Balance and Ruin

D&D 2024 hazard: Balance and Ruin. Source: The Book of Many Things. hazard type Mechanical Trap A narrow wooden beam spans the length of this hundred-foot-long, fifty-foot-wide chamber. The beam crosses a twenty-five-foot-deep pit filled with slowly turning, bloodstained gears. The chamber's side walls, each 25 feet from the balance beam, are made of smooth metal sheeting. The most obvious way to cross the room is to walk along the beam. But there's a hidden danger: a pressure plate beneath the beam's closest end causes the metal walls to emit a strong magnetic field. Fulcrum Stone pillars set at regular intervals appear to hold up the beam. But the pillar beneath the beam's center is a fulcrum (like the center of a seesaw), which gives the beam a nearly indiscernible tilt. A creature that examines the beam and succeeds on a 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check notices the tilt. When the characters enter the room, the beam's weight rests on the far end. When any amount of weight is placed on the stretch of beam between the characters and the fulcrum, unless a counterweight is placed on the opposite side, the end of the beam sinks a few inches and presses on a hidden pressure plate. If all the weight is removed from the beam at once, the beam remains in whatever position it was last in. Balance Beam The balance beam is difficult terrain. A creature that ends its turn on the beam or that is on the beam when it tilts must make a 12 Dexterity saving throw to keep its balance. If the walls are magnetized (see below) and the creature is wearing metal armor or holding metal equipment, the creature has disadvantage on this save. A creature that fails the save by 4 or less slips, landing on the beam, and has the prone condition. A creature that fails this save by 5 or more falls into the gear pit (see "Gear Pit" below). Magnetic Walls When the balance beam's weight is on the pressure plate, the metal walls emit a magnetic field. Any creature wearing metal armor or holdin...