How to Run A Maze in D&D (Ep. 98)

I like this depiction of the minotaur, the labyrinth, and how the encounters are handled. It is a very creative and innovative solution to the problem of managing them in a maze.

I laughed when the Executioners' theme started playing again, nice attention to detail! Professor DM creating his Leitmotifs.

That minotaur roar chilled me to the bone! Monsters like the minotaur have become so passe in pop culture but this just goes to show how easy it can be to make a classic Greek monster into something to be feared by modern players. You play that little sound bite or something similar as you're describing how the players hear a fearsome bellow echoing through the labyrinth and it's going to build tension! It's inspired me to sort of reinvent some of these old folklore/mythology creatures! "You round another identical corner only to see a large nude man with what appears to be the head of a massive bull, hunched over... something. You only hear the sickly sound of smacking and gnashing as it suddenly turns to you! Its yellowed eyes wide with madness, behold you with a detached intensity the way a predator beholds the weakest points of attack on its prey. Your legs wobble and defy you as scraps of gore and saliva infused ichor flop from his frothing tongue, darting back and forth in hungry anticipation. He lets out a blood-curdling bellow which belongs not to a man or bull and then ... he is upon you!"

Love the Minotaur roar.

I just realized that your adventures are twisted Scooby-doo episodes where in the end the monster is revealed to be a human wearing a mask and before they die says, "I'd gotten away with it if it weren't for these pesky adventurers."

I was unaware of the Crete association with cannibalism but I did know the rest. Looks like those arky classes paid off after all... Great video Professor!

You should write a book, literally. With your dungeon tips and The Keep & Caves as its base. Great stuff.

I ran this last night!! Oh my, thank you so much. My players were so creeped out and cheered at the table when they finally killed the minotaur. But I took your advice and had the mask fall off his head to show he was the cook in the inn they were staying at. But keeping the rooms in the theater of the mind the whole time creeped them out. Thank you so much

Love the mechanic for creating the confusion of the maze. Frickin' sweet!👍

I paused this as soon as I saw the notes page and damn that's visual organization at its absolute finest for dnd notes

You do these module re-workings so well, breathing life into the original modules is very inspiring.

Finally back to your campaign! I always look forward to your Thursday video drops, but your campaign updates are by far my favorites!

That d6 system is incredible! Thank you, I'll happily take inspiration from it!

Now I can throw out the 100 pieces of cavern tiles I made 6 months ago!!!! Once again, thanks Dungeon Craft! Seriously, this way of navigating though a maze is really great and does cut down on time wasting.

You're right that the low to mid fantasy works better for the creep/horror factors than high fantasy/magic. Bringing in some real-world grit lends to this sense of dread as well. It's refreshing that you're inspiring so many players to think outside of the WOTC-HASBRO-only box. Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars! (Casey Kasem)

Brilliant way to run a maze! Love the minotaur concept, too.

This idea is so perfect. I was specifically looking for how to properly run a Minotaur's maze without it being boring and this sounds so much better than endless turns and boring hallways in a huge maze. Plus the idea that the Minotaur is really a person in disguise is amazing. I decided to make my Minotaur a taxidermist who works for the Adventurer's Guild. He was the last survivor of an endeavor against the real Minotaur and the maze drove him crazy while trying to find the exit. He eventually escaped and fashioned the Minotaur's head into a headdress for himself and suggests the maze as an idea to traveling adventurers who he then stalks and kills in his own twisted game.

It's good that you mentioned the Executioners nicking the gold, Professor. But if I ever ran this adventure to my players, they would not feel frustrated by the fact they've been robbed (they're used to it by now), but they would immediately ask me "How didn't we run against any of them, and how did they avoid the minotaur and the other monsters? Are we to believe everyone in their party passed the check?" So, Professor, how would you proceed against inquisitive players like that?

Used this maze concept in my DCC game last night and it worked well. The characters were tasked with taking a magic item to the center of a labyrinth. I made my own random table and instead of a treasure room I marked that as progress. When the characters had rolled "progress" three times they would discover the center of the labyrinth. The abstract idea of the maze worked great and the players felt lost with no defined map. Thanks for sharing this.

you just saved me a ton of planning