Yeah, the blog started as a place to organise my homebrew setting but has now evolved to be a dumping place for my ideas and everything else conserning gaming.
It's a Maze!
Posted 16th December 2008 at 09:31 AM by Blackrat
Updated 16th December 2008 at 09:42 AM by Blackrat
Updated 16th December 2008 at 09:42 AM by Blackrat
So I watched the Labyrinth a few nights ago. Again 
. And got an idea for a campaign setting. An island, somewhere, that is an insane everchanging labyrinth in its entirety. Once you get in, it is a next to impossible to get out again. The whole setting would be built of huge amounts of small detailed areas, which interconnect randomly. So when the players go from one area to the next, the GM just rolls to see where they end up. You could be in an actual walled maze area one moment and walk through a door and you're suddenly standing next to a waterfall in a thich forest. The door slams shut behind you, and as you open it again, it opens to a little idyllic village...
I was also thinking that the island could be divided to a dozen or so thematic districts so that it wouldn't be completely random where you end up. You could for example end up only in areas that are on the district you're in, or to one adjacent.
As a starting point I made a topographic map for the Island.
And a few small encounter areas, courtesy of hafrogman (have to think what to do with these but they do sound interesting):
Bay of Frogs (I guess there might be some Kua-Toa)
Feast of Galeros (Either a skill challenge where PC's must eat, eat, eat, or some form of Hero's Feast)
Cult of the Hive (Well there must be somekind of insectoid queen here. Or Borg)
. And got an idea for a campaign setting. An island, somewhere, that is an insane everchanging labyrinth in its entirety. Once you get in, it is a next to impossible to get out again. The whole setting would be built of huge amounts of small detailed areas, which interconnect randomly. So when the players go from one area to the next, the GM just rolls to see where they end up. You could be in an actual walled maze area one moment and walk through a door and you're suddenly standing next to a waterfall in a thich forest. The door slams shut behind you, and as you open it again, it opens to a little idyllic village...I was also thinking that the island could be divided to a dozen or so thematic districts so that it wouldn't be completely random where you end up. You could for example end up only in areas that are on the district you're in, or to one adjacent.
As a starting point I made a topographic map for the Island.
And a few small encounter areas, courtesy of hafrogman (have to think what to do with these but they do sound interesting):
Bay of Frogs (I guess there might be some Kua-Toa)
Feast of Galeros (Either a skill challenge where PC's must eat, eat, eat, or some form of Hero's Feast)
Cult of the Hive (Well there must be somekind of insectoid queen here. Or Borg
)
Total Comments 7
Comments
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Couldn't the PCs just run back and forth between two zones until they find the one they're looking for? This idea shows promise but you should put limits on the mechanic.Posted 18th December 2008 at 06:44 AM by blalien
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You're right and I actually thought about that problem too. I'm not yet sure how to handle this but one solution could be that all the areas in a particular district look so much alike that you don't know about their specific features untill you go a little further from the doorway. And by then, you're already lost and can't find that door anymore so you need to search for it, leading you to the encounters.Posted 18th December 2008 at 08:24 AM by Blackrat -
How about tying it to the subconscious thoughts of the characters. Since you know they are looking for a particular place, have the "island" know that too, sorta like The Powers of Ravenloft.Quote:Couldn't the PCs just run back and forth between two zones until they find the one they're looking for? This idea shows promise but you should put limits on the mechanic.
Once the PCs realize that it is completely random and stop running back and forth between two zones, then maybe drop the hint that the "island" is alive and knows the thoughts of those who are on it. Maybe then they'll get the hint not to think about the zone they want and it will come up faster.
Just my $0.02Posted 18th December 2008 at 02:50 PM by raineym - i really like this idea, might have to borrow some ideas and maybe mix with some Oathbound ideas.
i like Raineym's idea about the island being "alive". but... who says it wants to help the party... maybe add a specialized Concordance chart.Posted 18th December 2008 at 08:58 PM by skaveng3r -
Not doors, portals. One way, random destination. Then you eliminate the 'back & forth'. Of course you are also free to have two way or fixed/limited random travel as you need.Posted 18th December 2008 at 09:30 PM by Darkwolf71 - I like all the suggestions. Darkwolf, I'm actually thinking portals, doors, archways... Anything imaginable that could just shift you to other place. You'll never know...
skaveng3r, ofcourse you're welcome to use it
. I post setting ideas for people to use in their own games and do with them as they please. If you do, let me know how it went Posted 18th December 2008 at 11:13 PM by Blackrat -
Portals, maybe with runes on them. Say every single area in the dungeon has a key hidden within it. Some of these might be easy to find, others not so much [could be anywhere from being polymorphed into a different object or place in a 10-foot cube of stone]. There is always a way to find this information, though it might not be obvious to them [except occasionally maybe the info is lost because the paper it was written on was destroyed or the person who knew died]. Don't tell them this of course at first. Make them think there is no way to control the portals. Then in a friendly location [think maybe BASE], they find the key and realize that with the key, there will always be one safe place they can go.
Or, the portals are sort of like the ones in Planescape. Anything with an arch can be a portal and sometimes they walk through the portals [just sort of keep track of what the PCs have in their packs and decide that one of what they're carrying is the key, like that new adamantine sword happens to open the portal] they don't even realize are there, others are random portals, others are random but if you have a key they go to a specific place and others are dormant until unlocked.
If you wanted to spend a little more time on it, each area could have a clue written near the entrance. Depending on your preference, this clue could be the location of the next portal or the key to that portal. Sometimes the key is easily found without the clue while others, the clue is necessary to find the key or portal.
The island maybe is a powerful entity that continuously creates additional areas by duplicating areas in other worlds. It seems an interesting area and wants it beneath the island so what it does is make a copy, attach a couple of portals to it and bam, additional area. Maybe occasionally they come across enthralled workers who are either worshippers or slaves of the island.
Maybe eventually they end up angering the island by doing something they see is right but truly goes against the wishes of the island [like freeing a trapped person in need who is innocent, but is one of the keys to keep the island powerful] and therefore it attacks their base by sending all manner of strange creatures issuing forth from different areas they have not yet explored.
For a little interesting bit, maybe the portals have a chance of making the people go a little crazy, like every time they travel through one, their mind becomes just a little more twisted and eventually, prolonged adventuring causes them to go mad. Most people are normal because few go through the portals [different groups of people might have different reasons for not going through them, rumors, fear of Gods, etc]. Occasionally during their travels they encounter someone quite mad. The reason is because this person is an adventurer like them and has gone through too many portals.
Just some thoughts on this. Hope maybe one of them will either be used or spark your mind for additional creativity.Posted 22nd December 2008 at 06:02 PM by Dog Moon
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