PaizoCon 2018 Puzzle Hunt!

[Jason Keeley]

Hey folks!

Joe Pasini and I are proud to bring you an all-new puzzle hunt at this year's convention! And, in even more exciting news, the puzzle hunt's main page/instructions will appear in the program! This will let you know where to find the puzzles and what to do with your final answer.

The puzzles themselves will be available by the ticket swap board (near the delves), and Joe and I will try to be around that area every day from 5 to 7 to give our prizes and clues (though if you find us anywhere else during the con, we'll do our best to help you out).

This year, you'll have to discover the seven shards of an artifact known as the virtuous sihedron and bury them in certain places throughout Varisia in order to stop the return of the runelords... for a few months, at least. And this year also includes some fantastic graphic design by our own Sonja Morris!

You should use this thread to talk about the puzzles with fellow solvers, trade tips, and hopefully have a good time. Enjoy!

[Darrell Lunari]

Is this a hunt where late arrivals have lower chance to win or is this where everyone that completes the hunt wins somethi g.

[Jason Keeley]

Darrell Lunari wrote:

Is this a hunt where late arrivals have lower chance to win or is this where everyone that completes the hunt wins somethi g.

Everyone who completes the puzzle hunt gets a prize, while supplies last. Last year, we had plenty of prizes... but you never know!

[Joe Pasini]

Jason Keeley wrote:

You should use this thread to talk about the puzzles with fellow solvers, trade tips, and hopefully have a good time. Enjoy!

Hear! Hear! And don't forget...

Spoiler:

to use spoiler tags where appropriate! ;)

[Zombkat]

Ok question on the tablet puzzle

I might just be silly:

are some tablets upside down?

[Haladir]

I am usually pretty good at puzzle-hunts. Heck, I have a Games magazine t-shirt from playing one back in the early aughts.

But I am really getting stumped by this one!

[Joe Pasini]

Zombkat wrote:

Ok question on the tablet puzzle

** spoiler omitted **

Spoiler:

The tablets are all right side up... as are the glyphs. But shifting verticality definitely comes into play...

[Joe Pasini]

Haladir wrote:

I am usually pretty good at puzzle-hunts. Heck, I have a Games magazine t-shirt from playing one back in the early aughts.

But I am really getting stumped by this one!

Anything in particular stumping you? Happy to talk with you (around the con or near the puzzles tomorrow between 5 and 6:30), or throw out some spoilered guidance!

[Grim Ranger]

Haladir wrote:

I am usually pretty good at puzzle-hunts. Heck, I have a Games magazine t-shirt from playing one back in the early aughts.

But I am really getting stumped by this one!

It's pretty difficult; I had to enlist help from my wife (who loves word games). And I had forgotten that there were more instructions and a final puzzle in the program book (just remembered that last night, and was able to finish it).

Spoiler:

Not sure if this is helpful, but the string of diamonds at the top of each clue appears to be a red herring. I thought for certain that they would help lead to the final answer, but at the end they didn't help me at all.

[Jason Keeley]

Grim Ranger wrote:

Haladir wrote:

I am usually pretty good at puzzle-hunts. Heck, I have a Games magazine t-shirt from playing one back in the early aughts.

But I am really getting stumped by this one!

It's pretty difficult; I had to enlist help from my wife (who loves word games). And I had forgotten that there were more instructions and a final puzzle in the program book (just remembered that last night, and was able to finish it).

** spoiler omitted **

Well...

Spoiler:

You have discovered half of what you need for the SECRET EXTRA PUZZLE!

[Jason Keeley]

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Puzzle Hunt this year and congrats to anyone who solved it! We gave out 40 prizes this year! Woo!

Joe and I are going to see about getting the PDF of the Puzzle Hunt up on the blog in the next few months, so if you couldn't make it to the convention, you can still enjoy some tasty puzzles!

[Joe Pasini]

Jason Keeley wrote:

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Puzzle Hunt this year and congrats to anyone who solved it! We gave out 40 prizes this year! Woo!

Joe and I are going to see about getting the PDF of the Puzzle Hunt up on the blog in the next few months, so if you couldn't make it to the convention, you can still enjoy some tasty puzzles!

