Help me with a riddle! (my players stay out!)

[Tessarael]

Don't have the riddle as essential for the plot.

Why not have the sign seeming to just indicate what lies ahead. Along the lines of,

"This way lies such and such ..."

Most folks would just assume it's a signpost and keep going. If someone wants to fool around with it and figure out that it is a trigger, good for them. Other people who get bored can still wander on ahead.

Just my thoughts ...

 

[Asmo]

Tessarael wrote:

"Most folks would just assume it's a signpost and keep going."

A sign that´s floating in the air, with no visible chains or ropes attached to it ?

Remember that the party has been here before, and the psionic/rogue made a brief inspection of the sign (he didn´t find anything special).
But I admit that´s a risk to use the portal as a big part of the plot, indeed.
If they don´t solve the riddle they just have to find an another way to locate the missing villagers and save them from the hands of the cruel derro.
But that would be the next dm:s problem .

Asmo

 

[Angcuru]

Is it a college of elven wizards?

Sina is the elvish word for this.

If you'd like a completely elvish riddle, post it in my translation thread(see sig.)

Terraisim Wrote:
"Merak, out of curiosity - did you ever become an associate of W.I.T.? Quest for Glory 2."

I graduated from the Wizards Institute for Technocracy, myself. With honors. (That bell thing was soooooo easy. And the ICEBERG! Don't get me started.)

 

[Believer]

An idea for revealing the spell:

A 'haze' can be seen at the foot of the stairway. It is intangible and any attempts to walk through it occur unhindered. If anything other than a wizard passes through it (since wizards generally don't like sorcerers and wouldn't admit them... but that's up to your discretion) then nothing happens. If a WIZARD passed through it.... the haze forms into a 'person' say.... a Dancing Lights in the form of a humanoid and have Magic Mouth cast on it to say the riddle.

If this were my campaign (though I admit I have done no DMing) I would force the wizard to cast all those spells, or at least speak the name (since Spellcraft is only a trained ability this limits it to spellcasters... and if one does not know the name that this specific wizarding group calls it, casting it would work as well) and this would allow them to pass through.

If you want the whole PARTY to pass through you may want to have it dispel the enchantment or make another Magic Mouth to say that the Wizard has passed the test and that he/she and his/her retainers could enter (since most wizards have an ego problem and view themselves above others, but that doesn't mean they don't have bodyguards... and it would razz the other party members as being known as subordinates)

Goodluck!