I am running Lost Mine of Phandelver and some of my players have asked me to add riddles and puzzles. The campaign doesn't really have any, so my question is: what 5e modules have really good riddles/puzzles that I can use in my campaign?
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything has a chapter full of puzzles you can drop in if you pick it up.
Tome of Annihilation has quite a few in the final dungeon, but it starts at level one and goes up to 12 I believe, so it may take some work to drop in.
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He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones. Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
"You see a gigantic, monstrous praying mantis burst from out of the ground. It sprays a stream of acid from it's mouth at one soldier, dissolving him instantly, then it turns and chomps another soldier in half with it's- "
Honestly, I've yet to come across any really good puzzles or riddles in official adventures or modules by WotC. It's honestly one of their weak areas.
Personally, I get my inspirations from one-shots. I'll look at the reputable 3rd party publishers (the ones who can field editors, testers and the like) and use those puzzles or riddles. Kobold Press campaign builder books and one shots are my favourite both as a player and to run as a GM. There's also The Game Master's Book of Traps, Puzzles, and Dungeons. One of 16 books in the series and their pretty darn good supplementary materials for a GM.
One that I've recently used is actually ripped off of the TV show Warehouse 13. To open a lock there is a chess puzzle, the only way to defeat the puzzle is to cheat, to move the pieces in a way they can't ordinarily move. I modified this by having a board set out with tic-tac-toe (noughts and crosses), though it was called 'Light and Dark' with black and white pebbles instead of X and O. The concept was the same, the solution was to cheat. I scattered the designer's notebook elsewhere in the dungeon in which he described being very pleased with himself that no-one would suspect how well this modified child's game works to protect a vault. An earlier room had a plaque that stated 'when the rules don't agree with one, one must change those rules'. The thought was that by putting together log, and the plaque, the party would be easily able to work it all out.
Three sessions later I'm 75% confident that the players know the solution, but are going with their character knowledge. There's nothing terribly important in the vault, just some extra goodies if they wanna go and get 'em later...so I think the lock puzzle works!
Hi there, guys:
I am running Lost Mine of Phandelver and some of my players have asked me to add riddles and puzzles. The campaign doesn't really have any, so my question is: what 5e modules have really good riddles/puzzles that I can use in my campaign?
Thanks in advance.
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything has a chapter full of puzzles you can drop in if you pick it up.
Tome of Annihilation has quite a few in the final dungeon, but it starts at level one and goes up to 12 I believe, so it may take some work to drop in.
He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones. Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
"You see a gigantic, monstrous praying mantis burst from out of the ground. It sprays a stream of acid from it's mouth at one soldier, dissolving him instantly, then it turns and chomps another soldier in half with it's- "
"When are we gonna take a snack break?"
Honestly, I've yet to come across any really good puzzles or riddles in official adventures or modules by WotC. It's honestly one of their weak areas.
Personally, I get my inspirations from one-shots. I'll look at the reputable 3rd party publishers (the ones who can field editors, testers and the like) and use those puzzles or riddles. Kobold Press campaign builder books and one shots are my favourite both as a player and to run as a GM. There's also The Game Master's Book of Traps, Puzzles, and Dungeons. One of 16 books in the series and their pretty darn good supplementary materials for a GM.
One that I've recently used is actually ripped off of the TV show Warehouse 13. To open a lock there is a chess puzzle, the only way to defeat the puzzle is to cheat, to move the pieces in a way they can't ordinarily move. I modified this by having a board set out with tic-tac-toe (noughts and crosses), though it was called 'Light and Dark' with black and white pebbles instead of X and O. The concept was the same, the solution was to cheat. I scattered the designer's notebook elsewhere in the dungeon in which he described being very pleased with himself that no-one would suspect how well this modified child's game works to protect a vault. An earlier room had a plaque that stated 'when the rules don't agree with one, one must change those rules'. The thought was that by putting together log, and the plaque, the party would be easily able to work it all out.
Three sessions later I'm 75% confident that the players know the solution, but are going with their character knowledge. There's nothing terribly important in the vault, just some extra goodies if they wanna go and get 'em later...so I think the lock puzzle works!
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
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