Running My Family Through 4e Pt. 2: The Puzzle Chamber

You can see Pt. 1 of the entry here.

They looked down into the descending darkness, and my dad, the sorcerer, decided to go down first. Now, this isn’t a crazy prospect, sending the squishy one down first, as he had robes that created  a zone of shadow around him. They figured he’d be able to be nearly invisible to anyone below.

Xanthes, the sorcerer, descends the steps. Click for a larger image.

As he came to the bottom of the staircase, however, there were no enemies in sight, just a long hallway, flanked by pillars. The pillars furthest from the stairs were charged with electrical energy, and beyond them, red runes glowed in the floor.

Xanthes, the sorcerer, called the rest of the group down, and they moved towards the pillars, stopping just short. Codrus, the Minotaur bard took his wondrous item, a floating lantern, and sent it on ahead, between the lightning pillars. Almost immediately, lightning shot out and disintegrated the lantern.

The players spent the next fifteen minutes trying to figure out how to get past the pillars. Bridget, playing an Eladrin Swordmage, decided to teleport past the pillars to the other side of the floor runes. Once on the other side, she realized the runes were in face ancient minotaur letters, which were upside-down to everyone else. Finally, my mom, the half-elf seeker, decided to try to ice up the pillars, and fired off two enchanted arrows, one at each pillar, which sealed them up.

I arrange the heroes near the pillars. My dad, Bridget, and brother look on. Click for a larger image.

Very quickly, though, they realized the pillars were beginning to melt quickly. They were nervous about stepping out onto the floor runes, but did so. Nothing happened, except that the runes stepped on glowed blue for a moment until they stepped off. They passed onto the other side of the runes, and tried to figure out what to do next. On the other side , large blue fields of energy kept them from advancing further. They looked over the letters, and soon, Codrus (the bard, played by my brother) realized that certain letters spelled out the name of Baphomet, the evil god of the minotaurs.

The characters each stand on runes in order to activate them.

There were five players, but the gnome ranger had a Wolf animal companion, so they placed themselves strategically so that they were each able to touch two runes, with the gnome and her companion each covering one letter apiece. Each of the letters lit up, and the energy fields melted away, allowing the heroes to continue.

This session was great, in that it required very, very little rolling, just a lot of problem solving. I really enjoyed it, and I think the players did too.

In Part 3, we’ll discover the secret threat to the heroes and the kingdom.