New DM. Need help creating a puzzle.

[Inugami]

Hey everyone! I'm a new DM and about to start Lost Mines for a group of 5. 2 experienced players and 3 newbies. I want to add/tweak LMoP.

Specifically, I want to add a larger story to continue the campaign after LMoP in which there's an apprentice wizard gone rogue and is causing mayhem throughout the Sword Coast. I want the party to encounter a time loop puzzle in Wave Echo Cave but I'm struggling to figure it out. I got the idea from Buffy in which she needs to satisfy a customers needs to end the time loop.

My only ideas thus far have been to have a cursed object in which the wizard was practicing time manipulation and the item Just sends them back to the beginning of this section of the dungeon. They can't destroy the item as it would just send them back to the entrance of this section of the dungeon. Maybe have the markings of time on the floor and they need to use the item in a certain way or place it somewhere. My creative juices just aren't flowing but I just absolutely love this idea.

Any ideas? Have any of you ever done time loop stuff before?

[Smaje]

S4E6 of stargate sg1 a man messes with a time artifact locking two “unintelligent” characters in a time loop. They had to first convince the other two “smarter” characters that the time loop was real and the had to learn high level language/physics from them in order to disarm the time relic (since they were the only ones who could remember between loops).

I explained it terribly. The episode is one of their best check it out.

[wallyd2]

I've done something similar to this. I created a room of "Deja Vu", the party enters a room that looks like a fantastic place to rest. However, they can look out and see themselves from about 5 minutes ago, in the past. If there past catches up with them, time loops back to when they first entered the room. This loop repeats over and over, until they leave the room. Once they leave the room, they suffer the effects of Deja Vu and are forced to repeat actions for a certain period of time.

I did an entire puzzle video on this idea and its on my YouTube Channel if you want to take a look. Just search for "Wally DM - Deja Vu" on YouTube and you should find it.

Sounds like a fun idea you have cooked up there! Good luck!