Mystify
2012-01-25, 12:57 PM
This was an item I added in a campaign a while ago, and I thought it worked well and was interesting. I'm sure a creative DM can come up with all sorts of uses for these.
Description:
You see a small box, about 6 inches on a side. It is covered in colored panels, arcane symbols, sliding panels, hinges, and small doors.
DC 20 knowledge (arcana) check to identify it as a puzzle box. This reveals the following information:
The puzzle boxes are an old wizard trick. Used to safeguard important items, these boxes contain a non-dimensional space, much like a bag of holding. Breaking the box open destroys the link, so the only way to access its contents is to solve the puzzle. These puzzles are not intended to be solved, and so are fiendishly difficult to crack without knowing the trick.
It requires 8 hours to attempt to open a puzzle box. At the end of this time, you make an intelligence check. Success means you have opened the box, failure means its solution has eluded you once again. The DC required varies from box to box, but are generally in the 25-30 range.
When the box is closed again, the box unsolves itself, and must be re-solved to open it. Once you have solved a particular box once, you can resolve it in half the time(4 hours) with a +5 on your intelligence check. Since each box has its own puzzles, solving one box does not give you any bonus on other boxes.
The size of the extradimensional space inside varies from box to box. Some contain as much space as a bag of holding, others are no larger than the box appears, and only serve to shield against breaking open the box. An opened box often unfolds, allowing enough space to easily access whatever item is contained within. Some spiteful wizards store poison or other traps inside the mundane box. When opened properly, the extradimensional space blocks access to the trap, but if broken open the trap is triggered.
Some wizards create decoy boxes, which only contain a trap or a dangerous creature who will attack those who open the box.
Description:
You see a small box, about 6 inches on a side. It is covered in colored panels, arcane symbols, sliding panels, hinges, and small doors.
DC 20 knowledge (arcana) check to identify it as a puzzle box. This reveals the following information:
The puzzle boxes are an old wizard trick. Used to safeguard important items, these boxes contain a non-dimensional space, much like a bag of holding. Breaking the box open destroys the link, so the only way to access its contents is to solve the puzzle. These puzzles are not intended to be solved, and so are fiendishly difficult to crack without knowing the trick.
It requires 8 hours to attempt to open a puzzle box. At the end of this time, you make an intelligence check. Success means you have opened the box, failure means its solution has eluded you once again. The DC required varies from box to box, but are generally in the 25-30 range.
When the box is closed again, the box unsolves itself, and must be re-solved to open it. Once you have solved a particular box once, you can resolve it in half the time(4 hours) with a +5 on your intelligence check. Since each box has its own puzzles, solving one box does not give you any bonus on other boxes.
The size of the extradimensional space inside varies from box to box. Some contain as much space as a bag of holding, others are no larger than the box appears, and only serve to shield against breaking open the box. An opened box often unfolds, allowing enough space to easily access whatever item is contained within. Some spiteful wizards store poison or other traps inside the mundane box. When opened properly, the extradimensional space blocks access to the trap, but if broken open the trap is triggered.
Some wizards create decoy boxes, which only contain a trap or a dangerous creature who will attack those who open the box.