Clock room

In a dungeon, the players encounter a circular room with 12 evenly space doors; there is no floor to the room, but in the centre rises a single column and attached to the top of the column, in a horizontal plane are two clock arms. The minute hand is sufficiently long to reach the doorways and allow creatures to step onto it; the hour hand stops somewhat short of each door, though the distance might be jumpable. The column at the centre has enough room for maybe half a dozen creatures to stand, if they’ve got good balance and don’t mind getting fairly friendly with each other.

The clock is functional and moves as expected; each door is accessible via the minute hand once an hour, while the hour hand moves on at a rate of one door per hour. Obviously, this room functions best in a system that has a rough guide for tracking exploration time. You could decide somewhat arbitrarily where the hands will be each time the PCs encounter the room, but if the PCs have just missed a hand coming past, it’s probably better if you can legitimately say, “Well, you searched every room twice at ten minutes per search… the maths checks out.”

This room could be used in a couple of ways. It can simply be used to gradually access different areas of a dungeon, as the PCs have to wait for the hands to line up with certain doors (it would not be unreasonable to rule that staying more than a few minutes in the centre is all but impossible). It could also be used as a moment of tension if the PCs are being chased and need to hold off their pursuers long enough for the arm to rotate into position… or if the arm is already in position, to engage them at range, while waiting for it to move round to the next door.

Group combat

Introduction: An abstract way of tracking combat… not sure how it would work in practicality, but I thought it was an interesting idea.

Setting/System: The setting could be absolutely anything, as the combat is a completely abstracted diagram. System-wise, you wouldn’t want to play it with any system that was heavily grid or miniature based.

Description: The “map” just shows distinct groups of combatants. They are probably in different areas of a battlefield, in some vague sense… though I guess the fight could be taking place inside a computer, with digital combatants, in which case the map might actually be more literal

Mechanics: Combatants can occupy any of the seven areas in the diagram (they can’t sit outside it). It doesn’t matter where they are within each area, just which area they are in. Melee attacks may be made against any enemy in the same area, while ranged attacks may be made against enemies in adjacent areas as well (possibly taking attacks of opportunity from enemies in the same area if appropriate).

Encounter: The combat could be run simply as stated in the mechanics section, purely as a very simple abstract of a combat across three distinct areas (an adjacent forest, plain and lake, for example).
However, a fun variant would be to have each of the three circles provide some benefit to all creatures inside them. For example, any creature in one of the areas within circle A, gets +2 to attack rolls; any creature in an area within circle B, gets +4 to damage; any creature in one of the areas within circle C, gets two attacks per round. Obviously, any creature who is in one of the overlapping areas will gain the benefits from two, or even three circles.
This could provide some interesting tactical options, as the players might try to lure easily hit, but very tough enemies into the high damage zone; or they could lure swarms of small enemies into the two-attack zone.
It would also be tempting to try and occupy the central zone, to get two attacks per round at +2 to hit and +4 to damage. However, this cuts both ways, as enemies get the same bonuses, so are equally deadly in that middle area.

Tower Assault/Defence

Introduction: A map intended for a two stage combat; first the PCs must storm a defended position, then they must defend it themselves, to prevent it being retaken.

Setting/System: The setting is completely open; I had something WWII-ish in mind, but anything would work. System-wise, you’ll want miniature based combat for ease of visualisation, though it doesn’t need to be as strictly grid based as D&D or anything.

Description: The area has been ravaged by war, rubble and half demolished buildings are everywhere. The only structure still completely standing is a three storey tower in the centre (the squares marked with a T).

Mechanics: The walls drawn with two lines are relatively intact and completely block line of sight; combatants behind these walls cannot be targeted by those in the tower and cannot target them back. If a combatant is at the end of one of these walls, they can lean out to shoot the tower; the tower can shoot back in that instance, but at a significant penalty (three quarter cover or similar, if the system has something like that). The single line walls are lower and less substantial; they provide half cover to combatants hiding behind them.
The squares marked with an R are rubble and halve the movement of anyone trying to move through them. The squares marked G are poison gas (or something similar, dependent on the setting); these areas damage those who move through them without protection (magical or mundane), but also provide concealment from the tower. If you wish to mix things up a little, the gas could move with the wind, travelling a short distance each round in a random direction.

