Hey guys. I'm designing a dungeon for my players with four areas - a maze, a combat arena, a teamwork puzzle, and an area based around interactions with NPCs. I've got the first three sketched out, but I'm having trouble with the last one. I'm thinking along the lines of the old puzzle with the whole "One of us always tells the truth, and the other always lies" thing. Does anyone have any good examples/suggestions for this sort of thing, that will help me get the creative juices flowing?
To me, a puzzle, and a social interaction are very different things. A puzzle is just something you have to manipulate ( perhaps only mentally in the case of logic puzzles ) until you get to the answer - although there isn't really any cost to work at it, and there may-or-may-not be risk in trying a solution.
An NPC interaction is either a flavor/setting/lore piece, or it's an opposed interaction.
In the former, you go to the Archive, talk to the interesting and colorful Archivist, and it is entertaining, but you're goingto get the information, no matter what.
In the latter case, the Bodyguard doesn't want to let you past to talk to their Lord, ( It's his job to protect his Lord, he is bound by honor and reputation, he believes you may Harm his Lord ). You need to convince him. You need to figure out what their goals and objections are ( he might even tell you in the course of the conversation - I am sworn to protect my Lord, my honor will not allow me to let you pass! ), or you can allow the use of Insight to read body language and clues when certain topics come up conversation. The Players need to convince them that what they want doesn't conflict with what he wants, or give him an incentive to work with you that outweighs his objections ( convince him you will not harm his Lord, prove to him that his Lord is an impostor and that he has been tricked to the detriment of his honor, threaten him with death and/or dishonor so that considerations of personal survival outweigh his objections).
It doesn't sound like you want a set/flavor piece.
If you want an social interaction, figure out what they Party will want to do, figure out Who is blocking them, figure out Why they are blocking them, Figure out clues for the Party to figure out the Whys, and then allow the Party to try and apply social skills to attempt to apply counter-arguments, incentives, or threats to balances each of the Whys. Allow Players to attempt this only when they have an actual point to raise - you may even give them a bonus/penalty based on the strength of that point, and how well they present it. You could even give advantage for interacting with the Bodyguard if the speaker is a fellow Knight, or disadvantage if the Rogue is making the points.
Also, figure out when the Party will have won the interaction ( easy, they have successfully counter-argued all the objections, or counterbalanced them with incentives or threats ) so that the NPC lets them perform the action, or when they lose ( possibly after 3-5 failures, with critical failures counting as 2? ) and what the consequences are for losing; " The Bodyguard suddenly draws his long-sword and roars - Enough! I will hear no more! Withdraw and leave my Lord in peace, or I will make you pay with your life!" .
I can't give you specific examples for your adventure, because I don't know the context the encounter will occur in, but that should give you an idea on how to build such NPC encounters on your own.
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Vedexent I get what your saying, but it sounds like the OP just wants a puzzle where conversing with the NPC is the central part.
The truth/lie thing is cool. What you could do is have some sort of unlockable door/hidden mcguffin and the PCs need to work out the password/phrase to unlock it. This is when the NPC comes in. They explain the situation but do not give the password (immune to charms and thralls). The puzzle would be asking the correct questions. Make it like 20 questions - only yes or no responses - until they can reasonably work out what the password would be. If they fail, some sort of penalty.
Or how about riddles? You can get thousands online and even tailor them into flavour of the dungeon.
Yes, that's the sort of thing I mean. I like the 20 questions idea. My players are all fairly new to D&D and I'm always trying to think of ways to teach them about the lore of the game (we're in a Forgotten Realms setting atm), so that might be a fun way to do that.
There was an online magazine, I think it was Popular Mechanics, that had a brain teaser every week. There was a long series of them that were variations on the “one guy always tells the truth, the other always lies”. I haven’t seen the weekly puzzles in a while but you should be able to find them.
