Hey guys. My players are in Neverwinter, and I want to do a dungeon based on the House of Knowledge, and I'm looking for ideas for traps, obstacles, enemies, and whatever else to fill it with. Basically, I'm going to say that the archive was sealed when the Primordial destroyed the city, and has never been reopened. Loremaster Atlavast was trapped in there, and has been surviving for years, going quite mad in the process. Now the players need to find Atlavast and get him out of the Archive, but he's set it up so that there's lots of traps and puzzles between him and the outside world. There's also going to be some threats not connected directly to Atlavast. Here's the ideas I've got so far;
Obstacles;
Permanent Silence spells in reading rooms
Moving bookshelves which change the paths of the dungeon (some of which are random, others the players can trigger to reveal secrets)
Doors that only open if a riddle can be solved, the answer of the riddle will be a book title, and they'll need to present the book, which will naturally be nowhere near the door
Enemies;
Book-shaped Mimics
Intellect Devourers
Poltergeists that REALLY enjoy lobbing books at people
Some constructs, like animated armour and such, that I could imagine guarding a library
May also make Loremaster Atlavast some sort of magical combatant as well.
Love the concept and your already constructed ideas, it brings to mind scenes from the grand archive in Dark Souls 3.
You could possibly incorporate small mischievous imps or some other kind of familiar, conjured assistants from the maddening Atlavast to assist him in his endeavors throughout the library and his research ?
There could possibly be hazards in the context of an alchemical laboratory or storage area (cataloging maybe ?) that depending on how haphazard the party is or the actions of enemies or other entities perhaps some of these concoctions get spilled to positive or negative effect?
Perhaps there is a sentient construct reminiscent of a sphinx or other mythical creature renown for its knowledge that is constructed from highly physical resistant materials, a kind of balancing point for the anti-mage silence areas?
Cannot let it stand not having a Beholder mentioned, all those eyes for reading all those books, plus the effects of spells hitting bookshelves and creating environmental hazards is always fun!
One point that you may want to be mindful of would be your riddle book key system, whilst being a very cool idea it could potentially lead to a lot of monotonous backtracking for the party if executed multiple times, this however could be used to introduce a consequence with "respawning" enemies so as to make the group really sit down and ponder each riddle until they are sure.
5 level 4s at the minute, but some/all of them may have broken 5 by the time they reach this place. 1 will definitely be level five, as he's only 5xp off atm.
Well, Skeletal Alchemist would make for a good monster that represents a few researchers that were trapped inside when the place was sealed. You could also rework the Flameskull as a sort of psychic creature instead of a fire-based one and swap out its fireball and flaming sphere with Mind Spike cast at 3rd level.
As for some custom monster, I like the Animated Spellbook.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I had a library themed adventure at one point and used the following puzzle. It required some very basic prop manufacturing on my end, but was well received by my players.
The PCs became aware of a magic portal behind a bookcase but couldn't move/destroy/pass the bookcase without a password.
The password involved taking a stack of books and placing them in the correct order on the shelf. In my game it was the true name of a demon they were searching for.
To represent the spine of the books, I had cut several strips of construction paper and written the title of various arcane books down each strip. Each book color, script, and style was slightly different. The PCs figured out that they needed to set the books in a correct order and guessed that they needed to spell the demon's name. The strips when placed side by side, spelled out the demon's name along the top letter of each book. The curveball was that they didn't seem to have the right letters to complete the name. One of the books actually had to be placed upside down on the shelf, changing an "M" to a "W".
This puzzle was simple to construct, not too difficult, and created some very satisfied players at the table. I think you could also make it harder if you used the middle of each spine to spell the Demon's name (the top was maybe to obvious). I had a couple of red herring books in there as well, that didn't have anything to do with the solution. Depending on your script/font choice you could also change other letters; a "u" could look like an inverted lowercase "n" for instance.
There's an archive underneath the library. Unlike the library itself though, this place is not so well organized. Derros took over the archive for some time and they put all the books in a new and "better" order.
A minotaur wizard is trying to catalogue all the books, but he hasn't made much progress yet. He might ask the PCs for some help, or he might just attack the smaller PCs if they touch any books.
I had a library themed adventure at one point and used the following puzzle. It required some very basic prop manufacturing on my end, but was well received by my players.
The PCs became aware of a magic portal behind a bookcase but couldn't move/destroy/pass the bookcase without a password.
