III: 4 & 5: Wicked, Tricksy, Trapsy Referee, Annotated

Page 4-5

 

The second map we are presented with is a sample level but we feel this is a misnomer. It is more of a map containing a sampling of … well … samples. It does illustrate some rather important principles, though these may not be explicitly stated. Numbers here correspond to the numbered points on page 5. 

 

1. A map-based puzzle maze. The only way to exit is to solve the puzzle. Only … how did the players end up there in the first place? A myriad of options present to the imagination, but none are listed in the text.
2. Another maze with a secret exit. Besides the threat of wandering monsters, a very real one as we will learn later, four ogres lurk in the heart of this maze.
3. An area specifically designed to confound mappers. As if the mazes were not enough. An interesting entry in light of the current mode of thinking regarding making the adventure as easy on the player-characters as possible. No, here we see the referee doing the opposite.
4. A slide trap to a lower level, and a room with corridors designed to funnel the players into an encounter with a basilisk.
5. A nasty set of traps and unless you’re out to get your players it is not suggested for actual use (emphasis added). This one includes an unnoticed trip to a lower level, a transporter to wherever the referee imagines such as the center of the earth, and a transporter creating the illusion of an endless corridor.
6. A clever shifting wall trap that may also be applied to staircases.
7. A nice modular area designed to give players and mappers fits.
8. Another encounter area leading to some evil man in one area and a true troll or two perhaps in another. We feel the original version of this area was bit easier to understand, having the tunnel more clearly delineated. Subsequent printings changed the white background to black and this detail was obscured in those printings (though it is mentioned in the text).