Puzzle time with Immovable rods (help pls)

[Reijura]

Hey there fellers,

I've hit the ever fearing Writer's Block of Doom and thus am having trouble coming up with a puzzle for my groups game this evening.

Main thing that I want to have as a tool to solve the puzzle is a pair of immovable rods (or more if the puzzle needs em). For either crossing some sort of chasm, climbing something or just creative uses of em.

And at that is where am drawing blanks. So I turn to you dear friends, got any good ideas for puzzles?

[F.L.]

The key to these puzzles is conservancy. You have to have the puzzle require 3 immovable rods as you go along, with a little trick that allows you to recycle them.

Have a set of blocks 10' above a lower dungeon lever, spaced 10' or so apart. Have a set of swinging razorblades on the ceiling between the blocks. Have switches on the blocks, or near them, that control some of the pendulums. The immovable rod can build a bridge from block to block, or it can stop the pendulums. It can't do both. Then force the players to roll some sort of token (like a big rock) across the blocks, requiring the use of the rods to allow the rock to slide from block to block. How the geometry of all of this works is up to you, but it could be something like:

XXXXXXXXXXXX
1P2P3P4P5P6P7
XXXXXXXXXXXX

1 disables p1, p4, enables p2,p3
2 enables p1, disables p4

etc, etc, to form a proper puzzle. The proper solution probably is to push the block halfway, go down the pit, leave a player with the block, reset the switches from the front, push the keyblock into the hole, retrieve the other players at the beginning of the puzzle.

[NaYoN]

extra components required: a pipe

water is flowing from a hole into the room. at about a few foot higher than ground level is a source of electricity/lightning, so if water touches it, they get electrocuted. At the center of the room is a hole, which is quite deep. they can climb down the hole with 2 rods, but there's no point to that. the pipe is on the bottom of the hole. they go down with 2 rods, get the pipe, go back up, then put the pipe into the hole and hold it firmly in place with the 2 rods in a position such that the water fills the hole. when the hole is completely full, doors open, they can go.

[Reijura]

Thx guys not bad suggestions at all. One of my players is quite logic minded puzzle guy so I really have to make it work rather well :P.

Thx for the suggestions, keep it coming guys.

[KeithTheThinker]

If you can give them more than two per person:
Long corridor with low ceilings, and a long stretch of the floor is pressure sensitive. Force them to use the rods as stepping stones, needing to make balance checks constantly as they pass the rods to the front to make a path.

*scratches head* I dunno what I was just thinking.

[Icewalker]

Here's a general addition which may be hard but would be awesome:

Make it necessary for the players to leave the rods behind, so they don't get crazy loot. However, if they can figure it out right, it is possible to get out with one of the rods.

[Reijura]

Here's a general addition which may be hard but would be awesome:

Make it necessary for the players to leave the rods behind, so they don't get crazy loot. However, if they can figure it out right, it is possible to get out with one of the rods.

Yea that's my plan. I was gonna let them if they figured out correctly to keep one of the rods. Godsakes if they got more than 1 though.

One of my players has creativity and ingenuity when it comes to combat and the many uses for the most simple of magic items. Giving more ammo is already scaringly entertaining really :P

Am just glad he doesn't read these boards, like the 1001 uses for the immovable rod thread. He'll he'd probably come up with a few hundred himself.

[KeithTheThinker]

Oooh, have those pressure switches that open doors as long as someone's standing on it, and the only way for the last person to get through is to use the rod to hold the door down. Decent puzzle and forces them to give up a rod. Or a character...

[Holocron Coder]

This is more of a "puzzle on the wall to open/switch something"




Move one matchstick (or in your case, one rod ) to solve the problem. (Solve the problem... something happens. You could let them keep the rod they moved).