The password involved taking a stack of books and placing them in the correct order on the shelf. In my game it was the true name of a demon they were searching for.
To represent the spine of the books, I had cut several strips of construction paper and written the title of various arcane books down each strip. Each book color, script, and style was slightly different. The PCs figured out that they needed to set the books in a correct order and guessed that they needed to spell the demon's name. The strips when placed side by side, spelled out the demon's name along the top letter of each book. The curveball was that they didn't seem to have the right letters to complete the name. One of the books actually had to be placed upside down on the shelf, changing an "M" to a "W".
This puzzle was simple to construct, not too difficult, and created some very satisfied players at the table. I think you could also make it harder if you used the middle of each spine to spell the Demon's name (the top was maybe to obvious). I had a couple of red herring books in there as well, that didn't have anything to do with the solution. Depending on your script/font choice you could also change other letters; a "u" could look like an inverted lowercase "n" for instance.
That's a fantastic idea, and I've already thought of a great way to fit it in with the narrative I'm trying to tell. Thanks!
I had a library themed adventure at one point and used the following puzzle. It required some very basic prop manufacturing on my end, but was well received by my players.
The PCs became aware of a magic portal behind a bookcase but couldn't move/destroy/pass the bookcase without a password.
The password involved taking a stack of books and placing them in the correct order on the shelf. In my game it was the true name of a demon they were searching for.
To represent the spine of the books, I had cut several strips of construction paper and written the title of various arcane books down each strip. Each book color, script, and style was slightly different. The PCs figured out that they needed to set the books in a correct order and guessed that they needed to spell the demon's name. The strips when placed side by side, spelled out the demon's name along the top letter of each book. The curveball was that they didn't seem to have the right letters to complete the name. One of the books actually had to be placed upside down on the shelf, changing an "M" to a "W".
This puzzle was simple to construct, not too difficult, and created some very satisfied players at the table. I think you could also make it harder if you used the middle of each spine to spell the Demon's name (the top was maybe to obvious). I had a couple of red herring books in there as well, that didn't have anything to do with the solution. Depending on your script/font choice you could also change other letters; a "u" could look like an inverted lowercase "n" for instance.
That's a fantastic idea, and I've already thought of a great way to fit it in with the narrative I'm trying to tell. Thanks!
Glad to be helpful. Would love to hear how it shakes out. As I said, I had some very satisfied players - I hope the same for you!
Check out the Allip which can offer both a fight and some awesome role playing with their flavor, and is a perfect library encounter! I love using Allips to help drop tidbits of knowledge, especially hints about information the party might be looking for. Or even some random bit of forbidden knowledge to point them towards another quest.
Jetpack7 released a supplement called Masters and Minions which has a library oriented villain in it. The BBEG is hoarding books/knowledge which in turn is erasing spells from living memory. However, there isn't any reason to stop with just spells. It may be that some creature or person the PC's have fought in the past is simply forgotten about. "You remember that game Dungeons & Dragons? Well, you forgot everything you knew about Dragons so now it's just a game of Dungeons."
It also has a really interesting genesis for the library labyrinth.
I love your idea, and I'm excited to see where this thread goes so I can steal it liberally.
Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (3.5e) had an interesting library encounter, I believe. Also check out Super Castlevania IV (Super Nintendo), which I think had a library level, for possible information.
I read this and thought of the library specter at the beginning of the original Ghost Busters... would reflavor to not be hostile, (actually helpful in obtaining a book, or other item needed to solve a riddle/puzzle), and, if the party is carrying any library books, rather insistent they pay the overdue fees (possibly even filling out a membership form - which would now be a binding contract with a specter).
I did one that included random encounters where spectral beasts would come out of the books about them and attack, so I would (using the Xanathar random encounter tables) roll for a random biome and the random encounter on that biome.
I also had golems made of books with a special attack that beamed knowledge on random subjects into people's heads, overloading them with psychic damage and stunning them if they failed a save.
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Hey guys. My players are in Neverwinter, and I want to do a dungeon based on the House of Knowledge, and I'm looking for ideas for traps, obstacles, enemies, and whatever else to fill it with. Basically, I'm going to say that the archive was sealed when the Primordial destroyed the city, and has never been reopened. Loremaster Atlavast was trapped in there, and has been surviving for years, going quite mad in the process. Now the players need to find Atlavast and get him out of the Archive, but he's set it up so that there's lots of traps and puzzles between him and the outside world. There's also going to be some threats not connected directly to Atlavast. Here's the ideas I've got so far;
Obstacles;
Enemies;
What is your party's level range?
