Perplexing

Puzzles #1
A Crystal Puzzle is Forever

Bradley Crouch

Kill! Loot! LEVEL!
Repeat as necessary.
It is a fact that we as gamers must face a
gaming campaign, at its heart, is an incredibly
long corridor with monsters and shinies
strewn throughout at regular intervals. GMs,
DMs, Storytellers, and their ilk exist to mix
this basic premise with interesting plothooks,
puzzles, and homebrew mechanics. The end
result, if done well, is a memorable bit of
gaming whose highlights are talked about for
years to come.
The primary issue with producing this
memorable content is that pushing the
concept of, "Kill! Loot! Level!" into the
background is a ridiculously difficult feat to
pull. Players are hardwired for it, some more
than others. This means that anything that is
meant to pull the player away from this
concept must be designed to engage the player
in an intriguing fashion and fire upon a part of
the mind that is not satisfied by, "Kill! Loot!
Level!" In other words, one must design in
such a way that the player pushes, "Kill! Loot!
Level!" away on his own because this new idea
is THAT cool.
It is the author's opinion that puzzles are a
fantastic method to accomplish this.
Perplexing Puzzles is a series of playtested,
highly modular puzzles laid out in a logical
fashion so that they may be read quickly and
implanted into almost any campaign. Care has
been taken to make these puzzles as system
neutral as possible, but certain references to
rules interactions in Dungeons and Dragons is
unavoidable at times.

1
Compatibility with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game requires the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game from Paizo Publishing,
LLC. See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Paizo Publishing,
LLC does not guarantee compatibility, and does not endorse this product.

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Chromatic Crystals Example of Rod Functionality

Starting configuration:

What is it?
Chromatic Crystals is an extrapolation of the
classic "Lights Out" puzzle. Given a target
combination, the party utilizes a set of
colored rods that cause crystals in a grid to
change color to match the target
combination. *poke*

Entering the Puzzle

Chromatic Crystals is best used as a puzzle
that unlocks a door when solved. As such, the If the blue rod is applied to the green crystal
best way to enter the puzzle is to simply have shown in the above configuration, it affects
the party walk into a room dominated by it. not only the crystal touched, but also the
crystals to the left of, to the right of, and
above. Since the blue rod turns red or green
Interpreting the Puzzle
to blue and turns blue clear, we get the
There are four colors in Chromatic Crystals:
following configuration.
red, blue, green, and clear. In addition, there
are three rods: red, blue, and green. The
properties of the rods are as follows.

Red:
Turns clear crystal to red.
Turns green crystal to clear.

Blue:
Turns red or green crystal to blue.
Variants of this Puzzle
Turns blue crystal to clear.
A particularly amusing way to work this
Affects crystals adjacent to crystal touched.
puzzle into a campaign is to have the three
rods strewn throughout a dungeon. This
Green:
allows the party to get used to the rules of
Turns blue crystal to green.
each rod in turn and makes the prospect of
Turns red crystal to clear.
complicated threerod puzzles at the end of
Affects crystals adjacent to crystal touched.
the dungeon a little less daunting due to
puzzle experience gained leading up to it.
Note that rods do not function on adjacent
crystals if its primary target won't change.
Advanced variants are presented on page 8.

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Puzzle Setups

Rods on hand: Red and Blue

Starting configuration:
1 2 3

Goal:

Steps to solve:
1: Red rod on crystal 1.
2: Red rod on crystal 3.
3: Blue rod on crystal 1.
4: Blue rod on crystal 3.
5: Red rod on crystal 2.

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Rods on hand: Red and Blue

Starting configuration:
1 2 3

4 5 6

Goal:

Steps to solve:
1: Blue rod on crystal 4.
2: Blue rod on crystal 1.
3: Blue rod on crystal 3.
4: Red rod on all crystals.
5: Blue rod on crystal 1.
6: Blue rod on crystal 6.

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Rods on hand: Red, Blue, and Green

Starting configuration:
1 2 3

4 5 6

Goal:

Steps to solve:
1: Blue rod on crystal 1.
2: Blue rod on crystal 1.
3: Blue rod on crystal 3.
4: Blue rod on crystal 6.
5: Green rod on crystal 5.
6: Red rod on crystal 1.
7: Red rod on crystal 3.
8: Red rod on crystal 4.
9: Red rod on crystal 6.
10: Blue rod on crystal 1.
11: Red rod on crystal 2.
12: Blue rod on crystal 3.

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Rods on hand: Red, Blue, and Green

Starting configuration:
1 2 3

4 5 6

Goal:

Steps to solve:
1: Red rod on crystal 5.
2: Blue rod on crystal 2.
3: Blue rod on crystal 2.
4: Blue rod on crystal 4.
5: Red rod on crystal 1.
6: Red rod on crystal 4.
7: Red rod on crystal 2.
8: Red rod on crystal 3.
9: Blue rod on crystal 4.
10: Blue rod on crystal 3.
11: Green rod on crystal 1.
12: Green rod on crystal 6.
13: Red rod on crystal 5.

