Jaspor Orr - Puzzles Predicaments and Perplexities III v1.1.pdf

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P
UZZLES
, P
REDICAMENTS
,
AND
P
ERPLEXITIES
III
1
c
REDITS
Writing & Design:
Steve “Jaspor” Orr,
@AgentJaspor
Bill Putrino,
@bputrino
& DJ Brewer
Producer:
Steve “Jaspor” Orr
Cover Illustration:
Thomas Bourdon
Editing:
Jane Hermiston,
@jane_hermiston
Layout:
DJ Brewer
Interior artwork:
DJ Brewer & Isabella Ritz
Some artwork © 2020 Dean Spencer, used with permission
All rights reserved.
Version 1.1 December 2,, 2020
O
n
T
he
C
over
Boris desparately treis to hold back the deadly collapsing wall to
give Jasp more time to focus on connecting the dots.
Cover art by Thomas Bourdon
A
BOUT
T
HE
A
UTHORS
Bill Putrino
is a pop punk skateboarder living the good life in
the world of nerdy pop culture. Bill is an avid Board Gamer, RPG
player, and DM, not to mention an amazing artist as you can tell by
his work on his site dnd2d.com.
Steve “Jaspor” Orr
is a homebrewer, retired punk rock guitarist,
and software developer. Steve has been playing and DMing D&D
games for many years, and has been publishing on the Dungeon
Masters Guild since February 2019. One day he might even learn
how to draw more than just stick figures.
D.J. Brewer
is a humble public servant, defined by his love of
video games, beer, and working out at the gym. A longtime fantasy
geek who spent his early junior high years painting miniatures
and endlessly reading Dragonlance and Icewind Dale, D.J. has
only in recent years finally taken the worthwhile plunge into D&D
campaigning.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, Ravnica
and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA
and other countries.
This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission
under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
All other original material in this work is copyright 2020 by Steven Orr, Bill Putrino, and DJ Brewer and published under the Com-
munityContent Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
I
ntroduction
dventurers will find themselves tested in many ways
during their careers seeking fame, fortune, justice, and
truth. Some tests will challenge their strength, agility,
spellcasting knowledge, and combat skills. Others will require
diplomacy, conversation, observation skills, and social interaction.
A rare challenge provides elements of both and requires deeper
thinking and analysis. Such puzzles are meant to guard treasure
and secrets and present a unique challenge to characters and
players. They also imply a worthy reward lies on the other side.
Puzzles, Predicaments, and Perplexities: Volume Three
presents twelve original puzzles for your fifth edition Dungeons &
Dragons campaign. These encounters are designed to be inserted
into your adventures at any point with minimal preparation.
Each puzzle is presented with a description of how it works, its
solution, and several hints that can be provided to players if they
have trouble solving it. The hints are designed to direct the players
toward the solution without giving it away. The full solution should
not be revealed to players until all hints have been exhausted, and
it is apparent the puzzle cannot be solved. We hope this will be a
rare occurrence, as the answers should slowly become evident by
revealing more about each puzzle with the provided clues.
S
caling
t
he
P
uzzle
D
ifficulty
The puzzles, as presented, are intended to be encountered by Tier
1 (levels 1-4) characters. However, they are designed in a way that
allows them to be made suitable for characters of all levels. Some
simple adjustments can be made to scale the difficulty up for
higher level characters.
Adjusting the DC of ability checks is the most convenient
method for changing the difficulty of a puzzle. It is recommended
that you increase the DC of all ability checks in a given puzzle
by 2 for each Tier over 1. For example, a puzzle requiring a
successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check would increase to
DC 15 for Tier 2 (levels 5-10) characters, DC 17 for Tier 3 (levels
11-16) characters, and DC 19 for Tier 4 (levels 17+) characters.
Ultimately, the players should succeed in solving the puzzle. It
should be challenging, but not impossible. Adjusting the DC of the
associated ability checks is one way to tune the difficulty of the
challenge.
