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I bought a book of puzzles for RPGs. The cover was AI slop, and there was no preview.

Introducing The Nearly Impossible RPG Puzzle Guide—a mind-bending collection of the most frustratingly genius puzzles ever crafted for Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and other tabletop RPGs. These aren’t your average riddles or “find the hidden key” traps. These puzzles break reality itself.

In retrospect, I should have anticipated that the contents would be LLM slop as well, given the "not X, but Y" phrasing. The puzzles' logic seems so insane that it could only be AI.

3. The Unbreakable Cipher

Setup:

A massive stone slab contains a cryptic message. The party finds a translation key with all the letters of the alphabet… except one.

The Impossible Dilemma:

• Every word in the cipher relies on the missing letter.

• Spells that decipher languages fail.

• Guessing the missing letter results in false translations.

The Solution:

• The missing letter is a concept the players refuse to acknowledge about themselves (e.g., their greatest flaw).

• The DM determines this by using their deepest character weakness or secret, and the players must acknowledge it out loud for the missing letter to appear.

9. The Song That Cannot Be Heard

Setup:

A magical door requires the party to sing a specific song to open it. However:

• There is no record of the song anywhere.

• The door blocks all sound from entering the room.

• Any attempt to hum or play an instrument fails.

The Impossible Dilemma:

• No spell, memory, or divination can find the song.

• If they try to "guess" a song, the door punishes them with a deafening silence.

The Solution:

• The song is one the players have already sung before arriving at the puzzle (e.g., something they casually sang earlier in the session).

• If no one sang a song before, the puzzle is unsolvable—forcing them to retrace their steps and create a paradox.

Looking further, this seems to be one of many LLM-generated RPG books. What do you make of this trend?

5 USD for ten of these puzzles, by the way.

Bonus: Two more, why not.

6. The Skeleton Key That Opens Nothing

Setup:

The players receive a mystical key that supposedly opens any lock. They find a grand vault with an inscription:

"The key must be used before it can open the door."

The Impossible Dilemma:

• The key fits in no lock—including the vault.

• If used on another door, it disappears permanently before they reach the vault.

• The vault remains locked no matter what.

The Solution:

• The key only works if it has already been used before.

• To activate it, the players must go back in time (via magic, paradox, etc.) and give it to their past selves, ensuring it has been used before reaching the vault.

7. The Echoing Name

Setup:

A wall of ancient runes displays a question:

"What is the name of the one who stands before us?"

The Impossible Dilemma:

• Speaking a character’s real name causes the letters to rearrange into nonsense.

• False names result in instant failure.

• Writing, spelling, or magical assistance do not work.

The Solution:

• The wall only accepts the name a character would call themselves in complete isolation (e.g., their truest inner identity).

• This could be a nickname, a hidden past identity, or an unknown personal truth.

Another, why not:

2. The Missing Hourglass

Setup:

A pedestal with an invisible hourglass sits in the center of a chamber. Inscribed on the stone is:

"Flip the sands, and time shall flow once more."

The Impossible Dilemma:

• There is no hourglass to flip.

• Spells that reveal invisibility show nothing.

• Creating sand, miming the action, or flipping the pedestal does nothing.

The Solution:

• The hourglass was never gone—the players forgot it was there when they entered the room.

• The only way to reveal it is for one character to truly believe they have already flipped it without seeing it.

• Once they do, the hourglass reappears in their hands.

And another:

5. The Coin Flip of Fate

Setup:

A single coin rests on an altar. A divine inscription states:

"Tails, and the gods favor you. Heads, and you are forsaken."

The Impossible Dilemma:

• The coin always lands on heads no matter how it is flipped.

• Attempts to alter fate fail.

• Cheating results in divine wrath.

The Solution:

• The only way to get "tails" is to flip the coin and truly believe it landed on tails before seeing it.

• If a player acts as though they saw tails before looking, the gods "accept" their reality, and the puzzle is solved.

