#RPGaDAY – August 31, 2025 (REWARD)

 

#RPGaDAY – August 31, 2025 (REWARD)

Reward – Last day of August and last word – Reward for the August #RPGaDAY 2025 challenge.

For Reward, I present to you a door puzzle with a reward at the end. Since this is the last day, I will present some other stuff about the situation also for context.

Setting the scene: For my Grimdark campaign, one player in the group made a deal with a major devil (always a good idea) to explore a missing wizard, Xeris’ tower, and locate and obtain an artifact level evil great sword, named Violator.  The other players declined to make a deal with the devil directly, but were “hired” and paid to accompany the one player anyway.

The devils had previously made a deal with Xeris to hold onto and protect Violator until the devils needed it back.  Unfortunately, Xeris disappeared several hundred years ago and now the devils needed the blade back before they went to war with the demons.

The character made a deal with the company, Devils Delight, aka D.D. and they supplied her with a contract of employment. The company prides themselves on being “WOKE” as Hell!

DD – Devils Delight - Our Motto is, “You keep your end of the bargain and so will we. Win/Win for everyone.” (The T at the end of Delight has a little forked tail)

Independent Contractor Details

Name: Joan Baily & Associates

Job Class: Item Retrieval and Surrender

Deadline: One year from the original contract signing

 

Hello New Employee,

Welcome to the exciting world of Devils Delight, where you have pledged your soul as collateral against your completion of the job you were hired for, details included below.

You have agreed to enter the absent mage, Xeris’s Tower and retrieve an item that was previously stored there, a magical great sword named Violator.

Many years ago, the Boss (He/Him/His) entered into an agreement with Xeris to store and protect Violator.  Violator is now needed and Xeris is not available to return the item. All divinations and signs indicate he is not deceased, which would nullify and end the contract.  Therefore, alternate retrieval methods are being pursued, which is why you and your associates have been hired.

Your services have been retained to enter the tower and retrieve the weapon, which is protected by an extremely powerful Good Circle of Protection.  It also appears to have other protections, not least of which are the other perils the tower holds, as prior mortal employees have not fulfilled their contracts and are deceased. 

Item details- Violator

An ancient evil great sword, specifically crafted for the 2^nd Demon Wars, it is usable only by extraplanar beings of the highest power and evilness. Violator was enchanted out of a transmuted Orb of Annihilation and exists to devour demons. 

Warning – Do not touch or attempt to pick up or use the sword with bare flesh, as it will immediately absorb any mortal being touching it. Please be aware it will attempt to dominate and control any mortals around it, so close proximity to Violator is not recommended.

It is located on the 4^th floor of the tower and there is a small contingent of devilish guards stationed in the tower, mostly to counter the demons that have been attempting to steal the item.  Seek out Captain Drogan (He/Him/His), the devil in charge there for aid and assistance once you reach the 4^th floor.  He has been advised of your expected arrival and will offer what assistance he can.

Once you have successfully retrieved it, simply place it in your Devil Bag and your contract will be fulfilled. While under contract, we pledge to attempt to assist you periodically, if possible, although we do not recommend pushing it. If you have questions or seek guidance, please write them down, inked with your blood and place them in the bag and we will provide help if we can. Additionally, you may place items in the bag you wish to send as an offering; building stronger relationships with our employees is one of our core concepts.

While we have primarily retained your services, it seems unlikely you will be able to retrieve the item without the assistance of your associates and it appears they have been resistant to gifts simply meant to assist them. Please advise them they are not being asked to sign contracts and bind themselves in anyway, although it is reasonable that they would not wish to allow your soul to be forfeited should you not be successful.  This does not apply to Mr. Yessinia as he previously rejected his service contract and has been deemed unacceptable for employment.  We still expect him to assist you with your contract, given the Vow of Protection he has taken, so in essence we have his services for free.

Please speak to them and if they agree to help you, they will be supplied with useful items as well.  To sweeten the pot, your contract has been amended to reflect that if they agree to assist you and the item is successfully retrieved, one WISH will be provided to your group as a bonus.

