pdzoch
Explorer
Has any one used an escape room or puzzle manipulative in their RPG game for their players to solve instead of simply making a die roll?
A few years ago, I ran an adventure where a particular important room could only be accessed by the setting of a series of levers, cogs, and crystals. The complexity of the puzzle made it so that keeping track in one's head was nearly impossible, and handling the situation only verbally would have probably not been very fun. I suppose a skill check or die roll could have been used, but it was a pivotal challenge that the players should overcome and feel rewarded for solving. So I built a paper mock-up of the levers, cogs and crystals that the players could manipulate to solve the puzzle. While the paper cut out were nothing special, the players really enjoyed putting their hands on the "controls" and actually solving the puzzle.
I'd like to repeat this hands-on approach to problem solving again, hopefully with something more durable than the paper cut-out I made. I want to avoid the Cracker Barrel puzzles and Rubik's Cubes. Has anyone seen a product out there that functions as a customizable puzzle box to share with friends? A one use product seems too limiting.
Given the rise in popularity of escape rooms, I wonder if any of those devices have made it into a gaming session. (Get those players out of their chairs and solve this life size puzzle!)
I suppose something like Two Rooms and a Boom could be adapted. These challenges have somewhat of a mini-game within the game feel to them, but as long as it short and thematic I think it is o.k.
Nevertheless, I am looking for ideas that can easily be adapted and look and play better than my paper cut-outs.
A few years ago, I ran an adventure where a particular important room could only be accessed by the setting of a series of levers, cogs, and crystals. The complexity of the puzzle made it so that keeping track in one's head was nearly impossible, and handling the situation only verbally would have probably not been very fun. I suppose a skill check or die roll could have been used, but it was a pivotal challenge that the players should overcome and feel rewarded for solving. So I built a paper mock-up of the levers, cogs and crystals that the players could manipulate to solve the puzzle. While the paper cut out were nothing special, the players really enjoyed putting their hands on the "controls" and actually solving the puzzle.
I'd like to repeat this hands-on approach to problem solving again, hopefully with something more durable than the paper cut-out I made. I want to avoid the Cracker Barrel puzzles and Rubik's Cubes. Has anyone seen a product out there that functions as a customizable puzzle box to share with friends? A one use product seems too limiting.
Given the rise in popularity of escape rooms, I wonder if any of those devices have made it into a gaming session. (Get those players out of their chairs and solve this life size puzzle!)
I suppose something like Two Rooms and a Boom could be adapted. These challenges have somewhat of a mini-game within the game feel to them, but as long as it short and thematic I think it is o.k.
Nevertheless, I am looking for ideas that can easily be adapted and look and play better than my paper cut-outs.