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Sanford posted:I’ve got a bit of throwaway lore that my party really want to look into more and I’m after ideas. I’m at least a couple of months from this becoming a session so anything’s on the table at the moment. My setting has a sun god, Deramore, who is basically beloved by all. You give glory to Deramore by holding a bbq or volleyball tournament, and anywhere people sit in the sun with friends they receive his blessing. Deramore grew in power and influence after a world-shattering war left the old blood-and-thunder gods severely weakened, and their followers ready to look for less violent and altogether nicer spiritual guidance. Well, if the PCs want to check out the evil god's containment facility, then it kind of behooves you to give them something to do there, since an orderly guided tour where nothing catastrophic happens is probably not the average player's idea of fun. It sounds to me like everything is going pretty smoothly so far, so one logical choice is that some of the old god's agents are trying to break Him out, and the PCs are asked to help thwart their plans. But the PCs can only be at one place at a time, and there are eight islands, so it would seem that even if the PCs succeed at one place, their enemies will make headway elsewhere, so there's a natural escalation as more and more of the Old God's legions break loose from their bonds. I like the idea of the Old God's artifacts being subverted by being used for the opposite of their intended purpose. The Brass Bull has been repurposed to a pleasant space heater, the Pyre of Immolation is now used for barbecues, the Brand of Shaming has been physically reshaped into the New God's Seal of Product Approval. By inverting the usage of the Old God's sacred artifacts, the New God is able to not only deny the Old God his power but also siphon and take it for himself. Of course, just because the New God is a generally Pretty Cool Guy doesn't mean he has to be a total pushover. Beaches have lifeguards, ball games have referees, and any sufficiently large barbecue should probably have a fire marshal making sure everything is up to code. Since these islands are not only where the Old God is sealed, but also how the New God gets his power, it has to be pretty well-guarded, and since the inversion of the Old God's artifacts exemplify what the New God is all about, it logically makes sense that this is where his full-time priests, monks, and other religious professionals are trained, since tending to the Brass Bull of Space Heating not only keeps the Old God contained but also demonstrates the new god's praxis. At any rate, the island facilities would be staffed by a mix of priests-in-training, teachers and trainers, and armed defenders, while the Old Guard's agents are made of their most gifted, hardened, and fanatical followers. The New God's clergy aren't helpless, but without the PC's help, it'll likely be a bloodbath even if they win. As an aside, I feel like Deramore needs some teeth somewhere, because organizations that don't somehow consolidate power get eaten up by organizations that do. I'd figure that Deramore's clergy can bless crops, and in return receive a cut of the harvest. The temples take this grain and stockpile some for the lean years, hand some out to the needy, and brew the rest into Deramore's very own Dera Light beer, available for purchase at your local Temple of Deramore. It is, of course, traditional to buy, drink, and share some Dera Light at any event dedicated to him. There doesn't need to be a kicker or catch - it makes sense that a Sun God holds real and tangible power through their ability to influence harvests, and it makes sense they use this power to generally better the local community and thereby cultivate popular support, but I wanted a reason why no greedy jerks have (successfully) muscled in and pushed them out.
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Nov 30, 2021 10:17
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Sanford posted:I’ve got a bit of throwaway lore that my party really want to look into more and I’m after ideas. I’m at least a couple of months from this becoming a session so anything’s on the table at the moment. My setting has a sun god, Deramore, who is basically beloved by all. You give glory to Deramore by holding a bbq or volleyball tournament, and anywhere people sit in the sun with friends they receive his blessing. Deramore grew in power and influence after a world-shattering war left the old blood-and-thunder gods severely weakened, and their followers ready to look for less violent and altogether nicer spiritual guidance. The Eight Unbreakable Laws, of course. No, it's fine, they were from before your time, but that's how you knew the old sun god and his temples, by the Eight Unbreakable Laws. Good luck finding an intact copy, because it turns out when you force someone to follow those laws who isn't the current High Sun God, they can't really live any kind of life. Certainly not the kind of life that gives you the freedom to try and escape a sealed city. So there they stay with their legions, ringed by the Eight Unbreakable Laws, heaping praise and glory and power on the High Sun God. Some things try to live on the barrier islands, of course. Things always try. And some of them are people who miss the old order. But being so close to one Unbreakable Law and so far away from the other seven intertwined, well, it warps you. I'd keep well away from them, if I was you, and never mind the rumors of old-order treasures.
