The Maze of METROPOLIS -

I had an idea about the Maze in METROPOLIS, and now I want to tell you about it:

What the Rulebook tells:
"A vast area of METROPOLIS is a Maze of alleys, stairs, covered walkways and shafts. Parts of the Maze are inhabited. Some parts are even in our world; some blocks in Manhattan, in Berlin, Venice and Copenhagen are part of the METROPOLIS Maze. If the Illusion is broken here, you enter the Maze. Parts of it are inhabited by bloodthirsty creatures who rend wandering people limb from limb.
It has been said that anyone who walks through the whole of the Maze will be enlightened and regain his divinity. Noone knows if this is true, or how long the Maze is. None of those who have entered the inner parts of the Maze have ever come back. This part of METROPOLIS is a part of the Labyrinth that surrounds us. He who walks the winding corridors of the Maze will eventually find the way into the true Labyrinth.
The Maze is a riddle. Characters carved on the walls suggest which way to go, and in the inner parts there are creatures who know the way in to the middle and can describe it if they're asked in a fitting way. There are many maps of the Maze in circulation."

Sounds fine and is of great promise, but that's all.

What the "Sourcebook METROPOLIS" tells:
"The Labyrinth (means: Maze, M.S.) of METROPOLIS is a crazy quilt of steel, glass and concrete buildings, merging into each other like a giant architectural game of pick-up sticks. The concepts of up and down are wasted in the Maze, where you walk down the cellar stairs of one house into the attic of another. The area is not just a labyrinth in a physical sense, but a mental maze of constant change. The characters move through a nightmarish landscape where nothing remains the same for long. A narrow hallway leading through an attic ten steps later has turned into a vast furnace-like chamber and a never-ending staircase. Then abruptly it resumes its original shape. The characters don't need to be moving to experience these changes.
The Maze dwellers exhibit the same chameleon personalities, which may account for the wars between clashing factions of almost interchangeable friends and enemies. The characters may confront a seemingly friendly person, who sincerely offers them his help, ten seconds later, he may attack them with murderous intent. A raging beast suddenly turns into the personification of peace and volunteers a password, a missing piece of map, or something else of value to the characters. The Maze is a scary, unpredictable place, in which the advantage of Empathy is absolutely wasted.
Daylight is seldom seen in the Maze, and then only indirectly, as through a window opening onto an atrium. The characters must make their way through conflicting or never-ending hallways with the impersonal decrepitude of a deserted civil service department. There are elevators which open far down in the Underground, cellars where long badly lit hallways, damaged by damp, run between storerooms and odd nooks; over-sized furnace rooms; endless staircases and defunct elevators; service passages; ventilator shafts; and immense underground parking garages; not to mention fire escapes to nowhere and endless expanses of roofs. Along the way, they see evidence of confused battles between various factions of Maze dwellers: dead bodies, puddles of blood, and abandoned, useless weapons.
The Maze proper of METROPOLIS is only an extension of the infinite maze which encompasses the whole city, sealing its borders to Elysium, Inferno and Limbo. In past ages, when the Illusion was still intact, the Maze was the only way through to METROPOLIS. Its enigmatic structure would only allow passage to the most powerful creatures. Now the Machine is falling to pieces, the Demiurge is gone and the Illusion is coming undone, and more and more of the uninitiated or previously incapable are coming through."

There are already some of the ideas I had (there is no coincidence, I never read this text before, at least I can't remember), but it's just too chaotic. I mean: It doesn't make sense, and it's an invitation for munchkins: This Maze doesn't have any mysteries are subtle horror, it's just completely ununderstandable - thinking is useless, so it's no wonder if everybody will believe that nothing but brute force will help them going on here, so only weapon fetishists will enjoy this Maze, and the game becomes pure splatter.

And now: What I've to tell about it:

The Maze is a kind of a huge, giant brain made of stone. It contains several billions of rooms connected through uncountable passages. There are up to 30 connections to other rooms in every room. The passages are a riddle: Two passages starting in the same room that seem to go into the same direction will end in two different rooms. Sometimes, if you walk always into the same direction, you'll end in the room where you started. The reasons for that are: The Maze extends through five dimensions (or even more), and humans usually can only perceive three ones.
The passages have several different forms, all you can imagine: high and wide aisles, small and narrow tunnels, galleries, all kinds of stairs, ladders and shafts and so on.
There's a portal you can leave the Maze through in about every hundredth room. That's not much, but more than elsewhere in METROPOLIS. The exits go to diverse metropoles in the Illusion, but some could reach into Inferno, Elysium or the Labyrinth (means: Ktonor / Thoropolis) or completely other worlds.
The different areas of the Maze are in fact a reflection of the diverse parts of the human brain; the different kinds of perception (seeing, hearing, etc.), the control of the different parts of the body, the diverse skills and abilities, and, especially, the Advantages and Disadvantages. Everything in an area is influenced of the "theme" of the area: The style of the Maze, the portals reaching out, and the Neuronites (the creatures they live there) and their behavior, too. The expectations of the PCs are important, too: The Neuronites look for them like members of their race and speak their native language, and the area where they are looks kind of familiar for the PCs (at least like something they've already seen in books or movies). The reason is: The Maze (don't forget, it's a huge Brain of Stone) can read the minds of the humans who enter it. Then it will transfer their thoughts to the Neuronites they're near these humans. So they can adapt their appearance and their behavior to the expectations of the humans.
If a human is talking to a Neuronite, the Maze can get one information per dialogue (if both Human and Neuronite spoke once) about him; if he's seen by a Neuronite, once per minute; if he's in a room where are no Neuronites, once per five minutes.
("One information" means: Anything you can ask for or answer to within a simple sentence. To ask a man whether he knows about the Demiurge would be an information - to ask him what exactly he knows wasn't - that would be a lot of informations!)

The Neuronites

These are the creatures of the Maze who call themselves "Occupants of the Maze". They look mostly human (and most of them were once upon a time human, too). But the truth is: They're nothing but empty shells. While humans have lots of different skills and use all their bodily and mental abilities (or could at least theoretically) and are mostly versatile characters, all of these creatures are totally one-sided: They always do the same thing, they only use one of their body parts, or they have only one (but extremely developed) characteristic trait. They needn't to sleep, to eat or to drink and sometimes have special abilities, but that's because they are just (but very realistic!) "thoughts" of the Brain of Stone that's the Maze. A human being who will stay for a long time with them (means: in the same area), is going to develop the urge to behave like the Neuronites; later he / she will lose all of his / her other abilities and do the same thing over and over again, like the Neuronites. He / she becomes one of the Neuronites in the area. His / her soul won't be destroyed, but it is lamed and captivated somewhere in the being that was once human. When the being is killed, the soul will be liberated again. To simulate that in a KULT game, you'll make an EGO throw once a week (starting when the PCs will enter the special area); every week they'll get a cumulative malus of -1 for the EGO throw. If the PCs lose the EGO throw they'll don't want to leave that part of the Maze anymore; if they fumble they'll change into a Neuronite.
Neuronites who are brought into other parts of the Maze will suffer for a time from the problems caused of the transposition, but they can accustom in twenty weeks perfectly to the life in the other part of the Maze. If they are brought out of the Maze, they'll become idiot savants (stop all communications with the environment, extreme compulsive behavior, and so on). Humans who were turned into Neuronites will go the same; but if they're brought out of the Maze, they'll maybe be able to recover. An exorcism could be helpful, too.

