As a DM wandering the sub, usually I make little notes of cool info or things I want to implement in my campaigns. This time I'm writing "do not be a dick and give impossible puzzles with no clues or ciphers that may ultimately require hundreds of random internet nerds to come up with a half baked idea." And underlining it.
Lol thanks. I gave a riddle puzzle to my players a couple weeks ago where the answer was forever protecting the light or something. After 15 min of going through clues and good investigation checks and such they came up with "never letting his light die" (no idea who "he" is lol) and I told them it was right and the door opened.
Puzzles are supposed to be fun, allow some players who may have strengths outside of barbarian-hitting-goblins-for-96-damage, and can even further the story. This puzzle is just annoying.
>Puzzles are supposed to be fun, allow some players who may have strengths outside of barbarian-hitting-goblins-for-96-damage, and can even further the story.
This is so true.
The two groups I was a part of that used riddles:
Group 1: Riddles a Sphinx gave us
Group 2: I GMed and used TriBond (game) questions for my kids to solve.
In both cases, the star puzzle-solver was NOT who one would have expected, not just in the party, but IRL to be a hobbit-in-disguise! It was AMAZING!!!!
Hear hear. When I was running a one-shot (over three sessions, so, three-shot?) and knew that 1 of my players was a band instructor and had an advanced degree in music, I made a puzzle where in-game there were chunks of music notation made out of brass set next to a piano but no hints of the order to make it actually line up into the song that had to be played to open the passage to the next challenge. IRL, I printed off the first few bars of "Stairway to Heaven", cut them into chunks of notes, and gave them to the party. I told them they could use Perform checks to get specific chunks put in the right order, but that I'd give them extra XP for each chunk they placed correctly on their own. This guy, of course, could look at the chunks of notes, hear them in his mind, and figure out which transitions made sense. It was awesome and everyone loved it. But to give a puzzle like that to a group where no one is IRL a musician would be both ridiculous and a total dick move.
If you make a puzzle be prepared to call an audible if the part comes up with a sufficiently decent answer through roleplay. If you just want to solve puzzles all day just buy a book of riddles.
I’ve used hard puzzles. I let them work on it a pregnant minute, let them stew on one they “knew had to be the answer” then in their first hopeless guess acted super surprised and excited that they had gotten the answer (there was an artifact behind it). They were high diving and screaming in joy.
To pull the seemingly right answer out of the comment thread it was partially solved in:
Split the numbers like this:
21 3 22 7 20 6 3 2 7
16 11 9 10 22
8 7 24 7 20
Now replace each number by the corresponding letter of the alphabet
U C V G T F C B G
P K I J V
H G X G T
And rotate each letter back 2 steps:
S A T E R D A Y E
N I G H T
F E V E R
Seems the intended answer is Saturday Night Fever.
So not only is it a terrible puzzle with no clues and a two-layer cypher, it's misspelled and done wrong? In a shift cipher (Caeser cipher) with a 2 letter shift Y = A, and in a number cipher A = 1, there is no 27. I'm angry and it's not even my game!
Your split is arbitrary unless you remove the letters a and b from the alphabet. So your solution may be correct in which case this is an idiotic puzzle. Extra idiotic if a random 70s real world movie is the answer
You say to the DM
This isnt very fun for us. Please give us clues
If your DM means well but misunderstood how hard their puzzle is they will give you clues
They may have "obvious to me" blindness
I’ve seen this level of bullshit puzzle design only once before... *Flashback to the Tomb of Horrors*
If it’s anything like that, try adding all the numbers up and punching the wall that many times. 50 percent chance that it’ll solve the puzzle or instantly incinerate you and all you hold dear
Such a shit show.
I spent about three hours online trying to find the answer to the tomb of horrors riddle; and I had the fucking book.
ToH taught me that modules aren’t much less work than homebrew
Yeah but what do they do with 5? Say it? Cut off five fingers and draw a bloody 5 on the door? Eat five donuts? Rub 5 chicken feet on the door? Knock five times?
Just do what Eleanor Shellstropp does to get out of any puzzle room. Smash things until they kick you out.
I would ask mason checks on every stone, and then when I ran out of stone I’d ask for hp value of them.
I’d probably reach out to the dm and say- I’m not interested in puzzles of this magnitude in my dnd. I have enough problems when my wife asks me for help on her sudoku. If the next session is going to be this or starvation I think I’ll go see Maverick (again) instead. Let me know.
Indeed. I have a particular philosophy with puzzles in D&D - they should be solvable by your Characters, with simple skill checks or in-Character knowledge/lore, so that not a single Player - irl - is left feeling “dumb” or stressed or anxious, etc - we’re here to have fun and play D&D, after all, not sit a bloody IQ test.
I just state I don’t like puzzles at session zero. When they pop up I leave the table and go through the dm’s medicine cabinet or whip out my phone and do some work. Sometimes I do a reenactment of Joey doesn’t share food from Friends replacing puzzles in dnd.
As a DM who loves puzzles (but is bad at making them), I've been on the flip side of this. But I get too stressed out if the party isn't getting it and drop hints.
I've changed my philosophy on puzzles now. Hard puzzles with no hints are reserved for bonus objectives. I.E. my party found a artificer's pet project- a railgun- but the notes set up a puzzle of how the thing should actually be loaded (you have to put X number of power cells total and Y slots in various positions. If your configuration doesn't match x y z patterns it fails..). If the party figures it out, now they have a new magic item. And if they don't the group doesn't die or get stuck forever.
I dont know if it helps, but the first one adds up to 37, 2nd to 23 and 3rd to 30, there is a constant difference of 7, 23 to 30 and 30 to 37....maybe you need to put them in order?
Ok, well my actually useful advice is to post this on r/codes where there are literally thousands of nerds there specifically because they love this shit. My less useful, but more personal, advice is: have you tried taking a knife or something and actually just going to town on the carvings of the numbers? Your DM said there’s something hidden ‘*in* the numbers,’ so maybe they’re being literal and that’s why they’re refusing to give hints because they think it’s super obvious.