Just have to believe, bro.

so i am in a paid dnd game on startplaying and it is going great so far or so i thought ig? i am a player and the DM messaged me explaining that one of the other players isnt vibing with me on an interpersonal level. asking me to limit contact with them both at and above table. and menimize all character interaction. so basically no talking to them OOC or in character or message.

i agreed to it considering i havent even talked with him before in character. he joined us in our ongoing campaign and we hadnt had the chance to speak ingame. only other interactions we had were when i and the others would laugh about his character jokes,when he first joined and talked about himself and i asked some questions about his profession, and finally when i messaged him one time post session just complimenting his RP since he did RP really well. i didnt do a follow up or anything to that message and just assumed he just ignored it.

i am making this post to vent but also because this situation feels really weird and i hope to get some adivce or have someone talk about similar situation they had. thanks for reading!

update: i just messaged the DM after reading the comment and asked to try to talk out the situation here is what i said

actually. thinking all this through this isnt the correct way at all dealing with this. even if it is not talking with one player it goes deeper since this is a collaborate team game. i would rather that i talk with him with you there to mediate and see if we can talk it out or see what issues he has and if there are ways to make it better. otherwise i might decide to leave if i am being honest. not messaging them is very okay, no talking about table is managable but no interaction what so ever is just unreasonable.

edit to some additional info: for the people who are saying the DM is doing this just to keep his money safe you might be onto something considering he is a full time DM(in his own words). i would like to give him the benefit of the doubt that he isn't just thinking of band-aiding the situation since he does genuinely put effort into the game but the way this is handled is just wrong.

edit to add: i have just remmebered something big that happened last session. we were joking before the game about tips and such and the same player immediately went and tipped the DM 30 bucks and sent the image of the tip in the chat as proof. maybe that is why the DM is immediately going with this. since he knew he'd get more money of keeping this player happy.

update: the DM messaged me back with this:I spoke with him about it and he decided to leave the campaign than cause any issues.

And the player send a good bye message in the server chat. They didnt even give me the chance to speak with them beside the message calling out the DM and asking to discuss stuff. i think i might keep playing or at least go to next session and see how it goes. depending on it i'll stay or leave. finally,i want to thank everyone who commented and helped me in standing up for myself regarding this matter. it's nice feeling the support from community.

As a response to scammers using AI to make money (https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/s/Bl3bcSrzJx), here is a list of puzzles I have used in my games, based off of decades of playing, reading, watching, and listening to fantasy products.

Disclaimer: I prefer puzzles that rely on world lore or push the players towards roleplay, over math-type puzzles.

Door of Many People

There is a large door (e.g. entrance to the dungeon/temple) that cannot be opened by normal means. There are five words written on the door in a shiny magical font, and under each word is a small circle of arcane symbols. Each word is written in a different language (e.g. common, elvish, dwarvish, gnomish, and orcish), but they all mean the same: "Open". When an individual of the matching species places a hand on the corresponding circle under the word, it "lights up" to indicate that it is being empowered. I would use at least one language that is not present in the party so that the PCs have to find a matching NPC. Once the five different individuals touch the correct circles at the same time, the door opens.

Void Passage

I would use this cautiously (one of my PCs died here), but can be a fun tool. Depends on the group, but I would use it with more experienced players or with extra failsafes if the group prefers less lethal gameplay. On the dungeon there is a dead end with a passage that ends in a black void. Some writing above this passage/portal reads: "Step into nothingness, and nothingness become". It literally is nothing else except a sphere of annihilation. Anything passing through is destroyed. Some players will spend time thinking it is a location to "beat", but there isn't anything else. To make it harder, you can remove the inscription, and to make it more rewarding you can place some sort of cursed item in the dungeon that can be destroyed when thrown into this portal.

Dream Door

A rock/metal door blocks the way. It has no handle or lock. The solution is that someone who falls asleep nearby, wakes up in their "astral self". They are in the same location, can see themselves sleeping, etc. but the door is gone. On the other side is a lever that when pulled wakes up the player and opens the door in the real world. I used this in a dream themed dungeon, so the players' minds were already leaning towards the potential solution, but a nearby hint could be a good idea otherwise. For example, an old journal entry on a body earlier in the dungeon talking about dream magic in that location, or even an inscription on the wall depicting astral/dream travel.

