I personally find rolling to determine the success or failure of a lock picking event to be too impersonal and since picking locks in real life is a monotonous skill that requires hundreds of hours of staring at a metal face plate to fully appreciate, I would never consider handing a player the ripped-out lock from my front door and saying, "Here, have at it!"
Can we construct a physical puzzle that simulates the aligning of tumblers and the spinning of a combination lock in a way that makes a lock-picking event more fun and engaging? I think we can.
Supplies
- Print outs of two or more "circles" with symbols drawn on them in a particular order
- Envelopes to keep each lock picking puzzle separate
How It Works
Imagine two compasses sitting side-by-side on a table with "north" pointing up on both (see above). This puzzle works on the simple understanding that if you rotate the compass on the right 180 degrees, the cardinal points of "east" on both compasses will "line up". Just as lockpicking is the art of lining up the tumblers without a key, so too does this puzzle require the players to line up symbols to virtually "pick the lock".
Now, a puzzle with two "compasses" consisting of four "points" each are very easy and can be solved in seconds. But there are ways to increase the complexity to a point where it could take a long time for players to work out the solution. Behold the following complex puzzle solution:
Adding Complexity
- Labeling the "Compasses"
You can reduce the complexity of the problem by labeling the wheels "A", "B", "C", etc. in the order they are positioned. An even larger reduction occurs when you label them by the connections they make. So for instance, the "4" compass connects to the "4-9" compass which in turn connects to the "9-7" compass and so on. - Number of "Compasses"
With each new circle you add to the table, you're adding one to three additional connections and thus more time to solve. - Position of "Compasses"
You can say specifically, "This one is the center one." to make the problem easier or specify that "the four large ones connect to each other AND to the small one" to make the problem harder. - Shape of "Compasses"
While they must be "round", there's nothing saying that they have to be smooth circles. They can be gears, ovals, or odd little loops. - Size of "Compasses"
Be careful when changing size. This can get tricky for both you as the designer as well as the players and require so much time to solve that the players become bored. - Rolling for Hints
You can have players roll for "hints". If they roll a ten or higher on a d20, then you put down two of the "compasses" and connect them as they should be thereby making the puzzle easier to solve. - Color of "Points"
If all the "N"s are red, "E"s are blue, etc, it's easier to line them up; all black letters is really tough. Be sure that if the "N" is red on one wheel, it's red on all the other wheels as well. Also, be aware that some people are colorblind, so don't force players to use color to solve the problem. - Odd Number of "Points"
For mathematical reasons I won't bother explaining here, having an odd number of "points" vs. an even number of "points" makes the puzzle slightly harder. - Repositioned "Points"
As the designer, this one could annoy you if you don't have a lot of time to spend on making the puzzle. The more evenly spaced the "points" are, the longer the puzzle will take. - Types of "Points"
While a traditional compass uses the four Roman letters N-E-S-W, there's nothing saying that they can't instead be Q-W-E-R or 1-2-3-4 or even !-%-&-#. They can also be pictures or (as pictured above) ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. - Broken "Points"
The hardest puzzles use solid pips and hollow circles because they have the same shape and -- at a glance -- vary little. - Reusing a Puzzle
Even the most complex puzzles can be quickly solved if your players have already seen them before.
Multiple Solutions
It is possible that you could, inadvertently, create puzzles that have more than one solution. If your players find an alternative solution and it works, go with it and pretend you knew about the other solution all along.
Beating the Clock
So, it's nice that your players are having fun, but rarely is a lock worth picking simply sitting around in the open with no alarms or patrolling guards about. To simulate that aspect of an adventure, simply set up a stopwatch, egg timer, or one-minute sand glass and time them. If they are successful, but it takes them longer than two minutes, give them the stuff in the box but then have them get stopped by a patrol of guards. Also, if they present the puzzle as "finished" but there's an error, trigger a trap that poisons the character that picked the lock.
How Long is Too Long?
It depends on what the adventurers get for their time. As long as you have a reputation as a game master for making it worth their while, your players will put up with a lot. But generally speaking, if the players are going past 10-15 minutes, you've got a problem. The solution would be to call a break and let your players stand up, stretch their legs, and noodle around with the puzzle while they nibble on some grub.
Also, keep in mind that this is a world so your adventurers could leave and come back to try this puzzle again in your next session. Thus, have a labeled envelope handy to keep the pieces of this puzzle in so your players can try it again later.
Got a twist on my ideas or a question you'd like to ask? Add them to the comments below. Feel free to change anything you see here and, if you like this post, share it with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.