Tower of Riddles [Archive] - Wizards Community

Tower of Riddles [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Aleolus
08-02-07, 07:51 PM OK, here's an idea I have for a dungeon-crawl-esque campaign I'm gonna be starting fairly soon. Several floors, each with something that must be overcome, including tests for each of the six ability scores, and several battles. Almost every floor also has a stone pillar raised at one point, explaining how to pass to the next floor. The party is going through the tower to recover an Ancient Relic up at the top, which was created by a Lich, who also built the tower, and is in residence on the second-to-last floor. He is the final challenge before the party can claim the relic, a powerful magical diamond. I'll give a description on each floor and what the party has to do to get to the next one below. One last thing before that though, the Lich always speaks in riddles, most of the time fairly simple.

Each floor, unless stated otherwise, is a octagonal room, 50 feet from corner to corner, with two doors, each leading into a stairway which goes along the exterior of the tower. Still inside, but outside where the main rooms are.

First floor, where the party enters: Both doors are open, and the pillar is in the very center of the room, with a simple riddle on it explaining that if the group wants the treasure of this tower, they will have to earn it. No test to get to the next floor.

Second floor: Door the party just came through, and another one on the opposite side of the room, sealed shut. There are also 1d4+1d6 piles of bones strewn about the room. Upon the party entering the center of the room, they all animate and rise as human skeletons, armed with various weapons. Now, these are not ordinary skeletons, as they have a varient of regeneration, which is based off their Strength, instead of their Con. The only form of attack that deals lethal damage to them are attacks that utilize positive energy, such as Turn Undead, any Cure spell, or a Smite from a good-aligned character. Once the skeletons are dead, the door opens, letting the party go on to the next floor.

Third Floor: Three statues, representing strength, speed, and magic, with a pillar in front of them with the following riddle on it.
Let me spell it out for you:

The hand is faster than the eye,
But thought is faster still.
So tough it out, get out the way,
You'll know me by my Will.

If speed is right, and I am wrong,
And brawn is left alone,
Then I am right between the two,
And what is right is wrong.

If brawn is all that's left to you,
And speed is right behind,
I'll offer you one chance to show,
That matter masters mind.
Each statue has a button in front of it. When one button is pressed, more text magically appears below it, saying one of two things, again in riddle. If you pressed the correct button (magic), it congratulates you on getting it correct, but cautions that more trials are coming. If you press one of the wrong ones (speed or strength), it consoles you, saying you clearly lack wisdom, but if you can deal with his pets, you will be able to go on anyway. Once the party finishes reading the second one, two Belors get summoned. If the party beats the Belors, or if they guess correctly, the doors open and they can go on.

Fourth Floor: Sealed door on the other side, and what appears to be a sleeping beholder in the center of the room. Kill the Beholder, and the doors open.

Fifth Floor: A pillar in the center, telling a story about two brothers, who were opponents till they learned to see eye-to-eye. There are also two statues, one built into the floor, the other loose on the floor. To open the door, you have to slide the loose statue so that it is base to base with the other one, facing it. They start off 30 feet apart, and a DC 28 strength check is required for each five feet you try to move the statue. This can be done over as much time as you want, and as many people as you want can help.

Sixth Floor: A Stone Golem standing inactive in the center of the room, which becomes active as soon as it detects motion in the room, or as soon as struck with an attack that manages to damage or affect it.

Seventh Floor: A table laid out, with a pillar in the center and a Hero's Feast on the table itself. The pillar congratulates the heros on making it this far, and bids them a night of rest to recover their strength before moving on, as they will need it. Every party member who partakes of the feast has a 97% chance for it to be a normal Hero's Feast, but there is a 3% chance that the food eaten by one character will have a poison in it (DC 15 Fort save against, primary effect 1d3 Con damage, secondary nauseated for one day). The feast and table disappear once the characters have eaten their fill, though the pillar remains, and the entire room is placed under the effect of a Leomunds Tiny Hut spell, caster level 15th.