The use of the advantages Empathy, Enhanced Awareness, Intuition, Magical Intuition, and Sixth Sense:
PCs with Empathy should make a D20; a result from 1 to 5 means that they can feel that the Neuronites aren't human. That's described the best way with: "You feel as if you were talking to an android that was programmed in a special way." Otherwise they'll believe that the Neuronites are just strange kind of humans.
PCs with Sixth Sense will only feel a danger if there's a one. Usually, the Neuronites aren't that kind of danger, so these PCs won't feel anything! Elseway, this advantage works as usual.
PCs with Magical Intuition have bad luck: The Neuronites don't have any magic. But they've got an aura; the most Neuronites (of skills, body parts, abilities) seem to have a perfectly neutral aura; maybe they'll show a bit of happiness, especially if they tell about what they're doing. Humans turned into Neuronites sometimes can show other kinds of emotion (and aurae); that's how you can tell them from the real Neuronites.
PCs with Enhanced Awareness can see (if the Master allows them to use their Advantage) that the Neuronites seem to fade and disintegrate any moment, and only their concentration or the will of God prevents that. (Same for PCs with Schizophrenia or other ones who can see through the Illusion.)
Intuition almost never works; the Neuronites always tell the truth or at least what they surely believe to be the truth. There's one exception I'll tell you later about.

Statistics:
(These are the standard statistics. If they vary in one group of Neuronites, I'll tell that there.)
Personality: None
Attributes: Vary. Normal statistics are:
STR 10, AGL 10, CON 10, COM 10, EGO 10, CHA 10, PER 10, EDU 1
(The low EDU is caused by the fact that the Neuronites never leave their Area in the Maze, so they don't know anything about rest of Reality.)
Size: 1,50 m - 2 m
Weight: 50 kg - 100 kg
Movement: 5m / round
Initiative Bonus: 0
Damage Bonus: 0
Damage capacity: 4 SC, 3 LW, 2 SW, 1 DW. If they're killed, they'll very fast disintegrate in the air. But if they survive the fight, they can regenerate the wounds afterwards - even very fast.
Endurance: 80
Mental Balance: None
Dark Secrets: None
Disadvantages: None
Advantages: None
Tributes: bound to their place; they can't leave the part of the Maze where they live, except if they're forced out, and they'll fight against that.
Powers: Regeneration; speak all human languages; don't need food, drinks, sleep or air to breathe. They don't actually speal with humans, but they send their thoughts with a kind of telepathy directly into the brains of humans. They can't read the minds of humans directly, but only with the help of the Maze (ok, it practically works the same way).
Skills: Vary. They only have one skill in common: "Knowledge (Maze)" at 1. So it's possible to get informations about the other parts of the Maze from them, but usually you should ask them for a long time and you'll have to ask in the right way, too. They know about their Area very well (take the skill here at 20), but they don't like to tell all about that. The PCs should ask in a smart way if they want to know about the shortest way out or eventual portals.
Attacks: Vary. Usually they've Unarmed Combat 5 + 1D10 (6 - 15), but they'll only use it if the PCs try to get them out of their Area.
Magic: None

The Maze is very suitable if you want to give your Players a psychological challenge. If a group wants to try it, they should exactly tell before what they want to take with them into the Maze; then count their bullets‚ 'till they're out of ammo...
You know: Unfortunately there're Munchkins in KULT, too, who try to fight the unthinkable horror just with lots of Ka-Voom. The Maze is very good if you want to give them a challenge. They can take all their weapons with them, but when they lose their way (and they will...), somewhen they'll have no more ammunition - and then they've got problems...
If you decide to send your players into the Maze, use the following "tables" to tell what your players are gonna meeting:

W20 for the kind of the Area: 1-10 means (dis)advantage; 11/12: Perception / control of a part of the body; 13-20: Skill. Choose which part of the body / which skill is connected with the Area, or make another random roll.

If you've got an Area of a (dis)advantage: There are 63 Advantages and Disadvantages in the rulebook, and 37 more in the companion, which makes altogether exactly 100. Make a W100 and count'em, or choose what you want. (BTW: These areas seem to be the most interesting, IMO. So I will describe them first, too.)

Desciption of the diverse Areas:

The Areas of Disadvantages:

All these Areas are connected with a certain disadvantage. If the players enter this area, they've got to make an EGO check; if they don't succeed, they'll have to behave as if they had lost a Shock roll and would be influenced of the disadvantage of the Area. If the PC's actually have the certain disadvantage already, they'll get a malus that is equivalent to the points of their disadvantage! A PC who loses the control that way will have to make an EGO check every hour; if he succeeds, he won't be influenced anymore. If he doesn't succeed, he'll get a cumulative malus of -1 for every following roll. If he fails for so many points as the disadavntage has, he'll get the disadvantage forever. If he's got the disadavntage already (it doesn't matter whether he always has had it or whether he got it here), he'll have to make an EGO check with an effect equivalent to the points of the disadvantage every day to leave the area. If one of these EGO checks fails completely (player throws a 20), the character is lost: He'll turn into one of the creatures who live here and cannot leave the area anymore until he dies.
There are two possible positive modifications: If a PC's got an advantage that's the opposite of the disadvantage of the Area (f.e. Oath of Revenge and Forgiving), he'll get the points of his advantage as a bonus. He should get that bonus, too, if he's trying to talk down other PCs. It's very important how well the players will roleplay when they try to resist. They should get a bonus for good roleplaying. But if they sympathize with the creatures of an Area, they should get a malus, too.
If they want, PCs can get the disadvantage of the Area for a fifth of the EP's they'd usually need.

The Neuronites of the Disadvantages:
Personality: Although Humans might think, they aren't really bad. All they want is that other intelligent beings will stay in their Area and behave like they do.
Attributes: Vary; can be both higher and lower. Depends very much from the Area.
Disadvantages: They don't really have them. They only behave as if they had a one - but a very extremely developed one!
Powers: Telepathy; can read (indirectly) minds and feelings of Humans; sometimes Shapechanging.
Skills: Vary. On the contrary to the Neuronites of other Areas they can be surprisingly versatile - almost like real humans! The only difference to Humans is that they're limited to these skills and can't do anything different, not even theoretically (except if they would change their place).

How to read the tables:

Result of d100	Here's the disadvantage the Area is connected to
Here's told how the area looks and where the portals reach to
Here's a description of the Neuronites who live in the Area
And here's written what the characters should do if they want to escape from here

1	Animal Enmity
A big preserve for wild animals, alternatively a big free area. Here are many connections to Gaia.
Here aren't many humans, but only animals. They react extremely aggressive and will attack, maim and kill humans if there's just a little trouble.
Here it's better for the PCs if they use brute force (that's an exception). Else they must flee.

