Free puzzle: The room of runes

[OnlineDM]

In a more general sense, these are stones that crumble when the wrong person steps on them, right? And when you fall, you take a little bit of damage (so the pit can't be that deep), and can pretty easily be rescued to try again. So ...

1) Why aren't there any precrumbled stones? People pass through here pretty routinely, I guess, and none of them have ever managed to put a foot wrong? If they magically regenerate, how long does it take for that to happen, and can I use Detect Magic to find the (normal?) stones resting on the pillars, and just step on those?

2) If falling doesn't do much damage, why can't I just fall through the first hole I find, map out the supporting pillars on the bottom of the shallow pit, and work my way across that way? If need be, my party can just intentionally crumble a stone on the other side to pull me up.

Great questions! I've thought about these, too, and have mostly hand-waved them.

For number 1, the drow who live here reset the trap by rebuilding the broken tiles when something falls through.

For number 2, I had exactly that scenario happen one of the times I ran the game, and I was okay with that. I intend for the fall to be pretty bad (enough to bloody but not outright kill a PC), and it takes time to deal with the fall and the rescue (this particular adventure is time-limited). But ultimately a party can indeed just say, "Hey Phil, just start walking. When you fall, holler at us from below to let us know where the pillars are." Then the PCs take turns fighting about who's going to be the sacrificial lamb...

Alternatively you can make the penalty something else entirely; a bolt of energy zaps you when you step in the wrong place, that sort of thing.

 

[Nightson]

I'd probably take a hammer and start wailing on the floor to break the weak tiles.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I'd probably take a hammer and start wailing on the floor to break the weak tiles.

This works for me. My last character, a monk, would jump across it. Other players I've known would mountaineer their way aroung the walls using ropes, crampons, spikes etc.

Edit: oh and I'd get the party ranger to work out which tiles have been stepped on. Or if I had a bunch of zombies in tow I'd send them walking across the floor.

 

[OnlineDM]

I'd probably take a hammer and start wailing on the floor to break the weak tiles.

Good stuff. It's becoming clear that a lot of players approach a presented puzzle by saying, "How can we bypass the puzzle?" rather than, "Cool, a puzzle! Let's solve it."

To which I say there are two equally valid DM responses is. The first is, "Great, you bypass the puzzle! Moving on..."

And the second is, "Ah, but here's why that won't work..."

If I really want the players to work on the puzzle, I would probably have to do something like make the effect of touching a bad tile be something like a zap of negative energy rather than falling in a pit. That lessens the connection to the original inspiration for the puzzle (one of the later scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) but makes it less trivial to bypass.

Of course, if you're running a game where you don't mind the players bypassing the puzzle, leave it as a pit.

Anyway, my original question was more "Is this a reasonable puzzle?" rather than "How would you approach this scenario if it were presented to you in-game?"

So far, it's sounding like the puzzle just causes frustration and makes people want to bypass it. Duly noted.

 

[Sammael]

Spoiler

The only number missing from the puzzle is 9. Also, the numbers you hinted at also add to 9. I believe the correct way to cross the room is to move from one tile to another so that the sum of two tiles is 9. I also have to surmise that both initial tiles are safe, since if they weren't players would have no way of testing this theory.

The easiest crossing sequence I can see is 1-8, 5-4, 5-4, 5-4.

 

[kinem]

There doesn't seem to be enough information, but based on the hints, maybe 1,3 & 7 are the ones to avoid.

If you prod a tile with your 10' pole, does it break?

And if you don't have a 10' pole you aren't really playing D&D j/k!

 

[Corathon]

Another possibility: only prime-numbered tiles are safe. Of course, that's assuming that prime numbers start with 1, as I was taught as a boy. Nowadays, mathematicians would say that the 1st prime number is 2.

Once again in white text on white background, highlight to see.

 

[Jhaelen]

I think it's too obscure. I initially had the same idea as Sammael, but after looking at the configuration of tiles, I concluded that it means that if a tile is safe or not would depend on the tile you came from and that cannot be right (unless it's supposed to be a magical trap).

I then looked at your hints but the only thing that occured to me (after reading all three hints)

Spoiler

was that it appears that every direction is assigned a number, starting with east and increasing clockwise until you get the 8 for the north-east.

Again this appears to reinforce the idea that the direction from where you enter a tile might be of importance.

Another idea would be that since the number '1' is in the direction of the exit one might be inclined to assume it's a 'good' number, consequently '3' and '7' might be 'bad' numbers. '5' might also be a 'good' number if the above idea of number = direction holds any water. Stepping only on numbers '1' and '5' doesn't get me safely across, though.

So, I've got no really compelling idea.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

So far, it's sounding like the puzzle just causes frustration and makes people want to bypass it. Duly noted.

I guess my approach to most puzzles like this in D&D games is heavily affected by Terry Pratchett.

In one of his books, he describes how the Machiavellian Vetinari walks down a secret passage in his palace, talking to himself about the various ways he's going to avoid each of the horribly dangerous traps he has installed in that passageway.

Lord Vetinari turned away, took some papers from a desk drawer, walked to a wall, touched a certain area, and stepped quickly through the hidden door that noiselessly swung open.

Beyond was a corridor, lit by borrowed light from high windows and paved with small flagstones. He walked forward, hesitated, said, 'No, this is Tuesday,' and moved his descending foot so that it landed on a stone that in every respect appeared to be exactly the same as its fellows. [Footnote: Except that the ones around it were not good stones to tread on if it was a Tuesday.]

Anyone overhearing his progress along the passages and stairs might have caught muttered phrases on the lines of 'The moon is waxing…' and 'yes, it is before noon.' A really keen listener would have heard the faint whirring and ticking inside the walls.

A really keen and paranoid listener would have reflected that anything Lord Vetinari said aloud even when he thought he was alone might not be totally worth believing. Not, certainly, if your life depended on it.

So, yes, there might be hints - but why should we necessarily trust those hints?

 

[SnowleopardVK]

I drew the same conclusion as Sammael after a few minutes. Couldn't think of much else for quite awhile.

Spoiler

Another idea I had was that if the PCs followed sums of tiles, first walking along tiles to add to 1, then 3, then 7 something might come of it. It doesn't get them all the way across, but if they then continue to a path that sums to 9 it works. I doubt that's correct though.

I enjoy puzzles personally, so this one was interesting to look at and try to figure out for me, but I wouldn't give it to my players. They'd get angry at me for giving them an "impossible" puzzle and would then search for a way to bypass it instead of solving it. Other groups might enjoy it, but I'd say too opaque for most.

Edit: Another idea:

Spoiler

If the number 1 is above the east door, then...
1 = East
2 = Southeast
3 = South
4 = Southwest
5 = West
6 = Northwest
7 = North
8 = Northeast
When you step on a tile, follow the pattern based on the direction key to the next and it leads you to the other side. Regardless of which tile you start on you end up on the same path, so maybe this could be it.