Labyrinth/Maze ideas

Hey folks, first post here since the old FFG forum closed.

I’m chucking a couple of PCs into a Labyrinth next session (context is a Jabba uses this as an entertaining way to dispose of people, and one of the players has negotiated to take his sister’s place, as she was due to be put in there), and I need some ideas on ways to make this both narratively and mechanically fun for the players.

I’m thinking a cross between a deadly version of the Crystal Maze, the finale of every episode of Gladiators, and your classic mythological Minotaur centered labyrinth.

Gimme whatever you got; traps, monsters, skill challenges, and even how you’d deal with the overall concept of mazes in RPGs.

NB: I’m not mapping it out, and not expecting the players to, the entire “maze” aspect will be abstracted.

TIA

2 Likes

Couple questions first:
How pulpy do you want it? Do you want to go full-on Indiana Jones, with spike traps, collapsing floors, rolling boulders, and the like, or do you want it to be more of a Minotaur style, where they have to first not get lost, and then defeat an opponent?

I had a mission that involved a labyrinth (Minotaur style–there was a chrysalide rancor at the center of the labyrinth, guarding the entrance to a Sith temple), and for navigation I used Survival:

“If you are ready to start exploring, go ahead and make a Formidable Survival check with two Setback.
This is to get an idea of how long it takes, so you’ll probably make this check several times, reducing the difficulty each time (check back with each roll; Advantage/Threat will affect the check). Because you have a glow rod, there are no Setback from darkness. Kara can assist Falmok, and her Planet Mapper applies here.”

I had this particular maze take 2 hours per roll to navigate, but you could adjust that based on the size of the maze and the difficulty of the check. Part of the Survival check could be the characters mapping it out so they don’t get lost. If they roll enough Threat or whatever, you could use their map against them and cause them to get lost.

One fun trick is to have the Hutt “cheat” by having a maze that shifts ever so often. Moving walls to keep the PCs trapped no matter how good their mapping or navigational skills are. However, you have to make sure they have a way to “win” in spite of that, and it has to be something the players can fairly easily assess so that the PC don’t just get stuck.

1 Like

Yeah, so my thinking is full pulp, like if the start of Raiders had the tech levels of that ep of CW where Obiwan had the bounty hunter’s face.

The maze isn’t large, and has no ceiling, to allow easy viewing from the sailbarge.

It’s purpose is entirely to allow Jabba and his guests to be “entertained” by the competitors dying in gruesome and amusing ways.

There will be little holovid droids flying around too so nothing gets missed.

Just noting there’s a whole section on this sort of scenario in LORDS OF NAL HUTTA worth checking out!

1 Like

If you mean the Grannee Noopa thing, there’s not much in it.
It’s basically 2 encounters; Poisoned Drinks, and then a death match vs those lizard dog things (sorry, the name escapes me).

Akk Hounds, I’d guess.

1 Like

Yeah, think that was them. And yes, I do plan on Jabba releasing them a short while in, lol.

Ah! The Box. That was a great episode, and gives quite a substantial number of ways to involve skills beyond simple navigation or combat.

For most of the traps, the PCs should have to make saving throws. Unlike our discussion regarding the minefield, this is a situation where more skilled PCs should be benefitted by their skills as they have a chance to anticipate and react to the traps as they trigger (most of the time).

Trap ideas:
Zappy Walls: The walls suddenly generate a purple field of energy that sweeps along the hall towards the PCs!
Dam 20; Crit 2; Breach 1, Vicious 5. (Basically a disruptor)
Average Athletics, each Failure increases the damage by one and Threat/Despair can be used to trigger crits/weapon qualities.
That should, perhaps, be toned down in some respects: it’s intended as a “final trap” of sorts as if the PCs fail they will, in all likelihood, be incapacitated.
Another approach would be to drop Breach and reduce the damage to that of a Disruptor Rifle (10) so that they won’t be incapacitated, but possibly badly injured if a crit triggers. However, then the difficulty should probably be increased to give a greater chance of both hitting AND critting, or it won’t be as much of a threat as it could be.

