"What does my intelligence tell me?"

[SadisticFishing]

I have this thing where my players are stupidddddddddddd.

"What look does the Assassin have?"
"A shiny dagger, gloves, boots, belt, ring, necklace, bag of holding"
"Nice! Anyone need a bag of holding?"
"No, we all have one."
"Oh, let's sell it."

... !! >_<

So I have them roll int checks if they need to think of something that they didn't.

 

[The Blow Leprechaun]

Int checks are great for seeing if your character remembered something (especially if it was something not done in the session, like something he learned in school where a skill check doesn't apply).

I always used Wisdom for that... not sure why. Probably because when you're afflicted with lycanthropy, it's a wisdom check to remember what you did the previous night.

But yeah, I tend to dislike puzzles for a lot of reasons. What seems patently obvious to you as a DM might not make any sense to your players, and puzzles often are put in places where you either solve it or are left with nowhere to go/facing near certain death. They're a good way to kill an adventure.

If the players were stuck, though: I'd give Bardic Knowledge a good shot at solving a puzzle (i.e. "Oh, I heard this one once!" - maybe a failed check and they misremember it?). Relevant Knowledge skills could get clues (i.e. "You seem to remember an archaic usage of the word 'fish'").

The only way I'd use a straight Int check would be if the player's answered wrong and wouldn't get a second chance at it. Say a giant sphinx has asked the riddle and will easily kill them - if they are about to answer wrong, I might ask them to roll Int checks to see if they think better of it.

 

[SadisticFishing]

Oh, yeah, and puzzles seem silly, as generally only one player in each group is smart enough to understand it, and the rest just watch. Not fun.

 

[JustinA]

"What does my intelligence tell me?"

I hear this all to often in my role-playing sessions. The PCs have got it in their head that their intel gives them free access to the answers to my campaigns mysteries.

How do you apply intelligence rolls in your campaign?

I read the rulebook.

(Check the Knowledge skill description.)

Here's the thing: a puzzle is usually designed to be something fun and challenging for the players. The players. If, upon finding said puzzle, they roll and int check and move on, then there was hardly a point in having it there.

However, if that's how your players choose to solve the puzzle, that probably tells you something about how much "fun" they have solving puzzles.

Justin Alexander
http://www.thealexandrian.net

 

[Vegepygmy]

However, if that's how your players choose to solve the puzzle, that probably tells you something about how much "fun" they have solving puzzles.

QFT.