2	Bad Luck
As it seems, a normal city area. The problem is: Everything is prepared in a way that the PC's will have bad luck: Stones falling from above; open canal shafts; and so on.
The Neuronites appear disguised as normal humans, but it seems that they want the PCs to be unlucky - they'll stand in the way of them or push them "accidentally", so the PCs will run into the next wall.
The PCs should neither be careless and too confiding nor too nervous.

3	Bad Reputation
A pedestrian's zone in Downtown, a good restaurant, or a room where the people party - choose what you want, but it's always a place where you can find many people who are very concerned about themselves.
The Neuronites will ignore the PCs. They won't do them anything, but they'll neither react if the PCs want to talk with them. So they want to provoke the PCs to become impolite or even to attack the Neuronites. Then they'll feel legally offended and make the PCs feel guilty.
If the PCs keep quiet, everything's fine, except that it may become more and more difficult to ignore the Neuronites. Another possibility is to act friendly and generously as someone with Good Reputation would do. The players should get a bonus for good Roleplaying.

4	Curse!
The rooms directly have to do with the curse (read below) and can have every kind of look you want. Example: if the curse says "you'll die on the day of your wedding", the room will have the form of a church with many guests, and the bride is staying next to the cursed character.
The Neuronites will make the PC's offers, or they'll forbid them explicitly to do something. If the players will accept the offer or do what they shouldn't, they're cursed now. Then all the room around them will change. Read above.
The Neuronites can be asked here how you can get rid of a curse. There must be always a way for a cursed character to defeat the fate (OK, it needn't to be an easy way).

5	Death Wish
A city area, destroyed by the war.
Soldiers and monsters constantly fighting each other. Life isn't much worth here. The PCs are invited to join the fights. If they don't want, they will be bashed up (but not killed).
The PCs must try to convince themselves that their life really has got its worth and that they shouldn't throw it away.

6	Depression
Even the geometry of these rooms is tricky: All the rooms seem to be that huge that you will almost get agoraphobia, and the passages between them are several miles long. If you run, it seems that you don't get along. Even the gravity seems to be stronger and depresses the PC's.
There are two kinds of Neuronites : The first ones look lonely, weak, forgotten and helpless; they don't even accept help anymore and will infect the characters, too. The other ones are dominant, strong, not affected by the big depression here and make the characters despair.
The clue is: Don't give up. Somewhen even this depressing area will come to an end.

7	Drug addiction
The Area looks very much like METROPOLIS, i.e. Delirium, the part of METROPOLIS that is descripted in Jason Thompson's Lore of Delirium. There are many connections to Delirium in this Area, too.
The creatures are the same you can find in Delirium; then, there are a lot of drug-addicted people.
"Just say no!" That's the best way for the charakters if they want to get through this area.

8	Egoism
You need a bit of psychology for this area: It should make the players think that they'll be able to come through best if they are alone, fighting everyone for himself (as it seems). What about a yuppie-influenced Area? OK, that's not adequate for a group that consists of soldiers, street samurais and gangstas. A kind of a battle camp would be better.
The Neuronites will try to seduce the characters. First, they'll talk to them, then they will praise one of them and try to separate him from the rest of the group. They'll talk derogatorily about the others, turn out their real (or imaginary) weaknesses and make the first character offers. If he accepts, he is lost: The Neuronites will destroy him - or make him into someone of them.
It's very important that the characters will stay together and won't let them to be divided.

9	Fanatism
This Area looks like the headquarter of a fanatical movement. Everywhere are flag, symbols, pictures of their leader and fanatical followers. Everything's possible: Nazis, communists, religious fanatics, even radical feminists (or anti-feminist shmucks...)
The Neuronites will at first mob the characters and then try to indoctrinate them. If they succeed, they've won: The characters will have to stay there then - forever. "You'll never leave the movement - and we'll punish all the traitors!" If they won't succeed now, too, they'll demand that the characters defend themselves. That's another trap: If the characters can tell well what they think and why they're better, the fanatics will desert to them and make the character their new leader.
The charakters have to stay at their point of view and should never play the game of the fanatics. It's better if they'll just mock at them. They'll risk to be beaten up, but then the fanatics won't do them anything anymore.

10	Forgotten
A brutal metropole where it seems to be better if you are inconspicuous. Parts of this Area are huge office complexes (with cubicles and so on) with bosses who bully their workers and will literally execute them for mistakes.
The PCs should get the feeling that it would be the best to stay as anonymous as possiblr. But that's the biggest mistake they could make... Actually, there's no real danger for them, though they'll always think that a catastrophy is awaiting them...
The PCs should be self-concious and resist the bosses.

11	Greed
The rooms look like huge treasure rooms of a king: There lie (one yard high) gold, silver, gems, silk, pearls and so on. The treasures are real (the characters can check them), and there's no-one who guards them - yes, really, no-one and nothing.
Yes, there are no creatures - it's the treasure itself that's dangerous! The more the characters will put into their pockets, the more will they want. At the end they'll devour gold and diamonds like pigs, till they literally explode. To prevent that, they have to make higher and higher EGO checks.
There's a kind of a hint for the players: Under the heaps of treasures also lie some skeletons...

12	Habitual Liar (1)
A very elegant, but decadent Area. You should be able to imagine that lots of intrigues are made here.
The Neuronites will tell the characters that they can ask them for anything, but then they'll tell the characters nothing but lies.
Don't get tricked! It would be very fine if the characters had the advantage intuition now.

12	Habitual Liar (2)
A restless Area, where all the people seem to hunt for the truth and nothing else. Looks like a room for the press.
It seems that the Neuronites have nothing to do but to ask the characters tricky questions about anything. It's like a press conference where Ollie North meets all the people of Time and Newsweek and 100 other critical newspapers and magazines. Then, there's another kind of Neuronites who meet the characters alone and ask questions like beggars who tell the passerbys invented storys (The owner of my apartment threw me out, please, give me some money...). All the Neuronites can read thoughts and ask the characters very embarrassing questions, so the characters will believe it's better if they lie.
Here they have to keep honest - or to say directly: "That's none of your business!"

13	Haunted
A vary scary Area you can imagine that ghosts and ghouls live here. Kind of Castle of Count Dracula, a tomb on a cemetary, or a more modern Area, like a morgue.
All the kinds of ghosts and demons: Zombies, spectres, body stealers, Darthea, Razides, Nepharites, and so on.
Here, the PCs must get along with ghosts and demons. Otherwise, only an exorcist or the right magician can help them anymore...