Elemental Dungeon

Upon entering the dungeon, players can choose one of four blessings, each matching an element: fire, water, earth, and air. Each blessing gives a little bonus. For example, water allows underwater breathing, air allows short flight or longer jump, fire allows resistance to fire, etc. Then later in the dungeon there are environmental hazards and enemies designed with that in mind. To meet the previous blessing examples, some of the hazards could be: a chamber that gets flooded, a chasm splitting a room in half, and a fire elemental boss. This gives a chance for the players who took a "matching" blessing to shine, but still allows the dungeon to be navigated by other means. You can keep adding onto this concept. For example, four keys have to be collected in this dungeon. The fire key can only be touched by the player with the fire blessing, etc. You get the picture.

Grell and Gem Platform

A floating platform, slightly above the floor, in a large room. On its center is an obsidian chest, and on each corner is the statue of a grell. Each statue has a gem in its beak (Sapphire, Ruby, Diamond, Emerald). On the ground below the platform are 4 silver braziers with engravings on them. One has waves, one has a cloud, one has a tree, and the last one has a flame. Stepping on the platform activates the grell, who start flying around and are hostile. Killing a grell causes it to drop its gem, although you can also yank it off its mouth. Once all gems are placed in the right sockets (waves = sapphire, cloud = diamond, tree = emerald, flame = ruby), all braziers light up, the statues stop moving and attacking, and the obsidian chest opens.

I never played a ttrpg until I was about 35. in fact, until I sat down to that first D&D game, I didn’t really understand how they worked. The revelation that I could talk to the rat king rather than just launch into battle with them was remarkable.

A few years later, I’m still catching up. I love GMing, though I consistently feel like I need more experience.

I feel a bit odd in the community. Most people talking about TTRPGs assume that you discovered when you were 10 or 11.

No real point here, just wondering if anyone else was the same?

How much control do you want over the "knobs" you get to turn when making decisions?

After 25+ years of playing systems that I enjoy, I decided to make my own. The system itself doesn't matter much; but for those fellow game designers it's a mix Forbidden Lands (D6 dice pools), Mythras (with various maneuvers), the class system from Barbarians of Lemuria, a variation of the injury system from Tales from Elsewhere, a freeform magic system, and a few quite novel mechanics. Somehow I've turned this Frankenstein monster into something that works. And when I say works, it runs exactly the way I want it to. I've tweaked the rules, looked at more probability charts than I can count (to try and achieve that sort of just satisfying result), and play-tested dozens of dozens of sessions with friends.

One thing that changed the entire momentum of playtesting happened early in the process: I made combat mechanics opaque.

By opaque I mean in contrast to the typical way roleplaying games handle mechanical choices. For instance, if an adventurer might have the ability to do several abilities (whether universal or specific to the class), they can see exactly what these abilities do in front of them. (e.g. to borrow from Draw Steel: "Driving Assault- spend 3 wrath and make a power roll to determine damage and push the target a certain distance").

See, when I created the combat system it borrowed heavily from the Mythras concept of "there's a lot of cool things you can do besides 'strike' with sword" (and these cool things aren't locked behind classes) with multiple rules to explain things like grappling, disarming, impaling, tripping, etc. The rules themselves worked as intended. But the unintended side-effect was that players had a bit of analysis paralysis staring at all of their different options, referencing the tables, and pouring over the rules.

One evening, I was running a test game with some novice roleplayers who enjoyed the non-combat but it became quickly apparent that combat was bogging down due to the rules bloat. I paused the session, took away the reference sheets, and said, "Okay you are playing a mounted knight of Normandy (it was a semi-historical campaign). You know what you should be able to do and know. You're a competent fighter. Here's what's happening, what do you do". They told me what they were trying to do, rolled dice, and I took over the rules behind the screen.

This isn't an entirely new concept. "Rulings as opposed to rules" has existed for as long as the hobby has and one of the commonly cited advantages of rules light systems is the flexibility to improvise and be creative; fitting the mechanics to the narrative.

By having mechanics describe, more or less, what players are choosing to do there was some consistency in the outcomes. That being said, rulings are in full force. After all, I didn't exactly think of the scenario where the player tries to toss one foe into the other.

