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I'm dissatisfied with the scroll case “puzzle” for the Black Monk. It’s basically just a series of skill checks or some spells/smashing for a party without a rogue. I have some players that enjoy a good puzzle and I’d like to engage them somehow.
It’s designed like a combination bicycle lock/ cryptix from Da Vinci Code. I was thinking about printing the Thassilonian runes from Community Use pack on thin strips of paper and calling that a 22-character alphabet. Maybe wrapping the strips around a poster tube to make a fun physical prop. So the party has to “solve” the scroll tube. But…
a) I need a “word”
b) I need a riddle that might relate to Thassilon.
Any ideas?
With golden crown, and golden tail and naught between, what am I?
Alternatively, and depending if your group has played Dragon Age, I always liked:
"No man has seen it but all man know it. Lighter than air, sharper than any sword. Comes from nothing but would fell the strongest armies. Of what do I speak?"
Alternatively, and depending if your group has played Dragon Age, I always liked:
"No man has seen it but all man know it. Lighter than air, sharper than any sword. Comes from nothing but would fell the strongest armies. Of what do I speak?"
** spoiler omitted **
I like this.
Make a series of cut out squares, each with a letter on it and then add 'TH', 'CH', 'QU' and 'SH' as letters peculiar to the Thassilonian alphabet. That gives you 30, broken into groups of 5 to represent the 6 dials. Let them puzzle it out that way. Shouldn't be too hard.
Hunger fits greed better than a coin IMO - the never ending hunger for more everything...
If you want to draw it out you could make linguistic checks to decipher each rune/letter and let them puzzle it out based on the letters they know.
Dot. My players aren't close to this point yet but it will be cool and fun to give them an actual puzzle scroll.
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This is what I'm toying with:
clicky
Found a Thasilonian font on the boards, but it only had characters to "X" and used the seven runelord runes. So I opted to drop vowels, like many early languages did.
Then I did a four rows of runs, adding a couple extras that were not added to the font.
The last page is the riddle and the "answer" runes, so I can compare quickly.
I'll give them the handout and "translate" what it says to them, and they'll have to work out which runes mean what letters (and the fact vowels are missing), solve the riddle, and then enter than into the cryptix (which is the strips wrapped around a poster tube).
My players should not read this, or anything in this thread
I like this a lot. My players are almost there, so this will be perfect. I think I'll make it a bit harder though. I'll have the remains of a scholar who snuck in using invisibility and hide from undead (I'm going to assume the the Monk rolled a 1 on his will save), and translated part of the first line of the scroll before his spell wore off and he got killed. So it's harder for them to work out the alphabet.
I'm not going to do anything like this; my players have troubles with puzzles and mysteries. They'll probably spam-Knock the thing 'til it opens. And I'll let them; each group of players is different, after all.
I know our party bard has comprehend languages, I'm not sure he will remember to use it. Much like every time they come to a locked door, the whole party forgets they have a chime of opening.
Or he will remember to use it, My 2 players that have played dragon age will immediately recognize the riddle, and this will take them 2 seconds to get through.
EDIT: Or, after looking at the paper my party barbarian will break it with improved sunder and has adimantine scythe, or the fighter/paladin will do the same with improved sunder and his adminatine Bastard sword. Which is funny because they are the 2 who have played dragon age.
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Link to PDF:
Clicky
Updated the file due to an error with the word "air". Oops.
Other than that goof, my players enjoyed the puzzle.
They transcribed the letters fairly quick and they argued over the riddle for some time but managed to actually get the solution and managed to get both meanings of the word "hunger".
They were initially stumped by the possibilities so the rogue used Disable Device once to get the first letter (the "h") which helped them along. A skill based clue other than an Int check.
Forgot to post results. It took a little while but my players figured it out, almost had a nice moment early, because the rolled knowledge checks to learn about the Peacock god, and one of my players assumed that Peacock would be the answer, since with no Vowels it fits. I was even surprised that none of my players could remember the riddle from Dragon Age. They ended up using speak with dead on the body I put in the room with the started translation, and asked him the riddle, which I thought was quite smart.
They seemed to like it though, especially after I told them the checks that they would have had to make to get the thing open. They had less success getting scrolls out without breaking them, not having a party rouge hurt, and they lost a total of I think 5 scrolls.