Unlock an Undead Door? Vampire Themed DnD Puzzle Idea!

[@WallyDM]

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[@minimoose7890]

Is the door undead? Well, it's a door, so it's not exactly alive, nor is it dead. So I suppose it is both undead and unalive? Oh, and it's a real shame the party got their one good wooden-stake stuck in that door only to see a vampire on the other side!

[@WallyDM]

@@minimoose7890 lol, that sounds amazing. One item that instantly kills the big bad, and they used it to let it out. Haha, love it.

[@burtmillard9196]

And here I am, half expecting offerings of blood as a solution.

[@WallyDM]

Hmmm. Or... perhaps the door feeds on blood? That give me some serious Legacy of Kain vibes, lol. Thank you for watching!

[@nabra97]

It was the first thing I thought about when I just saw the name

[@esperthebard]

Paused at 2:48. Fashion a wooden stake from a broken chair leg and stab the door in the soft spot.

[@WallyDM]

Awww yeah. Well done, my friend!

[@demetrinight5924]

My first thought was offering the door a drop or more of blood to open it. I definitely prefer the slaying the door like a vampire a bit better. A hit I might give is the sound of a faint heartbeat behind the soft spot in the door. Alternate ways to open the door I would consider are holy water that damages the door like you mentioned, sunlight or the daylight spell. Also holy weapons or weapons that are silvered or do radiant damage could damage the door. If anywhere besides the heart of the door is struck it might trigger the necrotic trap but that spot doesn't heal like it would from a regular weapon.

[@WallyDM]

Some solid ideas and thoughts here, thank you. I dig the heartbeat idea for it. Alternatively the blood offering might do something as well. Lots of ways to go with this one. Thanks for watching, cheers!

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

Maybe the door is covered in the flayed skin of a powerful vampire, cursed to forever be portal-bound. But it's animate, and can slam you, or drop to the floor, then open to reveal a pit (think Pink) as you try to run past. Oh yes, this is a most excellent door.

[@WallyDM]

Flayed skin? gross. lol.

[@greatmoustache8731]

Unlock Undead Ultra Unbreakable Underhanded ... Door Gotta make the STAKES high to need to get through the door also great book, the softcover looks amazing, and feels great in the hand.

[@WallyDM]

lol, I see what you did there! Also, thanks again for picking up a copy. I appreciate it, glad you like it!

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

I can think of one way to simulate running water 💛 ☂️

[@WallyDM]

lol!

[@stewi009]

Yeah but if you let that work, then I guarantee they're going to try it on the next actual vampire they find, too. And then things just start getting weird.

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

@@stewi009 Yeah, that becomes a different kind of fiction 😅

[@HowtoRPG]

Thanks Wally

[@WallyDM]

Thank you Fred!

[@dr.feargood2669]

Great puzzle, I and my players enjoyed it.

[@WallyDM]

Thank you, my friend! Was fun to finally turn this idea into a video. Thank you for playtesting it for me. On to the next!

[@linkatronic]

Neat twist to have the door keeping something trapped on the other side that the players don't want to let out!

[@WallyDM]

Haha, absolutely. Thank you! A devious twist for a DM to include, for sure. :-)

[@scottturner3831]

I believe the solution is 1) open the door. 2) get on the floor. 3) everybody walk through dinosaur.

[@WallyDM]

lol. I'll accept that. 😀

[@D0makr0m3]

Amazing. I just started my first campaign as a DM last week and decided to go with “The Party vs Dracula (thanks, The Adventure Zone). I’ve been agonizing how I’m going to introduce puzzles since I’m more a thespian dm than a smarty-pants dm. Thank Pelor for your channel XD

[@WallyDM]

You are quite welcome! I hope you are able to find many puzzles and traps on my channel to use. Congrats on starting your first campaign. Be sure to stop back by and let me know how it goes. Cheers!

[@jayoungr]

I figured it out! And I think holy water should definitely work ... maybe the _hallow_ spell as well (or the equivalent in whatever system you're using). Not sure how turn undead would play out, though.

[@WallyDM]

Hooray! Well done! Agreed on the holy water, for sure. Thanks for watching!

[@agilemonk6305]

As always, Wally - the best of the best - and a wonderful video. BTW for those that haven’t made up their minds yet, I bought Wally’s newest book, and enjoyed it so much, purchased another one for my son. ❤. Highly recommend you check it out. ❤

[@WallyDM]

Ah, thank you so much, my friend! Always appreciate your support and encouragement. Glad you enjoyed the book. On 2 the next!

[@JonnySaysHi413]

Quick, pulpy and thematic with lots of solutions - great wee puzzle!

[@WallyDM]

Hooray! Glad you liked it, thank you so much!

[@nathanegnew1923]

Our party carties a battering ram (dont ask, we've an odd one in the bunch). Post necrotic damage, we're going through the wall.

[@WallyDM]

Through the wall? Heck yeah, that sounds awesome, lol.

[@DanielLCarrier]

If I've learned one thing from Tomb of Horrors, the solution to this puzzle is to steal the door. I think this puzzle relies too much on players making successful checks. If they don't know it's "vampire themed", and don't know that the archway is coffin-shaped, it will be very difficult to figure out that they need to treat it like a vampire. And that weak spot sounds pretty important too. Players might be able to get through by setting it on fire from 30 feet away and casting Chill Touch every round, but that's ignoring the whole vampire thing.

