Book of Challenges: Dungeon Rooms, Puzzles, and Traps
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CONTENTS TABLE OF Dropping like a Stone...........49 Advice for the DM CONTENTS Jann Lair ................................51 Advancing Monsters ................78 Warding of the Dead.............53 Adventuring in Three The DM’s Dirty Little EL 9 Dimensions ..........................30 Secret .................................3 A Light in the Dark................54 But I Know the Trap How to Use This Book...............3 Dealing with the Is There! ................................32 Running a Clever Dungeon Cage Trap.......................55 Cover and Spread Effects.........74 Room.......................................3 Avaard’s Dilemma ................57 Cryptograms .............................82 Running a Clever Puzzle ............4 Ladies of the Lake.................60 Familiars as Scouts ..................57 Running a Clever Trap................4 Watch Your Balance ..............62 Fighting in Cramped Encounter Levels of EL 10 Quarters................................10 Concurrent Traps................5 Cave of the Snake .................64 Fighting while Climbing ...........63 Ten Indispensable Spells............5 More than Meets the Eye .....69 High-Level Preparation: Scaling Challenges Down...........6 Path of Deceit .......................72 The DM...............................122 Shambling Death ..................73 High-Level Preparation: Encounters .........................7 EL 11 The Players..........................122 EL 1 Formidable Opposition ........75 How to Win Friends and A Familiar Situation ................7 In Media Res.........................77 Influence PCs........................92 EL 2 Release the Hounds .............79 Incorporeal Creatures in Close Quarters ........................9 Zyphur’s Cryptic Spellbook....80 Combat .................................87 Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty ...........10 EL 12 Letter Addition Puzzles............23 Temple of Draxion.................12 Just Passing Through ...........82 Logic Problems.........................45 EL 3 Medusa’s Traveling Casino....88 Making a Deceitful Sales Bugbear Pit Fight ..................15 With a Little Help from Pitch ......................................49 No Loose Ends .....................17 My Friends.........................91 Mapping and Mazes ................27 Pool of Endless Froglings.....18 EL 13 Mazes and High-Level EL 4 Dark Hunt .............................93 Characters...........................112 Capstan Water Trap...............21 Simply Shocking ...................95 Mazes........................................41 Curse of Iron .........................23 EL 14 Nonlethal Combat......................9 Mimic Madness ....................24 Safe and Sound.....................96 Playing Monsters Smarter EL 5 Tangled Webs ........................98 Than You...............................68 Dark Water Trap ....................26 EL 15 Riddles ....................................106 Displacer Beast Maze...........27 Beholder Dome...................101 Running Multiple-Opponent Trouble Cubed.......................29 Riddles and Prizes ..............104 Encounters............................95 Watery Grave.........................30 EL 16 The Soothing Approach .............7 EL 6 Twelve Heads Are Better Strange Bedfellows...................47 All of the Treasure, None than One .........................107 Underwater Movement and of the Traps .......................32 EL 17 Combat .................................71 Cubical Kennel ......................34 Where’s the Party? ..............110 Combat Adjustments Grotto of the Shocker EL 18 for Water ...........................71 Lizards...............................36 Primary Thinking.................113 Using Antimagic Zones ...........79 Hill Giant Madness...............37 EL 19 Variant: What Disabling a EL 7 Towering Dead ....................116 Device Means .......................33 An Object Lesson..................38 EL 20 When Good Battles Good........35 Fire and Water.......................41 Thrice Be Damned..............118 Fool Me Once .......................45 EL 22 Troll and Pets ........................46 Blown Away .........................123 EL 8 Chuk’s Magik Shoppe...........47 Map Legend............................127 2 THE DM’S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET with a little preparation, you can use them in any THE DM’S adventuring context. These encounters generally need very little introduction. In most of them, the DIRTY LITTLE PCs walk down a dungeon corridor and see what’s in the room (or don’t see it, depending on the amount SECRET of invisibility used). They resolve the challenge, lick their wounds, and then go on to some other part of Picture this situation: The player characters see a ges- the dungeon. ticulating