Do these Riddles work? MY PLAYERS STAY OUT!

[Elder-Basilisk]

I please the foolish, damn the innocent,
Enrage the righteous, instruct the ignorant.
Multiplied, I am revealed the faster,
And when unveiled, I brand my master.

if the answer is lies, I still don't see how they instruct the innocent. Deceive, delude, beguile the innocent sure. But instruct?

I am valor’s foe and a tyrant’s friend,
In darkness I grow, and near life’s end.
Who heeds my call may his life prolong,
But you’ll not hear him praised in song.

I figured this for cowardice. Fear works too as does undeath though.

In hero's heart I grow unchecked,
Swell as he's lauded with respect,
But grown too great I sure shall crack
And stain his soul the darkest black.

Hero is better than paladin here and growing unchecked better than being clasped to one's breast. I tend to think of humility as one of the virtues of a paladin and pride as a mortal sin--a failing of a paladin (although perhaps a commonly accepted and portrayed one) rather than a source of strength; consequently the original had me on the wrong track from the start.

I speak good news but bring disaster.
I serve a cause, but not my master.
News of me is unwelcome, unbidden,
But I grow worse, the longer hidden.

I think this is a better version. I guessed treachery for the first but it didn't seem quite right--standing between the servant and the master was too vague and the strong identification of "am" good news that brings disaster seemed to call for something slightly less generic.

All told though, there seem like excellent riddles. I may use them myself someday.

 

[Steverooo]

I got the first one, thought the second was "lies", and thought the rest too hard (unless multiple guesses are allowed, with no penalties).

 

[Nareau]

I think they're good, and appreciate the revisions.

I please the foolish, damn the innocent,
Enrage the righteous, instruct the ignorant.
Multiplied, I am revealed the faster,
And when unveiled, I brand my master.

The cynical side of me votes for "The Government" or "Southpark" as possible answers.

Spider

 

[Celtavian]

Re

Good job Scupper. Those riddles are pretty damn good. Your players should enjoy them.

The second one was easy. Your changes make the others easier. Good changes.

 

[Drawmack]

I am not commenting on the specific riddles mentioned here but instead on riddles in general.

I have a player who loves riddles. She does them all the time. When it comes to in game riddles she has difficulty with them. Many times people think differently when playing the game then in real life, be aware of that and be ready to hand hold on a riddle here and there if you're incorporating them.

 

[Sixchan]

if the answer is lies, I still don't see how they instruct the innocent. Deceive, delude, beguile the innocent sure. But instruct?

you misread it. it damns the innocent and instructs the ignorant.

Lying removes innocence, and ignorant will believe lies.

 

[Scupper]

Thanks for the feedback all. Threw these into my game on Saturday night. Players enjoyed em, didn't get them right away, but didn't take too terribly long, either. I never could get the pride one to work like I wanted it to, so I did a different one:


I warn of danger with loathed report.
I bring forth truth, but no comfort.
I herald new life and life's last breath.
To ignore my warning is to invite death.


The whole puzzle involved each riddle being inscribed on a rod. There were four rods found in the area: two gold, one silver, one iron. A door in a catacomb had this inscription on it and four holes, colored gold, silver, grey and black:

Four lines they bear to give them life.
A misstep here is cause for strife.
One masquerades as richer brother.
Its answer tells it from the other.



Of the two "gold" rods, one had a riddle on it to which the answer was "a lie," and it was actually lead. They had to get the activation word for each rod and put them in the proper slots. Each mistake summoned a bebilith.

 

[BVB]

Answers:
1. A toilet
2. Mustard
3. Pornography.
4. A gnome bard who spells badly and carries a pointy, pointy knife? I don't know; this one is really hard.

 

[Scupper]

Answers:
1. A toilet
2. Mustard
3. Pornography.
4. A gnome bard who spells badly and carries a pointy, pointy knife? I don't know; this one is really hard.

Dude, that is just scary. It's like you're reading my mind. Except 4 is actually a halfling expert with a meat cleaver and a lot of ranks in "Profession (Butcher)."

 

[Tanstaafl]

I am not commenting on the specific riddles mentioned here but instead on riddles in general.

I have a player who loves riddles. She does them all the time. When it comes to in game riddles she has difficulty with them. Many times people think differently when playing the game then in real life, be aware of that and be ready to hand hold on a riddle here and there if you're incorporating them.

I have the same problem as your player; I'm great at problem solving but throw something intellectual at me in game & I mess it up.

The riddles are good, not to easy but not impossible - especially after the revisions.