The puzzles can also be comprised of a trap component to
punish characters for attempting incorrect solutions. These traps
are meant to increase the sense of danger and urgency around
finding the solution to the puzzle. The inclusion or exclusion of
these traps also provides a technique for adjusting the difficulty
of the puzzles. For lower level characters or newer players, the
puzzle itself may provide enough challenge without the extra
threat of a fireball landing on their heads if they press the wrong
button. For higher level characters or experienced players, that
threat can transform a tedious exercise in pattern identification
into a potentially deadly encounter. Several of the puzzles have
a sidebar entitled “Raising The Stakes” that includes optional
additions to make the encounter more difficult or dangerous.
A
T
he
P
erplexity
R
ating
This feature attempts to help DMs understand the relative
difficulty of each puzzle. While each group of players is different,
and it’s not easy to predict which scenarios they will easily solve
and which will completely stump them, this rating endeavors to
provide high-level guidance on the difficulty of a particular puzzle.
This is completely separate from the Challenge Rating and con-
cerns the difficulty of solving the puzzles in terms of player skill
and problem-solving ability.
The general guidelines used to determine Perplexity Rating are:
•
Easy.
A puzzle that can be solved through sheer per-
sistence. Everything needed to solve an Easy puzzle is right
in front of the characters, they just need to pay attention
and follow the clues.
Medium.
A Medium puzzle requires more creativity or
investigation. Players must look beyond obvious clues and
search for hidden patterns that lead to the solution.
Hard.
The most difficult puzzles require careful analysis,
consideration of multiple scenarios, and observation of
how multiple moving parts interact with each other. Hard
puzzles may also contain an element of math.
•
•
While specific players might prove the Perplexity Rating inac-
curate for them (one party may blow through a Hard puzzle and
become stuck on an Easy puzzle), it serves as a guide for relative
difficulty of the puzzles in this supplement. The puzzles are or-
dered by this rating, starting with Easy and progressing to Hard.
3
O
pening
D
oors
a
nd
M
ore
M
wn
t
he
P
uzzles
Y
our
aking
O
By their very nature, these puzzles are designed as mandatory
obstacles for the adventurers to overcome by finding the correct
solution. For many of these puzzles, that obstacle is represented
by a locked door that can only be opened by solving the puzzle.
While the door may be the most common and logical choice as a
barricade – forcing the party to engage with the puzzle – a variety
of options can be substituted to suit your particular campaign or
adventure. Some other options for successfully solving a puzzle
include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Opening a locked chest.
Uncovering a hidden message.
Transporting the party to an alternate plane.
Unlocking the shackles of a prisoner.
Closing a magical portal.
Revealing an invisible artifact.
While the puzzles presented here are suitable for plugging into
any adventure, Dungeon Masters are encouraged to customize
the puzzles to better fit their game. There are numerous ways
to customize each puzzle. This can include making the puzzles
more personal to your group of adventurers; adjusting the
puzzle descriptions to fit the setting of your dungeon; changing
the symbols or languages involved to match your game world;
or involving known NPCs in the solution. The puzzles provide
a framework for logical and solvable problems that can be
personalized to fit your adventure.
There is also an opportunity to chain together several puzzles.
This book includes two adventures that have been created
entire
ly
ted
entirely
r
by doing just that!
T
he
A
dventures
In addition to the stand-alone puzzles, this book also
ls
o
includes two full-length adventures. These adventures
ures
res
build a story around the puzzles, giving a logical narrative
a
rative
ar
ra
ve
e
for linking them together in a series of challenges. The
.
T
he
h
adventures can be run completely as written, as self-
e
lf-
lf-
contained modules, or they can be dissected and used for
u
sed f
or
d
parts in your own campaign.
d
sends
end
The Long-forgotten Adventures of Sir Canard
s
ends
the adventurers on a ghostly journey through time. The
e.
T
he
party relives the early and later years of a somewhat
famo
us
hat
mo
u
s
ha
t
famous
o
(if somewhat forgotten) explorer. As they assist him
i
n
a
m
in
variety of tasks that shape his life and career, the heroes
h
eroes
r
o
may be surprised by what they discover in the end.
d.
