three branches at each intersection; one of them is correct, the other coming to dead ends after 100 feet (correct paths are only 50 feet long). The trick is not to find the key at the end of the maze and to get back, but to do so without attracting the attention of The Watchers Above (use stats for Ghouls).
Crawling around the ceiling are horrendous creatures that look like emaciated corpses that were held for too long near an open flame. Making terrible noises of slapping flesh, sick gurgles and breaking bones, they infest the entire maze. The ceiling is 40 feet off the ground and the Watchers can climb down it at a rate of 10 feet a round. Light causes discomfort to the Watchers and they will investigate any source of it as soon as they become aware. Watchers are blind though, feeling the light instead of seeing it. Once a Watcher has traversed to the floor they will move towards the last position of any light, making active Perception checks to follow what made it when the light is not on. When within 10 feet of the source, the Watcher’s Scent (10 ft) will lock them onto the character(s) and they will let loose a horrible screech before rushing at the character(s). Any Watchers already on the ground who hear the screech will start moving towards that spot and Watchers on the ceiling will start to descend. Only 10 Watchers will descend for any single event (a light being turned on or another Watcher screeching) and they will ascend back to the ceiling after 10 rounds have passed with no source apparent to the event.
The key sits on a velvet cushion on a 5 foot tall pedestal at the end of the maze.
Maze Path:
1 – L C R
2 – L C R
3 – L C R
4 – L C R
5 – L C R
6 – L C R
14. Bigger is not always better.
The room is empty save for a large boulder and a square hole in the ground. The boulder has a 10 foot diameter and requires a DC 25 Strength check to move. The hole is slightly larger than the boulder, so the whole thing can fit into it. At the bottom of the hole, hidden by darkness, is another hole the size of a man’s fist that connects to a small passage that is 10 feet deep. At the bottom of the passage is a button that, when pressed, opens the door to the next room.
15. Failure is the only option
The room is empty save for a door on the opposite side, a pedestal with a button upon it in the center of the room and hundreds of small holes in the left and right walls. As soon as the party crosses into the room, an ominous voice begins counting down from thirty (one number every six seconds). Once the countdown reaches half way, spikes begin to jut from the two walls and ceiling before they begin to move closer. Pressing the button resets both the counter and the walls. The solution to this trial is to let the counter reach zero; the walls stop just short of a 10 x 10 cube around the pedestal and then go back, with the door to the next room opening shortly thereafter.
16. All that Glitters
The room is empty save for the door on the other side which is locked. Trying to open it will always fail the key to the door the only way to move onwards. The ceiling above is made of glass and holds back a massive amount of gold coins. The floor below is covered in an inch of sand. A DC 20 Perception checks reveals that a large metal key, the exact same size as the lock requires, is in the center of the ceiling. Any form of damage shatters the glass, causing those in the room to take 5d6 slashing and bludgeoning damage as it all falls on them (DC 15 Reflex cuts this in half). Rummaging for the key takes a DC 20 Perception check and requires 3 rounds of searching. As soon as the glass is broken though, a scentless gas begins to filter into the room. After three rounds it begins to take effect and the party must make Fortitude saves (DC 5 at start, adding +2 for every subsequent save. The party doesn’t become aware of these saves until after the DC passes 15) or fall unconscious, beginning to suffocate two rounds later. Any gold collected dissolves into sand once it leaves the room.
17. Balancing Act
The party enters into an antechamber that has a stone slab door facing the party and a locked door to their left. A large chain dangles from the ceiling and written on the door is the following: “A Test of Strength lies within. Pull the chain and retrieve the key.” To pull the chain and open the door is a DC 12 Strength check. Beyond the door are darkness and a one foot drop into a large pond of water. The pond is 100 feet long and 30 feet wide and the water comes up to the thigh; located on the opposite side is a small island of earth with a table upon it, which holds 3 keys (though only the first key is visible; the other two lay beneath each other under the first in a key shaped hole in the table). As soon as someone enters the second room, the sound of crackling energy is heard. Dangling from the ceiling is two steel rods that have electricity arching between them. A few moments after this, a loud crack is heard in the antechamber and the ceiling of it shakes. The tackle that made pulling the chain so easy has broken and each round a new check (increase by +1 each time) is need to maintain the door open and keep the two steel rods out of the water. If the check is failed, the door slam shuts and the rods plunge into the water, dealing 5d6 electricity damage each round they are touching. A new strength check can be attempted to undo this, but the strength necessary keeps increasing each round. Only the bottom key can unlock the door and allow access to the next room.
