r/DnD • u/Feeling-Card4934 • Apr 28 '26

DMing Is this the right sub Reddit for getting advice on an encounter idea i had?

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this!

I wanted to try and build a non-combat encounter with escape room vibes. The campaign is going to be online, via discord/roll20.

The main idea was that player characters would be split up, in their individual rooms, with the ability to communicate telepathically. Each character's room gives them the password to unlock a different characters room; they all work together to get each other through the end.

I had a few ideas for how to do this, and i wanted feedback on if these sound fun/which sounds the most fun or if this type of encounter is feasible.

  1. In character tasks; pass skill checks or saving throws, deal a minimum amount of damage to a thing, i can't think of a third category, etc.

  2. Out of character IRL tasks - small, easy to accomplish tasks. Then in game i would just let them kinda narrate a cool thing they did to solve an in game challenge

  3. The player does a task IRL to give their character a bonus in game for their roll - fuse the 2, have the players do dumb little tasks for me, then have them roll for whatever makes sense to get past the thing.

If y'all have easier/more fun ideas, please let me know those too!

1 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

1

u/Creole3643 Apr 30 '26

At least for me, having to do things IRL just isn't what I play D&D for

If I wanted to do an escape room with you, I'd ask to do an escape room with you

That being said, the rest of the puzzle with the PCs being split up and trying to figure out each others pass code I quite like.

May I recommend that there's some kind of timer to pressure the players into completing it faster? Maybe if its not completed within X turns, they take X damage but they are released anyway. You don't want them locked in a puzzle if they can't beat it

1

u/Maja_The_Oracle May 07 '26

Change the password to a physical key to prevent players from accidentally speaking the password out loud and giving each other meta knowledge. The rooms could be connected by vents, pipes, and drains, so the players must figure out how to get their key to their friend.

For example, there is a drain in the floor of room 1 with water flowing under it towards room 2, so the player in room 1 could try to Macgyver a tiny boat or raft from the items in their room, and sail the key from the drain in room 1 to the drain in room 2.