Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Zappo" data-source="post: 2191217" data-attributes="member: 633">I can't really help. But I just have to chime in to say how much I hate these situations. I despise them. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f621.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":mad:" title="Mad&nbsp; &nbsp; :mad:"&nbsp; data-smilie="4"data-shortname=":mad:" /> More correctly, I like puzzles, but I can't stand the way they are used in RPGs and fantasy novels. Puzzles make no freakin' sense in any but the most contrived circumstances, or when insane wizards are involved. They never have any reason at all to be there. They don't test anything that is worth testing (&quot;You solved the 5x5 crosswords and discovered that the secret word is &quot;LOVE&quot;! Clearly you are wise and noble and deserving of the McGuffin of Power!&quot;), they aren't reliable at keeping intruders out while letting friends in, they are typically insanely complex and costly to craft whether they work by magic or mechanical contraptions. 95% of times, they are only there to make the adventure a half hour longer and let the DM bask in his intellectual superiority - or to make the point that &quot;see, our game isn't just hack'n'slashing, it has depth&quot;.If I am an evil overlord and I only want my trusted lieutenants to enter my sanctum, I won't have them solve a stupid puzzle while hoping that the heroes can't solve it. I'll give them a key - or a password if I'm afraid of the key getting stolen. And while we're here, said password won't be my name, or the name of the god I serve, or the name of the lost lover whose refusal drove me to evil, or the name of my secret project. It'll be more on the lines of &quot;ARY7CN1_23LK$Z&quot;. It doesn't make for a good story? It does if the PCs have to, I don't know, do something sensible such as capturing said lieutanant or find a back entrance, rather than being able to enter simply because the 32 INT BBEG apparently lost use of the &quot;what is security&quot; areas of his brain.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Zappo, post: 2191217, member: 633"] I can't really help. But I just have to chime in to say how much I hate these situations. I [i]despise[/i] them. :mad: More correctly, I like puzzles, but I can't stand the way they are used in RPGs and fantasy novels. Puzzles make no freakin' sense in any but the most contrived circumstances, or when insane wizards are involved. They never have any reason at all to be there. They don't test anything that is worth testing ("You solved the 5x5 crosswords and discovered that the secret word is "LOVE"! Clearly you are wise and noble and deserving of the McGuffin of Power!"), they aren't reliable at keeping intruders out while letting friends in, they are typically insanely complex and costly to craft whether they work by magic or mechanical contraptions. 95% of times, they are [i]only[/i] there to make the adventure a half hour longer and let the DM bask in his intellectual superiority - or to make the point that "see, our game isn't just hack'n'slashing, it has [i]depth[/i]". If I am an evil overlord and I only want my trusted lieutenants to enter my sanctum, I won't have them solve a stupid puzzle while hoping that the heroes can't solve it. I'll give them a key - or a password if I'm afraid of the key getting stolen. And while we're here, said password won't be my name, or the name of the god I serve, or the name of the lost lover whose refusal drove me to evil, or the name of my secret project. It'll be more on the lines of "ARY7CN1_23LK$Z". It doesn't make for a good story? It does if the PCs have to, I don't know, [i]do something sensible[/i] such as capturing said lieutanant or find a back entrance, rather than being able to enter simply because the 32 INT BBEG apparently lost use of the "what is security" areas of his brain. [/QUOTE]

Verification