8 Puzzles for D&D Better Than Options from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

[@matthewrahn2382]

I had a fairly obvious vampire tower, but each trap was actually harmless, pit fall that was only 5ft down, flowers instead of arrows etc. the final room had a poor old man who cried when the party threatened him. They were sympathetic, thinking he must be a plot device, he asked to sit down for a meal, (no one did ANY checks) and he snapped his fingers opening a trap door on each chair and split the party up. The vampire revealed himself and now next session they have to fight him and all his hidden creatures

[@coalcreekdefense8106]

Throughout the dungeon, the PCs find several small shapes carved from cinnabar. There's a cube, a rectangle, a cylinder, a triangle, a semicircle, and a shape that looks like a rectangle with a semicircular cutout. Later, they encounter a large, round, white marble door with nooks matching the shapes and sizes of the carvings. Seems simple, but there's a twist you won't believe...

[@ryanchou2846]

Underrated comment

[@izaiahmedina4802]

It all goes in the square hole

[@patrickstar174]

At the "sound argument" one i understood goats instead of ghosts and honestly im gonna run with that. :D

[@failsflails2410]

Even better!

[@orgoldberg2738]

That 60 second lever "don't do anything" room is amazing for a crazy trickster sort of maze thank you for that!

[@failsflails2410]

Absolutely, that’s how Ive used it in the past

[@AlleeCatBlues]

I've used it for a sort of "trials of the worthy" type dungeon. Instead of a countdown timer, the walls closed in. The point of the trial was to face their fear and let the walls get uncomfortably close to crushing them before they were allowed to leave. It was basically saying "a true warrior isn't afraid to face death."

[@Daves_Not_Here_Man_76]

I use it with a kobold you've been chasing. He hit the button to start the countdown. Then he runs through a door that vanishes. The door reappears when the countdown ends. THe longer they take to let it run down the more time the kobold has to gather enemies in the next room.

[@rodrigoreis2151]

I usually hate puzzles, your video made me rethink my instance. Sir, consgratulations, you've got yourself a subscribe!

[@failsflails2410]

Thank you! And I’m glad I could change your mind!

[@failsflails2410]

Hey folks, thanks for checking out the comment section! Nothing special down here for this video, but let me know about some of your own experiences with puzzles from your own games!

[@samaysoni4015]

OMG I LITERALLY came here looking for ideas to implement a Saw-movie-like puzzle AND I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU MENTIONED THAT TOWARDS THE END :D subscribing just for how amazing this vid is

[@failsflails2410]

I'm sure glad I included that one then! I'll see if I can't think of some more SAW inspired puzzles to add!

[@AshersAesera]

The Pointless Lever should be the Trickster's Level or something to that effect. Place it in a dungeon where things aren't always as they seem and they'll catch on pretty quick and will think it's clever xD

[@kikiblair5132]

I love the pointless lever. The door puzzle from the hospital level in Silent Hill 3 on normal or hard puzzle mode is a beast. If your party isn't good with puzzles it can take up an entire session. In my opinion the normal mode version is more difficult.

[@failsflails2410]

I haven’t played the game but I’m definitely going to have to check out the puzzle now

[@kikiblair5132]

@@failsflails2410 the original PS2 version is really expensive now, but I recommend it if you have the cash. Otherwise the Silent Hill HD Collection is pretty cheap. They redid the voices though and I hate it.

[@zacc3ly]

These puzzles (and all the rest on the channel) are amazing! Thanks for all the great ideas, can't wait to try some of these out on my party!

[@davidlejenkins]

I've been casually looking up dnd puzzles for inspiration and this was the first video out of 50 that, not only had creative puzzles, but it was not cringey. Thanks.

[@seanhebert1229]

Man I was totally stumped for puzzles, thanks for the help. Hopefully it goes well

[@failsflails2410]

Best of luck! I think I have about 40 on the channel at the moment so hopefully others will be useful as well!

[@codyhanson1344]

The trick for the merry go round one is that you're told you can only save 2, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can only save 2. You could make it so that all of them are saved, just that you have to make a painful sacrifice each time, even if it's told that only 2 can be saved. Perhaps it'll initially land on someone you would rather not save over others, and are told you can only save 2, you probably won't want to save the first person, but if you can actually save all of them you might as well. The trick is they don't exactly know that more than 2 can be saved as the only way to find out is to try it.

[@failsflails2410]

That’s a great way to run it too!