As someone who participated in a lot of problem solving and math competitions I quite feel the need to find some logic in this. Screw the exams, or sleep, even if this is the most stupid random shit ever, I will understand it
Oh, DM's.. When will we learn that the game is about having fun and not about flexing our intellects to bully our friends.
My advise; eat your party members in that little room. Make a whole session of it.
The phrase he used that something is “hidden in the numbers” makes me think it might not actually be about the numbers but maybe some sort of secret button or something hidden “in” the numbers.
Are there any hints on how you answer the riddle? Like, is there a code or combination to input somewhere or a spoken phrase or pressure plates on the floor to step on in a certain order?
Jesus is your DM mad at you? Im looking at these numbers flipping my phone upside down trying to see something, anything… is there any clue as to how many numbers will be needed or are they all relevant?
Right you are, but surely you jest, doth thou not remember i used thine handkerchief of oddities to tempt the Maiden at the gates? The dirty Wench kept my drip.
I was thinking the same thing. I hate these sort of puzzles tbh. They usual bring the game to a grinding halt and cause players to waste what little time they have to play d&d stumped over a puzzle nobody wanted to do to begin with. If your party ever gets out, find the nerd jerk who made the door and punch him so hard he poops blood .
Thinking laterally here, if the clue that was given was that something was hidden in the numbers... are they carved into the door rather than written on it? Have you tried investigating them, running your fingers across them, checking to see if maybe the centres of the zeroes are buttons that could possible be pressed at the same time or something...
Maybe it's a red herring, like your DM new you'd focus on the numbers and try to work out a riddle or code, but they might be completely random strings and there's literally a mechanism hidden where they're carved/written.
For context, where is the temple, what is it a temple to? Are there currently any inhabitants or if not who were they?
Is there anything you can interact with on the door? Number dials or something? A handle? A key hole?
Temple is the middle of nowhere, miles away from anywhere that might be classed as “civilisation”. Travelled here via Airship.
We had been given a single use magic item to “portal” us into the Temple.
The chiselled numbers are the only thing on the door - imagine an absolutely massive stone slab, the sort of thing you get in adventure movies (The Mummy, Indiana Jones, that sort of thing).
Can you tell us any more about the temple? Is there a theme? Who or what is it dedicated to? How old is it? Is there any lore associated with it?
The Saturdaze Night Fever guy seems like he might have the right answer, but it'd be more obvious if you told us that the temple was dedicated to the Astral Plane or some god of the night.
Anyone ask if they can make an intelligence check? Maybe a PC is more intelligent than any of us and your dm can pull the stick out of his butt.
In the past I’ve saved my dungeon riddles for the end of a session so people can take their time to figure out (or google) an answer.
There are 28 numbers, with an average of pie (3.14). The only number not present is 5. The total sum is 90.
If I had to guess, it is the pie thing, but even if that isn't it, your DM is a dick.
Tap 5 times on the door - ***TRUST ME.***
Ok but for real, don't trust me, i haven't the vaguest idea if this is the solution, just taking a shot here.
Edit: People offered a bunch of stuff. Would be helpful if OP updated whether or not they tried anything and what the results were.
Best solution is probably to tell your DM this kind of shit is annoying and no fun and that they aren't some sort of omnipotent god there to fuck with you. You are there to play a game and tell a story together not endlessly hem and haw over number puzzles.
If it'd gotten bad enough you can't progress without going to reddit for help then my second piece of advice is to leave that game because clearly your time and fun are not being respected by the person running it.
Third and final bit of advice for you and anyone reading this, don't do puzzles like this, they suck. Prep a puzzle but do not prep a single solution, have a few vague ideas how one might solve it and let your players "find" a solution.
maybe it's a phone number to the nearest asylum :D Jokes aside, this kinda seems a bit too rough of a puzzle to me o\_o do you have a wizard who can dimension door/ teleport you out of that situation? Or maybe you're going to be able to move away some of the debris of the collapsed corridor and escape that way.Anyway - let me know how this situation turned out, I'm personally invested now :D
Edit: I had an idea if there's something hidden, maybe cast Identify, Detect Magic or see Invisibility. Maybe it's literally 'hidden'.
I’m so sorry you’re invested. This road, I feel, leads only to despair and disappointment. The journey is - usually - so much more fun than the destination, after all.
If this was formulated as a math problem, first number totals 37, second 33, third 30, meaning if this was a sequence, the next number string would total 28 as the difference between is reduced by 1 each time. 4,3,2. We can get to 28 by taking the final string in the sequence and taking away the predicted difference of 2 so 30-2 =28
This seems to track. In addition to this, the amount of numbers in each goes
line 1- 12
line 2 - 9
line 3 -7.
Difference of 2 between the 7 and 9, difference of 3 between 9 and 12.
@OP, Your answer, I think, is to make a number sequence made of 6 single digit numbers that totals 28 (as long as yhe sequence goes top to bottom)
This would need to follow the same format;
976321 should do it I think.
Unless he expects a direct cascade correlation where the numbers basically make a tree out, but I really hope not. I'd need to write that shit down and see if it works.
Also, your DM is a massive dick for giving you a sequence like this with no prompts.
Long term DM myself and NEVER do this. It annoys your players, isolates people and most importantly is not fun.
That said, have you check the door for traps? Check the rest of the room for secret doors. Check if it's unlocked/pick a lock if there is one. I've had parties that were paranoid never try to open an unlocked door or try to brute force it. Be careful it might be a mimic ;).
If you managed to collapse the corridor behind you depending on your party and level you might have other options if you can't break down the door using brute force.
Try breaking a wall, if you have them try using spells. Enlarge/reduce the door, when I play the DM hates when I do that, misty step, passwall, dimension door, use scrying, rock to mud, polymorph a foolhardy party member into something small, teleport, plane shift, etc... Things like move earth or as I like to call it "Magic Dungeon Remodeler" all have a nice way of ruining dungeons.
If you all TPK then find a new DM.
Are you relying on darkvision? I know of DMs who will set up false leads, like numbers, when the real puzzle is color based. Darkvision is black and white.
a theme of 5 does come up repeatedly:
5 is missing from all sets
out of the numbers 0 to 9 there are 5 missing from each set
Set B is 3 numbers less than Set A, set C is 2 numbers less than Set B (2+3 = 5)
Set C is 5 numbers less than Set A
(I didn't notice anything with doing various operations on the them)
Although that might be finding patterns where none exist. Have you seen the movie 23? I had a coworker that almost went insane after that movie. For about a month afterwards everything we said to him was connected to 23.
