I wrote previously about using puzzles and about playground rooms. This is another playground room for fantasy heroes to play with.

The heroes come upon a chamber where three large wells or deep pools exist. They contain creatures that have recently been captured in the waters nearby.

Three Wells

The heroes can’t easily see what is in the pools without getting quite close, unless they ascend to a height–such as the balcony overlooking them… which appears to have some sort of lever controls.

• Pool 1 is covered by a magically locked grate and holds a friendly, forlorn manatee. It won’t want to leave the pool, but it can live out of the water for hours.
• Pool 2 is uncovered and contains a giant octopus, which could likely kill the heroes and may attack them if they stray close. It can live out of the water for more than an hour. It can’t get thru the grates on pool 1 or pool 2, because its beak is too big.
• Pool 3 is covered by a magically locked grate and contains two rather large sharks. Out of the water, they will die in a few minutes.

The Controls

If the heroes fly or climb to the balcony or explore further and find the staircase to it, they will find the balcony has many mysterious control levers.

1. This control opens (and closes) a valve that raises the water level in pool 1. The inflow is faster than the outflow from the side tunnel. Any overflow will fall thru drains in the floor and flow away.
2. This control opens a portcullis in pool 1 that could–if the water level in pool 1 is raised–allow the manatee to escape the dungeon thru the flooded side tunnel.
3. This control unlocks and opens the top grate on pool 1 (or closes and locks it). If pool 1 overflows, the manatee will rise with it and slide over into pool 2, where it will be seized and eaten by the giant octopus.
4. This control opens (and closes) a valve at the bottom of pool 1 that drains it thru a small drain. Any creature in the pool will be left there. The fill valve (1) must be closed or it will only drain to the level of the portcullis.
5. This control opens (and closes) a valve that raises the water level in pool 2. The inflow is faster than the outflow from the side tunnel. Any overflow will fall thru drains in the floor and flow away.
6. This control opens a portcullis in pool 2 that could–if the water level in pool 1 is raised–allow the octopus to escape the dungeon.
7. This control unlocks and opens the top grate on pool 2 (or closes and locks it). If unlocked, the giant octopus will exit and try to enter pool 1 to seize the manatee; if pool 1’s grate is not open (the octopus’s beak can’t fit thru the grate), the octopus will climb up to the controls and try to open it or just kill the heroes. It will not go into pool 3 unless it is empty.
8. This control opens (and closes) a valve at the bottom of pool 2 that drains it thru a small drain. Any creature in the pool will be left there. The fill valve (5) must be closed or it will only drain to the level of the portcullis.
9. This control opens (and closes) a valve that raises the water level in pool 3. Any overflow will fall thru drains in the floor and flow away.
10. This control opens a portcullis in pool 3 that could–if the water level in pool 3 is raised–allow the sharks to escape the dungeon.
11. This control unlocks and opens the top grate on pool 3 (or closes and locks it). If pool 3 overflows, the sharks will rise with it and slide over into pool 2, where they will fight the giant octopus with a 50% chance of winning.
12. This control opens (and closes) a valve at the bottom of pool 3 that drains it thru a small drain. Any creature in the pool will be left there. The fill valve (8) must be closed or it will only drain to the level of the portcullis.

If the drains (4, 8, and 12) are closed and the fill valves (1, 5, and 9) are open, it will flood the chamber and possibly much of the dungeon.

Treasure

There is treasure at the bottom of pool 2, which the heroes can only glimpse when the octopus moves around (perhaps it’s actually wearing some jewelry from it).

If the heroes figure out the controls, they can open the portcullis of pool 1 or 3 and raise the water level to flush the manatee or sharks out. Then they can get the giant octopus to go from pool 2 to the empty pool and flush it out, thus avoiding fighting it. Then they can drain pool 2, descend, and retrieve the treasure. They can also open the portcullis of the other pool (3 or 1) and raise the water level to flush its occupant out.

Added Trickiness

The giant octopus should be a very dangerous opponent. Not only is it huge and strong, it’s smart enough to guess at how to operate the controls. It might throw a hero or two into a pool and lock the grate over them.

You might add difficulty by making some of the controls not work correctly. Perhaps it’s extra hard to shut off one or two of the fill valves (overflowing the pool) or to open one or two of the drains.

Or perhaps the manatee’s portcullis (2) won’t open much and must be lifted manually from floor level by attaching something to it. This sort of thing would get the whole party involved in accomplishing the task.

You might also have some controls scattered around the room instead of laid out in a row in the balcony. Then some characters could operate one or two each. They might even require some coordination to time the opening and closing for some special purpose.