This article was written to share some of my thoughts and intentions behind The Misty Maze. Check out that post once you're done here if you'd like to include it in your own games
One of the great sessions of my DMing career was one I called "The Trials of the Oracle". Five trials, each designed (roughly) around one of my player characters, and completed as a group.
The reward for successfully completing such a trial? The ability to ask The Oracle any single question and receive it's true answer.
Unless you're in my party, in which case you arrived to find that the BBEG got there first, killed The Oracle, and stole her abilities...
Hands down, my favourite trial was The Misty Maze, in which the party had about 20 rounds to find and deliver 5 burning lanterns to the centre of a maze.
Now, twenty rounds might sound like a lot. In combat, that's the kind of time that could take an entire session. Fortunately, this trial only took us about 40 minutes, and was heart-racingly tense.
Anticipating the potential slog that this could be early on, I focussed my prep on two goals:
Keep the pace of the trial up. Make sure the players feel that ticking clock.
Try to make the players feel as disoriented as their characters would be feeling.
The Trial
Before I explain how I solved those problems, I should probably describe the trial itself.
The players find themselves transported into a foggy maze. They are separated, and do not know where they are in relation to each other. A voice rings out around them:
"Bring five flaming beacons to the centre of the maze before the 12th bell tolls"
A low bell then tolls, ringing throughout the maze, marking the start of the trial.
Hidden throughout the maze are a number of braziers, burning with a blue flame. Each brazier will have one or two beacons nearby, which players can use their action to light.
Also spread throughout the maze are pools and water basins. These contain Water Weirds (MM p.299) which will only appear when a beacon is within reach, and will attempt to extinguish the flames.
The central portion of this maze contains five pedestals where the beacons must be placed, If all five are placed in time, the trial is completed, and the doorway ahead will open.
The Misty Maze
When I originally ran this trial, I repurposed a maze I found on google images from one of the Tomb Raider games. However, I've taken the liberty of creating one for you to take and use in your games, but feel free to apply this guide to your own.
The Hedges of this maze are 5 feet thick and rise 12 feet high to a stone ceiling. These hedges are impervious to all damage, regenerating as quickly as they can be attacked. Lightning damage will cause the hedges to grow rapidly and close off the way forward. This new growth is not immune to damage however, and can be chopped or burned away.
The hedges also block sound, limiting the ability for players to communicate and find each other. Characters must have a direct, unobstructed line between them, or be no more than 20ft around a corner in order to hear each other.
A Thick Fog permeates the maze, limiting a characters vision to within 5 feet. The fog is magical, and cannot be removed. This fog also extends to the Ethereal Plane.
The Rooms throughout the maze do not contain the fog, and the doors to them are unlocked. The exception to this is The Northern Door that leads out of the maze, which is sealed and will only open once the challenge has been completed.
Running The Maze
As the players are transported into the maze, have them each roll a d6. The number they roll will determine their starting point on the map. Two characters can start in the same area, but if three players roll the same number, have them roll again.
At this point, you'll need a couple of things:
A print out of the map, to keep track of the characters (This is for your eyes only)
A blank piece of paper or dry erase grid, to draw rooms out that the characters enter (trust me, this is easier than trying to describe where the doors are to players)
Blank paper and pen for each player.
Once you've made note of the character's locations on your private map, have everyone roll initiative, with any characters who are grouped together sharing the highest initiative roll.
As the first bell of the trial tolls, we start getting into the mechanics that strike at those two goals I mentioned before.
Directing The Players.
Firstly, and most importantly, is the way we actually run the turns. As each player takes their turn, simply describe what their immediate options are. Do they go left or right? Continue on, or turn around? As they choose, tell them how many spaces or feet they move until the next door, intersection, or until the path turns, then give them their new options.
While this is happening you should be marking their current location on your private map, and players should be tracking their movements and direction how they see fit.
For example:
DM: Okay, you're in the middle of a hallway, you can go left or right.
Player: I go left.
- The DM tracks along on their map
DM: Okay, you travel 15ft and the path turns right, you travel another 10ft and come to an intersection. You can go left, or continue straight.
- The player notes how they have moved, and the options before them./
Player: I'll continue straight, and use my action to dash.
DM: Okay, another 25ft. There's a door in front of you, or you can go left or right.
Player: I'll go through the door.