The positive response has been a little unexpected. One thing I- and many of my friends- seem to enjoy are "building" different characters and creating cool new outcomes for our characters. It's exciting to look ahead to different neat little abilities and feel like we get to distinguish ourselves or add a unique flavor to our character. I get why systems like Pathfinder, Lancer, and the rest appeal to people.

The halfway solution has been to allow players to develop their flavor. Maybe a kind of move or special ability, and adapt the existing mechanics around it. In fact, I've had to flesh out a sort of "if X then Y" system to allow for unanticipated choices players make still make sense from the mechanics. The system itself being a dice pool (count successes) lends itself nicely to "spending" successes to power the intended effect.

I just wanted to share this really fun experience and ask r/rpg : Have you had the experience of a more opaque system? Have you ever tried combat where, rather than knowing exactly what you can do, you look up from the character sheet and describe what you are trying to do in a creative way? What do you think you would enjoy about a system like this and do you think you could give up the sort of sacred cow of being able to see and turn all the "knobs" of your character choices?

I've stumbled across the new warhammer fantasy rpg that apparently released completely below my radar and instantly fallen for it. But reading reddit most fans of the warhammer fantasy setting appear to have taken it with a gallon of salt due to having bought strongly into the WFRPG 4e and it doesn't seem to have gained much of a community of its own. Googling is becoming more broken by the day due to AI slopification it seems like so it isn't giving me much.

Have I missed some forum where fans can gather to discuss this game? Or are there other fans here on r/rpg who have played it and have some pearls of wisdom to share about running its default campaign?

Hi! I’ve been looking to find the rulebook for the 2005 table top rpg “It Was a Mutual Decision” for years and I’m starting to think that it might just be completely lost. I know it’s a long shot, but does anyone perchance have a copy or know a way to acquire one (digital or physical)? Thanks!!

When I was younger, all my characters used to be around 25. Eventually, I grew older and they grow older than me. These days, I am well over 40 and my characters tend to be younger than me but when I roleplay an old curmudgeon I feel weirdly comfortable.

What are your PC's age-ranges?

I love Free League as much as the next reasonable person. Like I think their Twilight 2000 is one of the best-designed games in years, and if you took out a few sentences of copaganda I think Blade Runner would be a completely perfect RPG take on that IP, and one of the most morally complex games out there.

But I keep thinking about the only real criticism that gets leveled against FL—that they're making too many games (especially licensed ones) and not enough scenarios and sourcebooks for their existing ones.

I totally get the business decision. Publishers always say that corebooks outsell other products like crazy. And I get that FL does support some of its games at a pretty steady cadence, especially Alien, Vaesen, and The One Ring. But seeing them expand out to games like The Walking Dead RPG (which I think has some neat mechanics) and Invincible, while Blade Runner has just two published cases you can play, three years into the game coming out, makes me wonder if there's some other way they could get more supplemental material out there. PDF-only Blade Runner case files or Twilight 2000/The Walking Dead setting books would be really popular, I bet, even if they didn't have much (if any) new artwork.

This is a long-winded way of asking if others think FL is focusing too much on more games, and not enough on supporting them. I used to think people with that opinion were being entitled whiners, but I'm starting to see their point. Or I'm just an entitled whiner too.

EDIT: Just want to say this has already been a great discussion. I really didn't post this as clickbait—I think FL is always interesting to talk and hear about, and people are coming in with great insights and points. Especially about my weirdly specific expectations!

I apologise if this has been asked before (I tried to look but didn’t see anything) but being based in Australia has made me realise that there’s not a whole lot of storefronts that endorse this hobby. I’ve come across a few that do focus on RPGs but I’m trying to at least cultivate a hopefully lengthy list.

Was hoping for some recommendations of where other Australians may pick up their stuff from. I’ve only really found myself buying from game world, free league and gameology so far.

Some recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Where do people in the Sac area like to shop for RPGs? Most places I've shopped at cater to trading cards and war gaming, which makes sense because those are the money makers. But I long for a shop that is more like a book store, because I would like to browse all these wonderful RPGs in person instead of just online. But does such a place exist?