your best riddle/puzzle/thingy ever.

[big teej]

greetings playgrounders,

I recently designed a puzzle/riddle room that I'm rather proud of, I don't quite have time to detail it right now because a class is about to start, but I plan to later.

in the meantime, I wanna hear about what you consider to be "your best trap/riddle/puzzle/etc."

I want to know
what it is
how it works
how to bypass it (unless you have players on the forums who haven't figured it out)
how you came up with the idea
and anything else you find relevant

have at it

[DonDuckie]

I haven't used it but want to use a variant of the classic two always true/false guards with a single question, just guarding the door of some wizards tower. I don't know what entities are good for this, but I'm thinking illusions or maybe constructs.

But the turn is it's just two jerks trying to delay and annoy intruders.

So when the right question is immediately asked, they don't grasp it and need it explained.

It's especially good for parties with patience.

[Ancient Mage]

I have not actually used this, as I don't like killing my players. It is an incredibly evil trap found in really old and smart dragons' lairs.

"You walk into the room, out of the thin hallway. The room is about 10' by 10' with a 10' high ceiling. There is a massive iron door on the far side. Suddenly, two things happen at once: The hallway behind you collapses (mechanical trigger, magical detonation in support struts), and your magic fails you (dragon in room ABOVE casting antimagic field, which siphons down through the 5 tiny cracks in the ceiling above the characters)."
Next round: dragon begins casting spells through the cracks in the ceiling, creating a kill-zone. The iron door has a simple lock, which the PC's will probably open. (If a wizard checks the door, it is immune to acid damage via magical protection...). Opening the door unleashes a flood of acid from the acid lake behind the iron door, flooding the room. PC's are killed all at once by dragon, acid and drowning.

I think this covers the "trap" request of yours. There are a handful of ways to escape, and observant PC's should be able to realize several of the tricks in advance, but unwary or brash heroes will die instantly.

-Ancient Mage

[Ksheep]

A trapped corridor that I had seen a while back which I'm tempted to use:

The corridor spirals inward toward a central room. Throughout the corridor are numerous sprung traps (pendulum, saw blades, lightning, pitfalls, etc). At the end, they find a single treasure chest with a corpse lying next to it. The chest has a simple, unsprung poison needle trap. After opening it, they find jewels and gold… and if they remove more than a pound of it (or add more than a pound to it), a pressure pad under it get triggered. This resets all the traps in the corridor, and they have to get out in one piece.

[Venger]

I haven't used it but want to use a variant of the classic two always true/false guards with a single question, just guarding the door of some wizards tower. I don't know what entities are good for this, but I'm thinking illusions or maybe constructs.

But the turn is it's just two jerks trying to delay and annoy intruders.

So when the right question is immediately asked, they don't grasp it and need it explained.

It's especially good for parties with patience.

have it be an ettin! one head always tells the truth, one head always lies. (and then the ettin is just trolling, as you said)

[big teej]

heh, some of these put mine to shame

but I started this mess, so here it is.

*I would like to note at this point that a slight portion of the reason behind this thread is too find out if I need a better hint, I've used this once before and I can't decide if the clue was too hard, or if the players metagamed and it came back to bite them.... having polled some other people (both gamers and non) it would seem it is metagaming that caused the 2 deaths within this room... but we'll see)

I digress, the solution is spoilered below.

you enter a four sided room, the room is empty except for the following features. to your right is a large altar, covered in runes and sigils and whatnot, the party cleric points out that every single symbol he recognizes is the holy, or unholy, symbol of a diety, but he is not familiar with them all. opposite the altar, inscribed upon the wall, is the phrase "Fear Denies Faith". opposite the door you entered is another plain simple door. what do you do?

and, in the interest of expediency, I will explain a portion of the trap/riddle in advance.

if you attempt to open the door in any fashion (knock spells, touching the door knob, attacking it, etc.) an Astral Construct (lvl 5) appears and attacks the character that made the attempt, ignoring all other characters.

if a character NOT being attacked by the construct attacks the construct, a second construct appears, focused on the offending character.

every time someone either a) tries to open the door without solving the riddle, or b) attacks a construct that's after someone else

they are attacked by progressively stronger Astral Constructs (5th, 6th all the way up to 9th). in the event that the 9th level construct is slain, but they still attempt to pass the door, 2 constructs are then spawned, and the pattern continues.