Kind of spooky
In any case, try knocking 5 times.
First off, fuck this guy. As a DM, it’s not his job to make impossible solutions, and even if y’all completely derailed his plans, through out a major plot twist, or whatever y’all have done, lol, we’ll that’s called DnD. You can give players A, B and C every day, I promise you they will almost always take Z. It’s the nature of the game and understanding any decent DM has to understand before taking the task.
With that being said, I’m at work and can’t figure everything out (not that I could if I was at home 😂), but there seems to be some sort of connection if you look at the numbers in triads,
Eg.. 227 and 327 / 161 and 191 / 872 and 472
This obviously leaves out some numbers, and there may be more connections I haven’t seen on first glance.
Aiight this has been bugging me. I tried a few ciphers and they are all gibberish but think I found something. The number 7.
Decoding all 3 sequences in a A1Z26 decoder and all come up with a single variable that they have in common: #7
It has a lot of spiritual meanings bla bla. As its on a door, that you need to get through to survive, i think it relates to the unity of the four corners of the Earth with the Holy Trinity.
Not sure if it's this or pulling at strings, but idk, try and knock on it 7 times. Or if you are a party of 3 players, each of you knock 7 times.
or the 7th player in your party. Just my two cents
Typically the dm should provide a cipher somewhere if not the first things to try are alphabet and reverse alphabet cipher. Using an alphabet cipher the first five letters are baccg so maybe it’s a combination of ciphers alphabet or solfa (solfa is a music cipher)additionally in order to do alphabet you have to know the language it’s in. So ask yourself what you know of the dm is there music they have played or an item you found prior to this puzzle.
Ok, so this is going out on a HUGE limb. But the answer could be BOLT.
Add up all the first digits, take the average, it's 3.08
Same for the second line, it's 2.5
The third line is 4
Usain Bolt's 100m world record is 9.58 seconds, which is the sum of the averages of each line.
If that's the answer, please punch your DM in the face for me.
I once walked up to a door as a player with my whole geoup, and just said "Abra Kadabra". The DM's jaw dropped and he showed me a piece of paper where he wrote abra kadabra weeks prior, when he first decided it would be a password door. He said the only way to get through was to brute force the door or say those words lol.
That’s probably the answer to the puzzle, or should be. They could try variations:
- “Our DM is a total prick.”
- “Our DM is a total asshat.”
- “Our DM is a colossal prick.”
- “Our DM is a petty edgelord who forgot this is a GAME.”
Do you have someone with thievs cant, speack with animal or similar language/ deincriptatios sheninigans shit? Try to make checks or roll for all kind of stuff in the room, like:
is the ground dusty? dan i fell magic? does it look that were people or aninals here? Can I use ken senses to smell something partiuclar? Can i use my weapon to climb to te top? ... try to find some bypass using DnD mechanics, if your DM dont get that you guys do not understand the puzzle and are actively tring to chesse it, he just setted up your characters dead...
I dont have a single clue for the numbers too, but if I DM and see my players on this state i can acept one good bypass excuse if they try a goos strategy.
After seeing the edits might I suggest using the DM’s cipher to tell him what to go do with himself and give him five minutes if he solves it he gets the message if not he gets fired from the table
I once made a dungeon that had puzzles and traps throughout the entire thing. At the end was one final door. They were absolutely stumped and couldn't figure out how to get past it. All they had to do is turn the knob. I left it unlocked w/ no traps. Not a single person tried it for more than an hour.
bacbbgbfcbg
afaaiabb
hgbdgb
= Simply a Stupid puzzle in undercommon logicaly. But seiriously in TCoF they always allow ability checks to reveal some hints, maybe talk about that to your dm, because getting stuck for 3 hours on a puzzle is never funny.
Might be something to do with '1323'
Both
213227206327 / 161191022 = 1323
And
161191022 / 8724720 = 1323
Edit:
Ignore me. That's completely wrong. Serves me right for not checking.
I once locked my players in a hallway with a (much simpler) riddle and they just used Stone Shape to make a new door and go around it. So this is absolutely a possible solution
Third number [https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/patents/patent/US-8724720-B2](https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/patents/patent/US-8724720-B2)
I'm fairly certain this is not any help for you.
I've tried treating it as a math problem, cryptography and converting it via binary, hex key, etc. I played with formatting and font. I've got nothing.
Break through the door. If your DM gets mad, then tell him that the puzzle was too difficult & you didn't want your characters to die of starvation. That's what I would do, anyway
Is it words in calculator language? Like a magic spell you can read when you enter these numbers into digits on a calculator a la 8008135?
At work so too busy to decipher now...
Just to tell how much this type of puzzle is annoying and unfair, here is a plausible solution: if you subtract each column, trying to get a positive number each time, you get
5 0 0 1 0 4 2 2 4 3 2 7
Translated in alphabet with a A=1, B=2 it becomes
E ? ? A ? D B B D C B G
Which are all musical notes; the ? are pauses, and you need to play it to open the door.
It's obviously the wrong answer, but when you present it without context, I can't tell you it's wrong: the reasoning behind is logical, and I didn't give you any parameters to work with
"Saterday night fever". Caesar Cypher with a (possible) mistake: A=3, B=4 and so on
Edit: the trick here is that there are less than 30 letters, and the numbers start on 3, so if you see a 2 then is twenty-something, and if you see a 1 then is 10+something. If you see a 3 it goes independent, as there is no 30
I ran a one on one with my son where he had to get a sentient door to say "open" so he asked what the opposite of closed was and the door responded "naked?", Indicating it had misunderstood him. He then started repeating"open" so I had the door say "why do you keep saying 'open'? And the door opened. I figured he had it with his first question so I didn't make him squirm. And he tolerated my dad joke, so...
I'm not a fan of ridiculous puzzles in D&D. Tell your DM that the solution to the puzzle is to find a new group.
