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Message: <blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 5714048" data-attributes="member: 22424">Okay, a few examples.Example One: Hidden doorIn the dungeon there is a room filled with tapestries. There is a secret door hidden behind a tapestry showing a unicorn.- the PCs have a map showing directions to the dungeon. Scrawled on the back, without any context, is the note "behind the unicorn" (For additional credit, this map should be a handout given to the players - let them find the clue and realise what it means!)- In the tapestry room, there are ancient impressions of lots of muddy footprints. For some reason, though, they seem to avoid that one corner... (because the owners of the dungeon were always sure to keep that bit extra-clean)- Later in the dungeon, the PCs encounter a prisoner who offers to guide them to the door. (This works best if it's a hobgoblin, or tiefling, or otherwise someone untrustworthy - this then presents the players with an interesting choice to make.)(The third 'clue' is really just the solution. Still, if it's found late in the dungeon, this probably doesn't matter, and especially if it changes the nature of the problem in an interesting way.)Example Two: The TurncoatThe PCs are sent to deal with a bandit camp. The bandit's lieutenant, Beth, regrets her actions, and is willing to abandon her leader in return for a pardon.- If the PCs ask around in town before heading out (and they really should), they hear several stories of how pitiless the bandits are. And one exception... it seems that a caravan carrying desperately-needed food was stopped just before last winter. The bandit leader wasn't there, but Beth was. On discovering the food, and understanding how vital it was, she let the caravan go lightly.- Beth isn't encountered in her sleeping quarters. However, if the PCs search there, they find her journal, which expresses her regret at the path her life has taken.- If the PC rogue goes scouting, he has opportunity to overhear an argument between Beth and her lover. Said lover questions why they stay with the bandit leader, to which Beth rejoins, "What else can we do? We're outlaws - we can't go back!"When the PCs encounter Beth, therefore, they can perhaps persuade her to join them with a Diplomacy check (DC as per "page 42"). Alternately, if the players think to have their characters offer her a pardon in return for her help, she will change sides automatically.Yeah, that's probably a bit simple. However, how about this:- If any PC is trained in History, he learns at the outset of the adventure that this is domain of "The Chopper", an undead executioner. Legend has it that the Chopper would come in the dead of night and sever the heads of its victims, never requiring more than a single stroke to perform such a deed. (And then fill the dungeon with similar atmospheric fluff - headless statues, other blade traps, and so on.)- In the room with the decapitating trap, there are green stains on the wall (old, long-dried kobold blood)- The dungeon has been taken ove, in part, by a tribe of kobolds. They have long forgotten why the trap room is dangerous, but they shun it with almost religious fervour. When the PCs recruit Meepo as a guide, he shows them about, but refuses to enter the trapped room. However, when asked why, he can only say something about "danger!"In general, players will always find things a bit harder to find than you think they will, hence the "three clue" guideline. However, the most satisfaction will generally be had by the players if they genuinely do figure it out for themselves. So, yeah, try to avoid "neon signs", but at the same time, don't worry too much that the clues are a bit too obvious - they're always going to be obvious to you since you know the solution!As with everything else, a bit of trial and error will be needed. Chances are you'll find some things are "too tough", some are "too easy", and some are "about right". As time goes on, you'll gradually find you get better at aiming at that "about right" target.</blockquote>

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