A Puzzle for your Enjoyment

I mentioned a puzzle in a previous post I made.  I wanted to describe it, but thought it would take away somewhat from what I was saying there.

Set up for the puzzle is as follows:

There is a stone plate with 7 1 inch depressions in a row and a series of stone letters that can fit into the depressions.

Above that is written a sentence (my example is below).

The door in front of you has visible gears at each of the top corners that seem to be connected to some unseen mechanism.  There are 3 notches below the gears as well.

So this can be a tough puzzle, if you want it to be.  I mean the word can be any length.  In the picture above you can see there are some black squares and there are some with X's over them.

The squares are to indicate a blank letter.  So I was making options for a 5-7 letter word.  The X's indicate places where the Characters had successful skill checks that let them make the puzzle easier.

In this case I gave them the possibility of making History, Knowledge (nobility, local, religious), or an Intelligence check.  Each time they would eliminate a stone tablet.  I even let them use a very high perception check to eliminate a square because it didn't "look like it fit right".

The notches under the gears are to show that there are three chances at the puzzle.  Once they put the letters in place they push them in to the plate.  If they get it wrong a metal sheet slides down to the first notch, if they get it wrong twice to the second, etc.

The reason I came up with this is that I like riddles, but they can be very frustrating at the table, and it challenges the players, but not the characters.  This, I thought, was a way to make a riddle where the characters skills, intelligence and knowledge would be able to help them out in a real tangible way.

The other thing that nice is that this is a puzzle the players can know exists and it can never be spoiled.  Because you come up with the riddle, the options, and the answer.

I hope some of you out there can use this.

-Ubercroz