[@AndyReichert0]

given that the puzzle is basically a pop quiz on vampires, i would expect holy water or turn undead to work on the door.

[@WallyDM]

Makes sense to me too. I would welcome all ideas, for sure. Cheers!

[@mmardh799]

Interesting one! thank you I thought it was a vampire mimic door! The Great Sage Ed have already confirmed their existence

[@WallyDM]

Ah, no kidding? Well then. I must seek out this vampire mimic door, for sure. :-) Thank you for watching!

[@mmardh799]

@@WallyDM the video is called "I created D&D's WEIRDEST vampires" vampire flump??? I still think this little fella is the most adorable thing :p jejej

[@badgerburns521]

went and bought that book :) I am excited

[@WallyDM]

Hooray! Thank you! I hope it serves you well. Cheers!

[@biffstrong1079]

Are the splintered pieces of wood going to look like obvious sharpened stakes, like large tent pegs? I would let my cleric to be able to turn it. Maybe Garlic or a strongly presented holy symbol would make it swing away from the nasty object. A mirror doesn't open the door but doesn't show up in the mirror, which lets you look into the next room and let's you know whether to open it? I probably can't use this one, but as always I like it.

[@WallyDM]

If hints need to be given, or to make the puzzle easier, making the splintered table legs and chairs look sharp is a good idea, for sure. Also, I forgot about garlic and the mirror! Great inclusions!

[@biffstrong1079]

@@WallyDM I like the mirror as it gives you a slightly different take and an opportunity to see through the door. though I would have to reward the player who figured that out.

[@AlinNightwing]

I think if your cleric has the mind to do the turn undead it should work if it fails its save. After all, if it's mimicing all the other vampiric properties then why not... hell it's not often someone is going to go "ya know what, I'm going to turn undead this weird door" so I'd say reward it if they do, and since it's not technically sentient I don't know that it should really get a savings throw vs. turning

[@WallyDM]

Totally agree. I was leaning that way as well. I don't see why it couldn't work, for sure. Thank you for watching, cheers! 😀

[@minimoose7890]

I think I've got the solution. Step 1 to opening the Vampire Door: Open Wally DM's Journal of Puzzle Encounters On 2 the Next . . . . Step 4: Have fun :-D

[@WallyDM]

Haha, love it. Heroic inspiration for you today. :-) Cheers!

[@atnasingetnamn2887]

Thanks for sharing man :)

[@WallyDM]

You bet! Cheers!

[@tonyelliott5045]

i'd say turn undead should work as long as the CR of the door falls within range of the player's ability of that casting

[@WallyDM]

Makes sense. :-) Out of all the possibilities, using "turn undead" on the door is the one I find most fascinating. Cheers!

[@tonyelliott5045]

@@WallyDM lol sure. i just think it is funny/a pun that it is TURN undead...i.e. physically turning the door.

[@WallyDM]

@@tonyelliott5045 Oh snap. That's hilarious! Actually turning the door, lol. Ya know, that would be a cool puzzle in itself. A room full of zombie statues and "Turn Undead" is written on the walls. Rather than invoke your clerical goodness you simply need to physically rotate the zombie statues to open a door. I love the pun idea, well done!

[@jwmmitch]

I thought it was going to be the door drained the "life" out of other furniture to repair itself or something

[@WallyDM]

I mean... it could be. That sounds cool. I really dig the idea!

[@paulbrandson6656]

I thought the door ate furniture

[@WallyDM]

A few others mentioned this as well and I can totally get behind this idea. Thanks for watching!

[@keithulhu]

Rub garlic on the door

[@WallyDM]

I'm good with that, for sure!

[@nabra97]

At some point, I thought that it's not a door associated with vampires, but a *vampire* door that drinks blood from unsuspected furniture and other woodworks, and that all the mess coming from it's victims 😅 Also, I'm wandering how would the door react to its frame being destroyed and it being unhinged, as long as the door itself isn't damaged

[@WallyDM]

Ya know, a few others also mentioned that the door might be drinking blood or life from the other furniture. I think that is an amazing idea! A great way to run the puzzle, for sure. I also envision the door not having hinges, locks, or anything "openable". To get through, it has to be destroyed with the stake to the heart, otherwise it regenerates. But totally up to the GM on how they want to run it. I'm hoping folks will let me know how they used it in a game. Some great stuff here, thank you for commenting. Cheers!

[@nabra97]

@@WallyDM maybe a vampire mimic 🤔Sounds positively terrifying

[@truenorth4253]

Da Bears

[@adambaldinger4507]

Lick the door

[@a7xmyfist]

Wouldn't dispel m work

[@WallyDM]

Totally up to the DM. For me, I'm thinking the door has a supernatural background, rather than a magical one. But, I'd consider the Dispel Magic disabling the Necromancy trap effect. The door also has no visible ways of opening it. No locks, no hinges, no handles. Just the "heart" in the wood that needs to be destroyed. But again, a DM can run the encounter and apply the ideas as they see fit, for sure. Great question! Cheers!