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Portal key logical mini-games

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Thu, 2004-12-02 03:24
#1
Almighty Watashi
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Portal key logical mini-games

Does anyone have any suggesions on portal keys that can be guessed on the spot? (without spells, key sellers or similar ways)

My first idea was a wall imprint which is an obvious game of tic-tac-toe (x already written in a corner) and a player can use a piece of chalk or some ink or whatever and has to beat the wall in a short tic-tac-toe game if he wants to open a portal

Now I'm looking for suggestions that include more planescape-ish problems like rearanging symbols, turning cogs or whatever, but made in the way that can be solved with pen&paper or through verbal description

Any ideas? Puzzled

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Thu, 2004-12-02 04:59
#2
Fidrikon
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Portal key logical mini-games

Well. Theres always the modron cube idea, from planescape:torment ( is there a limit to the amount of times I get to refrence that game? And if so, how many do I have left?)
Basicl, for your game, you describe a weird model of a modron ( or any figure, probably depending on where you want your players to go) and you have them try different combainations of moving differant limbs. But in a way that wont have them to frustrated to play, such as having the limbs move back mto the spot they started in if you get any part of the combanation wrong.
EX:
move left limb up- whirr, back in place
move left arm down-whirr, back in place
move right arm up- click, lockes in place

bend left leg- whirr, all peices are back in place

move right arm up- click
bend right leg- whirr, back in place

move right arm up-click
move left limb down- click, the figure starts to buzz, and the archway in front of you feels differant, although you can see no change

bend left leg- click, the figure glows, and the archwya shimmers. You got yourself a portal key.

Although, in the original use, the modron cube acted as the portal itself. whatever works for you, or your campaign.

The players could even pick up this item as a toy, not realizing its significance untill, if its a key to a prtal arch of some sort, it reacts in some way when you bring it close.

Thu, 2004-12-02 07:41
#3
ceratus
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Portal key logical mini-games

A brazier that needs to be lighted (perhaps a portal to the elemental plane of fire;interaction with other elements for the other planes)
Some sheet music lying nearby, and the key is singing the song written on the sheet....
One that isn't really guessable, but could be used...a picture of someone being torn apart. There's a portal nearby. If the person likes the painting (that is...isn't revolted), a portal to baator, or the abyss will open.
A row of bars, with one bar missing. One needs to replace that bar to open a gate to Carceri...

Thu, 2004-12-02 08:02
(Reply to #3) #4
dread pirate swan
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Portal key logical mini-games

how about a charity bowl that opens a portal to the upper planes when you put money in and to the lower planes when you take money out. if you have a greedy rouge messing up you campain with his sticky fingers this would be an exellent trap. this could also lead to a fun quest trying to save him if you feel he's learned his lesson.

i also like the idea of differnt dances opening differnt portals(i was a bard in my former life) the robot would send you to mechanus and just flailing around sends you to the grey waste.

Thu, 2004-12-02 09:25
#5
Almighty Watashi
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Portal key logical mini-games

"dread pirate swan" wrote:
how about a charity bowl that opens a portal to the upper planes when you put money in and to the lower planes when you take money out. if you have a greedy rouge messing up you campain with his sticky fingers this would be an exellent trap. this could also lead to a fun quest trying to save him if you feel he's learned his lesson.

This is good. A closed arch and a charity bowl and players can put some coins in it to get to elysium. Cool Smiling

Also, the first suggestion (fidrikon's modron thing) is just what i'm looking for, but i don't know if i could improvise it well enough

Sheet music reminded me of that game calld rats (and many other names) where you need to repeat the melody (one note, then two notes, up to 5 or 6) to open, but again, it's hard to improvise

Fri, 2004-12-03 10:22
#6
Sarrin
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Portal key logical mini-games

rubix cube of the planes!
get a rubix cube and hand it to your gaming group. it opens 6 different portals, but only once they solve it. and when it goes into extra-dimentional space (through a portal, in a portable hole, in a bag of holding, etc.) it gets mixed up again.

or, have the portal key be a vastly annoying gnome. one that is so hidiously annoying, you can't help but want to kill it. and if they kill it instead of using it to go through the portal, the portal still opens, but takes them to a random lower plane.

Thu, 2004-12-02 15:02
#7
Clueless
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Portal key logical mini-games

Mmm - other ideas, thinking for a second here...

A chessboard that's one move away from checkmate. Move the right piece into mate and poof the table it's on goes portal and yer off to some appropriate plane.

Or how about a set of gears that are stuck (stick in the middle of them or something) - when freed to move a portal opens in the central one to Mechanus. (Until some street urchin comes along and jams up the gears again.)

A temple door that goes portals when bells are rung in it's tower. Added twist - the church bells are broke. Another added twist - the tower is RIGHT BESIDE Autochon the Bellringer's Establishment.