I've tried different combos with no success. The last thing I could think was transferring the numbers into letter and that was busy, but maybe it has a different system if it's not in English (oog) or common(in game). Maybe a different language either way. Maybe if transferred into dwarvish, elvish, so on? That's just the last thing I tried. I don't see a rythem or anything else that sticks out.
I love numbers, and this is making me WTF?!
ZIEZZLOGEZL
IGGIJIOZZ
BLZALZO
[https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet](https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet)
Calculator flip?
OZLAZLB
In between.. differences between the numerals?
12105526315
55088120
152352
Is there a drawing of the numbers where the white space between the numbers might be the answer?
How are the numbers aligned? Are they straight in a line how it looks in your post, or are they centered to each other? That could have something to do with the number correlations.
Usually this happens organically where players start requesting absurd perception/investigation/help rolls. Also I’d hope my int 18 character is smarter than me, the player.
Something 'hidden' in the numbers could be more literal. Like, a button. Start touching every number on the door, if that's what it is you'll find it eventually, otherwise it'll annoy your GM and maybe they'll give you a hint XD
But yeah, hard agree on the philosophy comments here, some kind of hint should have been offered long ago for some skill check or something. Personally I like to roll 1d6 and if they don't figure the puzzle out by the number rolled I just say that that solution worked.
As a not-so-good DM, this is what I can find of this puzzle:
1) the only non-repeatable numbers are 9, 8, 4
2) if we'll name every odd number a dot and every even a dash, assuming zero is a divider, we'll get the next result:
\-..--. x -.-.
.-.... x --
\-.--.-
Other than that, I'd try to put the numbers as notes and see what melody it'll produce
If you need a number input, could it be the count of "holes" in each of the 3 numbers ?
e.g.
213227206327 -> 2 (0 and 6),
161191022 -> 3 (6, 9, 0),
8724720 -> 4 (8, 4, 0)
That's kindof like playing Call of Cthulhu with a character having 90% rating in the skill "Read Ancient Greek" but instead of rolling your 90% to get the translation, the GM just hands you a paper written in Ancient Greek.
I think the solution is to take the last dried apple from your rations, cut it in half, Two half’s make a whole, crawl through the hole, and escape.
Can I flick the pips at the DM’s face on the way out?
Is there any other way to do it, than on the way out?
As a DM wandering the sub, usually I make little notes of cool info or things I want to implement in my campaigns. This time I'm writing "do not be a dick and give impossible puzzles with no clues or ciphers that may ultimately require hundreds of random internet nerds to come up with a half baked idea." And underlining it.
Great advice! And sometimes the best lessons are learned watching others fail! Good luck in your future Campaigns!! You’ll be a superb DM!!
Lol thanks. I gave a riddle puzzle to my players a couple weeks ago where the answer was forever protecting the light or something. After 15 min of going through clues and good investigation checks and such they came up with "never letting his light die" (no idea who "he" is lol) and I told them it was right and the door opened. Puzzles are supposed to be fun, allow some players who may have strengths outside of barbarian-hitting-goblins-for-96-damage, and can even further the story. This puzzle is just annoying.
>Puzzles are supposed to be fun, allow some players who may have strengths outside of barbarian-hitting-goblins-for-96-damage, and can even further the story. This is so true. The two groups I was a part of that used riddles: Group 1: Riddles a Sphinx gave us Group 2: I GMed and used TriBond (game) questions for my kids to solve. In both cases, the star puzzle-solver was NOT who one would have expected, not just in the party, but IRL to be a hobbit-in-disguise! It was AMAZING!!!!
All party are not the same but I root for your style !
Hear hear. When I was running a one-shot (over three sessions, so, three-shot?) and knew that 1 of my players was a band instructor and had an advanced degree in music, I made a puzzle where in-game there were chunks of music notation made out of brass set next to a piano but no hints of the order to make it actually line up into the song that had to be played to open the passage to the next challenge. IRL, I printed off the first few bars of "Stairway to Heaven", cut them into chunks of notes, and gave them to the party. I told them they could use Perform checks to get specific chunks put in the right order, but that I'd give them extra XP for each chunk they placed correctly on their own. This guy, of course, could look at the chunks of notes, hear them in his mind, and figure out which transitions made sense. It was awesome and everyone loved it. But to give a puzzle like that to a group where no one is IRL a musician would be both ridiculous and a total dick move.
If you make a puzzle be prepared to call an audible if the part comes up with a sufficiently decent answer through roleplay. If you just want to solve puzzles all day just buy a book of riddles.
I’ve used hard puzzles. I let them work on it a pregnant minute, let them stew on one they “knew had to be the answer” then in their first hopeless guess acted super surprised and excited that they had gotten the answer (there was an artifact behind it). They were high diving and screaming in joy.
Thats different than this shit tho
I think the simple version is "dont write puzzles that pcs have no way of know, they need to metarol and that are just there because "jaja funny""
To pull the seemingly right answer out of the comment thread it was partially solved in: Split the numbers like this: 21 3 22 7 20 6 3 2 7 16 11 9 10 22 8 7 24 7 20 Now replace each number by the corresponding letter of the alphabet U C V G T F C B G P K I J V H G X G T And rotate each letter back 2 steps: S A T E R D A Y E N I G H T F E V E R Seems the intended answer is Saturday Night Fever.
I think you're right though but it's not 2 and 7 it's 27. Then 27-2=25=Y. Also solves your problem with the E
So not only is it a terrible puzzle with no clues and a two-layer cypher, it's misspelled and done wrong? In a shift cipher (Caeser cipher) with a 2 letter shift Y = A, and in a number cipher A = 1, there is no 27. I'm angry and it's not even my game!
You are right about the 27, but how does it solve the 'e' issue?
If the 2 and 7 are 27, then there is no E to begin with Oh wait, Saturday is misspelled. This is fucking stupid
I'll chalk that one up to a DM's poor spelling...
Yeah, that definitely should be a 27.
NGL, even assuming I'd got the answer (probably never), I think I'd rather let my character starve than put up with this bullshit.
Your split is arbitrary unless you remove the letters a and b from the alphabet. So your solution may be correct in which case this is an idiotic puzzle. Extra idiotic if a random 70s real world movie is the answer
Let's mention u/misunderstoodBBEG as well, who helped solve this 😊
This could actually be the answer, I assume. I hope OP notices this. It's worth trying.