You can see in the example that the turn moves quickly, but let's unpack what's happening mechanically:
The thick fog throughout the maze means that characters can only ever see what is immediately before them. This is there to save you from having to describe every option they could potentially see around them. Imagine with me:
DM: Okay, so you come to an intersection. you can go left, right or straight. Down the left path, you see that there's another left or right turn about 20 ft down. If you go straight, you'll have a left path at 10ft and 20ft, or a right path at 30ft, or a door on the left 60ft down. If you go right...
You can see how this would not only suck the life out of you, but also bring the whole game to a painful and confusing crawl.
Another option might be to give players a grid and draw in the options as they move throughout the maze. I elected not to do this, choosing to stay in the theatre of the mind, and there's a reason for this.
As the trial starts, you're going to let the players know that they need to track how they move throughout the maze, and that you won't be reminding them of any actions they've taken. This system is going to be imperfect, and that's what makes it perfect. The miscommunications and poorly noted movements will represent the disorientation that their characters will feel trying to navigate the maze.
When I ran this maze, I had one player looping back on themselves, another one going the opposite direction to what they thought, and another unable to find their way back to a room they swore they had noted down. If that's not a maze in full force, I don't know what is.
The Ticking Clock
Once everyone has taken their first turn and gotten the hang of tracking their movements, it's time to get that ticking clock ticking (or tolling bell tolling, in our case).
At the top of the initiative order, roll a d20. On an 11 or higher, another bell tolls, on a 10 or lower, nothing happens. This puts a timer on the maze, and will hopefully add a sense of tension and urgency to the challenge.
A potentially controversial note on this: Fudging the bell is perfectly acceptable. It's purpose isn't to be an arbitrary time limit on the maze, but rather, to be a tool for pacing and tension. If your players are feeling relaxed and are taking things slow, throw a couple of bells in a row at them to get them in gear. If they're getting really stressed, give them some space so that they can enjoy things without the heart attack.
Dousing The Flames, or Combat without Combat
The Water Weirds hiding throughout the maze provide some risk for the players once they have the flames. However, rather than initiating an actual combat when the players encounter them, I decided to make use of saving throws to keep the pace up.
When players pass within 5ft of a Water Weird, it will use it's reaction to douse the player who is carrying the beacon. The Water Weird makes an attack roll, contested by a Dexterity Saving Throw from the player. If the player fails the contest, the flame is doused and must be relit. If the player is carrying more than one beacon, they must make a separate check for each one. The Water Weird does no damage with this strike, and once the flame is doused or out of reach, it will simply retreat.
Doing this encouraged players to see the water weirds as a hazard to work around, rather than a monster to fight. In my game, I rewarded a +2 bonus to their saving throw if a player used their shield or something similar to protect the flame from the water weird.
The Maze Itself.
The keen eyed among you may notice something particular about the map I've shared...
There are no dead ends.
Dead ends make sense in a real world maze, where you have time to explore and get lost. However, when we're talking about a maze that is part of a timed encounter, dead ends would only serve to slow things down by wasting a character's turn. Especially when they can't see the dead end until they hit the end of it.
If you're choosing to bring in your own maze, look for one where paths loop back on themselves, rather than coming to a stop.
Another, smaller note: Mazes with long straight sections will save you time in describing how the characters move through, so try to avoid complicated ones.
Displaying the rooms.
I mentioned it briefly before, but having a piece of dry erase grid will help you immensely when describing the shape of the rooms to players.
When a player enters a room, draw out it's size, and the positions of any doors, then let the player know which door they came through. Doing this will orient your players so they can accurately judge where they wish to go to next (at least, as accurately as their notes allow).
To Summarise
Hopefully these tools will help you run an efficient and exciting maze for your players, they certainly did for me. In summary:
Limit visibility so you only have to describe choices within 5ft of the character, and how far the character moves between choices (don't forget to mention a path veering to one side or another).
Have players note how far they've moved and which direction they've turned on their own paper. The worse they are at this, the better.
Draw out rooms, rather than trying to explain where doors are verbally.
Use mazes without dead ends.
Use skill contests instead of direct combat to keep things moving.
Have some sort of time limit, but don't be afraid to adjust it if needed.
If you're ready to run The Misty Maze, you can find it here.
For any DMs who just read this - can confirm as a player that this was a great time! 10/10 recommend