- Type: Logical Puzzle
- Location: Wizard tower
- Difficulty: Medium
The Puzzle:
With the D&D alchemy puzzle players come to a room that has a small table at its centre. On the table they find a set of vials filled with liquids of various colours. The liquids in the vials do not mix (like water and oil) and sit on top of each other.
– Curiously, the liquid in one vial cannot be poured out unless it falls onto a liquid with the same colour. This alchemical property of the puzzle cannot be changed.
– Also a vial can never overflow. If there’s not enough room in a vial the liquid simply won’t start flowing. Another alchemical property of this D&D puzzle.
Here’s an example of this puzzle on a phone app. But if you don’t like to use digital means, you can simply draw a these vials and lay out different color pieces of paper on top of them. This way players can move the papers around – one at a time – to simulate pouring the alchemical liquid from one vial to another.
Puzzle solution:
To solve the puzzle players must separate the liquids so that each colour sits in just one vial. This can only be done by pouring liquids from one vial to another. No other containers can be used.
Once, all vials have been filled correctly, a number of vials equal to the number of PCs will start glowing. If a PC drinks the alchemical mixture some magical effect happens. Perhaps they can breathe underwater for an hour allowing them to swim through an underground passage. Or they shrink to a size that allows them to fit through a crack in the wall.
Puzzle clues: The rules to the puzzle are stated on a piece of parchment next to the vials. If the players carry alchemy supplies with them, they can undo up to ten moves. A successful intelligence check shows the next move in the series.