Mazes

[Bonedagger]

Think about it - do you ever see mazes in movies or even books?

What was the name of that movie where David Bowie played the bad guy who stole a baby (And he made a song for the soundtrack (Magic Dance))... Now, there was a great maze.... Oh yes. It was called Labyrinth"

.....If you haven't seen it then I urge you to do so immediatly. Not having seen it is ranking up there with not having seen Bladerunner.

 

[Samhaine]

Now, there was a great maze.... Oh yes. It was called Labyrinth"

Yet that supports LostSoul's point... The movie wouldn't have been half as interesting if it hadn't largely skipped the actual maze part of the labyrinth. About the only times Sarah is in an actual maze is during Magic Dance (to highlight how the maze changes) and in the hedge-mages right before meeting Ludo to indicate how lost one becomes when seperated from a friend (or whatever).

That might be a way to run a decent maze - break it into chunks with courtyards/rooms with interesting encounters along the way. Have Int checks or otherwise get through each maze part to get to each encounter.

Not breaking it up is very very frustrating if the players are expected to solve it themselves (we go right... okay.. well, that didn't work so we go left). Especially if you have a group prone to arguing about choices such as direction.

 

[Breakstone]

I've run mazes before, and they never bore my players. This is why:

Before the game, I prepare two copies of the maze. One for me, and one for the players. Then I get a sheet of plain white paper and cut a small hole in the center. When the characters enter the maze, I give the players the maze covered with the white paper. The players navigate through the maze using the hole to represent where they are, and what they can see.

It's worked wonders so far.

 

[maddman75]

That is a brilliant idea

*stolen*

 

[cdsaint]

Tsunami,
Fantastic idea, I'm stealing it too.

Something I haven't done in a while is to make a dungeon that contains a few of easy mazes, say 2 or 3. If you follow the right wall, or the left wall, the maze is easily solved. throw in some minor traps, or encounters, easy puzzles or someting along those lines. Then throw in a fake maze. if you follow the right or left wall, it just takes you around in a circle back to the entrance. of course there are traps at odd intervals along that outside wall. If you just go straight 40 feet and turn right there is a short hallway with stairs that lead out of the maze.

The trick is to convince the players that they are brilliant for having solved the first mazes so easily. That last maze should be a real surprise.

In the past I've usually run mazes by simply asking what characters strategy was and then running the important parts, but I like tsunami's idea, and I'll give it a shot.

Chris

 

[Breakstone]

Ah, shucks. Actually, the idea started with just giving the players the maze and a pencil.

However, if you want to get real into it, tape some Plastic Wrap on the bottom side of the white paper and put a black dot in the middle of the hole (which is now much more of a window). The dot represents the PC's, and the hole is their field of vision.

 

[rounser]

You'd think that you could apply this to any sort of map, really, not just mazes. Dungeons, cities etc. I assume that it would really speed up play because the DM wouldn't have to describe mapping instructions.

Again, good idea.

 

[Schmoe]

Whenever confronted with a maze, just use the old standby - follow either the left or right wall all the way through, and you're bound to come out the other side eventually...

... except that the old standby is patently false. Put the exit in the center of the maze, rather than an edge, to foil this time-worn tactic.

And Tsunami: Pure genius. As rounser has said, the applications could be limitless.

 

[SonOfLilith]

Do what our DM did, last one out of the maze dies...that made things really interesting.

 

[SableWyvern]

To diverge a bit, I would like to provide you all with a very important piece of advice:

Asking a question to which you believe you already know the answer can yield amazing (no pun intended) results.

In starting this thread, my mindset was that big mazes are just plain silly. I expected little more than agreement. Nevertheless, I asked the question, and suddenly we are all much the wiser for Tsunami's suggestion. (Lost Soul's idea was pretty functional as well; I'll probably make use of both systems at some time).

Thanks all.