ScoutTrooper
2021-01-21, 09:37 AM
So after failing my first gear centric puzzle, which was also constructed unfairly with a 2 and 3 chance of hurting the party. Thus making any future attempts to solve even more painstaking. I created the following.
In order to progress in a tower, and ascend past the middle floors. The party had to move a large 15 x 15 metal plate that was a part of the larger stone structure of the tower.(An Elevator) The grooves/seams in the walls and masonry were tight. i.e. the meachanisms couldn't be reached. The “Gearbox” was in another room.
Prior to this floor I had left a single axel or gear or both, on the floors pervious that they picked up. No, It wasn’t a gather the missing parts and throw them in, get it working. I just wanted it to appear as fetch quest.
When they found the room, I described 3 levers on one wall. All down, all look to travel an equal distance up, no markings, no distinction. On another wall I described the exposed “Gearbox”. Two gears present on opposite ends, with a series of seven holes spaced out in between at varying distances. On the floor, two buckets; one full of gears and one full of axels.
This is where the sound of it becomes daunting. It’s actually very simple and as long as the party attempts to do things with the pieces, they will learn it.
The holes in the wall fit the axels. The axels are all equal in diameter and length. The only distinction, if the Party looks at them, decent investigation check. The axels can be arranged where the common factor is, one side has either one or two groves. The opposite end can have anywhere from two to five grooves.
My party likes to get lost in the weeds, so it’s important to mention there’s enough of them to facilitate every combination, to include duplicates just in case someone destroys one. It’s also important to reiterate that diameter of the axels match the diameter of the holes in the wall.
Axels, Grooves: North Side 1-2 South Side 2-5
The other bucket has gears, and various types, and various sizes. If the party attempts to sort it, and scores decent investigation. The gears can be sorted by two means, size and type.
Sizes: Large, Medium, and Small
Types: Screw, Helical, and Bevel
I gave them a set number of each size, and stated that each type had the same amount. Example; 2 x Larges, 4 x Medium, 3 x Smalls.
So here’s the operation of the whole thing. The 1st lever will start the “Engine” and spin the first gear that’s already built onto the wall. The 2nd lever will move the holes in the wall to align more; this is what will engage the gear/axel combos to spin the last gear and solve the puzzle. I.e. moving the elevator. The 3rd lever, is a red herring. It does nothing. It can move, it can make a noise, you can even let it release harmless steam into the room to drive the party batty.
If the party indicates they closely look at the wall and the holes, a decent investigation. It’s pretty easy to measure the distances to tell what combo of size gears go where. A high investigation will literally yield the smoothed out scratches as they spun against the wall previous. Solution Example: Medium, Large, Medium, Small, Large, small, and Medium.
Now for which Axel where; as long as they try and slide one down a hole, they will learn. As Each hole will take a different number of grooves….the two to five (South Side). Solution Example: 2,3,4,2,5,3,2.
So with the second hole (3), if they place an axel with five grooves on one end, it’ll ‘click’ only three times. If they place a two groove axel down, it’ll ‘click’ twice. *Keep note which North side groove combo they picked*
Now the rule here is if the axel has less grooves than needed i.e. they place a 2 grooved axel in the 4 hole. When pulling the two levers, this axel will be spun out. Too much torque, and will start to scratch where grooves need to be. If they placed a 3 groove axel in the 2 hole, when pulling the two levers, the axel will ‘buck’. Not enough torque, and the extra grooves catching without ejecting the axel. Only correctly placed axels will remain in place when the gears engage.
Once the Axels are placed correctly, and the sizes of gear picked out, depending on what Northern grooves are left, depends on which type of gear are the correct ones. It sounds complicated, it induces anxiety, but once solved, it’s pretty simple. The type of gear denotes which grooves it fits. A screw type gear fits only one groove, the Bevel and helical gears fit the two grooves. Mismatch gears are easily identified as how they do not fit flush with the axel.
They can all be one groove sided, and take only the screw type. They can all be two groove sided, and take either combo of the Helical and Bevel, as long as the correct combo of sizes are in the right place. They can even have a combo of one and two groove sides.
Once two levers all pulled with the correct gears and axels, the gearbox will engage and the elevator will move.
My party was terrified throughout this. More of this story, it was inside a costal tower that an Adult Blue Dragon was using as it’s roost. This dragon’s followers; Lizardfolk, were attempting to rout the party and kill them. When the elevator starts moving, I had the dragon ‘speak’(Boomed/Bellowed) that it knew what the party had done, and order the Lizardfolk to dispatch of them quickly or else.
I hope this wasn’t confusing, any questions I’ll help to alleviate confusion. I will also add, this was all described via Discord while playing on Roll20, and I had zero visual aids prepared. (IRL things prevented me from doing them) This did hurt the experience of two of my players who were visual people.
