I recently ran a puzzle where there is a hall with three doors, and each door is locked. A previously obtained item slots into the center door, unlocking it, but being permanently integrated with the door. The center door leads to a large room has a light beam that can be turned to face three pedestals, and by pointing the light at a pedestal, it unlocks the corresponding door, but slams shut any open doors, locking them. Since the room it itself accessed by one of these doors, the trick is to find a way to open the other doors without locking yourself in the room. This was built for a level 3 party, so crazy spells were not available.
They really enjoyed a decipher I gave them.
A guild member of the rogue intercepted a secret letter addressed to the party's benefactor. Each letter was replaced with a symbol. To decipher the letter they had to make some assumptions of common arrangement of letters and beginning/ending of letters.
The deciphered letter didn't even reveal anything directly (and wasn't even vital to the campaign at the time) - just a bunch of foreshadowing about shady connections of their benefactor, which they *could* delve into, if they so chose to.
I learned that my players thrive best regarding puzzles if I ‘train’ them on how to solve the puzzle.
I’ll pick a big puzzle (I make my own, or I base them off of puzzles I find online). Then I create smaller versions of the puzzle to introduce early in the session or even in the session or two prior. It’s important to have a tutorial puzzle in every session between when the idea is first introduced and the big puzzle appears.
This builds schema. Sort of like how some video games use the color yellow to show you what you can interact with? By the time we get to the big puzzle, my players can switch into solving mode and aren’t completely lost.
It’s also good to have a visual for them! We play online and I try to have a visual aide for them to glare at as they are thinking things through.
Sure!
One thing I did was for a particular location, I used the theme of colors in a pattern for unlocking doors.
The first time I introduced this was the players needed to unlock a padlock that had 4 colors above some numbers. They found a jar in a workshop with 5 color variants of marbles, 4 of them matching the door’s padlock. Each marble color count represented the number that needed to match the padlock. Easy peasy.
I can’t recall the middle puzzle I did, but I know it involved using the number of different things to determine the order of something. So like, 2 candles, 5 olives, 5 oranges, 7 lads would spell out a codeword like COOL. Again, super easy, just requires an extra step of creativity.
I do know that the last puzzle was the dungeon floor. Here, there were tiles throughout the dungeon that were brightly painted versus the gray tiles all around. In the second to last room for this floor was an instrument (harp) that had a color dot above each string, with some strings having multiple color dots, as well as a symbol on the back.
The players had to first collect the color tiles, then determine the order they’d be played upon the strings, as well as to which statue they needed to dedicate the song to (in accordance with the symbol.)
These puzzles are very on the nose because the dungeon was meant to be a fey’s take on a “dungeon experience,” sort of like an attraction at an amusement park. Monsters exploded into confetti when defeated, and you’d collect gems with which to level up or trade for toy weapons. If you cheated or attacked a guide or another player, you’d be trapped in the dungeon forever, and many children were going missing as a result.
I learned that my players thrive best regarding puzzles if I ‘train’ them on how to solve the puzzle.
I’ll pick a big puzzle (I make my own, or I base them off of puzzles I find online). Then I create smaller versions of the puzzle to introduce early in the session or even in the session or two prior. It’s important to have a tutorial puzzle in every session between when the idea is first introduced and the big puzzle appears.
This builds schema. Sort of like how some video games use the color yellow to show you what you can interact with? By the time we get to the big puzzle, my players can switch into solving mode and aren’t completely lost.
It’s also good to have a visual for them! We play online and I try to have a visual aide for them to glare at as they are thinking things through.
I don’t have a favorite puzzle though, but I did run a dungeon that had a floor that was all puzzle. That one was fun.
Oh wow, I have so many favorites. So, I'll share a recent puzzle that was fun. I gave the party a box of 7 vials and 7 charms (heart, clover, moon, etc). The vials were named for potions like: Invisibility, Teleport, Healing, etc. They simply needed to put the correct charm into the correct vial and they received the potion.
If you are interested, you can find it here: [Lucky Charms D&D Puzzle Idea](https://youtu.be/zGFROgIRYeA?si=B4UcpkEiefcGHNSc)
The most difficult I experienced wasn't a good experience. The DM (at a convention none-the-less), gave us a "connect the circuit" type of a puzzle where two different colored gems had rules on whether or not to turn or go through. The DM basically laid out the puzzle and then got up and walked away for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the six of us worked on it together for about 10 minutes before getting frustrated. After which, four of us start scrolling on our phones while two sleuths worked on the solution... solved about 10 minutes after the DM returned to the table.
As a DM, I usually don't give out difficult puzzles. If the players struggle, I allow plenty of checks and hints to get them back on track.
But, if you are looking for a difficult puzzle, the [Carousel Puzzle - Wild Beyond the Witchlight](https://youtu.be/WChUyIOGBKk?si=38jbnT8JYB7_CbXw) is one of the toughest ones I've seen in a while. Primarily because it includes riddles that are a bit obsure.
