Puzzle-lovers unite ... Puzzle haters ignore.

[Hypersmurf]

UJH translates to "Ice" or "the" or "but"... like i said, very few words. But your typical crypto points out frequency, so it's probably "the"

In your basic Letter-substitution, that becomes U = T, J = H, H = E.

Now, figure out whether those substitutions are random, or whether there's a pattern to U=T, J=H, H=E... and apply that same pattern to SGDTJX.

In short, it's a bad puzzle, since the players will look at it and agonize over it for far too long, bringing your gaming night to a screeching halt.

The gaming night will be coming to a screeching halt, but not because of the cipher's difficulty... it's because he specifically stated that the session will end with the cipher being provided to the players, and their decryption time ends as soon as the next session starts.

-Hyp.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Thanks for the input, this is a learning curve for me. I love Sudoko, Kakuro, and the like. But I don't get much practice on ciphers. So, if the context of the cipher were something like this:

The party is in the midst of a wilderness adventure - defending themselves from an onslaught of hill giants. Deciding retreat the better part of valor, they stumble upon a narrow tunnel that leads into a small underground long lost dwarven tunnel. They've fought hard all day before finding a sealed door that is of obvious dwarven make. Furthermore, it is adorned by holy symbols of the dwarven gods of good. [PHB - Moradin.] On the door it merely says:

SGVX XGDVD HKDRYYSIHOCE



That would be significantly more difficult to figure out? [Assuming I did it right]

 

[boolean]

And if you want to make it harder, don't reset the sequence at the beginning of each word.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Thanks for the input, this is a learning curve for me. I love Sudoko, Kakuro, and the like. But I don't get much practice on ciphers. So, if the context of the cipher were something like this:

The party is in the midst of a wilderness adventure - defending themselves from an onslaught of hill giants. Deciding retreat the better part of valor, they stumble upon a narrow tunnel that leads into a small underground long lost dwarven tunnel. They've fought hard all day before finding a sealed door that is of obvious dwarven make. Furthermore, it is adorned by holy symbols of the dwarven gods of good. [PHB - Moradin.] On the door it merely says:

SGVX XGDVD HKDRYYSIHOCE



That would be significantly more difficult to figure out? [Assuming I did it right]

Yeah, that one's harder

 

[Nonlethal Force]

In short, it's a bad puzzle, since the players will look at it and agonize over it for far too long, bringing your gaming night to a screeching halt. Step back and play with a full deck. and maybe make the cypher somewhat... how shall I say this... solvable?

Uh ... except that in the OP I said this was going to end a session, the RPers would have a week to work on it, they know that they don't have to solve it to move on and play the next session.

So, basically, they want the cipher, it is a no-pressure cipher because the game moves on whether they solve it or not. In many respects, this cipher is like a hidden treasure room. If the party finds the room, great! If they miss it, oh well ... no harm lost!

I don't see why this is a bad tactic when the players ask me for a hard cipher because they want to work on it for the rest of a full week and it has little effect on gameplay? [Okay, besides the level if they best the challenge.]

 

[Hypersmurf]

That would be significantly more difficult to figure out? [Assuming I did it right]

Yes. It's not a particularly esoteric cipher, so given a week to play with it, anyone devoting any time to it should figure it out, but it won't be as quick.

(I used a program, as mentioned above, to cut down the grunt work considerably... so it wouldn't take me long. But that was because I guessed it would be a step-progression.)

-Hyp.

 

[Agent Oracle]

Edit Deleted because I was stupid.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Incendentally:

The solution to your base cypher is: the offset of the original letter increases by 1 each additional letter is added: as such F-g (one step) E - g (two steps) A-d (three steps) etc.

Still too difficult.

Seriously, are you trolling?

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Now, my question is - How does solving a puzzle out of game time constitute "proper RPing"?

-Hyp.

Ah, an excellent question - one that I didn't answer. But, since it was asked, I shall. In that example, the excellent RPing would not come in the cipher, but in the realization that they have opened up a significant portal to ... say ... a plane of one of their gods. Their god is so pleased that they have been able to figure out the riddle - for so few that have come upon it have been able to, that they are granted the ability to stay on the plane for the equivalent of 3 days. During that time, the characters are assured of no armed/lethal conflict - for they are on the home plane of a good aligned good. They have the ability to interact with all kinds of celestials - either creatures or beings like solars and archons. It is of their choosing. Essentially, the excellent of good RPing is in the reward of being able to solve the cipher in that for a time they essentially get to have fun on a planar level in a safe environment. The players get a chance to let their hair down, relax, and have fun witht he plot and be creative knowing that combat doesn't even need to come into their mind. Or .. something along those lines. I'm still thinking on it and what the players would truly relish if they could have a purely "creative moment."

 

[Agent Oracle]

Seriously, are you trolling?

I just realized what I've been posting.

I apologize. I'm here to set things right by, how should i say this... removing my offensive posts.

It's 1 am, I'm very, very tired. I have to be up for work in three hours, and I just realized this. Please disreguard everything I've said,