From TES issue 41 (September 2006)

Series 6. Level 1.
THE HALL OF CHOICE
Methods of choosing quest objects varied from series to series. In series 1, there were no objects to choose! In series 2 and 3, the quest would usually be awarded by a wall monster. In series 5, the advisors chose their quest verbally before the dungeoneer entered the Dungeon. In series 7 and 8, Treguard simply announced the quest object at the same juncture. These methods are all fairly bland and boring compared to the methods of choice in series 4 and 6, however, as, in these two series, there was a special room in the Dungeon designed for choosing the object of the quest, which each team would have to complete as their first challenge. In series 4, the Place of Choice was used. You can read full details of this in Remember This? in TES issue 14. A similar challenge - this time taking place in the Hall of Choice - was introduced for series 6.

Whereas the Place of Choice offered a selection of two quest objects to pick from, the Hall of Choice offered all four. There were four blue squares spaced out along the edge of a pit, each with one of the quest objects (the Cup, the Crown, the Sword and the Shield) printed on it. There were four doors on the wall opposite these symbols, across the other side of the pit. The advisors had to direct the dungeoneer to stand on the symbol of the quest object they wanted to redeem, whereupon the blue square would light up, and four hexagonal prisms would grate up from the pit, forming a path across to one of the doors. Once the dungeoneer had been taken along this path and had reached the door, the hexagons slid back down into the pit, making a rhythmic grating noise as they did so.

You may think that this sounds like a very simple challenge, and that's because it really was! The Hall of Choice was not designed to confuse or threaten teams, but merely to give them a quick, simple starting challenge to get them in the mood for what was to follow. Despite this, however, one team did experience a bit of trouble with the Hall of Choice. Ironically enough, it was Ben's winning team who had the most trouble directing their dungeoneer to stand on the square they wanted, and Ben was subjected to some awkward instructions before he finally managed to stand in the right place. However, this made no difference to the outcome of the quest, which just goes to show that the Hall of Choice was not a real challenge, but rather a nice visual way to start off quests.

Despite my generally positive feelings towards this room, there is one thing about the Hall of Choice that has always annoyed me. Once Ben had redeemed the Crown, I was expecting the Crown symbol to disappear from the choice of paths, as, in previous series, quest objects had no longer been available for other teams to quest for, once they had been redeemed. This time, however, the symbol remained, and Sofia was able to choose the quest for the Crown bare minutes after Ben had redeemed the thing! What's the point of dungeoneers bringing these things back for Treguard if he goes and puts them straight back where they came from? Still, I mustn't dwell on that, because it isn't worth getting upset about. Well, not really...
Difficulty: 2 A very simple starter.
Killer Instinct: 0 Never in a million years!
Gore Factor: 3 There was a nasty drop on offer.
Fairness: 10 An easy challenge, and a nice way to start off the quest.

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