Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 1804893" data-attributes="member: 508">Okay, I think the biggest complaint I've heard about "Gorgoldand's Gauntlet" over the years has been that silly Minesweeper puzzle.  I included it for several reasons: I happen to like Minesweeper, and as it's a purely logic-based (and somewhat mathematical) puzzle, I thought it nicely counterbalanced the "word-play" puzzles elsewhere in the Gauntlet.Obviously, though, not everyone's thrilled with having a quick little game of Minesweeper show up in the middle of their dungeon adventure.  Okay, fair enough.  For those of you who would just as soon replace it with something else, the rest of this post is for you.The following alternative puzzle was tailor-made to fit in the exact same room as the "Minesweeper puzzle."  Here's the description:And here's the actual gridwork (I can't really do up the whole graphics, so just assume that each letter below is centered on a separate, square metal plate, and that they stretch from one wall to the other so there's nowhere to step except on the metal plates):The solution follows; I tried putting it in "spoiler mode," but the red lettering leaks through and gives the answer away anyway, so I'll just state now that the answer appears below, and it's going to be a SPOILER if you don't want to know about it ahead of time.SPOILERThere is one safe path through the grid of letters, and the answer is spelled out in front of the PCs' noses.  The phrase "each step out in advance," as mentioned in the carving, actually states which squares are safe to step on: the "E" in the first row, then the "A" in the second row, then the "C" in the third row, etc.  See the diagram below for details: the "safe path" is shown in red.  Stepping upon any of the other grid squares has the same result as in the original "Minesweeper" puzzle.Of course, with this set-up, Snooky the pseudodragon no longer plays a necessary role in this puzzle, so ignore the part where he mentally contacts the PCs and describes the workings of the puzzle to them.  The PCs are on their own!Those of you who aren't into Minesweeper (or doubt that their players will enjoy it) now have another option to throw at them.  Of course, if they don't like word puzzles, either, then maybe "Gorgoldand's Gauntlet" isn't the best adventure to run them through!Baumi, I'd be interested to hear how the adventure works out this Saturday.  If you get a chance, post the details here in this thread.  Thanks!Johnathan M. RichardsAuthor, "Gorgoldand's Gauntlet"(and self-professed Minesweeper fan!)</blockquote>

Verification