The Turning Well-Rim | Fantasy Hazard Generated by CharGen

The hazard

The well is not merely a hole in the floor. Its bronze-inlaid rim is a concealed machine that shifts beneath anyone standing on it, trying to throw them into the shaft. The plates grind in sequence, and the well answers each movement with a low, almost human groan. Creatures who keep their footing can fight from the narrow walkway, but a single bad shove may send them plunging into darkness.

Mechanical
Complex
Uncommon

Stealth: (expert) to notice the seams and drive vibration before the hazard activates
Trigger: The hazard rolls initiative when a creature steps onto the rim or when combat begins with any creature on the rim.
Disable: Thievery to Disable the concealed drive through one of four maintenance seams around the rim, or Athletics to hold a plate's exposed crank in place. Each successful check counts as one success. Three total successes disable the hazard. A critical success counts as two successes. A critical failure causes the plates to jerk, dealing bludgeoning damage to the creature attempting the check.
Initiative: +19
Routine: The hazard uses Rim-Shear once per round. Each creature on the rim must attempt the listed Reflex save. A creature that has secured itself to an anchor ring or is not standing on a rotating plate is unaffected.
Reset: The hazard resets immediately at the start of its next turn if it has not been disabled. Any jammed plates remain jammed until their wedges are removed.

Damage

Immunities

Critical hits, Object immunities, Precision damage

Effects

2

Rim-Shear
DC 28
The hazard's plates wrench sideways. Each creature on the rim must attempt a Reflex save. On a failure, it takes bludgeoning damage and is pushed 10 feet toward the well's inner edge. On a critical failure, it takes double damage and is pushed 10 feet into the shaft. A creature pushed into the shaft can Grab an Edge as normal if it is within reach of the rim.
The Black Drop
DC 28
A creature that falls into the shaft drops 60 feet before striking the water and takes falling damage as normal. The shaft is slick; Climbing its damp stone walls requires a successful Athletics check.

Special rules

Narrow Ground.The rim is a 5-foot-wide circular walkway. For purposes of the hazard, creatures are on a rotating plate if they are standing on the rim and not secured to an anchor ring. The inner edge borders a 60-foot shaft.

Catch the Edge.A creature pushed into the shaft can attempt to Grab an Edge if it is within reach of the rim, following the normal rules. A creature that succeeds remains hanging from the edge and must Climb or be rescued to return to the rim.

Spotting it

Discovery

A creature that examines the rim and succeeds at a Perception check notices the hairline seams between the bronze plates and the dustless grooves where they rotate.

Perception

+19

Stop it

Signs of dangerA low grinding sound pulses from below the stones. · Dust and loose pebbles creep toward the well even when the air is still. · The bronze plates are polished smooth along their inner edges, as if many boots have slid toward the shaft.

Countermeasures

DC 28A creature adjacent to the inner edge can use an Interact action to wedge a sturdy object into a plate seam. A successful Athletics check jams one plate, preventing the hazard from targeting that plate's 5-foot section until the jam is removed with an Interact action.
A creature can use an Interact action to secure a rope to one of the iron anchor rings set into the rim. A secured creature gains a +2 circumstance bonus to saves against being pushed off the rim.
DC 28A creature who succeeds at a Thievery check to Disable the hazard's drive can prevent the next routine action. Three total successes disable the hazard.
A creature can use an Interact action to drop a heavy object into the well. If the object weighs at least 20 pounds, it catches the submerged drive chain and grants one success toward disabling the hazard. This can be done only once.

In short

The party can brace against the rim, jam the turning plates, or disable the well's concealed drive.

Its story

What it looks like

A broad stone lip rings a shaft of black water.

Why it is here

To keep intruders from reaching or entering the well's shaft by destabilizing the narrow rim and throwing them inward.

Who made it

The well's original masons, under the direction of an unknown oracle

Lore

The well's builders designed the shifting rim to protect a sealed oracle below.

Where it is found

An old stone well, cistern, or circular shaft with a narrow walkable rim, especially one used as a combat platform

Variants

Flooded Well: The shaft is filled with deep water 30 feet below the rim. A creature that falls takes falling damage as normal, then must deal with the water and any creatures living below.

Oracle's Favor: The well subtly spares a creature carrying a particular relic. That creature gains a +2 circumstance bonus to saves against Rim-Shear, but the hazard targets it normally.

Broken Drive: The plates move irregularly. The first time each round the hazard uses Rim-Shear, roll 1d4 to determine the quarter of the rim that shifts; only creatures in that quarter are affected.

Plot hooks

The well contains a sealed oracle whose advice is needed, but its plates activate whenever anyone approaches the opening.

A rival group has wedged several plates in place and left the party to face the mechanism in its unstable, partially jammed state.

The bronze plates bear the names of people who disappeared into the well, including someone the party is seeking.

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