18. Leap of Faith
The room opens up into what appears to be a stretch of wilderness contained in the dungeon. A chasm splits the landscape, going downwards for miles to a winding river below. It is only a 30 foot jump to the other side, but any attempts will meet with failure. As soon as a character gets half way, they slam into a wall of force (1d6 damage) and are hurled backwards to collide with the back wall (3d6). If the characters assume the chasm is an illusion and jump vertically, they will simply fall to their death. If a character climbs down their side of the chasm (DC 15 Climb check), a ledge large enough to support them appears 30 feet below. A cave opens in the cliff face and walking through it leads them to an identical one on the opposite side. Another climb up takes them to safety. They only need to follow the path past the trees on the opposite side and the party will find the door to the next room.
19. Topsy-Turvy
The room opens to a set of enclosed stairs, the only thing of note being the following words scribbled on the wall before the stairs: “A pair of boots makes a better fit than a king’s crown.” If the party tries to climb the stairs, they will only be able to reach 10 flights; every step past that is rigged to press down and turn the entire stairwell into a slide all the way back to the bottom. If a character does a hand stand (DC 10 Dexterity check), gravity reverses and the character slides down to the door to the next room.
20. Gone Fishing
The room is 500 feet long and 100 feet wide, with a bridge (20 feet wide) branching down the center to a door on the opposite side. On the other side is a door with a thick lock that cannot be picked and the door cannot be broken down. The center of the bridge has a stone bench on the right side large enough to seat six people, a rack containing six fishing rods beside that. The rods, line and hooks are made of metal and the line is quite long. 10 feet below the bridge is a great lake of crystal clear water that is only 50 feet deep. Visible at the bottom is a key, also made of metal like the fishing equipment. Retrieving the key with the fishing rod is a DC 30 Dexterity check (if they possess 5 or more ranks in Survival or Profession (Fisherman), they get a bonus to the check equal to the ranks). If a character thinks swimming down to retrieve the key is easier, they will find that the water is in fact an acid that does not affect metal. Immersion in the “water” causes 10d6 damage every round, while just swimming causes 1d6 damage. A ladder exists next to the entrance of the room, if the character can survive swimming to it. Once retrieved, the key opens the door to the next room.
21. Corridor of Elements
The door to this room opens to a corridor that is 70 feet long with a 10 foot high ceiling. The first ten feet of this corridor is regular stone tiling and has five framed images on the left hand side (a flame, a tree, a tear drop, a sword and a mountain). The final ten feet of the room is the same, with a closed door on the opposite side of the corridor. The intermittent fifty feet of the room is covered in small tiles that all match one of the tiles on the wall. If a character touches one of the framed images, their body is transmuted to be made of the element emblazoned in the frame. If one of the small tiles is stepped upon, the following happens:
Flame – Fire spews from the cracks of the tiles, filling the fifty feet with a conflagration. Those caught in it take 6d6 Fire damage.
Tree – The tiles shatter as branches explode into the fifty feet, skewering any present. Those caught in it take 6d6 Piercing damage.
Tear Drop – Water floods from between the cracks of the tiles, filling the fifty feet with a bubble of water. Those caught in it must make a DC 25 Constitution check or fall unconscious.
Sword – The tiles shatter as swords explode into the fifty feet, skewering any present. Those caught in it take 6d6 Slashing damage.
Mountain – Earth pours from between the cracks of the tiles, crushing any present. Those caught in it take 6d6 Bludgeoning damage.
If a character is transmuted into the opposite element to the tile touched (Flame > Sword Sword > Tree Tree> Mountain Mountain > Tear Drop and Tear Drop > Flame), they pass through the corridor unharmed to the other side. If they selected the wrong element, they take damage and are teleported back to the entrance of the room. A character’s body returns to normal either when they reach the last ten feet or they are teleported back. After a character successfully makes it to the other side, the tiles change randomly to a new element.
