Escaping from a pocket plane. Experience with riddles/puzzles needed.

[NOhara24]

Hello Playground,

I've got a session coming in which my characters need to escape from a pocket plane created by a great wizard long ago. I tried to design it to be fairly simple (go find this item that's conveniently within the plane, use it to activate a portal leading out...etc.) but then I realized I'd really rather have my players solve some kind of riddle or puzzle to get out. Does anyone have any experience designing large scale puzzles or creating lore-finding missions to solve a riddle?

[slade88green]

As a rule of thumb, when designing any puzzle for your players there should be at least three clues to find. Any less and the chances are good they will not figure it out. It turns it into a game of "guess what the DM was thinking".

[Mike Miller]

I would recommend multiple solutions to the puzzle, as well as methods to resolve the issue without solving the puzzle.

[Gildedragon]

So wizard put a way out for quick exits.
Also theres bound to be one just as a result of the magic (is it coterminous with any other planes? Natural instability in the spell (edges to it)?
and there's bound to be an eviction mechanism

So firstly: why did the wizard make it?

[NOhara24]

So wizard put a way out for quick exits.
Also theres bound to be one just as a result of the magic (is it coterminous with any other planes? Natural instability in the spell (edges to it)?
and there's bound to be an eviction mechanism

So firstly: why did the wizard make it?

Originally it was meant to be a safe haven for him and his adventuring party. The party originally made their way to and from the plane thanks to a "gatekeeper", an NPC who has long since passed.

So it could be a quirk of the pocket plane that there's always a designated "gatekeeper" selected by default, and it's up to the players to find him/her based on context clues (at least 3, probably more.) Does this sound not terrible?

[Gildedragon]

If it is a safe heaven the ordinary exit ought be quite easy
Also it should then deffinitively have an "eject intruders" system. Ideally the system is automatic, thus preventing the founders from being taken by surprise.

The formal exit might be damaged though. It was an archway that has collapsed, or a doorway in a tree that has toppled over.

[NOhara24]

If it is a safe heaven the ordinary exit ought be quite easy
Also it should then definitively have an "eject intruders" system. Ideally the system is automatic, thus preventing the founders from being taken by surprise.

The formal exit might be damaged though. It was an archway that has collapsed, or a doorway in a tree that has toppled over.

I'm thinking that would be the case - the players were lured in with the intent of them being imprisoned forever. That being said the antagonist's knowledge of the plain would be fragmented. So you're thinking that the players restore the formal exit and then have the option of restoring the eject intruders system?

[Gildedragon]

I'm thinking that would be the case - the players were lured in with the intent of them being imprisoned forever. That being said the antagonist's knowledge of the plain would be fragmented. So you're thinking that the players restore the formal exit and then have the option of restoring the eject intruders system?

They can do either of those things.
Either restore the ordinary exit
OR
Trigger the kick y'alls out system
OR
Unravel the demiplane

[Braininthejar2]

* One entry is keyed specifically to the wizard - the door will only open for him, and perhaps a blood descendant. Now, where could one find a sample of his flesh... perhaps a failed clone in a nearby lab?

* A steam "engine" that needs to be repaired to get things going is missing a key component - a decanter of endless water that the bound fire elemental inside was supposed to boil. (the question is, why was it removed?)

* A training room build for the wizard's party to practice in various planar conditions - it can mimic various planar traits, within reason, and while it's just a trap initially (it is left on some dangerous setting - or perhaps it is partially broken and something has 'leaked in' there) but can be used to solve another puzzle by creating unusual conditions.

[Gildedragon]

OP:
Have you read the Johannes Cabal books?
There's a similar situation in one of them; trick to getting out was breaking one of the fundamental planar traits of the demiplane.

[Hagashager]

Whatever you do, you cannot make the puzzles too complex. In the end, most players are not going to have the patience to sit down and solve a drawn out puzzle.

the best puzzles I've used involved the party basically either doing searches, or in-world manipulation. A good Lore gathering puzzle I made involved the party encountering a gargoyle who would only open a gate if the party successfully recounted the order in which the castle's lord had gotten his education. I then made the party search the area for various books describing the order in a cryptic sense. Each book was found out-of-order so the players would have to actually pay attention to the context of each book to figure out which guild came first.

If you want to cut out the middle-man and just ape what I did here it is:

Gargoyle: My master was most particular on the history of his academies, attributing value based upon their age. So I ask you, in respect to the knowledge my master possessed, what is the order in which the five guilds of his formative years were founded?

Five Guilds:
Mage’s Guild (The Cabal of the Prism) – 1st
Thieve’s Guild (The Friends of Friends) – 2nd
Fighter’s Guild (The Green Knights of Valderon) – 3rd
Craftsmen’s Compact – 4th
The Union of Bards (The Troubadours) – 5th

Book 1: Liane The Wayfarer, jealous of the organization of the Wizards, founded his own “guild” of cut-throats and vagabonds to mock and dog the arcane scholars of his day. He called his rag-tag band of misfits The Friends of Friends, and they were quite good at “spreading the wealth” so to speak.
Book 2: Turjan of Miir did not like the constant prodding and aggressive demands of Ulan-Dor’s men and so deemed it necessary to band his own workers together in a union of craftsmen, bound by a compact. In this way, he too could enjoy the spoils of the Green Knights of Valderon.
Book 3: Ildephonse The Logitator became increasingly annoyed at the machinations of his fellow magicians. One experiment here, another there, they always seemed to go wrong, and go wrong at his expense. When his patience was through he engaged in a most extraordinary ritual, one that brought forth the code of law from another time and place, that demanded a level of ethical practice among wizards. These laws were inscribed upon a translucent blue prism, guarded by a genie of Ildephonse’s own geass. Thus, the Cabal of the Prism was born.
Book 4: Guyal of Sfere, upon returning to his old home found himself bereft of pleasure. He’d seen so much on his travels, learned so much, and yet his home of Kaeen was utterly cheerless with the stuffy mages, the pretentious knights, the victimizing craftsmen and those damned thieves, always out for his exotic treasures! He decided he would put his own foot in this melting pot of unions and so called forth the greatest bards, story-tellers and performers of his kingdom, together, they formed a most glamorous and flamboyant of Troops, aptly named, The Troubadours.
Book 5: The Green Knights of Valderon, led by a righteous man named Ulan-Dor , were a foreign organization, upon their arrival in Kaeen, they found that they were constantly beset by an all-too-active band of bandits. The mages clearly didn’t care, they had magic, but what of the common man? Surely it was time for the holy Green Knights of Valderon to put a boot to the necks of these burglars! With religious zeal Ulan-Dor and his men set out to do good and stamp out the murderers, rapists and thieves of Kaeen.

[NOhara24]

OP:
Have you read the Johannes Cabal books?
There's a similar situation in one of them; trick to getting out was breaking one of the fundamental planar traits of the demiplane.

I'll have to work this in somehow - options being to either do things the "right" way or the "wrong" way and deal with the consequences :)