Thank you! And... absolutely, love the old Crossbows and Catapults. Pieces from the game work great for minis and terrain. What's interesting, is that Crossbows and Catapults seems to be a bit of a collector's item now-a-days. The pieces are a bit pricey on Ebay. Anyways... thank you for watching!
Players Don't want to give the key to the hag. Bad. Now why would the hag provide them with a way to close the portal? Yeah maybe give the statues a slightly evil look. Definitely detect evil on them. Ouch. Yeah Im not sure what the win looks like for the party here. At the very least the party should try to brick up the entrance to this abyssal portal room.
This was a bit of a wonky idea, for sure. I think now-a-days, I might consider this more of a trap, than a puzzle. Or at least a hybrid puzzle-trap. I want to redo this video someday in the future, but I really need to give it a bit more thought before I do... for now, I am thinking of removing the hag completely, and just allowing them to complete the puzzle, which triggers the trap (opens a portal). I'm going to have a think on this one for a bit. Thank you for the ideas, cheers!
@@WallyDM This does feel like a trap. I always feel puzzling out something should let the players avoid something. They mess up the puzzle they get the encounter.
Playing into the curiosity of players always works. A pitfall trap door activated by a switch above the pitfall which says DONT PULL THIS LEVER will always get someone to pull the lever
Haha, yep. Absolutely! And I love the possibility of fantastic DnD stories and epic adventures as a result. :) Thank you for watching the video and leaving a comment!
I love this. I decided to use the bed time story that's read to you to put you to sleep on you grandfather clock puzzle. If you recap the story it puts the statue statues to sleep
What a great idea! We were just discussing this in the Discord server the other day... instead of a scroll, how do we get the statues to stop. I really like this solution. Well done. Thank you for the comment and welcome to the channel! :)
Thank you MEDIC! That means a ton! Its fantastic comments like this that keep me wanting to produce more videos. Stay tuned... hope to have another puzzle video within the next week or so! :)
Lol I'm running an adventure where the main antagonist so far IS a witch and there was already contact with an evil demon doll... Lol this could not be more perfect...
The only thing that doesn't fit for me is why would the hag give the players a way to close the portal. I mean, if she wants to open a portal to the Abbyss, she shouldn't want them to have a way to close it. Maybe I didn't understand or something, but probably it could be solved if one of the Dead adventurers had the scroll and was wearing mage robes, to indicate that he probably created it. Nice puzzle, btw! I'll surely use it with my players.
Thank you for the fantastic feedback! And... you are right, it does make very little sense that the hag gave the scroll with the answer on it. This was an idea that I bounced back and forth with for a long time. My initial thinking was that she was playing a game with adventurers allowing them an "out" if you will, or a chance to be successful. I also thought... maybe the hag made a mistake and gave them the wrong scroll... and I also thought... maybe a deity of one of the players sent down the words to save the world. When I ran this in the live play, I initially hid the scroll to close the portal in a Treasure Room. However, they never found the secret door to the treasure room and when they activated the portal, it was too late to give them a way to close it. Rather than let the party die to demons in a TPK or flood the world with evil, I made a last minute impromptu decision to include the demonic words on the scroll the hag gave them. I do, however, love your idea of the scroll being on one of the dead NPC adventurers... which actually makes a lot of sense... seeing that they did manage to close the portal a few days ago. Thank you for the fantastic discussion and insightful analysis! I appreciate the time you took to watch the video and comment. Hope to see ya again soon!
Agreed! I love this puzzle, but trying to think of a way to give the players an out more “naturally”. Also as mentioned, the npcs must have closed the portal somehow since they had the doll again. I’m thinking of making the encounter not “lethal” and after the demons are killed the kids slow back down and the doll is dropped... with the original npcs having died of their wounds in the other wound as they moved on. Love these vids! Thanks for the great ideas!
