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Technology for Mapping the Underground?
Archon-X asks: "As an avid CaveClanner, I spend my spare time sloshing around underground in drains, and have more than once considered 'mapping' the drains. How would readers approach this problem? Mobile reception and presumably GPS is non-existent, and it's pretty dark and wet down there."
Pen, paper & flashlight.
Hey, don't forget your dice! Last time I let you borrowed mine, you stole my silver-speckled 20-sided die!
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
To map a maze of twisty passages, all alike:
What you'll need: Pen and paper, and lots of objects (at least one for every room).
What to do: Drop an object in the first room, which we'll call room #1. Make a note of what object you dropped in room #1 (let's say it's a sword). Put a '1' on the paper, with eight lines coming out at the compass points. Pick one at random (let's say north) and go that way.
You'll be in another room, which we'll call room 2. Drop another object (say, a bell), and make a note. Put a '2' on the paper, with eight lines coming out at the compass points. Finally, put a little '2' next to the line from room 1 you used to get here (in this case, north). You now know that going north from room 1 leads to room 2. Pick another direction (say, north again), and continue.
If you end up in a room without an object, it's a new room, and you repeat the instructions above. If it's a room containing an object you dropped, then you just need to make a note on the appropriate line from the old room. Pretty soon, you'll have the whole maze mapped.
Unless the thief comes by and picks up some of your objects. That'll mess you up. I recommend killing him first.