More Cunning Riddles for White Plume Mountain

[dead]

I'm running White Plume Mountain and one of the PCs has challenged the sphinx at the entrance to a riddle match in order to extract information from her.

Basically, if she can't answer the PC's riddle, she'll have to give him info on the inhabitants of the mountain.

Then it's the sphinx's turn. If the PC can't answer her riddle, he'll have to give her treasure or a magic item or something.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had some cunning riddles I could throw at the players?

Thanks

[These riddles are separate from the 3 needed to pass down the corridors.]

 

[thedungeondelver]

I'm running White Plume Mountain and one of the PCs has challenged the sphinx at the entrance to a riddle match in order to extract information from her.

Basically, if she can't answer the PCs riddle, she'll have to give him info on the inhabitants of the mountain.

Then it's the sphinx's turn. If the PC can't answer her riddle, he'll have to give her treasure or a magic item or something.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had some cunning riddles I could throw at the players?

Thanks

"A God, A Man, A Land. What am I?"

(Ans.: Iuz)

 

[MerricB]

"A God, A Man, A Land. What am I?"

(Ans.: Iuz)

Nice.

Cheers!

 

[Felon]

You know, the premise sounds great, but it's really hard to be as good with riddles as a sphynx. If the parties involved don't have to come up with riddles off the top of their head, then forget it. Given a little time, it's not hard to find a riddle that's nigh-impossible to solve within a short time frame, but still makes perfect sense once you have the answer (which seems to be the only real qualifier of what makes for a "fair" riddle). Either you've heard it before or you're boned. Of course, letting the PC ask the first riddle works against the DM. However, it sounds like the sphynx gets a chance to ask a riddle even if she can't answer the PCs' (odd way to run a contest), so it will basically wind up as a treasure-for-info swap.

 

[dead]

You know, the premise sounds great, but it's really hard to be as good with riddles as a sphynx. If the parties involved don't have to come up with riddles off the top of their head, then forget it. Given a little time, it's not hard to find a riddle that's nigh-impossible to solve within a short time frame, but still makes perfect sense once you have the answer (which seems to be the only real qualifier of what makes for a "fair" riddle). Either you've heard it before or you're boned. Of course, letting the PC ask the first riddle works against the DM. However, it sounds like the sphynx gets a chance to ask a riddle even if she can't answer the PCs' (odd way to run a contest), so it will basically wind up as a treasure-for-info swap.

The last session ended just at this point. So, out of play the players have had the opportunity to come up with a couple of riddles.

It's a bit of light-hearted fun to start off the next session otherwise, yes, it's just a treasure for info swap.

I intend the sphinx to give the player's fairly simple riddles - ie. no more difficult than the ones in the original module (which are pretty easy).

As for the players, they can make them as difficult as they want. (I may rule I get an Int check or something for clues though as sphinxes should be pretty savvy at solving riddles.)

 

[dead]

Perhaps "A God, A Half-Man, A Land. What am I?"

(Ans.: Iuz)

. . . due to the fact that he's half-fiend/half-human?

 

[sjmiller]

What does Man love more than life?
Hate more than death or mortal strife?
That which the contented Man desires;
The Poor have; The Rich require?
The Miser spends, and the Spendthrift save,
And All Men carry to their graves?

Or maybe this:

When people come to me to meet,
They come to me with heavy feet.
The one I hold when I get my chance
Will turn, and spin, and start to dance.

Or perhaps ones they do not know are a riddle, like this nursery rhyme:

Hickory, dickory dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
and down it come.
Hickory, dickory dock.

When I get home I can check my riddle book for the really good ones. I use riddles as part of my performance at a local Renaissance Festival, so I have lots of them.

 

[Piratecat]

Stephen, how is 'Hickory Dickory Dock' a riddle?

 

[sjmiller]

Well, first you have to know the answer, which I will break my usual rule and give you. The answer is a guillotine.
A guillotine was usually made of hickory, a common wood in France.
The area you stand on is called the dock, and looked a bit like a fishing dock.
A common nickname for a blade of any size was a Mouse.
The part of the guillotine that held the Mouse is tall and thin, looking much like a grandfather clock.
One o'clock was the usual time for public executions. Since executions were a big show (so to speak) they were held at a time of day that would allow people to arrive from all around town and the countryside, watch the "festivities" and get back home before dark.

So, there you have a nice, cheerful little story for the kids.

 

[Slife]

How about this classic?
"What's red and green and goes round and round and round?"



(There's another one which is a little better a couple pages back.)