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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kitsune9" data-source="post: 4919766" data-attributes="member: 18507">There was actually a module written that kind of falls in this story idea. I think it was called Maze of Madness. The PC's had to travel up to this arctic city for some reason and they were thrusted into a maze-like arena with a horrendous monster at the end. The inhabitants of this arctic city were about as vile and crazy as can be and the module was definitely R-rated mod. You may want to just check that one out. I think RPGNow has it on sale.So let's make this a bit twisted.First off, it's the party vs. NPC party to survive the maze. No holds barred. Winner takes all. The Party needs the wish because there is a great need to save a dying village from a plague. The NPC party needs the wish because they seek to resurrect a slain paladin who is considered a grand hero between two countries that are about to go to war. If this paladin were to show up, the countries would like cease their hositilities for the moment to speak with this great hero and then a peace accord would be worked out.In the NPC party one of them is a family member of one the PC's, such as a brother, sister, father/mother (retired adventurers themselves but the need was great to come out of retirement). This will conflict with one of the PC's to either be forced to fight with their comrades or switch sides. Of course, one of the other NPC's has a desire for the wish all their own because they've fallen on hard times, gambling debts, lost their youthful vigor, etc. This NPC plans to betray the NPC party members at the most expedient moment.The wish is a total sham--pay no attention to the man behind the curtain kind of thing. No one ever defeated the monsters, traps, God-knows-what in the maze. The maze is an elaborate con of some guy who managed to put in monsters to collect the loot. The con man knows that the monsters will have their fill of Fresh Adventurers and their "leavings" will consist of all the pretty coins and gems that don't digest very well. The con man knows when and where the monsters like to hunt and where they roam so it's easy for him to rummage through the dung to collect his rewards.  As far as the town is concerned, they think the contest is legitimate, but just that no one has ever won. The con man can be just someone who is too clever for their own good or actually a BBEG in the guise of a man such as a demon, efreeti, or dragon, or whatever.The maze isn't really a maze, but a temple to some vile demon god. The PC's are actually the willing, but duped sacrifices. Again, no one ever "wins" the wish, because the participants are fed to a deific aspect of the demon god.Okay, here some issues though that a DM has to consider if you implement all this double-dealing.A Paladin's ability to detect evil. If the PC's deal directly with the those who have knowledge of this con, chances are they will glow EVIL. Well, that's not going to work so send in a neutral contact agent who is just simply doing their job of promoting the maze and contest.Divination spells--for players who have arcanists who want to check out the maze, well take a look at the types of divination spells that "break" your mod or at least reveal the truth before the PC's even step one foot in the maze. Come up with cryptic answers for spells like commune, etc. For spells that can be blocked with lead, make the doors have such lining. For PC's who say, "Oh a maze, that's cool. We'll just go ethereal and walk through the maze, bypass all the monsters, and get the prize." Well, that's nice, but they discover that the maze in the ethereal sits on a giant portal that sucks them into a random plane or maybe there is an ethereal version of the maze, but filled with even more nastier things.   Orrrr.....if you go back to the "honest" version where there really is a wizard with a wish at the end of the contest, then the wizard simply states, "No cheating! Don't use any of these spells X, Y, Z, etc. or you lose!"</blockquote>

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