22. Ask and Receive
The room opens into an antechamber with an archway opening into another room beyond. Above the archway is carved the message “Being Polite Can Save Your Life”, but the antechamber is otherwise empty. Standing in the center of the room is a Stone Golem and a large, circular rock is apparently blocking the door out. The Golem will move to attack the party as soon all of them have entered the room. If anyone asks the golem to “Please stop” it will do so, ceasing all hostility. It will also perform any other task asked of it that it is capable of (such as moving the stone blocking the door) but it cannot leave the room. Moving the stone opens the door to the next room.
23. Violence is not the answer.
The room is empty save for five pedestals that are each topped with a pewter basin that can hold two liters of liquid. Written on the lip of each basin are the words “Fill me to pass” and lying inside of each basin is a knife. The basin can be filled with any liquid to solve the riddle, not just blood. If the party chooses to fill it with blood, they can cut themselves and deal 1d4 constitution damage doing so. Once all five basins are filled, the door to the next room opens.
24. Sacrifice…or is it?
The room is bisected in half by a glass wall that is five feet thick with a door set into it. The door is a solid stone slab and both it and the wall are completely indestructible. Next to the entrance of the room is a five foot by five foot pressure pad that is elevated a few inches off the ground. If at least 50 lbs. is placed on the pressure pad, the door in the wall slides open, but if the weight is removed, the door slam shuts. Hidden next to the door on the opposite side of the wall is a section of stone the size of a man’s hand that is another pressure plate that requires only 1 pound of force (DC 25 Perception check finds it). As soon as everyone is on the correct side of the room, the door to the next room opens.
25. A ride in humility
The room is empty save for an ornate set of decorations on the opposite wall. Set into the wall are the heads of five emotionless faces of handsome men; four are ground level and the fifth is very close to the ceiling. Each of the heads has a platform large enough for a medium creature to stand upon and on the ceiling, within reach of the fifth platform, is the door to the next room. Once assembled before the heads, the fifth and top most head’s eyes glow and it speaks the following: “You stand before the Lord of Stone and my four Stone Knights. To get past you must seek their aid, but beware their pride!” Afterwards, a name appears on the forehead of each of the lower heads: Vant, Rael, Corvin and Gal. If a character stands on the platform of any head save Vant’s, they take 2d6 slashing damage and are thrown ten feet up into the air and away. If they stand on Vant’s head, it raises them up to the Lord’s platform.
26. Melt through the sorrow
In the center of the room is the door to the next, but it is frozen in the center of a block of ice that rapidly heals any damage dealt to it. Positioned around the ice block is six mirrors the size of a person, with sunlight from a hole in the ceiling reflecting off one and onto the ice to no effect. Etched into the ice is the following message: "My heart is frozen in lonely state. What will come to thaw my love? Not a single word from affectionate lips can pierce my sorrowed soul, or a pair of eyes peering into mine find my hardest toll. That longed for phrase of "I love you" is not enough to heal my wound, while "I long for you" is said to soon. "You are my deepest, greatest need" is far too long for me to heed, but one hand extended in simple love will free my soul to fly above." If the party moves and aligns the mirrors that so the light bounces off of five of them before hitting the ice block, it will melt and allow them access to the next room.
27. What was the Question?
The room is empty save for six doors on the opposite wall, a gray letter inscribed above each separate door (S A W R E N). The doors are unlocked and a room apparently lies behind each. The party must select doors so that their path spells the word “Answer”. If they select the correct door, the color of the letters of the next room will change (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple) and the final door will open to an antechamber with the door to the next room inside. If they select incorrectly, the door opens them to the beginning of the trial.
I have 28 trials so far (27 listed and spoilered below) and need 2 more to top everything off, so I appreciate any suggestions. Even though I'm running a Pathfinder game, any kind of logic puzzle or trial or what have you from any roleplaying game would work since the connection to actual game mechanics is tangential in most cases.
Also, no, I did not come up with most of these riddles/trials by myself. I've scanned the net (including here) for ideas already and they've got me this far.
Thanks in advance!