Very much this!

Also, apologies to those who took a cursory glance at the puzzle hunt packet and were immediately assailed by someone asking "Puzzles? You like puzzles? Wanna solve our puzzles?"

[Link2000]

Jason Keeley wrote:

Grim Ranger wrote:

Haladir wrote:

I am usually pretty good at puzzle-hunts. Heck, I have a Games magazine t-shirt from playing one back in the early aughts.

But I am really getting stumped by this one!

It's pretty difficult; I had to enlist help from my wife (who loves word games). And I had forgotten that there were more instructions and a final puzzle in the program book (just remembered that last night, and was able to finish it).

** spoiler omitted **

Well...

** spoiler omitted **

I'm still scratching my head at this, I got an extra hint before I left, but I'm still not understanding

Secret Puzzle Spoiler:

THE DIAMONDS! I was told that the poems reference paizo products (big hint, so I'm thankful as I would have never thought of it). Which I want to say references the adventure paths (pretty sure I got them all). I've then tried using the diamonds as hints. Like, each page has between 2-6 diamonds. The diamonds never land on the same "space" twice on the entire twenty one line.
I've tried seeing if maybe the number references a specific book of an AP (as 6 is the highest).
I've tried using it to count words, letters, and even noticed that the diamonds were the same shape as some of the cities in the booklet, and tried cross referencing that (might have been reading too much into it for that last one).
I feel like I'm missing something important.

[Joe Pasini]

Link2000 wrote:

I'm still scratching my head at this, I got an extra hint before I left, but I'm still not understanding

** spoiler omitted **

First off, congrats on making it this far! We made this super hidden and obscure; it's a wonder anyone found it (and attempted it once they did). In the spirit of keeping the thing more fun than frustrating, here are some guideposts based on the contents of your spoiler.

Secret Puzzle Spoiler:

You've figured out two of the most important pieces you'll need:
The poems have references to AP volumes in them. (You need to do one more thing with that; see supplementary spoiler 1)
The diamonds have unique positions. (You'll need to plug something in to those positions; see supplementary spoiler 2)

If these hints and the first two spoilers are not enough, see supplementary spoiler 3!

The diamonds were chosen for the subtle difference between the shapes; it wasn't until the con that somebody pointed out that they were on the map, too!
Sorry for that unintentional red herring >_<

Supplementary Spoiler 1:

Convert the AP volumes into numbers (not 3 [of 6], but 65, 120, etc).

Supplementary Spoiler 2:

Put each digit of the AP volume numbers in the positions of each "flawed" diamond. You'll end up with a string of 21 numbers.

Supplementary Spoiler 3:

Convert the numbers to a word or phrase!

[Link2000]

Joe Pasini wrote:

Link2000 wrote:

I'm still scratching my head at this, I got an extra hint before I left, but I'm still not understanding

** spoiler omitted **

First off, congrats on making it this far! We made this super hidden and obscure; it's a wonder anyone found it (and attempted it once they did). In the spirit of keeping the thing more fun than frustrating, here are some guideposts based on the contents of your spoiler.

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **

Thank you so much! I will hopefully be able to finish it using the first two of the three hints you gave me! I'll look at the third if I still feel stuck.

Thank you again! I'll definitely post back later!

[Kiran Nash]

Jason and Joe thank you for a great puzzle hunt looking forward to next years.

[Link2000]

I think I've finally got it! Thank you Joe and Jason for all the help both at the con and away! The wife and I enjoyed the puzzles immensely! We can't wait to see what's brewed up next year!

Spoiler:

Down with Thrune!

[Grim Ranger]

We enjoyed the puzzle hunt very much! Thanks again Jason and Joe for the last-minute help (many clues provided) with the "super-secret" puzzle, we would never have gotten that one on our own!

[Joe Pasini]

Link2000 wrote:

I think I've finally got it! Thank you Joe and Jason for all the help both at the con and away! The wife and I enjoyed the puzzles immensely! We can't wait to see what's brewed up next year!

** spoiler omitted **

Well played! And thanks for participating and being as enthusiastic as we are :)

We’ve already started kicking around ideas for next year...

