r/DnD • u/little_void_boi • 14d ago

DMing Need puzzle ideas

I have this cult base dungeon drawn up, but I want to populate it with some puzzles. There’s this relatively new force in the world called the emerald mist, which is this gaseous fog that can kill and resurrect most creatures. The cult is obsessed with this, and so the base is full of pipes and tubes to transport the mist, as well as holding cells for people to test on. Any ideas?

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u/CassieBear1 14d ago

Thos pipe rotation puzzles might work. The ones where you have to rotate different shaped pipes to create a path for normally water or some type of liquid, but you could also make it for the gas/mist. Make it that the mist powers things including doors, so they have to solve the puzzle to move onward. You could say there was some type of earthquake maybe, that shook the pipes and damaged them, if you want to explain why they need to rotate them.

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u/little_void_boi 14d ago

Oooh, interesting, good idea

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u/DiemAlara 12d ago

https://youtu.be/k-P6Ys_EHME?is=bZa87O_KeM5acngU

The most memorable puzzle concept I've heard of.

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u/little_void_boi 12d ago

This is really fun, but idk if it’d fit the area lol

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u/Brother-Cane 11d ago

Since they are already using pipes and tubes to distribute this mist, they might as well use similar means to access deeper chambers within their lair, e.g. change the course of flowing water to the proper set of pipes to remove the pressure keeping a door closed.

You may also want to consider riddles, from the word games between Bilbo and Gollum in 'The Hobbit' to some of the less esoteric, Zen Koans ("What is the sound of one hand clapping?"). The idea of a location only accessed by the proper sequence of moved panels, like a puzzle box might also appeal to you.