First time DM long time player. We just started playing the game. I created my own world but I am using the eberron pantheon. I have a player playing a monk who left his monastery because they worship the dark six. There are other people that left his monastery awhile ago that he is seeking out. I want there to be a twist where these people made their own cult and they worship/made pacts with fiends. His character has just made contact with one of these people and was sent to talk to their leader in the ruins of a nearby temple. I'm currently designing a dungeon where they fight off fiends and at the end of it he comes face to face with a demon lord who will present him with a riddle to hint at this group's true intentions. Before teleporting away prompting him to seek this demon lord out in the future. I'm at a loss as to what this riddle could be. All I have so far is "six gods are greater than one..." Open to suggestions, also any clarifying questions I can answer.
First time DM long time player. We just started playing the game. I created my own world but I am using the eberron pantheon. I have a player playing a monk who left his monastery because they worship the dark six. There are other people that left his monastery awhile ago that he is seeking out. I want there to be a twist where these people made their own cult and they worship/made pacts with fiends. His character has just made contact with one of these people and was sent to talk to their leader in the ruins of a nearby temple. I'm currently designing a dungeon where they fight off fiends and at the end of it he comes face to face with a demon lord who will present him with a riddle to hint at this group's true intentions. Before teleporting away prompting him to seek this demon lord out in the future. I'm at a loss as to what this riddle could be. All I have so far is "six gods are greater than one..." Open to suggestions, also any clarifying questions I can answer.
What are the groups true intentions? Would be the standard Need to know for helping you craft a riddle
Basically they worship and do the bidding of demons/fiends. I'm still working on what exactly their end goal would be. Basic cult stuff would be to get as many members as possible. They are trying to lure in the player without revealing their demonic connections. Perhaps they are performing rituals allowing large amounts demons to enter into the mortal realm.
do you want us to use what you have so far or just make up a different one because I could probably think up one for you I just would have to use a different format.
I dont mind w/e format is fine. I was just sharing my thoughts on the beginning of it. If you came up with one for me I would be eternally greatful lol
"What can kill even the greatest gods and the smallest fleas, what can break the hardest metals and dull the sharpest swords, what sees all things as the same thing and awaits to destroy all."
best I could think of on short notice, its obviously time but depending on your characters wisdom/intelligence scores it might be a challenge for them.
My question would be what kind of riddle you intend this to be! Is it like a Lord of the Rings riddle where there is a defined answer like "darkness" or "time", or is the idea that it is a kind of cryptic speech that implies something that they will need to know for the future?
Will they know they have defeated a demon before they solve this, or will it be a reveal after they best some kind of "wizard who seems to know a suspicious amount about fiends and necromancy and stuff" and then the players get presented with this clue that goes deeper? Or is the idea that they definitely know the size and scope of this and you are looking for a sort of epic poem/rhyme for the towering winged monster to leave them with?
I'm currently designing a dungeon where they fight off fiends and at the end of it he comes face to face with a demon lord who will present him with a riddle to hint at this group's true intentions. Before teleporting away prompting him to seek this demon lord out in the future. I'm at a loss as to what this riddle could be. All I have so far is "six gods are greater than one..." Open to suggestions, also any clarifying questions I can answer.
I'd never do this to my players. You solve a riddle to get a hint? A little hint? Then the demon teleports away? There is no player satisfaction there in that encounter. Demon Lord sounds like a boss. And he just runs away? Pfft! I wouldn't put the demon Lord there in I'd have a lesser demon under the Lord for players to fight and on that lesser demon are pages to where the Lord was and what it's up to.
@itnige maybe riddle isnt necessarily the best word to describe it. I am thinking more of a cryptic message that gives them plot clues.
Ok cool, I think that helps direct it a ton. I can see a couple ways this information could fall into the players hands without a "Muahaha, you may have defeated me, but you'll never stop our plans for this doomsday thing I definitely shouldn't tell you about..." kind of exposition moment. Here's some ideas, and again depends on if the party is totally clear that the person they're fighting is definitely demonic, or just opposed to them and violent and they're figuring it out.
• Bad guy's moves in the fight are betraying what kind of magic source they use, something like: "he mutters an incantation in a language you don't recognize, as the room begins to darken, and a sickly red bolt of energy lashes out at [[player]]. Make a constitution save. as searing pain arcs across your body." This kind of description should hopefully clue the players in that this isn't like Mr.Druid hitting them with the power of nature, but something more terrible and gross. Then after they beat this person up, they can find his staff/spellbook. What's this? It's covered in Infernal runes, which we'll need of [[NPC]] to translate! And it's covered in symbols of burning bodies/tortured souls/iconography of the 6.
• The classic "destroy after reading" note falls into the player's hands. Maybe they interrupt this villain as they're writing a report to a superior or writing down orders for an assassination of some local but inherently good person. The players might even interrupt the villain speaking to a projection of some demonic overlord in the kind of "Emperor Palpatine Hologram" way. The demon notices them eventually and does a classic "You fool, deal with these intruders" before disappearing and the fight kicking off. This also leads into the idea that the villain they were chasing isn't even the top baddie, which keeps the story moving.
