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View Full Version : Themed Puzzles [My players stay out]



shadow_archmagi
2010-08-03, 10:35 AM
So, I'm making a dungeon that houses a sun artifact. Before the PCs can get it though, they'll have to collect 7 macguffins. Each Macguffin is a different color, and thus has a different themed room protecting it.

Thus, I need seven challenges.

RED: FIRE
ORANGE: ACID
YELLOW: LIGHTNING
GREEN: POISON
BLUE: PETRIFICATION
INDIGO: INSANITY
VIOLET: PLANE SHIFT

Here are the colors, and the effect of that color in a Prismatic Spray. Here are some of the ideas I've come up with:

Red: Test by fire. The RED door opens to a small chamber where an iron golem waits to face them. The iron golem will ask that a brave challenger step forward to be tested. The puzzle is that the iron golem cannot be destroyed unless only one PC is in the room.

Orange: Entire room is full of acid. PCs must find a way to fish the macguffin out of the pool.

Yellow: Lightning maze???

Blue: ???

Indigo: Trap I saw awhile back. PCs are in a room with a lever behind an obstacle. Door seals shut. Voice begins counting down. Pulling the lever resets the countdown. When the countdown reaches zero, door opens and PCs are free to proceed.

Violet: Room is full of monsters. Monsters can only be destroyed by the hazards of another challenge area, so the PCs will have to lure them out.

Shinizak
2010-08-03, 11:29 AM
Blue: The touch of Midas.


They have two objectives: Retrieve the scroll to unlock the door.

Fight the enemy

Everything they touch in that room petrifies, they have a stone golem in that room they need to fight. problem is, if they attempt cure light wounds (or anything else with a range of touch) on an ally then they're only going to petrify that ally. This pretty much means that fighting the golem head on is not an option, and when they try to fight the golem they're going to have to draw their weapons which will turn to stone when they attempt it.

After the Golem, they still need to retrieve the scroll with out turning the contents to stone. Remember that it wont be as simple as "I use a handkerchief to pick up the scroll" since the handkerchief will turn to stone also.

shadow_archmagi
2010-08-03, 08:07 PM
Blue: The touch of Midas.


They have two objectives: Retrieve the scroll to unlock the door.

Fight the enemy

Everything they touch in that room petrifies, they have a stone golem in that room they need to fight. problem is, if they attempt cure light wounds (or anything else with a range of touch) on an ally then they're only going to petrify that ally. This pretty much means that fighting the golem head on is not an option, and when they try to fight the golem they're going to have to draw their weapons which will turn to stone when they attempt it.

After the Golem, they still need to retrieve the scroll with out turning the contents to stone. Remember that it wont be as simple as "I use a handkerchief to pick up the scroll" since the handkerchief will turn to stone also.

ooh, I like it!

AmberVael
2010-08-03, 09:02 PM
Indigo: Trap I saw awhile back. PCs are in a room with a lever behind an obstacle. Door seals shut. Voice begins counting down. Pulling the lever resets the countdown. When the countdown reaches zero, door opens and PCs are free to proceed.

This one is pretty old. I've heard it before in more places than I can remember- chances are, if you have at least one player who is of moderate experience in the fantasy and RPG world, they'll have heard of it too. I advise using something else.

drengnikrafe
2010-08-03, 09:13 PM
Ever since some train wrecks in my earlier DMing career, I virtually always work under the assumption the puzzles will go over very poorly and create some sort of back-up plan. Also, assuming the puzzle requires lateral thinking, it's generally a bad idea to have only one solution. By that, I mean accept a really clever solution if you can't see a way it wouldn't work.

Gray Mage
2010-08-03, 09:44 PM
Yellow: The floor is electrified or magnetic. PC with heavy/medium armor can't cross. Plus monsters.

Indigo: How about dopelgangers or maybe illusions infiltrate them. It's not directly insanity, but they can be very paranoic after a while.

Violet: A maze full with doors and each door lead to somewhere else, as a portal. They have to find the right door. Use traps and/or make the doors lead somewhere unpleasant, like the plane of fire( they get fire damage) or water (water almost floods the maze).

shadow_archmagi
2010-08-03, 09:46 PM
This one is pretty old. I've heard it before in more places than I can remember- chances are, if you have at least one player who is of moderate experience in the fantasy and RPG world, they'll have heard of it too. I advise using something else.


I'm pretty sure it'll be new to them.


Anyway, anyone else got puzzle ideas?

Gray Mage
2010-08-03, 09:58 PM
Don't know if you saw the ones I posted before, but here's some new ones.

Blue: Stone golens/giants or maybe basilisks.

Green: Poison gas as per the spell?

NM020110
2010-08-03, 10:18 PM
Fire: Players are attacked by a large number of small fire elementals. They take no damage from anything save fire, and heal from water damage (similar to positive/negative energy).

