I am making a mansion where every room has a different puzzle or event attached to it. One of my ideas was to make one room that will make a few people who fail saves lie throughout the whole puzzle/event.
My only problem is I cannot figure out what kind of thing would make the most out of the group not knowing one person is lying to them constantly.
Just wondering if people would have any suggestions about how to make the best of it. My players would be go along with it and I would give them a note before hand saying they have to lie about everything they say.
I would just add 1 caution. Be sure your group is the kind that will enjoy a puzzle mansion.
I had a GM do that once, He just assumed everyone liked puzzles because he did and "they are a staple of the genre". None of us where the kind that were good at or liked trying to solve puzzles. It completely wrecked the campaign and almost the gaming group (because people assumed it was always going to be like that and stopped showing up).
If your group likes puzzles, then it is a great idea. Go for it and have fun.
How it works isn't important. What I am asking is what should they have to do in that room. What kind of puzzle or event should take place. I can't really think of much.
Maybe try to play your players?
Take each of them aside and tell them that they will be in a special position where, if you pass them a note telling them they failed their save, then they must lie. Some players will love this and take off with it, but maybe not yours.
Then just say you're passing out notes to everyone so no one metagames.
I would just add 1 caution. Be sure your group is the kind that will enjoy a puzzle mansion.
I had a GM do that once, He just assumed everyone liked puzzles because he did and "they are a staple of the genre". None of us where the kind that were good at or liked trying to solve puzzles. It completely wrecked the campaign and almost the gaming group (because people assumed it was always going to be like that and stopped showing up).
If your group likes puzzles, then it is a great idea. Go for it and have fun.
This. I did this for a long running campaign I had. It was a single small dungeon that the completed in a single game sesion, but it didn't go over very well. For my group a few puzzles here and there are fine but an entire night of them and they get cranky.
I'm not asking how to handle it or if people could handle it or how people would react.
I asked if anyone had any ideas for the actual event or puzzle in the room that they would have to solve while some of them are lying.
This is the third time I had to ask....
A series of switches that are placed around a room so that none have line of sight to them. The switches must be all flipped to a certain pattern either in rapid sequence or simultaneously, so that one person can't trigger them all.
If you make the switch mechanism a question that must be answered audibly, then the lies matter.
If the person who deciphers the puzzle lies, then his instructions will be difficult to interpret.
If you tie the save or lie spell to a hallow/unhallow that targets those who don't worship the mansion-builder's diety, then you have a simple way for the people who /should/ bypass the room to avoid the 'trap'
Have the puzzle involve someone's backstory.
A ghost appears or whatever and demands he speak to his commanding officer before he'll help the party. Everyone looks around confused as there's no ex commanding officer, they try to trick the ghost but it knows it's old CO is present. The lying player can't say "Yep, I'm the guy he wants" so the group as to figure out who it is based on things like perception checks, who carries themselves like an officer, who could have come from a military background etc...
Now of course this is hard if they all know each other, or don't have backstories or that sort of thing, but hopefully it's some direction to follow.
Or, have it be a bit like a game of Clue, where they have to guess a certain combination of things to progress, everyone is issued a sampling of items (lets say animal tokens or something). Each player gets 3 tokens at the start of the night, there are 3 token categories (like Person, weapon, room) there's 2 of each token (So 2 Prof. Plums, 2 candlesticks, 2 libraries) except for one (so only 1 Col Mustard, only 1 lead pipe, only 1 bathroom).
The PCs need to find the solo tokens and match their solo tokens to three matching tokens that are attached to the alter or something. Now, whoever fails their will save to tell the truth get's a note telling them to lie when people are asking about who has what token. For some reason, provide an incentive to make some players want to keep their token (tell them it provides a magic ability or something) but if they all work together, they can unlock something for the group. So now you have some people lying due to greed, others lying because they have too, and the truthful people are stuck trying to figure out who has what. The people lying out of greed can be persuaded to help out the team, which makes the job easier, but the liars can't help but lie needing the others to use logic and deduction. If people keep their tokens out of greed, later on in the mansion have a spirit or something punish them by revealing the tokens are cursed or something like that so that you incentivized the PCs earlier, but didn't provide a game breaking boost.
Sorry about the wall of text, but hopefully it provided some inspiration.
It's going to be difficult compelling your players to rp lying, I think. I respect where you're coming from, but I think your idea is going to frustrate you more than it will entertain your players.
My first thought is to take a page from the rpg Paranoia; wherein if you're not lying, you're probably on your next-to-the-last clone and Friend Computer is about to snuff you out.
Idea: A shrine is awakened upon the PC's entering. A representative of some diety appears and lays down the law "Eyes and Ears are watching you whil'st in this place, so you must lie about every little thing excepting that which is closest to your heart, that, the goddess will protect." which will create a sort of rp juxtaposition wherein the PC may express themselves in absurd ways while telling the truth about only one thing. Mind you, you'll have to provide plenty of impetus for out-loud discussion throughout this encounter, else you'll have people not talking at all.
It's going to be difficult compelling your players to rp lying, I think. I respect where you're coming from, but I think your idea is going to frustrate you more than it will entertain your players.
My first thought is to take a page from the rpg Paranoia; wherein if you're not lying, you're probably on your next-to-the-last clone and Friend Computer is about to snuff you out.
Idea: A shrine is awakened upon the PC's entering. A representative of some diety appears and lays down the law "Eyes and Ears are watching you whil'st in this place, so you must lie about every little thing excepting that which is closest to your heart, that, the goddess will protect." which will create a sort of rp juxtaposition wherein the PC may express themselves in absurd ways while telling the truth about only one thing. Mind you, you'll have to provide plenty of impetus for out-loud discussion throughout this encounter, else you'll have people not talking at all.
Nah it wouldn't be. My friends would totally do that to f&+~ each other up. Sadly the campaign already has enough revealing of close to heart secrets.
Thanks for the ideas guys