Encounter: The encounter has two stages. Firstly, the PCs attempt to storm the tower; this should be a really tough fight if the players are stupid, but a manageable one if the players are smart and use cover sensibly. Depending on the power level of the PCs, the defenders could either be armed with purely ranged weapons or they could also have indirect weapons, like mortars (these would allow the defenders to ignore cover and concealment, assuming they know where the PCs are hunkered down).
Once the PCs have taken the tower, the second stage is tougher, as they attempt to defend it against a larger force. This is much the same as the first stage, but in reverse; the difficulty of the fight is more dependent on how smart you play the enemy. You probably want to give the players some interesting tactical options for this half, so that they’re not just making a ranged attack roll each round. If there’s a short downtime between the two stages, you could allow them to set up booby traps with remote detonators. Alternatively, you could allow them to radio in a single airstrike at some point during the defence.

Final note: It is completely open as to why the PCs are so interested in capturing and securing the tower in the first place. Maybe it has important strategic value or maybe it is just the best defensible position when the PCs find themselves in the middle of a war.

Organs – Room Four – The Stomach

Introduction: Last organ (though definitely the most important)… my stomach… I mean, the stomach.

Setting/System: This could be made to work in most settings. A system with miniature based combat might make it easier to run, though it doesn’t need to be tied to a grid necessarily.

Description: A real stomach is (presumably) spongy, dark and moist. Equally, this could easily be a radioactive dump site with minimal re-fluffing (bonus points if the exit leads to the sewer).

Mechanics: The sections marked as (1) are acid pools. These are shallow enough to wade through, but will cause acid damage on the way. The protrusions marked as (2) are ulcers that will occasionally spew acid at all creatures in the adjacent squares (number the ulcers 1 to 4 and roll a d4 each round, or they could equally be proximity triggered).

Encounter: This is a pretty straightforward combat scenario. The creatures who inhabit the stomach are unaffected by the acid pools, though they can still be hurt by the ulcers. They may also know how to set the ulcers off deliberately as a more targeted attack.

Organs – Room Three – The Lungs

Introduction: Part three of my organ series… this week, the lungs.

Setting/System: The setting is probably fantasy, though the basic mechanic could work for other settings. There are no requirements at all for the system; even the combat grid could be abandoned in favour of just tracking which room each combatant is in.

Description: Spongy and irregular if you’re going the organic route. If not, having some indication of the airflow would be a good option – wind chimes sounding, low mist that swirls about, that sort of thing.

Mechanics: The lungs have a strong airflow in and out through the top entrance that can force unwary combatants deeper into the smaller rooms or draw the out again afterwards. For each combatant, roll a d6 at the end of the round and consult the numbers on the map for the room they’re in. On a 1-4, move them into the next room, as indicated on the map; on a 5 or 6, the combatant does not move. After the first round (where the nature of the airflow is a surprise), any combatant can give up their entire movement for the round to forego the d6 roll… essentially they are concentrating on resisting the push of the air.
The lungs may also occasionally “cough” (either once every four rounds or randomly on a d4… adjust to preference), at which point all combatants must make a check or be knocked prone.

Encounter: The PCs enter from the top and then, unaware of the airflow, get split up into the smaller chambers. The occupants of these chambers are likely to wait in the smallest rooms, hoping to be delivered a single PC that they can ambush (they know exactly where to stand to avoid the airflow; however, once combat is joined, they are as affected by it as everyone else).
The PCs may attempt to re-group in the first chamber and then just sacrifice their movement to stay together, so it may be worth giving the enemies some area attacks (spells or explosives or something) to discourage an unexciting static formation.

Organs – Room One – The Heart

Introduction: Over the next four weeks, I will present a set of rooms that are modelled (loosely) on the workings of internal organs. They could literally be the organs of a gigantic creature or they could simply be intended to represent them in some unusual fantasy temple.

Setting/System: The setting leans toward fantasy, though it could be adapted to other settings with a little work. No system requirements, though I’ve written the rooms with the idea of miniature based combat.

Description: This will obviously depend on the specifics. If it is an actual heart, then it should be squishy and organic; if it is merely representative then they would be standard chambers, adorned with symbol decorations. In either case, the PCs should probably be able to hear a low heart beat at all times while in the rooms.

Mechanics: There are four chambers in the heart, connected in a circle (I am well aware that this is not quite how a real heart is set out). Each round, two of the doors open (alternating between the doors marked A and the doors marked B) and any nearby combatants are swept into the next room; if running it with the grid, anyone in the outlined area in the starting room is moved to the corresponding square on the other side of the door (if that square is occupied, the movement stops short). The doors cannot be opened normally (extreme force might work, if you want to allow it).

Encounter: The characters should not be aware of the mechanics of the room initially and should not be aware of the precise areas affected, until they can work it out through observation. The occupants of the rooms are well aware of what is going on and will take any opportunity to split the party and create more advantageous odds.

