[DF] Mazes, Labyrinths, etc.

[cltchrn]

I'm running a play-by-post Dungeon Fantasy game, and one of my groups will soon encounter a maze. I created a flowchart/table to simplify. I thought I'd share. Feel free to tweak, critique, etc. :)

THE MAZE
Whether the walls be cut-stone, dirt, corn, or some manner of shrubbery, they are nigh impenetrable. Cut-stone is expensive to move with Shape Earth; dirt may be somehow magically treated to resist attempts to bypass it; corn or shrubberies may be likewise treated, poisonous to the touch (see It Stings, It Burns under Dire and Terrible Monsters from Pyramid #3/76: Dungeon Fantasy IV for one idea); or perhaps the walls are semi-sentient and attack anyone who attempts to break through them (see ibid.). These walls are about 12-feet high, at least 1-yard thick, and quite damage resistant (handwavium as above, if necessary). There must be some sort of ceiling to prevent flying folk from sneaking a peek and spoiling the fun. This is easy if the maze is indoors. If outdoors, similar magically treated something looms overhead, making it impossible to see over the walls without risking serious injury (or just plain impossible because handwavium). To simplify (and avoid the need for a map), the maze is treated as an endless succession of Junctions with a predetermined number of Correct Choices required to successfully escape the maze.

Junction Type (1d)
1-5 – Fork. Choose from two options. Roll Choice (below) normally.
6 – Crossroads. Choose from three options. Roll Choice at -1.

The Choice (3d)
At a junction, roll 3d with a target of 10 or less (at -1 if you hit a Crossroads). If you succeed, roll for the next Junction Type. Keep track of your total number of successes. Once you've reached the GM's predetermined number, you've made it out of the maze! If you fail, the GM will roll secretly on the Wrong Turn Table (also known as "Bad Disc Jockey," below). Critical success (3 or 4) also means you find a clue, giving a +1 on the next Choice roll. Critical failure (17+) gives a -1 on the next roll in addition to the result on the table. Luck* may be used as usual to improve rolls; total the number of available uses for the whole group. Serendipity* allows one automatic success per level (must be declared before rolling). A successful use of Intuition* grants an automatic success as well, but note that it may be used only once per character with the advantage (also must be used before rolling).

Wrong Turn Table (3d)
3-7 – Trap/Hazard. You stumble into a trap: poison darts, pitfalls, etc. This is dangerous, but may only affect the group leader, depending on the particular hazard. (See It's a Trap! from Pyramid #3/60: Dungeon Fantasy III for some ideas. You may want to create another table with a handful of pre-made traps.)
8-12 – Dead End. This is harmless, but you have to turn around. Roll the higher of IQ or Cartography to remember how to get back. Those with Eidetic Memory roll at +5. If someone has Photographic Memory, this succeeds automatically! Failure means you got lost: roll on this table again!
13-18 – Encounter. You found a monster, either wandering the maze or put there just for you. If the monster is sneaky, this may be a surprise attack. (I suggest making a table for this as well, using Dungeons and Monsters 1 & 2 to generate encounters.)

* Note: I use the Game Time enhancement for these traits when running a play-by-post.

[Pseudonym]

I kinda like what you have so far, but it feels a bit bare bones. I think another thing you might add is a kind of ambiance table for details that may or may not have minor game impacts. (This room is Earthy, and the floor is unfinished. This hallway has a putrid smell. This crossroad is unsettlingly clean.)

For the random encounter table, I *personally* like having a terrain table for mapped fights (though, play by post may not be conducive to this...) A mapped/tactical terrain table might indicate patchy light for sneaking, pillars for cover, or large pits and multi-level terrain that require advanced jumping and acrobatic maneuvers. These might be tempered for an abstract battle as well.

I also like having an enemy state table to give some flavor to a scenario (Encounter is on guard, encounter is unsuspecting local fauna, encounter is already battling another target, encounter has been stalking you for quite some time, encounter is being chased by a much more powerful target.)

[cltchrn]

Yeah, it's definitely barebones. I was mostly going with the assumption that the maze is relatively uniform (because that's how I'm running mine), but obviously—especially if you are turning a whole dungeon into a labyrinth—that is not always as fun. If you have some ideas for extra tables, toss 'me up here! I'd love to see what you had in mind more fleshed out.