Fri, 2004-12-03 17:32
#8
Almighty Watashi
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Portal key logical mini-games

"Sarrin" wrote:
or, have the portal key be a vastly annoying gnome. one that is so hidiously annoying, you can't help but want to kill it. and if they kill it instead of using it to go through the portal, the portal still opens, but takes them to a random lower plane.

LOL!!! The problem is that most my NPC-s (and PC-s) are just like this one Laughing out loud. It's gotten to the point where the whole gaming group started referring to any small monstruos humanoids we see as "Watashoids" Laughing out loud

Sat, 2004-12-04 03:36
#9
Sam Shpiz
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Portal key logical mini-games

reminds me of a character i once had - a lovely (annoying) gnome by the name of Lester Childme (pun somewhere). we werent playing planescape really but he got himself into a conduit to the abyss at some point and developed an overwhelming portalphobia
oh the times he had in sigil. i just love gnomes and halflings too
oh those little ones are so cuute
everytime my group encounters anyone shorter than a good steady 5 feet they panic and turn away in horror.
anyway one idea i can humbly offer is have a stupid dwarf tryin to pull his axe out of some meatllic clockwork thingie .. if the big strong man helps him get it out by breaking the clockwork he goes off to pretty limbo. but if a more clever man chhecks the thing out and sees how if he only moves a few peices about he can release it they can all joyfully go to boring mechanus..
or something like that.
not great i know but hey come on, i wrote because i saw people talking of gnomes...
i ramble on and on and on.....
no more

Mon, 2004-12-06 04:06
#10
Almighty Watashi
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Portal key logical mini-games

I sent them of from the depths of the jungles to the heroic domains of Ysgard. Right by the bear cave, they found a misterious glyph which had two horisontal lines, two vertical lines and an x in the middle Laughing out loud

And after the game with the mountain was a tie, the bear came back home and kicked their asses (i'm not very good at determining the right CR) Laughing out loud

When the bear went into his cave, i let the cleric heal himself to positive hp. Then they found the misterious glyph empty of x's and o's. And the idiots put the x in the middle!!!! After another tie, the bear came out, but i was in the good mood so it was a smaller bear.

After few attempts they finally won :roll:

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I thought about the rubic cube. Not a bad idea. 6 sides, each opens a passage into it's own plane or demiplane. Each side has limited charges. Cute. All i need now is to find the thing in that garbage heap i call my room Sticking out tongue

Mon, 2004-12-06 12:33
(Reply to #10) #11
Fidrikon
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Portal key logical mini-games

Okay, another take on the rubix cube, and a rather bad one at that.
What if the rubix cube took you to one of six cubes in Acheron?
I mean, its a CUBE people.
And another thing, what about an upside down picture that has the bottom (or top, come to think of it.) missing. Now, you can either have your characters find the missing part, which is most likely lost, destroyed, or badly damaged; or you can have them line of a mirror along the bottom edge. eithe way, it opens a portal to Bytopia.
And I think we can assume that the players will know thats any small but throught required task that involves a gear leads to Mechanus.
Hmmmm, does a character get xp for discovering a portal, even if they don't use it?
At the very least, theyle know the portal is there.

Mon, 2004-12-06 12:48
(Reply to #11) #12
Clueless
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Portal key logical mini-games

I think for the EX question it's really up to the GM. The idea is that you get EXP for defeating or overcoming an obstable. So if it's worth it for you - go for it.

Heck when I run I only track exp very loosely. Since I never give people numbers to work with (mage/creation characters I work with a little more cloesly on that)... it lets me level themup whenever the heck I want to because it fits the plot. If they need some levels for the Big Bad they're going to face in a couple of sessions.... I'll find *something* tough for them and use it as an excuse.

Tue, 2004-12-07 08:49
(Reply to #12) #13
Almighty Watashi
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Portal key logical mini-games

"Fidrikon" wrote:
Okay, another take on the rubix cube, and a rather bad one at that. What if the rubix cube took you to one of six cubes in Acheron? I mean, its a CUBE people

Cool! And it's a well balanced logical game so lawful-neutralness also makes sense. Now i really like it Smiling

I don't have acheron planned in the fieldtrip program, but now i know how to put it in if i ever do... Of course, i need at least 2-3 locations ready in case they start meddeling with the cube too much Laughing out loud

Should the portal activate as soon as they solve one side? Othervise, they could solve two sides at once and then what happens? Two portals? Random location to second layer? Hmm..

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About XP - in my version (3e but without planar class levels) planars can spot portals (planars can also be really weird races, but as an opposition to these benefits, they can be banished), so handing out xp whenever they pass a spot check is not a good idea

But solving a riddle (or whatever) and opening the portal should get them xp, weather they used the portal or not Smiling

Also, players can level up after their characters fall asleep or if we stray off the in-game conversation, so the player has enough time to level up Laughing out loud

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