1. Shadow Fighting
The room starts off completely pitch black with no apparent exit save the entrance they came into it from, but as soon as everyone is in the room, four torches 20 feet off the ground burst to life, casting shadows towards the center of the room. The door shuts behind the group and the shadows coalesce into a towering humanoid figure wielding a thick mass of shadow (use the statistics for a Troll wielding a Great club. Its regeneration is undefeatable). The figure attacks the party and is only defeated if all four torches are put out. The door to the next room opens once this is accomplished.
2. Hopscotch
The room is very large and each floor tile is a five foot by five foot square, sufficiently large enough to hold a single person in its borders. Only a serpentine path of these squares is actually real, the rest being clever illusions that hide a terrible fate. The ceiling of the room is a mirror that reveals the true nature of the room. To jump from real tile to real tile is a DC 17 Acrobatics check (15 feet jump, with a +2 increase since you need to be checking the ceiling or quickly memorizing the correct place to jump). 5 successful checks lead you to the opposite side of the room, which is a 20 foot wide ledge. Failing the check or never checking the ceiling (with a 95% chance of choosing incorrectly) results in the character falling 100 feet (10d6) onto large, serrated spikes (3d6 initial, 1d6 for tearing oneself off). Once all living party members make it to the ledge, the door to the next room opens.
3. Blue and Red Guardians
The room is empty save for two doors, one red and one blue, each guarded by a ten foot tall knight carved from rock, one red and one blue. The two guardians will tell the party that only one of the two doors will lead on further into the dungeon, while the other leads to certain death. They will also tell the party that one of them tells nothing but the truth and that the other tells nothing but lies. Each party member must select one door by themselves and are allowed to ask one of the two guardians a single question in attempt to select the door correctly. The Red Door is the correct path and the Blue Guardian is the truth teller.
4. Giant Egg
The room is empty saved for a locked door on the other side (which requires a key to open) and a white egg that is wrapped in a purple ribbon with a bow tied to the top. Touching any part of the egg save the ribbon has the creature pulled into the egg (no save). The egg is filled with a vicious fluid that allows breathing for 3 rounds before suffocation sets in. The egg also contains the key to the door for the room. The only way to retrieve the key and save those stuck inside is to undo the ribbon, which has one part extended down enough for someone to grip and tug. Upon unwrapping the egg, it shatters and spills its contents.
5. Mirrored Worth
The room is strewn with trash that is hip deep, with an elevated dais and pedestal in the center of the room standing above all the detritus. The walls of the entire room are mirrors and they reflect a golden chalice sitting upon the pedestal (DC 10 Intelligence/Wisdom check to notice if looking). Every 10 feet moved through the trash causes 1 point of lethal damage as the group is cut up by the varying trash. Hidden amongst all the trash is 5 chalices identical to the image shown in the mirrors and 1 grimy chalice which is the real one. Finding any of the chalices requires a DC 25 Perception check and 5 minutes of digging. Digging results in 1d6 points of lethal damage as they are cut up by all the refuse. As soon as the group starts searching, 1d6+1 dire rats spawn and attack them. After being killed, another 1d6+1 will spawn after one minute has passed. Once the proper chalice is found and placed upon the pedestal, the trash will vanish, the damage caused by it healed and the door to the next room will open.
6. Shell Game
The room appears to be empty, with no exit on the opposite side. The first character to walk ten feet into the room is inexorably drawn to the center of the room as a massive stone cup slams on top of them, two others landing next to them. These cups will shift around at nearly faster than the eye speeds before stopping. The remaining players must then select where their group member is contained to move on. Failure will result in the death of the member and another will be taken for the game. None of the cups contain the character though, they actually hidden behind an etching of a turtle found along one of the walls. A character with a criminal background or used to dealing with them will recognize the truth of this scam with a DC 5 Intelligence check. Otherwise, the turtle will begin to bleed after 3 members have died. Touching the turtle releases the person contained behind it and the door to the next room opens.