Eighth floor: Similar to the third floor, except it is representations of three different creature types, undead, demon, and one other I haven't thought of. Again, gives you information, and you have to figure out which one is being described. Each representation has a lever in front of it, pulling the one in front of the representation of "undead" will open the door to continue on. Pulling either of the others will open a side door to release a creature of that type the party will have to fight. Once again, if they kill it, the doors open.

Ninth Floor: 3 Green Hags. Kill them, the door opens.

Tenth Floor: A Nightwalker, standing in the center of the room. He explains that he's not there to fight them, but they have to convince him why they should be allowed to pass. This requires either a successful Bluff or Diplomacy check, character's choice, against the Nightwalkers Sense Motive check. They have as long as they need, but each time they fail the Nightwalker gets a cumulative +1 bonus to his sense motive. After 5 failures, he teleports them back down a level. The hags are still dead, but the door is closed. The party hears the Nightwalker's voice telling them to sleep on it, think it over, and try again the next day. This continues until they succeed, at which point the Nightwalker disappears, and the doors open.

Eleventh Floor: A Mummy Lord. Kill it.

Twelfth Floor: A pillar in the center, with a representation of the tower, with dividers for all the floors up to this point. On the other side, are tiles with the various challenges that the party has had to overcome to this point. To proceed, you have to place the proper challenges on the proper floors, within a certain length of time, requiring a DC 25 Sleight of Hand check, and you cannot take a 10 or a 20. If you don't get it within the time limit, the table wavers, any tablets they have gotten in place reset and randomize, so they're never in the same order twice. This continues until completed successfully, at which point the diagram fades, and is replaced by one final line, congradulating them on their efforts, and telling them that only one more obstacle remains between them and their prize, on the next floor, and he recommends that they rest up and recover their strength before trying it.

Thirteenth Floor: A Human Lich Sorceror, level 15. The creator of the tower, his stats included below.
Human Lich
Sorceror 15
Hit Die: 15d12 (87hp)
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 17, Con -, Int 20, Wis 19, Cha 24
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +13
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 feet
AC: 18= 10+3 (Dex)+5 (Natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+9
Attacks: Touch +9 melee (1d8+5 negative energy plus paralysis), or +1 Unholy Quarterstaff of Spell Storing +10 melee (1d6)
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Special Attacks: Fear Aura, Paralyzing Touch, Spells
Special Qualities: Summon Familiar, Darkvision 60 ft, Turn Resistance, DR 15/bludgeoning and magic, Immune to cold, electricity, polymorph and mind-affecting effects.
Skills: Bluff +25, Concentration +25, Craft (Alchemy) +23 Hide +13, Knowledge (Arcana) +25, Listen +21, Move Silently +11, Search +17, Sense Motive +20, Spot +20, Spellcraft +23
Feats: Craft Wonderous Item, Combat Casting, Eschew Materials, Silent Spell, Still Spell, Spell Focus (Necromancy)
Spells Known:
0-level: Touch of Fatigue, Read Magic, Ray of Frost, Mage Hand, Arcane Mark, Resistance, Acid Splash, Ghost Sound, Detect Magic
1st-level: Chill Touch, Cause Fear, Animate Rope, Magic Missle, Mage Armor
2nd-level: Command Undead, Spectral Hand, Blindness/Deafness, Scorching Ray, Touch of Idiocy
3rd-level: Vampiric Touch, Ray of Exhaustion, Fireball, Leomunds Tiny Hut
4th-level: Animate Dead, Bestow Curse, Enervation, Summon Monster IV
5th-level: Waves of Fatigue, Dominate Person, Baleful Polymorph, Permanency
6th-level: Eyebite, Globe of Invulnerability, Circle of Death
7th-level: Control Undead, Finger of Death

Thats what I have. What I need help with is coming up with the riddles for the various floors (every one with a pillar on it), and suggestions on improving. I'm planning on having the chars start at 5th level.
queenfange
08-03-07, 02:03 PM I know this isn't what you're looking for, but I'm curious so I'm asking anyway... Why are all these riddles and monsters in this dungeon? Who set it up this way (the lich who made the relic?), and why? Why didn't they just put unpassable traps rather than riddles? Malice? Sadism? Boredom? Twisted sense of humor? Assumption that only the creator or the worthy or something would be able to get through?
Aleolus
08-05-07, 03:06 AM Simple, really. He's clinically insane.