Wizard Pinball

Introduction: A silly encounter, though potentially a rough one if the characters are unlucky.

Setting/System: This one is pure fantasy… you could fake it in a sci fi setting, but really it makes no physical sense. System-wise, it needs to be run with a map and miniatures; it doesn’t need the tactical complexity of D&D or anything, but you do need to know where all the combatants are standing.

Description: The area is well lit, gaudily painted, with some sort of annoying music playing. Here and there are doors that appear to be un-openable, but occasionally will spit out gigantic metal balls at high speeds. The entry point is a long corridor that terminates in a one way door that can’t be re-opened from the other side; the only exit is a large archway on the south side of the room.

Mechanics: At the end of every round, roll randomly to determine which door a ball appears from. The ball rolls along the indicated path; any combatants in squares that the path goes through must make a saving throw (or other system relevant check) to dodge aside or they take a hefty amount of damage from the ball hitting them as it passes.

Encounter: You can run pretty much any standard encounter in here, with the balls as a general hazard. Enemies who know the area are smart enough not to stand in front of doorways and such like. However, those in melee combat probably can’t judge things with precision, so should be just as likely to be standing in the wrong place as the players. (My suggestion is not to memorise the paths too closely and only refer to them at the end of each round. In this way, you won’t be sure yourself whether the enemies are bad positions.)
For variety, you could have one or two balls each round (randomly determined), which increases the odds of people getting hit.
Another variant in a system with longer combats (it wouldn’t work if combats were only a couple of rounds) would be to determine the number of balls at the start of the round and have a chime or something that sounds out the number of balls expected at the end of the round. Once the players cotton on (which should be very quickly), have one round where the chime sounds several times and all combatants must scramble for safe looking locations before every doorway triggers at once.

Up close and personal

Introduction: A room designed to chop up a combat into smaller groups. This could just be for variety, but it might also be an interesting challenge to groups with a heavy synergy between characters.

Setting/System: Probably sci-fi or fantasy – nothing inherently prevents it existing in other settings, but it’s hard to imagine its purpose in the real world. System-wise, tactical miniature-based combat is probably a must. If you use my final suggestion at the bottom, a system with relatively quick turn resolution mechanics would be a bonus. Also, this will certainly work best with larger parties… if there are only 2 or 3 PCs, they are likely to stick together and miss out on half the fun of the setup.

Description: This large open room has numerous pistons coming down from the ceiling (the shaded areas on the map), which divide it into a smaller series of rooms for a short time, before retracting back into the ceiling and then descending again. The pistons are massive and essentially indestructible through normal means (though not completely so, if the players happen to come up with an awesome idea), while the room itself appears to be the inside of a much larger machine of some description.

Mechanics: The area has a three turn cycle; one turn completely open, two turns blocked. This timing could be adjusted to alternating turns, but there needs to be sufficient downtime to encourage ranged characters to close in, rather than just accepting that they only shoot every other round.
On the open turn, the pistons are retracted and characters can move around the area freely, while on the blocked turns, they cannot escape the 3×3 area they’re in (unless they can walk through walls or something). Characters must be in a non-shaded area at the end of the “open” round or else they are simply crushed to death; the pistons move slowly enough that ending a turn in the shaded area is basically voluntary suicide. If a combatant is forced into the shaded area before their turn, they must move out of it on their turn. If they are forced into a shaded area after their turn, they get a free movement at the end of the round, to the nearest vacant square. If a combatant is somehow immobilised or pushed under without enough time to escape (though bear in mind, they would likely have to be pushed under while prone for this to be the case) then they are killed outright.

Encounter: This room should be stocked with mostly melee enemies. The intention is that this room will divide the combat into small mini-combats, which then switch up each time the pistons move (the cleric moves over to help the guys who’s hurting; the fighter who cleared his space, moves to engage another group). There are a couple of variations however…
1) Have an infinite supply of enemies joining from the corridors around the edge, which won’t stop until the players perform some series of actions. This will keep the players moving around and stop things becoming static.
2) You could massively increase the speed of the pistons, such that enemies pushed under them have no time to escape at the end of the round. This very much changes the focus of the combat though, from close little mini-combats with no escape, to “how can I push as many enemies as possible under these pistons?”
3) If you’ve got a system that allows for relatively quick combat rounds and some players who don’t mind a bit of faffing, you can send everyone out of the room each time the pistons come down, bring them back in groups to resolve each 3×3 combat (but remove all the figures from the other squares temporarily) and then call them all back in when the pistons go up, to see what happened to everyone else.

2D Dungeon

Introduction: An amusing diversion, rather than a serious combat… it should give old school videogamers a chuckle.

