The Rapierhead Gauntlet
A DM's table tool for one very pointy trial: a flock of small fowl with rapiers for faces, a grid of flagstones, and a level 5 party who all have to touch the orb and get back out.
What hooked me
Campaign 3 of my Eavaros campaign. The players were level 5, and the Summer Court wanted entertainment. So the party had to run a gauntlet of trials, and behind the Green Door waited the Rapierheads Grid.
The Rapierheads are small fey fowl with rapiers for faces. They dart along the halls in rows. The whole party has to reach the fey orb on the far side and then make it back to the door. Every single one of them, both ways.
What I built
A turn-based tool for running the grid at the table. I first built it in April 2024 and rebuilt it as a static page in September 2026.
- the flock runs one square along its row at the end of every character's turn, so a party of six sees six moves a round
- a luck check (d20, DC 11) at the end of each turn: pass and the player picks west or east, fail and the DM does
- strikes deal flat damage with no roll, so the grid never slows down for dice
- Sentinel characters block the flock, entangled birds stay put, and downed birds rise again a few rounds later
- a map with 5-foot squares, turn order, undo, and a "back to the orb" reset
A party of six sees the flock move six times a round. Everyone learns to love the luck check very quickly.
What I learned
My original challenge text lives on the page word for word, in the Keeper's notes. The tool's job is to do the bookkeeping so the table can focus on the panic.