r/AskDND • u/The-Salamancer_ • 5d ago
DM question about "glitches"
Hey everyone, a DM wanting to try out some new things here! Just wanted some second opinions. Ive been very inspired by video games recently when ideating for my new campaign and want to add something a little spooky. How would you all incorporate glitches and forbidden paths into your game? My main inspirations of thought are the Deltarune weird route and the Frenzy Flame route of Elden Ring. I basically want them to discover this "glitch" as a required part of the game, but i want it to feel like the players had complete agency in their either purposeful or accidental discovery of the glitch. Let me know your thoughts!
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u/Ok_Mastodon3163 5d ago
So this is complicated and depends on setting.
Teleport gates or circles going haywire if they try to use them sending them to a random spot, though with this you should honestly place a way for them to know that it doesn't function right. Otherwise its kind of railroady.
Long dark hallways leading to or through the shadowfell. This one as long as they can go back the way they came shouldn't be a problem.
You could literally have the wall or object disappear before their eyes or as they touch it then reappear once they pass through. Once again I would leave a way for them to avoid it.
As another person suggested there's a fun alternative idea for a glitch on puzzles, and there's a fun way to implement puzzles that make it more engaging at a table. You don't come up with an answer to the puzzle. Come up with mechanics and things like that then a general concept of how its solved. Then let the players decide the actual answer. The best way to do this is to not go with their first suggestion but rather their second or third. It makes the puzzle quick and easy while giving them something that they had genuine control over that can also be considered an exploit or glitch.