wizard floating over a dark chasm. As if by The book is sorted by encounter level (EL). To magic, a light goes on in a player’s brain. He declares choose an encounter for your players, figure out their that his character charges headlong off the edge of characters’ average party level. Pick an encounter with the cliff, expecting that he’ll continue across the invis- an EL that matches or comes close to that average. ible bridge that doubtless spans the chasm. Of course, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with What do you do in this situation? the capabilities of the items and creatures mentioned Despite your natural inclination to let the player herein. In most cases, when an average creature is kill off his character, your reflexes probably kick in. used, this book only shows the differences between You laugh, or you cock an eyebrow, or you say, the Monster Manual description and the description “Ohhh-kay?” after you spit out your drink. With a here. The book provides help in how to use these flash of insight, the player realizes that there may aspects of the encounters, but that doesn’t substitute be other explanations why the wizard can defy grav- for research on your part. ity. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll let him halt his charge This book also contains many sidebars with tips for before he discovers the exact depth of the chasm Dungeon Masters. You can use them to customize the the hard way. encounters in your game or create similar types of Then you realize you have fallen prey again to the encounters yourself. You’ll find the legend for all the DM’s Dirty Little Secret: you’re really on the players’ maps in this product on page 127. side. You use your omniscience and omnipotence to Most encounters have entries for “Scaling the keep your PCs alive and happy (at least in the long Challenge.” These allow you to use the encounter at a term, resurrections being what they are). You don’t tell higher or lower EL than the one given at the top of your players that, though, because they keep putting the entry. Even if your characters are all 10th level, their precious PCs in situations where you have to you can use encounters at other ELs when you find pull their fat out of the fireball. After all, you have a these scaling sections. Don’t forget to change the responsibility to keep them coming back. treasure awarded if you alter the encounter level. And some days, that responsibility gets to you. You’re Treasure appropriate to an EL 5 encounter seems not a fifth or sixth or seventh PC. You’re the Dungeon paltry for an EL 9 encounter, and far too rewarding Master. Some days, you get that urge to show them for an EL 3 encounter. you’re not on their side, and that you have the power and cleverness to let them know who’s boss. Welcome to the book that’s designed for those RUNNING A CLEVER bad dice days. The Book of Challenges: Dungeon Rooms, DUNGEON ROOM Puzzles, and Traps is composed of dozens of the At any time, you can throw six orcs running down a smartest and meanest encounters we could envision. 10-foot-wide corridor at your players’ characters. This is the book of “Oh, man!” and “I can’t believe it!” That may be a good fight for some parties, but it’s and “You have to be kidding me!” Yes, the encounters hardly clever. If the orcs suffer ranged weapon fire, are balanced by encounter level, and yes, they can all not all of them will be able to reach the PCs’ front be solved with a little thought. Yes, we even provide line, and none of them will be able to reach the PCs’ hints you can give your players. But fundamentally, back line. they’re all just a bit nasty. If a player announces that A clever encounter takes advantage of the mon- he’s going over a cliff in one of these encounters, he’s sters’ or NPCs’ capabilities and tactics. Clever crea- going over the cliff. tures should spend a lot of time thinking about how Because sometimes, even we have one of those days. they might survive an encounter with well-armed PCs. Six orcs parked behind nine-tenths cover with heavy crossbows, and a gaping pit in front of them— HOW TO USE THIS BOOK now that might be a challenge. Four orcs in that situa- The Book of Challenges contains encounters you can tion, plus two on a ledge behind the PCs might be plug into your favorite dungeon. Most are set even better. Four orcs running from a rampaging hill 3 against the backdrop of a “typical” dungeon, but giant . well, you get the idea. THE DM’S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET Here are six general strategies for maximizing effectiveness of the monsters and NPCs you throw at RUNNING A CLEVER your PCs. PUZZLE Box Them In: Most players think of fights in one Many DMs are wary of making puzzles. Others are direction, the one where they close to meet the com- too comfortable making them, sometimes without batants. PCs attacked from several