I believe that is all the necessary information about the constructs...

so, now for the answer (and for those of you who wish to guess please spoiler your guess and/or any tips you may have on giving a better clue)

Spoiler

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the only way to try to pass through the door without being attacked is too make some act of devotion at the altar, be it a prayer, singing a hymn, a slogan, sacrificing a party member, etc. it doesn't matter what diety it is for or if it is even genuine, but the act must be made.

the clue is meant to be difficult, however, "how difficult" is something I'm troubleshooting, I'm curious how many people can figure it out before I consider changing it.

anyways... that's mine, and I'm rather proud of it if I say so myself.

[SilverLeaf167]

big teej, your puzzle seems pretty cool and detailed, but it is indeed quite difficult. I don't see anything in the phrase "Fear Denies Faith" that would give any clue on solving the puzzle. Unless this is just some specific reference to something which I don't get, the encounter might very well end in a TPK unless some player tries the real solution just out of desperation OR you give them some other hint.

Don't ask me about what the hint should be. :P

[Arakune]

I'm with SilverLeaf Here.

Also, what prevents them from staying there for a long time and hoard XP?

[SamBurke]

heh, some of these put mine to shame

but I started this mess, so here it is.

*I would like to note at this point that a slight portion of the reason behind this thread is too find out if I need a better hint, I've used this once before and I can't decide if the clue was too hard, or if the players metagamed and it came back to bite them.... having polled some other people (both gamers and non) it would seem it is metagaming that caused the 2 deaths within this room... but we'll see)

I digress, the solution is spoilered below.

you enter a four sided room, the room is empty except for the following features. to your right is a large altar, covered in runes and sigils and whatnot, the party cleric points out that every single symbol he recognizes is the holy, or unholy, symbol of a diety, but he is not familiar with them all. opposite the altar, inscribed upon the wall, is the phrase "Fear Denies Faith". opposite the door you entered is another plain simple door. what do you do?

and, in the interest of expediency, I will explain a portion of the trap/riddle in advance.

if you attempt to open the door in any fashion (knock spells, touching the door knob, attacking it, etc.) an Astral Construct (lvl 5) appears and attacks the character that made the attempt, ignoring all other characters.

if a character NOT being attacked by the construct attacks the construct, a second construct appears, focused on the offending character.

every time someone either a) tries to open the door without solving the riddle, or b) attacks a construct that's after someone else

they are attacked by progressively stronger Astral Constructs (5th, 6th all the way up to 9th). in the event that the 9th level construct is slain, but they still attempt to pass the door, 2 constructs are then spawned, and the pattern continues.

I believe that is all the necessary information about the constructs...

so, now for the answer (and for those of you who wish to guess please spoiler your guess and/or any tips you may have on giving a better clue)

Spoiler

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the only way to try to pass through the door without being attacked is too make some act of devotion at the altar, be it a prayer, singing a hymn, a slogan, sacrificing a party member, etc. it doesn't matter what diety it is for or if it is even genuine, but the act must be made.

the clue is meant to be difficult, however, "how difficult" is something I'm troubleshooting, I'm curious how many people can figure it out before I consider changing it.

anyways... that's mine, and I'm rather proud of it if I say so myself.

That's about right, if you ask me. My first thought was, "Fighting=Fear." So, deny fear, AND un-deny faith. Whatever that means.

I don't use traps all too often, but when I do, I choose the Big Red Button.

Players walk into a room with a big red button (or appropriate device) in the center of the room. The has the word "RESET" tied to it. A timer immediately begins, doors lock.

Each time the push the button, the timer re-starts. Trick is, they WANT the timer to run out. It's a timed lock; thirty seconds after entering, the door on the other side opens.

[big teej]

big teej, your puzzle seems pretty cool and detailed, but it is indeed quite difficult. I don't see anything in the phrase "Fear Denies Faith" that would give any clue on solving the puzzle. Unless this is just some specific reference to something which I don't get, the encounter might very well end in a TPK unless some player tries the real solution just out of desperation OR you give them some other hint.

Don't ask me about what the hint should be. :P

the logic (flawed though it may be) that I used was "you must make an act of faith (devotion) to pass"

the phrase is partly meant to throw off the players (as is proper for a trap meant for 18th level characters)

I'm with SilverLeaf Here.

