# The Labyrinth One of the many structures that spans the entire world of Mannon. This super structure was created by both human and divine hands, crafted both magically and manually the maze itself is a completely sentient and living being/entity. ## Origins The beginnings of its design were crafted by a man known as Syntallion. Syntallion had a great respect for what Ustus was capable of crafting, knowing of master work weapons, armor, and general tinkering items that could have the potential to be living beings despite not having an organic body. From there Syntallion devoted his life into finding out how to craft such things, spending countless hours with wizards in the libraries, wandering the world in search of the best Dwarven smiths who could potentially craft the thing he sought after. His quest began in 2,331 BR during the Age of Silver. His pursuit of this knowledge led him down some very strange paths, research within the libraries paying off in a different way than he realized as his obsession with creating this living structure based only on a blueprint had given him a longevity to his life. He lived well into his 250s as he saw the turn of the age into the Age of Platinum. Though his life was expanded, he did not know how or why. After much work and time put into finding these answers of imbuing a "soul" into an object or structure, he began to craft the foundation of the Labyrinth. His studies with magic allowed him to cast only a handful of spells taught to him by the wizards he once worked with, though it was just enough to push his desires forwards. He opened up the earth enough to craft a workshop for himself underground, where his foundation for this labyrinth would truly begin. Ustus recognized this craft and applauded Syntallion's dedication. Syntallion was graced by the god in meeting him via an avatar after an introduction through a dream. The two of them made an agreement that the Labyrinth's construction would be something that acted as a trial to the many heroes that would rise and fall over the ages. This was a test to the might of future generations and it was not to be taken lightly. The two of them worked for many years constructing and carving out vast amounts of stone hallways, pitfalls, traps, and mechanical triggers that would challenge any who would dare enter its space. With the work of a god and a devout mortal obsessed with a living structure, the Labyrinth came to be. Its construction was complete during 2175 BR, during the Age of Platinum. ## What's inside After the long toil of its creation, the Labyrinth itself is in fact a living, "breathing," structure that spans the entire world of Mannon. This superstructure houses a wide variety of creatures, traps, and even small settlements. Some of the more civilized races or peoples you can find within the labyrinth are: - Kobolds - Orcs - Goblins - Satyr - Kenku - Lamia Some of these races have been within the halls of the Labyrinth for so long they have forgotten who they once were, so it would not be surprising if adventurers encountered extremely hostile versions of these races. While there are groups that can be civil, these are the following races or peoples that would be immediately hostile or aggressive: - Bugbear - Naga - Medusa - Yuan-TI - Minotaur #### Monstrous entities within the halls Given that the Labyrinth is such a grand and expansive structure, nearly any and every monster can be found within its walls. Though running that for a party of adventurers may be difficult, so it's recommended to have them only find what they have previously fought in the world above and around them before being able to encounter it within the Labyrinth. Creatures within the Labyrinth should be more difficult than previous encounters, often having one of the Creature Prefixes. ### Not just monsters or people An abundance of traps lie and wait for the unknowing adventure to slip up on their abilities or skills in order to claim another victim. Many of the following are great to use while traveling within the Labyrinth: ##### Active Traps **D8** | **Trigger** | **D8** | **Trap** --- |--- | --- | --- 1 | Buttons | 1 | Hanging (Swinging) weapons 2 | Glyph of Warding | 2 | Compression spiked ceiling 3 | Pressure Plate | 3 | Flooded Room 4 | False Wall/Door | 4 | Mimics 5 | Pull chain | 5 | Arrow walls 6 | Tripwires | 6 | Slides 7 | Spring loaded object | 7 | Bear Trap 8 | Locks | 8 | Eruption of Flames ##### Passive Traps **D8** | **Trap** --- | --- 1 | Pitfalls 2 | Icy Surfaces 3 | Open chasms 4 | Quicksand 5 | Thorny Overgrowth 6 | Grease 7 | Sticky Surfaces 8 | Rope Snare #### Some Trap Descriptions **Pitfalls** A classic trap among the many listed. These can be used with a basic trigger like a trapdoor or even some basic coverage like a pile of leaves or a neatly fashioned array of sticks just brittle enough to snap under someone's weight. With a pitfall they can vary in range, anywhere from 20-50 feet. Using the 5e Falling Damage rules, this means anywhere from 2-5d6 or if you have your own feel free to implement them. This trap serves as a hinderance or an inconvenience to the one it snares upon. **Arrow walls** Often used with a pressure plate, these traps are very common in structures like an ancient temple where a treasure may be guarded. This kind of trap would release anywhere from 4-8 arrows upon being triggered. (You can roll 1d4 or 1d8 to determine.) These arrows would deal the same damage as though they were fired from a shortbow. **Mimics** A staple among the fantasy tropes. Mimics are a perfect way of keeping adventurers on their toes as you entice them with treasure chests and piles of gold and jewels. Mimics come in many different sizes and shapes, though they certainly like to look like a good ol' chest. **Slides** An alternative to the normal pitfall, a slide may bring an unwitting adventurer to a new location or new elevation within the same location. This may not do damage to the victim, but it will certainly catch them by surprise as they are having their footing swept out from under them and plummeting into an unknown area below. **Grease** Simple, Slippery, and