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Nov 30, 2021 16:08
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In Norse mythology, the hound Fenrir was bound by a silken strand forged by the dwarves from a bunch of elements that didn't exist: the roots of a mountain, the sound of a cat's feet, the breath of a fish, etc. Maybe your eight islands each contain a castle or shrine which holds one of these fantastical elements. But then, over time, the inhabitants of one or more of these islands have become lax and/or forgetful in their duties to protect the shrines, and now some of these things are leaking out. This, of course, weakens the old bad sun god's binds, allowing him to influence the people to become even more lax and forgetful. Now the containment is at its tipping point. Gee I sure hope some heroes come along to help set things right!
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Nov 30, 2021 16:47
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What's a good trap riddle for a dungeon?
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Dec 1, 2021 00:01
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You find a frustrated-looking wizard caught frozen solid in his own stasis trap. In his hand is a smudged post-it with the password written on it. Now you must sneak into his private chambers and find out the make and model of his first flying carpet ( currently circling the tower rafters ), the name of his pet ( on the collar of a bloodthirsty beast ), and his birthday ( moldy cake in a nearby zone of cold). After finding the password, the wizard unfreezes, and isn't exactly thrilled about all the identity theft you've just done. ( I hate riddles )
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Dec 1, 2021 00:28
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Oh gosh if they kill his pet or already did on the way in he might be mad enough to make them do a fetch quest
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Dec 1, 2021 00:38
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It could be an flightless Ostrich Phoenix. Born from dawn's light, a giant by dusk, and blows away into ash at midnight.
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Dec 1, 2021 00:53
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lightrook posted:I like the idea of the Old God's artifacts being subverted by being used for the opposite of their intended purpose. The Brass Bull has been repurposed to a pleasant space heater, the Pyre of Immolation is now used for barbecues, the Brand of Shaming has been physically reshaped into the New God's Seal of Product Approval. By inverting the usage of the Old God's sacred artifacts, the New God is able to not only deny the Old God his power but also siphon and take it for himself. I was thinking about this in the back of my head today and I think that'd just make a cool world building detail for a deity. They did a bloodless replacement of the previous incarnation of their domain by convincing or tricking or whatever believers into taking their existing symbolism, iconography, and artifacts amd viewing/using them in a new interpretation. Typing that out, I guess basically like how early Christians did with a lot of pagan rituals and holidays.
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Dec 1, 2021 01:07
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Basic Chunnel posted:What's a good trap riddle for a dungeon? Is a trap riddle A) A riddle with an obvious, but wrong answer (that gets you killed), e.g. something like the grail room from Last Crusade? B) A regular trap that involves answering a riddle, e.g. the ceiling starts lowering until you can work out which part on the weirdly anatomical statue corresponds to the "thirty white horses" inscription. C) A riddle that uses synthesized drums and is characterized by complex hi-hat patterns, tuned kick drums with a long decay, and riddle content that often focuses on drug use and urban violence? E.g. uh you meet Gollu Mane somewhere under Goblintown and he spits about strangling goblins and eating mushrooms and you have to try and guess if he's homicidally high right now or chilled out enough that you can just leave.