7. Simplicity is not always truth.
The room appears to be empty save for a pedestal with a scrap of paper in the center of the room and a hole the size of someone’s head in one of the walls. The scrap of paper on the pedestal reads the following: “Man has but one, an ettin has two, Cerberus has three,
a Pyrohydra has four.” If a character places their head in the hole in the wall, a bright flash goes off, striking them blind for an hour. If they place a vowel into the hole (the answer to the riddle), either by making one with their hands, writing it on a piece of paper, carving it into an item or something similar, then the door to the next room opens.
8. The Fool
The room appears to be empty save for a man sized statue of stone found in its center. The statue depicts a jester with its eyes shut, its mouth turned in a frown and its arms behind its back clasped together. A placard on the statue’s base reads “The Fool I am, the Fool I must once more be.” In order to open the door to the next room the party must open the eyes of the statue, turn its mouth upside down and unclasp its hands while turn the arms to face upwards. The first two tasks are simple, while the last requires passing a DC 20 Strength check.
9. Rewrite the Path
The room is completely empty with a door made of stone on the opposite side. The door has no handle, hinges or apparent seams or cracks and no matter how hard they push or pull or strike the door, it does not budge. Written upon the door, in chalk, are the words, “Closed Penance”. If the characters erase letters until the word, “o Pen” remains, the door will disintegrate, allowing passage into the next room.
10. Swing to Freedom
The majority of the room is taken up by a pit of spikes that start one foot after the lip of the platform that is the threshold past the door. On the opposite side of the pit is a platform as well, but no door out of the room is apparent. 10 feet from the platform, hanging from the ceiling, is an iron ball with a metal plank crossing horizontally just above it. Decorating the wall on the side of the entrance is 30, 12 foot hooked poles. Though the party can draw the ball and chain to them, it does not have enough force to get them across. The party must start a pendulum starting, requiring 3 strength checks (DC 20, 15, 10) to get the pendulum starting. After the third swing, the energy dissipates, so each character must make a DC 20 Dexterity check to leap on as it swings away. Once all the party is across, the door to the next room opens.
11. A Warm Reception
The room is seemingly empty with a door present on the opposite side of the room, the floor made up of five foot by five foot tiles. The ceiling of the room though is a roiling pit of liquid magma; the oppressive heat easily felt once entering the room (DC 30 Will to disbelieve). A DC 25 Perception check will allow a character to notice that the corners of certain tiles are rounded instead of sharp like the other tiles. If a character steps on one of those tiles, gravity reverses and they are flung up into the lava pit, roasting alive. Passing by the tiles can also trigger the effect, requiring a DC 20 Reflex save to break free. If the character noticed the differing grooves in the tile, a DC 20 Acrobatics check allows them to move in such a manner that they avoid the effect entirely. Once they traverse the room safely, the door on the other side is found to be simply a painted indentation on the wall, with the following written upon “A leap of faith is the way.” The magma and the heat it puts off is a powerful illusionary effect, hiding a room cloaked in complete darkness. Only once the whole party has “fallen” into the lava pit does the light turn on and the door to the next room open.
Room: X- Safe Tiles Y-Gravity Reverse
XXYYXYXYXY
XYXXYXYXXY
YYXYXXYYXX
YYYYYXYYYYY
12. The Room of Spheres
The room appears to be empty save for five spheres that hover in the center of the room. Each sphere has a diameter of one foot and hovers three feet off the ground. The spheres are aligned in a horizontal row; two of the orbs (the second and fourth one) glow with a golden light, the other three being black as night. The party must touch the correct spheres in the correct order to solve the puzzle and open the next door. Touching the following orbs produces the following effects:
When the First Sphere is touched, the Second and Third Spheres change their lighting.
When the Second Sphere is touched, the First and Third Spheres change their lighting.
When the Third Sphere is touched, the Second and Fourth Spheres change their lighting.
When the Fourth Sphere is touched, the First and Fifth Spheres change their lighting.
When the Fifth Sphere is touched, the Second and Third Spheres change their lighting.
If all the spheres are glowing like the sun, the door to the next room opens.
If all the spheres are dark as night, the spheres turn an angry red, energy crackling between them and then exploding outwards. All creatures in the room take 5d6 points of untyped damage and the puzzle resets.
