A Game Created by a Tweet: How I Hosted a Difficult Game for my Players

As a Dungeon Master, I strive to create challenges for my players. However, sometimes my plans don’t work out; I tend to underestimate my players and in turn create a game that is easy for them to overcome with minor obstacles.

However, one simple thing changed that: a tweet that I stumbled upon.

I usually tend to laugh at tweets I come across and then scroll past them, but this one, in particular, caught my eye. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually used a maze as a Dungeon Master because I usually create cave systems that are somewhat easy to navigate. However, this idea was too good to pass up, and I decided that it would be in my best interests to try it out.

The game started out like any other one-shot as the player characters carefully began trying to map their way throughout the dungeon. They were all Level 3, and the party consisted of an Elf Wizard, a Firbolg Druid, and a Goblin Fighter. The trio took their time in the dungeon, but what they didn’t realize was that there were six dead ends in the maze and each one had a Gelatinous Cube waiting for them. As a Dungeon Master, it was interesting to watch their reactions to seeing them: the tweet perfectly predicted that they would ignore them due to their low speed, and they pressed onwards, making comments about the “real danger” that they speculated was at the end of the maze. It was funny to watch them weave through it, and eventually, they came to a large room with a ladder that led out of it. The Elf was the first to comment that it was weird they didn’t encounter deadlier foes, while the Firbolg shrugged it off and called it a “stroke of good luck” that they didn’t encounter anything worse. Meanwhile, the Goblin was staying quiet, listening to the two argue as he paced around the room and looked for traps.