Monday, February 8, 2010

The Mapless Maze


I dislike mapping out mazes, so I use this little random maze generator instead. The PCs enter at area 1, and pick where to go from there, but the results are randomly generated on a d6 (for instance, the players say "we take the door on the left", and you roll a d6 and consult the table to see where they actually end up). Whether you allow players to backtrack or roll for yet another random location is up to you!

The mazes are unique every time, and can be very short or never-ending depending on the luck of the dice. Feel free to substitute new area descriptions if the originals get stale. And its fun seeing what the players come up with when they map it out.

Keep in mind, mazes of this sort do not obey natural laws, and are best placed in locations that abut the Mythical Underworld. Magic of the trail-finding sort is largely useless in the maze, but more potent divinations allow the use of a 1d4+2 instead of a d6, which will usually result in a shorter maze.

Area 1 - You enter a 20' square room, with doors strait ahead and to the left and right. Each of them is marked "entrance" in dwarven, orcish, and common. (Roll d6: 1-2 ( go to Area 2), 3-4 (Area 3), 5 (Area 4), 6 (Area 5)).

Area 2 - You enter a 60' long hallway, which ends at another hallway running left and right. (Roll d6: 1 (go to Area 1), 2-4 (Area 4), 5-6 (Area 6).

Area 3 - You enter a 40' long corridor that beds slightly to the left. Just beyond the curve, the hall ends in a wooden door. (Roll d6: 1 (go to Area 1), 2-3 (Area 2), 4-5 (Area 4), 6 (Area 5).

Area 4 - You enter a 100' long hall that dead ends. A trap door is visible in the ceiling just above the dead end (and a secret door is off to the left). (Roll d6: 1 (go to Area 1), 2-3 (Area 7), 4-6 (Area 9).

Area 5 - You enter a 40' hexagonal chamber with a low ceiling painted to look like a constellation-filled night sky. There is a door in each wall, including the one you came in. (Roll d6: 1 (Go to Area 2), 2 (Area 3), 3 (Area 6), 4 (Area 7), 5 (Area 8), 6 (Area 9).

Area 6 - You enter what appears to be a 100' long natural cavern with (1d6) natural alcoves leading off in different directions. Pale lichens glow on the walls and ceilings, and a pool has formed in the center. (Roll d6: 1(Area 2), 2(Area 3), 3(Area 7), 4-5(Area 8), 6(Area 10).

Area 7 - You follow a winding 80' corridor that ends in a stairway going (d6: 1-3 up, 4-6 down). The stairs are slippery with blood! (Roll d6: 1(Area 1), 2(Area 3), 3(Area 6), 4(Area 7), 5 (Area 8), 6 (Area 9).

Area 8 - You enter a 60' circular chamber carved in bas relief of marching soldiery. There are two doors opposite you, a trap door in the ceiling, and a stairwell spirals down from the center of the floor. (Roll d6: 1(Area 4), 2(Area 5), 3(Area 6), 4(Area 7), 5(Area 8), 6(Area 9).

Area 9 - You march 60' down a corridor to a crossroads, where corridors head off 60' in front of you and to the left a right (50% chance of secret door here too). (Roll d6: 1(Area 1), 2(Area 2), 3(Area 3), 4(Area 6), 5(Area 8), 6 (Area 10).

Area 10 - You enter a cobweb-filled 30' chamber. An iron-bound door opposite you (50% locked, 50% stuck) reads "Exit" in dwarven, orcish, and common. (Roll d6: 1(Area 1), 2-6(Exit the maze!).

4 comments:

  1. Brilliant! My players never bother to map anyway, so they'll not notice the difference.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I see a solo dungeon in this.

    This is great, I can't wait to give it a go.

    ReplyDelete
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