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Dec 1, 2021 08:58
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The more I think abt it the more I feel I should just rip off Durlag’s Tower
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Dec 1, 2021 09:09
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Amazing ideas re: Deramore, thanks all. I’ve got time to think about it, but I reckon I’ll go with the old god being trapped staring at his own shadow because he never realised that Deramore’s radiance, burning high above him, has eclipsed his own. The assembled priests and worshippers keep Deramore’s light blazing so strongly above the prison/city by subverting ancient holy artefacts on the eight “rays” coming out from the city - I love this idea and my own suggestion is a poker of holy inquisition, that always burns red-hot ready to scorch the flesh of the heretic, is being used to toast marshmallows. The conflict can come from a few of the islands having been taken over by worshippers of the original god (still need a name!) who are turning the artefacts back to their original, horrible purpose. If you recognise your suggestion in there, give yourself a pat on the back! For riddles, my favourite is: “He brought it to her, but she didn’t know what for. They talked as they ate, and decided it was for nothing” 24840
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Dec 1, 2021 10:23
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Basic Chunnel posted:What's a good trap riddle for a dungeon? "How Long Must a [Man's] Leg's Be?" is the inscription on a statue from a legion that famously never recruited anyone below (or above) a certain height. The correct answer is: "Long enough to reach the ground." The riddlemaker hated that legion and everyone associated with it. The entrance is the mouth of a sphinx statue with a shimmering forcefield simulating drool constantly flowing around the entrance. No points for guessing what riddle is inscribed on the statue. The correct answer is: [this space intentionally left blank] If everybody had to stop and say any sort of password it would create a terrible traffic jam. So there isn't one, just walk in like you belong. And don't gossip while you work. The riddle of steel: the spirit of the dungeon always no one to pass without forging the bolts and spears it needs to restock its traps. Edit: Whittling arrows doesn't count. Get out of here with those darts! Javelins are right out!! habituallyred fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Dec 2, 2021 |
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Dec 1, 2021 10:40
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Sanford posted:For riddles, my favourite is: You enter a room with nine long chains stretching from tiles on the ceiling. The tiles are numbered one to nine in dwarven runes. Eight chains end at the collars of eight ravenous beasts. The chains have enough slack to allow the beasts free movement around the room (to attack intruders, for instance). One chain hangs limply from tile number nine to a pile of beast bones. The bones have been gnawed clean, close inspection reveals. One beast, chained to the number seven, is larger and more ravenous than the others. Another beast, number six, perhaps the weakest of the pack, shies away from number seven whenever possible, even hiding behind the party if it can. At the far end of the room is a portal sealed by a heavy stone slab. There are small, numbered tiles set in the wall by the portal under the dwarven rune for WHY. The tiles can be pressed into the wall, but resets mechanically when this has been done three times. If the correct sequence has been entered, the slab grinds aside, otherwise poison gas is released (which probably takes care of any remaining beasts). Seven ate nine
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Dec 1, 2021 11:12
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Shanty posted:You enter a room with nine long chains stretching from tiles on the ceiling. The tiles are numbered one to nine in dwarven runes. I’ve just made space for that in my kids game on Sunday and my grownups game next week.
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Dec 1, 2021 12:07
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I did a 3x3 sliding tile puzzle to open a door once and my players solved it immediately, so fair warning about that one
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Dec 1, 2021 15:27
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mechanically the goal of puzzles and riddles are not to stump the players but to provide a break from the monotony. a puzzle i used which you are free to steal was minesweeper except instead of just telling you adjacent mines, it told you both the number of adjacent mines, then the number of adjacent treasures. opening treasure chests that were trapped had a reflex/dexterity save against explosives. the goal is to grab the treasures E: another good dnd puzzle is to have the party set in front of a river and they have a bag of grain, a chicken, and a fox,
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Dec 1, 2021 15:31
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The room contains a skeleton who guards a door and tells the adventurers it will not let them pass until they solve this riddle: My first is in thunder but not in clap My second in freezing but not in snap My third is in dagger but not in sword My fourth is in priceless but not in hoard My whole is this room and this poem too Now defeat me before I defeat you. The solution is to smash the skeleton to pieces with a sword and not be distracted by the riddle, which is a trap.
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Dec 1, 2021 16:02
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pog boyfriend posted:mechanically the goal of puzzles and riddles are not to stump the players but to provide a break from the monotony. a puzzle i used which you are free to steal was minesweeper except instead of just telling you adjacent mines, it told you both the number of adjacent mines, then the number of adjacent treasures. opening treasure chests that were trapped had a reflex/dexterity save against explosives. the goal is to grab the treasures Arbitrary puzzles in tabletop have always felt like an unwelcome bait and switch to me. Enjoying combat, RPing, or exploration? Well get ready to STOP THAT cuz it's trial-and-error o'clock! A good puzzle should be shaped by the environment, and provide interesting tidbits of setting information back to the players. If the players need a break from the monotony of one type of gameplay, offer some conversation or RP, go for a sprite break, or order pizza or something.
