Highbreed: Maze of Relics

Highbreed: Maze of Relics

The Entrance Tunnel, combined with the rain, makes for a wild ride down a long nud slide deep into the underground caverns.  (see Map above).  At the bottom, a passage leads into the ruins of an old Terran Empire era research facility.  There are several chambers that they PCs will have to go through to get to the Master’s core.  Meanwhile, the Hunters are in pursuit.

Entrance Tunnel

(1) Room of multiple choices – First is an chamber with multiple tunnels, as if someone had already attempted to dig a way into this facility many years ago.  There are multiple tunnels – 6 in total – but only one leads to the next chamber.  The others can lead to dead ends, a creature’s lair or some other hazard, at the GM’s discretion.  Each one they try, the Hunters are getting closer.  Any fighting in this chamber could cause a cave in.

In the center of the room is a pillar with a plaque embedded in it.  This Plaque has strange symbols on it.  (see below).

The also find a small metallic key hanging next to the plaque.

From there on, the tunnels are actually hallways of some long forgotten facility.  Many of the hallways and chambers of this facility are collapsed or otherwise obstructed.  The only clear pathway is through through the following chambers.

(2) Dead End: The tunnel leads to what appears to a dead end.  A simpel search finds a series of slots about the same size as the key  on the side of the wall about eye level.

cavernkeypad

Puzzle Solution:  The key holes correspond to the top line of the plaque.  Zeros in the plaque code correspond to the “open” position while the Ones correspond to closed.  Use the key to ONLY open the Zeros positions.  The GM can come up with appropriate consequences for inserting it in the wrong keyhole.

(3) Pipes: A third chamber opens u[p into a vast cavern filled with boiling liquid (could be water or some other chemical).  Noxious gas fills the room (rebreathers might be handy). It appears that the chambers floor log ago collapsed giving way to a network of conduits and pops to cross.

The challenge here is the old pipes, possible geysers of noxious or super-heated gases, and  other hazards.  They can see the opening to the next hallway across the way.

(4)  Hall of Pits.  It is actually a part of a disposal chamber, the remainder of it as well as any hallways around it collapsed or otherwise inaccessible.  There are 6 total pits, in a 2 by 3 pattern, each a different means of disposal (fire, acid, grinder, disintegration for examples).  The symbols on the plaque on the second and third line represents these pits. The pits associated with the X’s are dangerous and functional.  The pits associated with zeros are non-functional.  This whole process used to be handled by robot arms hanging from above but now they are long gone.  When anything comes in the vicinity of the pits, they open.  The flames come bursting out.  Disintegration energies come flowing out. Acid sprays out in all directions.

The means to shut them all down is on the other side of the hall.  The symbols on the 4 line corresponds to the panel and they can use the same key to shut it down.  Two key holes and a button.  The two outside holes must be repositioned to 45 degree angles.  The middle button needs to be pressed.

(5) Tar Pit.  This chamber also has has the floor collapse, leaving a wide cavern with one exit opening 100 meters away.  Between the PCs and the exit is a massive tar pit.  There are enough stones and debris between the PCs and the exit that they can try to leap to the end.  The Tar is shallow also that they could walk it at half movement.  However, there is a creature living deeper in the tar that will surface at some point. (creature never stat’ed out, left to GM discretion).

(6) Holodeck: After several more winding hallways, the next chamber is dark.  With a little light, the PCs can see circular impressions on the floor with various symbols on them (some matching the symbols from the 4th line of the plaque.  These impressions light up if touched.  If someone stands on one with the matching symbols on the plaque for a few seconds, they are engulfed in a full virtual reality experience of something totally random (GM’s discretion).  The other side of the room will not open until the PCs complete the virtual reality story.  However, to help, the others must join the same storyline.  To do this, they must connect up with the other working VR stations.