Great point. Why did the hag provide them with the scroll to close the portal? Doesn't make a lot of sense. Let me explain my thought process... This was an idea that I bounced back and forth with for a long time. My initial thinking was that she was playing a game with adventurers allowing them an "out" if you will, or a chance to be successful. I also thought... maybe the hag made a mistake and gave them the wrong scroll... and I also thought... maybe a deity of one of the players sent down the words to save the world. When I ran this in the live play, I initially hid the scroll to close the portal in a Treasure Room. However, they never found the secret door to the treasure room and when they activated the portal, it was too late to give them a way to close it. Rather than let the party die to demons in a TPK or flood the world with evil, I made a last minute impromptu decision to include the demonic words on the scroll the hag gave them. In hindsight, I would probably have the scroll to close the portal on one of the dead NPCs they found... or ensure they find it in a hidden treasure room, rather than given to them by the Hag. Thanks again Alexander! I always appreciate a great discussion. :)
I might have to make a change here and there but I am pretty sure I will end up using it :P Thank you again for the amazing ideas Wally :) Did you happen to see the puzzle I sent you? I went over it yesterday and I think I need to change somethings because I dont want my friends going over weird calculations (They like those things...LOL)
Yeppers. I sure did. In fact... I replied... but, it looks like UA-cam has removed the direct message feature. Can I share my response again with you on Twitter or Discord? If not, how about email? Or I can post it right here. Up to you.
It's a pretty solid, good puzzle only thing that Meow would do is to make the hag kind of unlikeable, just as a tiny nudge to further tempt the adventurers into not bringing it back to the hag.
I like that option. Great idea, buddy. When I ran the Live Play for this puzzle, it was my first experience running a hag in a game. It was fun, yet intimidating to do, since they are a relatively new monster to me. Thanx for watchin' the video! :)
My folks tend to do the unexpected. Which would include ignoring the statues and just to deliver the doll. Any ideas how to better persuate them to activate the portal? Or not to run away as soon as possible after opening it?
Hi Thomas! That is a couple of tough ones. Of course, delivering the doll is the actual solution to the puzzle, but we as DMs may want them to activate it so we can have some fun. Perhaps this... See if you can get your PCs to have a drink when they originally visit the hag. Then, once they find the doll, they have visions of activating the statue. In fact, maybe they need to make a saving throw at disadvantage or they are compelled to take the doll and activate it. After it's activated, the PCs may have a vision where they see their own deaths (or the deaths of loved ones) if they don't close the portal? Those are just a couple of thoughts I had. Hope that helps! Thank you for watching and commenting on this video. Hope to see you on here again sometime. :)
I guess I don't get it what's the point? Why would giving a child a doll open a portal of demons? It just kind of seems random to me the moral of the story is trust hags? Huh.
Yeah... I kinda struggled on this one a bit. I absolutely love the puzzle idea... which is: Task the players with bringing back an item, but once they find the item, they see that it fits perfectly into a "puzzle". The correct solution is, to bring back the doll... Incorrect solution, is actually solving the "trap-puzzle" by using the doll for the final piece. I still think the hag idea can work... I just need to find a better reason for the characters to help her (perhaps she is in disguise). Anyway, yep, I realize the "quest" portion of the puzzle (working with the hag) is a bit rough, but I really like the overall meat and bones of what is going on. Do you have some suggestions? As always, I love finding out what other DMs would do differently to make the puzzle different or, in this case, better. Thank you for the conversation!
Most definitely. This one took a long time to come together... I've been trying to complete it for months and I'm still trying to work out kinks and details. Thank you for the comment my friend! :)
Not so much hard, as they are time-consuming. I put a ton of thought into each puzzle. I'll write down the basic idea, then think about it for weeks or even months. Coming back to it every once in a while and making changes. Most finished puzzles you see on the channel are WAY different than the original idea I came up with. I am working on a video to go through my puzzle creation process. Hope to have it done in a couple of months. Thank you Fred! Hope you are doing well, my friend!
