There are countless ideas out there for puzzles, riddles and traps to insert into our dungeons, but it seems that the more creative and "cool" the idea is , the less sense it makes.How do you do in your games?
A basic example: to open a door of a mage's dungeon it is necessary to decipher a riddle that is written on it, a password.Once that password is discovered, and when you speak it out loud, the door opens.Now why the hell would he write the password on the door ITSELF rather than just memorize it?
Well this is just an example and I don't want you to make sense of it, my question is, do your traps, puzzles and riddles make sense or whatever, the important thing is to be fun?
Yes, my riddles, puzzles, and traps make sense as often as possible. (At least they make sense to me. 🤷♂️) I always strive for verisimilitude.
As to your example, the idea is that anyone “in the know” who is supposed to be able to get into the area wouldn’t need each individual password for every door in every dungeon, they would just need the core information necessary to decipher the code or answer the riddle. So, for example, a priest with extensive and intimate knowledge about the faith’s (or cult’s) doctrines & dogma would be able to get in, but a lay person wouldn’t. Or it might be a shibboleth.*1,2,3 So, some of those nonsensical puzzles may make more sense than they appear to at first glance.
I think there's room for practical and thematic traps, depending on the kind of game you want. A pulp-fictional sort of game, be it like Indiana Jones or Doctor Who, I try to make them in such a way that the players can apply their own skills to get through a test. In a more practical, down-to-Earth toned game, I definitely want their stats to do the work while using basic prompts to figure things out.
Grimtooth's Traps is a fascinating compendium of (seemingly) practical traps which exist for the same reason in-game as they do out-of-game: to screw with adventurers (players). Acererak for instance makes a point of filling his tombs with traps that screw around with, agonise and kill adventurers purely for the sake of getting kicks out of them, as Gary Gygax had done so. I don't use them myself, they're rather spiteful, but they do provide some inspiration for if you want a mixture of mad cap and mundane.
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Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
I also try to make traps make sense in a way that they can be “turned off” whoever built it needs to be able to get past it. The goblin go into their lair and pull a lever that set the trap behind them. Then when they need to leave, the flip the lever again, disarming it so they can walk out. If the PCs figure a way past the trap, they can flip the lever, too. It makes the trap make sense (to me, at least) and gives the party a different way to defeat the challenge.
The forgetful creator makes the most sense to me. “How can I be possibly expected to remember everything? I have so many more important things to think about! After setting off my own traps 3 different times, by forgetting my password cheat sheet or getting them mixed up, I decided enough was enough. Who cares if pesky adventures get in? Most won’t and I’ll just fireball the rest.”
I don't use them, I think they're stupid. You're right: why would anyone...?
My exception is some kind of blind arrogance (usually in a nation, not a person or race) that assumes only the pure would be able to...
Sometimes, though, I'll have (for example) a pattern of floor tiles. A System is easier to memorise, and if lots of idiots have to do it, then ok, maybe?
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There are countless ideas out there for puzzles, riddles and traps to insert into our dungeons, but it seems that the more creative and "cool" the idea is , the less sense it makes. How do you do in your games?
A basic example: to open a door of a mage's dungeon it is necessary to decipher a riddle that is written on it, a password. Once that password is discovered, and when you speak it out loud, the door opens. Now why the hell would he write the password on the door ITSELF rather than just memorize it?
Well this is just an example and I don't want you to make sense of it, my question is, do your traps, puzzles and riddles make sense or whatever, the important thing is to be fun?
I try to make my traps make sense, at least in terms of how a character would disarm them; otherwise, I fall back on its operates base on magic.
Yes, my riddles, puzzles, and traps make sense as often as possible. (At least they make sense to me. 🤷♂️) I always strive for verisimilitude.
As to your example, the idea is that anyone “in the know” who is supposed to be able to get into the area wouldn’t need each individual password for every door in every dungeon, they would just need the core information necessary to decipher the code or answer the riddle. So, for example, a priest with extensive and intimate knowledge about the faith’s (or cult’s) doctrines & dogma would be able to get in, but a lay person wouldn’t. Or it might be a shibboleth.*1,2,3 So, some of those nonsensical puzzles may make more sense than they appear to at first glance.
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I think there's room for practical and thematic traps, depending on the kind of game you want. A pulp-fictional sort of game, be it like Indiana Jones or Doctor Who, I try to make them in such a way that the players can apply their own skills to get through a test. In a more practical, down-to-Earth toned game, I definitely want their stats to do the work while using basic prompts to figure things out.
Grimtooth's Traps is a fascinating compendium of (seemingly) practical traps which exist for the same reason in-game as they do out-of-game: to screw with adventurers (players). Acererak for instance makes a point of filling his tombs with traps that screw around with, agonise and kill adventurers purely for the sake of getting kicks out of them, as Gary Gygax had done so. I don't use them myself, they're rather spiteful, but they do provide some inspiration for if you want a mixture of mad cap and mundane.
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
I also try to make traps make sense in a way that they can be “turned off” whoever built it needs to be able to get past it. The goblin go into their lair and pull a lever that set the trap behind them. Then when they need to leave, the flip the lever again, disarming it so they can walk out.
If the PCs figure a way past the trap, they can flip the lever, too. It makes the trap make sense (to me, at least) and gives the party a different way to defeat the challenge.
The forgetful creator makes the most sense to me. “How can I be possibly expected to remember everything? I have so many more important things to think about! After setting off my own traps 3 different times, by forgetting my password cheat sheet or getting them mixed up, I decided enough was enough. Who cares if pesky adventures get in? Most won’t and I’ll just fireball the rest.”
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
I don't use them, I think they're stupid. You're right: why would anyone...?
My exception is some kind of blind arrogance (usually in a nation, not a person or race) that assumes only the pure would be able to...
Sometimes, though, I'll have (for example) a pattern of floor tiles. A System is easier to memorise, and if lots of idiots have to do it, then ok, maybe?