Acid: The macguffin sits on a pedestal in the middle of the room. There is a barrier around it, and there is an impenetrable barrier around the macguffin. The barrier can only be pierced by acid, which must be used to destroy the macguffin. After the macguffin's destruction the players may remove the pedestal, which is the actual macguffin.

Lightning: The players enter a room in which arcing currents are almost everywhere. That current is the macguffin, which the players must capture.

Poison: A room with visible spores, inflicting a poison which deals 1d6/2d6/xd6 Int, Wis, and Cha damage. When any of those reach 0, the player enters a coma, awaking in the same room, but within their mind. There is a pedestal in the center with a knife floating above it. If the player grabs the knife's blade, they will awake with it in their hand. It is the macguffin.

Petrification: I advocate the "touch of midas" trap.

Insanity: Start stacking illusions. When the players enter the room start rolling large amounts of dice (will saves) and call for the session to be private (each player communicates with you alone). The illusions don't alter much, and the players move through a typical dungeon. As they progress events are changed to the player's perspective, eventually leading to them fighting each other. After they fight each other (and each believes that they are the last one standing), reveal to them what just happened. Run them through more of the standard dungeon, and when they reach the final room they will be suddenly rested and will face the rest of the party alone. After defeating them (give them a +5 untyped bonus to rolls if you need to), they will reach a final room where they may finally claim the macguffin. When they grasp it, they find the rest of the party also grasping it. Declare the session public once more.

Plane shift: The room is empty. The macguffin is any object from another plane.

mobdrazhar
2010-08-03, 10:27 PM
BLUE: Basalisks

GREEN: room filled with Cloud Kill that they must retrieve an item from.

Ranger Mattos
2010-08-03, 10:37 PM
I haven't made many puzzles, but here goes:

INDIGO: A maze where whenever the players move, the walls shift. If the players stay still for more than a minute, a path to the center, where the macguffin is, appears.

shadow_archmagi
2010-08-04, 08:52 AM
I haven't made many puzzles, but here goes:

INDIGO: A maze where whenever the players move, the walls shift. If the players stay still for more than a minute, a path to the center, where the macguffin is, appears.

Ooh, I like it. I may keep that one for insanity.

Noodles2375
2010-08-04, 09:46 AM
Insanity: Start stacking illusions. When the players enter the room start rolling large amounts of dice (will saves) and call for the session to be private (each player communicates with you alone). The illusions don't alter much, and the players move through a typical dungeon. As they progress events are changed to the player's perspective, eventually leading to them fighting each other. After they fight each other (and each believes that they are the last one standing), reveal to them what just happened. Run them through more of the standard dungeon, and when they reach the final room they will be suddenly rested and will face the rest of the party alone. After defeating them (give them a +5 untyped bonus to rolls if you need to), they will reach a final room where they may finally claim the macguffin. When they grasp it, they find the rest of the party also grasping it. Declare the session public once more.

This sounds like a really really neat idea. I might steal it.

What exactly do you mean by "events are changed to the player's perspective?"

Mr.Smashy
2010-08-04, 10:09 AM
RED: FIRE
ORANGE: ACID
YELLOW: LIGHTNING
GREEN: POISON
BLUE: PETRIFICATION
INDIGO: INSANITY
VIOLET: PLANE SHIFT



RED: Something like a river of Magma under magically swinging platforms they need to jump across. Jump checks, and reflex saves to grab ahold of the platform if they fall

ORANGE: The room slowly starts to fill with acid, similar to the trap in the BoC, but the only way out is up. Climb checks all around.

YELLOW: The Pillar the Macguffin is on starts to shoot Lightning that reflects off of the metal walls of this room.

GREEN: I think the mushroom/mold trap from above is great. The only time a PC gains from being poisoned.

BLUE: Again, The Midas touch is golden :)

INDIGO: The entire room is an illusion, each square is believed to be trapped. There is nothing wrong with the room at all, but the PC's just think that there is if they fail will saves. If someone saves, and starts to walk around, let the other PC's think that they are walking right into a trap and that their friend is Disillusioned to the "actual" Danger. This would be some great role-play.

Violet: Every square that someone enters (not steps on) teleports them randomly to another square in the room. make the room 100x100 and roll D% to see which square they end up in, round to the nearest 5 of course.


Evil

NM020110
2010-08-04, 10:22 AM
This sounds like a really really neat idea. I might steal it.

What exactly do you mean by "events are changed to the player's perspective?"

Each one is experiencing their own dungeon. They might see a monster attack one of their allies and kill them, when that ally is actually in a completely different dungeon.

As an example, the party enters a room(still together here). The fighter falls down into a pit trap (with greased sides, if needed) during a fight against bugbears. After several rounds of audible fighting, the party helps the fighter up. This fighter is illusory. From the fighter's perspective, an illusory party helps him up.

shadow_archmagi
2010-08-04, 03:59 PM
RED: Something like a river of Magma under magically swinging platforms they need to jump across. Jump checks, and reflex saves to grab ahold of the platform if they fall

ORANGE: The room slowly starts to fill with acid, similar to the trap in the BoC, but the only way out is up. Climb checks all around.

