As the title says, I need help making a non combat focused dungeon. Not really puzzles, but kind of just annoying things. The dungeon was built by a Sadistic Mystic, so his goal isn't to really kill anyone who comes in, he just wants to have a good laugh. Any suggestion for the rest of the dungeon?
Perhaps try to cause situations in which the players' annoyance will lead to their own downfalls? For example: create a simple, but large hedge maze that may possibly contain glyphs that cause those who touch them to teleport to other parts of the maze. If you make them annoyed enough, they might want to burn down the maze and kill time. That is the part where you reveal the flammable gas above their heads.
Another solution, if you're not as sadistic, is to build the dungeon around "quests" of sorts. If the Mystic's true goal is to just play with intruders, perhaps have him come around in person so he can ask the party to find his keys for him because he lost them. Or perhaps he's a bit parched and wants a specific and time-consuming cocktail made.
the entrance to the last chamber is two one way door portals that can't be seen through. That's it. one leads to the chamber, the other sends you back to the start. no clues, just a 50/50 chance.
The Endless Corridor: Their is a door at the front and end of the hall. When the door at the end is walked through, you end up in the front of the hallway at that door, but you can't see anyone else in your party until you fully step through the door and your party goes through that way. The only way to escape is to do the following pattern: Front Door(x2), Back Door (x1), Front Door, Back Door (x2), and then Front Door, and you end up in the final chamber. There can be a riddle, or something, but your party will definitely be annoyed by this.
That's amazing! Although, a bit of this dungeon already has a hallway that has a really annoying puzzle in it, so I'm not sure how that would work. Maybe I could try to combine them somehow.
Check out Igor's Challenge on DMsguild, it's full of a bunch of puzzles and traps and challenges that are mostly not combat based, which I've used a lot.
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"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
Puzzle that evolve around tricks, planar travelling. Making a fool of yourself. Illusions. A long hallway that continues endlessly until someone touches the wall and each round allows for a % roll. I'm thinking Sheogorath's quest from skyrim but d&d styled in a dungeon. Phantasmal Force with extended duration. Perhaps permanent but only for certain effects. Stuff like that perhaps?
Have them find a ragged prisoner in the dungeon. As they go through the dungeon he remembers more and more of how to get through obstacles. Give them difficult puzzles or traps and for each one they can't figure out have him "help" by remembering how to bypass them.
Now the big fun secret is that the prisoner is secretly the mage who has lost his marbles so to speak. With each trap or puzzle he remembers he comes closer to remembering he is the big bad guy. So the more they lean on him the stronger the "boss" becomes. Or they can solve everything and unknowingly release him for later use.
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As the title says, I need help making a non combat focused dungeon. Not really puzzles, but kind of just annoying things. The dungeon was built by a Sadistic Mystic, so his goal isn't to really kill anyone who comes in, he just wants to have a good laugh. Any suggestion for the rest of the dungeon?
Perhaps try to cause situations in which the players' annoyance will lead to their own downfalls? For example: create a simple, but large hedge maze that may possibly contain glyphs that cause those who touch them to teleport to other parts of the maze. If you make them annoyed enough, they might want to burn down the maze and kill time. That is the part where you reveal the flammable gas above their heads.
Another solution, if you're not as sadistic, is to build the dungeon around "quests" of sorts. If the Mystic's true goal is to just play with intruders, perhaps have him come around in person so he can ask the party to find his keys for him because he lost them. Or perhaps he's a bit parched and wants a specific and time-consuming cocktail made.
the entrance to the last chamber is two one way door portals that can't be seen through. That's it. one leads to the chamber, the other sends you back to the start. no clues, just a 50/50 chance.
Oh i like this. Definitely going to use this in my next session.
Just a fun little annoyance:
The Endless Corridor: Their is a door at the front and end of the hall. When the door at the end is walked through, you end up in the front of the hallway at that door, but you can't see anyone else in your party until you fully step through the door and your party goes through that way. The only way to escape is to do the following pattern: Front Door (x2), Back Door (x1), Front Door, Back Door (x2), and then Front Door, and you end up in the final chamber. There can be a riddle, or something, but your party will definitely be annoyed by this.
it's been a long time...
That's amazing! Although, a bit of this dungeon already has a hallway that has a really annoying puzzle in it, so I'm not sure how that would work. Maybe I could try to combine them somehow.
Check out Igor's Challenge on DMsguild, it's full of a bunch of puzzles and traps and challenges that are mostly not combat based, which I've used a lot.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
Puzzle that evolve around tricks, planar travelling. Making a fool of yourself. Illusions. A long hallway that continues endlessly until someone touches the wall and each round allows for a % roll. I'm thinking Sheogorath's quest from skyrim but d&d styled in a dungeon. Phantasmal Force with extended duration. Perhaps permanent but only for certain effects.
Stuff like that perhaps?
Have them find a ragged prisoner in the dungeon. As they go through the dungeon he remembers more and more of how to get through obstacles. Give them difficult puzzles or traps and for each one they can't figure out have him "help" by remembering how to bypass them.
Now the big fun secret is that the prisoner is secretly the mage who has lost his marbles so to speak. With each trap or puzzle he remembers he comes closer to remembering he is the big bad guy. So the more they lean on him the stronger the "boss" becomes. Or they can solve everything and unknowingly release him for later use.