Fighting the deadly gelatinous cube.

You’re exploring a monster-haunted ruin. You open the door, and see a mostly dark room lined with weapons. In the center, several weapons are inexplicably floating in midair. What do you do?

What you DON’T do is stick your arm in and try to get the weapons.

Yes, my character did that recently. The result? Paralyzed and taking damage from the gelatinous cube inhabiting the room.

A gelatinous cube is like a giant ice cube, but it’s made of some, uh, gelatinous material. It ingests hapless (read, stupid) adventurers, leaving the metal bits to entice other equally hapless wanderers.

The story had a happy ending. My fellow adventurers slew the creature before it killed me.

That cautionary tale gives you some idea of what happens in the purest form of fantasy game, the dungeon crawl. Adventurers explore from one chamber to another in some deserted setting—ruins, dungeons, sewers or similar dangerous realms—kill monsters, and take their stuff.

What would you have done if you’d seen floating weaponry? Comment below!