This deserves a bump, being a good solid NPC that veers away from the average psuedo-warrior with a beer rag working the bar. Really a good NPC who has the potential to grow in a game, considering how many PC's are invariably orphans or otherwise lacking solid parental upbringing. Go to Comment

Nice solid inn keeper. Go to Comment

"Good idea, but I think it's a little too easy to figure out."

I don't know, I've thought the same about some puzzles, but just watch my players tear thier hair out trying to work it out! Go to Comment

Puzzles are easy, when you know the answer, and can be hellishly diffilcut if you don't.

I think we need more stories about the puzzles here. :) Go to Comment

Good solid puzzle Go to Comment

ok, but i've seen it many times before. i like the idea of the bowl of sand. Go to Comment

Good idea, but I think it's a little too easy to figure out.

-Drackler Wyrmdragon Go to Comment

The external link is broken, so this sub needs reworked somehow. Go to Comment

Only voted Go to Comment

Only voted Go to Comment

Nothing wrong with a puzzle, even though players draw upon their own abilities, as opposed to those of their thick skulled warrior characters :)

Puzzles such as these is a huge success among some players I know, while other groups would disintegrate ME if I brought them such a thing. Very player dependant indeed.

Personally I think it is an alright puzzle for the right group. I give it a 3/5 because it is so variying in its usefulness. My advice is that people should be careful when applying it. Those of my players who classify as "authentic geeks" would looooove it. (I am a part-time geek myself, so no offense intended) Go to Comment

My comments mirror AG's. This is a pretty difficult puzzle in some ways, not difficult to figure out if you know magnetics, but very difficult if you don't. More of a knowledge quiz than many puzzles. Go to Comment

I really do think that it's a good idea.


-Drackler Wyrmdragon Go to Comment

Since in most fantasy campaign, detailed knowlage of magnetics would be metagaming, I find this puzzle a bit out of place and overpowered. Again, I have to ask the question "Why was this made?". Go to Comment

I agree that this could be tricky if the players don't have out-of-game knowledge of magnetics. However, I can see ways around that: either plant the necessary information somewhere in-game, or replace the positive and negative magnetic charges with, say, "red and green magic" and explain their properties.

If you're sure the players know the principles involved, then it's a solid tactical logic puzzle. Go to Comment

Fun puzzle. It seems like the disarming mechanism could be a little better thought out. "Touch this ring with the magnetic bar to lower the acid wall" just seems to be an odd way to disarm the acid wall. Either way, I love unconventional traps that make players think.

New solution!

The player reaches through the acid wall, removes the stone, and gently lifts one end of one of the bars closer to the acid wall. The player can then place any metal object on her side of the acid wall to see if the bar and object pull towards each other. Since the acid wall doesn't negate the magnetism, they can test it without passing any object through the acid.

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I just don't like this one. It is like the dungeon is a gameshow where you have to go through these challanges others have specifically set up and waiting around having coffee durring the commercial. (Oh wait, we have done that) Go to Comment

I don't know how to consider/vote pieces that are taken from other places on the internet. It is in some ways a service to consolidate them, but at the same time, it's easy enough to use google to find them. It's not something I think I will do, but I don't have any problem with it.

Puzzles can be fun, although, as you admit they sometimes "don't belong" in a game. Also, if you give players a puzzle do the ones with low intelligence scores have to not figure it out, or maybe you handicap them some way - there is a disconnect between player and character I think.

I do like putting puzzles into adventures, however. MH's comment actually makes me think, you could try doing an adventure where for some reason the players ar esor of put in a gameshow. For example, a rich guy hires them to recover something goblins stole from him, and points them to the goblin cave. Only in reality, the goblin cave is like a premade gameshow set, where rich and bored wizards send "adventurers" for their amusement. I've actually played in an adventure like this, and my paladin was rip-roaring mad when he found out what happened. Go to Comment

I agree with Moonhunter. Puzzles can be used, but they need to make sense and not exist for their own sake. The question is Why?

Some PC's might be cool with it though. Go to Comment

Interesting but a bit too basic to make  the typhical player group get enthused about solving the problem.

The main Issue I find with "real" puzzles is sometimes the characters are supposed to be brilliant mages or scientists, (or super heroes) and the player becomes frustrated when their character could easily solve a problem they are struggling with, it really kills the immersion for them.

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