Seven Keys

[MandaloreTheNerd]

Well, my players have lost their common sense. They are currently on a quest to find these "Seven Keys" to the Gate of Blood. Beyond this gate lies their goal - One wish. Anything they please. In this case, they want to restore order to their war torn world. Buuut, they made a mistake. They found a small piece of a magic map. It shows the location of the other pieces, wich form together to make... *dun dun dun*... a bigger map! This bigger map will lead them to the Seven Keys. There is a problem. I gave them the map I drew for them. And they read it upside down. Now they're heading North West, instead of South East. How on Earth do I fix this? The NPCs they're with... they're not very bright, and really have no idea what they're doing. There's also the fact that this map only works for THEM as their ancestors were the creators. *facepalm*


Yeah... this probably sound REALLY stupid, but with MY players... ugh...

 

[Cor_Malek]

As they go further and further the wrong way, describe whatever characteristic points there are. Is there a mountain they should be getting closer to/farther from?

If they still don't get it, make them throw survival checks until they get totally lost, at which point they can check the map. They will be unable to correlate the map with their surrounding until they understand - either by own reasoning, or successful checks that they went in exactly opposite direction.

Of course any settlements should make it more obvious.

 

[fba827]

Someone with a wilderness/navigation/nature type skill (depending on what game system you're using) should be able to notice differences between what they think they are seeing on the map and what is actually there - the terrain is not quite the same or some such thing. Hence, that person should be able to figure out at least that something is wrong.

 

[MandaloreTheNerd]

Well, the players are comepletely new to their surroundings so mountains and cities won't work.

 

[Cor_Malek]

If they are completely new to the area, they can hardly navigate from memory. So they need a map, and you travel with map by checking where you are, and then heading of in some direction, until you reach a new characteristic point, where you check your position again and then go to the next characteristic points. At least that's what anyone with at least 1 rank in survival would do, because otherwise your error will increase exponentially and you'll arrive several kilometres off the target. It's one of those situations where their characters might know more than players themselves.

If they arrive in a city that shouldn't be there, and is called exactly like a city on southeast, it might give them a clue as well. Same with crossing a river, anything - it should ring some bells, at least to person leading the way or the one with the map.

 

[Whisper72]

Well, have them find another map, from some trader or adventurer, completely unrelated to their current quest, which happens to overlap their special map, but including the little bit they now have. On it, it becomes clear where they are now, and where they are heading... the wrong direction...

 

[Verdande]

Why on earth would you want to solve their problem for them? If they don't bother to check their map against the landmarks on the map, then they deserve to get lost. That's what happens to people in real life, you know.

So do what Cor_Malek suggests. When they run into a river that isn't supposed to be there, or a road that leads to a town on a totally different part of the map, or hell, even meet somebody friendly and tell them where they're going, somebody's going to notice.

If not, then they deserve to head off in the wrong direction. That's kind of how it works.

 

[Dragonfriend]

Is it the first map? Rewrite the other one so that they fit this one. Assume that they are reading it in the right way