PCs enter a large castle dungeony thing and have to make it through a minor puzzle thing to get to the boss of the castle. Here is what I was thinking.
I am going to have a few rooms that have one door but rotate around if they PCs find the device that drives the room. But that is not what I need help with. Once they are past the first room they will be basically heading down a long and wide hallway with a series of locked doors. To unlock the doors, they will need to collect gems before a timer runs out.
For door one, only one gem is required (slow build up to PCs can get the idea of what is going on). The gem will be in a room to the left, but to get it, some kind of skill check is needed. Once the gem is retrieved, the clock starts ticking. If they get to the door in time, it opens, otherwise a consequence - monster or trap or something.
For door two, 2 gems will be required which are located one to a room on the right and one in a room on the left. Once again, once one of the gems is touched, the timer starts before the gem disappears. This will be setup so that the party will have to split up and get the gems simultaneously.
The next door will require 4 gems (in four adjacent rooms), then 6 will be required for the final door. All of these will require the PC to go to their own room - pass some kind of test and then meet back at the door at the same time.
I wanted the challenges the PCs face to be somewhat random, but also categorized. So to get on gem, you will need to use a skill that a thief might have. To get another gem you need some kind of knowledge. But the check required (skill, save or other) will be random within the category.
I can do this, but it will be kind of meta gameish unless I can come up with a good story or good background. Does this make sense?
So one of the doors might have a 40% chance for an acrobatics check, 20% chance for a disable device check a 20% chance for a climb check, but a 10% chance for a strength check (just as a wild card). So the PCs will find these challenges for each gem, then they will plan who will go to which puzzle based on the odds. This will get them to do some team work.
What do you guys think? How can I make this work?
I'm not saying I like brute force adventures but I find puzzles like this often pointless. Why are they there? Who put them there? To what end? Moreover, PCs can often become frustrated if they a) do not solve the problem and b) often find such activities equally pointless - both leading to general frustration.
Not saying "don't do it" but I am saying "be cautious and judicious" in their use.
I hear you. Combats get boring to me after a while, so I was trying to make the adventure more interesting.
I'd take a slightly different approach with presentation. Do the players know why they are going to this location? Give them a reason to get past this obstacle and give them a vague idea of what they will face ahead of time so they are looking forward or anticipating defeating this setup. I'd start with a map. Something crudely drawn which gives a clue about what they will find here and how to get the keys for the door. Perhaps made by a treasure hunter who met his end trying to solve the puzzle by himself. I would not use teleporting/disappearing gems to open doors. Too cliche. How about keys made of solid fog? This explains why they disappear. They just dissipate if they go past their magical duration and there is always more fog generating the keys. Perhaps the notes on the map suggest a spell or method for getting just a little more time out of the key.
Good luck with this.
Thanks for the help Seppuku.
I never would have realized disappearing gems is cliche, but thanks for letting me know.
Treasure hunter map is good. There are supposed to be answers to the questions of life here at this tower - and treasure. It holds a powerful worshiper of a Demon Lord in the Abyss. This worshiper is reeking havoc with the outside world.
I am also wondering how do I justify having random challenges in order to get the disappearing keys? I think it would be good tension to require them all to pass a somewhat random test (within a category) at the same time in order to make it to the next location.
Thanks!
John
Gem keys which disappear are in a few published modules from Advanced D&D 80s, Dungeon Magazine late 80s early 90s, and 3.5 (here's looking at you Rappan Athuk). If your players aren't elder grognards like me then let er rip.
Since most stuff if recycled variations anyway, as to the random tests, borrow from the old Tomb of Horrors and have the keystones on the doorways glow or light up to give a clue as to which test they are going to get (random determination means a different key stone or rune glows on the doorway before they enter to tip off what they will see on the other side). Perhaps their clue map has one or two of them in the scrawled notes so they will get the hint that they can write down and prepare for what the test will be before they open the door. Of course the entire setup is going to be magical and extra dimensional.
I'd suggest keeping the tests to something that can be approached in two (or more) ways so different character types could succeed with different skills.
Example: The key is in the center of a locked cage(think holding cell) in the center of the room. It is meant to hold medium creatures. A small character could squeeze through the bars. A medium could reduce person and then squeeze. A rogue could pick the lock. ETC
You might need to meta some reason why a simple spell like unseen servant or mage hand is not the answer to every puzzle. Perhaps the keys cannot be touched or won't solidify via magical contact.
Maybe beetles or mice instead of gems? Maybe you have to feed a guardian to open a door instead of a lock and key?
Or maybe a mental or emotional state used as a key for a psychic-golem-lock? Or a specially shaped shadow that requires specific light sources AND specific bodily contortions?
Also, beware of using doors as barriers. I once had a druid PC bypass an entire puzzle challenge by summoning a thoqqua or something to melt a passage through the door.