• jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
    17·
    7 days ago

    I think a lot about this one time in a game of modern day magic. The players wanted to contact another group. They knew the other group was double warded against magic. An anti-teleportation spell on top of a general anti-magic spell. Serious business.

    The players wanted to some time and resources trying to punch through these wards to teleport directly to this other group. I told them the odds, they said ok, and rolled. The dice said no. They mulled about for a bit, and then said they wanted to try again. I said ok. They got their spells together, spent their resources, and rolled. The dice said no, again.

    I said, “Do you want a hint?”

    They said, “Yeah”

    I said, “You just want to talk to them, right?”

    “Yeah”, they said.

    “Why don’t you just call them on the phone?” I said.

    “…oh.”

    Sometimes players get tunnel vision.

  • Susaga@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    13·
    7 days ago

    If a puzzle is too simple, players will assume the solution is a red herring, and the actual answer is something more complex. Let us not forget how the entire Fellowship of the Ring was stumped by a door that told them how to open it, because they thought it would be more secure.

    • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
      18·
      7 days ago

      DM: “Written on the door in beautiful caligraphy carved directly into the stone are the words ‘Pedo mellon a minno’.”

      Party: …

      DM: “You recognize it as Elvish. It translates to ‘Speak friend and enter.’”

      Party: …

      DM: “It’s telling you, in elvish, to speak the word ‘friend’”.

      Party: …

      DM “You can just say the word for ‘friend’ to gain entry”

      Party: “Friend!”

      DM: “No, no, say the word for ‘friend’ in Elvish.”

      Party: …

      DM: “It’s literally written on the wall in the text of the riddle.”

      Party: …

      DM: “I just said it, and it is written write there.”

      Party: …

      DM: “It’s ‘mellon’.”

      Party: …

      DM: “Say ‘mellon’ and the door will open.”

      Party: …

      DM: “SAY MELLON!!!”

      Party: “Uh… ‘Mellon.’”

      DM: deeeep breath “The door swings open revealing a dark tunnel in front of you.”

      Party: “Crap, I don’t have have dark vision. Can we go back to the village to buy some torches?”

      DM: …

  • Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de
    10·
    7 days ago

    I would argue the opposite is also true, if you design a puzzle to last the night, something really clever obscure and tricky, it’ll take seconds

    Edit: several typos. Original text below:

    I would argue the opposite of also true, of your design a puzzle to last the night, something really clever obscure and tricky, it’ll take seconds.

    • Mirshe@lemmy.world
      8·
      7 days ago

      We did an escape room where we needed 4 digits to open a door. We got a few hints on the numbers to start and a single number, and then our fighter guessed the answer entirely correctly.

  • Sunsofold@lemmings.world
    8·
    7 days ago

    DnD Barbarian: “B…A…T… Oh no, it’s bait for a trap!” WoD player: “No, you dolt. It’s clearly meant to be a more complex anagram indicating the identity of the coconspirator. Cunning… peasant…” Call of Cthulhu player: insensate screaming “It is the name of the unspeakable! Burn them! Destroy the tablets! Bury the entrance so that none find this place again in our lifetimes!” DnD Wizard: “Fireball. Final answer.” rolls