Puzzle-lovers unite ... Puzzle haters ignore.

[Nonlethal Force]

Okay. I have created a situation in one of my games where the players have the potential to earn some serious XP from proper RPing. Their reward is a free level that will move them up to the same location in the next level. IE, if they are 4th level with 9,000 XP (or 3,000 of 4,000 needed) then they are 75% of the way from level 4 to level 5. Therefore, the player would end up at 75% to the way to level 6, or 13,750 (or 3,750 of the 5,000 needed). Now, I am not arguing as to the fairness of the award. I simply don't care about the fairness of the award - it is a free award, after all! What I do care is about rewarding their efforts big time. I have some players who like puzzles - inspired by Haley on OOTS. [Even if Haley's speech is a simple cypher.] They've asked me to end a session on a cipher - a really hard one. They get a week to figure it out. If they come back with it at the start of the next session and it is correct, they get to go into the "special place filled with an XP boon." Else, they move on with the adventure as their characters assume they just aren't smart enough yet.

Assuming they pass, I want to make them work for it. Assuming they fail, I want to keep it open so they can come back to it later.

The question is ... is this puzzle too hard?

Translate the following text:

GGDV UJH SGDTJX

The rules are:
1. Each letter represents another single letter's place, however this is not a mere "replacement" cipher like Haley's from OOTS. For example, if you think the "G" represents the letter "A," the "G" need not be an "A" the whole way through the puzzle. Thus, it is possible that the e "G's" in the cipher above might just represent 3 different leters!

2. Since each letter does take the place of a single letter, the correct solution can be assumed to be a three word answer in which the first word has 4 letters, the second word has 3 letters, and the third word has 6 letters.

Can you do it? Remember, this cipher is asked to be very challenging, so if I did my job as a DM it shouldn't be easy.

EDIT: By the way, Rule #1 implies that their is in fact a pattern. A person could read rule #1 and simply say, "Oh, the DM made up a bunch of letters and Rule #1 cover's his butt." But the players will know that there is a straightforward mathematical progression at work in the cipher. The reason I stated Rule #1 as I did is because I wanted them to understand that this cipher is designed to push the envelop beyond simply "matching letters" to using their mathematical sides of their brains! The cipher, then, is not about matching letters but finding the proper mathematical expression along with matching letters!

EDIT 2: For a harder cipher, ignore the one given in this thread and procede to this post within this same thread: Better Cipher

 

[Hypersmurf]

Questions:

Is there a pattern to the substitutions? If the G can represent three different letters, then could the puzzle be written as 'GGGG GGG GGGGGG' without being any more difficult?

Is the text contextually relevant? Could it be any sentence ('FEAR THE REAPER', say), or will the answer be related to something that happened in the session, something to do with whichever NPC poses the puzzle, etc?

-Hyp.

 

[Crothian]

Clafication on the rules please. As I understand it each letter can stand for different letters. Do different letters have to stand for different letters or could two different letters stand for the same letter?

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Hyp and Crothian, I edited my above post as you were typing, so please check that. As a clarification, there is a pattern. Thus, all G's would not make sense under the mathematical progression.

Hyp: The text in the game will be contextual ... But I fear that if I talk about the context I will inadvertantly make the cipher obvious because of what I focus on in the context.

Crothian: The letters may represent the same letter in different spots, but it doesn't have to. The key is in the math behind the progression more than anything else.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Also, if you think you know the solution ... should we simply put up solutions without explaining how you got it so that others can try?

I'm trying to figure out how to let people know the correct answer without giving away the solution to the cipher.

 

[Delta]

Here's a critque. The puzzle is indefinitely difficult.

EDIT: By the way, Rule #1 implies that their is in fact a pattern.

The crux of my critique is re: this edit, "No, actually it does not." You clearly have that in mind, but you never said or implied that in the original rules. You need to consider the following added rules depending on what you actually mean:

- There is some kind of mathematical progression behind the substitution.
- There is an arithmetic or geometric sequence behind the substitution.
- There is an arithmetic sequence behind the substitution.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Here's a critque. The puzzle is indefinitely difficult.



The crux of my critique is re: this edit, "No, actually it does not." You clearly have that in mind, but you never said or implied that in the original rules. You need to consider the following added rules depending on what you actually mean:

- There is some kind of mathematical progression behind the substitution.
- There is an arithmetic or geometric sequence behind the substitution.
- There is an arithmetic sequence behind the substitution.

I disagree--Hypersmurf solved it immediately without any such hints

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Is it a sentence substitution code, instead of a 1:1 cipher?

 

[stevelabny]

Am I not supposed to show my answer? I'll put it in double spoilers

[sblock]
I mean triple


the answer is...
[sblock]
fear the reaper
[/sblock]

why it took me less than 5 minutes...

[sblock]
any 3 word cipher with the word THE in the middle will be easy
[/sblock]
[/sblock]

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Here's a critque. The puzzle is indefinitely difficult.



The crux of my critique is re: this edit, "No, actually it does not." You clearly have that in mind, but you never said or implied that in the original rules. You need to consider the following added rules depending on what you actually mean:

- There is some kind of mathematical progression behind the substitution.
- There is an arithmetic or geometric sequence behind the substitution.
- There is an arithmetic sequence behind the substitution.

While technically correct, this argument is suffering from the fact that I had to type out the rules, and typing is infinately slower than writing. Thus, stuff gets missed and not said. You are correct. I did not say it. But I wasn't goign to read the rules to them as I typed them up. That's why I added the edit part.

But yes, I did not say it implicitly. So let me say it now. Rule #1 does not imply a mathematical progression. BUT, here in this post I say it does straight out. There is a mathematical solution to the cipher.