14	Innocently Blamed
This Disadvantage is a kind of a curse IMO, so I would treat it that way. Read there.

15	Intolerance
A lot of rooms; square, poor to average.
The Neuronites look like normal people of the lower and middle classes. They look harmless, but they're intolerant like the worst Nazis. There are small minorities, too; they are systematically oppressed, discriminated, and sometimes even burned on a stack.
It seems that you're safe here if you behave like the majority of the people. But that means in the end that you'll have to give up yourself. You'll be assimilated and cannot do anything else anymore. It's better you stay to yourself and don't let be threatened.

16	Maimed
A row of rooms with mirrors everywhere on the walls. The Area looks like a run-down old building.
The mirrors have a special kind of magic: Everyone who looks into them will see his/her (bodily) mistakes thousand times exaggerated: Every mole mark looks like a cancer ulcer, every freckle like a wart. At the end the PCs will be so much disgusted that they'll try to cut these marks right out of their skin - and the horror can start again.
Well, the best thing would be that the PCs never!!! look into the mirrors, but that shouldn't be that easy...

17	Mania
The passages are [Laufbänder], the rooms look nice. The trick is: The passages are arranged that way that you will always choose a certain way that looks to be the best; but if you really do, you'll come at the end completely exhausted the theplace where you started from. You will break down, sleep for a short time, awake - and start from the beginning again. Even the gravity seems to be lower than elsewhere, so the characters are full of joy and happiness.
All the Neuronites make the characters not to sit down, but to keep moving. There are friendly - but that's deception. They want the characters to break down with a fit at the end.
If the characters can manage to sit down and think for a while, they should find the exit again.

18	Manic-depressive
These Rooms are a mix of Area 6 and Area 17. They change without any warning between these two appearances back and forth. Very confusing! This should be a hard try for the characters.

19	Mental Compulsion
Here are a lot of Sub-Areas, too, because there are also many kinds of Mental Compulsion. But all these roms have in common that they'll make the PCs feel uneasy.
Like the rooms, the Neuronites fit the corresponding kind of Mental Compulsion. For example, in the Area of anorexia all the Neuronites will be that slim that the PCs will feel fat and ugly.
It would be the best if the PCs understand that they needn't to be nervous (okay, that might be hard...).

20	Mental Constriction
This Area should look a bit like the Labyrinth in the underground (don't confuse with the Maze!).
The Neuronites appear as persons from the past of the PCs. They'll accompany the PCs and confront them with the most unappalling memories of their past. Then the PCs will try to reject these memories - until they capitulate or get Mental Constriction.
Here, the PCs must fight the shadows from their past. Maybe they even can solve these problems - like in a real therapy...

21	Mistaken Identity
A seems-to-be quite normal city.
The creatures are doppelgaenger. First they'll only imitate the look of the characters, but then their personality, too. The more they know about the characters, the better they can do that. They'll try to confuse and separate the PC's. If the group is separated here, it's unlikely that they'll find each other again.
The charakters must try to show to the others (and maybe themselves), that they're who they really are.

22	Mortal Enemy
A deserted city. All the inhabitants - if they exist - seem to have retreated. It's a "High Noon"-Feeling. Here and there corpses lie on the streets.
The enemies come from the back: Professional killers and snipers who try to kill everything they see.
If the PCs come to this Area, they're almost in the death row. It's better if you give them a hint before, so they'll have a chance at least.

23	Nightmares
A world of nightmares. Make it how you like it. You can get inspirations from the description of the Dreamworlds. Here are many portals to the real Dreamworld, too.
Many of the creatures are from the Dreamworld, i.e. from the nightmares of the character. They will confront the PC's with their worst experiences, what they already repressed, with their fears and everything else.
The creatures can be defeated if the players will see that they're only illusions.

24	Oath of Revenge
This Area should make the PCs feel as if they were home - it looks exactly as the place where they lived in their life before.
The PCs will meet all their enemies (or, at least, people they don't like). All the other Neuronites will invite them: "Punish them! Now! You can do it!" But if the PCs will try to kill their "enemies", they'll disappear and come back later.
Whether they want to do so or not: The PCs must resign.

25	Paranoia
I suggest here: These rooms look like Alpha-Complex! Everywhere screens of the Computer, all kinds of bots and troubleshooters hunting for mutated commie traitors! (If you don't like that, or if you don't know "Paranoia!": Imagine an Area with a dictatorial system like in 1984, where all the people suffer from paranoia.)
I hope you know about the secret societies and service groups. That's all I've got to say.
The characters should keep cool and try to get through the complex with bootlicking, con, fast-talk and spurious logic, till they reach the end of this Area. But it's unlikely that they will get through without getting paranoid... paranoia is a survival skill here!

26	Persecuted
Like the Areas of "Wanted" and "Bad Reputation", mixed with a bit of "Intolerance". Read these sections.

27	Phobia
The diverse rooms look very different: every's theme is a special kind of phobia. For example, the rooms of Arachnophobia are full of spiders, spider paintings on the wall, statues of spiders, and so on.
Like the rooms, the creatures will also match the corresponding phobia.
If you come here and suffer from a phobia, either you'll be healed or dead (later). Yes, it's that simple. >B->

28	Rationalism
A huge research laboratory, as you know it from the Illusion. All the doors outside (i. e. to other Areas) are blocked with obstacles or ignored by the inhabitants - they do not accept the twisted Reality of the Maze that doesn't fit their education.
I told already: All the inhabitants are radical rationalists. They only believe in the modern science of today and reject anything else. Although they understand the concept of higher dimensions (and could even make calculations for the PCs if they ask in an appropriate way), but they don't believe in it. That's why they even reject to perceive the ways to higher dimensions even if they stay directly before.
If the PCs accept what the rationalists say, they're lost. They shouldn't try to convince them: They believe fanatically in rationalism, so you must treat them like fanatics, too.

29	Reckless Gambler
A huge casino with lots and lots of "one-armed bandits" and tables for playing. Here are portals to many cities in the Illusion like Las Vegas, Monaco and Baden-Baden.
At first, the PCs will meet the croupiers, servants, card dealers and other gamblers who invite them to play a game. If the PCs have no money left, they can get a credit. If they'll have lost this money too, it's getting dangerous: Women are forced to "work" as strippers or prostitutes, men are forced to commit crimes, i.e. they must help to threaten others who had bad luck (like them) - and if they don't want to, they're beaten up or even tortured.
The PCs should reject all the offers. Then, they almost can't lose anything.

30	Schizophrenia
This Area looks like the Dream World of Nicolette Pasteur: Everything's changing everywhere and everytime.
The creatures are like the Area: They're constantly changing, appear from the ground and the walls, things made of dead matter become alive and attack the PCs.
Don't get confused! The truth is: These are nothing but (okay, very realistic) illusions.

31	Sexually Tantalizing
Like a huge brothel or a bedroom or even only a room full of mattresses.
Here are many creatures and mages of passion. The bodies of all the creatures have changed: Some look like Pamela-Anderson-clones, some have more special parts of the body (for those who like that).
There are the usual dangers of passion. OK, a passion needn't to be bad only. Maybe the characters are made to slaves for sex. (Characters who play good but lose their EGO check should get a passion, the others should become sex slaves.) Here you've got to stay [keusch].

