The Swords to Victory

Type: Test of Confrontation.

Description: This is an escape challenge puzzle that contains two rooms. A puzzle room and an arena. A anti-magic field is present in both rooms preventing the use of spells, scrolls, and items but not enchanted weapons.

Players start in the puzzle room stripped of their gear, weapons, and armor. The door leading to the next room is locked and a puzzle must be solved in order to open.

You can place whatever puzzles you want in this room that must be solved in order to obtain the basic armor and other items to help ensure survival. However the puzzle that must be included is the swords puzzle.

The Swords Puzzle consists of display plaques on the walls and multiple swords, one for each player. Each sword is of a different design and has a specific elemental attack enchantment on it.

In order to exit the room, you must place each sword on the correct plaque. There are clues in the room to indicate which sword goes where.

Once they are all in the correct locations, the door will automatically open revealing the next room. The players should be sure to take the swords with them to the next room because they are required for the next part of the challenge.

Once the players are armed with the swords from the other room, the arena will activate and armored humanoid monsters will appear. The armor is weak to a specific element which corresponds to one of the swords.

Attempt to attack the wrong one with the wrong blade and it will only inflict little to no damage at all. Where as if you attack the correct one, the armor will break and severe damage will be inflicted. But don't tell the players this.

Each suit of armor glows a subtle color which matches the runes on one of the swords. This is the clue to show the players how to defeat them.

Once all of them are defeated, the door to the exit on the other side of the arena will unlock and allow the players to leave the area. They are free to take any items they found in the rooms as loot. The swords especially since their high quality will make them very useful. Make sure they get their stuff taken from them out of the chests outside the exit before leaving.

NOTE: If you want to make this easier, you can have each monster target the player holding the correct sword and ignore the others. Basically guiding them into single combat.

The purpose of this is to show the players that sometimes brains are also required to win battles as well as brawn. Of course the players in theory should be able to win this fight without figuring out the weaknesses but it would take forever and with a 99.9% chance of them being killed in action.