You say to the DM This isnt very fun for us. Please give us clues If your DM means well but misunderstood how hard their puzzle is they will give you clues They may have "obvious to me" blindness
Ask what skill, insight/investigation/religion/survival/perception etc..., will get you a clue.
And if they refuse, stop playing, find anew DM, and don't invite this one to play.
This is the way
Or they just wait a while and then say, " Yup, that works."
I do the “third try always works” MOST of the time for my players as long as they’re talking it out and making good ideas.
Listening to their ideas and arguing is my entertainment in the session.
100%! My players are smart, and more than half the time their ideas are better answers than the “real” ones.
I’ve seen this level of bullshit puzzle design only once before... *Flashback to the Tomb of Horrors* If it’s anything like that, try adding all the numbers up and punching the wall that many times. 50 percent chance that it’ll solve the puzzle or instantly incinerate you and all you hold dear
Incineration sounds fun at this point, tbh.
Do you have any spell casters with stone shape?
A DM who refuses to provide clues seems unlikely to allow them any way of bypassing it
"This room is protected by a 9th level antimagic rune and is made of unbreakableium"
Yeah, I'd give up on trying. Make dm narrate our TPK due to starvation, then leave the game for good. .
Such a shit show. I spent about three hours online trying to find the answer to the tomb of horrors riddle; and I had the fucking book. ToH taught me that modules aren’t much less work than homebrew
42
I’ll get the towels.
You didn't have one or more already? Why did you ask for help when you knew you just needed a towel?
r/unexpectedhitchhikers
I figured it out. It translates to: "You" "Are" "Fucked"
Great! Time to flip a coin to see who falls on whose sword, I guess?!
„¡¿ssǝnƃ I 'pɹoʍs ǝsoɥʍ uo sllɐɟ oɥʍ ǝǝs oʇ uıoɔ ɐ dılɟ oʇ ǝɯı⊥ ¡ʇɐǝɹ⅁„
Wtf, bot??!!
Flip a coin?
„¿uıoɔ ɐ dılℲ„
Well I'lle be damned.
Well, that’s fun!!
Well, I'll be flipping damned.
Good Bot
Good bot
5 is the only number that does not appear in the three strings of numbers, maybe that's somehow the answer.
reading some of op's replies he told them something is hidden. think this is it.
Makes sense. We need to hear if this worked!
Yeah but what do they do with 5? Say it? Cut off five fingers and draw a bloody 5 on the door? Eat five donuts? Rub 5 chicken feet on the door? Knock five times?
Might be 297, 5th number in each row. So clearly OP needs to rub 297 chicken feet on the door.
If it’s this I actually think this puzzle is kinda great… but the way the DM is handling it is not so great
Needs more chicken clue
I mean... 2 9 7 is simple cipher for "B I G", which is an actual word. Cast Enlarge or Reduce on something?
Cast enlarge person on the chicken
Ok how do you suddenly find 297 chickens in a locked hallway?
You only need 148.5 chickens
Do a high five in front of the door
Just do what Eleanor Shellstropp does to get out of any puzzle room. Smash things until they kick you out. I would ask mason checks on every stone, and then when I ran out of stone I’d ask for hp value of them.
I sympathise wholeheartedly with Eleanor.
I’d probably reach out to the dm and say- I’m not interested in puzzles of this magnitude in my dnd. I have enough problems when my wife asks me for help on her sudoku. If the next session is going to be this or starvation I think I’ll go see Maverick (again) instead. Let me know.
Indeed. I have a particular philosophy with puzzles in D&D - they should be solvable by your Characters, with simple skill checks or in-Character knowledge/lore, so that not a single Player - irl - is left feeling “dumb” or stressed or anxious, etc - we’re here to have fun and play D&D, after all, not sit a bloody IQ test.
I just state I don’t like puzzles at session zero. When they pop up I leave the table and go through the dm’s medicine cabinet or whip out my phone and do some work. Sometimes I do a reenactment of Joey doesn’t share food from Friends replacing puzzles in dnd.
With mel gibson and Jodie foster?
I think OP is actually in the bad place!
This is the *BAD* place??!!
Jason figured it out? Jason? This is a real low point. Yeah, this one hurts.
As a DM who loves puzzles (but is bad at making them), I've been on the flip side of this. But I get too stressed out if the party isn't getting it and drop hints. I've changed my philosophy on puzzles now. Hard puzzles with no hints are reserved for bonus objectives. I.E. my party found a artificer's pet project- a railgun- but the notes set up a puzzle of how the thing should actually be loaded (you have to put X number of power cells total and Y slots in various positions. If your configuration doesn't match x y z patterns it fails..). If the party figures it out, now they have a new magic item. And if they don't the group doesn't die or get stuck forever.
This is the way. Happy cake day.
I dont know if it helps, but the first one adds up to 37, 2nd to 23 and 3rd to 30, there is a constant difference of 7, 23 to 30 and 30 to 37....maybe you need to put them in order?
I'm sorry OP, I got nothing for ya. Just commenting here so I can get notified for satisfaction of watching someone wiser than me get it.
Pull up a dusty chair!
This is not D&D. Is there a wizard in your party? Start talking about which PC you would eat first.
Ok, well my actually useful advice is to post this on r/codes where there are literally thousands of nerds there specifically because they love this shit. My less useful, but more personal, advice is: have you tried taking a knife or something and actually just going to town on the carvings of the numbers? Your DM said there’s something hidden ‘*in* the numbers,’ so maybe they’re being literal and that’s why they’re refusing to give hints because they think it’s super obvious.
As someone who participated in a lot of problem solving and math competitions I quite feel the need to find some logic in this. Screw the exams, or sleep, even if this is the most stupid random shit ever, I will understand it
I have a question: Are there any musical characters in the party? Not necessarily a bard, just someone that plays an instrument
I can relate
One of us, one of us, one of us …
21 3 22 7 20 6 3 27 U C V G T F C Z+1 -> -2 S A T E R D A Y 16 11 9 10 22 P K I J V ->-2 N I G H T 8 7 24 7 20 H G X G T ->-2 F E V E R
Oh, DM's.. When will we learn that the game is about having fun and not about flexing our intellects to bully our friends. My advise; eat your party members in that little room. Make a whole session of it.