Setting/System: No setting requirements at all. No major system requirements, but there should be some rules for jumping and climbing, at least.

Description: Unlike most maps, this one is oriented vertically. The precise nature of the room could be a variety of things (ledges on an open cliffside, platforms inside a large wall cavity), but the upshot is the same… there is no room for combatants to pass each other, so they must negotiate the room like an old 2D platform game.

Mechanics: There are no special mechanics for this room beyond the peculiar constraints of the room itself; ladders can be climbed and jumping between ledges may or may not be possible, depending on the system/characters. It’s worth refreshing yourself on the rules for jumping, so you have a idea of the PCs’ capabilities in that area. Movement can be dealt with in feet or squares… whatever is normal for the system.

Encounter: There are a few variants that could be run with this…
1) You could run a straight up encounter with a decent mix of melee and ranged enemies.
2) Add the Donkey Kong feel with enemies rolling things down from above as the PCs try to reach the top.
3) If none of the PCs have any great jumping capabilities, you could run an interesting encounter with enemies who can jump between ledges, but not use ladders, while the PCs use ladders, but can’t jump between ledges.
4) As an alternative to a standard “kill all enemies” scenario, the PCs could be trying to capture an extremely mobile enemy. If this is the case, you should not reveal the entire map initially… they should be required to explore it, in order to figure out where it might be possible to corner such an enemy.
5) Combine with my post from a couple of weeks ago and have a water level that rises each round as the PCs fight their way upwards.

Extra Credit Assignment: If you really want to push the boat out, you could actually construct the map properly, with ledges attached to a vertical surface, though this would require some robust ledges or very light miniatures. If anyone goes down this route, send me some pictures.

You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?

Introduction: A room designed to put PCs at a significant disadvantage against an enemy that they can’t simply “engage” as normal.

Setting/System: This one is pure fantasy. I’ve written it with slightly divine elements, but in a setting with no divine magic, the effects could easily be purely arcane. This is heavily inspired by the scene where Harry gets attacked by hobs in the Dresden Files book, Small Favours – if you’re running an actual Dresden Files game, you could run this with hobs and myrk, exactly as the book (for bonus points, the three pillars are linked in some way to the Swords).

Description: The room is pitch black… ‘can’t see your hand in front of your face’ type darkness. The only things visible are three pillars of differing dimness, depending on their distance (the furthest pillar is barely perceptible). The pillars, once characters are close enough to see them properly, are covered in religious texts and blaze with incredibly bright light that quickly gets swallowed by the darkness.

Mechanics: The entire room is under a magical effect that causes any illumination to drop off much quicker than it should (a similar effect to thick smoke, but with nothing obvious in the air). Regular light sources (torches, lanterns, etc…) are effectively invisible and cast no light; the light might be visible when held right next to someone’s eye, but that’s about it. Magical light sources have varying effect; a simple light cantrip will likely function no better than a non-magical light source, while the light from a powerful magical weapon might illuminate a radius of a couple of feet.
The three pillars in the room cast such bright light that they illuminate out to around ten feet. In this radius, characters can see fairly normally, though it gets gloomier as they get further from the pillar.
PCs in the dark are unable to see anything except the three pillars. Darkvision, infravision and such like have no effect (the light attentuates so quickly that they have nothing to work off), but vision based on other senses (echolocation, tremorsense) works fine.

Encounter: The room is home to several undead creatures, who are blind and unaffected by the darkness. They will attack any living creatures in the room, but they will not come within 10 feet of the pillars, as the holy light hurts them; if their prey is by a pillar, they simply wait invisibly, just outside the radius of the light.
The creatures are not tough and are likely to go down to a solid hit; hitting them is the tricky part. Reward any vaguely logical plan to attack them in the dark; otherwise they will harry the PCs with quick hit and run attacks.
The easiest way to defeat the creatures, if you wish to allow it, is to dispel the darkness; this will allow the three pillars to blaze holy light through the room and vapourise the undead instantly. This solution shouldn’t trivialise the encounter… if one of the players comes up with it after they’ve already tried fighting the creatures though other methods and had no luck, let them do it with minimal effort; if it’s the first thing the players suggest then make them work for it, by requiring a ritual to be performed at each pillar or something.

Alternate encounter: An alternative worth noting would be to have no encounter as such. Just describe the terrifying journey from pillar to pillar and let the players react accordingly. “Something cracks under your foot… you kick it away into what sounds like a pile of bones.” “As you step into the light of the first pillar, you feel a slight tug on your ankle that instantly disappears” “You hear some footfalls on the other side of the room… probably just an echo.”