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Dec 1, 2021 17:36
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Squidster posted:I played briefly in a friend's game, and was baffled that every time he'd break out a lengthy dungeon puzzle. The group could only play for 2-3 hours every few weeks, and at least an hour of limited time was eaten up trying to read the DM's mind to progress. The puzzle never connected to the environment; nothing from our game knowledge applied, and we couldn't continue until we solved it. Maybe it's an artifact of OG gaming or a very specific kind of playstyle? His players seemed to be having fun, god help them. some people like to do puzzles. simple as
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Dec 1, 2021 17:51
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Speaking of puzzle to combat balance… In my current campaign, I ran a homebrew mini adventure where the party had to explore a manor, and play a game set up by the manor’s owners in order to save the local valley from a bewitched copper dragon that was formerly its protector. The party was instructed to self select into teams of Strength and Cunning, each of whom had to tackle one of the two floors of the manor. The strength floor had 3 combat encounters, and the cunning floor had 3 puzzles. The two parties had to use sending stones to communicate information back and forth to share clues and help each other unlock doors and progress. Overall, it was a fun time, but this puzzle I stole from reddit was the highlight: https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/...utm_name=iossmf One of the party was afflicted with the ‘doubt’ curse, and spent like 10 minutes prefacing every single sentence with, “well, I’m not sure, but..” Many laughs were had.
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Dec 1, 2021 18:03
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A good way to subvert the puzzle expectation is to have explicitly stated that the facility that the players are raiding was not built by idiots with the unstated subtext of "What kind of idiot puts something, that is supposed to be secure, behind a puzzle?" Then when the players run into the puzzle room, they trip a silent alarm and the complex puzzle that they find is nothing more than a distraction intended to waste their time while security arrives. Alternative: The puzzle, even if solved, has nothing to do with anything (Or insults them), and there is a simple passphrase that is entirely unrelated to anything else in the puzzle room and obtained elsewhere (eg on the desiccated corpse of someone authorised to be there). Alternative on the Alternative: The passphrase is also theatre, and the person accessing it has to think a different thought while their hand is pressed against a panel to open it.
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Dec 1, 2021 18:44
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Pickled Tink posted:A good way to subvert the puzzle expectation is to have explicitly stated that the facility that the players are raiding was not built by idiots with the unstated subtext of "What kind of idiot puts something, that is supposed to be secure, behind a puzzle?" I feel like just playing the trope straight would be more satisfying than this trick.
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Dec 1, 2021 21:35
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I think the progenitor of the locked dungeon trope is from LoTR, with the party struggling to decipher the riddle of the Moria gates. Even then, rather than an actual riddle to be solved, or an insecure security device, it's just a magical captcha. Be-est thou not of orcish disposition? Proclaim these elven runes, and tap thou all tiles with palm trees.
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Dec 1, 2021 23:36
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I enjoy giving my players puzzles to open locked doors, chests, etc. One of mine (and their) favorites was the "opposite mirror" puzzle I found somewhere online and adapted for my game. Basically the PCs were presented with a door with an inscription that read "syawla gnimoc ekat em nwod" with a mirror facing it. In the mirror, of course, the inscription reads “always coming take me down." Around the door were engravings of ‘opposites’— fire and water, sun and moons, a slave earning his freedom, etc. After fumbling around reciting the words verbatim, they quickly realized they had to speak the opposite of each word... "never going give you up" -- and of course I had Rick Astley cued up to start playing as soon as they said it and the door slid open .
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Dec 1, 2021 23:55
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Whybird posted:The room contains a skeleton who guards a door and tells the adventurers it will not let them pass until they solve this riddle: I think this is the one
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Dec 2, 2021 00:16
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Have the puzzle reward them with candy or 1D6 copper pieces. They're for children after all
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Dec 2, 2021 01:21
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Canonically puzzles in dungeons should exist in case the wizard who owns/owned the places comes back and forgot their keys
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Dec 2, 2021 02:23
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the more I think about it the more I think if a puzzle is gonna be done it should be done ala Durlag's Tower in BG1 - more of a "find the four keys" gauntlet that tells the story of the dungeon than a riddle
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Dec 2, 2021 02:30
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Hell what are yr favorite dungeons, original or licensed
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Dec 2, 2021 02:32
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Basic Chunnel posted:Hell what are yr favorite dungeons, original or licensed There's a dungeon in one of the 3.5e Eberron modules where you go to a secret research facility below the Mourneland to look for a rare schema and it all revolves around a central chamber. You have to put colored keys into the apparatus in the middle and then the room spins around and aligns with the same colored corridors, so you need to explore and find the keys to progress. It feels pretty Zelda-y and not like a stretch because you can rationalize the setup away as "this is basically an elevator."
