Dungeon puzzles you may want to use

hal · 02-08-2019, 12:50 AM

Hello Folks,
I could have put this in the GURPS area, but figured it would be of better use here.

Suppose you have two statues that can talk in a single room. One always lies, one always tells the truth when asked a simple question with a single word or a single gesture.

The room you enter into has three entry way points. One is the one your party entered. Two more are at the opposing sides of each other (sort of like a T kind of affair where you enter at the base of the T, and at the top, can either go left or right).

You are allowed only ONE question to know which way to go. One way is easy, death free, and the way the party wants to go. The other way leads to death, fighting, loss of treasure, what have you...

That is ONE puzzle to hit your players with. The answer will be in post #2.

Puzzle two: You have teleporting gates. Each person is allowed to hunt for two magic items. One is a primary (Final destination) and the other is a secondary (something you might want, but isn't your high priority).

Each path will always take the shortest possible distance to reach the first dogleg, and then from the first dogleg room, to the final destination room.

Let's say that to go from the Main room to the first dogleg room, requires 12 portal jumps (ie corridors to travel through - each taking 1 minute to walk through, 12 seconds if you run full out). Let's assume that the second leg takes 14 jumps to travel through... (ie 14 corridors to walk through).

How does one get to their priority target in the shortest possible time?

Answer is in post #3

hal · 02-08-2019, 12:53 AM

Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....

The answer to the statues that can only answer one question, one who always tells the truth, the other, the one who always lies?

Ask either one the same question...

"If you were the other Statue - which way is the safest way to go?"

The one that always lies, knowing that the other one always tells the truth, will point the proper way to go, and point the way to the wrong way to go.

The one that always tells the truth? He knows the one that lies will point the wrong way, and will point the wrong way as well.

BOTH will point the wrong way to go. Just take the other way instead of the way pointed out.

hal · 02-08-2019, 12:56 AM

For the teleporting dog-leg issue?

Instead of choosing your primary destination and secondary destination in that order, you should choose your primary item as the secondary item, and the secondary item as your primary item.

The teleporting hallways always require that two items be specified so as to know which way to route your character.

This way, your shortest route, your first leg of the dog leg jump, will be to the one thing you really want the most...

LokRobster · 02-08-2019, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hal

Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....
Spoiler Space....

The answer to the statues that can only answer one question, one who always tells the truth, the other, the one who always lies?

Ask either one the same question...

"If you were the other Statue - which way is the safest way to go?"

The one that always lies, knowing that the other one always tells the truth, will point the proper way to go, and point the way to the wrong way to go.

The one that always tells the truth? He knows the one that lies will point the wrong way, and will point the wrong way as well.

BOTH will point the wrong way to go. Just take the other way instead of the way pointed out.

The Labyrinth movie!
Didn’t she end up in the obliette by following that logic?
:-) not sure why, it seemed correct. Maybe because it was the David Bowie’s maze.
Fun riddle, I’m afraid all my players know that one but I’d love to use it on someone who didn’t .

Dalin · 02-09-2019, 11:16 AM

I have a soft spot for old school puzzles that challenge the players rather than the characters. I've never been very good at creating them, but I love borrowing them from published modules and forum threads. Thank you for sharing these!

One of the rare puzzles I came up with long ago was based around the mathematical concept of amicable numbers. These are numbers whose proper divisors add up to each other. The smallest pair is 220 and 284. The proper divisors (all the factors other than the number itself) of each add up to the other one. I think I had read a biography of a mathematician who was fascinated by number theory so I based a long-dead NPC on him and created a few artifacts combining weird math and magic.

Ultimately the trick was a puzzle box. It had a bunch of jewels on both the lid and the bottom arrayed like the scales of a long serpent. The jewels on the bottom were fixed. The ones on the lid could rotate into three different colors. The scales were basically a number line. On the bottom, most of the scales were neutral (green?). A few were silver and one was gold. If you counted them up, each of the silver scales represented a proper divisor of 220 and the gold scale was 220 itself. If you set the scales on the top of the box to 284 and its proper divisors, then the interior became an extra-dimensional space filled with some nifty ancient artifact(s). If you didn't have the right combination, it was just a box. The clues in the adventure were about how this ancient guy who created the box was into math and wrote various things about them, including a treatise on the numerological significance of amicable numbers.

hal · 02-09-2019, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dalin

I have a soft spot for old school puzzles that challenge the players rather than the characters. I've never been very good at creating them, but I love borrowing them from published modules and forum threads. Thank you for sharing these!

One of the rare puzzles I came up with long ago was based around the mathematical concept of amicable numbers. These are numbers whose proper divisors add up to each other. The smallest pair is 220 and 284. The proper divisors (all the factors other than the number itself) of each add up to the other one. I think I had read a biography of a mathematician who was fascinated by number theory so I based a long-dead NPC on him and created a few artifacts combining weird math and magic.

