- MAD MAGE'S PUZZLE
Indentation. A 4-inch-deep, 8-foot-wide, 10-foot-long
rectangular indentation is carved into the floor of this
20-foot-high cavern.
jigsaw Pieces. A loose pile of carved, painted stones
stands near the south wall.
The pile contains ninety-nine chunks of stone, each
weighing^25 pounds and carved in the shape of a jigsaw
puzzle piece. The pieces form an image of Halaster, his
head thrown back in laughter as he rides a great blue
dragon. With a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investi-
gation) check, a character can fit all the puzzle pieces to-
gether with 1 hour's work. If other characters assist, the
character gains advantage on the check, but the time to
complete the puzzle is not reduced. When all the pieces
are placed, the characters realize that one puzzle piece
is missing. (It can be found in area 9b.)
When all one hundred jigsaw puzzle pieces are placed
properly in the rectangular indentation on the floor, an
elder rune appears above it and targets a random crea-
ture in the cave (see "Elder Runes," page 12). Draw a
card from the Elder Runes Deck (appendix B) to deter-
mine which rune appears.
- WEIRD MAGIC
Halaster fills these caves with magical effects designed
to confound adventurers.
llA. HAMMER TIME
Motes. This 20-foot-high cave is dimly lit by dozens of
tiny, tinkling motes of light that flit about like moths.
Golem. Swinging ineffectually at the lights is a stone
golem that has stone mallets at the end of its arms
instead of hands.
The hammer-handed golem is carved to resemble
Halaster (see "Stonecloaks," page 253) and is hostile
toward any creature that doesn't look like the Mad
Mage. When the golem hits a creature with one of its
mallets, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Consti-
tution saving throw or be stunned until the end of its
next turn.
A character disguised as Halaster can make a Cha-
risma (Deception) check contested by the golem's Wis-
dom (Insight) check, with advantage on the check if the
portrayal is particularly convincing. On a successful
check, the golem is indifferent toward that character.
The magical light motes are harmless but attracted
to movement, and they swirl around any creatures that
pass through the cave. The lights can't be dispelled, but
they are suppressed in the area of an antimagic field
spell or similar effect.
llB. STATUE OF TRANSFORMATION
This dead-end cave has a domed ceiling 15 feet high. A
5-foot-tall statue stands atop a 2-foot-tall granite plinth
near the east wall. The ancient-looking statue depicts a
hooded woman with her hands cupped in front of her.
Part of the statue's head has broken off, and spongy
white toadstools are growing out from the broken stone.
The statue is a Medium object with AC 17, 30 hit
points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.
A detect magic spell reveals an aura of transmutation
magic around it. Whenever a nonmagical object weigh-
ing 10 pounds or less is placed in the statue's cupped
hands, it turns into a different object as determined by
rolling percentile dice and consulting the Object Trans-
formation table. The statue becomes nonmagical if it
loses more than half its hit points.
OBJECT TRANSFORMATION
dlOO New Object
01- 10 Bag of20 caltrops (2 lb.)
11 - 25 Bar of soap (1/4 lb.)
26 -^35 Clay bowl containing^20 candied plums (1 lb.)
36-50 Dead, rotting fish (2 lb.)
51 - 60 Full water skin (5 lb.)
61 - 75 Hunk of moldy cheese (1/4 lb.)
76-90 Stirge meat pie (1 lb.) served piping hot
91 - 00 Magic Halaster doll (1 lb.) that says something
each t ime it is squeezed
Each time an object is removed from the statue's
cupped hands, there is a 20 percent chance that the
white toadstools growing out of the statue's broken
head release a cloud of milky-white spores. The cloud
fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on the statue and
lasts for 1 minute. Any creature that starts its turn in
the cloud must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving
throw or contract a disease called blinding sickness,
which lasts until cured with a lesser restoration spell or
similar magic. Pain grips the diseased creature's mind,
and its eyes turn milky white. Until the disease is cured,
the creature is blinded and has disadvantage on Wis-
dom checks and Wisdom saving throws.
Sunlight or any effect that deals fire damage or radi-
ant damage destroys the toadstools.
llc. UNRELIABLE ORACLE
This empty, 10-foot-high cavern has a large question
mark carved into the east wall. If anyone asks a question
in this cave, a whispering voice replies with an answer
dsetermined by rolling percentile dice and consulting
the Oracle Answers table.
ORACLE ANSWERS
dlOO Answer
01-25 "No more answers today! Come back tomorrow."
The oracle then ceases to function for 24 hours.
26 - 40 "You already know the answer."
41-65 "Ah, one of life's great mysteries."
66-80 "Can you please rephrase the question?"
81 - 00 "Hold, please." This answer is followed by ldlO
minutes of instrumental music, during which time
the oracle answers no further questions. When the
music ends, roll again on this table.
LEVEL 20 I RUNESTONE CAVERNS
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