Also, what prevents them from staying there for a long time and hoard XP?

mostlly because I've yet to play with someone who would have thought of that.

[Igneel]

There is one riddle that I always enjoyed throwing at my math teachers ever since I read it from a book I once read way back in 2001. I don't believe anyone has ever gotten it correctly.

Thaegan gulps her favorite food
In her cave with all her brood:
Hot, Tod, Jin, Jod,
Fie, Fly, Zan, Zod,
Pik, Snik, Lun, Lod,
and the dreaded Ichabod.
Each child holds a slimy toad.
On each toad squirm two fat grubs.
On each grub ride two fleas brave.
How many living in Thaegan's cave?
-Deltora Quest 'Lake of Tears', by Emily Rodda

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Thaegan= 1
Children= 13
Toads= 13
Grubs= 26
Fleas= 52
= 105

Plus her favorite food which she gulped= swallowed whole being a single living crow for a total of 106. I personally like to alter it so that at least it sounds like your talking about a dragon, but I digress...

[DonDuckie]

I didn't get it. And I still don't... granted - I'm not good at these puzzles.

"Fear Denies Faith" is weird... (so if meant to confuse, I suppose it's good)

Bravery would be trying the handle, bravery would be joining a fight to protect a teammate.

for 18th level? go for it, even though I don't know what Astral Constructs are...

also, what do they get from detect magic, detect alliance, arcane eye, true seeing, analyze dweomer... if they don't, it's their own fault at that level.

But I would never get it, and I would never stop attacking Astrals Constructs and the door... And if I survived, I would spend a few months trying to figure out how to the trap with me...

[Lapak]

There is one riddle that I always enjoyed throwing at my math teachers ever since I read it from a book I once read way back in 2001. I don't believe anyone has ever gotten it correctly.

Thaegan gulps her favorite food
In her cave with all her brood:
Hot, Tod, Jin, Jod,
Fie, Fly, Zan, Zod,
Pik, Snik, Lun, Lod,
and the dreaded Ichabod.
Each child holds a slimy toad.
On each toad squirm two fat grubs.
On each grub ride two fleas brave.
How many living in Thaegan's cave?
-Deltora Quest 'Lake of Tears', by Emily Rodda

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Thaegan= 1
Children= 13
Toads= 13
Grubs= 26
Fleas= 52
= 105

Plus her favorite food which she gulped= swallowed whole being a single living crow for a total of 106. I personally like to alter it so that at least it sounds like your talking about a dragon, but I digress...

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I sucessfully got to 105 before opening your spoiler, but the lack of information about what her favorite food is makes the riddle unsolvable. I noted that the CHILDREN are called out as carrying the toads and she wasn't, but since you don't say what her favorite food is it could be a dead rat or a pair of live chickens or a bucket full of 10,000,000 krill. The best possible answer is 'at least 105 and less than an infinite number.'

[DonDuckie]

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I sucessfully got to 105 before opening your spoiler, but the lack of information about what her favorite food is makes the riddle unsolvable. I noted that the CHILDREN are called out as carrying the toads and she wasn't, but since you don't say what her favorite food is it could be a dead rat or a pair of live chickens or a bucket full of 10,000,000 krill. The best possible answer is 'at least 105 and less than an infinite number.'

Seconded! I got the same answer.

[Vanzanze]

One I particularly enjoyed was chasing a PC and her trusting NPC into a bank vault that seals almost as well as modern ones do. After failing to blast their way in with dynamite and spells, the ruffians outside decided not to make chase, but rather to wait for the people inside to starve/die of thirst/run out of oxygen and reclaim the prize that way. However, there was an elevator inside that the PC knew a little about, which was enough to prompt her to try and use it to escape.

Of course, this "elevator" was designed to be as much of a trap as anything else, so there was only an up-down indicator for the lever itself, while the lever console was an inch-wide golden plate with lots of little stylistic markings and such. Pulling down on the lever would eventually crush the people, as the 'bottom' of the elevator was really a firm platform, but the rest of the elevator could easily go down around it. Oh, and no lights in the elevator, either, so a lit torch would start smoking up the place.

