Halls of the Mathematician
A great wizard mathematician is studying the defenses of his tower and is paying adventurers to test his trial in return for prizes.
All throughout the countryside banners and criers are announcing a tournament. A great wizard is opening her/his tower to adventurers: “Come test the defenses of my keep”, the banners and criers state. “I will pay per room and give a final treasure to any adventurer who makes it to the end.”
The wizard can be found in the local town inn. She/he will talk with players if they are interested, revealing only that they wish to test the towers defenses but gives nothing else, wanting the contents inside to be a secret.
– 1 –
The tower is outside of town in the middle of the woods surrounded by three perfect rings of tree lines. It is a black iron building in the shape of a dodecahedron or D20.
A - the front gate is an iron door guarded by two iron golems, each holding a piece of parchment.
Note: the door is magically sealed and cannot be opened by any means.
Once one of the players touches the door, the golems speak. They tell the players, in order to enter, they must answer two math questions by writing their answers on the parchment.
Note: at this point you can give the players real math questions with a timer to answer or have them roll intelligence or a math based skill.
Each golem will ask one question, getting both right opens the door. Getting one wrong sends out an electric shock for X D6 lightning damage. Players can answer more than once until they give a right answer, but every wrong answer is an additional shock.
– 2 –
Players enter into a chamber of red marble. In the center of the chamber stand two red marble pedestals, each with a boulder sized scrambled rubix cube. At the base of the pedestal is a plaque with the words, “Defeat my puzzle to continue.” There is an iron door in the back of the room.
Note: the door is magically sealed and cannot be opened by any means.
A - once the last player enters the chamber, the door to the outside seals closed.
Note: the door is magically sealed and cannot be opened by any means.
B - once the door seals, the rubix cubes hover off the pedestals and attack.
Every round they scramble with 1-6 sides aligning in color. For each side aligned in color, there is an effect.
Roll percentile to determine how many sides become aligned and then roll D6 to determine the color.
1-35 – 1 side Red – X D6 fire
36-60 – 2 sides Green – X D6 acid
61-85 – 3 sides Blue – X D6 ice
86-95 – 4 sides Yellow – X D6 lighting
96 – 99 – 5 sides White - blind
100 – 6 sides Orange – save or turn to stone.
Note 1: give the cubes a set number of hit points and golem traits.
Note 2: Once both rubix cubes are defeated, the iron door in the back opens to part 3.
– 3 –
Players enter into a circular chamber of blue marble. The room is divided into hundreds of tiles each, having a number from 0-9. There is a plaque by the door that reads, “Finding your way across is as easy as pie.” There is an iron door at the other end of the room.
Note: the first tile by the door entrance will start with 3, from there, there should be a path that winds around the room following the sequence of pi. The path should be at least 15-20 tiles in length.
A - Any player stepping or passing over the tiles with the a number of the sequence of pi is safe, any other space delivers an electric chock for X D6 damage.
Note: do not let players looks up pi, but they are allowed to use their memories.
Players must roll intelligence or a math related skills to determine the next number in the sequence of pi.
Player rolls will increase in difficulty the further down the sequence they arrive.
B - the door at the end is unlocked and will open into part 4.
– 4 –
Players enter into a long hall of yellow marble. The hall is built of a hundred or more tiles, each with a random number carved onto them. There is a plaque by the door that reads, “This is a prime example of my traps.” There is an iron door at the end of the hall.
A - the tiles start off with random low numbers carved on them. 2, 3, 4, 7, 15, then increase in size to 100s, 1000s, even up to millions – find prime number tables on the internet, go wild with it.
Note 1: players must only step on prime tiles. Jumping over any others, stepping on any other tile that is not prime will result in a shock, dealing X D6 damage.
Note 2: do not let players look up primes, but they are allowed to use their memories.
Players must roll intelligence or math related skills to determine if a number is prime.
Player rolls will increase in difficulty as the number grows in length.
B - the door at the end is unlocked and will open into part 5.
– 5 –
Players enter into a room of purple marble. 6 purple marble pillars stand in the center of the room and upon each one is a fist sized stone shaped into a D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D20, each complete with the corresponding numbers carved onto their sides.
On the back on the wall is a plaque that states, “Roll and accept your fate, but to the greater risk is the greater reward.” There is a metal chute built in the ceiling, no wider than 10-15 centimeters, leading into darkness.
A - players must roll the stone dice to receive shocks from the stone and treasure from the chute, which acts as a bag of holding.
Whatever number comes up on the dice is how many shocks that player receives. Each shocks deals X lightning damage.
D4 - gives X copper coins.
D6 - gives X silver coins.
D8 - gives X gold coins.
D10 - gives X platinum coins.
D12 - give X gems.
D20 - gives X magic items.
Once the players reach the treasure room, the adventure is over. The wizard comes out from a hidden door to greet and congratulate the players, rewarding them for their success as promised. He asks for tips on how to improve his tower.
Maybe he will improve his tower, adding more rooms over time, asking the players to return and try again.
Maybe the wizard places puzzles and traps at inns, campsites and roads continually testing the players against her/his traps.
Maybe the wizard begins to go mad with this obsession as the traps become larger and more complex almost to a Saw-like level.
Maybe the wizard turns an entire town into a killing floor, hoping to create the most elaborate dungeon in the world.
Either way, have fun and hope to see you again.
