I'm making a dungeon for a few new players that I made a party with and I don't know how to end it. Well I know I want to end it with a puzzle after they steal the thing that they need but I'm not sure what I want to do for it.
All I know is that I want it to be life threatening and it resulting in the only way to get out before the place collapses. Any ideas would be great.
I think you'd be better putting this in the Dungeon Masters Only section - Dungeon Masters Guild is a specific website, used to distribute homebrew. I guarantee you'll get more responses there! I've just reported it to get it moved!
On to your request, then!
The first thing which will help to get good options will be to give us a bit more context; what is the thing they stole, where are they, and what is the goal of the puzzle.
I am going to assume that the thing they stole is not pertinent to the puzzle, and that this is simply a "standard" underground dungeon and they are faced with "solve this puzzle or never leave here alive!". I'm going to say; that's not an ideal situation to put them in - if they don't solve the puzzle, they'll have a TPK, and one that they feel is unfair. If they struggle, and you give them all the hints and they succeed, they will feel that they didn't do it and you mollycoddled them through.
I would give them a puzzle which offers two results - either they make it out of the door, or they are put into a worse position than they were in before. Don't make it life or death, make it life or danger.
A good option I have toyed with for this is a chamber which seals up and then fills with water. The players have a time limit of about 5 combat rounds to solve the problem (with 5 players that's the chance to try 25 different things, so whilst it sounds like a short time, it isn't). When the chamber is full, the players (Who think they are going to drown) get one last round before they are flushed out of the bottom of the room, unceremoniously dumped into water, and then promptly attacked by water weirds. They then have to navigate back out of this new dungeon to escape.
Since Thoruk did one for trying to get out, I'll do one to get the item
First off, just because they are new to and doesn't mean they don't know basic logic, so you can make it a little complex with a few relations to real life. Here's my idea;
Read to players: [You walk into a massive room, at least 200ft by 200ft, with the ceiling at least 70ft high. on three walls there are murals of great beasts being slain, by arrow, sword and spear. On the one in front of you, however, there are five pedestals, four with a half-spherical space indented in them and the middle fifth with the indent of (item they are getting). Looking down, you see another mural, this one slain by an axe. (note make sure all your characters have this weapon, change it to suit your parties weapons). On each of the weapons is a symbol, each different.]
If the players ask, the creatures are a Cave bear (killed by axe), Gibbering mouther (killed by arrow), Spined devil (killed by spear) and Black dragon wyrmling (killed by sword).
on the floor in front of the pedestals is a script in (insert language of builders of dungeon) saying-
four beasts, four weapons,
an orb for each
if you wish to be rewarded, traveller,
the symbols will help you get what you seek
any creature that touches a symbol teleports any creature in the room to one identical, apart from the pedestals, which are gone, the murals, as only the one touched remains and in the middle of the room is the beast killed.
Each creature has the changes as follows-
The Cave Bear has an AC of 14 and 60 hit points, with a vulnerability to axes and initiative +2
The Gibbering Mouther has an AC of 11 and 70 hit points, with a vulnerability to arrows and has +3 to hit
The Spined Devil has an AC of 14 and 30 hit points, with a vulnerability to spears and has no resistance to nonmagical, non-silvered spears
The Black Dragon Wyrmling has and AC of 16 and 40 hit points, with a vulnerability to great/long/short swords
(again, you can change the weapons to ones they have)
If they defeat the creature, it dissapears, in its place an orb fitting one of the pedestals. After a couple seconds, the are teleported back to their origional room with the orb in one of the pedestals, the players repeating this task until all four are there. If a player is knocked unconcious, they are teleported back and only come to once the room is completed or everyone is also knocked out, and if everyone was downed, all, if any orbs are gone. When they complete the puzzle, the item appears on the fifth pedestal
For the most part, I like puzzles that seal off something that is intended to be given or earned and the puzzle itself is a part of the test. Otherwise many of them don't make sense to me (who put it there? why?)
When you design a puzzle bear in mind that if you think it's simple - make it simpler. Unless your players are naturally gifted masters of deduction or are huge enthusiasts of Escape Rooms, something obvious to you might not be obvious to them.
Every puzzle designed to be beaten in order for the group to continue should have 3 solutions:
1. Your intended one
2. Allow for the possibility of another clever solution that you didn't think of but your players did. If something they tried makes sense but it's not the solve you envisioned? Go with it.
3. Brute force solution
You can eliminate the additional 2 solutions if the puzzle is unimportant to their progression, ie. it's something interesting that they found but they can leave at any time and continue forward with the story.
Definitely pay attention to Lathlaer's post. I commonly find myself going with player-made solutions after they try and fail a few times to find mine just because it is rewarding for them to get the answer right after a bit of trial and error and because sometimes they come up with some surprisingly clever things.
I especially like it when the solution they come up with can somehow tie in something else that I hadn't planned on. Like no, I didn't intend for you to cut yourself with the statue's fake sword... But now that you mention it that IS the solution, and now I get to play with you having offered you blood to some unknown being down the road. A curse, or being tracked, or maybe a creature sees it as a promise made. Three birds with one stone: A solution to the puzzle, rewarding moment for the players, and interesting call-back plot point for the future that will make players think you're a god at planning.
