You cautiously approach the maze-like rock formation, dimly lit by the light of the two moons. You notice deep gouges in the rock walls and places where the stone has melted as though blasted with lightning. You have entered the moving labyrinth.
My high-level party recently completed an urgent quest for the legendary sword, Cometfell the Vengeful. The sword had been lost in the hoard of the rat king in the moving labyrinth, somewhere in the twilight realm of Dusk.
Moments after entering the labyrinth, the Rat King himself snuck up behind the party and gulped down Haahoa, the son of the rightful king, before scurrying off to his lair to digest his meal. The encounter became a race against time to see if our heroes could navigate the labyrinth and save Haahoa before his bones became mere decorations for the rat king’s grisly den.
This encounter could have been tedious, but instead it was fast-paced and fun. Lean in close, O fellow game master, and together we will whisper our secrets of tale spinning, and adventure.
Table of Contents
The Moving Labyrinth
The moving labyrinth is a misnomer, for it does not itself move, but a weird magic field surrounds it that distorts sense of direction. The labyrinth is a naturally occurring rock formation of arches, buttes, pillars, and spires winding around maze-like through a narrow canyon.
Bands of red and black mineral run through the canyon, creating the weird magic field. Only by navigating by the stars and the two moons can one sidestep the effects of weird magic. Or by using their Compass of Good Spirits which always points to the last place where the owner consumed alcohol, or with a ball of string, or breadcrumbs, or whatever else the player characters come up with.
In our game, the party members each held on to the Rope of 100% Never Breaking that they had purchased several months ago, and together they walked backwards through the labyrinth in a slow conga line.
I made it a skill challenge to reach Haahoa before he was eaten, in which the players had to get 6 successes before they had 3 failures, and how successful they were would determine the situation when they reached Haahoa and the Rat King. The DC was 18, which was quite tough even for level 8 characters.
The Twilight Beasts
In this land of perpetual twilight, strange beasts stalk the land. They are creatures adapted to dim light, and, in this case, suited to live and hunt within the weird magic field.
My session notes, handwritten in the middle of the night, read thus: Populated with albino scorpions and blood-sucking vampire moles.
So that is what the party finds. The albino scorpions and the vampire moles compete for resources, with each generally staying out of the other’s territory. But if there is the scent of scorpion blood on the wind, the vampire moles will not be able to resist getting involved.
The scorpions have a wicked stinger and a sharp claws. The vampire moles, in addition to draining blood from their bites, also have a rabies-like disease that inflicts madness.
Of course, since my party was made of powerful characters for whom a mere animal is no threat, the albino scorpions and vampire moles were used only for narrative complications in the skill challenge.
The Rat King
The rat king commands no troops and holds no court. The rat king is KING solely for its unstoppable might. The rat king is a rat because of the artistic style in the Fifth Edition Monster Manual, for the rat king is a behir.
Based on the Scottish mythological creature called the beither, the Fifth Edition behir was probably meant to be a serpent-like monster. But the art has a decidedly weasel look, and the behir is permanently cemented in my mind as a huge, lightning breathing, twelve-legged rodent.
This particular behir has a penchant for baubles and wears a crown rakishly from one of its curved horns.
And This is What You See
The party cleric joined the session about halfway through. I gave her no context for what had transpired prior to her arrival. Instead I said:
You find your companions within a cave some 40ft up a cliff face. Inside is a grisly nest of bones and carcasses. Your companions are facing off against a huge, weasel-like creature with twelve legs, a long tail, and a crown wedged over one of its curled horns. On one side of the cave you see the shining sword Cometfell the Vengeful. On the other side you see Haahoa limp on the ground and covered in blood. What do you do?
By working together, the party managed to banish the Rat King to another plane, giving them time to save Haahoa and escape with Cometfell the Vengeful in hand. And then they all picked up the Rope of 100% Never Breaking and wound their way backwards through the labyrinth, back towards the door to their home plane.
Final Thoughts
The behir, run exactly as written in the 5e Monster Manual, would have been no match for my party of level 8 heroes if they had met in a flat combat scenario on. But with the complicating objectives of saving a mostly-dead prince from the monster’s lair, capturing the legendary sword (and picking up anything useful they could grab during their escape), and returning in haste to their home plane to save the world from certain destruction, the session was quite exciting.
Raising the stakes worked, particularly since the players knew they would influence the situation with the results of the skill challenge. Even though they failed and began the combat encounter in dire straights, the whole thing felt fair.
Have you run an encounter that you managed to raise the stakes and make exciting? I am always keen to hear your stories.
My schedule should be freeing up soon, and I intend to post more consistently. Until then, keep exploring.
Post cover image by Pexels.
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