[Joe Pasini]

Grim Ranger wrote:

We enjoyed the puzzle hunt very much! Thanks again Jason and Joe for the last-minute help (many clues provided) with the "super-secret" puzzle, we would never have gotten that one on our own!

Thank you, too!

[NielsenE]

Is there a way to get a pdf of the puzzles? I tried and failed, and marked up my sheets a little too much to easily reset/try again. Would like to enlist the aid of some of the puzzle fanatics back home to learn how to better approach things next year.

[Joe Pasini]

NielsenE wrote:

Is there a way to get a pdf of the puzzles? I tried and failed, and marked up my sheets a little too much to easily reset/try again.

Jason and I are hoping to share a pdf of the puzzles with everyone as soon as we can—we'll post here when that happens!

And if you tried, then you did not fail =)
(But also I get what you mean.)

[NielsenE]

Thanks! I was just overconfident on the ones that looked easy to me, and used pen like I knew not to do....

[Ronnam]

Yes thank you for such a fun Con, and this puzzle was great. I feel like my buddy and me made a lot of progress, but then got sidetracked with everything else going on. So I didn't solve the puzzle, but I enjoyed it a lot :)

[NielsenE]

And update on when the PDF of the puzzles might be available?

[Joe Pasini]

Ronnam wrote:

Yes thank you for such a fun Con, and this puzzle was great. I feel like my buddy and me made a lot of progress, but then got sidetracked with everything else going on. So I didn't solve the puzzle, but I enjoyed it a lot :)

Thanks for playing! If it helped you fill time between other, cooler things, then it did its job =)

NielsenE wrote:

And update on when the PDF of the puzzles might be available?

We're still working on making that available, hopefully within the next month or so—I'll be back to let you know when we do!

[Joe Pasini]

NielsenE wrote:

And update on when the PDF of the puzzles might be available?

Puzzle hunt pdf available now!

[NielsenE]

Thank you!!

[Bardess]

Er, the letters I found for the ruler's name don't appear to make sense.

[Ronnam]

Joe Pasini wrote:

Ronnam wrote:

Yes thank you for such a fun Con, and this puzzle was great. I feel like my buddy and me made a lot of progress, but then got sidetracked with everything else going on. So I didn't solve the puzzle, but I enjoyed it a lot :)

Thanks for playing! If it helped you fill time between other, cooler things, then it did its job =)

It did! Thank you for posting it for download.

I don't hop on the messageboards too often, so just now getting caught back up.

Mr. Pasini, you GMed the Starfinder delve for me at PaizoCon, and that was 100% fantastic. Thank you for the opportunity. I don't think you got to put down any skull stickers with my crew because I kept Healing Channeling from behind cover :) I'm a huge fan of Starfinder, and very happy to have met you.

[Bonediggery Catwalk]

Let me start by saying that I am terrible at puzzles. I enjoy figuring them out, even if that means I need help. I figured out the Ice Cube and the Pirate ones. The Gray Maidens though. Maybe I'm blind, but I can only find one that is different

Gray Maidens:

I found the O maiden, who had the missing decorations on her right flank. Missing one though?

Now I'm working on the Numeria Robot Puzzle. I solved for robot 1, but that seems to leave only 2 turns for Robot 2 left. The cards are single use, correct? What am I missing?

Robot Puzzle:

My solution for Robot 1: 2,R,3,L,4,L,1,R,1. Is there a different solution to this one?

[Joe Pasini]

Ronnam wrote:

Joe Pasini wrote:

Ronnam wrote:

Yes thank you for such a fun Con, and this puzzle was great. I feel like my buddy and me made a lot of progress, but then got sidetracked with everything else going on. So I didn't solve the puzzle, but I enjoyed it a lot :)

Thanks for playing! If it helped you fill time between other, cooler things, then it did its job =)

It did! Thank you for posting it for download.

I don't hop on the messageboards too often, so just now getting caught back up.

Mr. Pasini, you GMed the Starfinder delve for me at PaizoCon, and that was 100% fantastic. Thank you for the opportunity. I don't think you got to put down any skull stickers with my crew because I kept Healing Channeling from behind cover :) I'm a huge fan of Starfinder, and very happy to have met you.