[@mattstreet4104]

Wow I just stumbled across this video and went to subscribe and saw it was the last video you ever made. Sorry to see that. This was really enjoyable

[@javierguerrero2076]

reciently suscribed man, been seeing your videos and all of them deliver great and useful content! Most importantly, you cut to the chase, congrats!

[@failsflails2410]

Awesome, thank you!

[@ryancasey9763]

@4:49 self burn, my guy, I respect that

[@Nawtperfect]

These are great ideas and exactly the kind of stuff I was searching for. Subscribed!

[@Michael-eo8ro]

This is exactly what I was looking for!

[@greenishapples1732]

Thanks for all the hard work

[@failsflails2410]

My pleasure!

[@nate5eplayer574]

Love it! All of them are excellent and will be using them. Thank you tons.

[@LaGranEnchilada]

Liked most of the ideas! Thank you! Already subscribed 😁👍

[@DolkkarToyznstuff]

You have some great ideas, thanks for taking the time to share them.

[@vikingstrongman1063]

The pointless lever you can fool them a few times if you place it right. I'm thinking four rooms in a row with some kind of puzzle where spikes will come through and when they get to the fifth room its the pointless lever.

[@drakonisasmrtist9471]

So for the bewitching mists, if everyone fails their save, do they snap out of it at any point, or do they just have to “kill” the mannequins and then they realize they were fighting nothing?

[@failsflails2410]

That's totally up to you, you can have the effects last for a set number of rounds, a number of rounds equal to how far they missed the DC, or just until all of the mannequins are destroyed

[@THEPELADOMASTER]

@@failsflails2410 not much of a puzzle then, is it? More of a time wasting trap

[@Sephiroth517]

@@THEPELADOMASTER to be fair, I've seen nothing but time wasting traps in this video...

[@robertsneden7236]

One of my favorites is a 10' wide × 100' long × 30' tall hallway with spikes across the length of the ceiling & traps every 5' on the floor. If triggered, roll 1d6. On a 1-2, gravity is normal. On a 3-4, gravity is reversed. On a 5-6, gravity is doubled. If any character falls upward into the spikes, they take 1d4 piercing damage plus fall damage. If any character is on the ceiling & fall to the floor, they take regular fall damage. If they fall from the ceiling with gravity being doubled, fall damage is doubled. Roll every time a trap is triggered.

[@SardaukarLegion]

Wow I'm so glad I found your channel. Great content. Honest. 👍👍

[@failsflails2410]

Thank you, I greatly appreciate that, and welcome to the channel!

[@tristinbishop6381]

Starting my first campaign as DM soon. I will be watching ALL your videos 😂

[@izzschmed]

Thank you, very helpful! Greetings from germany

[@failsflails2410]

I’m glad the video could be of use!

[@RETINA8719]

I’m so using the pointless lever 😂😂😂 brilliant

[@fireball4763]

My players once spend around and oughr on the puzzle where you hawe 2 dors wich are magically connected to eatch other when you get whro one you get out of the orher(the solution was to get thro one and after you leave you get back thro the one you just left)

[@syckles]

Haha... The merry go round trap is a trap is taken from the Saw movies.

[@Travisthe616nerd]

I've used the pointless lever one before. And my wife thought that water or sand would fill the room and kill them

[@failsflails2410]

It’s a great way to keep the party busy for a bit

[@Travisthe616nerd]

I got kinda bored (new DM) and had a NPC cast sleep on the party just so that we could continue with the session lol

[@Doofwarrior88]

I think your video would benefit greatly by adding images. Starring at someone talking with very little edits causes people to get bored quickly.

[@failsflails2410]

Thank you for the input! I'll be sure to add more editing for future videos

[@failsflails2410]

@@jamiem4121 thank you, and I'm glad you can use some of these in your own games! thank you for the feedback too, I've started using images in my more recent videos since this issue was brought up

[@TwoLyfes]

where does that Acq. Inc. rp puzzle appear? remember seeing a clip of omin confessing his but i forgot which session its from. thank you

[@failsflails2410]

I don’t recall the episode number but I think it was at one of the PAX shows when they’re going to retrieve Will Wheaton’s character from hell

[@RepAlbertThomas]

What a big nerd. He reminds me of someone I served with while in the corps. Now I’m retired and DMing. Either way, thank you for playing the part of the muse. Much appreciated to get me into writing this last fuckin’ room of this god-damn dungeon!

[@failsflails2410]

More than happy that I could help!

