Logic Puzzles

[Paganini]

So, we've been doing some dungeon crawling over in indie net-gaming, and we're gonna be doing more. I'm running some of it - a planned BD&D game, and maybe some T&T.

The question is, how do you come up with good logic puzzles for dungeons? Where do you go for inspiration? What qualities make a dungeon logic puzzle fun, what qualities should be avoided? How does the fact that these games will be played on IRC alter the situation?

[anonymouse]

Good logic puzzles really depend on the group of people you're playing with. You should try and know their hobbies, interests, knowledge bases, and the like. It does no good to come up with a puzzle based on an obscure French pun if your players don't even eat French fries. ;p

I know there's a d20 book out right now called something like the "Book of Puzzles"; there's an RPG.net review up on it, and might be a good place to start if you wanted to drop some bucks down.

[Paganini]

Hey Mouse, thanks for the pointer. I did a couple of RPG.NET searches and didn't turn anything up, though. Do you have a link handy?

[anonymouse]

I am a dirty liar.

Not only was the review not on RPG.net, it didn't even have "puzzle" in the name. Flogging shall commence! But here's the review: http://www.silven.com/adnd.asp?case=show&id=134

[jdagna]

I believe Cloud Kingdom Games (http://205.169.171.169/CloudKingdom/) is the publisher for the book anonymouse mentioned, but I know that they have several books of riddles/puzzles for use in dungeons.  They were in the booth next to me at GenCon, so I could hardly forget their stuff.

That said, if you ever play with me, expect me to demand an intelligence check to solve puzzles.  :)  I'm part of that small minority that finds them annoying and out of place in an RPG.

[Marco]

I dig the puzzle--but let me explain.

1. I'm most inclined to use real puzzly-puzzles (as opposed to something more ... I dunno ... in-game) when a player is known to be into it. Fortunately I've had a few of these so it's all good. Frustrating people is no fun. I have never put in a puzzle I thought people would have a hard time solving (something I think smacks of "I'm smarter than you" which is usually a bad place to come from).

2. I find puzzles come in 3 categories:

a. Timed tasks. In a recent game I handed the players two stacks of index cards numbered 1-9 and gave them two math-placement puzzles and a 10 minute time limit (with intelligence checks at the 5 min, 7:30 min, and 9min points). It was a photo-finish and everyone loved it. I think they enjoyed playing with the cards. If they'd blown the time limit the room would have "flooded with undead" that I think they'd have fought their way through--I wouldn't have dropped the roof on them.

b. Atmospheric mysteries. In a game I played in we were in a haunted house and various things had brass plates with weird sayings. The sayings were all anagrams for the seven deadly sins (the plaque applied to the item or picture--but we noticed that word choice was strange, sentence construction was strange, and a lot of the same letters were repeated). When we finally "got it" it was cool and weird (each of us suffered at least two flaws and we were given cards with our flaws anagramed into sentences that sort of fit our characters--we had to know how to decipher them). In this case it was a lot of data that finally added up.

c. Innate logic "situations". A machine that has some viable function and controls but that is "hard to figure out" is an example. In this case it might very well exist as is. These are rare--the idea is that they don't feel like puzzles but are organic to the situation.

When designing a puzzle I start with a fulcrum around which the puzzle will revolve. Something sort of a little tricky.

Example: the fact that paint and light have two different sets of primary colors was used by me in a recent adventure. Binary counting is another example.

Then I work out how it might be extant in the situation. A usual cop-out is that the puzzles were put there either as "acts of pride" on the part of the builder or because "the people who are *supposed* to come here years later would know instinctively how to figure this stuff out. Both of these are pretty bogus ... but maybe not *that* much more bogus than fighting wars in standing nice straight lines ...

Finally I usually decide on one or two hints to give characters with mechanical or intellectual skills to help it along.

The intent of a puzzle, IMO, is to give the player a sense of accomplishment through figuring it out. Players so disposed (IME) appreciate that--and I've gotten very good reactions from it.

-Marco