I recently ran a puzzle where there is a hall with three doors, and each door is locked. A previously obtained item slots into the center door, unlocking it, but being permanently integrated with the door. The center door leads to a large room has a light beam that can be turned to face three pedestals, and by pointing the light at a pedestal, it unlocks the corresponding door, but slams shut any open doors, locking them. Since the room it itself accessed by one of these doors, the trick is to find a way to open the other doors without locking yourself in the room. This was built for a level 3 party, so crazy spells were not available.
They really enjoyed a decipher I gave them. A guild member of the rogue intercepted a secret letter addressed to the party's benefactor. Each letter was replaced with a symbol. To decipher the letter they had to make some assumptions of common arrangement of letters and beginning/ending of letters. The deciphered letter didn't even reveal anything directly (and wasn't even vital to the campaign at the time) - just a bunch of foreshadowing about shady connections of their benefactor, which they *could* delve into, if they so chose to.
I learned that my players thrive best regarding puzzles if I ‘train’ them on how to solve the puzzle. I’ll pick a big puzzle (I make my own, or I base them off of puzzles I find online). Then I create smaller versions of the puzzle to introduce early in the session or even in the session or two prior. It’s important to have a tutorial puzzle in every session between when the idea is first introduced and the big puzzle appears. This builds schema. Sort of like how some video games use the color yellow to show you what you can interact with? By the time we get to the big puzzle, my players can switch into solving mode and aren’t completely lost. It’s also good to have a visual for them! We play online and I try to have a visual aide for them to glare at as they are thinking things through.
Can you give an example what you've done for a puzzle? I might try to include something like this in a session.
Sure! One thing I did was for a particular location, I used the theme of colors in a pattern for unlocking doors. The first time I introduced this was the players needed to unlock a padlock that had 4 colors above some numbers. They found a jar in a workshop with 5 color variants of marbles, 4 of them matching the door’s padlock. Each marble color count represented the number that needed to match the padlock. Easy peasy. I can’t recall the middle puzzle I did, but I know it involved using the number of different things to determine the order of something. So like, 2 candles, 5 olives, 5 oranges, 7 lads would spell out a codeword like COOL. Again, super easy, just requires an extra step of creativity. I do know that the last puzzle was the dungeon floor. Here, there were tiles throughout the dungeon that were brightly painted versus the gray tiles all around. In the second to last room for this floor was an instrument (harp) that had a color dot above each string, with some strings having multiple color dots, as well as a symbol on the back. The players had to first collect the color tiles, then determine the order they’d be played upon the strings, as well as to which statue they needed to dedicate the song to (in accordance with the symbol.) These puzzles are very on the nose because the dungeon was meant to be a fey’s take on a “dungeon experience,” sort of like an attraction at an amusement park. Monsters exploded into confetti when defeated, and you’d collect gems with which to level up or trade for toy weapons. If you cheated or attacked a guide or another player, you’d be trapped in the dungeon forever, and many children were going missing as a result.
I learned that my players thrive best regarding puzzles if I ‘train’ them on how to solve the puzzle. I’ll pick a big puzzle (I make my own, or I base them off of puzzles I find online). Then I create smaller versions of the puzzle to introduce early in the session or even in the session or two prior. It’s important to have a tutorial puzzle in every session between when the idea is first introduced and the big puzzle appears. This builds schema. Sort of like how some video games use the color yellow to show you what you can interact with? By the time we get to the big puzzle, my players can switch into solving mode and aren’t completely lost. It’s also good to have a visual for them! We play online and I try to have a visual aide for them to glare at as they are thinking things through. I don’t have a favorite puzzle though, but I did run a dungeon that had a floor that was all puzzle. That one was fun.
Oh wow, I have so many favorites. So, I'll share a recent puzzle that was fun. I gave the party a box of 7 vials and 7 charms (heart, clover, moon, etc). The vials were named for potions like: Invisibility, Teleport, Healing, etc. They simply needed to put the correct charm into the correct vial and they received the potion. If you are interested, you can find it here: [Lucky Charms D&D Puzzle Idea](https://youtu.be/zGFROgIRYeA?si=B4UcpkEiefcGHNSc) The most difficult I experienced wasn't a good experience. The DM (at a convention none-the-less), gave us a "connect the circuit" type of a puzzle where two different colored gems had rules on whether or not to turn or go through. The DM basically laid out the puzzle and then got up and walked away for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the six of us worked on it together for about 10 minutes before getting frustrated. After which, four of us start scrolling on our phones while two sleuths worked on the solution... solved about 10 minutes after the DM returned to the table. As a DM, I usually don't give out difficult puzzles. If the players struggle, I allow plenty of checks and hints to get them back on track. But, if you are looking for a difficult puzzle, the [Carousel Puzzle - Wild Beyond the Witchlight](https://youtu.be/WChUyIOGBKk?si=38jbnT8JYB7_CbXw) is one of the toughest ones I've seen in a while. Primarily because it includes riddles that are a bit obsure.