[Pseudonym]

I'm bored, so here's a rough 3d6 table I just made up. No idea if the balance is good, but I tried to focus lighter states at the low end, and bad states at the high end with the middle being more or less nominal.

Encounter State Table
3d6
3 - Encounter is extremely ostentatiously wealthy, which is apparent by looking at the jewelry it is wearing if it is intelligent, or it's pile of coins/one big gleaming thing if it isn't. Kill it and take it's exquisite stuff.

4 - Encounter is unusually easy going, but it might be hard to tell from a glance. Maybe it just ate, maybe it knows just how overwhelmingly stacked the odds are against it, but it doesn't feel like fighting. Observation, Body Language, Psychology, or Animal Handling rolls might be needed, with large penalties for very surprising docile encounters, to determine this fact. It might attack if provoked.

5 - Encounter is unusually annoying. It's uncertain why, but it's just a terrible nuisance. It incredible defensive capabilities, but also terrible damage dealing capabilities. Maybe it is extremely innacurate and low skilled or really low damage, but it has amazing dodging, a ton of DR, OR a ton of HP.

6 - Encounter is goofing off, it is easy for a sneak attack. Bonuses to stealth, shadowing, or any other rolls before the fight. A surprise or partial surprise attack is pretty *likely*

7 - Encounter is aware of the party, but not ready for combat. If it is intelligent it might need to spend turns readying or gathering it's equipment. Unintelligent things will start in an inopportune arrangement.

8 - Encounter is slightly weaker than expected because it just finished fighting something else. Maybe it was hunting, maybe it was fighting a different intruder or a party encroaching on turf Deduct a small amount of HP and FP before fighting; if it is a *large* group, remove a small amount who are either resting or already defeated.

9-12 - Even Playing Field The encounter is prepared to do battle. They have no penalties or handicaps, neither do the players.

13 - The Enemy is slightly advantaged. If it's intelligent, there is a fixture it can use in the room to it's advantage like a fixed heavy weapon, or mechanics to operate drawbridges or doors in the room. If the enemy is a beast, the terrain is very suitable. Bugs have protective tunnels to hide inside, Pack animals have cover that works for them but not the (nominally human sized Bipedal) players.

14 - Keep this encounter for later. The party is being tracked by someone or something. When the party is distracted by another encounter, digging through supplies, setting up camp, etc. It will use the cover of chaos to it's opportunity. Give a heavily penalized Per roll (3-5) in a contest versus the encounter's unusually good shadowing (maybe 15 if usually non-existent, +2 if already at least 15) Around when the encounter is about to take advantage of the opportunity, give a no-penalty roll to detect that things are going from bad to worse soon.

15 - The party has fallen straight into an ambush. Smart enemies might have traps or very good fixtures. Pack animals might have the party surrounded. The party may have unwittingly stumbled into a hive, or ghosts just out of no where. Fright Checks might be appropriate. Party members with combat reflexes might be able to avoid starting surprised, and if they have leadership, they might be able to snap the party out of it. Surprise is incredibly lethal, and partial surprise is still super bad, so be considerate when thinking about using it.

16 - Bait and Switch, the party encounters visibly weakened enemies. Danger Sense might tell them this scenes about to get bad. If the party engages, prepare to have powerful predator(s)/hunter(s) interrupt the encounter. These enemies should be medium high end on the danger scale.

17- Deceptively competent weaklings. Take the encounter and turn it to 11. If the enemy is a mob, make them slightly more dangerous and turn them into a swarm that continues to rejuvenate with reinforcements throughout the fight. If the encounter is a handful of scrubs, give them a big boost in survivability, skill, and damage that knowledge skills don't anticipate. A character with Physiology (or naturalist) might be able to tell that the encounter is unusually powerful though at a glance. If it is already a pretty competent encounter as it is, attach one of the prefix/suffix templates from the end of DF Monsters 1 to make it that much worse.

18- Boss Monster. A boss caliber encounter. You fight whatever encounter you were expecting as if a 9-12 was rolled. However, when that encounter is complete, without even having time to breathe, you are approached by a top tier difficulty opponent who was disturbed by the noise of the combat. Players will be potentially weakened without time to rest. Danger Sense or similar abilities might allow someone to sense the situation is about to get a lot worse.