I put this together for our special Halloween night dungeon. Everyone loved it! Thanks so much for offering such a unique and fun twist to a dungeon.

This is fantastic! I know exactly how I am going to plug this into my campain. It is going to be awesome to walk through this with my PCs. Thank you for the work you put into this!!

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This supplement clocks in at 15 pages, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of SRD, leaving us with 12 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

EDIT: So, since I downloaded this pdf, there has been a 5e-version added. The review has been amended to include notes on the 5e-version as well.

So, what is this? This could be used as a stand-alone dungeon-level, or as a slot-in to be included in another dungeon. The dungeon’s peculiarities include three items (that lack price/cost to create/etc.) that can help navigate the dungeon. In 5e, these lack scarcity-ratings. Similarly, there are a couple of items that don’t allow for bypassing, which can be a bit frustrating: E.g. a door may not, not even with a superb check and magic, be picked.

As written, the pdf contains two statblocks, both of which contain serious errors in formatting, ability notation and statblock math; neither of them are truly required to make use of this environment, and I’d strongly suggest replacing them with other critters of your choosing. The 5e-version of the monsters are better than the 3.X-ones, but they also aren’t perfect. Note that the central adversary within has an ability that has a shroud of darkness that grows, but fails to specify a maximum range; a similar ability would benefit inclusion among the replacement monsters chosen for the boss.

Why bother? Because, in spite of quite a few errors and misnamed components, “Reflex checks” etc., the general premise of the dungeon is cool: You see, 4 of the pages of this pdf are devoted to the hand-drawn map of the complex, and on this complex, circles are noted in different sizes, some of which may overlap. The movements can be randomized, and ultimately, this generates a puzzle that challenges the map-making skills of the PCs as much as their spatial and cognitive reasoning. The rotating labyrinth also includes stone slabs and is an honestly cool, old-school challenge that demands smarts from the players. The instructions to assemble the dungeon-prop for the GM are also tight and well-wrought…though, as a final nitpick, the map has no scale noted, which makes judging distances harder than it should be.

The pdf even includes a failed attempt at mapping the complex, as a possible adventure hook or prop for the PCs to find.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are okay on a formal level, and less impressive on a rules-language level. Layout adheres to a two-column b/w-standard with golden headers, and the hand-drawn b/w-artworks are better than the full-color pieces in the newer offerings by Mind Weave RPG. The pdf has no bookmarks, but doesn’t necessarily need them at this length.

I should hate James Eck’s rotating labyrinth, I really should. It has the small guffaws and glitches in rules-syntax that tend to infuriate me at least a bit; particularly considering the abilities of the BBEG inside, which seriously should be replaced. Were I to rate this pdf only regarding those components, this’d be a 2-star file. That being said, the flaws and imprecision do not compromise what the essence of this pdf, namely the labyrinth itself. It works, and constitutes a cool and fun offering, particularly considering that the pdf costs a whopping $0.99. And honestly, I do think it’s worth this fair and low price. As a set-piece to add some cerebral activity and challenge into otherwise grindy dungeons, this certainly does its job rather well. The 5e-version is slightly stronger than the original version, but by enough to warrant a different rating. Hence, my final verdict will clock in at 3.5 stars, rounded up, with the caveat that this verdict only applies if you want to make this dungeon-concept your own, if you add your own critters, context, etc. Running this as is, is less awesome than it deserves to be.

Endzeitgeist out.

The Rotating Labyrinth has very quickly become a staple one-shot for me. Although it can be incorporated into a fully fledged world, being able to just drop the players at the entrance to the cave with a little motivation and let them run is really fun for everyone. My players loved it and were shocked, and I know others will want to play it again and with others who have no idea what is about to happen. The look of surprise is priceless, when they back track and expect a familiar place but are greeted with new sights. This adventure module/map is well worth it.

The Rotating Labyrinth is an excellent dungeon to run for oneshots, or even as part of a larger campaign. It requires preparation from the party, who should be expecting to enter the dungeon, and a plan from the Gamemaster. Its an exciting and infuriating experience all in one.