[@jw550w0r9pw]

Ok I'm gonna do the pointless lever for sure

[@failsflails2410]

It's definitely fun, but can lead to some players getting upset if you let it go on for too long. 100% recommend it though!

[@Arnsteel634]

I want more videos like this.

[@joaquinllamazares]

THIS VIDEO IS AMAZING!

[@failsflails2410]

Thank you!

[@WallyDM]

I am really into puzzles... for, well... reasons. :-) You presented some decent ideas here. Well done!

[@failsflails2410]

Thank you! the video did pretty well so I already put out another puzzle video, and plan to continue making more if they do well!

[@denzilbriffa602]

I cant wait to use some of these on my party lol

[@failsflails2410]

Hope they go well! Be sure to let me know!

[@technobat8601]

how have i not found this video

[@failsflails2410]

Hopefully it was helpful!

[@JonAmorim]

when you're a internet pirate, everything is free

[@TheLucksack666]

mate this was very helpful cheers subbed

[@failsflails2410]

Thanks and welcome to the community!

[@TheLucksack666]

@@failsflails2410 thankyou gonna plow through the rest of the vids :)

[@dnd.thefriendlybonfire]

how do you even solve the orbs of discord?

[@safep4683]

somebody else has to say the effect of the orb you have, and I assume the puzzle is solved when everyone's orbs are solved

[@mynameismarkchun]

My favorite puzzles i steal wholesale from older video games. Some pokemon gyms for example

[@asofyett]

Where is that background image from?

[@failsflails2410]

Tasha’s alternate cover book art

[@HowtoRPG]

Where is your sponsor notice in the top left corner of the screen?

[@failsflails2410]

I'll be sure to update that right away

[@d1rt408]

Great vid

[@failsflails2410]

Thank you!

[@jeromepeters9842]

Making a resident evil style mansion so this helps a lot

[@failsflails2410]

Glad I could help!

[@stm7810]

Thanks, great ideas.

[@failsflails2410]

Thank you, hope you enjoyed the video!

[@stm7810]

@@failsflails2410 I did thanks, I plan on using some of these, I especially like that they don't depend on the party being a certain level.

[@TheMoltyPethon]

Thank you for the pointless lever! My players won't be as happy...

[@failsflails2410]

They never are after that one

[@thanaphan4951]

Thanks!

[@failsflails2410]

You’re welcome, I hope it was useful!

[@bluespruce786]

Does Keltiak work with fish??? Great video thanks for posting. Solid examples and ideas in a clear format, well done!

[@failsflails2410]

Keltiak has been known to dabble in aquatic creature reanimation. And thank you!

[@leif19samcynos]

I pull the pointless level at least once with all my parties. it turned into a game un-to itself. the fastest it was solved was 30 seconds because one player saw Zee's vid on it. however the longest it took was a good 3 hours 46 minutes. half that party quit on me after that. XD

[@17joren]

Did you get the pointless lever from Zee Bashew?

[@jakemunoze7430]

Pointless lever was really good

[@failsflails2410]

it's definitely a great way to make your players second guess themselves

[@jakemunoze7430]

@@failsflails2410 I'm definitely going to use it my cousin told me one: A room with 3 pedalstals each one has an unopenable chest and 3 thrones with skulls on them. Each skull has 3 different colored eyes. Dead body on the floor. Investigate the body it's unnaturally aged and they find a magical magnifying glass It only has ONE magical use. With the one use You find a chest has one of the colored jems, Magnifying glass is immediately destroyed. Proper chest on the proper pedalstal makes the eyes of the skull glow When all have been properly placed door opens. *IF incorrect chest is placed 32 pts of bludgeoning damage and you gain 9 hrs of life.*

[@failsflails2410]

@@jakemunoze7430 Nice!

[@MorgorDre]

I am gonna repost that video

[@sadez33]

tnx for the video!

[@failsflails2410]

Of course! I hope it was helpful

[@Asadarion]

i will tell you why this doesnt work like rea life *the marry go thingy... in game u can even say i will give my life with ease...you can give 99% of ur hp no problems .... you dont sacrifice really.. you can change that by giving items or gold ... to save someone but again i dont like it because as a player i dont care about gold or my hp xD really ... u cna heal. Anyways thanks for the video the useless lever trap was nice xD

[@KevinOutdoors]

'Orbs of Discord' sounds fun but you didn't mention how the puzzle is solved.