Love the concept and your already constructed ideas, it brings to mind scenes from the grand archive in Dark Souls 3.
One point that you may want to be mindful of would be your riddle book key system, whilst being a very cool idea it could potentially lead to a lot of monotonous backtracking for the party if executed multiple times, this however could be used to introduce a consequence with "respawning" enemies so as to make the group really sit down and ponder each riddle until they are sure.
5 level 4s at the minute, but some/all of them may have broken 5 by the time they reach this place. 1 will definitely be level five, as he's only 5xp off atm.
Well, Skeletal Alchemist would make for a good monster that represents a few researchers that were trapped inside when the place was sealed. You could also rework the Flameskull as a sort of psychic creature instead of a fire-based one and swap out its fireball and flaming sphere with Mind Spike cast at 3rd level.
As for some custom monster, I like the Animated Spellbook.
I had a library themed adventure at one point and used the following puzzle. It required some very basic prop manufacturing on my end, but was well received by my players.
The PCs became aware of a magic portal behind a bookcase but couldn't move/destroy/pass the bookcase without a password.
The password involved taking a stack of books and placing them in the correct order on the shelf. In my game it was the true name of a demon they were searching for.
To represent the spine of the books, I had cut several strips of construction paper and written the title of various arcane books down each strip. Each book color, script, and style was slightly different. The PCs figured out that they needed to set the books in a correct order and guessed that they needed to spell the demon's name. The strips when placed side by side, spelled out the demon's name along the top letter of each book. The curveball was that they didn't seem to have the right letters to complete the name. One of the books actually had to be placed upside down on the shelf, changing an "M" to a "W".
This puzzle was simple to construct, not too difficult, and created some very satisfied players at the table. I think you could also make it harder if you used the middle of each spine to spell the Demon's name (the top was maybe to obvious). I had a couple of red herring books in there as well, that didn't have anything to do with the solution. Depending on your script/font choice you could also change other letters; a "u" could look like an inverted lowercase "n" for instance.
This dungeon is a good model for a library dungeon.
There's an archive underneath the library. Unlike the library itself though, this place is not so well organized. Derros took over the archive for some time and they put all the books in a new and "better" order.
A minotaur wizard is trying to catalogue all the books, but he hasn't made much progress yet. He might ask the PCs for some help, or he might just attack the smaller PCs if they touch any books.
That's a fantastic idea, and I've already thought of a great way to fit it in with the narrative I'm trying to tell. Thanks!
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Glad to be helpful. Would love to hear how it shakes out. As I said, I had some very satisfied players - I hope the same for you!
Check out the Allip which can offer both a fight and some awesome role playing with their flavor, and is a perfect library encounter! I love using Allips to help drop tidbits of knowledge, especially hints about information the party might be looking for. Or even some random bit of forbidden knowledge to point them towards another quest.
Find me on Twitter: @OboeLauren
Jetpack7 released a supplement called Masters and Minions which has a library oriented villain in it. The BBEG is hoarding books/knowledge which in turn is erasing spells from living memory. However, there isn't any reason to stop with just spells. It may be that some creature or person the PC's have fought in the past is simply forgotten about. "You remember that game Dungeons & Dragons? Well, you forgot everything you knew about Dragons so now it's just a game of Dungeons."
It also has a really interesting genesis for the library labyrinth.
I love your idea, and I'm excited to see where this thread goes so I can steal it liberally.
Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (3.5e) had an interesting library encounter, I believe. Also check out Super Castlevania IV (Super Nintendo), which I think had a library level, for possible information.
I read this and thought of the library specter at the beginning of the original Ghost Busters... would reflavor to not be hostile, (actually helpful in obtaining a book, or other item needed to solve a riddle/puzzle), and, if the party is carrying any library books, rather insistent they pay the overdue fees (possibly even filling out a membership form - which would now be a binding contract with a specter).
Enemies or Social Encounter:
Other Enemies:
I did one that included random encounters where spectral beasts would come out of the books about them and attack, so I would (using the Xanathar random encounter tables) roll for a random biome and the random encounter on that biome.
I also had golems made of books with a special attack that beamed knowledge on random subjects into people's heads, overloading them with psychic damage and stunning them if they failed a save.