Trying to figure out what different kinds of puzzles I can make for different quests I'm making.
The first things that come to mind are pressure tiles where the player has to spell out a word and avoid tiles that don't spell the word.
Second maybe.. towers of hanoi?
Third perhaps just some riddles..
Regardless, need some more outside ideas for brainstorming.
First, if you haven't already, grab a copy of Unearthed Gold, as there are scripts for puzzles in there. Also if you go to the page for the custom content challenge for September 2014: The Mists of Ravenloft and get ccc_2014_09_addendum_traps.7z (you might as well grab the rest of the stuff if you don't already have it, while you're there). That file contains a highly customizable puzzle with full instructions that I submitted a couple of weeks late. You might also want to have a look at my fun doors package as there is an open sesame door in there. Something that you could alternatively use a listener creature to achieve.
A related document that you may find useful is TR's Trap Collection (as long as you are on windows).
Finally, have you got a copy of the ccc catalogue that I maintain? Aside from the 3d modelling stuff the ccc's contain scripts and prefabs that you might find a use for. By using the catalogue you can search through it and use the links it contains to find what you are looking for.
BTW, did you know that it is easily possible to predict the minimum number of moves needed to solve the towers of hanoi. It is simply 2 to the power n (the height of the tower) minus 1.
TR
Another variant of the pressure plate thing would be briefly showing the correct path players have to take. Maybe make them walk a distance to view the path to increase difficulty. I did it by placing a lever on a ledge, where the pressure plates can be seen and the correct path lights up for a short period, but then the players had to walk back in order to actually cross it.
I've also implemented a beam puzzle a few years ago. Players have to guide the path of a beam of light/light ray to a magic barrier to dispel it. It's quite a bit of work to set it up.
Another idea would be that Mirror/Lightning bolt puzzle from Icewind Dale 2 (Temple of Ice): There are a bunch of locked doors throughout the area, a "prism device" and some Mirrors. The prism device can be turned and activated to shoot a lightning bolt. The bolts can be redirected by adjusting the angle of the mirrors. When the lightning bolts hit a door it opens.
Involves a lot of scripting, but it's quite doable.
As I have mostly made what I call "combination lock" style puzzles (see Hrothgar's Resting Place for an example), these are what I am most familiar with. There is one that I thought of and tested but never actually included in any of my modules. That is using just a conversation (really minimal scripting) to implement a combination lock so you might want to give that some thought.
TR
Thanks for all the feedback. I really loved the puzzles they made for baldur's gate games/icewind dale games and kotor. Good gaming memories ;^)
Although its not entirely repeatable :
I like text based riddles - but they are difficult to work with for multi-cultural players.
Eg: Writing your riddles in english, when your player is spanish.
I made a puzzle onced - it was themed on a rotating dial system.
The description of the wall would describe a puzzle.
Sometimes it was roman numerals.
The player then had to read and work out the puzzle to determine what order to turn the dials.
The puzzle could also change onPlayer entering the ruins. So the puzzle wasn't the same each time.
Eg: On one occasion, the correct sequence might be
133232
or on another
455322
Basically - its a pincode challenge, with a nice roleplay dial turning puzzle on top.
I have one where you must light braziers in a certain order to activate a door. The braziers will ignite when pixie dust from corrupted pixies is sprinkled on them. And the pixies and all other aspects of the corrupted forest don't exactly give that stuff away without a fight. The braziers reset if the wrong is done.
I've seen another done where levers (whatever) have to be activated within a certain amount of time from the first being activated.
A very sneaky one was a cave where the listener required a spoken word for a door to open. There were no clues about what that word might be (but there could be a clue) unless you happened to notice a letter tile on the floor of each area. Once all the letters were gathered you could figure out a word from there.
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