Your delivery devil should be able to answer any questions you have considering this matter.

We have included a magic ring in your bag, hopefully to help you maintain control.

 

Best of luck.

Signed – DD Senior Management (They/Them/Theirs)

Our Motto is, “You keep your end of the bargain and so will we. Win/Win for everyone.”

 

Anyway, the group managed to gain entrance to the tower and set about trying to get to the fourth floor to retrieve the sword and full fill the contract. Along the way, they managed to rescue the missing wizard, who had been trapped inside a magical mirror by his Imp familiar and fought a bunch of undead and even some demons who were trying to obtain the sword themselves before the devils.

The group was running from a particularly nasty horde of undead and trying to find the staircase from level two to three. They managed to flee through a door into a room, where they had to solve a puzzle to gain the key to ascend to the next level of the tower.

So that sets the scene:

The wooden and metal banded door opens into a circular room, about 15-foot diameter, with 20-foot-high walls.  In the middle of the ceiling is a glowing golden star and directly beneath it are 5 pedestals with 5 goblets, 1 on each.  The pedestals are each on the point of a star, which is also lightly carved into the floor and floating in the middle of the star above them is a glowing golden ball, which slowly morphs into the shape of a key and back.

Once everyone was in the room and the entry door was closed, the door handle disappeared and there were a high-pitched sound and awful acrid smell in the air as a golden light began to burn odd looking letters into the back of the door. By the time it was done, a hazy smoke filled the air and everyone’s eyes were tearing up and their lungs were burning.  (I made them roll a DC 12 con check, which had no actual effect beyond making them worried.) This was the message burned into the back of the door:

to gain the key you must win the game

start by adding Yourself to being Brave

by using the rainbow, to paint the Grave

focus your wits to make them the same

 

When they investigated the goblets, they found them filled to different levels with liquids of various colors – blue, yellow, and green, with one goblet totally empty.

 

Goblet A – is filled to the brim with a sparkling blue liquid

Goblet B – is filled ¾ full with a glowing yellow liquid

Goblet C – is filled ½ full with a dark green liquid

Goblet D – is filled 1/4 full with a glowing yellow liquid

Goblet E – is filled empty

 

I labeled each goblet A through E and to represent the liquid filled them with tokens of various colors - Full is 40 tokens, ¾ full is 30 tokens, ½ full is 20 tokens, and ¼ full is 10 tokens.

They figured out that the only capital letters in the message were Brave, Grave, and Yourself, with they matched to the 3 colors- blue, green, and yellow. They understood they could only move one goblet at a time and needed to make all 5 goblets be filled with the same contents. Using the color wheel, they knew the color combinations of blue and yellow would make green.

As they moved the tokens around and the colors changed, I switched the tokens out to the corresponding colors. They understood that once they moved the liquids, they couldn’t undo any color changes that resulted.

Here is a possible way to solve the puzzle.

A moves ¼ blue to D… that leaves A ¾ blue and D ½ green

C moves all of its ½ green to D… that leaves C empty and D is full green

A moves ¼ blue to both C and E… that leaves A, C, and E with ¼ blue

B moves ¼ yellow to A, C, and E… that leaves A, C, and E with ½ green and B is empty

D moves ½ green to B… all are now ½ green…

 

They worked together and figured out the proper way to end up with all the 5 goblets half filled with the green liquid. Once they did, the glowing ball expanded and grew to become a free-standing circular staircase up to a trap door in the ceiling.

Then they again heard the high-pitched sound with the awful acrid smell in the air, as a golden light began to burn odd looking letters into the back of the door.

To the winners comes the reward for all who salute together – Sláinte

Sláinte is an Irish and Gaelic word meaning “health” and they figured out they needed to all do a “cheer” together and drink a goblet. I made them each roll a D20 and went in order highest to lowest, to have them roll a D12 for their reward:

D12 – can only get same # once…

1.      Gain 1 point of constitution – if that would give an additional HP con bonus, gain it for that levelonly… if not gain 1 HP. Additionally, user can reroll all 1s one time when rolling for healing effects.

