I’m interested in knowing what kind of puzzles others have put in their campaigns, I’ve been playing with players I haven’t played with before and they’ve been telling me that my puzzle style is different from other DMs, so what kinds of puzzles does everyone else do? Puzzles are fun, so they are a big part of my campaigns.
Can you provide a bit of context? What kind of puzzles are you inserting, that your players are saying are different? Are they saying it in a negative way? Or is it just an observation.
Also remember, while you say they're fun - not everyone enjoys puzzles - so your carefully crafted, riddle-filled, mind-bending, tomb of ancient tricks, traps, and trials might not go down well with players that just want to get to the part where they can hit stuff with their sword.
For me... I like puzzles in the easy to moderate range. I'm not a fan of puzzles that are difficult or require intense math skills. I want the players to succeed and at the end of the game think to themselves "that was cool!".
Examples of puzzles that I do are "lock and key puzzles". Finding objects taking them to another area and using them to complete a puzzle or unlock a door...
Some of my most famous are the Prismatic Owl... the adventurers gather different colored gemstones and replace the gems in the Prismatic Owl to open different doors.
Door of the Stone Hand. One of the players must have their hand turned to stone and use it to open a door
Magic Mouth... the characters are given clues of food/drink and must use their sense of taste to solve the puzzle.
Hope that helps!
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I have a YouTube channel with 5th Edition D&D Puzzles, Character Creations, DM Tips and Quests ideas. Check it out!
To be honest, I'm not a big fan of puzzles in my games, since they tend to stall the game while one or two players puzzle and the rest mentally check out. If I do include a puzzle, it'll be (1) a nice quick riddle or logic game and (2) inessential to solving the dungeon (though it might help avoid a trap or unlock another route). Really, I'm at the table to slay dragons and roleplay the heck out of a character, so when my game gets stalled by a puzzle, I feel just as trapped as the characters! If your players are more thinking types, though, feel free to go all Mensa on them...just make sure they expect it first!
I do the same kind, my players aren’t too interested in math, but they enjoy puzzles. I give them puzzles that make sense as to why they have to do the puzzles and who set up the puzzles, and it gets them through. Apparently before their groups were less puzzle heavy, but they were essential and harder.
In my current campaign they had to solve a puzzle of killing monsters in a certain order (rainbow order based on the clothes they are wearing) a little bit after a prophet told them that color would be essential in their tasks. I make sure they have a hint about the puzzle from something else and I’m not throwing them in blindly.
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I’m interested in knowing what kind of puzzles others have put in their campaigns, I’ve been playing with players I haven’t played with before and they’ve been telling me that my puzzle style is different from other DMs, so what kinds of puzzles does everyone else do? Puzzles are fun, so they are a big part of my campaigns.
Can you provide a bit of context? What kind of puzzles are you inserting, that your players are saying are different? Are they saying it in a negative way? Or is it just an observation.
Also remember, while you say they're fun - not everyone enjoys puzzles - so your carefully crafted, riddle-filled, mind-bending, tomb of ancient tricks, traps, and trials might not go down well with players that just want to get to the part where they can hit stuff with their sword.
So what is your puzzle style?
For me... I like puzzles in the easy to moderate range. I'm not a fan of puzzles that are difficult or require intense math skills. I want the players to succeed and at the end of the game think to themselves "that was cool!".
Examples of puzzles that I do are "lock and key puzzles". Finding objects taking them to another area and using them to complete a puzzle or unlock a door...
Some of my most famous are the Prismatic Owl... the adventurers gather different colored gemstones and replace the gems in the Prismatic Owl to open different doors.
Door of the Stone Hand. One of the players must have their hand turned to stone and use it to open a door
Magic Mouth... the characters are given clues of food/drink and must use their sense of taste to solve the puzzle.
Hope that helps!
I have a YouTube channel with 5th Edition D&D Puzzles, Character Creations, DM Tips and Quests ideas. Check it out!
Wally DM on YouTube
To be honest, I'm not a big fan of puzzles in my games, since they tend to stall the game while one or two players puzzle and the rest mentally check out. If I do include a puzzle, it'll be (1) a nice quick riddle or logic game and (2) inessential to solving the dungeon (though it might help avoid a trap or unlock another route). Really, I'm at the table to slay dragons and roleplay the heck out of a character, so when my game gets stalled by a puzzle, I feel just as trapped as the characters! If your players are more thinking types, though, feel free to go all Mensa on them...just make sure they expect it first!
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
I do the same kind, my players aren’t too interested in math, but they enjoy puzzles. I give them puzzles that make sense as to why they have to do the puzzles and who set up the puzzles, and it gets them through. Apparently before their groups were less puzzle heavy, but they were essential and harder.
In my current campaign they had to solve a puzzle of killing monsters in a certain order (rainbow order based on the clothes they are wearing) a little bit after a prophet told them that color would be essential in their tasks. I make sure they have a hint about the puzzle from something else and I’m not throwing them in blindly.