After careful study of the stylistic markings, she noticed a strange gap in them (a blank part of the gold inlay) about halfway down the right-hand side. Pushing the lever into that gap actually made the elevator slide off to one side and a spring-loaded platform pop out to catch the people inside the car (since they were moving off of the fixed platform). Once this was done, she could easily pull the lever down even further than the original "lever box" would have allowed, which let them arrive (unharmed) at their intended destination: another trapped vault door.

The vault door was a more straightforward trap, but the "false lever box" on the elevator was fun to mess with her.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Ksheep
A trapped corridor that I had seen a while back which I'm tempted to use:

The corridor spirals inward toward a central room. Throughout the corridor are numerous sprung traps (pendulum, saw blades, lightning, pitfalls, etc). At the end, they find a single treasure chest with a corpse lying next to it. The chest has a simple, unsprung poison needle trap. After opening it, they find jewels and gold… and if they remove more than a pound of it (or add more than a pound to it), a pressure pad under it get triggered. This resets all the traps in the corridor, and they have to get out in one piece.

This is in Book of Challenges, and our DM sprang this on us.

From his perspective it was hilarious. We walked right into it, literally, passing up all the "sprung" traps and not even considering they might reset themselves. Getting out...hurt.

Also, you forgot to mention the Flame Strike targeted on whoever touches the chest. Then all the other traps are reset.

[SleepyShadow]

When it comes to traps, riddles, and the general maiming of PCs, I always turn to Grimtooth. Not counting the beloved Dungeon of Doom adventure, I believe the best puzzler would have to be the Bridge at Rue Vincent.

A rickety bridge is suspended over a pool of boiling wax, and in the center of the bridge is a flint golem. Melee attacks made with metal weapons, as well as most notable flashy spells, will cause sparks when the hit the flint golem. The sparks will set the room on fire, as well as quickly consuming the bridge and preventing the party from where they need to go (or better yet the way out).

The trick? Either beat the golem to death with wooden sticks, or just push it off the bridge.

[Raimun]

The best trap is obviously an empty, featureless room with absolutely no traps in it.

As for riddles? I don't know many but I do know this:

What is both death and healing?

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Time.

[Igneel]

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I sucessfully got to 105 before opening your spoiler, but the lack of information about what her favorite food is makes the riddle unsolvable. I noted that the CHILDREN are called out as carrying the toads and she wasn't, but since you don't say what her favorite food is it could be a dead rat or a pair of live chickens or a bucket full of 10,000,000 krill. The best possible answer is 'at least 105 and less than an infinite number.'

That was the point in the book. The main character was asked this riddle to cross a bridge, get it right he gets to go across, get it wrong he gets killed. Of course the character called out the riddler for not being fair which the riddler gave him the slightly over used riddle "You may say one thing, if its true I will strangle you with my hands, if its false I will cut your head off with my sword". The answer is 'My head will be cut off'.

The only campaign I ever used the earlier riddle for was in one that people knew about the dragon [altered the riddle thusly] that liked to swallow a peasant whole.

[Person_Man]

Passageway is blocked by a massive magically locked metal door.

In front of the door is a large statue of the Goddess of Wisdom, holding a large scale.

The scale is not balanced, because each side of the scale has a number of stones on them.

Each stone has a name (First, Second, Third, and so on) and a math/logic problem inscribed on it. (First: I am twice the weight of the Fifth. Fifth: I am three times the weight of the Fourth minus the Second. And so on). Each stone also has a different color and shape.

Each time the players move a stone from one part of the scale to another, there was a random chance that a painful but not deadly effect would occur. (Fire, electricity, animated objects attacking them, etc. This did not always occur, but it occurred often enough that it implied a pattern of some sort).

Engraved on the statue in an arcane/ancient language that one of the players can read somehow (Draconic, or Decipher Script, or whatever) is written the word "The Key to Progress is Balance, the Key to Balance is Wisdom"

Thus to open the door, the players must balance the scales.

The Solution:

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The stones are a red herring, the Logic/Math puzzle itself is unsolvable, and you cannot achieve balance by moving the stones around. To achieve balance, you must remove all of the stones, so that nothing is on them, thus balancing the scales.

I came up with the idea when I was helping two of my players study for the GRE tests on a weekly basis, which at the time required you answer that kind of logic puzzle.

