No-Touch Triggers

I was thinking of weird engines that were powered by things just happening in the vicinity, but it might be more useful to you as a general purpose trigger. 

The idea is to set up a fun, mysterious occurrence that players have to figure out what they're doing to cause it.  That means the effect, be it boon or bane, shouldn't be too extreme, because you expect it to happen multiple times.  Also, the trigger should be something easily discoverable, or frustration will be the only thing triggered.


So, for example, every time someone asks a question in a room a gong sounds and players gain 5 pounds.

This means we need to generate both possible triggers and possible amusing affects.  I think the latter is easier and I'll leave it to you.  The former is trickier because it balances on the border of in-game and out-of-game actions.  I guess the fancy way to put it is that these actions are at least potentially diegetic.  They have to be things it is plausible for characters to do even if it is players doing it without thinking about their characters.  Here are some possible ones I thought of:

1. ask a question
2. say a name
3. say a direction (n,s,e,w or right, left)
4. use a conditional (if we . . . ?, will you . . .?)
5. character rests, sits or lies down.
6. player eats something (this is clearly out-of-game, but might be funny.. a gong goes off every time someone grabs a pretzel)

That's all I got right now.  I'm noticing I want things that are likely to happen in the room.  So discussions about what to do or where to go are very likely to occur in a game of D&D.  Somethings could become more likely based on the context you put in the trigger room.  For example, up/down might be said if there is a ladder/stairway in the room. 

The majority of these are just talking, but most actions would involve touching and are pretty standard dungeon fare, like opening a chest or door triggering something.  They would have the mystery of what is causing this.   Eating, drinking, praying or reading in the room might work, but then you have to hope players might actually do those things.  I suppose it's a fairly niche application.  But it could be fun.  Let me know if you can think of any potential triggers.

Geomagic Squares

Lee Sallows has made a bunch of magic squares using shapes rather than numbers.  Each row of the center square above will combine to form a square of equal size.  Each piece in the rows also happens to be of equal size for this rarer square.  I like Lee's illustrations of his squares.  Go here to see a lot more.

This might be a little too fiddly for a dungeon puzzle.  I suppose you could have the shapes from one row lining a certain room in a mosaic signifying . . . something.  Or you could give the players actual, tangible shapes and see if they can figure it out.  But I just think it's cool.

Saw it first on Slashdot.

The Pools of the Ancients

I want to make something almost toy-like for players to interact with in my dungeon.  Sort of tools that they might use in ways I can't predict (hopefully without breaking the campaign).

My current idea is containers that do things.  The type of container could vary depending on the vibe of your dungeon: jars, chests, stone alcoves, or pools.  I like the idea of containers with lids.  That way you can't watch what happens to what you put in the container, it's a mystery until you open it again.  But I like pools too, maybe the liquid in the ppols will turn opaque when something is placed in them.  Other features of the liquid in the pools could be determined as a potion.

Here's a possible lay out of pools and what they do:

Aa: Item placed in A will disappear and appear in a, reduced to a 10th in size.  Item placed in size a will disappear and appear in A enlarged 10 times.
Bb: Item placed in B will disappear.  A tiny replica in brass/plastic/wax will appear in b.  Removing and replacing the replica in b will cause the original item to appear in B.  Think a 4th dimensional wharehousing device.
Cc: Item placed in C will disappear and reappear rejuvenated/younger in c.  Item placed in c will disappear and reappear in C aged.
Dd: Item placed in D will be coated/plated/painted with material of whatever item is in d, using up that item completely.
E: This pool will subject whatever is placed into it to temperatures from hot enough to melt metals (1) to cold enough to flash freeze (2).
Ff: Item placed in F will be transmuted completely into material of item placed in f, using the item in f up.
G: Item placed in one of these pools will appear completely disassembled, its constituent parts floating above the other pool.  Parts placed in one of the pools will appear assembled floating above the opposite pool.  Living objects can go through this process generally without harm (a human re-assembled without their heart wouldn't do very well, for example).

Now, I know these seem a little too rational, like microwave ovens of the elders.  And I toyed with the idea of pools that did weirder things, like cover objects in hair.  But as a player myself, I don't think I would ever use that kind of device after a laugh or two.  These others I might make a dangerous trek just to use.  F is potentially campaign breaking, but if it is in a dangerous enough place, that and encumbrance might make it feasible.

I like B, and can envision a dungeon with little wax crowns and royal regalia scattered about it befuddling players.

