Re: Old School Monsters
Man, I like the Gelatinous Cube example encounter, but I'm thinking of adapting it and I'm starting to think it's not as spooky as it sounds.
A cube takes 12 turns to change shape substantially or, in this case, to emerge from the water. In the encounter, you picture the party trying to flee in terror and suddenly worried by that closed gate, but they have twelve turns in which the cube is not much of a threat. Now, they don't know how long they have, to be sure, but during that time, the cube is only striking 50% of the time with a pseudopod with ST 9. He's practically defenseless.
Still, a cube sitting in a pool of water is brilliant. Adds a lot of suspense and fear.
I want something similar to happen. I want a cube to come from behind the party without any trickery or planning on the unintelligent cube's part (and no other intelligence is behind the plan -- except mine). The trick is that they have to somehow pass by the cube without discovering it, so he can come up between them and the labyrinth exit. (There's an obvious pit trap in front of the party, which they could easily jump over and land on a less obvious cantilevered floor trap. The threat of a cube should encourage that jump without much time for thought.)
|