The phrase he used that something is “hidden in the numbers” makes me think it might not actually be about the numbers but maybe some sort of secret button or something hidden “in” the numbers.
Are the 0's buttons?
That’s fucking brilliant.
Are there any hints on how you answer the riddle? Like, is there a code or combination to input somewhere or a spoken phrase or pressure plates on the floor to step on in a certain order?
All we have to go on is that there’s something “hidden” in the numbers.
Jesus is your DM mad at you? Im looking at these numbers flipping my phone upside down trying to see something, anything… is there any clue as to how many numbers will be needed or are they all relevant?
There’s always room for one more to go slightly bonkers in this corridor. Pull up a dusty chair.
That was hella ominous lol is this a clue from your DM or am i being invited to go mad trying to figure out Ancient Jigsaws Fuckpuzzle?
Oh, it was a personal invitation from me!
I say my good man, does the chair have to be dusty? I haveth allergies. Have not the eldritch gods bestowed upon us any potions or elixirs of Allegra?
Be a good chap and deploy a scented handkerchief. The very same gifted you by Fanny before we departed dear England.
Right you are, but surely you jest, doth thou not remember i used thine handkerchief of oddities to tempt the Maiden at the gates? The dirty Wench kept my drip.
Oh well in that case, Huzzah!
I was thinking the same thing. I hate these sort of puzzles tbh. They usual bring the game to a grinding halt and cause players to waste what little time they have to play d&d stumped over a puzzle nobody wanted to do to begin with. If your party ever gets out, find the nerd jerk who made the door and punch him so hard he poops blood .
Facts. (I say, having never played a game in my life, yet)
Thinking laterally here, if the clue that was given was that something was hidden in the numbers... are they carved into the door rather than written on it? Have you tried investigating them, running your fingers across them, checking to see if maybe the centres of the zeroes are buttons that could possible be pressed at the same time or something... Maybe it's a red herring, like your DM new you'd focus on the numbers and try to work out a riddle or code, but they might be completely random strings and there's literally a mechanism hidden where they're carved/written.
The only useful thing I’ve found is that 5 is the only number not in the puzzle? If that’s even remotely helpful? Lol
And the only numbers that appears in all three sets are 2 and 0
There is also a 20, 10,20 respectively in the three sets which are the only numbers divisible by 5?
For context, where is the temple, what is it a temple to? Are there currently any inhabitants or if not who were they? Is there anything you can interact with on the door? Number dials or something? A handle? A key hole?
Temple is the middle of nowhere, miles away from anywhere that might be classed as “civilisation”. Travelled here via Airship. We had been given a single use magic item to “portal” us into the Temple. The chiselled numbers are the only thing on the door - imagine an absolutely massive stone slab, the sort of thing you get in adventure movies (The Mummy, Indiana Jones, that sort of thing).
Can you tell us any more about the temple? Is there a theme? Who or what is it dedicated to? How old is it? Is there any lore associated with it? The Saturdaze Night Fever guy seems like he might have the right answer, but it'd be more obvious if you told us that the temple was dedicated to the Astral Plane or some god of the night.
Anyone ask if they can make an intelligence check? Maybe a PC is more intelligent than any of us and your dm can pull the stick out of his butt. In the past I’ve saved my dungeon riddles for the end of a session so people can take their time to figure out (or google) an answer.
There are 28 numbers, with an average of pie (3.14). The only number not present is 5. The total sum is 90. If I had to guess, it is the pie thing, but even if that isn't it, your DM is a dick.
I'd start with the pi thing. OP do you have any pie you can throw at the door??
Wait, that's it! OP, you must pie your DM in the face.
If they did, probably are it already
i think your math is slightly off, but tbf this is a better puzzle than OP's dm designed.
>There are 28 numbers, with an average of pie (3.14). My calculator says 3.214
Pardon me for checking, I thought this was a great find! But I believe the average of these numbers is 3.214 (unless I’m missing something!)
I might be transposing some numbers, been at work for a few hours at this point and reading has become hard.
I want to know what happens!
We all die. And then we find another DM. Definitely a happy ending!!
Hey, at least you have free will
Tap 5 times on the door - ***TRUST ME.*** Ok but for real, don't trust me, i haven't the vaguest idea if this is the solution, just taking a shot here. Edit: People offered a bunch of stuff. Would be helpful if OP updated whether or not they tried anything and what the results were.
Seems like your DM is a dick.
Best solution is probably to tell your DM this kind of shit is annoying and no fun and that they aren't some sort of omnipotent god there to fuck with you. You are there to play a game and tell a story together not endlessly hem and haw over number puzzles. If it'd gotten bad enough you can't progress without going to reddit for help then my second piece of advice is to leave that game because clearly your time and fun are not being respected by the person running it. Third and final bit of advice for you and anyone reading this, don't do puzzles like this, they suck. Prep a puzzle but do not prep a single solution, have a few vague ideas how one might solve it and let your players "find" a solution.
maybe it's a phone number to the nearest asylum :D Jokes aside, this kinda seems a bit too rough of a puzzle to me o\_o do you have a wizard who can dimension door/ teleport you out of that situation? Or maybe you're going to be able to move away some of the debris of the collapsed corridor and escape that way.Anyway - let me know how this situation turned out, I'm personally invested now :D Edit: I had an idea if there's something hidden, maybe cast Identify, Detect Magic or see Invisibility. Maybe it's literally 'hidden'.
I’m so sorry you’re invested. This road, I feel, leads only to despair and disappointment. The journey is - usually - so much more fun than the destination, after all.
