I need help with a puzzle

[Vox Silentii]

So last game my party fell into a room filled with water.
In that room you have 5 podiums sticking out of the water.
5 big statues on the south wall with each one looking like each of the chromatic dragons, with the head of the black one missing. (To be found underwater in the room)
A magically locked door on the north wall.

The group needs hydra blood (not knowing that it's hydra blood) and they fell into this room with (seemingly) no escape. The idea was that they need to take the heads of the statues and arrange them on the podiums to open the door.
(Needing to take athletic checks to see if they can move it through the water and onto the podium)
But i wanted to use the fact that a hydra has +5 heads as well. So if they use the statues they open the door to a hydras lair, kill that and use its heads to open the door to another place (magic yo).

Would that be a viable puzzle?
How would you change it?
And
What kind of hints can i give the players so that they can figure this out?
Should i have them arrange the heads of the statues in a specific order? Having a poem or some carved text that points something out, if so what would it be?

This is my first puzzle i use in my games so i need some help.
Thanks in advance

[BLC1975]

What happens if they fail their check and are unable to move anything?

[Vox Silentii]

What happens if they fail their check and are unable to move anything?
I haven't figured that out yet so i guess it's gonna be a Vox Machina situation.
I haven't figured it out. But its not going to be hard to move stuff around.

[BLC1975]

What's a Vox Machina situation? I would remove the skill rolls if getting past the puzzle was necessary to continue the adventure.

Maybe put something like 3 pillars in one half of the room and 2 in the other half, the floor of the room is actually kind of a finely balanced weighing scale. Each head has a different number carved into it. The party must place the numbered heads on the pillars in such a way that the gives same total number at each side to maintain the balance and open the door.

Failure to do so causes an imbalance in the floor and the whirlpools at either side take the players into different traps and a more difficult way to reach the creature? You could give clues as they place one head after another, say they put one head at one side, you can give a hint and draw their attention to the water starting to swirl, pulling them towards it, this is where saving throws could come into it. they need to work out which head goes where and place them more or less in unison to prevent failure.

I dunno, it's just off the top of my head...maybe more thought required to refine it.

[BLC1975]

Oh and maybe give a carved clue written in the wall...something like "A test of balance is the key to the door, will you have the heads for it or die through the floor?"

I know its cheesy but I'm thinking on my feet...haha

[Vox Silentii]

What's a Vox Machina situation? I would remove the skill rolls if getting past the puzzle was necessary to continue the adventure.

Maybe put something like 3 pillars in one half of the room and 2 in the other half, the floor of the room is actually kind of a finely balanced weighing scale. Each head has a different number carved into it. The party must place the numbered heads on the pillars in such a way that the gives same total number at each side to maintain the balance and open the door.

Failure to do so causes an imbalance in the floor and the whirlpools at either side take the players into different traps and a more difficult way to reach the creature? You could give clues as they place one head after another, say they put one head at one side, you can give a hint and draw their attention to the water starting to swirl, pulling them towards it, this is where saving throws could come into it. they need to work out which head goes where and place them more or less in unison to prevent failure.

I dunno, it's just off the top of my head...maybe more thought required to refine it.


Oh and maybe give a carved clue written in the wall...something like "A test of balance is the key to the door, will you have the heads for it or die through the floor?"

I know its cheesy but I'm thinking on my feet...haha
Haha sorry, i meant a Deus Ex Machina moment. Ive been listening to too much Critical Role...

But i like these ideas. This is definitely going to be plan B if i dont think about something better (which i doubt).

[ImthebOHGODBEES]

Maybe (if it's not too late) have the one head be already on a pedestal or near it? Have the other heads be obviously disconnected but resting. Like when they look around call out that they can see fracture/break lines in the necks of all the statues.

[Nidgit]

You could potentially also make the puzzle to arrange metallic dragon heads found underwater to oppose the chromatic dragon heads they're most parallel to.

As for the Hydra, maybe the actual monster's heads grow in different colors/shapes to more directly resemble dragons? Or the pillars are all conjoined by relief sculptures of necks, to make the link.