2. Skin gains a green color – As an action, while green user can heal 2D4 hit points…. Doing so drains all the green color from skin, which does slowly return as long as not in complete darkness over 24 hours, however if in sunlight, returns over 8 hours. While green, User also regenerates from non-magical wounds in sunlight (1 HP per 4-6 hours of daylight – depending on amount of sunshine) and gains sustenance equal to one meal’s worth of food in daylight, but needs more than normal water intake or becomes dehydrated/exhausted.

3.      Gains a green colored birthmark of a climbing vine somewhere on body (roll on chart) and gains 2TLR ability to cast entangle as an action, centered on themselves, which lasts for 1 minute and does not require concentration. Additionally, they become immune to magical entangle effects and move as normal in them.

4.      Tongue gains a green tint and user gains the ability to speak with birds at will.  Users speaks normally to birds who seem to understand him and he understands when they vocalize normally back to him. This does require concentration, so is not on all the time. Additionally, at will user can perfectly mimic any bird call or song they have heard and 1TLR user can whistle for 1 minute and magically call on any normal birds within 1 mile of them (if any) and ask them to come to speak with and help them.  This does not compel the birds to respond, but they will be predisposed towards assisting the caller if they do. The bird’s intelligence can affect if they choose to respond or help, for example a crow might act differently than a turkey, which are notoriously stupid. If user has an ulterior motive, or otherwise plans/expects harm on any responding birds, they will be aware and will not respond.

5.      Gain 1 point of constitution – if that would give an additional HP con bonus, gain 1 per level… if not gain 3 HP. Additionally, in lieu of rolling, user can choose to take their con bonus in healing or 3 whichever is higher when they are healed by any effect that heals D6 or greater.

6.      Hair on head gains several attractive green color streaks and user gains +1 to charisma and advantage versus poison saves.

7.      All body hair turns dark green color and user gains advantage versus disease saves and 2 TLR, as an action, user can cast the Ray of Sickness spell.

8.      Gain 1 point of constitution – if that would give an additional HP con bonus, gain 1 per level… if not gain 3 HP.  Additionally, user can reroll all 1s when rolling for healing effects.

9.      Gains a dark green colored tattoo of a bird in flight (user’s choice based on character personality) somewhere on body (roll on chart) and gains a permanent Feather Fall ability, which automatically kicks in when character falls 10 feet or more, no action required by user.  User can choose to suppress it, but must concentrate to do so – DC 12 Wisdom each round until lands. Additionally, 1TLR – as an action, user can use a Levitate ability, per the spell.

10.  Gain 1 point of intelligence as user’s skull and brain painfully grow 2’’ larger and scalp turns a vibrant green color. This is visually off-putting to most people, throwing their body proportions out of whack.  User suffers -2 to reaction/charisma checks from most people they initially come within close proximity (10’) of them. As people become use to the look, they relax and interact normally. Additionally, user gains the magic initiative feat for Warlock over the next several hours (D10 + D6) and gains the at will use of 2 cantrips and 1 first level spell, which they can cast once per long rest. During this initial period time, user has a headache and is distracted and all ability and skill checks are made at -1.

11.  User’s Irises change to a vivid green color. At will, as a bonus action user can use a Detect Alignment ability, out to 20’ range.  Their eyes turn a glowing green color and user concentrates on 1 target a round within range and determines their alignment. User can identify alignments on creatures and objects.  This gives them a definite supernatural appearance, which may affect reactions from normal people. Additionally, 2TLR as a full round action user can activate their glowing eyes to magically see in normal darkness out to 30’, although everything appears in different shades or hues of green and actual colors are hard to identify while using this ability. This puts a strain on the user and lasts up to 10 minutes max.  Once the effect is ended, user must make a DC 10 + 1 per minute of use constitution check or else suffer a major headache and gain 1 point of exhaustion.

12.   Gain 1 point of constitution – if that would give an additional HP con bonus, gain 1 per level… if not gain 3 HP…  Additionally, user can reroll all 1s when rolling for Hit Dice (both as healing and when leveling.)