My original thought was that the hag was simply playing with them... she likes to set them up for failure but give them a slim chance of making it out alive. Maybe her coven frequently does this sort of thing and then opens up a small betting parlor assigning odds and what-not to the chances of success vs failure. Of course... they are not betting coins... :)
@@pappabear4977 Haha! Fair enough... You are probably right. It is way too easy. But maybe... just maybe... in some twisted DM mind, this is exactly what the hag wanted to have happen??? :)
@@pappabear4977 Awesome! I am glad they enjoyed it. It's quickly become a classic. Hmmm... funny that you mention the Prismatic Owl puzzle today... Spoiler Alert... I recorded a sequel. Prismatic Owl Part 2 is done and set to go live tomorrow morning at 8am! :)
I absolutely agree... I have been making a solid effort to eradicate my "ums" and "uhs". working on this. Looking at my videos from 2016 compared to now, I have made tremendous strides. But, unfortunatly, I seem to fall back into the old habits when I stream LIVE... As you have pointed out. Thank you for mentioning this, I appreciate it. I am working hard to become a better speaker. :)
Cool video. Crossbows and Catapults figures?
Thank you! And... absolutely, love the old Crossbows and Catapults. Pieces from the game work great for minis and terrain. What's interesting, is that Crossbows and Catapults seems to be a bit of a collector's item now-a-days. The pieces are a bit pricey on Ebay. Anyways... thank you for watching!
Players Don't want to give the key to the hag. Bad. Now why would the hag provide them with a way to close the portal?
Yeah maybe give the statues a slightly evil look. Definitely detect evil on them.
Ouch. Yeah Im not sure what the win looks like for the party here. At the very least the party should try to brick up the entrance to this abyssal portal room.
This was a bit of a wonky idea, for sure. I think now-a-days, I might consider this more of a trap, than a puzzle. Or at least a hybrid puzzle-trap. I want to redo this video someday in the future, but I really need to give it a bit more thought before I do... for now, I am thinking of removing the hag completely, and just allowing them to complete the puzzle, which triggers the trap (opens a portal). I'm going to have a think on this one for a bit. Thank you for the ideas, cheers!
@@WallyDM This does feel like a trap. I always feel puzzling out something should let the players avoid something. They mess up the puzzle they get the encounter.
Just running my first Hags.
Helga Stonefinger & Limp Mary.
Love hag names 😊
Limp Mary? Mwahahaa
@@WallyDM One of her legs is a crow leg 🐦⬛ (Sinbad reference) 😊
Playing into the curiosity of players always works.
A pitfall trap door activated by a switch above the pitfall which says DONT PULL THIS LEVER will always get someone to pull the lever
Haha, yep. Absolutely! And I love the possibility of fantastic DnD stories and epic adventures as a result. :) Thank you for watching the video and leaving a comment!
Wally D.M. love your ideas, thanks for taking time to upload videos:)
Thank you for the support Brian, I sincerely appreciate it. Awesome comments like this keep me wanting to make new videos! :)
I love this. I decided to use the bed time story that's read to you to put you to sleep on you grandfather clock puzzle. If you recap the story it puts the statue statues to sleep
What a great idea! We were just discussing this in the Discord server the other day... instead of a scroll, how do we get the statues to stop. I really like this solution. Well done. Thank you for the comment and welcome to the channel! :)
Wally D.M. no thank you for your amazing puzzles. I hope to create some to send them your way some day. Keep up the fantastic work
Thank you MEDIC! That means a ton! Its fantastic comments like this that keep me wanting to produce more videos. Stay tuned... hope to have another puzzle video within the next week or so! :)
Lol I'm running an adventure where the main antagonist so far IS a witch and there was already contact with an evil demon doll... Lol this could not be more perfect...
Awesome! I'm glad you dig the idea and hope you can use it in your game! Thanx for watching!
The only thing that doesn't fit for me is why would the hag give the players a way to close the portal.
