Help with a quest idea

[snoosnaa]

Hello,

I was recently reading a thread on these boards(don't remember which) where someone suggested a quest with an escape from a dungeon similar to Indiana Jones running away from the rolling boulder. It would have skill checks to determine how fast or what path to take. Also, there could be treasure or gear to possibly grab.

The problem I am having is that I don't want fails to result in death, just less treasure, or maybe a trap to fall in with a monster in it. I am having trouble figuring out how to do this.

Right now I am thinking there will be some choices like left or right, and some skill checks like Tumble. I suppose reflex saves would work too.

How can I make this fun and meaningful without save or die? Is there something better for them to run from than a rock? How can I make sure my players will run and start the escape?

[Yora]

Skill checks are actually not fun. Instead, when the characters come at a point where they can chose between different paths, add some additional elements that give some clues to where those paths lead. A door with lots of decoration that opens to a large corridor with statues at each side would likely lead to a place that is somewhat important. While a passage that is littered with human bones probably leads to something dangerous.
You don't even have to make all of these details actual hints for where the paths are leading to. If it turns out the door with a big gem painted on it doesn't actually lead to a big gem but to a monster that has made its lair in a room that once held a big gem, that's also fine. But the important part is, that the players make descisions to influence what happens next to the characters. With a skill check, there is no descision and that gets boring fast.

[Segev]

To do the run-from-boulder, I would actually suggest a sequence of low-DC-to-find traps that can be easily avoided. But a large number of them. Emphasize how long it takes to disarm each one. Have some require a very easy climb check or jump check to get around. Something that takes deliberate effort and slows down progress, but not as much as disarming the trap would.

Have a rival party also exploring the dungeon, looking for the treasure, so there's a time element. A race. Decide in advance how that party will advance through whatever path they take, but don't tell the PCs anything other than the occasional reminder that the other party is there by way of echoing conversation or other sounds of their passage coming through odd acoustics of the ventilation or other passageways. Roll dice periodically - particularly when the party pauses - as if it impacts how fast the rival team is going.

When they get to the point that the boulder starts rolling, remove all the notes they've made of where the traps are. Set up the corridor grid for their minis to proceed down. Have them roll initiative. Have the boulder roll initiative. The boulder is going to do "trample" type damage and bull-rush people it runs into while moving. Obviously, anybody bull-rushed into a trap triggers it! Make a Knockdown attack and do trample damage in a seriously threatening amount if anybody goes prone.

Go in init order and give people 30s to declare their actions ("run" being a perfectly understandable one) and move their figure appropriately. You should watch carefully which squares they pass; if they cross a trap trigger, they are affected as the trap indicates (often reflex save-or-suck, I imagine). If they took pains to mark the traps going in (you made sure to keep track of how long that took, right?), give them a spot DC of something between 10 and 20, depending on how big and obvious their marks are. Give them penalties based on how fast they're running.

If they make the spot check, warn them before they step on the trap, so they can alter their course. Remember that diagonal moves count as two squares every other time!

Be aware, of course, that PCs often try bold, break-it-to-buy-it tactics, so don't be surprised if they have some way of shortcutting this, particularly at higher levels. Passwall into the side of the place (which might trigger a trap or two), a particularly powerful warrior-type bolstered by the casters' best buffs might try and even succeed at simply muscling the boulder into submission (which, again, might push him into a trap)


If they took pains to mark them, give them spot checks at an appropriate DC (probably 10) with penalties based on how fast they are going. Each one that succeeds gets a warning before they step on it.

And remember the spots where a climb check or a jump check or the like was required? These will slow down the retreat, too!

Calibrate the boulder's speed just a touch faster than you think they can go with a double move (so they're forced to run without using neat tricks), and the tension should be just about right.

Remember, too, that they still need to worry about whether the rival party is getting further ahead of them, now.