Friends and I are getting together to do a weekend of just one-shots and such. We're each taking a turn DMing, but friends are requesting to do a game that is less fighting and more thinking. I was considering a run of Tomb of Horrors from Tales from the Yawning Portal, but that requires pretty high level characters and a lot more time than I think we'd be willing to dedicate to it. Anyone know of anything similar to this but on a smaller and shorter to run scale? Most of them are new to 5e, so I'm hoping for something we can just... dive right into.
My friends and I all take turns DMing as well, so I’m very fond of short adventures.
I recently ran The Bandits Nest by Dan Coleman as a one shot. I loved the way it was put together. I read it twice (skimmed actually) and was ready to play. It’s not puzzle heavy though there were tricky monsters to figure out. I thought it was great for a no-prep one shot.
Another one shot I did was a One Page Dungeon by Dyson Logos, Goblin Gully. It did require a little prep as it is written system agnostic. It had a secret door and I knew the party had no rogues. I wanted to create an alternative way to find the secret door. I turned one of the rooms into a “magic riddle room” where a riddle was written on the wall. If they solved the riddle a key would appear, that would allow them to open the secret door. I got the riddle by searching for riddles on the internet.
if you are willing to put in a little work, I recommend checking out one page dungeons. There are hundreds of them and many are works of art. It’s easy to supplement them with additional materials like puzzles. Another fun resource is “5 room dungeons”, not sure if that’s on the DMs Guild, but the idea is that each adventure should have 5 types of encounters, one being a puzzle.
The biggest challenge in riddles in my mind is PC vs player, who solves it? Part of the fun for my group is figuring out the puzzle, so I have to give a little license when a player is great with puzzles and he’s playing a PC that might not be. Or what if the players can’t figure it out? Then do I let the PC’s make skill checks to solve? I haven’t tried introducing a physical puzzle yet, but I think my players would dig it if I could come up with some cool puzzle prop. Anyhow just musing. Hope you have a wonderful session.
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"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." – William Gibson, Neuromancer
@SpunkyWyvern - I have a few puzzle idea threads I follow already on reddit and the like, so finding those wouldn't be an issue. I mostly wanted something pre structured.
@Budapest- I will definitely take a look into those! It would be good to have some options, and putting some work into it to fit my means or the party will be something I can muse on during the drive(hurray 12 hour drive to the mountains). Thank you for your awesome suggestions, One Page Dungeons was not a thing I even knew existed!
I'm currently adapting Whispers in the Dark, an Adventures League adventure in ToA. I stripped the adventure down to the puzzle and the ruins in order to make it work in my campaign. I highly recommend this adventure. The puzzle in the lost city is relatively easy—the adventure is optimized for Level 3 characters—but the time factor adds a layer of suspense.
Also, you might consider running a live Escape Room adventure, in which you place clues throughout the designated "area" your players play in real time. Clues lead to more clues, lead to more puzzles. The Escape Room is timed. You can "reset" the ER or you can loop it back. It's loads of fun!
Friends and I are getting together to do a weekend of just one-shots and such. We're each taking a turn DMing, but friends are requesting to do a game that is less fighting and more thinking. I was considering a run of Tomb of Horrors from Tales from the Yawning Portal, but that requires pretty high level characters and a lot more time than I think we'd be willing to dedicate to it. Anyone know of anything similar to this but on a smaller and shorter to run scale? Most of them are new to 5e, so I'm hoping for something we can just... dive right into.
Do you want puzzle ideas?
My friends and I all take turns DMing as well, so I’m very fond of short adventures.
I recently ran The Bandits Nest by Dan Coleman as a one shot. I loved the way it was put together. I read it twice (skimmed actually) and was ready to play. It’s not puzzle heavy though there were tricky monsters to figure out. I thought it was great for a no-prep one shot.
Another one shot I did was a One Page Dungeon by Dyson Logos, Goblin Gully. It did require a little prep as it is written system agnostic. It had a secret door and I knew the party had no rogues. I wanted to create an alternative way to find the secret door. I turned one of the rooms into a “magic riddle room” where a riddle was written on the wall. If they solved the riddle a key would appear, that would allow them to open the secret door. I got the riddle by searching for riddles on the internet.
if you are willing to put in a little work, I recommend checking out one page dungeons. There are hundreds of them and many are works of art. It’s easy to supplement them with additional materials like puzzles. Another fun resource is “5 room dungeons”, not sure if that’s on the DMs Guild, but the idea is that each adventure should have 5 types of encounters, one being a puzzle.
The biggest challenge in riddles in my mind is PC vs player, who solves it? Part of the fun for my group is figuring out the puzzle, so I have to give a little license when a player is great with puzzles and he’s playing a PC that might not be. Or what if the players can’t figure it out? Then do I let the PC’s make skill checks to solve? I haven’t tried introducing a physical puzzle yet, but I think my players would dig it if I could come up with some cool puzzle prop. Anyhow just musing. Hope you have a wonderful session.
"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." – William Gibson, Neuromancer
@SpunkyWyvern - I have a few puzzle idea threads I follow already on reddit and the like, so finding those wouldn't be an issue. I mostly wanted something pre structured.
@Budapest- I will definitely take a look into those! It would be good to have some options, and putting some work into it to fit my means or the party will be something I can muse on during the drive(hurray 12 hour drive to the mountains). Thank you for your awesome suggestions, One Page Dungeons was not a thing I even knew existed!
I'm currently adapting Whispers in the Dark, an Adventures League adventure in ToA. I stripped the adventure down to the puzzle and the ruins in order to make it work in my campaign. I highly recommend this adventure. The puzzle in the lost city is relatively easy—the adventure is optimized for Level 3 characters—but the time factor adds a layer of suspense.
Also, you might consider running a live Escape Room adventure, in which you place clues throughout the designated "area" your players play in real time. Clues lead to more clues, lead to more puzzles. The Escape Room is timed. You can "reset" the ER or you can loop it back. It's loads of fun!
Happy adventuring!
I am working on a puzzle dungeon module at the moment. It will be fabulous. =D