#DIY30 #27

27. So what's with that overly-elaborate locked box?


Oh, that one? 

For generations, the Guild of Locksmiths has had a final test that allows an apprentice to attain the rank of journeyman. It looks simple enough, an apprentice just needs to open the elaborate box, and they pass the test. There's a slight catch though, open it incorrectly and one of the many mystic wards will activate... roll a d6 to see what happens.

  1. The box instantly becomes red hot, the apprentice takes minor damage, but any lockpicking tools used are instantly melted and rendered useless.
  2. The box crackles with St Elmo's Fire, the apprentice is electrocuted for minor damage, and is stunned for a few minutes.
  3. The box vanishes, along with any lockpicking tools touching it... it appears again after d6 hours.
  4. The box seeps a greenish mist through it's cracks, there is a chance that the apprentice breathes it in and passes out for d6 minutes, then suffers a disadvantage to anything involving stamina/endurance/constitution for d6 hours after that.
  5. The box is instantly engulfed in intense light. The apprentice is blinded for d6 minutes after this, and suffers a disadvantage on all vision/perception tests for d6 hours after that.
  6. The box opens, but the apprentice has no idea how they did it...in fact their entire locksmithing apprenticeship has been wiped from their memory.

Under the rules of the Guild, an apprentice might have attempted to open the box annually, if they failed to do so they'd have to wait another year (refining their skills in the meantime) before attempting again. 

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