Making Puzzles in DnD/RPG actually fun
Nov. 5th, 2019 03:01 pmIt's such a classic of exploration and adventure narratives, that the characters encounter some kind of puzzle or riddle as a break from combat. People actively want puzzles.
But it's hard to do satisfyingly in a roleplaying game. Or in a novel, for that matter, though that's a different question.
We know roughly what a bad puzzle looks like. The GM reads it out. The players discuss it a bit. The player best as puzzles talks it over with a GM and eventually proposes an answer. No-one is in character. The other players don't really do anything.
I talked about this before, but a few more puzzle rooms have come up in my Labyrinth campaign so I wanted to talk more about what worked and what didn't.
What makes a puzzle that works well?
Like other encounters, the session should move forward whether the party succeeds or fails. That means the puzzle either needs to be something they can get past even if they don't solve it. Or sometimes, not essential to the main quest so they can just leave, but even then, that's rather a letdown, it's more exciting if it's too risky to stay, not too boring. The puzzle should come to some sort of resolution. Ideally, even if they fail, they'll find out what they should have done in a natural way, so they feel like they tried and failed, rather than it just always being a mystery.
Ideally failure should look like, "oh no, they had a fight the golem" or "oh no, they lost the gold they had to wager" not "they didn't find out what the prize was, they just go away never knowing". The players going away without finding what's there is ok sometimes, but you need to build sufficient trust that their decisions about what's too dangerous actually matter for them to care and not just feel like it's completely random.
The party should interact with it, in character. Always with roleplaying situations, provide things for the party to do. Ideally there'll be an NPC there they can TALK to and find out more. Or they can get relevant information history rolls, or detect magic spells. Or the whole puzzle is in the middle of a fight, and they have to multitask. Or there's some other risk of taking damage, so there's always a cost.
And just, there should be a bunch of stuff there. Not just a big empty space and a riddle carved somewhere. But decoration. A bunch of levers to pull. Some sort of emotional stakes. The more the party interact with it, the more they'll care. Ideally the party are invested in each step. If bad things come directly from the party's actions, they can feel like, "at least where figuring it out", whereas if they occur randomly the party can just be confused.
But also, while Character abilities should help, make sure they don't usually instantly solve the puzzle. Like other encounters, it's good that they can sometimes completely bypass it with one good use of a spell or ability -- that rewards them for having it. But ideally it will let them find the answer, not just ignore the puzzle.
If you have players who enjoy puzzles, they probably want to understand it. That means, not just get past it, but understand why/how a solution is correct. Make sure that you have answers. Likewise ask "why is this there" because your players might ask. "A mad wizard did it", is fine, but have in mind what sort of thing. What sort of mistakes might they have made? What would they care about? Understand how it works, mechanically, or magically, and if it's been triggered before or not, and the story behind it. The players might surprise you with a way of finding out, and then you'll have something helpful ready-made to give them.
An ideal puzzle might:
* Have a lot of interesting parts
* Tie into the lore of the world somehow
* Have a clear reason for being there (either set up as a puzzle on purpose, or that the players need to figure out an unlabelled device)
* It's clear how it works. The characters don't HAVE to play by the puzzle's rules if they can bypass it somehow
* But they shouldn't be able to do so routinely
* Clever approaches can solve part or all of the puzzle, but "finding out the answer through cleverness" is more satisfying than "not needing to find the answer"
* There should be tactical trade offs affected by the character's abilities and personalities, e.g. who's going to take the risky position? Which position is most risky?
* As much as possible, have something where the players can experiment, but there's a cost, and smart players will get the answer quickly and slower or unlucky players will get there a little later, but not never. E.g. less "if you get it wrong, you fail forever", more "you can have as many tries as you like, but each wrong answer you get zapped/have to fight something".
It's also good to allow a safety-valve, i.e. if the players get frustrated or confused, have some "official" way of letting them get hints, maybe at a cost. Or just to go away and research and come back. Some positive course of action other than "we don't know".
But it's hard to do satisfyingly in a roleplaying game. Or in a novel, for that matter, though that's a different question.
We know roughly what a bad puzzle looks like. The GM reads it out. The players discuss it a bit. The player best as puzzles talks it over with a GM and eventually proposes an answer. No-one is in character. The other players don't really do anything.
I talked about this before, but a few more puzzle rooms have come up in my Labyrinth campaign so I wanted to talk more about what worked and what didn't.
What makes a puzzle that works well?
Like other encounters, the session should move forward whether the party succeeds or fails. That means the puzzle either needs to be something they can get past even if they don't solve it. Or sometimes, not essential to the main quest so they can just leave, but even then, that's rather a letdown, it's more exciting if it's too risky to stay, not too boring. The puzzle should come to some sort of resolution. Ideally, even if they fail, they'll find out what they should have done in a natural way, so they feel like they tried and failed, rather than it just always being a mystery.
Ideally failure should look like, "oh no, they had a fight the golem" or "oh no, they lost the gold they had to wager" not "they didn't find out what the prize was, they just go away never knowing". The players going away without finding what's there is ok sometimes, but you need to build sufficient trust that their decisions about what's too dangerous actually matter for them to care and not just feel like it's completely random.
The party should interact with it, in character. Always with roleplaying situations, provide things for the party to do. Ideally there'll be an NPC there they can TALK to and find out more. Or they can get relevant information history rolls, or detect magic spells. Or the whole puzzle is in the middle of a fight, and they have to multitask. Or there's some other risk of taking damage, so there's always a cost.
And just, there should be a bunch of stuff there. Not just a big empty space and a riddle carved somewhere. But decoration. A bunch of levers to pull. Some sort of emotional stakes. The more the party interact with it, the more they'll care. Ideally the party are invested in each step. If bad things come directly from the party's actions, they can feel like, "at least where figuring it out", whereas if they occur randomly the party can just be confused.
But also, while Character abilities should help, make sure they don't usually instantly solve the puzzle. Like other encounters, it's good that they can sometimes completely bypass it with one good use of a spell or ability -- that rewards them for having it. But ideally it will let them find the answer, not just ignore the puzzle.
If you have players who enjoy puzzles, they probably want to understand it. That means, not just get past it, but understand why/how a solution is correct. Make sure that you have answers. Likewise ask "why is this there" because your players might ask. "A mad wizard did it", is fine, but have in mind what sort of thing. What sort of mistakes might they have made? What would they care about? Understand how it works, mechanically, or magically, and if it's been triggered before or not, and the story behind it. The players might surprise you with a way of finding out, and then you'll have something helpful ready-made to give them.
An ideal puzzle might:
* Have a lot of interesting parts
* Tie into the lore of the world somehow
* Have a clear reason for being there (either set up as a puzzle on purpose, or that the players need to figure out an unlabelled device)
* It's clear how it works. The characters don't HAVE to play by the puzzle's rules if they can bypass it somehow
* But they shouldn't be able to do so routinely
* Clever approaches can solve part or all of the puzzle, but "finding out the answer through cleverness" is more satisfying than "not needing to find the answer"
* There should be tactical trade offs affected by the character's abilities and personalities, e.g. who's going to take the risky position? Which position is most risky?
* As much as possible, have something where the players can experiment, but there's a cost, and smart players will get the answer quickly and slower or unlucky players will get there a little later, but not never. E.g. less "if you get it wrong, you fail forever", more "you can have as many tries as you like, but each wrong answer you get zapped/have to fight something".
It's also good to allow a safety-valve, i.e. if the players get frustrated or confused, have some "official" way of letting them get hints, maybe at a cost. Or just to go away and research and come back. Some positive course of action other than "we don't know".