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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ExploderWizard" data-source="post: 6473069" data-attributes="member: 66434">I enjoy puzzles & riddles but I like to keep them relative to what the characters have experienced or would have the means to find the answer for. This doesn't mean roll a die to bypass using their thinking caps. It means that if there is a riddle or puzzle, it will have meaning in the game world and the clues for solving it will be found there. No riddles based on obscure song lyrics from our world or anything like that. Culturally neutral puzzles involving math or logic are fair game but anything requiring specific knowledge will be solvable by anyone who pays attention to the setting during play. A riddle might reference a secret symbol belonging to an evil cult that the PCs have seen or may see if they venture in certain places. Such riddles and puzzles typically unlock bonus goodies or additional information that could be very useful elsewhere. I avoid placing them in situations that would bring the whole adventure to a standstill. The players can decide to work through such things or leave them and move on. That way, any time spent on solving the thing is completely a player decision and not something the PCs HAD to do in order to continue.Besides, intra-party debates about how much time to spend on this stuff with threat of wandering monsters or the ticking clock of time sensitive operations provides quite a bit of DM entertainment.</blockquote>