Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Jhaelen" data-source="post: 5843051" data-attributes="member: 46713">I agree that there may be situations that require you to leave clues to allow fellow members of your secret organization to solve it. There are real-world examples for this. One of the most common involves a common reference known only to members; this could e.g. be a book, a song, or a prayer. So, to be able to make sense of the clues, you need to have access to this common reference. If you'd like your players to solve the 'riddle', they'd first have to figure out what that common reference is and get hold of it.I'd like to use this opportunity to point out one of my favorite novels that deals with this kind of thing: Cryptonomicon by Neals Stephenson. It features a very interesting cipher that can be decoded using a set of playing cards. It's a good example for a 'riddle' that is impossible to solve for anyone who doesn't know the method to decode it but easy (if time-consuming) for anyone in the know.Of course once you start to introduce magic in the equation, all bets are off. You can use magic triggers to make sure no one except members of your organization will actually receive any clues by adding requirements that are difficult to match without being a member. Even something as simple as an alignment-based trigger would make it hard for non-members to get to the clues. Everything detectable by magic can become a part of the trigger.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Jhaelen, post: 5843051, member: 46713"] I agree that there may be situations that require you to leave clues to allow fellow members of your secret organization to solve it. There are real-world examples for this. One of the most common involves a common reference known only to members; this could e.g. be a book, a song, or a prayer. So, to be able to make sense of the clues, you need to have access to this common reference. If you'd like your players to solve the 'riddle', they'd first have to figure out what that common reference is and get hold of it. I'd like to use this opportunity to point out one of my favorite novels that deals with this kind of thing: Cryptonomicon by Neals Stephenson. It features a very interesting cipher that can be decoded using a set of playing cards. It's a good example for a 'riddle' that is impossible to solve for anyone who doesn't know the method to decode it but easy (if time-consuming) for anyone in the know. Of course once you start to introduce magic in the equation, all bets are off. You can use magic triggers to make sure no one except members of your organization will actually receive any clues by adding requirements that are difficult to match without being a member. Even something as simple as an alignment-based trigger would make it hard for non-members to get to the clues. Everything detectable by magic can become a part of the trigger. [/QUOTE]

Verification