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Dec 2, 2021 02:37
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Basic Chunnel posted:Hell what are yr favorite dungeons, original or licensed Hidden shrine of tamoachan, saltmarsh, tomb of horrors, eyes of the stone thief.
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Dec 2, 2021 02:39
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sebmojo posted:Hidden shrine of tamoachan, saltmarsh, tomb of horrors, eyes of the stone thief. What’s cool abt them
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Dec 2, 2021 02:50
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change my name posted:Canonically puzzles in dungeons should exist in case the wizard who owns/owned the places comes back and forgot their keys in my settings dungeon puzzles exist because a deity thinks puzzles are cool and grants extra power to locks powered by puzzles making them harder to break using magic E: Wrote dungeon instead of dungeon puzzles. but who can blame me. not you(the person reading this) pog boyfriend fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Dec 2, 2021 |
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Dec 2, 2021 02:56
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sebmojo posted:Hidden shrine of tamoachan, saltmarsh, tomb of horrors, eyes of the stone thief. Hidden shrine of tamoachan is the optimal tournament dungeon, three well made characters, loads of cool dickish traps and encounters and heaps of neat mesoamerican flavour. saltmarsh is a haunted house/smugglers adventure that is brimming with old school charm, just a good introduction to dnd. tomb of horrors is underrated as a fun way to spend an evening killing your friends in hilarious ways, and is basically system neutral (you just need a few tables from the dmg and the premades). It's also very clever the way it all fits together, and is very solveable by careful players Eyes of the stone thief is a stone classic 13th age campaign about a malicious sentient dungeon that has an incredible profusion of brilliant areas and encounters, and is just a blast to run.
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Dec 2, 2021 03:00
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I have a soft spot for Castle Amber, personally, because it's what they used to call a 'funhouse dungeon,' it's not designed to be a particularly coherent adventure so much as it is an excuse to jam a bunch of random cool poo poo together and tell the players "look! Cool poo poo" which has a kind of old-school charm to me. The part where halfway through it takes a detour into a fictional French province and the stories of Clark Ashton Smith just amps it up to the next level. It's so very different from what we normally think of as a dungeon, and coming so early in the game's history shows how people were trying to stretch the boundaries of "what D&D can be" before the genre expectations started to set into stone.
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Dec 2, 2021 03:28
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:I have a soft spot for Castle Amber, personally, because it's what they used to call a 'funhouse dungeon,' it's not designed to be a particularly coherent adventure so much as it is an excuse to jam a bunch of random cool poo poo together and tell the players "look! Cool poo poo" which has a kind of old-school charm to me. The part where halfway through it takes a detour into a fictional French province and the stories of Clark Ashton Smith just amps it up to the next level. oh yeah, that's great; i've never run it but, hmmm. From memory i looked at it as a grown up and it's profoundly nonsensical, but like you say it's incredibly charming. i'm running the slaver series in 1st edition at the moment, everyone taking two of the tournament pregens, and having a blast.
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Dec 2, 2021 03:50
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Original Temple of Elemental Evil. We spent the summer of 86 running through that. Tomb of Horrors destroyed my original gaming group.
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Dec 2, 2021 06:47
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Any recommendations for a city module, or an adventure module in a city that has some interesting hooks and encounters for a party of 4 level 5 characters? I’m mostly homebrewing for my first campaign, but would love to lean into more pre-built content if I can. So far the only modules I’ve done are Delian Tomb and Keep at Borderlands, both of which were well received, but the latter was a bit of a slog, though fun nonetheless. My party is about to arrive at a wealthy city on a river, the key trading hub between two much larger cities at opposite ends of the country. I’ve got a few main plot hooks that lead into the city, and some factions and landmarks to populate it with, but would love to reskin something to give it more of a feel of a ‘living city’ with some sandbox to it, if that makes sense.
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Dec 2, 2021 14:26
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Syrian Lannister posted:Original Temple of Elemental Evil. OG ToH is complete dogshit yeah
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Dec 2, 2021 14:57
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Quarterroys posted:Any recommendations for a city module, or an adventure module in a city that has some interesting hooks and encounters for a party of 4 level 5 characters?
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Dec 2, 2021 18:24
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