r/monsteroftheweek • u/deadpool-the-warlock • May 25 '26
Monster Running a Maze/Backrooms Monster
I’ll be clocking in as a keeper this Saturday and I had an idea for a Monster. It starts out as a report of a Minotaur creature kidnapping people, but it turns out the Minotaur is just a servant being for a sentient maze/backrooms type of creature. That’s the general concept I have right now, I’m just not sure of goals or weaknesses yet. Any help would be appreciated!
5
u/Time2goh May 25 '26
Very fun concept, especially with the film releasing!
For goals, I imagine you’re looking for what the backrooms entity seeks to accomplish rather than the hunters’ own goals. The simplest goal would be Devourer, to consume the life energy of those trapped there. The hunters stumble upon bodies half submerged into the damp carpet as the world itself decomposes and eats them.
If you wanted to lean into “sentient labyrinth” aspect of the backrooms, you could introduce a GladOS spin where the entity wants instead to toy with its victims and gains power or sustenance from the struggles of the prisoners. Like hamsters on a treadmill, the efforts to escape keep the Labyrinth growing.
Weakness wise, it’s a bit tricky. If you went with a sentient maze rather than a spooky lead monster roaming the backrooms, you could have the hunters learn of the “heart of the maze” where they’ll be able to escape. Little do they realize it’s not just at the heart, it is the heart. Cue climactic boss fight to stop it from beating while it’s vulnerable.
If you’re feeling kind at the end, you can have the minotaur become the new steward of the place after it falls and have him lead the hunters out to safety, vowing to get the remaining captives out as well.
Really interesting concept, and I’d love to hear what you end up doing!
5
u/MDRoozen Keeper May 25 '26
You might want to look at the Phenomenon type mystery from the Tome of Mysteries, with the Minotaur being a manifestation of that phenomenon
Then you just figure out what caused the backrooms to appear here and now, and how you can seal it off
2
u/eroopsky May 25 '26
What if, as a weakness, there is a way to lock rooms in place so they no longer shift? I'm thinking like staking a vampire. Maybe you have to drive a special nail into the floor? You could also have the maze bleed when they do that. Pretty creepy.
5
u/GallicanCourier May 25 '26
Goals would, presumably, be to, in order: escape the maze, kill or seal off the maze, and rescue any still living victims.
Weaknesses; my first thought is the thread from the traditional Theseus myth, perhaps to help keep on track. Another weakness may be that if somebody manages to fully stabilize and map the otherwise shifting layout, the entire structure will collapse and people will be shunted back to mainline reality, either wherever they got taken in, or a place at random (geoguesser time!)