Congrats on finishing the puzzle!

I'm really glad you enjoyed the delve, though I can't say I'm ready to forgive you for denying me my skull stickers... We may just have to "forget" the Keskodai pregen at the office next year ;)

[Joe Pasini]

Bonediggery Catwalk wrote:

Let me start by saying that I am terrible at puzzles. I enjoy figuring them out, even if that means I need help. I figured out the Ice Cube and the Pirate ones. The Gray Maidens though. Maybe I'm blind, but I can only find one that is different

** spoiler omitted **

Now I'm working on the Numeria Robot Puzzle. I solved for robot 1, but that seems to leave only 2 turns for Robot 2 left. The cards are single use, correct? What am I missing?

** spoiler omitted **

I hate to contradict you, but if you managed the pirate puzzle, you're not terrible at puzzles (and that includes getting help—these puzzles were designed with groups in mind)!

You are right that you need to find more than one Gray Maiden.

Gray Maidens Hint 1:

Look in the top row.

Gray Maidens Hint 2:

Look above the shoulders.

I think you just need a nudge for Iron Gods.

Iron Gods Hint 1:

Note that a conveyor belt doesn't change the robot's facing—Robot 1 starts out facing "east" (if "north" is the top of the page). So if your second move is turning right, you'll actually end up facing the conveyor belt you just came off of!

Iron Gods Hint 2:

Your first move is correct!

[Bonediggery Catwalk]

Joe Pasini wrote:

Bonediggery Catwalk wrote:

Let me start by saying that I am terrible at puzzles. I enjoy figuring them out, even if that means I need help. I figured out the Ice Cube and the Pirate ones. The Gray Maidens though. Maybe I'm blind, but I can only find one that is different

** spoiler omitted **

Now I'm working on the Numeria Robot Puzzle. I solved for robot 1, but that seems to leave only 2 turns for Robot 2 left. The cards are single use, correct? What am I missing?

** spoiler omitted **

I hate to contradict you, but if you managed the pirate puzzle, you're not terrible at puzzles (and that includes getting help—these puzzles were designed with groups in mind)!

You are right that you need to find more than one Gray Maiden.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **

I think you just need a nudge for Iron Gods.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **

Haha! Thanks! I had a maybe different way of figuring out the S&S Pirate Puzzle

Pirate Puzzle:

I assigned all the money a copper monetary value. 1000 CP for platinum. Then each of the treasures I totaled up the value in copper as well as the copper value of each number. Then I just found out what combination of letters equaled that of the treasure. It narrowed the choices by a lot.
Also confused by the answer. It's 4 letters, but there are two 4 letter sections on the map. Which does it go in?

Awesome. I had printed out the puzzles. I went to the actual digital file and looked at the Gray Maidens and was able to discover it almost immediately. Darn print resolution!

Gray Maidens:

Now, I have N & O. Does it spell NO, or ON? How do I know that? Does it matter?

As for the Iron Gods puzzle. I totally see what you mean now. Figured the second one out. And unscramble the letters. Solved!

[Bonediggery Catwalk]

Sigh. I've been working on this for weeks. I've figured out 3 of them for certain. First off, the Gray Maidens and Pirate Puzzles

Gray Maidens & Pirate Puzzles:

Gray Maidens comes out to be NO, or ON... which is it? Does it matter? Then the Pirate Puzzle, which 4 letter space do I put it in? Does that matter?

River Kingdom Puzzle. I've got all of them, except the series of fragmented scenes that condense time. I've wracked my brain, and just cannot come up with anything for it. I thought Episode, but it didn't fit the criteria. I thought Scenario, but it has one to many letters. I just don't get it. What am I not getting here?

[Bardess]

Bonediggery Catwalk wrote:

Sigh. I've been working on this for weeks. I've figured out 3 of them for certain. First off, the Gray Maidens and Pirate Puzzles

** spoiler omitted **

River Kingdom Puzzle. I've got all of them, except the series of fragmented scenes that condense time. I've wracked my brain, and just cannot come up with anything for it. I thought Episode, but it didn't fit the criteria. I thought Scenario, but it has one to many letters. I just don't get it. What am I not getting here?

