My Puzzling Mind

Christian Malleck
Jul 24, 2017 · 5 min read

Designing puzzles can be hard. I’ve talked before about the different degrees of puzzle completion that a party can experience, and trying to find the right balance between challenging and fun is tricky. I’ve given a lot of thought to the kinds of puzzles I’ve created, and the purpose they serve. I know that it’s important to consider who put a trap/puzzle in place and why, including how they bypass it themselves if they ever do. In reality though, most puzzles will be encountered, pondered, and defeated; they will not require in-game research and they will not usually spark some grander story. For this reason, first and foremost, puzzles need to be a fun little mini-game. It’s one of the times when a character’s stats matter less than the player’s ability to complete a puzzle themselves. So here is typically my thought process when creating a puzzle for my games.

First, I consider the place in which the puzzle is located. Is it in a wizard’s tower, where he may need to be bypassing it frequently? Is it in a dungeon, and if so, what is the theme of the dungeon? For this example, I am building a puzzle as part of a series of trials in the vault of a church. The god is one of secrets and knowledge, and he is neutral aligned. The purpose of my puzzle is to prove one’s worth, though members of the church would know exactly how to pass the trials without too much difficulty. So my puzzle has to prove something about the person completing it.

Next I consider the kinds of challenges I know are available, in a broad sense. Do I want a puzzle that requires a correct word spoken? A correct choice among several options? The manipulating of some object in the room? A number/sequencing puzzle requiring that the correct answer be represented in lever pulls or button presses? I like to consider what I have already used in the dungeon, or what kinds of puzzles my players have yet to encounter. I like to use variety as much as possible. Because the previous room involved figuring out how to fill a tank with liquid, I’m going to go with a puzzle that requires making a choice between a couple options. I’ll limit it to two, and focus on the clues about which is correct.

A puzzle which requires choice cannot be random if it’s going to be fun. There cannot be two or more totally identical options that the players have to select at random and just see what happens. That’s more of a trap than a puzzle. In my example I want to make one choice easy, and the other choice obviously dangerous. I’m going to put 2 keys in the room, each one on a stone pedestal. The one on the left is a purple amethyst key, and the one on the right is a brass key. I want the brass key to be the harder choice, so I’m going to put a couple circles of blazing fire around that pedestal. I’ll also make that key invisible, so that characters will see two pedestals, but only one key; they’ll have to make a guess about why the empty pedestal is protected by fire.

Now, the brass key is the correct key, so what happens when you choose wrong? There has to be a consequence for taking the easy path. Since the amethyst key could still be used to unlock something, I’ll say that when you use the wrong key in the door, you instead unlatch a trap door in the ceiling, dropping a summoned monster. This is a church, so we’ll make it a small fiend, brought as punishment for the unfaithful. This is fine because the person who built the vault won’t be using this key, so they won’t be getting attacked. But what about the rings of fire? If someone has to access the key, they can’t be walking through fire every time. So that fire will be a Major Image spell! It looks, smells, sounds, and even gives off heat like a fire, but as soon as they touch it, the illusion fades for them and they can get the key.

Finally, I’m going to add one more clue, because I don’t want this puzzle to take too long, but I also don’t want it to be over with a single 50/50 choice. I’m going to add a feature to the room that represents the choice between pedestals. On each wall, left and right, I will put a small alcove. In the left alcove, near the amethyst key pedestal, there will be a small metal stand holding a rock. When the rock is removed, a poison dart trap will fire in the alcove (indicating that choosing this key leads to a trap). In the other alcove, the metal stand holds a beautiful fist-sized diamond, but it’s an illusion. Reaching into grab it is perfectly safe. It’s a subtle clue, but it also doesn’t make it to obvious. That way we’ve added another feature to be investigated, which is great for parties of four or more, so multiple people can investigate different parts at the same time.

When I’ve run this puzzle, here is what usually happens:

  • Party enters the room, and I describe what they see.
  • Someone checks for traps on the left pedestal and picks up the amethyst key.
  • Someone uses Mage Hand to pull the rock out of the alcove, triggering the trap but not hurting anyone (don’t stick your arm in alcoves, adventuring 101)
  • They try Mage Hand on the diamond, but it fails. They discover it’s an illusion.
  • Someone looks through the fire to see the pedestal is empty. I describe how the heat of the fire is making them sweat.
  • Someone tries the amethyst key in the door, and the party fights the fiend (50% of the time only. This part just as often gets skipped because they know it’s the wrong key because it was too obvious).
  • Someone theorizes that the fire is an illusion, and everyone watches nervously as they step through.
  • The correct key is picked up and used to open the door.

This is a straightforward puzzle with not too many different ways to solve it. It’s great for beginners, and I’ve used it many times. It has a lot of parts you can interact with, and it’s easy to modify for higher levels (make the fire real, make the poison trap be a gas that pours out of the alcove, make the fiend stronger, etc). In general though, those are the steps I take when creating a new puzzle.

Christian Malleck

Written by

I’m a Dungeon Master. I’ve learned by trying every game I can get my hands on. These are the lessons other DMs aren’t sharing, kept short and simple.

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