He always speaks in riddle and rhyme, and enjoys boasting and the like. He enjoys a challenge, but he wants those being challenged to have a sliver of a chance. Unfortunetly for him, he usually underestimates the group.

Are you familiar with the Beatle's music video Yellow Submarine? This guy is modeled after Jeremy, the Nowhere Man, from that.
Aleolus
08-07-07, 02:48 AM C'mon, guys! I'm horrid at coming up with riddles, I need some help here!
Heros_Backpack
08-07-07, 10:00 AM Ok, here are a few (more) riddles:

First Floor:
If at the top you wish to be
And treasure hoards come to mind,
Let me remind you that nothing is free -
My gold you must earn, not merely find.

Second Floor:
Attack not to kill, but to heal,
For nothing we fear from the straightest sword,
But turning we greatly feel.

Kill us with blades and up we rise
For we are the dead and we cannot die,
Till you smite us between the eyes!

Third Floor (guess right):
Your wisdom serves you well,
But do not let it rest.
This was not first, this is not last
To put you to the test.

(guess wrong):
Your wits have played you false
And I must sadly say
That only if you beat my pets
May you go on today.

Fourth Floor:
Behold, it sleeps!
If you behold it die,
Then behold! The way is open to you!
TheKingOfAmn
08-07-07, 12:52 PM For the room with the brothers:

Two men of the same father spent
Years apart for hatred bent
One was good and decent, kind
The other with chaos on his mind

After many years, one day at dawn
Thanks to the sheer force of brawn
These two boys will before they die
See each other eye-to-eye.

For the Nightwalker

Not every creature wants to fight
Kill and brutally wrack
And though you may not like this one
Try now to not attack

This fellow is a reasonable one
And wishes to know why
You drive on forward, up, ahead
He may let you on by

For the Stone Golum

Here he sleeps, a peaceful rock
Howe’er the threat’s not gone
Anger him to wake him up
Kill him and move on

