Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Puzzles, riddles, and the tabletop/larp divide

khorboth · 04-30-2019, 09:48 AM

All,

This is something that has been bugging me for a while, and I'd like to know how others approach it. Puzzles and riddles are a big part of traditional roleplaying games. But... Do you make the players solve them? If the wizard has an IQ 20 or Int 22 or skill 153 in riddle-solving, does it make sense to make the players come up with it? On one hand, the character could probably figure it out, but on the other, how much fun is just rolling dice at every juncture?

In tabletop roleplaying, we don't make physical skills dependent upon player skills. On the other hand, tactics is usually highly dependent upon player skill. In the middle are things like social skills where the roleplaying of interaction frequently gives a bonus or penalty to a reaction roll. I'm speaking in generalities, of course, because the problem exists in any system and different systems tend to have only slightly different approaches.

This brings us back to puzzles and riddles. So... how do you handle it? In my group, one thing we frequently do is have the players whose characters are stupider than the player help those whose characters are smarter than the player. So, if I'm playing a dim fighter, I get to help the person playing the superhumanly smart mage figure out the puzzle. But... at the end, there's usually still an option to just roll.

What about figuring out plot elements? Do the players have to figure it out? What if some character has a high skill in politics or subterfuge? Roll to win the game is pretty unsatisfying. How have you struck a good balance?

04-30-2019, 09:48 AM	#1
khorboth Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Denver, CO	Puzzles, riddles, and the tabletop/larp divide All, This is something that has been bugging me for a while, and I'd like to know how others approach it. Puzzles and riddles are a big part of traditional roleplaying games. But... Do you make the players solve them? If the wizard has an IQ 20 or Int 22 or skill 153 in riddle-solving, does it make sense to make the players come up with it? On one hand, the character could probably figure it out, but on the other, how much fun is just rolling dice at every juncture? In tabletop roleplaying, we don't make physical skills dependent upon player skills. On the other hand, tactics is usually highly dependent upon player skill. In the middle are things like social skills where the roleplaying of interaction frequently gives a bonus or penalty to a reaction roll. I'm speaking in generalities, of course, because the problem exists in any system and different systems tend to have only slightly different approaches. This brings us back to puzzles and riddles. So... how do you handle it? In my group, one thing we frequently do is have the players whose characters are stupider than the player help those whose characters are smarter than the player. So, if I'm playing a dim fighter, I get to help the person playing the superhumanly smart mage figure out the puzzle. But... at the end, there's usually still an option to just roll. What about figuring out plot elements? Do the players have to figure it out? What if some character has a high skill in politics or subterfuge? Roll to win the game is pretty unsatisfying. How have you struck a good balance?