They assumed that I had thrown this into my game as another practice question for the GRE. They were so mentally locked into solving the problem as, and insisted that there must be some sort of pattern to the random effects or a mistake that they had made on their math.

They overlooked the obvious solution for over half an hour before one of the players said "I knock all of the stones off the scales in frustration" - which opened the door.

[Demon of Death]

-Trap Info-

I thought that the answer would be something like Passwall, didn't think anything of the altar, but should have as this is a trap thread, and that would have been too easy.

Engraved on the statue in an arcane/ancient language that one of the players can read somehow (Draconic, or Decipher Script, or whatever) is written the word "The Key to Progress is Balance, the Key to Balance is Wisdom"

Thus to open the door, the players must balance the scales.

That's pretty good, I like it. I got it quickly only because I thought the scales would be off balance if they have any weight most likely, whereas air weighs the same (Excluding Wizards).

[The Random NPC]

I have not actually used this, as I don't like killing my players. It is an incredibly evil trap found in really old and smart dragons' lairs.

"You walk into the room, out of the thin hallway. The room is about 10' by 10' with a 10' high ceiling. There is a massive iron door on the far side. Suddenly, two things happen at once: The hallway behind you collapses (mechanical trigger, magical detonation in support struts), and your magic fails you (dragon in room ABOVE casting antimagic field, which siphons down through the 5 tiny cracks in the ceiling above the characters)."
Next round: dragon begins casting spells through the cracks in the ceiling, creating a kill-zone. The iron door has a simple lock, which the PC's will probably open. (If a wizard checks the door, it is immune to acid damage via magical protection...). Opening the door unleashes a flood of acid from the acid lake behind the iron door, flooding the room. PC's are killed all at once by dragon, acid and drowning.

I think this covers the "trap" request of yours. There are a handful of ways to escape, and observant PC's should be able to realize several of the tricks in advance, but unwary or brash heroes will die instantly.

-Ancient Mage

An antimagic field doesn't propagate through walls (or in this case floors) that don't have at least a 1 foot hole in them.
Edit: Also, how is the dragon casting in an antimagic field?

[gooddragon1]

I have not actually used this, as I don't like killing my players. It is an incredibly evil trap found in really old and smart dragons' lairs.

"You walk into the room, out of the thin hallway. The room is about 10' by 10' with a 10' high ceiling. There is a massive iron door on the far side. Suddenly, two things happen at once: The hallway behind you collapses (mechanical trigger, magical detonation in support struts), and your magic fails you (dragon in room ABOVE casting antimagic field, which siphons down through the 5 tiny cracks in the ceiling above the characters)."
Next round: dragon begins casting spells through the cracks in the ceiling, creating a kill-zone. The iron door has a simple lock, which the PC's will probably open. (If a wizard checks the door, it is immune to acid damage via magical protection...). Opening the door unleashes a flood of acid from the acid lake behind the iron door, flooding the room. PC's are killed all at once by dragon, acid and drowning.

I think this covers the "trap" request of yours. There are a handful of ways to escape, and observant PC's should be able to realize several of the tricks in advance, but unwary or brash heroes will die instantly.

-Ancient Mage

Only way I can think to counter this is the cone head trick (shrunk item cone (think traffic safety cone) made of light weight material). What other ways are there?

Also, amfs can't turn corners because they're an emanation so the little slits would only let rays of amf through them...?

[WhamBamSam]

snip

I managed to work out the solution on my own without much trouble, but I'd have probably been a little disappointed to learn that it was the DM's intention all along. Also, I'd likely be making the fighter fool around with the stones a bit if it wasn't written on the wall in particular detail, just to be sure of what made the trap go off and because it'd be funny to watch him get zapped.

snip

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I'm going to agree with what some other people have said that the hint doesn't give much to go on. My guess is that I'd end up "solving" it by eventually getting frustrated and shouting out something to the effect of "God damn it! Let us through!" which should work based on your description.

[big teej]

That's about right, if you ask me. My first thought was, "Fighting=Fear." So, deny fear, AND un-deny faith. Whatever that means.
.

soooo is that a vote for "the hint works"
or a vote for "the hint is in need of work"

?

I didn't get it. And I still don't... granted - I'm not good at these puzzles.