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Aleolus 08-02-07, 07:51 PM	OK, here's an idea I have for a dungeon-crawl-esque campaign I'm gonna be starting fairly soon. Several floors, each with something that must be overcome, including tests for each of the six ability scores, and several battles. Almost every floor also has a stone pillar raised at one point, explaining how to pass to the next floor. The party is going through the tower to recover an Ancient Relic up at the top, which was created by a Lich, who also built the tower, and is in residence on the second-to-last floor. He is the final challenge before the party can claim the relic, a powerful magical diamond. I'll give a description on each floor and what the party has to do to get to the next one below. One last thing before that though, the Lich always speaks in riddles, most of the time fairly simple. Each floor, unless stated otherwise, is a octagonal room, 50 feet from corner to corner, with two doors, each leading into a stairway which goes along the exterior of the tower. Still inside, but outside where the main rooms are. First floor, where the party enters: Both doors are open, and the pillar is in the very center of the room, with a simple riddle on it explaining that if the group wants the treasure of this tower, they will have to earn it. No test to get to the next floor. Second floor: Door the party just came through, and another one on the opposite side of the room, sealed shut. There are also 1d4+1d6 piles of bones strewn about the room. Upon the party entering the center of the room, they all animate and rise as human skeletons, armed with various weapons. Now, these are not ordinary skeletons, as they have a varient of regeneration, which is based off their Strength, instead of their Con. The only form of attack that deals lethal damage to them are attacks that utilize positive energy, such as Turn Undead, any Cure spell, or a Smite from a good-aligned character. Once the skeletons are dead, the door opens, letting the party go on to the next floor. Third Floor: Three statues, representing strength, speed, and magic, with a pillar in front of them with the following riddle on it. Let me spell it out for you: The hand is faster than the eye, But thought is faster still. So tough it out, get out the way, You'll know me by my Will. If speed is right, and I am wrong, And brawn is left alone, Then I am right between the two, And what is right is wrong. If brawn is all that's left to you, And speed is right behind, I'll offer you one chance to show, That matter masters mind. Each statue has a button in front of it. When one button is pressed, more text magically appears below it, saying one of two things, again in riddle. If you pressed the correct button (magic), it congratulates you on getting it correct, but cautions that more trials are coming. If you press one of the wrong ones (speed or strength), it consoles you, saying you clearly lack wisdom, but if you can deal with his pets, you will be able to go on anyway. Once the party finishes reading the second one, two Belors get summoned. If the party beats the Belors, or if they guess correctly, the doors open and they can go on. Fourth Floor: Sealed door on the other side, and what appears to be a sleeping beholder in the center of the room. Kill the Beholder, and the doors open. Fifth Floor: A pillar in the center, telling a story about two brothers, who were opponents till they learned to see eye-to-eye. There are also two statues, one built into the floor, the other loose on the floor. To open the door, you have to slide the loose statue so that it is base to base with the other one, facing it. They start off 30 feet apart, and a DC 28 strength check is required for each five feet you try to move the statue. This can be done over as much time as you want, and as many people as you want can help. Sixth Floor: A Stone Golem standing inactive in the center of the room, which becomes active as soon as it detects motion in the room, or as soon as struck with an attack that manages to damage or affect it. Seventh Floor: A table laid out, with a pillar in the center and a Hero's Feast on the table itself. The pillar congratulates the heros on making it this far, and bids them a night of rest to recover their strength before moving on, as they will need it. Every party member who partakes of the feast has a 97% chance for it to be a normal Hero's Feast, but there is a 3% chance that the food eaten by one character will have a poison in it (DC 15 Fort save against, primary effect 1d3 Con damage, secondary nauseated for one day). The feast and table disappear once the characters have eaten their fill, though the pillar remains, and the entire room is placed under the effect of a Leomunds Tiny Hut spell, caster level 15th. Eighth floor: Similar to the third floor, except it is representations of three different creature types, undead, demon, and one other I haven't thought of. Again, gives you information, and you have to figure out which one is being described. Each representation has a lever in front of it, pulling the one in front of the representation of "undead" will open the door to continue on. Pulling either of the others will open a side door to release a creature of that type the party will have to fight. Once again, if they kill it, the doors open. Ninth Floor: 3 Green Hags. Kill them, the door opens. Tenth Floor: A Nightwalker, standing in the center of the room. He explains that he's not there to fight them, but they have to convince him why they should be allowed to pass. This requires either a successful Bluff or Diplomacy check, character's choice, against the Nightwalkers Sense Motive check. They