Physical Analog to Spell Trap Disarm: Ghost Leg

[TheFirstStraw]

There have been a few panels of Haley trying to cross out the right runes in the right order to disable a magical trap, and I thought that was so cool and something that could be replicated with a handout for an immersive experience.

In the past I have used dexterity games to represent important lockpicking/trap disarm puzzles (a Jenga tower with a roll to determine how many moves you need, a physical puzzle built with one player in mind, etc).

In this case, I want a puzzle that feels more INT based (to represent the Arcana(INT) check) and complicated in presentation (bc whoa it is magic) but not overly complicated in function.

My current idea is to base these puzzles on the "Ghost Leg" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Leg) lottery method.

It took me a while to figure out what this is even called, but I know it from a few video games and conducted some minor GoogleFu: Bospider's attack (https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/GZstgPYW/poster.jpg?width=720) in Megaman, that bonus stage in Super Mario Land 2 (https://cdn.wikimg.net/en/strategywiki/images/8/8f/SML2_Minigame_2.png), one of the mini-games in Bishi Bashi Special, etc.

At its core, this is not a "game" so much as it is a randomizer off which to build. I think if the PC needs to change the order in which the top row of items interacts with the bottom, and if I give them a number of "cross outs" based on their Arcana check, I've got something to work with. It looks like no matter what, the top row will all end up in different slots on the bottom. I'm sure there is a math reason for that, but I'm not here for that.

I've got a random generator (https://m.search.naver.com/search.naver?where=m&query=%EB%84%A4%EC%9D%B4%EB%B2%84+%EC%82%AC%EB%8B% A4%EB%A6%AC&ie=utf8&sm=tab_she&qdt=0) to work with, so my next steps are to A) figure out how to ensure the puzzles are solveable within a specific range of not immediate but not frustrating (baby-Sudoko-like) and B) do some more flavor, world-building-ey stuff to make it cool: maybe the top row represents a series of actions (arm) (explode) (arm) (poison gas) so reversing the order has relevance? I guess now I'm talking about coding for babies... maybe there is a better analog there.

Has anyone done anything like this, for spell traps specifically or other trap disarming? Do you have suggestions? Any advice or inspiration you could give me would be appreciated.

(EXCEPT something along the lines of "You shouldn't complicate these checks this way in the first place." I already know it is something that would go over well at my specific table. Your mileage may vary.)

[Maat Mons]

This feels like it would work better as the basis of a minigame for an electronic trap. Essentially, the “ladder” is a tangle of wires, with each “rung” being a spot where the wires cross over each other. This, by the way, is helpful in understanding why it’s always one-to-one (and onto). A “rung” is nothing more than a swap of neighbors. A single swap keeps the one-to-one (and onto) relation. So no matter how many swaps you add, that relation will always be preserved. The whole “ladder” is just a series of swaps. Nothing too mysterious there.

While complicating the process of disarming traps has the potential to be fun, this doesn’t do anything to address the fundamental problem of traps. A trap is something only one player interacts with. No matter how fun you make it, it will only be one player having fun. What you should aim for is to create a minigame that everyone takes part in. You can still design it so the Rogue is the MVP. You can view combat, traps, and social interactions all as separate minigames. It’s okay for someone to be specialized in one, as long as they can still participate in the others.

[TheFirstStraw]

This feels like it would work better as the basis of a minigame for an electronic trap. Essentially, the “ladder” is a tangle of wires, with each “rung” being a spot where the wires cross over each other. This, by the way, is helpful in understanding why it’s always one-to-one (and onto). A “rung” is nothing more than a swap of neighbors. A single swap keeps the one-to-one (and onto) relation. So no matter how many swaps you add, that relation will always be preserved. The whole “ladder” is just a series of swaps. Nothing too mysterious there.

While complicating the process of disarming traps has the potential to be fun, this doesn’t do anything to address the fundamental problem of traps. A trap is something only one player interacts with. No matter how fun you make it, it will only be one player having fun. What you should aim for is to create a minigame that everyone takes part in. You can still design it so the Rogue is the MVP. You can view combat, traps, and social interactions all as separate minigames. It’s okay for someone to be specialized in one, as long as they can still participate in the others.

I've run similar asymmetric puzzles with my group before and it always kills. Because I am talking about a worksheet that I would hand to one player while continuing to run whatever the scenario calls for with the rest of the party, the other players are not meant to be watching something without any agency (you are correct; this would be frustrating). Rather, they are meant to hear cursing in the background while they fight a dangerous battle, waiting to escape through the trapped door.

It's not for every table, but I am positive the idea will work in mine. I am just worried about how consistent I can make the puzzles to scale with DC and the overall styling.

Not sure what you mean by "electric trap," but that's kind of the vibe I was going for, a current of magical energy being diverted. Have you used something like that, or do you have a suggestion for how to tighten the bolts on the puzzle?

[Maat Mons]

When I say electronic trap, I mean something that would be more at home in a D20 Modern or Spelljammer setting. I just thought this might give more of a technological feel than might be desired in a pseudo-medieval setting. But if magical energy flowing through conduits analogous to electricity through wires is consistent with how you want to depict magic in your setting, go for it. I know some people dig the magic-as-technology angle.