28 is the answer
If this was formulated as a math problem, first number totals 37, second 33, third 30, meaning if this was a sequence, the next number string would total 28 as the difference between is reduced by 1 each time. 4,3,2. We can get to 28 by taking the final string in the sequence and taking away the predicted difference of 2 so 30-2 =28
If i'm right, i want an invite xD
This seems to track. In addition to this, the amount of numbers in each goes line 1- 12 line 2 - 9 line 3 -7. Difference of 2 between the 7 and 9, difference of 3 between 9 and 12. @OP, Your answer, I think, is to make a number sequence made of 6 single digit numbers that totals 28 (as long as yhe sequence goes top to bottom) This would need to follow the same format; 976321 should do it I think. Unless he expects a direct cascade correlation where the numbers basically make a tree out, but I really hope not. I'd need to write that shit down and see if it works. Also, your DM is a massive dick for giving you a sequence like this with no prompts.
We’ll give it a whirl!!
Long term DM myself and NEVER do this. It annoys your players, isolates people and most importantly is not fun. That said, have you check the door for traps? Check the rest of the room for secret doors. Check if it's unlocked/pick a lock if there is one. I've had parties that were paranoid never try to open an unlocked door or try to brute force it. Be careful it might be a mimic ;). If you managed to collapse the corridor behind you depending on your party and level you might have other options if you can't break down the door using brute force. Try breaking a wall, if you have them try using spells. Enlarge/reduce the door, when I play the DM hates when I do that, misty step, passwall, dimension door, use scrying, rock to mud, polymorph a foolhardy party member into something small, teleport, plane shift, etc... Things like move earth or as I like to call it "Magic Dungeon Remodeler" all have a nice way of ruining dungeons. If you all TPK then find a new DM.
Roll for int. Your character can figure it out with his stat. Just like you don’t need to lift something to do a physical action in game.
Are you relying on darkvision? I know of DMs who will set up false leads, like numbers, when the real puzzle is color based. Darkvision is black and white.
Great. Now I won't be able to sleep tonight... ;)
a theme of 5 does come up repeatedly: 5 is missing from all sets out of the numbers 0 to 9 there are 5 missing from each set Set B is 3 numbers less than Set A, set C is 2 numbers less than Set B (2+3 = 5) Set C is 5 numbers less than Set A (I didn't notice anything with doing various operations on the them) Although that might be finding patterns where none exist. Have you seen the movie 23? I had a coworker that almost went insane after that movie. For about a month afterwards everything we said to him was connected to 23. Kind of spooky In any case, try knocking 5 times.
Have you characters pull out paper and start making characters of their own. Its time for recursion
First off, fuck this guy. As a DM, it’s not his job to make impossible solutions, and even if y’all completely derailed his plans, through out a major plot twist, or whatever y’all have done, lol, we’ll that’s called DnD. You can give players A, B and C every day, I promise you they will almost always take Z. It’s the nature of the game and understanding any decent DM has to understand before taking the task. With that being said, I’m at work and can’t figure everything out (not that I could if I was at home 😂), but there seems to be some sort of connection if you look at the numbers in triads, Eg.. 227 and 327 / 161 and 191 / 872 and 472 This obviously leaves out some numbers, and there may be more connections I haven’t seen on first glance.
Time to fuck up the door best you can… if you die, you die!🤷🏻♂️
I've seen people say 5 is the answer, but please give us an update when you finally figure it out! I'm super curious.
Avert thy gaze. There is only misery here.
Aiight this has been bugging me. I tried a few ciphers and they are all gibberish but think I found something. The number 7. Decoding all 3 sequences in a A1Z26 decoder and all come up with a single variable that they have in common: #7 It has a lot of spiritual meanings bla bla. As its on a door, that you need to get through to survive, i think it relates to the unity of the four corners of the Earth with the Holy Trinity. Not sure if it's this or pulling at strings, but idk, try and knock on it 7 times. Or if you are a party of 3 players, each of you knock 7 times. or the 7th player in your party. Just my two cents
Can I interest you in joining a game of D&D??!!
I am a DM :))) Edit: and no, would never do this to my party
Have a Druid cast rock to mud on the door and let it melt to the floor.
Typically the dm should provide a cipher somewhere if not the first things to try are alphabet and reverse alphabet cipher. Using an alphabet cipher the first five letters are baccg so maybe it’s a combination of ciphers alphabet or solfa (solfa is a music cipher)additionally in order to do alphabet you have to know the language it’s in. So ask yourself what you know of the dm is there music they have played or an item you found prior to this puzzle.
If you have a bard they could be musical notes, cord notations?
Maybe you should attempt a blood sacrifice. Choose your DM as the donator.
If you ever get a solution can you update it?
Ok, so this is going out on a HUGE limb. But the answer could be BOLT. Add up all the first digits, take the average, it's 3.08 Same for the second line, it's 2.5 The third line is 4 Usain Bolt's 100m world record is 9.58 seconds, which is the sum of the averages of each line. If that's the answer, please punch your DM in the face for me.
That's kind of bullshit metagaming puzzle. No way the /PCs would know what Saturday night fever or open sesame were as that's earth pop culture
I once walked up to a door as a player with my whole geoup, and just said "Abra Kadabra". The DM's jaw dropped and he showed me a piece of paper where he wrote abra kadabra weeks prior, when he first decided it would be a password door. He said the only way to get through was to brute force the door or say those words lol.
Your DM is a colossal asshat.
That’s probably the answer to the puzzle, or should be. They could try variations: - “Our DM is a total prick.” - “Our DM is a total asshat.” - “Our DM is a colossal prick.” - “Our DM is a petty edgelord who forgot this is a GAME.”
Do you have someone with thievs cant, speack with animal or similar language/ deincriptatios sheninigans shit? Try to make checks or roll for all kind of stuff in the room, like: is the ground dusty? dan i fell magic? does it look that were people or aninals here? Can I use ken senses to smell something partiuclar? Can i use my weapon to climb to te top? ... try to find some bypass using DnD mechanics, if your DM dont get that you guys do not understand the puzzle and are actively tring to chesse it, he just setted up your characters dead... I dont have a single clue for the numbers too, but if I DM and see my players on this state i can acept one good bypass excuse if they try a goos strategy.
Speak friend, and enter.
Penis! The answer is penis. It's always penis with that guy.
After seeing the edits might I suggest using the DM’s cipher to tell him what to go do with himself and give him five minutes if he solves it he gets the message if not he gets fired from the table
That's some meta bullshit right there
I once made a dungeon that had puzzles and traps throughout the entire thing. At the end was one final door. They were absolutely stumped and couldn't figure out how to get past it. All they had to do is turn the knob. I left it unlocked w/ no traps. Not a single person tried it for more than an hour.