13. Tag. You’re It.
The room opens to a lighted antechamber with an archway that opens beyond into pitch blackness and a large door with a thick adamantine lock. The antechamber has a table with 10 hooded lanterns resting upon it and the following is scribbled on the wall:
“In the dark the maze does stretch.
They key to the door you must fetch.
Around the light, the lost do flit.
Beware your sight or Tag, You’re It!”
The party members must traverse the maze that the archway leads to and retrieve the key to the door to the next room. The maze is cloaked in utter darkness, that only the lantern or dark vision can see through. The maze has six intersections, three branches at each intersection; one of them is correct, the other coming to dead ends after 100 feet (correct paths are only 50 feet long). The trick is not to find the key at the end of the maze and to get back, but to do so without attracting the attention of The Watchers Above (use stats for Ghouls).
Crawling around the ceiling are horrendous creatures that look like emaciated corpses that were held for too long near an open flame. Making terrible noises of slapping flesh, sick gurgles and breaking bones, they infest the entire maze. The ceiling is 40 feet off the ground and the Watchers can climb down it at a rate of 10 feet a round. Light causes discomfort to the Watchers and they will investigate any source of it as soon as they become aware. Watchers are blind though, feeling the light instead of seeing it. Once a Watcher has traversed to the floor they will move towards the last position of any light, making active Perception checks to follow what made it when the light is not on. When within 10 feet of the source, the Watcher’s Scent (10 ft) will lock them onto the character(s) and they will let loose a horrible screech before rushing at the character(s). Any Watchers already on the ground who hear the screech will start moving towards that spot and Watchers on the ceiling will start to descend. Only 10 Watchers will descend for any single event (a light being turned on or another Watcher screeching) and they will ascend back to the ceiling after 10 rounds have passed with no source apparent to the event.
The key sits on a velvet cushion on a 5 foot tall pedestal at the end of the maze.
Maze Path:
1 – L C R
2 – L C R
3 – L C R
4 – L C R
5 – L C R
6 – L C R
14. Bigger is not always better.
The room is empty save for a large boulder and a square hole in the ground. The boulder has a 10 foot diameter and requires a DC 25 Strength check to move. The hole is slightly larger than the boulder, so the whole thing can fit into it. At the bottom of the hole, hidden by darkness, is another hole the size of a man’s fist that connects to a small passage that is 10 feet deep. At the bottom of the passage is a button that, when pressed, opens the door to the next room.
15. Failure is the only option
The room is empty save for a door on the opposite side, a pedestal with a button upon it in the center of the room and hundreds of small holes in the left and right walls. As soon as the party crosses into the room, an ominous voice begins counting down from thirty (one number every six seconds). Once the countdown reaches half way, spikes begin to jut from the two walls and ceiling before they begin to move closer. Pressing the button resets both the counter and the walls. The solution to this trial is to let the counter reach zero; the walls stop just short of a 10 x 10 cube around the pedestal and then go back, with the door to the next room opening shortly thereafter.
16. All that Glitters
The room is empty save for the door on the other side which is locked. Trying to open it will always fail the key to the door the only way to move onwards. The ceiling above is made of glass and holds back a massive amount of gold coins. The floor below is covered in an inch of sand. A DC 20 Perception checks reveals that a large metal key, the exact same size as the lock requires, is in the center of the ceiling. Any form of damage shatters the glass, causing those in the room to take 5d6 slashing and bludgeoning damage as it all falls on them (DC 15 Reflex cuts this in half). Rummaging for the key takes a DC 20 Perception check and requires 3 rounds of searching. As soon as the glass is broken though, a scentless gas begins to filter into the room. After three rounds it begins to take effect and the party must make Fortitude saves (DC 5 at start, adding +2 for every subsequent save. The party doesn’t become aware of these saves until after the DC passes 15) or fall unconscious, beginning to suffocate two rounds later. Any gold collected dissolves into sand once it leaves the room.