32	Sexual Neurosis
A kind of huge swinger club full of beds, mattresses and hammocks, televisions and VCR that show permanently porn movies. There are even torture tools for sadomasochists.
There are many Neuronites, and they all look and behave like perverted humans. They will invite the PCs for sex. If the PCs accept, they'll see that the Neuronites are even more perverted than it seemed.
Same as at "Sexually Tantalizing": Don't play this kind of game!

33	Split Personality
The rooms and the passages have two forms. They can be whatever you want, but they'll be always extreme opposites. Sometimes there are even more than two.
As the rooms, as the Neuronites have at least two different appearances.
Don't get confused! It would be the biggest success if the characters could unite the different halfs. But they should really very well role-play to do that.

34	Touchy
The area should be the exact opposite of what the characters like. Means: It should make the characters nervous already if they've just to walk through here!
The Neuronites are very nerving and annoying; they only do what makes the characters most angry. If the characters pay back, they'll get even more annoying. If the characters kill them, they'll stand up and double.
Keep Cool! Don't let you get provocated!

35	Unwilling Medium
Very similar to "Haunted".
Again, the enemies here are ghosts and demons. The difference is: They'll wait for the PCs to be obsessed by emotions - fear, hate, suspicion, anger, or even curiosity or joy. Then the barrier they've to break will weaken, and they can possess the PC...
Even if it's hard: The PCs should keep cool.

36	Wanted
Anonymous metropoles or vast empty fields.
There are everywhere the enemies of the characters - and if they haven't had any before, they have so now. Characters who will give oneself up, will be put into prison. There they are tormented by the other prisoners.
There are only two ways now: To fight or to flee!

These were the disadvantages. Pheeew, that was hard. Now we're going to some nicer qualities. Many Areas - not as many as with the disadvantages - are connected to a special advantage. The Neuronites living here seem a bit single-minded on their ideal, but except of that, they're helpful and sociable. They can help the PCs to get advantages, to learn skills and sometimes they even can give them informations about the next Areas - or even show them the way to the center of the Maze (not all the way at once, just a part). There's one mistake you should never do: Criticize their ideal. If you should do, though, they will kill you immediately - as Captain Vimes (Terry Pratchett, "Men At Arms") said: "Pray you never face a good man. He'll kill you with hardly a word.".
If the PCs stay longer in one Area, they should have a certain chance to get the advantage of the Area. You can pretend that the advantages are simple skills you only need a certain number of EP's. This number is equal to one fifth of what the PCs needed elsewhere! (They will get an Advantage that usually costs 20 EP's for 4 EP's.) One month in the Area will give the PCs one EP; they've got to succeed an EGO throw to proof that they've learned their lessons. If they don't succeed, they should still be able to use their EP for a skill (that should be appropriate).
A PC who gets an advantage will feel the urge to stay forever in this Area. He can break this urge with a successful EGO throw. This EGO throw, however, is aggravated with the points of the Advantage!
Same rules apply if the PCs have to do their hourly EGO throw. If they've got the disadvantage that is the complete contrary of the advantage of the Area, they'll get its points as a bonus. (But they shouldn't show that they have this disadvantage, too: The Neuronites won't be very enjoyed! Certainly most humans won't dare to do that: F.e. if they tried to lie in the Area of Honesty, they've got to succeed an EGO throw with an effect of at least 5 points.)

The Neuronites of the Advantages:

Personality: Although Humans might think, they aren't really good. All they want is that other intelligent beings will stay in their Area and behave like they do.
Attributes: Vary; can be both higher and lower. Depends very much from the Area.
Advantages: They don't really have them. They only behave as if they had a one - but a very extremely developed one!
Powers: Telepathy; can read (indirectly) minds and feelings of Humans; sometimes Shapechanging.
Skills: Vary, same as the Neuronites of the Disadvantages

The Primaces:
Nobody knows for sure, whether they've got something in common with the Neuronites. They live, too, in the Maze, but only in the inmost parts they are the most farthest away from the Illusion. They also have similar powers like the Neuronites; they can read the thoughts of humans, too, they appear disguised as humans without being humans, too, and they're very one-sided, too. But they don't try to assimilate humans - mostly, they won't even take notice.
There are at least six kinds of Primaces; all of them correspond with one Lore of Magic:
Passionaces (Primaces of Passion), Continaces (Primaces of the continuum of Time and Space), Deliraces (Primaces of Madness), Mortaces (Primaces of Death), Somnaces (Primaces of Dream), and the True Primaces who belong to the Lore of Reality. The last ones are the most mysterious – nobody except Awakened humans and other very mighty beings are able to communicate with them, or at least to understand them. It seems that they have incredible powers, but noone knows more about that. So these kind of Primaces isn't described here.

Their statistics are the same as the usual Neuronites, with some exceptions:
Personality: Mysterious. Humans who studied the corresponding Lore of Magic are maybe able to communicate with them. For other humans, they're completely ununderstandable.
Powers: The same as the Neuronites. Besides, every group of the Primaces has got some special Powers, too. They all have in common a kind of Magical Intuition - they can see auras and understand magic, but they can't use it. (If they would, the Archons and Angels of Death would hunt and destroy them.)
Passionaces: Empathy
Mortaces: Sixth Sense
Deliriaces: Intuition
Somnaces: None
Continaces: Enhanced Awareness

Skills: Every group of the Primaces has got one or more special skills. They all have in common: They know all the aspects of their Lore, like a conjurer who's got a skill of 40 in his Lore.
Passionaces: They know about all the aspects of passion and sex, theoretically and practically, including the magical aspects. (except that they're not able to make human women pregnant.) They know that passion can break down reality and open the gates to other worlds, that passion and perversions are forces closely related to magic and can change the Mental Balance. They know that a disturbed Mental Balance can lead to physical changes, and even know (theretucally!) the path to enlightenment, the meeting with the own shadow, chaos and nirvana. They also know about the humans balancing between light and darkness and how the sexual tension between man and woman symbolizes that.
Mortaces: They know about all things that have to do with deadly dangers. That means: They know all the ways how a man can die, all the aspects of Death - and remedies for them, if there are some, and all the feelings connected with death - pain, horror, fear and agony. They know a lot about Astaroth and his servants – who they and their mirrors (the Archons) are, their names, their incarnations and their nature, and that they can appear in human form. They know the magical names of the parts of the soul and know that the soul of a human continues to live after the death, what happens in death, and how the soul is reborn in a new body - or how it can be brought back into the Illusion. They know about the Inferno, the creatures and places there, and the diverse lands of the dead. They can see whether a man killed other humans, he's about to die, has a mortal disease, thinks about suicide - or ever did in the past. They can perceive where the Illusion is thin, or where many people have died. And they know about the great potencial in the humans, and that they have to forget in the very moment of death - except if they manage to cheat death. They know how the Nepharites are summoned by repentant sinners, and that it's the feeling of guilt and sin that chains humans to hell.
Deliriaces: They know that madness can twist reality and open gates to other realities. They know all about madness, the madmen and where they can find them. They know what the Mental Balance is about, how it changes, and that a raised or lowered Mental Balance is the road to freedom. They can watch a human being and tell his Mental Balance exactly, and know that a man is both a god and a soulless animal. They know about other worlds and Awakened humans. They know all about the Lore of madness, but other than the madmen, they can distinguish truth and lies. If they weren't that ununderstandable for humans, they could tell the humanity some worthful results.
Somnaces: They know that dreams and reality influence each other and can meld, and that humans can move into the dream. They know that several beings can share a dream, and how dreams are made from the collection of general ideas in the Vortex. They all have the Dreaming skill and know a lot about the dream worlds, the princes of dream and the Vortex. Besides, they also know a little about the other worlds, like Inferno. They know that dreams are an incomplete escape that leads to a dead end, but they don't care, because Primaces can't Awake at all. They don't live in an Area of Advantage, but in the Area of the Dreaming skill.
Continaces: They know that time is not absolute and even can run backwards, and that there are more dimensions than the three we are able to perceive. They know how the nature of space changes where the walls between worlds are crumbling. They can see where the Illusion is weakened, even if they've got only pictures of a certain place. They know that the Demiurge constructed the Illusion and where they can find his traces. They know about the seven occult sciences and are aware of the danger of Achlys.