[@failsflails2410]

My apologies, it’s solved when the players correctly guess the effect of the orbs on the other players (they can’t say their own effect) at which point the spell/effect ends

[@medofarahat2624]

Amazing 🤩

[@dicemanshadow6630]

Thanks for a good video

[@skidmoda]

I give it credit it is new, they are trying I guess. This isn't an existing IP they are wrecking.

[@emmet2410]

Tasha’s puzzles are really bad. I like the goblin one, all the others make no sense.

[@failsflails2410]

yeah I got pretty excited when I saw they included puzzles, but was pretty let down once I read through them.

[@emmet2410]

@@failsflails2410 Nord Press (i think that’s their name) makes a phenomenal book

[@failsflails2410]

Is it a book for puzzles? I tried searching for it but no luck

[@emmet2410]

@@failsflails2410 it’s called treacherous traps

[@failsflails2410]

@@emmet2410 thank you for putting this on my radar!

[@seventeenraccoonsinatrenchcoat]

2:10 Sans:

[@Mothman1992]

Owlbear chub

[@ImCalebRosengard]

I want that shirt

[@perkeyser2032]

Personally, I didn't like these "puzzles". I would barely call them that. They where not what I would bring to the table at all.

[@oldmanshinji9662]

Juicy

[@Dribblefox]

Wrong its a chub

[@DustyLeeSledge]

Why are the players doing the puzzle ?

[@aqualust5016]

A lot of these puzzles seem like a waste of time. With limited time to play in a session, to me, puzzles should provide deceptive solutions and inevitable fatal outcomes if not solved. Think real world. Who other than Doctor Evil sets up an elaborate trap in a lair just to waste your time? It's dumb, unrealistic, and wastes precious time that could be done storytelling or continuing the plot. One I made involves a crimson orb that fixes the player's limb to it. It will move around a room and when it bounces off an object it will increase in speed. If the players do not touch the white orb and shed blood upon it the player attached to the crimson orb will reach a velocity that will either tear their limb off or kill them due to trauma. Brutal, yes, but presents real risk that players will appreciate knowing after the session is complete.

[@failsflails2410]

Thank you for the feedback, I do have 42 other puzzles presented on my channel if these are not to your liking. I tend to aim my puzzles as more 'problem solving' encounters to challenge the players and break up the monotony of combat. That being said, I can imagine a number of reasons why an obstacle is put in place with the sole purpose of slowing down intruders, such as offering mages enough time to summon a powerful creature, or to complete a diabolic ritual.

[@oo5754]

So you criticized lazy puzzle design and then you come up with that? Wow

[@failsflails2410]

You bet! Which ones did you not like? Or was it all of them?

[@oo5754]

@@failsflails2410 Basically all of them but for various reasons- i give you an example... the three monkeys, that knowledge you need to solve it, is based on real world knowledge of the player not of the character. So it does not feel rooted in the role playing environment or lore. That is a no go.

[@failsflails2410]

That's totally fair and I did mention it at the beginning too. If somebody was wanting to implement it in the lore though, it wouldn't be too difficult for a (likely shady) character to say it in-game at some point, but I understand your criticism and thank you for it! I do have several other puzzle videos if you're interested, but wouldn't blame you if you were put off by the one video you already saw and disliked. Either way, I hope you find some great puzzles for your games!

[@oo5754]

@@failsflails2410 i will watch your videos, i love when people take the time to produce content, and i respect that. Maybe i was a bit harsh in my style of commenting. I know it’s hard to come up with something really original and well rounded , that has never been done before. Especially when it comes to riddles it is a multilayered challenge.

[@failsflails2410]

@@oo5754 It's all good! Criticism lets me know how I can improve my content. Puzzles and riddles definitely are the hardest to come up with, but that's why they're my most popular videos

[@SuperstitiousScientist]

"...that is why you won't find my videos anywhere but on my channel..." No, that's because a monotonous drone that is condescending isn't that interesting to share. Nothing new here.

[@failsflails2410]

Thank you for the feedback! It is greatly appreciated

[@devinmahoney7200]

You must be the life of your party. 🙄

[@failsflails2410]

@@devinmahoney7200 Criticism is always appreciated, whether it is positive or negative. There's no way to know how to improve my channel if others don't call me out on my shortcomings!

[@leviwarren6222]

Really? A company that hires based on race, sex, and sexual proclivity instead of skill or aptitude publishes books full of brain-dead drivel that screams 'money grab'? Cue *YOU DON'T SAY* meme.