solve puzzle by int roll/skills like decipher script vs solve puzzle by yourself

[With a box]

witch one would you do?
solve puzzle by player themselves would be metagaming(their intelligence isn't characters). However players just rolling decipher script roll without even think about my puzzle would be..:smallfrown:

[Kelb_Panthera]

Split the difference. Let 'em try it for themselves and if they're stuck roll int/knowledge for a hint. If a single successful check gives all the info needed to solve a problem then it's not a very good puzzle. Decipher script just tells you what the script says, what you can do with that info is another matter entirely.

[ericgrau]

Depends how stupid the puzzle is to be honest. Many are so bad they're better off skipped anyway. Though even on a good puzzle it could be nice to give hints on an int check.

[Afgncaap5]

Yeah, I like using both methods.

Even better: I like it when my players can solve it on their own, but accurately roleplay the fact that their character can't figure it out. Usually that gives them free license for a few 'idiot hero' moments where they solve things accidentally, or wait for the scene to get more dramatic.

Having said that, I enjoy the occasional puzzle that *requires* skill checks to solve. Imagine a riddle where the answer is something like 'The Magna Carta' or 'George Washington' or 'Cairo' or something in our world; that'd require a Knowledge (History) or Knowledge (Geography) roll. Sometimes I'll create historical figures or geographical oddities that I can describe.

Also, I think it's good that even if a player feels like they know an answer but that they're wrong, they can have a roll as a "back up." For instance, if I used Riddle #25 from the Exeter Book (NSFW depending on how you interpret it, even though it's a perfectly innocent thing in hindsight) and a player playing a Druid gave a wrong answer that seems obvious, I might have him or her roll a Wisdom check along with the bonus for Resist Nature's Lure to say "This is a riddle you know to come from the fey, and while you might not know the answer right now you know that what you're about to say is far too obvious to be accurate."