"Fear Denies Faith" is weird... (so if meant to confuse, I suppose it's good)

Bravery would be trying the handle, bravery would be joining a fight to protect a teammate.

for 18th level? go for it, even though I don't know what Astral Constructs are...

also, what do they get from detect magic, detect alliance, arcane eye, true seeing, analyze dweomer... if they don't, it's their own fault at that level.

But I would never get it, and I would never stop attacking Astrals Constructs and the door... And if I survived, I would spend a few months trying to figure out how to the trap with me...

it is meant to confuse and mislead, but not to the degree of impossibility.

astral constructs are Psionic's answer to "Summon Monster X"

as for the rest of the spells.... this is my inexperience DMing casters showing, but....

the only "magical aura" stuff I have set in stone is "the door and the altar radiate heavy magic"

for the record, though I don't think it matters too much, the dungeon was created by an epic level arch-mage, so there's alotta stuff that simply doesn't function properly within it.
for example, in many rooms, you can't alter the material of the dungeon (no shape stone for instance)
and in the entire dungeon you cannot teleport out, you can teleport within the dungeon, but not out of it.

but I digress.
in short, "I'm not quite sure what my response to those spells would be" I would obviously grant them any information the spell should give them, unless it fell under the perview of "that cheats the riddle"

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I'm going to agree with what some other people have said that the hint doesn't give much to go on. My guess is that I'd end up "solving" it by eventually getting frustrated and shouting out something to the effect of "God damn it! Let us through!" which should work based on your description.

to respond to your guess.

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yes, actually I probably would have let that work, assuming I knew you were speaking IC.

so what would you recommend as a better hint?

[Dr.Epic]

Not really a riddle, but for awhile, my characters were wondering what this magic ring did. They got it among the loot of a queen they killed. The mage in the group burst into her throne room and hit her with a magic missile powerful enough to kill the queen. They later learned what the magic ring did:

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It granted the wearer complete immunity to magic missile.

[KoboldCleric]

The best advice I can give to anyone using a "riddle/puzzle/thingy" is to never have only one right answer. Ultimately, everyone at the table wants the game to progress, and it's very unlikely that your players think the same way you do, so you're better off leaving it a tad open-ended and rewarding players for interesting or surprising "solutions" to your puzzles, even if it's not the one you had in mind.

[Madara]

what it is: A sliding door
how it works: Its a hidden door, which is made of stone and blends in with the wall, the important part is that there is no handle, and you have to slide it to the side.
how to bypass it (unless you have players on the forums who haven't figured it out): It's a sliding door..
how you came up with the idea: I was ammused at what happens to the party when they accept things: that all doors have a door nob...
and anything else you find relevant: It took my party 30min of game time to figure it out, feel free to cut them off after a bit.

[Crasical]

A lot of grimtooth traps seem like DURR, GOTCHA to me, rather than something the players can reasonably be expected to encounter and bypass.


That said, this trap still makes me smile.

[u-b]

Never used it, but think it should be good. Probably encountered exploring some ancient crypt, necromancer's base or such.

A room, entry to which is unblocked. On the other side there is a passage blocked by steel grate. Beside it, to the left, stays motionless human-sized figure in full plate, armed with a greatsword. If studied long enough it appears to visual means to be just a piece of furniture.

First a person to enter the room triggers following events:
1. Figure steps away from his place (from beside the the grate to directly before it)
2. The way into the room gets blocked by steel grate shutting down escape and possibly separating it from the rest of the party
3. Figure says: "Listen to the silence"

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If everyone remains silent for some time (like two minutes):

4. Figure steps away from directly before exit grate (and now stands to the right of it)
5. It says: "Enjoy the silence"
6. Exit grate is opened

When everyone leaves the room, the armored figure assumes its original position and process can be repeated.

If party fails to remain silent when asked, the figure says them to "Join the silence" and attacks. If attacked, figure fights back.

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The figure is a skeleton of appropriate HD. Magicks present (these might be detected):
1. Magic mouth on the skeleton
2. Zero or more enchantments on its equipment as appropriate for the level (on the cheap side)
3. Inflict X wounds auto-reset trap where skeleton stands, with silent magical alarm

The rest of this room's equipment is mechanical. That works one way only. Exit by some other, probably more convenient, means. The alarm is present to magically ping the creator of this room every time the skeleton moves on or off the inflicting trap (if killed on the trap, that pings too). Whether the creator is in a position to act on that... good question.