17. Balancing Act
The party enters into an antechamber that has a stone slab door facing the party and a locked door to their left. A large chain dangles from the ceiling and written on the door is the following: “A Test of Strength lies within. Pull the chain and retrieve the key.” To pull the chain and open the door is a DC 12 Strength check. Beyond the door are darkness and a one foot drop into a large pond of water. The pond is 100 feet long and 30 feet wide and the water comes up to the thigh; located on the opposite side is a small island of earth with a table upon it, which holds 3 keys (though only the first key is visible; the other two lay beneath each other under the first in a key shaped hole in the table). As soon as someone enters the second room, the sound of crackling energy is heard. Dangling from the ceiling is two steel rods that have electricity arching between them. A few moments after this, a loud crack is heard in the antechamber and the ceiling of it shakes. The tackle that made pulling the chain so easy has broken and each round a new check (increase by +1 each time) is need to maintain the door open and keep the two steel rods out of the water. If the check is failed, the door slam shuts and the rods plunge into the water, dealing 5d6 electricity damage each round they are touching. A new strength check can be attempted to undo this, but the strength necessary keeps increasing each round. Only the bottom key can unlock the door and allow access to the next room.
18. Leap of Faith
The room opens up into what appears to be a stretch of wilderness contained in the dungeon. A chasm splits the landscape, going downwards for miles to a winding river below. It is only a 30 foot jump to the other side, but any attempts will meet with failure. As soon as a character gets half way, they slam into a wall of force (1d6 damage) and are hurled backwards to collide with the back wall (3d6). If the characters assume the chasm is an illusion and jump vertically, they will simply fall to their death. If a character climbs down their side of the chasm (DC 15 Climb check), a ledge large enough to support them appears 30 feet below. A cave opens in the cliff face and walking through it leads them to an identical one on the opposite side. Another climb up takes them to safety. They only need to follow the path past the trees on the opposite side and the party will find the door to the next room.
19. Topsy-Turvy
The room opens to a set of enclosed stairs, the only thing of note being the following words scribbled on the wall before the stairs: “A pair of boots makes a better fit than a king’s crown.” If the party tries to climb the stairs, they will only be able to reach 10 flights; every step past that is rigged to press down and turn the entire stairwell into a slide all the way back to the bottom. If a character does a hand stand (DC 10 Dexterity check), gravity reverses and the character slides down to the door to the next room.
20. Gone Fishing
The room is 500 feet long and 100 feet wide, with a bridge (20 feet wide) branching down the center to a door on the opposite side. On the other side is a door with a thick lock that cannot be picked and the door cannot be broken down. The center of the bridge has a stone bench on the right side large enough to seat six people, a rack containing six fishing rods beside that. The rods, line and hooks are made of metal and the line is quite long. 10 feet below the bridge is a great lake of crystal clear water that is only 50 feet deep. Visible at the bottom is a key, also made of metal like the fishing equipment. Retrieving the key with the fishing rod is a DC 30 Dexterity check (if they possess 5 or more ranks in Survival or Profession (Fisherman), they get a bonus to the check equal to the ranks). If a character thinks swimming down to retrieve the key is easier, they will find that the water is in fact an acid that does not affect metal. Immersion in the “water” causes 10d6 damage every round, while just swimming causes 1d6 damage. A ladder exists next to the entrance of the room, if the character can survive swimming to it. Once retrieved, the key opens the door to the next room.
21. Corridor of Elements
The door to this room opens to a corridor that is 70 feet long with a 10 foot high ceiling. The first ten feet of this corridor is regular stone tiling and has five framed images on the left hand side (a flame, a tree, a tear drop, a sword and a mountain). The final ten feet of the room is the same, with a closed door on the opposite side of the corridor. The intermittent fifty feet of the room is covered in small tiles that all match one of the tiles on the wall. If a character touches one of the framed images, their body is transmuted to be made of the element emblazoned in the frame. If one of the small tiles is stepped upon, the following happens:
Flame – Fire spews from the cracks of the tiles, filling the fifty feet with a conflagration. Those caught in it take 6d6 Fire damage.
Tree – The tiles shatter as branches explode into the fifty feet, skewering any present. Those caught in it take 6d6 Piercing damage.
Tear Drop – Water floods from between the cracks of the tiles, filling the fifty feet with a bubble of water. Those caught in it must make a DC 25 Constitution check or fall unconscious.
Sword – The tiles shatter as swords explode into the fifty feet, skewering any present. Those caught in it take 6d6 Slashing damage.
