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RUBIKON TESTING GROUNDS
Rubikon is an artificial dungeon set up by Modrons to find out what attracts people to dungeons. Unfortunately, something's gone wrong here and you will have to help the modrons set things straight. But first you have to find your way to Rubikon, and then you will have to find the right modron to speak to.
The dungeon is artificial, and the monsters are artificial constructs. When killed they drop random treasure; mostly the usual generic rings, earrings, bracelets and weapons which can be taken back to Sigil and sold off to merchants. Other things are useless; like "A Clue", "A Magical Item", etc. (Rubikon is essentially a computer game within a computer game. Just as you can't sell items from Planescape: Torment at you local grocer, so you can't sell items from Rubikon in Sigil). And a few things are more valuable:
As you can see, Rubikon is an endless source of experience and money. If you fight your way through enough mazes, you should gather enough jink to last you to the end of the game.
In addition to money and experience, Rubikon also has a new joinable NPC, Nordom. To find him, you have to set the maze to "Hard" (please see below) and find Nordom's room in the maze.
If you need to sleep, you can rest in the Reception Room.
For all mazes, be aware that the maze rooms may have random traps in the floors. These traps are normally rather harmless but in a hard maze with several High Threat Constructs and your NPC's running around everywhere, a Force Missile trap that goes off several times can be a major pain!
To get to Rubikon you have to first buy the Modron toy in the Curiosity Shoppe in Clerk's Ward. Take the toy to the Modrons in the Brothel of Slating Intellectual Lusts and ask them what it is to learn that it is probably some sort of portable portal. You can now use the toy from your inventory to manipulate it and look for some sort of effect. Manipulate the limbs in the following order:
You will be teleported to Rubikon's reception room where you find a not very communicative Modron.
The toy will only take you to Rubikon from somewhere in Sigil. It can't be used outside Sigil.
Note: Besides transporting you to Rubikon, the toy can also be used to taunt Morte to no end by playing with it. When you put the toy away, Morte will shake his head. Pretend to "speak" to the cube to tease Morte. The ensuing dialog is beyond hilarious! Taunting Morte also makes you more Chaotic.
Finally, towards the end of the game the toy can be used to acquire one of the best weapons in the game. More about this in Act 9.
To get back from Rubikon, you have to find your way through the first maze to the Engineering Room. Once here, speak to the Modron in the middle of the room (the other Modrons provide no useful information). Explore all conversation paths to learn why Rubikon was set up, and that the project has been halted after an "incident" where the director disappeared. You have little choice, so offer to become the new director! Then ask the Engineer to reset the dungeon.
You can now ask the Engineer to set up a dungeon for you to explore. Ask it to set up an easy, normal, or high difficulty maze if you feel like killing some more Constructs.
Ask what Rubikon is capable of to learn of the portal lens. You can now ask the Engineer to return you to a number of places in Sigil.
Finally, don't forget to ask about dangers associated with Rubikon. He will warn you not to leave party members or important items behind in the maze, as they will be irrevocably lost if the maze is then reset. (As a matter of fact you can't reform your party in the maze, except for the two special locations in the Hard Maze!)
This is the Modron you need to speak to
Once the maze has been reset and a new maze created, the Reception Room will always be between the Engineering Room and the maze.
The first time you enter Rubikon, you will arrive at the Reception Room. To find the Engineering Room, you will have to fight your way through a not very difficult maze.
The Reception Room is where you arrive.
Each of the Maze Rooms has 1-3 Light Threat Constructs. They will enter a brief conversation and then turn hostile. They live up to their names by only posing a light threat. And some of their conversation is way hilarious!
The Engineering Room is the place you should aim for. Speak to the Modron in the middle as described above; the other Modrons are of little use to you.
An easy maze consists of 16 rooms ordered in a 4x4 grid. Each room has 1-3 Low Threat Constructs. All rooms can be reached from the maze entrance in the Reception Room and usually there are no "loops" in the maze structure, meaning that there is exactly one way to reach any room in the maze from the Reception.
An easy maze is a quick way to gather some low-level treasure and, if you're lucky, a few of the pricier items.
A normal maze has 36 rooms in a 6x6 grid. Each room has 1-3 Medium Threat Constructs that are basically upgraded Low Threat Constructs. They deal out a bit more damage and last longer but are not particularly difficult.
Like the easy maze, the normal maze is a way to gather some good treasure and some battle experience.
The easy maze was easy, the normal maze was less easy, and the hard maze is ... NOT easy! In fact, it is very hard! So bring a lot of healing charms, and don't forget that you can slink back to the Reception Room to rest if your party should get too badly beaten up.
A hard maze consists of an 8x8 grid. It has 61 maze rooms with 1-3 High Threat Constructs. In addition there are two Special Rooms: Nordom's Room where you will find Nordom, a joinable NPC, and the Wizard's Den, where you will meet the Evil Wizard Construct and no less than six High Threat Constructs. The Wizard's Den takes up two spaces, which is why the maze only has a total of 63 rooms.
Wizard's Den
This room is always entered from the entrance to the upper right in a maze room and takes up two places above each other. When you enter the Wizard's Den, the Evil Wizard Construct will initiate dialog. Before fighting him, I suggest that you explore as many conversation paths as possible. You will learn that the wizard was constructed to be the "Boss" of the maze but that he became self-aware, killed the director and tried to flee, only to be trapped in stasis when the dungeon collapsed upon itself.
He will also tell you that since Rubikon was created in the plane of Limbo, the chaos of this plane has seeped into the minds of the Modrons so they are no longer really Modrons – they have got a bit of chaos into themselves and are going rogue.
It will soon become apparent that the conversation can only end in hostilities. Once the conversation ends, the Wizard and the six High Threat Constructs will attack you. Your first priority should be to take out the Wizard before he can cast any of his spells; Mechanus Cannon can be particularly annoying.
The High Threat Constructs drop the usual treasure. The Evil Wizard drops:
Map Key
Nordom's Room
This room is entered from the exit to the left and up in a maze room. You find yourself in what looks like an ordinary maze room, except that the left half of the room seems to have been ... eaten away by some green stuff. In fact, what has happened is that the room is being consumed by the chaos matter of the plane of Limbo, falling back into chaos.
Something else that is going Chaotic is the Modron in this room. He is identified as "Nordom" but he doesn't really have an identity – yet! Speak to him to learn that he is a modron gone rogue. What has happened is that he has been infected with chaos and is no longer a part of the common source of all Modrons. When you conclude that he is a "Backwards Modron", he will take the name "Nordom" ("Modron" spelled backwards).
You will then have the opportunity to identify yourself to Nordom, either by telling him your name is "Adahn", or by telling the truth, that you don't really have a name.
As you try to break conversation, Nordom offers to join you. I always let Nordom tag along; he is an excellent fighter, wields dual crossbows (giving him the only ranged weapons in the game), and can be upgraded in a number of ways (for details, please see his Character Sheet).
Map Key