In order to progress in a tower, and ascend past the middle floors. The party had to move a large 15 x 15 metal plate that was a part of the larger stone structure of the tower.(An Elevator) The grooves/seams in the walls and masonry were tight. i.e. the meachanisms couldn't be reached. The “Gearbox” was in another room.
Prior to this floor I had left a single axel or gear or both, on the floors pervious that they picked up. No, It wasn’t a gather the missing parts and throw them in, get it working. I just wanted it to appear as fetch quest.
When they found the room, I described 3 levers on one wall. All down, all look to travel an equal distance up, no markings, no distinction. On another wall I described the exposed “Gearbox”. Two gears present on opposite ends, with a series of seven holes spaced out in between at varying distances. On the floor, two buckets; one full of gears and one full of axels.
This is where the sound of it becomes daunting. It’s actually very simple and as long as the party attempts to do things with the pieces, they will learn it.
The holes in the wall fit the axels. The axels are all equal in diameter and length. The only distinction, if the Party looks at them, decent investigation check. The axels can be arranged where the common factor is, one side has either one or two groves. The opposite end can have anywhere from two to five grooves.
My party likes to get lost in the weeds, so it’s important to mention there’s enough of them to facilitate every combination, to include duplicates just in case someone destroys one. It’s also important to reiterate that diameter of the axels match the diameter of the holes in the wall.
Axels, Grooves: North Side 1-2 South Side 2-5
The other bucket has gears, and various types, and various sizes. If the party attempts to sort it, and scores decent investigation. The gears can be sorted by two means, size and type.
Sizes: Large, Medium, and Small
Types: Screw, Helical, and Bevel
I gave them a set number of each size, and stated that each type had the same amount. Example; 2 x Larges, 4 x Medium, 3 x Smalls.
So here’s the operation of the whole thing. The 1st lever will start the “Engine” and spin the first gear that’s already built onto the wall. The 2nd lever will move the holes in the wall to align more; this is what will engage the gear/axel combos to spin the last gear and solve the puzzle. I.e. moving the elevator. The 3rd lever, is a red herring. It does nothing. It can move, it can make a noise, you can even let it release harmless steam into the room to drive the party batty.
If the party indicates they closely look at the wall and the holes, a decent investigation. It’s pretty easy to measure the distances to tell what combo of size gears go where. A high investigation will literally yield the smoothed out scratches as they spun against the wall previous. Solution Example: Medium, Large, Medium, Small, Large, small, and Medium.
Now for which Axel where; as long as they try and slide one down a hole, they will learn. As Each hole will take a different number of grooves….the two to five (South Side). Solution Example: 2,3,4,2,5,3,2.
So with the second hole (3), if they place an axel with five grooves on one end, it’ll ‘click’ only three times. If they place a two groove axel down, it’ll ‘click’ twice. *Keep note which North side groove combo they picked*
Now the rule here is if the axel has less grooves than needed i.e. they place a 2 grooved axel in the 4 hole. When pulling the two levers, this axel will be spun out. Too much torque, and will start to scratch where grooves need to be. If they placed a 3 groove axel in the 2 hole, when pulling the two levers, the axel will ‘buck’. Not enough torque, and the extra grooves catching without ejecting the axel. Only correctly placed axels will remain in place when the gears engage.
Once the Axels are placed correctly, and the sizes of gear picked out, depending on what Northern grooves are left, depends on which type of gear are the correct ones. It sounds complicated, it induces anxiety, but once solved, it’s pretty simple. The type of gear denotes which grooves it fits. A screw type gear fits only one groove, the Bevel and helical gears fit the two grooves. Mismatch gears are easily identified as how they do not fit flush with the axel.
They can all be one groove sided, and take only the screw type. They can all be two groove sided, and take either combo of the Helical and Bevel, as long as the correct combo of sizes are in the right place. They can even have a combo of one and two groove sides.
Once two levers all pulled with the correct gears and axels, the gearbox will engage and the elevator will move.
My party was terrified throughout this. More of this story, it was inside a costal tower that an Adult Blue Dragon was using as it’s roost. This dragon’s followers; Lizardfolk, were attempting to rout the party and kill them. When the elevator starts moving, I had the dragon ‘speak’(Boomed/Bellowed) that it knew what the party had done, and order the Lizardfolk to dispatch of them quickly or else.
I hope this wasn’t confusing, any questions I’ll help to alleviate confusion. I will also add, this was all described via Discord while playing on Roll20, and I had zero visual aids prepared. (IRL things prevented me from doing them) This did hurt the experience of two of my players who were visual people.