Mountain – Earth pours from between the cracks of the tiles, crushing any present. Those caught in it take 6d6 Bludgeoning damage.
If a character is transmuted into the opposite element to the tile touched (Flame > Sword Sword > Tree Tree> Mountain Mountain > Tear Drop and Tear Drop > Flame), they pass through the corridor unharmed to the other side. If they selected the wrong element, they take damage and are teleported back to the entrance of the room. A character’s body returns to normal either when they reach the last ten feet or they are teleported back. After a character successfully makes it to the other side, the tiles change randomly to a new element.
22. Ask and Receive
The room opens into an antechamber with an archway opening into another room beyond. Above the archway is carved the message “Being Polite Can Save Your Life”, but the antechamber is otherwise empty. Standing in the center of the room is a Stone Golem and a large, circular rock is apparently blocking the door out. The Golem will move to attack the party as soon all of them have entered the room. If anyone asks the golem to “Please stop” it will do so, ceasing all hostility. It will also perform any other task asked of it that it is capable of (such as moving the stone blocking the door) but it cannot leave the room. Moving the stone opens the door to the next room.
23. Violence is not the answer.
The room is empty save for five pedestals that are each topped with a pewter basin that can hold two liters of liquid. Written on the lip of each basin are the words “Fill me to pass” and lying inside of each basin is a knife. The basin can be filled with any liquid to solve the riddle, not just blood. If the party chooses to fill it with blood, they can cut themselves and deal 1d4 constitution damage doing so. Once all five basins are filled, the door to the next room opens.
24. Sacrifice…or is it?
The room is bisected in half by a glass wall that is five feet thick with a door set into it. The door is a solid stone slab and both it and the wall are completely indestructible. Next to the entrance of the room is a five foot by five foot pressure pad that is elevated a few inches off the ground. If at least 50 lbs. is placed on the pressure pad, the door in the wall slides open, but if the weight is removed, the door slam shuts. Hidden next to the door on the opposite side of the wall is a section of stone the size of a man’s hand that is another pressure plate that requires only 1 pound of force (DC 25 Perception check finds it). As soon as everyone is on the correct side of the room, the door to the next room opens.
25. A ride in humility
The room is empty save for an ornate set of decorations on the opposite wall. Set into the wall are the heads of five emotionless faces of handsome men; four are ground level and the fifth is very close to the ceiling. Each of the heads has a platform large enough for a medium creature to stand upon and on the ceiling, within reach of the fifth platform, is the door to the next room. Once assembled before the heads, the fifth and top most head’s eyes glow and it speaks the following: “You stand before the Lord of Stone and my four Stone Knights. To get past you must seek their aid, but beware their pride!” Afterwards, a name appears on the forehead of each of the lower heads: Vant, Rael, Corvin and Gal. If a character stands on the platform of any head save Vant’s, they take 2d6 slashing damage and are thrown ten feet up into the air and away. If they stand on Vant’s head, it raises them up to the Lord’s platform.
26. Melt through the sorrow
In the center of the room is the door to the next, but it is frozen in the center of a block of ice that rapidly heals any damage dealt to it. Positioned around the ice block is six mirrors the size of a person, with sunlight from a hole in the ceiling reflecting off one and onto the ice to no effect. Etched into the ice is the following message: "My heart is frozen in lonely state. What will come to thaw my love? Not a single word from affectionate lips can pierce my sorrowed soul, or a pair of eyes peering into mine find my hardest toll. That longed for phrase of "I love you" is not enough to heal my wound, while "I long for you" is said to soon. "You are my deepest, greatest need" is far too long for me to heed, but one hand extended in simple love will free my soul to fly above." If the party moves and aligns the mirrors that so the light bounces off of five of them before hitting the ice block, it will melt and allow them access to the next room.
27. What was the Question?
The room is empty save for six doors on the opposite wall, a gray letter inscribed above each separate door (S A W R E N). The doors are unlocked and a room apparently lies behind each. The party must select doors so that their path spells the word “Answer”. If they select the correct door, the color of the letters of the next room will change (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple) and the final door will open to an antechamber with the door to the next room inside. If they select incorrectly, the door opens them to the beginning of the trial.