I mean, if she wants to open a portal to the Abbyss, she shouldn't want them to have a way to close it.
Maybe I didn't understand or something, but probably it could be solved if one of the Dead adventurers had the scroll and was wearing mage robes, to indicate that he probably created it.
Nice puzzle, btw! I'll surely use it with my players.
Thank you for the fantastic feedback! And... you are right, it does make very little sense that the hag gave the scroll with the answer on it. This was an idea that I bounced back and forth with for a long time. My initial thinking was that she was playing a game with adventurers allowing them an "out" if you will, or a chance to be successful. I also thought... maybe the hag made a mistake and gave them the wrong scroll... and I also thought... maybe a deity of one of the players sent down the words to save the world.
When I ran this in the live play, I initially hid the scroll to close the portal in a Treasure Room. However, they never found the secret door to the treasure room and when they activated the portal, it was too late to give them a way to close it. Rather than let the party die to demons in a TPK or flood the world with evil, I made a last minute impromptu decision to include the demonic words on the scroll the hag gave them.
I do, however, love your idea of the scroll being on one of the dead NPC adventurers... which actually makes a lot of sense... seeing that they did manage to close the portal a few days ago.
Thank you for the fantastic discussion and insightful analysis! I appreciate the time you took to watch the video and comment. Hope to see ya again soon!
Agreed! I love this puzzle, but trying to think of a way to give the players an out more “naturally”. Also as mentioned, the npcs must have closed the portal somehow since they had the doll again. I’m thinking of making the encounter not “lethal” and after the demons are killed the kids slow back down and the doll is dropped... with the original npcs having died of their wounds in the other wound as they moved on.
Love these vids! Thanks for the great ideas!
Why did she provide them with the scroll if she wanted to portal to open?
Great point. Why did the hag provide them with the scroll to close the portal? Doesn't make a lot of sense. Let me explain my thought process... This was an idea that I bounced back and forth with for a long time. My initial thinking was that she was playing a game with adventurers allowing them an "out" if you will, or a chance to be successful. I also thought... maybe the hag made a mistake and gave them the wrong scroll... and I also thought... maybe a deity of one of the players sent down the words to save the world.
When I ran this in the live play, I initially hid the scroll to close the portal in a Treasure Room. However, they never found the secret door to the treasure room and when they activated the portal, it was too late to give them a way to close it. Rather than let the party die to demons in a TPK or flood the world with evil, I made a last minute impromptu decision to include the demonic words on the scroll the hag gave them.
In hindsight, I would probably have the scroll to close the portal on one of the dead NPCs they found... or ensure they find it in a hidden treasure room, rather than given to them by the Hag.
Thanks again Alexander! I always appreciate a great discussion. :)
This is cool and somewhat evil, I loved it!
Guess my friends will be babysitting a Doll in a future session lol :P
Haha! Yes! I love the possibility of a DM being mischievous and using misdirection in this one. If you run this... be sure to let me know how it goes!
I might have to make a change here and there but I am pretty sure I will end up using it :P Thank you again for the amazing ideas Wally :)
Did you happen to see the puzzle I sent you? I went over it yesterday and I think I need to change somethings because I dont want my friends going over weird calculations (They like those things...LOL)
Yeppers. I sure did. In fact... I replied... but, it looks like UA-cam has removed the direct message feature. Can I share my response again with you on Twitter or Discord? If not, how about email? Or I can post it right here. Up to you.
Send me via email if possible to jose_diogo_nunes@hotmail.com
Thank you Wally! =)
You bet. Sent!
Still love your stuff, Wally!
Thank you Matt! I appreciate the support. Thank you for taking the time to watch the video and provide fantastic feedback. It means a ton to me. :)
It's a pretty solid, good puzzle only thing that Meow would do is to make the hag kind of unlikeable, just as a tiny nudge to further tempt the adventurers into not bringing it back to the hag.
