Making a noncombat challenge

[Gamereaper]

So I just got an idea for some kind of trial that players can do to prove the gods they're worthy of some specific reward which I haven't came up with yet.

One of the trials could be Fharlanghn's Trail Of Trial, 1,200 miles of travel away from civilization on a set path with a majority of magic banned from use or failing the trial.

The problem is trying to make very low CR creatures be a daunting task or coming up with some kind of task that makes thibgs difficult other than survival situations. Are there any particularly difficult noncombat/nonpuzzle tasks that could make it difficult for them?

[Karl Aegis]

The standard noncombat challenge I feel is crossing a river. If you succeed at crossing the river you get to the other side. If you fail, you get swept downstream and something interesting happens. Maybe you fall down a waterfall and end up at a hidden village. Either way, the story doesn't come to a complete halt.

[goto124]

But that splits the party.

If one person fails, everyone else is forced to follow anyway.

[Afgncaap5]

Um... maybe. How do you want to make it difficult? I've got some ideas... I went a little overboard, honestly. These might be useful, but a lot would depend on the kind of environment you have in mind.

To earn the respect of a thieves guild near the very start of their journey, they could have to beat one of their champions in a parkour race across town. An ancient dwarven shrine filled with much needed supplies is finally found, but the characters are faced with a stone statue of a dwarf that challenges them to a drinking contest (making use of the rarely seen Constitution Check). A warrior on a bridge won't let anyone cross without engaging in a psychic duel (see Oriental Adventures, basically a stare-down where both participants have to succeed on increasing Will saves), but if someone tries to attack him without beating him, he turns to mist whenever any weapon or spell is about to connect with him, and resolidifies long enough to fight back (and if he loses, he'll just withdraw peacefully.) One gap in the road involves carefully building a launching device and aiming it at just the right point on the slope ahead so that they can land without rolling back. One particular trial requires them to roll a massive boulder up the side of a hill for some reason, while an angry sisyphus works beside them, constantly critiquing their rolling technique. An impassable and resolute army of Modrons is marching across the path in front of the next checkpoint, and the road won't be clear for hours, possibly days (I'm not sure if the Modrons would mind players running over their heads, but I don't know if players would think of that.) The bridge is made of paper. Only someone who convinces an eagle to willingly surrender a feather can walk through the Chasm of Razor Reach without being flayed to death by the Winds Of Change. It starts raining. It's raining and Phil won't shut up about it. Phil's their guide that keeps them on the trail of trials, by the way. A fairy runs a watering hole that literally traps the tourists who walk through, hoping that they've found an oasis to refill their water skins and they need to stave off the illusions. Everyone in the party has picked up a lodestone. Ration Mites have infested some of their supplies, and they need to use intelligence to figure out which supplies are ruined and which supplies are still useful (ration mites being mites who ruin rations, and give some nasty disease to players who don't catch them in time.) A rival of the party has determined that he or she wants to prove him or herself first, and is "racing" the players on a slightly different track. The map that said "secret road" was actually talking about a dwarf-managed river going through a cave system that requires them to balance on massive, highly trained turtles for a solid hour. They have to climb a titanic tree to reach the next part of the road, but discover it's been chopped down by a woodsman who just moved to the area and thought he'd struck the jackpot. The players meet a snail mage in a snail mage lair at the top of snail mage mountain, and must trust that his snail-heavy potions will actually help them rather than slow them down (it'll basically give 'em the Endurance feat for a few days if they trust the person, or do something that helps them to keep walking longer.) Horse thieves are trying to make off with the horses! They find a man in the middle of a desert-ish area who is dying of a slow-acting poison, and the only cure is a plant that grows far out of their way, and he's too ill to walk by himself. A wailing ghost haunts one of the possessions carried by a party member, and it starts wailing at night every night right when everyone's about to go to sleep, effectively making everyone's sleep restless and making everyone fatigued unless they can figure out how to appease it. A copper (or brass?) dragon says that it can carry the adventurers a short distance if they can beat it at a joke telling contest since it knows of their trial, but warns that losing the contest means that they'll owe it a great treasure (and it reminds them that Farlanghn's an advocate not just of the amount of journeying, but the quality of the journey itself.) The flora near their campsite is apparently a rare patch of ground that sprouts something called Dawnflower every morning, so, minutes before the final watch of the night ends, a number of poppy-like flowers grow from the ground, and begin releasing a pollen that, unless the players breathing it make a Fortitude save, makes them take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage (a check that happens again every round.) Can the single character on-watch find a way to rescue anyone by getting everyone either ten feet away from the plants, or by lasting for the full minute without falling asleep from nonlethal damage? (After a minute, the flowers will close up again and the air clears. The hitpoints come back after about a day (the time it takes the pollen to exit a player's system), but they'll just be waking up again right when the plants bloom the *next* day, and eventually starvation or dehydration may be a factor unless a friendly NPC walks by. (I'd say that an antitoxin vial could probably clear up something like that nearly instantly, so not a bad way to reward any PCs who bought some.)

[Gamereaper]

A lot of those ideas I could use. I do however want challenges that do not involve any NPCs such as an empty water barrel (because create water is a banned spell), a flood, a very steep hill, etc. Maybe an occasional bear or some other creatures that are relatively low CR, but cost resources. The idea is that the trail is not only a physical, but spiritual journey. The party can travel together, but must handle their problems separately (giving food/water, fighting a bear, catching a deer). Throughout the trail, there will be shrines of Fharlanghn that have supplies for people. Dropping off supplies for those in need grants luck bonuses, taking excess or what isn't needed incurs penalties, both proportionate to what they give or take. Taking exactly what's needed will grant nothing.

[Surpriser]

I think it would help to know the power level you are aiming for.
Are the PCs low-level characters struggling to prove their worth or are they high-level powerhouses trying to gain the respect of the gods themselves? The trials will need to be vastly different for these two types of adventure.

Navigating an environmental hazard is always a good challenge. This might be a river, a chasm, a swamp or, in the higher-powered version, an active volcano, an underwater cave passage, a frozen waterfall and other things.

One of the fixed waypoints or shrines could lie in the middle of some monster's lair. This might range from a pack of wolves, to bears or spiders and even wyverns, dragons or extraplanar creatures, again depending on the power level you are aiming for. Of course, hurting or disturbing the creatures will award penalties.

[Hiro Quester]

Um... maybe. How do you want to make it difficult? I've got some ideas... I went a little overboard, honestly. These might be useful, but a lot would depend on the kind of environment you have in mind.


Wow. That's an impressive list of suggestions. Kudos.