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Hey guys. I'm designing a dungeon for my players with four areas - a maze, a combat arena, a teamwork puzzle, and an area based around interactions with NPCs. I've got the first three sketched out, but I'm having trouble with the last one. I'm thinking along the lines of the old puzzle with the whole "One of us always tells the truth, and the other always lies" thing. Does anyone have any good examples/suggestions for this sort of thing, that will help me get the creative juices flowing?
| D100 Non-combat Random Encounter Table | Enchantments Galore |
| Pulsing Brazier Magic Trap | Gnome Capsule Machine | Language - A Primer |
Why particularity around interacting with NPCs?
To me, a puzzle, and a social interaction are very different things. A puzzle is just something you have to manipulate ( perhaps only mentally in the case of logic puzzles ) until you get to the answer - although there isn't really any cost to work at it, and there may-or-may-not be risk in trying a solution.
An NPC interaction is either a flavor/setting/lore piece, or it's an opposed interaction.
In the former, you go to the Archive, talk to the interesting and colorful Archivist, and it is entertaining, but you're going to get the information, no matter what.
In the latter case, the Bodyguard doesn't want to let you past to talk to their Lord, ( It's his job to protect his Lord, he is bound by honor and reputation, he believes you may Harm his Lord ). You need to convince him. You need to figure out what their goals and objections are ( he might even tell you in the course of the conversation - I am sworn to protect my Lord, my honor will not allow me to let you pass! ), or you can allow the use of Insight to read body language and clues when certain topics come up conversation. The Players need to convince them that what they want doesn't conflict with what he wants, or give him an incentive to work with you that outweighs his objections ( convince him you will not harm his Lord, prove to him that his Lord is an impostor and that he has been tricked to the detriment of his honor, threaten him with death and/or dishonor so that considerations of personal survival outweigh his objections).
It doesn't sound like you want a set/flavor piece.
If you want an social interaction, figure out what they Party will want to do, figure out Who is blocking them, figure out Why they are blocking them, Figure out clues for the Party to figure out the Whys, and then allow the Party to try and apply social skills to attempt to apply counter-arguments, incentives, or threats to balances each of the Whys. Allow Players to attempt this only when they have an actual point to raise - you may even give them a bonus/penalty based on the strength of that point, and how well they present it. You could even give advantage for interacting with the Bodyguard if the speaker is a fellow Knight, or disadvantage if the Rogue is making the points.
Also, figure out when the Party will have won the interaction ( easy, they have successfully counter-argued all the objections, or counterbalanced them with incentives or threats ) so that the NPC lets them perform the action, or when they lose ( possibly after 3-5 failures, with critical failures counting as 2? ) and what the consequences are for losing; " The Bodyguard suddenly draws his long-sword and roars - Enough! I will hear no more! Withdraw and leave my Lord in peace, or I will make you pay with your life!" .
I can't give you specific examples for your adventure, because I don't know the context the encounter will occur in, but that should give you an idea on how to build such NPC encounters on your own.
Best of luck!
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Vedexent I get what your saying, but it sounds like the OP just wants a puzzle where conversing with the NPC is the central part.
The truth/lie thing is cool. What you could do is have some sort of unlockable door/hidden mcguffin and the PCs need to work out the password/phrase to unlock it. This is when the NPC comes in. They explain the situation but do not give the password (immune to charms and thralls). The puzzle would be asking the correct questions. Make it like 20 questions - only yes or no responses - until they can reasonably work out what the password would be. If they fail, some sort of penalty.
Or how about riddles? You can get thousands online and even tailor them into flavour of the dungeon.
Yes, that's the sort of thing I mean. I like the 20 questions idea. My players are all fairly new to D&D and I'm always trying to think of ways to teach them about the lore of the game (we're in a Forgotten Realms setting atm), so that might be a fun way to do that.
| D100 Non-combat Random Encounter Table | Enchantments Galore |
| Pulsing Brazier Magic Trap | Gnome Capsule Machine | Language - A Primer |
Vex,
Thanks for the mention of an archivist. I'll have to write that down for later.
There was an online magazine, I think it was Popular Mechanics, that had a brain teaser every week. There was a long series of them that were variations on the “one guy always tells the truth, the other always lies”. I haven’t seen the weekly puzzles in a while but you should be able to find them.