What would fascinate you in an alien machine as a player?

Trick Types

I think it was Zak that made an offhanded comment about it being impossible to make a random chart to generate tricks, which I took as a challenge. I haven't succeeded, but I haven't given up yet.

My idea was to create a roll-all-the-dice spur, which would be fairly abstract and let you, as DM, figure out exactly what it meant in detail. One column would be "origin"-- where did this thing come from--because that really informs tricks and puzzles. I did some thinking on origins and thought I'd share.

First a bit about nomenclature. "Traps" are easy, they are set intentionally and are meant to capture or kill you. I don't really like the word "trick" because it seems to focus too much on the aspect of these things as intellectual obstacles that the DM places in front of players. Delta has explored the preponderance of these things in the early game charts and texts. But features of the dungeon can be more than chutes, slides, and elevators. Another term often used is "puzzle" and while it seems more appropriate in that all these features are puzzling, it has the connotation, for me at least, of something that must be solved for the adventure to continue. Maybe not necessarily, but these things take mental effort on the DM's part and I think that means they are often central to exploring parts of a dungeon or retrieving a treasure.

I don't have a better term to offer, so I guess I'll call these tricks. Whatever we call them, they seem really important in that these are the spots where the Mystical Underworld gets right up in the faces of the players and makes them deal with the fact that things are not normal. And knowing that as DM can be enough to design them-- think of interesting weird ways to make players interact with the dungeon environment. But I think if there isn't too much of a price to pay, including verisimilitude is always a plus. In other words, interesting features first, but if we can answer "Why is it here?" it would be a bonus. Hmm, maybe I'm contradicting myself here; the Mystic Underworld doesn't need reasons. Well, if nothing else, thinking about the "why" can help us generate. So, what are the types of tricks?

I. Arcane Test
These are checking to see if you know what the maker thinks you should know. All the tricks in my Alabaster Tower would fall under this category. Getting through the tower is supposed to mean you have passed an initiation, and each trick tests particular tenets the wizards thought initiates should know. But more than that, it is testing a mindset, "Are you the type of person who studies the world, examines things thoughtfully? Or, will you start hacking at stuff and get yourself stung to death?"

Cults, secret societies, and lost tribes seem likely makers of this type of trick. They should be based on some kind of principles, philosophy, or shared knowledge that the group would be expected to know. They might not necessarily be deadly if someone interacts with them incorrectly, but there should be enough of a disincentive to not allow someone to experiment and discover how to pass the test through trial and error.

And because these will often be about preventing access to the hallowed chambers of the makers, these types really blend into the next type:

II. Fantastic Lock
I see these more as a combination lock to allow only certain people through. But while they may use the trappings of philosophy or historical knowledge, the only test the user is expected to pass is: "Do you know the combo?"

I think these would be more likely to be used by individuals-- powerful mages, or chieftains-- and if by groups, most likely secular organizations. I think they are more likely to have dire circumstances if you get the combination wrong. And these, because they serve the practical task of opening a door (however convoluted each implementation), they blend into the next category:

III. Alien Machine
If you strip our knowledge and context about things everything becomes weird. Imagine someone from 1300 trying to figure out a microwave. Domestic appliances, tools, apparati manufactured by ancient elves, or aliens, or shoggoths seem equally ripe for puzzling magical weirdness. A chest that dehydrates anything put in it, a cabinet that gilds objects placed in it, or even weirder things.

These would more likely be found in the remnants of long dead civilizations. They seem least deadly of all tricks, and potentially useful to the crafty party that figures them out.

This category would also contain things that are not actual machines, but had a purpose at one time, or are the evidence of past intelligence even if they have no particular function. I'm thinking of B1's pools now. The next category might be similar in that it is perfectly logical, and only odd because we lack the context:

IV. Environmental Oddity
The difference is that these are not manufactured they are geological, biological, or maybe meteorological effects. I think some of my creature features could fit here. Geysers, musical algae, whatever.

V. Whimsical Obstacle
This is the classic Zagyg is just screwin' with ya. Sure the fountain of gender exchange may be an alien machine long abandoned by the shoggoths, but it's more likely some insane mage or trickster god is having a laugh at you.

These could be completely random, both in their location and their effects: anywhere from certain death to butterfly swarms.

Can you think of other categories than these five?

One difficulty for players having to make decisions is how do you tell a type III from a type V, which might drastically affect your longevity. I'm thinking a DM would need to be careful about what decision signposts they give players.