Mashy Walls: The walls periodically slam together, threatening to mash the PCs!
Dam 15 (Wounds AND Strain); Crit 4; Concussive 2.
Average Cool, each Failure increases the damage by one and Threat/Despair can be used to trigger crits/weapon qualities.
(Sequenced Mashy Walls increases the difficulty by one per segment. If it hits, the PC must test again against -1 difficulty.)

Shifty Floor: The floor shifts and moves under the PCs’ feet!
In this case, it isn’t so much damage, but getting stuck in the level as stun bots shoot at them.
Average Discipline, then Average Coordination, then Average Athletics. If at any stage they fail, they’re back to square one unless they spend 2 Advantage to only fall back one stage, or a Triumph to reattempt the stage they’re on.

The floor moves up and down, side to side, diagonally, in circles, and the PCs have to get across to the other side. The Discipline check is to try and predict the path of the floor while being shot at (Perception is a viable alternative, but I chose Discipline because of the whole “being shot at” thing), Coordination is to hop across, and Athletics is to make the final jump to the exit.
At each “stage,” training remotes fire at them with stun blasters. One training remote per PC, with an Agility of 2, no ranks in Ranged, and a blaster that does 4 stun damage. If your PCs have high soak, you may want to pump that up to 6 or higher, just to make sure it does something.
This is the least deadly, so it should be earlier on.

Wet Work: The controls for the door are broken, and the room is slowly filling up with water!
The PCs have to navigate the maze to find the door (Hard group Survival, -1 for each check), but by the end of their second check, it’s over their head! They start to drown, and once they find the door it takes a successful Hard Mechanics check to open!
The water floods through, washing them into their next trap:

The Moat of Alligators!: The PCs must make it to the other side of the room without being eaten by the alligator!

Space-alligator: 421111 Soak 5, WT 15, Melee/Ranged Defense 1/0. (How about… “Xagobahn Spator”)
Skills: Athletics 2, Cool 2, Stealth 1, Brawl 2.
Talents: Adversary 1, Stalker 1.
Abilities: Amphibious.
Equipment: Jaws (+2[6]; 2; Engaged; Ensnare 1, Vicious 2), Claws (+3; 3; Engaged; Pierce 1, Vicious 1).

It’ll take them four Maneuvers to get out (Medium range [doesn’t have to be a straight line], difficult terrain). If it took them 4 or more rounds to get out of the maze, the Xagobahn Spator gets a Boost on its attacks because of how high the water level is.
If they deal 8 Wounds or a Hard crit to the Xagobahn Spator, it leaves them alone.

Pokey Spikes: The PCs are walking through what seems to be an empty hall, when all of a sudden the walls open to reveal spikes, which suddenly jut out at the PCs!
Dam 6; Crit 3; Pierce 2, Vicious 1.
Average Vigilance, each Failure increases the damage by one and Threat/Despair can be used to trigger crits/weapon qualities.

As the PCs run the length of the hall, more spikes shoot out at them, and they have to dodge (probably 3 checks).

Heel Nipping: They’re in a more maze-y part of the maze, and after they get some way in Jabba releases the Akk Hounds. A chase begins, with the PCs making Athletics checks against the Akk Hounds’ Survival. Since the PCs are leading the way, they can get lost but the Akk Hounds can’t (since they’re just following the PCs). Threat can cause the PCs to reach a dead-end, or get turned around, either passing Setback to their next check or perhaps even allowing the dogs to catch up by one or more range bands in the next round.
The PCs need to each pass 4 checks (each Triumph generated reduces that number by 1) in order to escape. Once they get out of the room, they pass into another trapped room that the Akk Hounds can’t follow them into.

4 Likes

This is ALL gold. Exactly the sort of thing I was after.
Cheers dude :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like

No problem! I tried to cover the various skills fairly comprehensively, but I’ll let you know if anything else occurs to me.

1 Like

Wow! Amazing ideas! @P-47Thunderbolt

@GM_SteMac
It’s hard to follow up i try :D
If your players like these kind of things, have a trapdoor open under them that leads to a baby sarlacc.
Tone down the stats of the big one, and have them make Vigilance check to not fall into it in the first place, then Athletics checks to get out / others pull them out.

2 Likes