# Designing a Labyrinth of Doom **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 19, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669 "2010-10-19T16:19:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669/41 "2010-10-28T18:12:20Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > If any of your staff presents you with a plan that involves capturing the hero and keeping him alive in a labyrinth, kill them. > > If you work for an villain who orders you to put such a plan into effect, kill him. Wouldn’t the appropriate course in either of these cases be to build the labyrinth, and then imprison your staffer or villain in it? I mean, if you can’t enjoy the crueler ironies in life, what’s the point in being a supervillain at all? ---
**Author:** ![AmunRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AmunRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmunRa)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669/42 "2010-10-30T06:53:22Z")
> [@Sanity\_Challenged](#): > > You’re going to need one goblin that always lies, one goblin that always tells the truth, and one goblin that lies or tells the truth completely at random. Figuring out which is which in the job interview is pretty tricky. I guess maybe [this](http://xkcd.com/246/) violates the OP’s request to not actively murder people. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669/43 "2010-10-30T08:37:25Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Wouldn’t the appropriate course in either of these cases be to build the labyrinth, and then imprison your staffer or villain in it? I mean, if you can’t enjoy the crueler ironies in life, what’s the point in being a supervillain at all? It’s not imprisoning, it’s stress testing. Gotta make sure the labyrinth works, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669/44 "2010-10-31T19:04:52Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Wouldn’t the appropriate course in either of these cases be to build the labyrinth, and then imprison your staffer or villain in it? I mean, if you can’t enjoy the crueler ironies in life, what’s the point in being a supervillain at all? Labyrinths cost money. Lots of money. They are of demonstrably little utility. Don’t waste your resources. I mean, iridium-tipped, napalm-loaded arrows sound cool too, but when your enemies are coming after you with tanks, you’re a fool to send archers. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669/45 "2010-10-31T20:21:01Z")
Aren’t the arrows kind of necessary after you turn on your reaction suppressant device that prevents gunpowder and gasoline from exploding, though? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669/46 "2010-10-31T21:01:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Aren’t the arrows kind of necessary after you turn on your reaction suppressant device that prevents gunpowder and gasoline from exploding, though? I know accountants get a bad rap sometimes, but, seriously, you have to listen to them. If the RSDtPG&GfE costs fifty times as much as other anti-tank weaponry, but is only 10% more effective at actually stopping the tanks, why are you spending money on it? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669/47 "2010-10-31T21:20:20Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > There was a third place but I forgot what it was. Must not have been very important. Opal is too important, foul fiend! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669/48 "2010-10-31T22:28:48Z")
Double-check those range figures, **Skald**. A good reaction suppressor can work on planetary scales. Which has the nice side effect of wreaking chaos in the places you’re not yet actively attacking, too. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669/49 "2010-11-02T04:16:41Z")
Tiring them out would be easy with the right setup. Don’t think of your maze as something one has to walk or crawl through, that’s too easy. Build your maze on the ceiling and the walls and have small hand holds and grips that require the hero to reach from one to the other, straining him and tiring him out. You don’t even need to make it that big. How many people could really handle climbing the sheer side of a wall with grips 3 feet apart? Then after they reach the ceiling, they have to swing themselves and grab at the next grip. Make it so that the grips are big enough only for 1 hand, so they have to keep swinging to reach the next one. After about 50 of these anyone’s bound to fall off ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669/50 "2010-11-02T14:41:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Double-check those range figures, **Skald**. A good reaction suppressor can work on planetary scales. Which has the nice side effect of wreaking chaos in the places you’re not yet actively attacking, too. Which increases the odds of everybody ganging up on you before you’re ready for it. Also stuff you were planning on stealing eventually may get broken. The wise super-villain unveils his plans slowly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designing-a-labyrinth-of-doom/557669.md?page=2)