I’m about to start running my first proper campaign for a few friends. I ran a one shot a few weeks ago for some of them which included a lot of puzzles which they enjoyed and I want to add into the campaign.
The puzzles included things like a checkmating a game of chess in one move and moving a glowing orb around a room into the correct spot that they had to deduce from objects in the room. Puzzles that challenged the players as much as their characters and made them work together.
Does anyone know a decent list of puzzles I can pull inspiration from that aren’t just riddles? Also what puzzles have you experienced as a DM or player that you enjoyed?
I have a digital copy of a book called Grimtooth’s Traps. It has all kinds of traps, for players of all levels and characters of all levels. I don’t know where it might be found for purchase, but I found it on the high seas.
Thanks, I’ll set sail and see if I can find it
Puzzle can be tricky. Not being able to see something can turn a rudimentary challenge into a nightmare. Consider a well drawn diagram or props if it isnt a language based puzzle or riddle. I would also look to video games for examples. Click and point adventures are a treasure trove of the type of “solve puzzle to progress” puzzles you seem to be looking for. And one last piece of friendly advice: Leave two more clues than you think you’ll need, and make sure at least one is obvious.
As far as sources: I’ve gotten quite a bit of use out of “The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons.” There might also be older edition books you can find pdfs for online.
I don’t really play video games so I don’t have much to draw from.
Thanks, I’ll check the book out
A couple of puzzles to maybe try:
One I’ve done was they were in a room with 6 paintings of various lizards. On the back wall was were dials that when spun would give letters a-z. I set the code to “dragon” and I had a bunch of different reptile creatures I pulled from the MM. In the pictures there were a certain number of those animals with a plaque underneath detailing the painting (e.g., basilisks warming on rocks in a field). Now, the number of animals referred to a letter in the reptile’s name. And each picture had different reptiles (basilisk, kobold, lizard folk, etc). So, for example, 4 kobold gave you a “o”, 6 lizard folk gives you a “d”, and 2 basilisks give you an “a”.
When the players figured out the combos and input the answer in the dials they would hear a click noting they placed the right letter in the right place and when the word was spelled out a mechanism began to work and a secret door opened to another room and the dials reset for anyone else who would stumble upon that room.
Another one I was going to do was a variation on the fox, chicken, grain puzzle. In this they would be tracking down a crazy druid who went rogue and this puzzle would help get them closer to his lair. I did mine with hawk, frog, fly and a small boat has to cross the canal and they place these idols on the posts. If they were wrong then the idols would reset and some weak nature golems would attack.
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything has a few puzzles in the back, though they’re somewhat situational. I have used them and do recommend them though.
