I've been thinking about some ideas to add a new dimension to my D&D sessions.  I've seen lots of DMs use real life puzzles and other stuff to add that dimension.  But nowadays everything I see that's DIY seems rather costly.  So i'm reaching out to the community here to bounce some ideas off each other.  I have one or two but would love to hear what some other creative people can come up with.

Love you all and thanks for the help!

I'm a big fan of giving players cryptographic letters and notes and things and having them figure them out to get a little more information on what's happening in the campaign. There are some really cool looking ciphers that you can use to make things a little more flavorful - my favorite is the Pigpen Cipher.

In one of my games, the players came across a young copper dragon who engaged them in a contest of riddles before he would share information about the goings-on in his territory. I drew the riddles from the Spellhold Asylum in Baldur's Gate 2, and asked players to make INT checks to solve them (with advantage to players who could solve the riddle on their own). It was a fun little diversion - not something I would do regularly, but anything to try something new in-game. I know Tomb of Annihilation comes with some similar riddles built-in on handouts.

When I was transitioning from Lost Mines of Phandelver to Storm King's Thunder, I left a few months in-game between in order to let some events unfold organically. The intervening time was left to players as Downtime, and I let them decide what their character would spend their time on and making some limited rolls for success. One obtained the deed for (and refurbished) the local pub, another became a minor Waterdhavian celebrity, and another got bit by a horse trying to learn Animal Handling. It was a nice break between campaigns and let people flesh out their characters, as well as relationships with other characters, without being too concerned about game mechanics.

Quote from ratwhowouldbeking >>

and another got bit by a horse trying to learn Animal Handling.

Quote from Grytley >>

I'm a big fan of giving players cryptographic letters and notes and things and having them figure them out to get a little more information on what's happening in the campaign. There are some really cool looking ciphers that you can use to make things a little more flavorful - my favorite is the Pigpen Cipher.

Something else you can consider is only giving them half the ciphers key, so they have to fill in the rest of it on their own - which may or may not make it more fun for the players. If you're really into making documents for props you could try to find ways to make them differ from other documents to disguise which 'magic word' will let them escape, you know?

For example: There are nine pedestals in a room that are topped with a plaque. Six of the pedestals are golden and engraved with a different school of magic, Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, and Necromancy. One of the remaining three pedestals is destroyed, the pedestal that would contain the school Transmutation. The second of the remaining three pedestals is topped with a shimmering silver plaque that says nothing, but if the players try investigating it with magical means it'll reveal the word Illusion. The pedestal containing the plaque that says Evocation is charred, and further careful investigation of the pedestal reveals that it's magically trapped and will explode into flames when not-carefully tinkered with.

The last pedestal with the last plaque is placed in the center of the circle of pedestals. The plaque asks the players to write down in the tome seated on this pedestal each of the schools of magic. Their words will disappear after they've written each school of magic down and reveal the magic word, let's go with uhhh... 'magic word'.

Have each of the schools of magic written in the Pigpen Cipher, except you only provide them with half of the cipher key - the other half is left a mystery for them to fill in on their own, along with the deciphering of the final word given to them.

Of course you can tinker with this formula more if you want to make it more challenging, but I figured it could throw people for a small loop and steal some of their time. Especially since players love to bicker with each other and make things unnecessarily confusing and time consuming.

I played in a homebrew once and learned this trick from another DM.  If you really want to amplify the stakes of a scene and add some tension to the game, start a timer.

In my game, my players were trapped in a dungeon.  Smoke from some nearby fire was pouring through the halls, but they couldn't see where it was coming from.  They had to escape, but unbeknownst to them the fire was growing and their time was limited.  To kick them into gear I started a timer on my phone and placed it for them all to see on the table.\

"Why is there a timer?" They asked.
"Because you don't have all day." I responded.

Suddenly they were scrambling to find a way out.  What they didn't know is that at certain times I would change what was happening in the dungeon; halls would collapse from the flames, creatures would emerge from the dark, etc.  It was a simple trick that made the game very exciting.

You my friend, just gave me an entire session to play with the minds of my players.  Grytley you're awesome.

Quote from leathrlung >>

 

"Why is there a timer?" They asked.
"Because you don't have all day." I responded.

For my next game I have created an evil NPCS journal filled with notes and scribbles and such, bit have used an invisible ink pen to hide messages and information on some of the pages. Hoping the players (a) find the book and (b) find the magic item that will allow them to read the book. If they find the item I will give them a UV light to read the messages 

I love about an equal balance of role playing, combat and puzzles/traps/special in my games. Something introduced to me way back in the red box days.

So... I might be able to help... I started recording my puzzle ideas and put them on my YouTube channel. I have over 30 videos of D&D 5E Puzzles if you want to take a gander! 

Wally DM - D&D Puzzles

Hope this information helps! 

Quote from Wallydw >>

I love about an equal balance of role playing, combat and puzzles/traps/special in my games. Something introduced to me way back in the red box days.

So... I might be able to help... I started recording my puzzle ideas and put them on my YouTube channel. I have over 30 videos of D&D 5E Puzzles if you want to take a gander! 

Wally DM - D&D Puzzles

Hope this information helps! 