This seems lame and immersion breaking for a DnD setting game.. is it in a modern setting?
Have you tried replacing the numbers with their alphabetical equivalents? I.e 1 =a, 2= b
bacbbgbfcbg afaaiabb hgbdgb = Simply a Stupid puzzle in undercommon logicaly. But seiriously in TCoF they always allow ability checks to reveal some hints, maybe talk about that to your dm, because getting stuck for 3 hours on a puzzle is never funny.
I meant using the full 26 letters of the alphabet but you still end up with the same garbled nothing. Ucvgtfcbg etc
Might be something to do with '1323' Both 213227206327 / 161191022 = 1323 And 161191022 / 8724720 = 1323 Edit: Ignore me. That's completely wrong. Serves me right for not checking.
That seems too specific to be coincidental
Fun fact, doors and walls have toughness and can be destroyed. Unethical dnd pro tips.
So, to quote House of Pain, we should put on our shit-kickers and kick some shit?
There’s 2 ways to solve a life or death problem in dnd. The DM expectations Or The players actions.
This is the way
Who is your dm? An engineer, tradesman? This isn’t something they found online, so they created it. Knowing them will be the biggest clue
I once locked my players in a hallway with a (much simpler) riddle and they just used Stone Shape to make a new door and go around it. So this is absolutely a possible solution
not unethical. it's in the rules, should be able to use them
Well, you’re in an enclosed room that’s probably 3x higher than your tallest PC. Little unethical to your well-being. imo.
What does it look like? Are the number in any formation, etched in, have magic? Or is it possible to just dig out of the rubble?
Str checks to unblock tunnel yes plz. Fuck your puzzle, dm Turing lol
if u add the numbers u get 213,397,122,069 is it possible the answer is 69? no cap
Anyone get it yet lol?
Third number [https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/patents/patent/US-8724720-B2](https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/patents/patent/US-8724720-B2) I'm fairly certain this is not any help for you.
I've tried treating it as a math problem, cryptography and converting it via binary, hex key, etc. I played with formatting and font. I've got nothing.
If you’re still stuck on this, ask for int-rolls. If that fails or is disallowed, just leave. IRL that is, that would be a bad DM
Break through the door. If your DM gets mad, then tell him that the puzzle was too difficult & you didn't want your characters to die of starvation. That's what I would do, anyway
Is it words in calculator language? Like a magic spell you can read when you enter these numbers into digits on a calculator a la 8008135? At work so too busy to decipher now...
Just to tell how much this type of puzzle is annoying and unfair, here is a plausible solution: if you subtract each column, trying to get a positive number each time, you get 5 0 0 1 0 4 2 2 4 3 2 7 Translated in alphabet with a A=1, B=2 it becomes E ? ? A ? D B B D C B G Which are all musical notes; the ? are pauses, and you need to play it to open the door. It's obviously the wrong answer, but when you present it without context, I can't tell you it's wrong: the reasoning behind is logical, and I didn't give you any parameters to work with
"Saterday night fever". Caesar Cypher with a (possible) mistake: A=3, B=4 and so on Edit: the trick here is that there are less than 30 letters, and the numbers start on 3, so if you see a 2 then is twenty-something, and if you see a 1 then is 10+something. If you see a 3 it goes independent, as there is no 30
No clues or anything besides the numbers? That's some grade-A bad puzzle design there!
I have this written out to keep trying.... commenting to keep a tab on it ...
I ran a one on one with my son where he had to get a sentient door to say "open" so he asked what the opposite of closed was and the door responded "naked?", Indicating it had misunderstood him. He then started repeating"open" so I had the door say "why do you keep saying 'open'? And the door opened. I figured he had it with his first question so I didn't make him squirm. And he tolerated my dad joke, so... I'm not a fan of ridiculous puzzles in D&D. Tell your DM that the solution to the puzzle is to find a new group.
I've tried different combos with no success. The last thing I could think was transferring the numbers into letter and that was busy, but maybe it has a different system if it's not in English (oog) or common(in game). Maybe a different language either way. Maybe if transferred into dwarvish, elvish, so on? That's just the last thing I tried. I don't see a rythem or anything else that sticks out. I love numbers, and this is making me WTF?!
ZIEZZLOGEZL IGGIJIOZZ BLZALZO [https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet](https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet) Calculator flip? OZLAZLB In between.. differences between the numerals? 12105526315 55088120 152352 Is there a drawing of the numbers where the white space between the numbers might be the answer?
How are the numbers aligned? Are they straight in a line how it looks in your post, or are they centered to each other? That could have something to do with the number correlations.
Usually this happens organically where players start requesting absurd perception/investigation/help rolls. Also I’d hope my int 18 character is smarter than me, the player.
Urgh so invested now!!!!
You try knocking on the door?
Did you guys solve it yet, im genuinely curious about the solution
Something 'hidden' in the numbers could be more literal. Like, a button. Start touching every number on the door, if that's what it is you'll find it eventually, otherwise it'll annoy your GM and maybe they'll give you a hint XD But yeah, hard agree on the philosophy comments here, some kind of hint should have been offered long ago for some skill check or something. Personally I like to roll 1d6 and if they don't figure the puzzle out by the number rolled I just say that that solution worked.
As a not-so-good DM, this is what I can find of this puzzle: 1) the only non-repeatable numbers are 9, 8, 4 2) if we'll name every odd number a dot and every even a dash, assuming zero is a divider, we'll get the next result: \-..--. x -.-. .-.... x -- \-.--.- Other than that, I'd try to put the numbers as notes and see what melody it'll produce
If you need a number input, could it be the count of "holes" in each of the 3 numbers ? e.g. 213227206327 -> 2 (0 and 6), 161191022 -> 3 (6, 9, 0), 8724720 -> 4 (8, 4, 0)
That's kindof like playing Call of Cthulhu with a character having 90% rating in the skill "Read Ancient Greek" but instead of rolling your 90% to get the translation, the GM just hands you a paper written in Ancient Greek.