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Riddle Mechanic? Suggestion? Advice?
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<blockquote data-quote="el-remmen" data-source="post: 8609991" data-attributes="member: 11"><p>I love riddles. </p><p></p><p>I love the old fantasy adventure trope of the heroes being faced with a riddle they need to solve to get past a monster, get through a doorway, access a treasure, or get some piece of info that will help them.</p><p></p><p>What I don't love is the all or nothing aspect of a riddle that make them not as fun at the table.</p><p></p><p>I am less concerned with the conflict between player and character knowledge or smarts in solving them, because as I have said before I see D&D as a cooperative game, so group intelligence/discussion can stand in for the knowledge and know-how of any one character when appropriate to the situation. So for example, the whole group might discuss a riddle out of character, including input from the player with a barbarian with a 6 Intelligence, but for the sake of the in-game fiction, the 18 Int wizard is the one who answers.</p><p></p><p>So yeah, I am not concerned with that aspect. On the other hand, riddles can still be tricky (that's why they're riddles) and I think no one is satisfied with a riddle that seems too easy or so common almost anyone can get it.</p><p></p><p>So what I want to develop are simple rules for allowing a group faced with a sphinx (for example) to both think through and try to answer the riddle on their own, but then have some kind of graduated skill checks that provide clues of increasing helpfulness so they are less likely to get stuck. </p><p></p><p>I am not sure I need this mechanic to work across the board. It would be sufficient to develop some one-off thing I can put to use. I think this because it seems to me that for such a system to work each riddle and the DCs for the hints would have to developed on a case by case basis. As such, for the encounter I am developing I think the PCs will have 3 guesses, but for each guess they get wrong what they get for their (eventual?) success would be lessened.</p><p></p><p>I am also trying to figure out if if makes sense to have characters make individual skill checks for these hints or make it a group activity with group skill checks (if at least half those involved make it they get the clue). I'd also like to make it so that multiple skills could be put to use. So for example, if a history check is made to try to figure out some degree of clue, maybe a higher roll of a different skill (let's say arcana or insight) could provide a different and better clue.</p><p></p><p>So if we take an example riddle from <em>The Hobbit </em>just to work with</p><p></p><p></p><p>The hints at each DC could be</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">"Answering correctly might be a fluke"</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">"It is not a mineral." (as in animal, vegetable, mineral)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">"It lives in water"</li> </ul><p></p><p>Now, these examples might be <em>too easy</em> but I am just trying to think it through - and obviously, I'd need to think through good DCs as well.</p><p></p><p></p><p>So anyone have suggestions or even another system they have come up with or know of to suggest?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="el-remmen, post: 8609991, member: 11"] I love riddles. I love the old fantasy adventure trope of the heroes being faced with a riddle they need to solve to get past a monster, get through a doorway, access a treasure, or get some piece of info that will help them. What I don't love is the all or nothing aspect of a riddle that make them not as fun at the table. I am less concerned with the conflict between player and character knowledge or smarts in solving them, because as I have said before I see D&D as a cooperative game, so group intelligence/discussion can stand in for the knowledge and know-how of any one character when appropriate to the situation. So for example, the whole group might discuss a riddle out of character, including input from the player with a barbarian with a 6 Intelligence, but for the sake of the in-game fiction, the 18 Int wizard is the one who answers. So yeah, I am not concerned with that aspect. On the other hand, riddles can still be tricky (that's why they're riddles) and I think no one is satisfied with a riddle that seems too easy or so common almost anyone can get it. So what I want to develop are simple rules for allowing a group faced with a sphinx (for example) to both think through and try to answer the riddle on their own, but then have some kind of graduated skill checks that provide clues of increasing helpfulness so they are less likely to get stuck. I am not sure I need this mechanic to work across the board. It would be sufficient to develop some one-off thing I can put to use. I think this because it seems to me that for such a system to work each riddle and the DCs for the hints would have to developed on a case by case basis. As such, for the encounter I am developing I think the PCs will have 3 guesses, but for each guess they get wrong what they get for their (eventual?) success would be lessened. I am also trying to figure out if if makes sense to have characters make individual skill checks for these hints or make it a group activity with group skill checks (if at least half those involved make it they get the clue). I'd also like to make it so that multiple skills could be put to use. So for example, if a history check is made to try to figure out some degree of clue, maybe a higher roll of a different skill (let's say arcana or insight) could provide a different and better clue. So if we take an example riddle from [I]The Hobbit [/I]just to work with The hints at each DC could be [LIST] [*]"Answering correctly might be a fluke" [*]"It is not a mineral." (as in animal, vegetable, mineral) [*]"It lives in water" [/LIST] Now, these examples might be [I]too easy[/I] but I am just trying to think it through - and obviously, I'd need to think through good DCs as well. So anyone have suggestions or even another system they have come up with or know of to suggest? [/QUOTE]
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