I like that option. Great idea, buddy. When I ran the Live Play for this puzzle, it was my first experience running a hag in a game. It was fun, yet intimidating to do, since they are a relatively new monster to me. Thanx for watchin' the video! :)
My folks tend to do the unexpected. Which would include ignoring the statues and just to deliver the doll.
Any ideas how to better persuate them to activate the portal?
Or not to run away as soon as possible after opening it?
Hi Thomas! That is a couple of tough ones. Of course, delivering the doll is the actual solution to the puzzle, but we as DMs may want them to activate it so we can have some fun.
Perhaps this... See if you can get your PCs to have a drink when they originally visit the hag. Then, once they find the doll, they have visions of activating the statue. In fact, maybe they need to make a saving throw at disadvantage or they are compelled to take the doll and activate it.
After it's activated, the PCs may have a vision where they see their own deaths (or the deaths of loved ones) if they don't close the portal?
Those are just a couple of thoughts I had. Hope that helps!
Thank you for watching and commenting on this video. Hope to see you on here again sometime. :)
thank you!
Ah, yes, the Hag's Doll! One of my favorites. Glad you enjoyed it. :-)
I guess I don't get it what's the point? Why would giving a child a doll open a portal of demons? It just kind of seems random to me the moral of the story is trust hags? Huh.
Yeah... I kinda struggled on this one a bit. I absolutely love the puzzle idea... which is:
Task the players with bringing back an item, but once they find the item, they see that it fits perfectly into a "puzzle". The correct solution is, to bring back the doll... Incorrect solution, is actually solving the "trap-puzzle" by using the doll for the final piece.
I still think the hag idea can work... I just need to find a better reason for the characters to help her (perhaps she is in disguise).
Anyway, yep, I realize the "quest" portion of the puzzle (working with the hag) is a bit rough, but I really like the overall meat and bones of what is going on.
Do you have some suggestions? As always, I love finding out what other DMs would do differently to make the puzzle different or, in this case, better.
Thank you for the conversation!
A lot of moving parts. Seems like you are combining puzzle and combat.
Most definitely. This one took a long time to come together... I've been trying to complete it for months and I'm still trying to work out kinks and details. Thank you for the comment my friend! :)
Wally D.M. Must be hard to develop your puzzles.
Not so much hard, as they are time-consuming. I put a ton of thought into each puzzle. I'll write down the basic idea, then think about it for weeks or even months. Coming back to it every once in a while and making changes. Most finished puzzles you see on the channel are WAY different than the original idea I came up with. I am working on a video to go through my puzzle creation process. Hope to have it done in a couple of months. Thank you Fred! Hope you are doing well, my friend!
But why would the hag give them the spell to close the portal?
My original thought was that the hag was simply playing with them... she likes to set them up for failure but give them a slim chance of making it out alive. Maybe her coven frequently does this sort of thing and then opens up a small betting parlor assigning odds and what-not to the chances of success vs failure. Of course... they are not betting coins... :)
Wally D.M. But the password is too easy. They’ll figure it out.
@@pappabear4977 Haha! Fair enough... You are probably right. It is way too easy. But maybe... just maybe... in some twisted DM mind, this is exactly what the hag wanted to have happen??? :)
@@WallyDM I used your prismatic owl puzzle. The players loved it.
@@pappabear4977 Awesome! I am glad they enjoyed it. It's quickly become a classic. Hmmm... funny that you mention the Prismatic Owl puzzle today... Spoiler Alert... I recorded a sequel. Prismatic Owl Part 2 is done and set to go live tomorrow morning at 8am! :)
You gotta stop saying "um"
I absolutely agree... I have been making a solid effort to eradicate my "ums" and "uhs". working on this. Looking at my videos from 2016 compared to now, I have made tremendous strides. But, unfortunatly, I seem to fall back into the old habits when I stream LIVE... As you have pointed out. Thank you for mentioning this, I appreciate it. I am working hard to become a better speaker. :)