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Rods on hand: Red, Blue, and Green

Starting configuration:
1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

Goal:

Steps to solve: 12: Red rod on crystal 9.

1: Blue rod on crystal 7. 13: Blue rod on crystal 1.
2: Blue rod on crystal 7. 14: Blue rod on crystal 8.
3: Blue rod on crystal 6. 15: Green rod on crystal 2.
4: Blue rod on crystal 6. 16: Green rod on crystal 9.
5: Blue rod on crystal 1. 17: Red rod on crystal 2.
6: Red rod on crystal 4. 18: Red rod on crystal 9.
7: Red rod on crystal 7. 19: Red rod on crystal 3.
8: Red rod on crystal 1. 20: Blue rod on crystal 3.
9: Red rod on crystal 5. 21: Red rod on crystal 2.
10: Red rod on crystal 8. 22: Red rod on crystal 6.
11: Red rod on crystal 2. 23: Red rod on crystal 9.

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Advanced Variants
Crystalline Chaos
A rather annoying variant to unleash upon a
hapless party is the inclusion of a hovering
crystal in the center of the room.
Every five moves the party makes, roll a d4
for a 3crystal puzzle, a d8 for a 6crystal
puzzle, or a d10 for a 9crystal puzzle. If a
number greater than the number of crystals
in the puzzle is rolled, then nothing happens.
Otherwise, the crystal corresponding to the
number rolled randomly changes color based
on the table below.
Crystalline Chaos Color Change
d6
1: Clear
23: Red
45: Blue
6: Green (Clear if a two color puzzle)
The Golem
Perhaps the party needs a "final exam" that
includes a boss fight! Simply take the
statblock for a golem in the appropriate CR
range and add the following abilities to it.
Red Crystal Overload (Su):
As a fullround action, this creature can
unleash a wave of destructive energy, dealing
1/2 CR d6 points of force damage to all
enemies within 30 ft with a DC 10 + 1/2 HD
Reflex save for half.
While charging this ability, this creature
glows red and can have its color changed by
crystalline rods. Should its color be blue or
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green when this ability resolves, it executes
Blue Crystal Overload or Green Crystal
Overload instead. Should its color be clear,
this ability fizzles instead.
Blue Crystal Overload (Su):
As a fullround action, this creature can fire
a ray of energy. Treat this as a ranged touch
attack that deals CR d6 points of force
damage to a single target.
While charging this ability, this creature
glows blue and can have its color changed by
crystalline rods. Should its color be red or
green when this ability resolves, it executes
Red Crystal Overload or Green Crystal
Overload instead. Should its color be clear,
this ability fizzles instead.
Green Crystal Overload (Su):
As a fullround action, this creature can
flood itself with intense energy, granting it
fast healing 3*CR for 3 rounds.
While charging this ability, this creature
glows green and can have its color changed
by crystalline rods. Should its color be red or
blue when this ability resolves, it executes
Red Crystal Overload or Blue Crystal
Overload instead. Should its color be clear,
this ability fizzles instead.
Wild Card
This variant facilitates puzzle completion by
granting the party a single multicolored rod.
When touching a crystal with this rod, the
player simply states the color it shall become
and it is so. Upon use, this rod crumbles.
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Playmat

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Cutout for Playmat Use

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Cutout for Playmat Use

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Cutout for Playmat Use

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Legal

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15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document. Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on
material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet,
Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
The Book of Experimental Might. Copyright 2008, Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved.
Tome of Horrors. Copyright 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc. Authors: Scott Greene, with Clark Peterson, Erica Balsley, Kevin Baase, Casey
Christofferson, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Patrick Lawinger, and Bill Webb Based on original content from TSR.
Perplexing Puzzles #1: A Crystal Puzzle is Forever, Copyright 2012 Bradley Arthur Crouch.
[End of License]

Notice of Open Game Content: This product contains Open Game Content as defined in the Open Game License, above. Open Game
Content may only be used under and in terms of the Open Game License.

Designation of Open Game Content: The statistical information and general descriptions of creatures, abilities, traps, and other related
facets of those elements within this document are Open Game Content as described in the Open Game License and may be used as Open
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Product Identity is not available for Use or reuse without the express written consent of Bradley Arthur Crouch of Interjection Games.

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logo, and Perplexing Puzzles.

This document is copyright Bradley Arthur Crouch of Interjection Games, 2012. It is intended for personal use and may not be redistributed
or reproduced without express written consent of Bradley Arthur Crouch of Interjection Games.

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Compatibility Logo are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License.
See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility for more information on the compatibility license.

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