I’m working on building my first puzzle for an upcoming session and I was hoping to get some input from other DMs and some players.
The party will come upon the gates of an ancient dwarven fortress city. The front gates are part of an elaborate garden, in the garden are ten obelisks representing both the ten planets and the gods that share their names (homebrew and consequential), except for one, the planet they’re on which isn’t named after a god. In the middle of the garden is a statue of one of the city’s founding members with an inscription telling all who approach that the city is home to the godless and atheists (it was built during a war against the churches). The statue has a bowl with a handful of stones in it and each of the obelisks have a small bowl that would receive said stones.
The idea is for the players to put the stone in the bowl on the obelisk representing the planet that’s not named for a god. To throw them off the trail, one obelisk has the name of a false god and two or three others would have been damaged either in a previous battle or by time.
The example I have so far is they walk in, notice the statue, the poem/inscription, and the obelisks. They would notice (circumstantial) that one is a false god, two of the gods names inscribed on the obelisk is scratched off some how, and the one for their planet (the right answer) is halfway demolished, keeping them from seeing that this obelisk lacks an inscription.
My fear is that it’s too convoluted or even possibly too easy. Anybody have any advice?
The players know that the ruins were built by people who don’t like the gods. They have a monk and a cleric so I’m giving them circumstantial knowledge of the pantheon (since it’s homebrew). They would also realize that the false god wasn’t part of the pantheon.
the poem on the statue reads:
Mortal hands shape mortal lives,
At god’s command mortals die.
Under the gods, no mortal’s their own,
The godless live, call Coldhammer home.
I’m hoping that would give them enough to look for the missing link, that they’re looking for something separate from the gods.
Rule number 1 for puzzles, they should be stupidly easy. You should give all the information that your players need, and then some, and then some more. Your players don't think the same way that you do, and so it's quite common for you to think "oh, that's a really cool play on words" or "oh, anyone should be able to get that" and then have your players get stuck. You don't want your players to be stuck. It's as frustrating for you as it is for them, and it's not fun. FUN!
To that end: I would replace "under the gods, no mortals their own" with
"Into mortal's vessel, placeth your stone" or something to 1) make sure that the context of the puzzle is clear, you must take a stone from point A and place it in vessel B and also 2) satisfy rule #1 above.
You could also keep the poem as-is and add "Offer tribute mortal, to enter the stone" Again, to make it (at least reasonably) clear to the players what you want them to do.
You should also take a moment to consider what the original purpose of this "test" was. Was it intended to be security? Was it intended to bar mortals? If not, then that also says something about how difficult it should be. Consider the gateway that protects the mines of moria. "speak "friend" and enter."
I’m working on building my first puzzle for an upcoming session and I was hoping to get some input from other DMs and some players.
The party will come upon the gates of an ancient dwarven fortress city. The front gates are part of an elaborate garden, in the garden are ten obelisks representing both the ten planets and the gods that share their names (homebrew and consequential), except for one, the planet they’re on which isn’t named after a god. In the middle of the garden is a statue of one of the city’s founding members with an inscription telling all who approach that the city is home to the godless and atheists (it was built during a war against the churches). The statue has a bowl with a handful of stones in it and each of the obelisks have a small bowl that would receive said stones.
The idea is for the players to put the stone in the bowl on the obelisk representing the planet that’s not named for a god. To throw them off the trail, one obelisk has the name of a false god and two or three others would have been damaged either in a previous battle or by time.
The example I have so far is they walk in, notice the statue, the poem/inscription, and the obelisks. They would notice (circumstantial) that one is a false god, two of the gods names inscribed on the obelisk is scratched off some how, and the one for their planet (the right answer) is halfway demolished, keeping them from seeing that this obelisk lacks an inscription.
My fear is that it’s too convoluted or even possibly too easy. Anybody have any advice?
How much do the players know?
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
The players know that the ruins were built by people who don’t like the gods. They have a monk and a cleric so I’m giving them circumstantial knowledge of the pantheon (since it’s homebrew). They would also realize that the false god wasn’t part of the pantheon.
the poem on the statue reads:
Mortal hands shape mortal lives,
At god’s command mortals die.
Under the gods, no mortal’s their own,
The godless live, call Coldhammer home.
I’m hoping that would give them enough to look for the missing link, that they’re looking for something separate from the gods.
Rule number 1 for puzzles, they should be stupidly easy. You should give all the information that your players need, and then some, and then some more. Your players don't think the same way that you do, and so it's quite common for you to think "oh, that's a really cool play on words" or "oh, anyone should be able to get that" and then have your players get stuck. You don't want your players to be stuck. It's as frustrating for you as it is for them, and it's not fun. FUN!
To that end: I would replace "under the gods, no mortals their own" with
"Into mortal's vessel, placeth your stone" or something to 1) make sure that the context of the puzzle is clear, you must take a stone from point A and place it in vessel B and also 2) satisfy rule #1 above.
You could also keep the poem as-is and add "Offer tribute mortal, to enter the stone" Again, to make it (at least reasonably) clear to the players what you want them to do.
You should also take a moment to consider what the original purpose of this "test" was. Was it intended to be security? Was it intended to bar mortals? If not, then that also says something about how difficult it should be. Consider the gateway that protects the mines of moria. "speak "friend" and enter."