Magic: The Primaces don't use any magic (instead, they rely on their Powers), but they have incredible knacks for magic. Their knowledge about the magical background is equal to that one of the best sorcerers. (Read above.)

37	Altruism
This Area is as diversified as the Illusion (as most Areas of Advantages). But they all have one thing in common: You will find an extreme opposite between the poor and the rich - more correct, between the powerful and the powerless.
The Neuronites from this Area are from two kinds: One kind seems to be indigent, the other kind looks mighty and rich, but they don't care for the others.
The PCs must help the needies, although the "rich pigs" will try to stop them. If the PCs do so, they'll get the possibility to let the "bad guys" simply disappear, if the PCs succeed with an EGO roll -5. (0, if they've got Altruism as an Advantage; -10, if they've got Egoism.)

38	Animal Friendship
A kind of a big wild-life reserve where men and animals can undisturbed live together.
Here are many animals, too, but they're almost as good as tamed. There aren't many humans living here; they who do, are a kind of shamans and know almost all about animals.
The PCs shouldn't try to profit from the kindness of the beasts: If they even attempt to kill animals (except if they need them to eat them), the animals will kill them in a few moments. And they're enough to defeat an army! Even if the PCs should survive that, they'll be in Gaia, after that.

39	Artistic Talent
It's like a gigantic loft that has place for about some hundreds of thousands artists: There are big places where they can show what they've done, cafeterias where they can talk and discuss about arts, and many little studios where they can work undisturbed.
The inhabitants of this Area are artists (what else): Musicians, painters, sculptors, authors and so on. They can tell the PCs about every kind of art (and teach them, too).
PCs who can proof that they know something about arts (or that they could, at least) have the chance to become friends with tha artists.

40	Body Awareness
A kind of gigantic Trainingscamp for extremely good martial artists, Ki-adepts, Kung Fu Grandmasters, Shaolin monks, and so on.
I told already: Here live good martial artists, Ki-adepts, Kung Fu Grandmasters, Shaolin monks. They're always occupied with training, complicated dances and meditation. They'll invite the characters to join.
The PCs may improve their skills here, but the training is VERY hard.

41	Chivalry
This advantage is a kind of Code of Honor. I suggest that you read on there, too.
The Neuronites appear as women who need a help for something. (I didn't want to be sexist! It's just made that way to show that women are disadvantaged and may need a help in the most parts of the world. If you allow female Characters to have Chivalry, too, it's no problem if the Neuronites appear as guys, too.
The PCs must be knightly and offer their help.

42	Code of Honor
This Area is very diversified. It resembles to many places in the Illusion - almost every place is possible, which depends on the kind of population who lives there.
Like the Areas, the population is very diversified, too. There are contemporary activists (environmentalists, people who fight for human rights), monks, soldiers, policemen, nobles, even pirates and gang members. But they all have something in common: All these groups have their very special Code of Honor.
The groups are very attained to their Codes of Honor, but they won't diss the PCs it they don't follow it - they will simply believe that the PCs don't know about that. And they have a kind of respect for people with another Code of Honor than their own; they just demand that other people have one, too.

43	Cultural Flexibility
Big places and streets with mixed crowds of people like from Babylon. The difference with the Area of "Gift for Languages" is: The Neuronites "speak" the languages of the PCs, as usual.
The Neuronites appear as members of all kinds of people from the world. They also know about the culture of this special people, share their knowledge and develop new ideas.
The PCs have the opportunity to increase their knowledge about other cultures (all that exist in our world) and can learn that every culture has its good and bad sides, and that the mix of different cultures may give birth to new ideas - maybe an idea that will change the world.

44	Empathy
This Area is connected to the Lore of Passion. So it looks like a world of the Mages of Passion: Some rooms are lush rooms for loving/love-making people, but some only contain the bare ground - these are for minimalistic Passion mages.
The Passionaces, the Primaces of Passion, live here. It's quite difficult to communicate with them. The best chance to do that have Mages of Passion and maybe other people who concern themselves much with sexuality (these may be people who've got problems with their sexuality, too) or just have a lot of sex.
Here the PCs can learn all about human feelings. If they spend a long time here, they may get the Advantage of Empathy.

45	Enhanced Awareness
This Area looks a bit like the weaker version of the Area of Magical Intuition; there are strange signs painted and written on the walls, mysterious librarues and alchimistic laboratories. The Area is connected with the Lore of Space and Time.
The Continaces, the Primaces of Space and Time, are living here. They wear robes with cowls and behave very mysteriously. It's very difficult to communicate with them; but if you succeed, they will offer you to get more information about the truth. You've got a somewhat better chance if you're a Mage of Space and Time or maybe a scientist - or someone who made a journey through the time.
If the PCs get the offer I told about and accept, they'll have to make many exercises of meditation and concentration and will be tested regularly whether they're now able to break through the Illusion by themselves. The earliest time the PCs may succeed are two months. (During this time, the PCs got two EPs; they count five times, so that's enough, except for PCs with negative Mental Balance - they will need at least four months.) Sure, the PCs may not always when they want look through the Illusion, only if the GM tells that they may.

46	Forgiving
This Area should look almost exactly like the homeplace of the PCs, too.
The Neuronites appear as humans the PCs know, too. To be exactly: They look like old enemies of the character, or at least like people the character had a disagreement that was never settled.
At the beginning, the Neuronites will behave hostile but reserved, as if they didn't want to admit that they made a mistake. If the PCs will ask them about it, first they'll tell the truth (to tell the PC what this is about), and if the PC will attack them, they'll excuse. If the PC accepts, they'll make peace. But before he'll get the Advantage of Forgiving he should meet some Neuronites who are a kind of harder task, either because they won't excuse immediately or because they've done worse things to the character.

