How to solve it
A safe door with a combination dial, a handle and heavy bolts. Dial each number of the combination in turn, alternating direction like a real safe, then turn the handle.
- Turn the dial by dragging it. It has weight and keeps turning a little after you let go. The arrow keys turn it one number at a time, five with Shift.
- Set number, or press Enter or Space, when you think you're on it. The direction you last turned counts.
- Turn handle when every number is set.
The dial ticks at every number. As you get close to the current number, the person turning it hears the click grow louder, sees the index start to glow and feels the dial catch slightly. Everyone else at the table only hears the ticks, so the driver has to call it.
Turning the wrong way is refused on the spot and costs nothing. Set a wrong number and the wheels slip back. You start again from the first number, and it costs an attempt. Turning the handle too early just rattles.
Some locks are silent, with no click to listen for. Then you're working from the glow and the catch alone. Listen at the lock rolls Perception once per try. A pass makes a silent lock audible and widens the zone where you can feel the number. A natural 20 widens it as far as it goes.
Setting it up
- Numbers in the combination is 3 or 4.
- Numbers on the dial runs from 40 to 100.
- Tolerance is how far either side of a number still counts, from 0 to 3. At 0 the dial has to stop exactly on it.
- Turning is left-right-left, right-left-right, or either direction.
- The wheel pack clicks audibly is on by default. Turn it off for a silent lock.
- Combination is written like 17-42-8 when you write the solution. Consecutive numbers need some distance between them. You can also dial it in yourself with Set the solution by playing.
Difficulty sets all of it at once. Easy is 3 numbers on a 40 dial with 2 either side and a loud click. Deadly is 4 numbers on a 100 dial, exact stops and a silent lock. Like the lockpick, a dial lock is one person's job, so it supports a single driver or you operating it yourself. Rule out a wrong option hatches out a section of the dial the current number isn't in.
Where it fits in a campaign
- The counting-house safe. A heist with a ticking clock. Give the rogue the dial and a time limit, and make everyone else hold the door.
- The combination in pieces. Three numbers, each found with a different NPC. The party can try the safe early, but they'll be guessing the last number by ear.
- A pirate's silent strongbox. No click at all. Someone has to press an ear to it and roll, while the ship's crew argue about who gets the first share.
Running any puzzle
Every puzzle type is built and run the same way. The guide above covers what's particular to this one.
Write it once
A puzzle is a compendium entry. Create a new Puzzle in one of your compendiums and choose its type. The form has four tabs. Overview holds the type, a spoiler-free flavour line, an optional cover image and the settings below.
- Who operates it is one player driving while the party watches, everyone operating it, or you operating it while players watch. You can always operate it yourself, whatever you pick.
- Difficulty is Easy, Medium, Hard or Deadly. Changing it rewrites the settings that tier controls and leaves your solution and text alone, so pick a tier first and fine-tune afterwards.
- Solution is either written by you or generated each time the puzzle is placed. Generated is the default, so players who own the puzzle can't look up the answer. Reroll the solution each session gives a recurring puzzle a fresh answer every session.
- Limits set a maximum number of attempts, a time limit (with the option to show players the timer) and a lockout. With a lockout, running out of attempts locks the puzzle for a while. Without one, the puzzle fails.
The other three tabs are Mechanism, which holds the settings described above, Hints, where you write up to ten hints to reveal from the board when you choose, and Presentation, for the skin, the title, an intro and the text players see on success or failure.
Put it on the board
At the table, open the Puzzles tab in the dock and drag a puzzle onto the map, or click it to drop it in the middle of your view. That makes a copy for this table only. Its progress lives with the table, and the compendium entry stays untouched. Most puzzles sit on the map as an object. Pressure plates and rune sequences can also lay tiles on the scene for tokens to step on.
There's no separate step to start it. The first player to touch it starts it. In single-driver mode, that player takes the controls and everyone else watches every move live.
Run it live
Right-click a placed puzzle for the DM's controls. The most useful ones:
- Reveal a hint and Rule out a wrong option for a party that's stuck.
- Open it by magic (Knock) or Force it open when a spell or a crowbar should simply win.
- Give one more attempt, Pause the timer and Reset.
- Approve the solve or Reject the solve, with an optional reply, if you asked to approve solves first.
- Set up… to change this table's copy and choose what happens When it is solved and When it fails. Outcomes can open or unlock a door, reveal a token, object, handout or another puzzle, play an effect, post to chat, roll damage or start combat.
Skip the minigame
Not every table wants to play every puzzle. Set a placement's Just roll option to Always and the puzzle shows a single Roll to resolve button instead. Players roll the puzzle's Just roll skill against its DC, which defaults to Investigation at DC 15. A pass solves it and a fail costs an attempt. Set it to Never to make the party play it out.
