The Path of Fire - Puzzle (Patreon)

I love an ambiguous riddle! My whole basis of this puzzle works on how the inscription is interpreted. Another example of a deliberately ambiguous syntax would be: “Magic is the Key”…Does that mean using magic? Or is the key itself magical?

This does also make me wonder how this puzzle would work in different languages?

The unlit brazier is a red herring, designed to lure the players into thinking that it is part of the solution that the inscription describes. Simply light it and walk the path? Nah…that’s far too easy!

You can design the layout of the paths, the traps yourself. As long as the general area is wide enough that players can’t simply “dash across” without real harm. You can even change the traps to better suit the themes of the dungeon, Though a variety makes it more interesting and unpredictable, and avoids players simply finding a solution to the traps themselves.

“But what if my players can teleport or fly?” Well Barbra…then they can teleport and fly.

I’m realising a lot of these puzzles will have unavoidable loopholes. But I think that’s ok! Most puzzles work best for lower-level adventures, and the certain skills and magics that allow players to by-pass puzzles shouldn’t penalised just because the players chose them. (You could throw a very selective anti-magic field into every puzzle, but that would just feel a little contrived and unfair.)

So, if a player flies straight past the puzzle? If they teleport past any risk or danger? Great! Now they’re in the next room, alone…facing down a Minotaur.