Try

Cinema Words:

Montage

Could someone give me please a clue for the Numerian robots puzzle?

[Bonediggery Catwalk]

Bardess wrote:

Bonediggery Catwalk wrote:

Sigh. I've been working on this for weeks. I've figured out 3 of them for certain. First off, the Gray Maidens and Pirate Puzzles

** spoiler omitted **

River Kingdom Puzzle. I've got all of them, except the series of fragmented scenes that condense time. I've wracked my brain, and just cannot come up with anything for it. I thought Episode, but it didn't fit the criteria. I thought Scenario, but it has one to many letters. I just don't get it. What am I not getting here?

Try

** spoiler omitted **

Could someone give me please a clue for the Numerian robots puzzle?

What is it you're having trouble with? I'm currently working through the puzzles and check this forum frequently. Let me know what's holding you up. Remember that each card may only be used once.

Numerian Puzzle:

The clues that I was given were that the robots do not change their "Facing" direction when they go on a conveyor belt. I had a much easier time with Robot 1 than Robot 2. Each robot only has 3 turn cards to use, which means that you have to utilize belts and turntables for both robots.

Also, if you have any of the answers to my questions I previously posted, I'd appreciate the help. Seems like the mods have forgotten about this forum.

[Joe Pasini]

Bonediggery Catwalk wrote:

Sigh. I've been working on this for weeks. I've figured out 3 of them for certain. First off, the Gray Maidens and Pirate Puzzles

Gray Maidens and Pirates:

Maidens
The order does matter; use top to bottom, left to right. (We couldn't figure a way to tell people that without making the puzzle super obvious once you'd found one of the letters, so we went with the standard reading order in English.)

Pirates
Which space does matter; there's a clue related to that in the instructions on the final-answer page (with the map and instructions for locating shards).

[Bonediggery Catwalk]

Joe Pasini wrote:

Bonediggery Catwalk wrote:

Sigh. I've been working on this for weeks. I've figured out 3 of them for certain. First off, the Gray Maidens and Pirate Puzzles

** spoiler omitted **

Thanks Joe! I've been working on the Shard of Fertility. I solved all the riddles and have come out with several possible decoded names.

Shard of Fertility:

All of the letters unscrambled comes out to be Prince Charming. That is what I thought it was, but the number of letters is problematic, because I put the answer to the Shard of Abundance in the 14 letter section of the map. Filing off the F, L and E comes up with 14 letters. I was certain that was where that answer went. So, if it's not Prince Charming, or if I'm missing something, then it could be something different. Like Arch Prince, which has 10 letters and would fit nicely into the top right section. Am I doing the Map wrong?

[Joe Pasini]

Bonediggery Catwalk wrote:

Thanks Joe! I've been working on the Shard of Fertility. I solved all the riddles and have come out with several possible decoded names.

** spoiler omitted **

You have the correct answer and placement for the shard of fertility!

Shard of Abundance:

It sounds like you found the clue for the shard of abundance: "file corners off cube." And you even filed off three of the corners—but what if you file them all off and make a word with just those?

[Bonediggery Catwalk]

Joe Pasini wrote:

Bonediggery Catwalk wrote:

Thanks Joe! I've been working on the Shard of Fertility. I solved all the riddles and have come out with several possible decoded names.

** spoiler omitted **

You have the correct answer and placement for the shard of fertility!

** spoiler omitted **

That makes sense.

Shard of Abundance:

So, I shaved the sides down so that it's like a diamond shape and there were only 4 letters: OEFB. I figured the 10 letter section of the map belonged to the Shard of Honest Pride, since there are 10 letter boxes on the puzzle. I'm confused though. What word uses OEFB? Be Of?

[Joe Pasini]

Bonediggery Catwalk wrote:

That makes sense.
** spoiler omitted **

Shard of Abundance:

I enjoy shaved ice as much as the next person, but I think you've gone too far if you're left with a diamond shape!
The "cube" in the clue is the ice cube.
The "corners" are the letters at the corners of the ice cube: F L O E.
If you "shave" the corners off the ice cube, you're left with those four letters.

Final Spoiler:

FLOE is a word.