47	Gift for Languages
Big places and streets with a crowd like directly from Babylon (you know, after the Demiurge destroyed the Babylonian Tower).
The Neuronites here are a very special kind: They aren't only able to talk with humans with telepathy, but they really can talk with them! They don't know all the languages (not all of them), but you can find some Neuronites here for every language that ever was talked in the Illusion who can talk and understand it. The Neuronites also have a sense for linguistical specialities and puns.
The more the PCs talk with the Neuronites here, the better they're able to get the necessary feeling for foreign languages.

48	Good Reputation
This Area also looks very much like the homeplace of the PCs, but there's something special: It's not exactly the home they know, but the home as it should be, the home from their daydreams and hopes. Everything's better and more beautiful than in reality - the way it should be (in the opinion of the PCs).
The Neuronites here behave very strangely: It seems that all they want is being nice and kindly to the PCs. They are very helpful and tell the PCs what they want to know - except for the big secrets of the Maze, sorry. (The Maze knows everything the Neuronites know, but that doesn't work the other way round.) Noone can tell the reason for their behavoir - although some believe that the Temptress is behind that. (If you don't know: The Temptress is a legendary, mysterious being. It is said that she seduced the Demiurge to imprison Mankind and send them into the Illusion.)
If the PCs stay here for a longer time, their self-respect is built up. That alone wasn't that strange - but it's getting interesting because the characters will remember their bigger self-confidence even later. If they'll stay long enough, the change is visible even for other people who'll think that the PCs are nice and popular people, as if something from the Power of seduction went from the Temptress to the characters.

49	Honesty
Thia Area also is as diversified as the real world - but it remembers the characters to their very home.
The PCs will meet here many people they know. Most of them will ask them about misunderstandings from the past, for example. There are also some harder tests for the PCs: They could come to a kind of court where they must tell the truth.
Here, the PCs must tell the truth and clear up the misunderstandings that way.

50	Influential Friends
In this Area, really mysterious powers are at work. The Area has very many connections with the Illusion, maybe more than all the other parts of the Maze taken together. But these connections aren't real portals you can simply pass - they are connections to the consciousness of real people in the Illusion. Despite of these strange connections (it's said that Tiphareth, the Mistress of Connections and Networks has something to do with that) this Area seems to be more normal than many other parts of the Maze. Mostly, it even looks exactly like the city / state in the Illusion where the PCs come from.
Humans with a very strong consciousness can enter this Area, if they're alone and concentrate themselves. In the Maze, they've got the same body, skills and recollection as usually in the Illusion. When they'll later leave the Maze, they'll keep an unconcious remembrance to everything they lived through in the Maze - and everyone they met. The Neuronites who live here fit exactly into the world they come from. They can experience everything possible here. If they're killed, they'll simply awake in the Illusion (with a shock, nevertheless).
If the PCs come here (not through a connection of the consciousness, but in a real way, when they wander through the Maze) it's possible that they'll meet real people here who came here (as I told above) through a connection of the consciousness. If the PCs help them, they can make friendship with them. And because these persons are real persons, the friendship with them will continue even later, after they'll have left the Maze.

51	Intuition
This Area is a wild mix of different rooms that don't seem to have much to do with each other: There are rooms where the military / police / secret services interrogate people, theater stages, psychologist consulting rooms... The Area is connected with the Lore of Madness.
Here live the Deliraces, the Primaces of Madness. They and the other Neuronites here often appear as interrogation officers, psychologists or actors. They're always talking to each other and try to find out whether their partner in conversation is lying. But they're not hunting in the name of Truth - they just want to improve their ability to see through lies. It's quite difficult to conversate with them. The best chance to succeed have Mages of Madness, people suffering from madness or other people who've got to do with madness like psychologists or psychiatrists.
Here the PCs can learn how to separate and distinguish truth and lies. If they stay here at least three months (if they've got a negative Mental Balance, at least six), they can get the Advantage of Intuition. If they don't want to stay here, the Neuronites still would like to "train" with them.

52	Largesse
This Area is very similar to the one of Altruism, there's only one difference: The PCs don't only have to help others by doing something, but they've got to give them something.

53	Luck
A part of this Area is unaccessable: Here's the tomb of the Fate. Fate has been dead for a long time (since it was killed by the Demiurge and his dark twin), but it's still able to influence the world and certain people. And it's still possible (for some powerful beings, and for sorcerers of Reality) to get help from Fate to curse or to bless others.
Here don't live any Neuronites; they even avoid the Area. Now and again one of the True Primaces is coming by to fulfill a secret ritual.
The Fate is uncontrollable, at last for normal humans. So the PCs can only stroll the Area and hope that they find the right way. You can simulate that in the game this way: If the PCs entr the Area, throw now and again a d20. Everytime you get a 20, the PCs will get a point. When they've collected twenty points, they'll get Luck as an Advantage. But don't tell them anything.

54	Magical Intuition
This should be the very center of the Maze / Brain. Here are very large magical libraries with books written in all the languages of mankind. In the innermost center of this Area is the only book that contains all the spells of the Lore of Reality. Everybody who made his way herein should have a quite good chance to find the way to Awakening, unless he's too stupid. You know that Magical Intuition can best raise and lower the Mental Balance, so here are both "good" and "evil" characters welcomed. The usual rules for the Area of (Dis-)Advantages aren't at work here; a Human can stay here a very long time and won't change himself, unless he/she wants it so.
The inhabitants of the Area are (almost?) only both humans and sorcerers. There are some Awakened humans among them, too; almost all of them Awakened during their way through the Maze. The normal humans here try to improve their powers, i.e. to become masters of all the five Lores and to reach Awakening; some of the Awakened teach the normal humans, the other ones learn the spells of the Lore of Reality. The entrances and all the Area are guarded by Awakened humans; these ones arrange the newcomers with mentors who've got the right Mental Balance (positive or negative). There are very few Neuronites, but on the other hand there's a very special group of Primaces - the True Primaces.
The center of the Maze is (almost) the only place in the universe where a man can get Magical Intuition without having to sell his soul / children to an Archon or Angel of Death. And almost everyone is welcomed here to fight for mankind. Only people with occultophobia and rationalists don't have a good life here.

55	Mathematical Talent
A mixture of a university and an office building. But then, there are also rooms very similar to a cafeteria / mensa.
The inhabitants are mathematicians or other scientists. Most of them are working at complicated formulas and calculations, some of them even with occult sciences. The other ones are sitting in the cafeteria and solving logical puzzles.
Characters who want the help of the inhabitants have to prove their intelligence by solving some of the puzzles.