Trials of the Bearwalker Clan
finds the party seeking
eeking
g
help from a tribe of goliath barbarians. The barbarians
rians
have exactly what the group is looking for, and they
ey
have a reasonable request. The adventurers must prove
themselves worthy of the tribe’s assistance by completing a
mpleting
series of ancient ritualistic trials that have been part of the
art
Bearwalker Clan’s tradition for generations.
4
The simple words and phrases are translated as follows:
T
he
P
uzzles
he puzzles in this book are designed to be inserted
into almost any adventure at logical points. This could
entail adding additional challenges within officially
published adventures or inserting new obstacles into your own
custom adventure. Some are more challenging than others, and a
puzzle that appears simple at first may surprise you by stumping
your players. Every adventuring party is different and the way they
approach challenges can vary drastically. Be open-minded
when
players surpriseyou while dealing with these trials.
Lokwa
- Happy
Virn Lokwator
- Happy man
Mogra
- Sad
Virn Mogrator
- Sad man
Hwage
(this word is missing) - Angry
Virn Hwagrator
- Angry man
Inakto Avro
- Bird in a tree (Inakto means “in a tree”)
Avro
- bird
Inakto Rago
- Mouse in a tree
The more complex phrases are translated as follows:
T
P
icturesords
a
t
L
east
W
orth
T
hree
W
Perplexity Rating: Easy
This puzzle is a language-based challenge, involving matching
images with words to reconstruct a lost language. Use it anywhere
there is a suitable space for pictures on a wall, column, or other
surface.
Inmento Tukruk Hwagrator
- "Angry dragon on a table." Players
can recognize the word “angry” and guess that this is the answer.
Inmento means “in or on a table.”
Inbedo Rago Chago
- "A small mouse in a boat. Players can
recognize the word for mouse (“rago”) and guess that this is the
answer. Inbedo means “in or on a boat.”
Yukto Manata Tesol Bancha
- Bright sun next to a mountain.
Literally, “Next to mountain, sun bright.”
T
he
P
uzzle
When the characters approach this encounter, read or
paraphrase the following and provide the accompanying
images, available in appendix B:
You come across a wall that holds crude images along with
word plates written in Common. Some of the word plates are
still hanging on the wall, some have been knocked down, and
a few are completely missing.
H
ints
a
nd
T
ips
For players having trouble solving this puzzle, the
following
clues can be provided by the DM to help guide them towards a
solution:
•
With a successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) or
Wisdom (Perception) check, the character understands that
the party needs to place the correct plate on the wall.
A successful DC 11 Wisdom (Perception) check will allow a
character to figure out that Inakto means “In a tree.”
Players completely stuck can perceive with a DC 12
Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check
that they do not need to learn every word, and only need to
focus on identifying one or two key words.
Players can, with a DC 10 Intelligence (History) or Wisdom
(Perception) check, be told part or all of the English
(Common) translation of each picture, at the Dungeon
Master’s discretion.
T
he
S
olution
The party simply needs to match the correct plate with its
corresponding image. The key is that the images build on one
another; characters need to remember small words from earlier
paintings to be able to piece together the final puzzle. Players
first learn the word usage for angry (“hwagrator”) and then learn
the word for mouse (“rago”) by comparing the words from the
previous parts of the puzzle. There is a lot of guesswork involved,
but players who are familiar with using foreign languages (or
those with a natural aptitude for language) should be comfortable
latching onto one or two familiar phrases and guessing everything
else.
•
•
•
R
AISING THE
S
TAKES
The Dungeon Master can adjust the difficulty by removing
words from the pictures. For example, characters can
guess “Inakto Rago” with only one of the previous images
translated (Inakto Avro), leaving “Avro” untranslated. At
a minimum, characters will need to learn “hwagrator”
(angry) and “rago” (mouse) to solve the puzzle.
5

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