rate this riddle viability plz...

[Kerilstrasz]

MY PLAYERS STAY OUT!

When the current campaign i run started , i prompted my players to equip themselves accordingly for a 90% dungeon campaign.. i gave them their weapon and armors free according to their class (and after asking what they want) and 100g to spent in rest gear/tools they thing they might need (from Completes,Phb & arms &equipment guide).
Well after they done i checked what each got and i found interesting that the groups rogue (scout/trapper build) bought a white signal torch among others.
That gave me the idea of the following riddle...
As a playing group we always assumed that the flame of torches commonly used, are kinda red-ish/orange-ish.. so i thought.. a door with a build in puzzle. Idont know the puzzle actual name, it is the one that you slide some plates into a frame until you place them such way a picture appears..http://mypuzzle.org/sliding so..
the picture in this situation is a sequence of colors... but with their red-ish light from their torches they cant distinguish which plate is which color.. so they will need to use that torch... clues of the right color sequence will be given to them in other rooms.. i think it is a really easy riddle (and i want it to be) with the sole purpose to "reward" the rogue for thinking to buy smthing that will actually help them (instead of the 2 CLW pots most of the other PCs bought). What do you think???
Ps: i have to admit that the original idea wasn't mine, but it popped in my head when i saw that white torch... when at the movie SPHERE, the actor tried to deactivate a bomb in pitch black and was using those glowsticks , but the green light was making impossible for him to distinguish the actual colors of the cables.

[Jack Zander]

I think it should be reasonable as long as you tell them upfront why they can't distinguish the right colors. "All of the tiles are tinted red from the glow of your torches."

They should also be able to get around this in other ways, such as casting a light spell.

[Gildedragon]

Its a cute idea though Jack has a point
to make the torch feel rewarding have them in a situation that the white torch is more life and deathy.

Because it is a bit odd that whoever made the puzzle did so with a different light.

Maybe a thick fog that pulls them appart. Using the signal torch lets them get back together.
ask the player what drove them to buy the signal torch, and then work around that expectation.

As to the riddle.
it could be a dragon-environment matchup
or pairing metallic and chromatic dragons.

[Xerxus]

I think the spell Light might be the go to thing though.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

The white signal torch is mundane, right? If you really want to avoid light, just put the entryway in a small anti-magic field, the fading remnant of age-old protections. Yeah, AMFs aren't exactly elegant, but they're one of the only RAW options that even kinda prevents casters from just solving otherwise cool encounters with a standard action.

[Raven777]

Just make sure that they do not spend an ungodly long time lining up the panels. Slider picture puzzles can be hard for people not accustomed to them.

[Kerilstrasz]

Ok lets see...
the creators of the dungeon in question were casters...
so they did made(and use) that riddle-switch on the door using light spell..
so either a light spell or the torch will be ok.. but i dont think they go with the "light" because they stocked like 20 torches and neither caster prepared a "light" in the past 12 in-game days into the dungeon :smalltongue:
as far for how i ll describe it to them, i ll describe the door and the riddle-switch, and tell them they see all the tiles the same red-ish color, "about the same color as the cleric's white vestments or the wizard's orange robe"... if they don't get the hint i ll just have them roll a Int check 12 and tell them about the torch.


Just make sure that they do not spend an ungodly long time lining up the panels. Slider picture puzzles can be hard for people not accustomed to them.

nuh.. the riddle will be kinda insta solved... they just have to tell me the sequence and not actually solve the puzzle

[Slipperychicken]

The "all the panels are the same color" deal is going to be extremely unintuitive, almost a read-the-DM's-mind moment if you only describe that the panels are the same color, without making it very clear that the torch's light is what's causing them all to look the same. Also beware: the Rogue can easily forget about that item, which would leave them stuck.


I solved the puzzle in a few seconds of brainless clicking (okay, I got lucky. I'm garbage at these things), but it's unlikely to be so easy for your players. Allow them to use an Intelligence roll to solve the puzzle if the players can't figure it out.

Also, with the WBL thing, they do need the healing items. You didn't give them the chance to pitch in for a CLW wand, so they're doing the best they can to shore up their healing power with the measly sum you gave them. I had a DM who did essentially what you did, and characters were terribly one-sided, with few ways to solve problems outside their class features. I'd have just given them standard WBL, personally.

[Kerilstrasz]

The "all the panels are the same color" deal is going to be extremely unintuitive, almost a read-the-DM's-mind moment if you only describe that the panels are the same color, without making it very clear that the torch's light is what's causing them all to look the same.

They ll have hints.. like the "about the same color as the cleric's white vestments or the wizard's orange robe", which they are like infront of them..


Allow them to use an Intelligence roll to solve the puzzle if the players can't figure it out.

as i said, they dont have to solve the slide puzzle, just to tell me the sequence. Like which plate goes where,without do the actual sliding.


Also, with the WBL thing, they do need the healing items. You didn't give them the chance to pitch in for a CLW wand, so they're doing the best they can to shore up their healing power with the measly sum you gave them. I had a DM who did essentially what you did, and characters were terribly one-sided, with few ways to solve problems outside their class features. I'd have just given them standard WBL, personally.

What do you mean? they start as lvl1, they got weapons and armors same or better than starting packages, class tolls for free (thieves tools, component pouches, holy symbols PLUS 100g each to spent as they like... i think that is generous enough for lvl1 PCs.. if "I'd have just given them standard WBL" as you said they would had even less resources...

[Barstro]

One concern I have is the "puzzle catered to us" scenario. Best example I have is ST:TNG once-per-season-episode where some horrible thing would have happened, but the only perfect android in the known universe happens to be on the ship at that exact time and he in unaffected by the phenomena.

But for a random purchase of a particular signal torch, they could not solve this. I suggest having some burnt out torches scattered around as a clue, and maybe a strong DC check would reveal that one still had some life in it.

I also suggest that the room be illuminated by way of sunlight (or magic light) filtered through red and yellow stained glass overhead. Then you can make the observation that everything in the room has a reddish hue (tint?). If they try to use normal torches, you could point out that the patterns look a little different, but not enough to do much. Solution now becomes to shield the light from above, and light the special signal torch.

On a side note: my morning ritual involves using a LED flashlight on my sock drawer so that I can distinguish between black and blue socks to match my suit. The socks look identical under normal lighting conditions.