56	Motherliness
A very bewitching Area. Kitchens alternate with cozy sleeping-rooms. Everyone is welcomed here for lunch; you'll get milk for drinking, then soup and a good meal, and ice-cream or apple pie as dessert (if you've been a good kid). Attention: You should resign of drinking, smoking, sex & drugs here, unless you have a reaaal good reason for that!
The most important characters here are the "mothers". The major part of them look like a stereotype "mammy": Fat, jolly, but unstoppable if it's for their kids. There are also some younger and slimmer mothers, even some fathers, but the "mammies" are the majority. Then there are lots and lots of infants; when the "mothers" don't have to care for cooking or their household, they'll care for the kids. Whatever you do here, you should never harm the kids -you'd risk your life!
The PCs may use this Area to have a good sleep, food and drink. If they want to stay for a longer time, the "mothers" will demand that they'll help with the work in the house and with the kids. OK, that's not the worst thing.

57	Pacifism
This Area resembles a bit to India or the Far East.
The Neuronites appear as followers of Ghandi or Hippies. Their opponents are soldiers, policemen or other people with weapons who are ready to use brute force (but won't kill anyone, though).
The Characters must try to dispense with violence, even if they're attacked and beaten. That's the school of hard knocks (what a pun), but it could be a gain for the characters.

58	Resistence (Cold / Heat)
This Area is very huge - as huge that the ceiling and the walls of the rooms seem to be indefinitely far away. In one half of the rooms, heat emerges from the ground; in the other half, the temperatures fall much down because of the ice-cold storms.
The inhabitants resemble "primitive" people from earth, but they're very comfortable within their habitat. They've built small lodgings here or there where they're safe.
The characters must try to endure the heat and the cold. Everything else as with "Resistence (Torture)".

59	Resistence (Hunger / Thirst)
This Area is very huge, too. Wandering through a room will take lots of endurance from the characters. They'll become very hungry and thirsty after some time.
Here are only very few inhibitants. They live a life very similar to the Tuareg, the Sahara nomads. They can guide the PCs through this Area and may share their food and water with them, too.
The characters must try their endurance despite of the difficulty and endure hunger and thirst. Everything else as with "Resistence (Torture)".

60	Resistence (Illness)
This Area is nothing but a really huge sick room. It seems that you can find here all the illnesses of the world. New ill are constantly brought in, and the people who died are constantly brought out.
Everywhere lie the ill people and are cared by a few doctors and nurses.
Even if the PCs won't help to care the patients, they've got the resist the illness. Everything else works as with the other "Resistence"-Advantages. To get the Advantage of "Resistence (Illness)" perpetually, they've got to make a successful throw against CON with a malus of -30!

61	Resistence (Pain)
This Area is similar to the Area of "Resistence (Torture)", but even more extreme. It resembles a special part of the Area of "Body Awareness" where people are training to extinguish feelings of pain. To get the Advantage of "Resistence (Pain)" perpetually, they've got to make a successful throw against CON with a malus of -30!

62	Resistence (Torture)
This Area is a gigantic torture dungeon. There is no torture tool in Inferno that you can't find here.
The population consists of torturers and tortured, but nobody's forced to stay here - the people change their roles, and they don't feel a perverted lust to torture others or being tortured; it's a kind of performance for them.
The inhabitants will invite the PCs to test their ability to endure pain. If they accept, they'll see that they're able to do so. For every successful throw against CON they'll get in the future (but only in this Area!) a +1-bonus against torture. After that, they'll have to endure harder torture, but if they'll endure a -20-torture, they'll get the Advantage of "Resistence (Torture)" and may go. There's always the risk that the PCs will die because of the torture, if they throw a 20! If that happens, you throw a d20 and subtract the highest malus they had to suffer from. If the result is lower than zero, the character will die.

63	Sixth Sense
This Area is connected with the Lore of Death. And that's the way it looks: Cemetaries, battlefields, military hospitals and other dangerous areas.
Here live the Mortaces, the Primaces of Death. It's quite difficult to communicate with them. The best chance to do that have Sorcerers of Death or other people who've killed other people got to deal with death: Doctors, pathologists, grave-diggers and so on.
Here, the PCs can learn (unconciously) all about dangers. This is going to happen in this manner: They will witness dangerous things happening, and will always survive through very narrow escapes. By this way they'll learn their lesson.

The Neuronites of the Tributes

The Neuronites of the Powers

No, I didn't forget them: They don't exist at all! Tributes and Powers aren't natural parts of the Human Soul, but were mixed into by the supernatural beings (I've written something about that, too), and so there aren't any equivalents to them in the Maze. That's all, folks.

Area of Perception / Body Part: All the Neuronites living here always do the same thing and want to stay here forever and do the same things forever. They always use one and only one of their body parts! So most of them just seem to do a strange kind of gymnastics. The Neuronites of one Area may do different activities (especially in the Area of the hands!), but every single group always does just one activity. They don't know about anything else, they don't understand questions that don't have anything to do with their activity, and they try to convince the PCs to stay here and to dedicate their life to this special activity.
If the PCs will stay here too long, they actually are in danger that they'll become Neuronites (see above).

Special statistics of the Neuronites from there:
Attributes: The bodily attributes (STR, AGL, CON, COM, PER) vary greatly: The Neuronites have one body part (it's that one the Area is connected to) especially developed. For everything they do with this body part, their bodily attributes are treated as if they were at a higher level (20 - 50!)
Skills: Usually their skills that have to do with their special body part are at a high level, too (10 - 50!), maybe lower levels (10 - 75% of the highest) in the skills that are kindred to the highest (Master decides), all their other skills are at level 0 (Basic Skills 3).

Area of Skill: All the Neuronites living here always do the same thing and want to stay here forever and do the same things forever. The Neuronites of one Area may do different activities (especially in the Area of the Computer-Skill!), but every single group always does just one activity. They don't know about anything else, they don't understand questions that don't have anything to do with their activity, and they try to convince the PCs to stay here and to dedicate their life to this special activity.
If the PCs will stay here too long, they actually are in danger that they'll become Neuronites (see above).

Special statistics of the Neuronites from there:
Skills: Usually their skills that have to do with their special body part are at a high level (20 - 50!), maybe lower levels (10 - 75% of the highest) in the skills that are kindred to the highest (Master decides), all their other skills are at level 0 (Basic Skills 3).

Tips for adventures and campaigns in the Maze

The Maze is perfectly fit for GMs who like writing little notes for their players or go into another room with them. That's especially important if the PCs will get a new (dis)advantage (or suffer for a time from it because they've failed their EGO roll). If possible, you shouldn't call the (dis)advantage by its name; better paraphrase it so they won't understand immediately what's going on here.

BTW, I know another alternative Maze for those who think that my Maze isn't difficult enough: Since Inferno got completely mixed up after the disappearance of the Demiurge (see "The Maps of Hell"), the Maze became nothing but chaos since then, too: Its occupants fight each other, everywhere and everytimes. The good guys became bad, too, and the bad guys are much worse than ever.

(Nevertheless, this alternative is unlikely: As you know, the Maze is a part of METROPOLIS, and METROPOLIS exists independently from Space and Time, as you know too. So the Maze should always have looked as it does now, and it will continue to do so. It was just a suggestion.)