YELLOW: The Pillar the Macguffin is on starts to shoot Lightning that reflects off of the metal walls of this room.


The difficulty here is that the encounter goes like this

Player: I walk into the room
DM: Acid starts rising
Player: I climb out. 18
DM: You are out.

There isn't really any challenge for the player...



GREEN: I think the mushroom/mold trap from above is great. The only time a PC gains from being poisoned.


Difficulty here is that I can imagine the players finding some way to avoid the damage and clean up the rooms. They're very good about finding a way to survive.




INDIGO: The entire room is an illusion, each square is believed to be trapped. There is nothing wrong with the room at all, but the PC's just think that there is if they fail will saves. If someone saves, and starts to walk around, let the other PC's think that they are walking right into a trap and that their friend is Disillusioned to the "actual" Danger. This would be some great role-play.



I love it.




Violet: Every square that someone enters (not steps on) teleports them randomly to another square in the room. make the room 100x100 and roll D% to see which square they end up in, round to the nearest 5 of course.


Evil

Except that once again there doesn't seem to be a puzzle here. I suppose I could just leave them to their ingenuity to figure out a way to get the macguffin, but still.

Rigor_Mortis
2010-08-04, 04:09 PM
Not sure which one this would work for but:

The PCs enter a room, after which the door closes and seals seamlessly.

Everything in the room (it's empty) turns white. They must now figure out how to get out of the room. Breaking down the walls won't work, they just bounce back harmlessly. Teleporting out won't get them the Macguffin, they'll have to come through this room again anyway.

The solution being that they Draw a door/window and escape that way. (Use of Color Spray, chalk, etc.)
When they exit, the Macguffin is in the next room.

Shinizak
2010-08-04, 04:54 PM
Not sure which one this would work for but:

The PCs enter a room, after which the door closes and seals seamlessly.

Everything in the room (it's empty) turns white. They must now figure out how to get out of the room. Breaking down the walls won't work, they just bounce back harmlessly. Teleporting out won't get them the Macguffin, they'll have to come through this room again anyway.

The solution being that they Draw a door/window and escape that way. (Use of Color Spray, chalk, etc.)
When they exit, the Macguffin is in the next room.

Insanity. I know I'd go loopy in a white room like that with no hint to the fact that a drawing would save me.

Shinizak
2010-08-04, 04:59 PM
Also, combine the indigo and orange rooms.

The room is filled with... acid.:smalltongue:

Noodles2375
2010-08-04, 09:38 PM
Each one is experiencing their own dungeon. They might see a monster attack one of their allies and kill them, when that ally is actually in a completely different dungeon.

As an example, the party enters a room(still together here). The fighter falls down into a pit trap (with greased sides, if needed) during a fight against bugbears. After several rounds of audible fighting, the party helps the fighter up. This fighter is illusory. From the fighter's perspective, an illusory party helps him up.

So the idea would be to gradually replace each of their realities with illusions until you have completely supplanted it. Then have them engage the illusionary party in combat until they defeat them, then peel away the veil and put them back in the dungeon, but now they're each all alone, maybe even running through the same area!

They finally come upon what appear to flesh and blood party members who want to kill them and after killing them and claiming the macguffin they are reunited in the same reality, separately and simultaneously.

This seems like the logistics of doing the private only session would be tough, but I'd really like to work something like this into the campaign I'm DM'ing. I think it would actually drive them mad.

Kaww
2010-08-05, 04:45 AM
This is an incredible thread! Sorry, but I'm gonna steal quite a few ideas.

Try an illusionist with telepathy, glibness, high bluff, mass suggestion and persistent greater invisibility for indigo.

P.S. A monk it touch of Midas...

Vantharion
2010-08-05, 07:04 AM
Touch of Midas should allow a played to step out of the room and the room resets: Aka, all the players get pushed outside and everything gets unpetrified.
A reset button is good for some traps.
I love the white drawing room.
I will probably use:
White room, 40x40x20tall. Lever in the center, voice that counts down. Every time the level is pulled it spawns 2 air elementals and resets the countdown.
When the countdown ends, it spawns a tiny locked chest with some crazy trap (Or puzzle if opened improperly it spawns problems). Inside of the box is a piece of brown chalk. Drawing any shape will create a small window that will show the area outside of the room. Any markings or portals made will create a 1 way path to a wall (If they draw on the ceiling and the floor, both openings will lead out of the same wall.)

NM020110
2010-08-05, 03:23 PM
Difficulty here is that I can imagine the players finding some way to avoid the damage and clean up the rooms. They're very good about finding a way to survive.

Therein lies the trap itself. If you don't want to make the dungeon unwinnable have the spores spread to neighboring rooms when the door opens. If they clear it out the spores come back in 3d12 rounds. If they are all poison immune then have the macguffin appear after the party spends eight hours in the room with the poison. If they clear it out, then the timer resets. It's a bit hard to figure out, but there is no consequence for failure.