Greetings all, Peredur here! Well, hoped you liked the Imperial Emissary, and if you did then here are some more weird ideas that were floating about the air in my little hovel beneath the stairs (no, really ;)). They are just suggestions and can be used to "spice up" a game, i.e. make it way more fun for the warriors (or for the GM. But mostly for the GM :)).
Okay, this is basically the Fountain Objective room, but the warriors should have to fight really bad pieces of work here; chaos warriors, daemons, sorcerers or whatever. The real thing is that the water in the fountain is enchanted with massively evil magic, and has wafted its darkness about the room. It is thus that everyone starts feeling very angry and frustrated. Not only can you make the monsters tougher, with perhaps skills like Ignore Blow or Frenzy, but you can turn it on the warriors! They *have* to roleplay being annoyed with each other, which means that they will refuse to share, and won't help their comrades in any way while in this room! Here's what I thought:
At the start of turn, each warrior in the room makes a WP test of difficulty 8 or thereabouts. If failed, the warrior is "angry" for that turn. When a warrior succeeds such a WP test, he stops being angry, but must roll again at the start of the next turn. Whilst angry, a warrior may not pass or receive any item of equipment or treasure to or from any other warrior. If the warrior is a spellcaster or suchlike, he can't cast spells that specifically aid another warrior, although a spell that affects all warriors may be cast as normal. A spell that affects a number of warriors of his choice can *only* affect the spellcaster (he won't help the other nasty warriors, no, my precious...). Also, if a warrior rolls a 1 to hit with anything if there is another warrior adjacent to him, then he starts arguing with the said neighbour, and can't make any further attacks this turn (although he can do anything else, as long as it is not attacking or shooting)! You can also say that skills that show particular courage and friendship can't be played, as the warrior would rather see his friends dead! Note that spells or something cast on a player by a warrior who is not angry will work, as they can't help but accept it. Oh, and note that angry warriors can only heal themselves...
And *this* is the really fun part. The water in the fountain is really attractive to the warriors; they see it sparkly and full of greatness and wealth. They just *can't help* taking a sip of it can they? - bad move! If any warrior drinks from the fountain he is filled by the evil of the room tenfold! He now, until the end of the dungeon, has *all* the effects above, even if he leaves the room. But also, the warrior is subject to the rules for being Berserk, exactly like a BL 1 Barbarian! If the warrior is already a Barbarian then a successful Berserk roll will give him +2 attacks rather than just +1. All this lasts until the end of the adventure, whether the warriors like it or not, and whilst they are traveling, the open air cures the warriors who drank the water, and they lose the effect of the water. If the warriors like this ability (some warriors become enamoured to their new-found berserkness), they can take some of it in a potion bottle (empty the other liquid out first of course!), and drink some at any time. The effects will immediately give them the above abilities, and will last until a 1 is rolled in the Power Phase. Every time someone drinks from the potion, roll a D6 - it runs out on a 1 or a 2.
You can include this in a dungeon if you believe the warriors are getting too big for their boots, and have too much treasure, and just trounce anybody they come across (and who hasn't encountered such warriors?). It's a magic portal (duh), or a doorway that looks perfectly normal, albeit with a few runes and markings on it that don't give much away. It really does look like a normal door. But...
Mark one door on your "dungeon map" as being the Portal (note that there is only one of these, or so is thought, so your warriors can only encounter it once, so choose carefully). This should lead into an Objective or other equally important room. When the warriors pass through it they feel a warm glow, and they find it soothing - they are healed D6 wounds (they may be happy but - Mwahahahahaha...). Tell the adventurers *nothing* else, so they think it's just an usual "magic door". But whenever a warrior uses a spell or skill that he gained after he trained up from Battle Level 1, you may now reveal that the Portal of the Meek has wiped all their memories since they became Champions! They count now as being BL 1 warriors, but with all their usual equipment and treasures and suchlike. Their stats are as Battle Level 1, and all their skills and spells are reduced until they are exactly what they had in BL 1. Their Starting Wounds are the only stats that are unaffected, although they immediately lose D6 wounds as the spell entwined into the doorway sinks into them. It's up to you how you break all this news to them; you could do it casually, saying "Oh and by the way, you don't have that skill. Or that one. No, that one you lack also. Strength of 3 I think you'll find Grimcrag..." and so on, or you could be blunt: "You are now all Battle Level 1 warriors and you SUCK. Now try killing that Vampire. Hah". Or, if you're cunning and a very good actor, you can do the "Time Travel" approach, where you act like a Gamesmaster who thinks they are all BL 1 and believes so, and reacts confusedly when they claim to be BL 10 kings. "What do you mean, "when you trained in the city up to Battle Level 9?" You've only just started! This *is* your first adventure isn't it? Wizard, why is your power dice showing 13? Change it back at once! You can't have more than 6 power at this level, no, not until Battle Level...what do you mean you...?" and so on, perhaps understanding after a while, and suggesting that they should check out the Portal. After disposing of the Minotaurs, of course. All four of them...
They become their "normal" selves again (if you so wish!) when they leave the room *or* destroy or immobilize the portal. Using this ability is a good chance to throw some weak bad guy like the Trainee Necromancer from Catacombs of Terror on the warriors. You don't even have to make it a door, it could be a magic crystal ball held by a sorcerer, and the warriors will be changed when they attack the sorcerer and will be reverted when they kill him. But use this time wisely to have the warriors search for any way out or run away as fast as they can. But give them some reward at the end, like a Treasure each for the room rather than just one.
Have mucho fun, Peredur. -- Peredur Glyn