 

I have two player favorites that I am requested to use in almost every dungeon that pops up in my campaigns:

The Chance Well: This one is a HUGE favorite and has a chance of being either beneficial or a detriment.The Players enter a empty room save for a well in the center. On the ledge is a plate with coins. These coins individually bear a profile of each player. Sometimes I set it up that everyone in the group has to play the game before proceeding or have the option to decline the coin. You can relay the instructions to the party in whatever means (a message in writing or a voice from the well) explaining what to do. Each player takes a turn and tosses the coin into the well. Have them roll a d20 or a d10. The DM/GM has a pre-created list of gains/detriments made up. For example, a player rolls a 1, then they lose 10hp permanently or the roll a 6 and gain +2 attributes points they can add to their character.  When making up the list, make sure to make it even- 10 gains/10 detriments or 5 gains/5 detriments.

The Russian Roulette Room: This one is really fun if you are feeling particularly evil as a DM/Gm if you relish is tormenting your players. This also can really shift direction of the campaign, so use with caution. Again, another empty room that is completely white and clean or rough and covered in blood. In the center of the room, on a pedestal is a revolver- *I'll just say it right here, this is an enchanted weapon and fantasy so don't get too technical :)* Again, instruct the players however you want. In this room, everyone HAS to play, including any npc traveling within the group as well, to continue to the next room. In this game, the player rolls again the DM/GM: you both roll a d6, if you roll different numbers then you live. If you both roll the same number....... well instant death. I'm not gonna lie, this is both extremely fun and terrifying at the same time. I staggered this room 3 times throughout a large dungeon.  In the appearance of this room, an npc died. In the second, everyone survived. By the time the group got further throughout the dungeon and arrived to the final appearance of this room, the party had gone through a lot and their nerves were spent. One of my players, who was a main character and had a big story arc was done with this dungeon and this room. He walked straight up to the pedestal and pointed the gun to his head (which I forgot to mention each person has to do) and pulled the trigger. He and I rolled our d6s against each other and..... we both rolled 1s. The shock and hilarity of his reaction and everyone's reaction was priceless. We all still talk about it to this day after almost 6 years. It sucked for both of us, because I had plans for his character later in the campaign and had to completely re-write a bunch of my stuff around him. But man was it still fun and I still throw that room in dungeons every so often.

Quote from LadyCrit >>

I have two player favorites that I am requested to use in almost every dungeon that pops up in my campaigns:

The Chance Well: This one is a HUGE favorite and has a chance of being either beneficial or a detriment.The Players enter a empty room save for a well in the center. On the ledge is a plate with coins. These coins individually bear a profile of each player. Sometimes I set it up that everyone in the group has to play the game before proceeding or have the option to decline the coin. You can relay the instructions to the party in whatever means (a message in writing or a voice from the well) explaining what to do. Each player takes a turn and tosses the coin into the well. Have them roll a d20 or a d10. The DM/GM has a pre-created list of gains/detriments made up. For example, a player rolls a 1, then they lose 10hp permanently or the roll a 6 and gain +2 attributes points they can add to their character.  When making up the list, make sure to make it even- 10 gains/10 detriments or 5 gains/5 detriments.

The Russian Roulette Room: This one is really fun if you are feeling particularly evil as a DM/Gm if you relish is tormenting your players. This also can really shift direction of the campaign, so use with caution. Again, another empty room that is completely white and clean or rough and covered in blood. In the center of the room, on a pedestal is a revolver- *I'll just say it right here, this is an enchanted weapon and fantasy so don't get too technical :)* Again, instruct the players however you want. In this room, everyone HAS to play, including any npc traveling within the group as well, to continue to the next room. In this game, the player rolls again the DM/GM: you both roll a d6, if you roll different numbers then you live. If you both roll the same number....... well instant death. I'm not gonna lie, this is both extremely fun and terrifying at the same time. I staggered this room 3 times throughout a large dungeon.  In the appearance of this room, an npc died. In the second, everyone survived. By the time the group got further throughout the dungeon and arrived to the final appearance of this room, the party had gone through a lot and their nerves were spent. One of my players, who was a main character and had a big story arc was done with this dungeon and this room. He walked straight up to the pedestal and pointed the gun to his head (which I forgot to mention each person has to do) and pulled the trigger. He and I rolled our d6s against each other and..... we both rolled 1s. The shock and hilarity of his reaction and everyone's reaction was priceless. We all still talk about it to this day after almost 6 years. It sucked for both of us, because I had plans for his character later in the campaign and had to completely re-write a bunch of my stuff around him. But man was it still fun and I still throw that room in dungeons every so often.

Quote from Dungeon_Master_Cobalt >>

You my friend, just gave me an entire session to play with the minds of my players.  Grytley you're awesome.

Grytely, this is awesome.  Thanks so much for putting work into making this really dope puzzle.

I did the same thing in my homebrew campaign as the DM! There were a few riddles set up throughout, and I put a timer on just for kicks. There was no other reason, just for fun (and so I could keep track of the time that had passed---one of the riddles did have a time requirement). Watching them scramble and yell at each other and at me, trying to figure out what the answer made my little sadistic DM heart joy.

Nothing bad would've even happened if the timer went out, they solved all the ones that they needed to solve before the timer went out. Priceless.

I've been making my BBEG's puzzle-based boss fights so that they arent just big blocks of HP that do a lot of damage.  It's worked out fairly well so far, especially when combined with (homebrewed) lair actions