D&D 5E Minotaurs Lair

[trentonjoe]

I am thinking about running a Minotaur's Lair encounter with one of my groups.

I want it to feel like they are trying to get through the maze while dealing with this minotaur who is terrorizing them.

I also want it to be kinda like a 4E skill chalenge with the failures resulting in an attack by the minotaur. I am going to tweak the minotaur and give it the ability to DISENGAGE as a bonus action.

I was thinking a of having the PC's make PERCEPTION, INVESTIGATE or SURVIVAL checks against DC (X). If there is a failure in the group the minotaur attacks.

Each PC can only fail once (simulating they are lost), after a failure they stop rolling they can neither help nor hinder at that point.

Other things I plan on adding:

The minotaur will have advantage on WIS, INT and CHR saves (the gnome racial ability).
PC's will have to make a Perception check to avoid being surprised by the minotaur when it attacks.
The minotaur will run away after making 1 round of attacks.
If the PC's attempt to follow the minotaur they will need to make Perception (?) check or lose him. Losing the minotaur restarts the # of success needed to get out of the labyrith.
If the minotaur is killed, he reappears in 24 hours.



Any opinions on this?
Other things to add?

I was thinking about Lair attacks or effects but can't think of a good one.

The PC's are 3rd level. The players are 13.

 

[DM_]

Most especially I love the idea of giving a minotaur the capacity to disengage as a bonus action.

Perhaps a Lair Action to alter the labyrinth?
Perhaps a ritual (or some such involved process) to permanently rid the land of the minotaur?

 

[Nebulous]

It's a good idea. And you could do a lot of that with lair effects as well. For instance, the maze could confuse characters and break them up, having them wander alone down a corridor where one is attacked, and then the minotaur flees. When they start get their hit points whittled down they will get increasingly terrified.

 

[GMMichael]

I also want it to be kinda like a 4E skill chalenge with the failures resulting in an attack by the minotaur. I am going to tweak the minotaur and give it the ability to DISENGAGE as a bonus action.

I was thinking a of having the PC's make PERCEPTION, INVESTIGATE or SURVIVAL checks against DC (X). If there is a failure in the group the minotaur attacks.

Each PC can only fail once (simulating they are lost), after a failure they stop rolling they can neither help nor hinder at that point.

The minotaur will have advantage on WIS, INT and CHR saves (the gnome racial ability).
PC's will have to make a Perception check to avoid being surprised by the minotaur when it attacks.
The minotaur will run away after making 1 round of attacks.

Sure, you could go abstract, and turn it into skill challenges, but I would go more concrete. Draw an actual maze. Each round the PCs move to another intersection, unless it's a long corridor. When a PC fails his navigation check, take the map away, and begin drawing from their current location.

Skill contest failures might result in the minotaur getting closer instead of a direct encounter. Minotaurs are pretty easy to hear.

What's more important than specific advantages is that the minotaur is much more powerful than the PCs. Without this edge, it won't be scary.

Perception to avoid surprise shouldn't be necessary. Like I said, minotaurs are pretty easy to hear.

Finally, the minotaur has no good reason to run away. The most obvious reason for a minotaur to stop attacking is that it has killed a PC that it wants to nosh. But if the PCs don't have some clever (and limited) way of their own for getting away, you could give them a bag of minotaur-nip. Toss a handful in its face, and it wigs out long enough for the PCs to get away. Attacking the minotaur during this time is bad; its horns, hooves, and morningstar are flying everywhere during a wig-out.

Otherwise, looks great! Have fun!

 

[trentonjoe]

I like the shifting lair part if the PC's chase the minotaur. Mechanically, I am thinking DEX save or hit by a shifting wall. I'll let the PC's decide if they want to be on the side of the minotaur or not. This could divide the party but I suspect if given the choice they won't.

 

[DM_]

The DEX save vs Shifting Wall is a great idea.