Hey all. I've been thinking about this, and thought I'd raise it to see if DM's have ideas that I may not have thought of.

Puzzles.

They're a time honored tradition in Dungeons and Dragons. You get to a door. It has no visible opening, nor lock. But you know it's here. You knock thrice. Take 2 steps to the right. Knock thrice again. Answer the riddle that's carved on the door, close your eyes and wait until the Raven crows. Then you strike the door with an olive bra..... You get the idea.

But I really struggle with puzzles for a couple of reasons.

1: What mad bastard set a door up to open in such a convoluted nonsensical way. Do your puzzles need to make sense storywise, or you just love throwing them in there?

2: DM: Riddle me this.. PC: Uh........... When your players simply can't get it right, what then? Do you use puzzles sort of like dice rolls? Never use them when it's the only way forward, only when it would unlock a perk/benefit/shortcut?

If the PCs don't get it, they don't get it. The world don't stop because you can't get through one door.

I usually let them have multiple ways to solve it. Like if they figure out the pattern, they get through, but if not they still get through, but they’ll take some damage on the way. Maybe blurring the line between a puzzle and an obvious trap. 

I sometimes do it just to break things up and have something to do that isn’t combat or RP. Not often, just to add a little spice. 

I use puzzles sparingly, but as a way to break up a dungeon so it's not all "Go in this room. Fight this thing. Wash, rinse, repeat."

My latest use of puzzles was in a one shot where players chose a path out of a possible three. First door had a brain engraved on it (all puzzles), one door had a sword engraving (all fights), and the last door had both (mix of combat and puzzles).

I actually like a couple of the puzzles in the Acquisitions Inc. book. They're sort of a "if you figure out what to do with these runes over here, you can shut down the combat encounter in this room." If not, you can still fight your way through.

Quote from Maestrino >>

I actually like a couple of the puzzles in the Acquisitions Inc. book. They're sort of a "if you figure out what to do with these runes over here, you can shut down the combat encounter in this room." If not, you can still fight your way through.

 
Adding a puzzle element to a combat encounter to make it easier is a great way to avoid combat fatigue! Noted!

I'm running an Egyptian themed game, and as such the idea of puzzles and traps is prolific. 

I have a problem with most puzzles though, they don't make sense. Why would there be these convoluted mechanics put in place simply so you could go from room A to room D.

In one of the latest puzzle/traps I had my party end up in, I used a bunch of gemstones, all carved in a specific manner to fit inside a hole. They worked like keys to the mechanism and depending on the gemstone that was inserted, different effects would occur. There was fire gouts, creatures loosed from hidden alcoves, and a few other things. The proper gemstone opened up a passage to a different room where everything was identical to the previous, however it was mirrored and everything was gilded in gold. The room was also covered in hieroglyphs which told a story that challenged many social beliefs in the game. 

Being that this was a hidden shrine, it held information that was challenging everything the players knew, and had a room full of gold, that type of puzzle/trap made sense. However, if I'm just trying to get to the last half of a dungeon and the gatekeeper is a riddle/puzzle that is disassociated to the location...it really throws me off. 

I can think of a few reasons puzzles might exist in your game word. 

1: They were built by an eccentric who really liked puzzles. 

2: The puzzle's creator likes to watch people challenge his creation. 

3: The puzzle exists to determine if someone is capable of handling or worthy of, whatever is on the other side. 

I very much dislike the traditional dungeon puzzle, for the very reason quoted in the OP: in any semi-plausible alternate reality, the existence of a semi-randomly placed abstract puzzle makes zero sense. They destroy verisimilitude, and I find them extremely juvenile.

I think puzzles exist traditionally because of The Lord of the Rings - specifically the secret doors into the Lonely Mountain, and into the Mines of Moira. I think the situation was made worse by Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Some classes of puzzle make sense - but I find that most examples of puzzles that people put in their adventures are often out-of-context, abstract, nonsense. In adventure design - in my experience - DMs and Designers confuse Obstacles , Security Barriers, and Abstract Puzzles.

An Obstacle is something that naturally blocks the Party's progression and for which the solution for bypassing it isn't immediately obvious. An example of that would be a vertical shaft in the sewers, with the water flow going through a grate, and a couple of handy barrels of repair supplies for the workmen nearby. This isn't some silly abstract puzzle plunked down by a rich eccentric wizard - this is a plausibly occuring blockage, but a clever Party can use the resources in the local environment to "hack" ( that is, manipulate the tools and objects in the environment in ways not originally envisioned by the designers ) the situation to bypass the blockage to their progression.

A Security Barrier  is something that deliberately blocks the Party's progress, unless they can show some token ( like a key, or a password ), or pass a Test of Kind ( magic door only opens for Elves ), a Test of Quality ( the passage to the Thieves' Guild headquarters in the sewers is guarded by a series of locked, trapped doors - if you are skilled enough to bypass them, you probably belong), or a Test of Knowledge ( although, if you're a member of the  Thieves' Guild, you've been told of the secret door down the corridor. It's got a guard with a crossbow just inside, but you should know about the door, and be recognized by the guard, if you're a member). They are meant to filter access through the barrier, and make sense "in world". Often they are trapped if you fail to solve them, and such traps are meant to alert whoever is guarding the area, capture, or kill - and they do this efficiently.

Unfortunately, many DMs and Designers go for the Abstract Puzzle - which is often totally divorced from the context of the Dungeon, has no in-world rationale, and exists solely to give the Party something to do, or to pit the DM's wits against the parties. Often they are only solvable with some implausibly obtained external clue ( the note on the dead guard that just happens to be in the room down the corridor ), or some item in the room ( good thing no one ever stole that magical fire resistant cloak it in the intervening centuries! ), or are completely impractical ( seriously? You make every guard patrol dance the Watusi, sing Auld Lang Syne, and moon the statue, every time they pass through here?!?! ). 

 As for using Obstacles and Security Barriers - I agree with many people here that they should not halt the adventure if the Party fails to solve them.

I like placing shortcuts, optional side quests, treasure, and additional Party resources behind these - but there still should be an alternate ( and much harder ) way to continue adventuring.

Quote from Vedexent >>

( seriously? You make every guard patrol dance the Watusi, sing Auld Lang Syne, and moon the statue, every time they pass through here?!?! ). 

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 How else is the party going to learn how to get in if they don't watch that ritual? Of course because "password" is so old nobody remembers that only facing the door backwards is required.