Ultimately the trick was a puzzle box. It had a bunch of jewels on both the lid and the bottom arrayed like the scales of a long serpent. The jewels on the bottom were fixed. The ones on the lid could rotate into three different colors. The scales were basically a number line. On the bottom, most of the scales were neutral (green?). A few were silver and one was gold. If you counted them up, each of the silver scales represented a proper divisor of 220 and the gold scale was 220 itself. If you set the scales on the top of the box to 284 and its proper divisors, then the interior became an extra-dimensional space filled with some nifty ancient artifact(s). If you didn't have the right combination, it was just a box. The clues in the adventure were about how this ancient guy who created the box was into math and wrote various things about them, including a treatise on the numerological significance of amicable numbers.

I'm going to have to think on that one...

If I do introduce it into a campaign I run over the internet (ie - with GURPS /FANTASY GROUNDS) - I would be wise to introduce the puzzle weeks in advance of when I expect them to figure it out...

Dalin · 02-09-2019, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hal

I'm going to have to think on that one...

If I do introduce it into a campaign I run over the internet (ie - with GURPS /FANTASY GROUNDS) - I would be wise to introduce the puzzle weeks in advance of when I expect them to figure it out...

One advantage of this particular puzzle was that it was irrelevant whether they figured it out or not. They didn't really need the things in the box. So it was a puzzle that they could solve at their leisure if they were interested in pursuing it. As it played out, they didn't figure it out for a long time (like at least a year of real time). Of course, that made the success feel even sweeter and the box became a signature item that would never part with.

02-08-2019, 12:50 AM	#1
hal Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Buffalo, New York	Dungeon puzzles you may want to use Hello Folks, I could have put this in the GURPS area, but figured it would be of better use here. Suppose you have two statues that can talk in a single room. One always lies, one always tells the truth when asked a simple question with a single word or a single gesture. The room you enter into has three entry way points. One is the one your party entered. Two more are at the opposing sides of each other (sort of like a T kind of affair where you enter at the base of the T, and at the top, can either go left or right). You are allowed only ONE question to know which way to go. One way is easy, death free, and the way the party wants to go. The other way leads to death, fighting, loss of treasure, what have you... That is ONE puzzle to hit your players with. The answer will be in post #2. Puzzle two: You have teleporting gates. Each person is allowed to hunt for two magic items. One is a primary (Final destination) and the other is a secondary (something you might want, but isn't your high priority). Each path will always take the shortest possible distance to reach the first dogleg, and then from the first dogleg room, to the final destination room. Let's say that to go from the Main room to the first dogleg room, requires 12 portal jumps (ie corridors to travel through - each taking 1 minute to walk through, 12 seconds if you run full out). Let's assume that the second leg takes 14 jumps to travel through... (ie 14 corridors to walk through). How does one get to their priority target in the shortest possible time? Answer is in post #3

02-09-2019, 11:16 AM	#5
Dalin Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Saint Paul, MN	Re: Dungeon puzzles you may want to use I have a soft spot for old school puzzles that challenge the players rather than the characters. I've never been very good at creating them, but I love borrowing them from published modules and forum threads. Thank you for sharing these! One of the rare puzzles I came up with long ago was based around the mathematical concept of amicable numbers. These are numbers whose proper divisors add up to each other. The smallest pair is 220 and 284. The proper divisors (all the factors other than the number itself) of each add up to the other one. I think I had read a biography of a mathematician who was fascinated by number theory so I based a long-dead NPC on him and created a few artifacts combining weird math and magic. Ultimately the trick was a puzzle box. It had a bunch of jewels on both the lid and the bottom arrayed like the scales of a long serpent. The jewels on the bottom were fixed. The ones on the lid could rotate into three different colors. The scales were basically a number line. On the bottom, most of the scales were neutral (green?). A few were silver and one was gold. If you counted them up, each of the silver scales represented a proper divisor of 220 and the gold scale was 220 itself. If you set the scales on the top of the box to 284 and its proper divisors, then the interior became an extra-dimensional space filled with some nifty ancient artifact(s). If you didn't have the right combination, it was just a box. The clues in the adventure were about how this ancient guy who created the box was into math and wrote various things about them, including a treatise on the numerological significance of amicable numbers.

02-08-2019, 12:53 AM	#2
hal Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Buffalo, New York	Re: Dungeon puzzles you may want to use Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... Spoiler Space.... The answer to the statues that can only answer one question, one who always tells the truth, the other, the one who always lies? Ask either one the same question... "If you were the other Statue - which way is the safest way to go?" The one that always lies, knowing that the other one always tells the truth, will point the proper way to go, and point the way to the wrong way to go. The one that always tells the truth? He knows the one that lies will point the wrong way, and will point the wrong way as well. BOTH will point the wrong way to go. Just take the other way instead of the way pointed out.

02-08-2019, 12:56 AM	#3
hal Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Buffalo, New York	Re: Dungeon puzzles you may want to use For the teleporting dog-leg issue? Instead of choosing your primary destination and secondary destination in that order, you should choose your primary item as the secondary item, and the secondary item as your primary item. The teleporting hallways always require that two items be specified so as to know which way to route your character. This way, your shortest route, your first leg of the dog leg jump, will be to the one thing you really want the most...