have as long as they need, but each time they fail the Nightwalker gets a cumulative +1 bonus to his sense motive. After 5 failures, he teleports them back down a level. The hags are still dead, but the door is closed. The party hears the Nightwalker's voice telling them to sleep on it, think it over, and try again the next day. This continues until they succeed, at which point the Nightwalker disappears, and the doors open. Eleventh Floor: A Mummy Lord. Kill it. Twelfth Floor: A pillar in the center, with a representation of the tower, with dividers for all the floors up to this point. On the other side, are tiles with the various challenges that the party has had to overcome to this point. To proceed, you have to place the proper challenges on the proper floors, within a certain length of time, requiring a DC 25 Sleight of Hand check, and you cannot take a 10 or a 20. If you don't get it within the time limit, the table wavers, any tablets they have gotten in place reset and randomize, so they're never in the same order twice. This continues until completed successfully, at which point the diagram fades, and is replaced by one final line, congradulating them on their efforts, and telling them that only one more obstacle remains between them and their prize, on the next floor, and he recommends that they rest up and recover their strength before trying it. Thirteenth Floor: A Human Lich Sorceror, level 15. The creator of the tower, his stats included below. Human Lich Sorceror 15 Hit Die: 15d12 (87hp) Abilities: Str 14, Dex 17, Con -, Int 20, Wis 19, Cha 24 Saves: Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +13 Initiative: +3 Speed: 30 feet AC: 18= 10+3 (Dex)+5 (Natural) Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+9 Attacks: Touch +9 melee (1d8+5 negative energy plus paralysis), or +1 Unholy Quarterstaff of Spell Storing +10 melee (1d6) Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft Special Attacks: Fear Aura, Paralyzing Touch, Spells Special Qualities: Summon Familiar, Darkvision 60 ft, Turn Resistance, DR 15/bludgeoning and magic, Immune to cold, electricity, polymorph and mind-affecting effects. Skills: Bluff +25, Concentration +25, Craft (Alchemy) +23 Hide +13, Knowledge (Arcana) +25, Listen +21, Move Silently +11, Search +17, Sense Motive +20, Spot +20, Spellcraft +23 Feats: Craft Wonderous Item, Combat Casting, Eschew Materials, Silent Spell, Still Spell, Spell Focus (Necromancy) Spells Known: 0-level: Touch of Fatigue, Read Magic, Ray of Frost, Mage Hand, Arcane Mark, Resistance, Acid Splash, Ghost Sound, Detect Magic 1st-level: Chill Touch, Cause Fear, Animate Rope, Magic Missle, Mage Armor 2nd-level: Command Undead, Spectral Hand, Blindness/Deafness, Scorching Ray, Touch of Idiocy 3rd-level: Vampiric Touch, Ray of Exhaustion, Fireball, Leomunds Tiny Hut 4th-level: Animate Dead, Bestow Curse, Enervation, Summon Monster IV 5th-level: Waves of Fatigue, Dominate Person, Baleful Polymorph, Permanency 6th-level: Eyebite, Globe of Invulnerability, Circle of Death 7th-level: Control Undead, Finger of Death Thats what I have. What I need help with is coming up with the riddles for the various floors (every one with a pillar on it), and suggestions on improving. I'm planning on having the chars start at 5th level.
queenfange 08-03-07, 02:03 PM	I know this isn't what you're looking for, but I'm curious so I'm asking anyway... Why are all these riddles and monsters in this dungeon? Who set it up this way (the lich who made the relic?), and why? Why didn't they just put unpassable traps rather than riddles? Malice? Sadism? Boredom? Twisted sense of humor? Assumption that only the creator or the worthy or something would be able to get through?
Aleolus 08-05-07, 03:06 AM	Simple, really. He's clinically insane. He always speaks in riddle and rhyme, and enjoys boasting and the like. He enjoys a challenge, but he wants those being challenged to have a sliver of a chance. Unfortunetly for him, he usually underestimates the group. Are you familiar with the Beatle's music video Yellow Submarine? This guy is modeled after Jeremy, the Nowhere Man, from that.
Aleolus 08-07-07, 02:48 AM	C'mon, guys! I'm horrid at coming up with riddles, I need some help here!
Heros_Backpack 08-07-07, 10:00 AM	Ok, here are a few (more) riddles: First Floor: If at the top you wish to be And treasure hoards come to mind, Let me remind you that nothing is free - My gold you must earn, not merely find. Second Floor: Attack not to kill, but to heal, For nothing we fear from the straightest sword, But turning we greatly feel. Kill us with blades and up we rise For we are the dead and we cannot die, Till you smite us between the eyes! Third Floor (guess right): Your wisdom serves you well, But do not let it rest. This was not first, this is not last To put you to the test. (guess wrong): Your wits have played you false And I must sadly say That only if you beat my pets May you go on today. Fourth Floor: Behold, it sleeps! If you behold it die, Then behold! The way is open to you!
TheKingOfAmn 08-07-07, 12:52 PM	For the room with the brothers: Two men of the same father spent Years apart for hatred bent One was good and decent, kind The other with chaos on his mind After many years, one day at dawn Thanks to the sheer force of brawn These two boys will before they die See each other eye-to-eye. For the Nightwalker Not every creature wants to fight Kill and brutally wrack And though you may not like this one Try now to not attack This fellow is a reasonable one And wishes to know why You drive on forward, up, ahead He may let you on by For the Stone Golum Here he sleeps, a peaceful rock Howe’er the threat’s not gone Anger him to wake him up Kill him and move on