Flammable. What more could you want from a place that's already dangerous with every step. Treated as the Grease spell. **Thorny Overgrowth** These thorns are in high abundance wherever they grow, taking root in the very stone itself as the dense clusters of impassable thicket are unable to be burned or cut back enough for passage. Attempting to climb through them will deal 1d6 Piercing for every 5ft traveled. They are considered difficult terrain. **Open chasms** Ever wondered what was at the bottom of an incredibly dark pit with seemingly no bottom? Well you may certainly find out when you encounter an open chasm. Similar to pitfalls and the slides, these gaping areas are so deep that the bottom is not visible. It may lead to certain death or treasure to find out what's at the bottom, but you'll never know till you take the dive or climb. **Quicksand** Ever-shifting sands within a standing body or container can never truly be a good thing. Attempting to travel over it will cause you to sink in, and the further you attempt to move across, the further you will sink. This is considered difficult terrain. For every 5 ft of movement spent, you sink 1 ft into the sand. **Ice** Slick, semi visible, sharp, and cold. Ice can be found coating the walls, ceiling, or floor. **Tripwires** A test of reflexes and awareness are what tripwires are meant to be. Used for a large variety of resulting traps, be it a trigger for a trapdoor, a pitfall, a slide, or even a blade emerging from the wall nearby to slice into you. **Hanging (Swinging) weapons**. Many different weapons may be embedded into the walls, waiting for an unlucky adventurer to trigger a pressure plate or stumble on a trip wire only to be cut to ribbons or cleaved in half. **D8** | **Weapon** --- | --- 1 | Great Axe 2 | Longsword 3 | Greatsword 4 | Spear 5 | Trident 6 | Maul 7 | Mace 8 | Short Sword **Compression spiked ceiling** After being triggered, adventurers may only have a minute or two to escape from the area. This trap can be treated a couple of different ways. In initiative, it could either: **A.** Take 10 rounds in order for the ceiling to fall lowering by 5ft per round, during the last two rounds any creature within the ceilings area must make a Dexterity Saving Throw or take 2d6 Bludgeoning and 2d4 Piercing. **B.** Be treated as a recharge action or lair action of the room itself, lowering further on initiative count 20 (losing ties) or recharging on a 5-6. If the ceiling is within 10 feet of the ground creatures under it must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 2d6 Bludgeoning and 2d4 Piercing damage. #### Trap difficulty and disabling Traps can be categorized into 5 levels of difficulty/complexity in order to set the proper DC of disabling them. As adventurers delve deeper into the more dangerous areas of the Labyrinth, it is important that the challenge of the traps they encounter continues to increase and allow them to use the skills they've gained. **Difficulty** | **DC** --- | --- 1 | 10-13 2 | 13-15 3 | 17-19 4 | 19-21 5 | 21+ ## Spending time within the Labyrinth Being within the Labyrinth for extended periods of time can prove dulling to the mind. The magic that created it dilutes time, and bears a mental weight on those who would be inside. Hours can feel like minutes and long distance travel seems to be over in a few hours. Different sections of the Labyrinth may alter the passage of time to be quicker or slower. You may have adventurers inexplicably show up in different locations after having used the labyrinth, given that it's not always going to let you exit where you intend to. (You can roll the Teleport percentiles to help determine this.) ## Bosses within the Labyrinth Over time, adventurers will discover that there are far more powerful creatures that reside within this superstructure. As they do it should be noteworthy that challenging them with tougher monsters is important. In order to make a Boss Monster, you could do the following: Take any creature - Give it the Max HP value of its Hit Dice - Give it the Multiattack feature, at least one additional, if not more depending on the challenge rating - Alternatively to the Multiattack feature, give it the Spellcasting feature with spells that would inhibit the players from escaping - Its optional to give it a buff to its main damage stat, but recommended - Make it one size class larger The Labyrinth is host to many creatures that are thought to be lost to the ages, or even hosting NPCs that were thought as missing or dead long ago. Adventurers are very capable people, should they run into a Boss Monster be sure to reward them well for it. ## Treasure Due to its long standing existence, the Labyrinth has copious amounts of treasure available to those who are daring enough to get it. Traps and monsters will likely yield different amounts of treasure, as well as different kinds. While a monster or creature may carry an item such as a magical weapon or be wearing magical armor, a trap may have a small pocket or space that allows the surviving adventurer to access a hidden trove. **For Monsters:** Using the Magic Item Tables provided in the 5th Edition Dungeon Masters Guide, adventurers may gather better loot as the CR of a fight increases. The standard progression of "bounded accuracy" is a handy tool to use, or if you have your own method of scaling character agency with challenge then feel free to implement it. **For Traps:** Creating a CR for a trap is more difficult than it is for Monsters and Encounters. Assigning them treasure can also become difficult with that scaling. Generally speaking you may have classic traps such as Indiana Jones's Boulder Trap that has a valuable idol as the trigger. These sorts of valuable objects can be scaling in value for party wealth based on level. Some examples of Treasures are the following: **D6** | **Treasure** --- | --- 1 | A jewel encrusted chalice worth 2000 GP 2 | A ceremonial sword worth 5000 GP 3 | A Very Rare quality Potion or Spell Scroll 4 | 1d10 jewels worth 500 GP 5 | A carved wooden effigy or idol worth 200 GP 6 | A cane made of precious metals worth 350 GP