This week’s alphabet entry just so happens to fit perfectly with the rest of his ongoing RPG series. But which definition of puzzle is Ben picking?

No, it’s not puzzle in the traditional sense of perplexing challenges that rake one’s D&D brain. Rather, Ben has gone literal this week with actual, physical puzzles. Here’s how.

Ben’s game group is currently adventuring through part two of three of the Keep on Shadowfell module series (which is amazing). After a bit of a thud going from H1 to H2, Ben wanted something much more memorable as the group transitions out of Thunderspire Labyrinth and into Pyramid of Shadows (H3). A great module transition is a true mark of a good DM.

Thus, he created the Barz Brothers Hoard Quest. A dying Norhand Woodsheart tells the tale of a secret treasure stash of three Half-orc brothers. They hid their stolen riches and hired a mage to create a magical map depicting the resting location. The map was torn into pieces and magical constructs were made from them. Paldemar learned of this legend and was magically summoning all the consturcts to Thunderspire. A killed construtct turns back into a map piece. Recover all the map pieces scattered across Nentir Vale to reveal the location of the Pyramid & its treasure.

With an engaging plot in hand, Ben wanted something more tangible and visual on the game table to supplement his new storyline transition. With a cute little daughter addicted to puzzles, the RPG accessory idea was right there for the taking! Ben would create a puzzle map which would only magically reveal the Pyramid of Shadows’ location after all the collected pieces were fully assembled.

The Nentir Vale campaign map from the DMG (pg. 206) made the most sense. Ben is quite fond of the setting and it’s a major area player in this particular module series. Plus, a high res version of the map was readily available on Google Images.

Next Ben popped that map image into Photoshop and made it his own . He added his local Game Store, Gamers’ Inn, as a waypoint on the map for weary travelers to grab a quick pint. A little flair also seemed in order and the Pile logo in the bottom right corner did the trick. Finally, he needed to pick a final puzzle piece that essentially “marked the spot.”

With the final piece of the puzzle in place, Ben called upon Jigsaw2order produce his masterpiece. Options, cost, quality, simplicity to order and customer service were all extremely pleasant. Ben created a 30-piece puzzle with perfect dimensions (8.25in x 11.75in) for a mere $15.95. How can you go wrong?

Ben plans on passing out replica puzzles to each of his gamemates as Xmas gifts at the conclusion of their Thunderspire Labyrinth module in December.

And if all that fun and creativity isn’t enough…Ben and his daughter had a nice little bonding moment when they put this new D&D puzzle together. That’s when you know the idea was pure gold.

Questions to Ponder: What else would make a great D&D puzzle? Would you make one for your game group? What other quest ideas could be used to incorporate puzzle pieces into your campaign?