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I'm making a dungeon for a few new players that I made a party with and I don't know how to end it. Well I know I want to end it with a puzzle after they steal the thing that they need but I'm not sure what I want to do for it.
All I know is that I want it to be life threatening and it resulting in the only way to get out before the place collapses. Any ideas would be great.
I think you'd be better putting this in the Dungeon Masters Only section - Dungeon Masters Guild is a specific website, used to distribute homebrew. I guarantee you'll get more responses there! I've just reported it to get it moved!
On to your request, then!
The first thing which will help to get good options will be to give us a bit more context; what is the thing they stole, where are they, and what is the goal of the puzzle.
I am going to assume that the thing they stole is not pertinent to the puzzle, and that this is simply a "standard" underground dungeon and they are faced with "solve this puzzle or never leave here alive!". I'm going to say; that's not an ideal situation to put them in - if they don't solve the puzzle, they'll have a TPK, and one that they feel is unfair. If they struggle, and you give them all the hints and they succeed, they will feel that they didn't do it and you mollycoddled them through.
I would give them a puzzle which offers two results - either they make it out of the door, or they are put into a worse position than they were in before. Don't make it life or death, make it life or danger.
A good option I have toyed with for this is a chamber which seals up and then fills with water. The players have a time limit of about 5 combat rounds to solve the problem (with 5 players that's the chance to try 25 different things, so whilst it sounds like a short time, it isn't). When the chamber is full, the players (Who think they are going to drown) get one last round before they are flushed out of the bottom of the room, unceremoniously dumped into water, and then promptly attacked by water weirds. They then have to navigate back out of this new dungeon to escape.
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Since Thoruk did one for trying to get out, I'll do one to get the item
First off, just because they are new to and doesn't mean they don't know basic logic, so you can make it a little complex with a few relations to real life. Here's my idea;
Read to players: [You walk into a massive room, at least 200ft by 200ft, with the ceiling at least 70ft high. on three walls there are murals of great beasts being slain, by arrow, sword and spear. On the one in front of you, however, there are five pedestals, four with a half-spherical space indented in them and the middle fifth with the indent of (item they are getting). Looking down, you see another mural, this one slain by an axe. (note make sure all your characters have this weapon, change it to suit your parties weapons). On each of the weapons is a symbol, each different.]
If the players ask, the creatures are a Cave bear (killed by axe), Gibbering mouther (killed by arrow), Spined devil (killed by spear) and Black dragon wyrmling (killed by sword).
on the floor in front of the pedestals is a script in (insert language of builders of dungeon) saying-
four beasts, four weapons,
an orb for each
if you wish to be rewarded, traveller,
the symbols will help you get what you seek
any creature that touches a symbol teleports any creature in the room to one identical, apart from the pedestals, which are gone, the murals, as only the one touched remains and in the middle of the room is the beast killed.
Each creature has the changes as follows-
The Cave Bear has an AC of 14 and 60 hit points, with a vulnerability to axes and initiative +2
The Gibbering Mouther has an AC of 11 and 70 hit points, with a vulnerability to arrows and has +3 to hit
The Spined Devil has an AC of 14 and 30 hit points, with a vulnerability to spears and has no resistance to nonmagical, non-silvered spears
The Black Dragon Wyrmling has and AC of 16 and 40 hit points, with a vulnerability to great/long/short swords
(again, you can change the weapons to ones they have)
If they defeat the creature, it dissapears, in its place an orb fitting one of the pedestals. After a couple seconds, the are teleported back to their origional room with the orb in one of the pedestals, the players repeating this task until all four are there. If a player is knocked unconcious, they are teleported back and only come to once the room is completed or everyone is also knocked out, and if everyone was downed, all, if any orbs are gone. When they complete the puzzle, the item appears on the fifth pedestal
For the most part, I like puzzles that seal off something that is intended to be given or earned and the puzzle itself is a part of the test. Otherwise many of them don't make sense to me (who put it there? why?)
When you design a puzzle bear in mind that if you think it's simple - make it simpler. Unless your players are naturally gifted masters of deduction or are huge enthusiasts of Escape Rooms, something obvious to you might not be obvious to them.
Every puzzle designed to be beaten in order for the group to continue should have 3 solutions:
1. Your intended one
2. Allow for the possibility of another clever solution that you didn't think of but your players did. If something they tried makes sense but it's not the solve you envisioned? Go with it.
3. Brute force solution
You can eliminate the additional 2 solutions if the puzzle is unimportant to their progression, ie. it's something interesting that they found but they can leave at any time and continue forward with the story.
Definitely pay attention to Lathlaer's post. I commonly find myself going with player-made solutions after they try and fail a few times to find mine just because it is rewarding for them to get the answer right after a bit of trial and error and because sometimes they come up with some surprisingly clever things.
I especially like it when the solution they come up with can somehow tie in something else that I hadn't planned on. Like no, I didn't intend for you to cut yourself with the statue's fake sword... But now that you mention it that IS the solution, and now I get to play with you having offered you blood to some unknown being down the road. A curse, or being tracked, or maybe a creature sees it as a promise made. Three birds with one stone: A solution to the puzzle, rewarding moment for the players, and interesting call-back plot point for the future that will make players think you're a god at planning.