Although they are not an official monster, some of my favourite challenges for players are Traps, Puzzles, and Riddles. Perhaps it was the impression that the riddle game in the Hobbit had on my psyche. I loved the atmosphere and authentic dialogue in the book and the animated movie was able to be loyal to that storytelling. (The recent movies less so, but I digress) It is one of the best examples of how Tolkien was able to paint images that seemed to come alive with characters and the words they spoke. It don’t believe anyone has ever stopped reading in the middle of the riddle game chapter – you just need to see what riddle will be next and what happens when the game is lost.

So it probably isn’t strange that Traps, Puzzles, and Riddles find their way into all of my campaigns. These mental monsters provide a change of pace and a challenge for players level 1 to 40. I also find Traps, Puzzles, and Riddles to be a great equalizer among players. It doesn’t matter what level you are, what spells you have, and what your Armor Class is – Can you determine the answer to?

“A box without hinges, key or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.”

Just recently I also placed a Cipher puzzle in my campaign and I was excited to see how much the players dove into the challenge and talked about how fun it was post game. They ended up solving it with brute force rather than using clues left along the way, but this was just another amazing part of the story. I will definitely use my ciphers in the future that are more difficult now that I have seen their problem solving skills. Another by-product of the cipher puzzle was seeing the players self-organize and work together to solve the puzzle – Fun was had by all!

Traps, Puzzles, and Riddles also provide an excellent opportunity for immersive role-playing without making it feel like forced role-playing. The players end up being immersed in their characters solving the puzzle without thinking about it.

The good news is that there is a wealth of resources online to find puzzles, traps, and riddles for your games. I would also like to highly recommend – “The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons”.

It is a excellent sourcebook you can find in most game and book stores and is also available on DMsGuild.

The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons – Topix Media Lab | Dungeon Masters Guild

The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons has a collection of some of the most original mental monsters I have seen recently. There are a variety of different styles, categories, difficulty, and complexity.

I would highly recommend it if you are looking for some new challenges for your players for your next session to fill the gaps between combat and exploring.