• I couldn't find much on the Dark Six and I'm not familiar with Eberron, so unfortunately I can't help with the riddle itself, but I think if you do want the traditional written format (Like they find it inscribed on some evil tome or something), I think a 6-line prayer defining each of the 6 is pretty straightforward. I am no poet, but the style you have already can work great, just come up with a line you like, and build another around it to fit and adjust as necessary. You can google up some rhymes and go from there!
First time DM long time player. We just started playing the game. I created my own world but I am using the eberron pantheon. I have a player playing a monk who left his monastery because they worship the dark six. There are other people that left his monastery awhile ago that he is seeking out. I want there to be a twist where these people made their own cult and they worship/made pacts with fiends. His character has just made contact with one of these people and was sent to talk to their leader in the ruins of a nearby temple. I'm currently designing a dungeon where they fight off fiends and at the end of it he comes face to face with a demon lord who will present him with a riddle to hint at this group's true intentions. Before teleporting away prompting him to seek this demon lord out in the future. I'm at a loss as to what this riddle could be. All I have so far is "six gods are greater than one..."
Open to suggestions, also any clarifying questions I can answer.
What are the groups true intentions? Would be the standard Need to know for helping you craft a riddle
Watch me on twitch
Basically they worship and do the bidding of demons/fiends. I'm still working on what exactly their end goal would be. Basic cult stuff would be to get as many members as possible. They are trying to lure in the player without revealing their demonic connections. Perhaps they are performing rituals allowing large amounts demons to enter into the mortal realm.
do you want us to use what you have so far or just make up a different one because I could probably think up one for you I just would have to use a different format.
Mythology Master
I dont mind w/e format is fine. I was just sharing my thoughts on the beginning of it. If you came up with one for me I would be eternally greatful lol
"What can kill even the greatest gods and the smallest fleas, what can break the hardest metals and dull the sharpest swords, what sees all things as the same thing and awaits to destroy all."
best I could think of on short notice, its obviously time but depending on your characters wisdom/intelligence scores it might be a challenge for them.
Mythology Master
My question would be what kind of riddle you intend this to be! Is it like a Lord of the Rings riddle where there is a defined answer like "darkness" or "time", or is the idea that it is a kind of cryptic speech that implies something that they will need to know for the future?
Will they know they have defeated a demon before they solve this, or will it be a reveal after they best some kind of "wizard who seems to know a suspicious amount about fiends and necromancy and stuff" and then the players get presented with this clue that goes deeper? Or is the idea that they definitely know the size and scope of this and you are looking for a sort of epic poem/rhyme for the towering winged monster to leave them with?
I'm currently designing a dungeon where they fight off fiends and at the end of it he comes face to face with a demon lord who will present him with a riddle to hint at this group's true intentions. Before teleporting away prompting him to seek this demon lord out in the future. I'm at a loss as to what this riddle could be. All I have so far is "six gods are greater than one..."
Open to suggestions, also any clarifying questions I can answer.
I'd never do this to my players. You solve a riddle to get a hint? A little hint? Then the demon teleports away? There is no player satisfaction there in that encounter. Demon Lord sounds like a boss. And he just runs away? Pfft! I wouldn't put the demon Lord there in I'd have a lesser demon under the Lord for players to fight and on that lesser demon are pages to where the Lord was and what it's up to.
@avohei When he teleports away he leaves a lower cr boss for them to fight. But I do like your idea of the boss having some kind of clue on his corpse
@itnige maybe riddle isnt necessarily the best word to describe it. I am thinking more of a cryptic message that gives them plot clues.
@Poseidon that a great one. Imma have to save that for another encounter :)
Ok cool, I think that helps direct it a ton. I can see a couple ways this information could fall into the players hands without a "Muahaha, you may have defeated me, but you'll never stop our plans for this doomsday thing I definitely shouldn't tell you about..." kind of exposition moment. Here's some ideas, and again depends on if the party is totally clear that the person they're fighting is definitely demonic, or just opposed to them and violent and they're figuring it out.
• Bad guy's moves in the fight are betraying what kind of magic source they use, something like: "he mutters an incantation in a language you don't recognize, as the room begins to darken, and a sickly red bolt of energy lashes out at [[player]]. Make a constitution save. as searing pain arcs across your body." This kind of description should hopefully clue the players in that this isn't like Mr.Druid hitting them with the power of nature, but something more terrible and gross. Then after they beat this person up, they can find his staff/spellbook. What's this? It's covered in Infernal runes, which we'll need of [[NPC]] to translate! And it's covered in symbols of burning bodies/tortured souls/iconography of the 6.
• The classic "destroy after reading" note falls into the player's hands. Maybe they interrupt this villain as they're writing a report to a superior or writing down orders for an assassination of some local but inherently good person. The players might even interrupt the villain speaking to a projection of some demonic overlord in the kind of "Emperor Palpatine Hologram" way. The demon notices them eventually and does a classic "You fool, deal with these intruders" before disappearing and the fight kicking off. This also leads into the idea that the villain they were chasing isn't even the top baddie, which keeps the story moving.
• I couldn't find much on the Dark Six and I'm not familiar with Eberron, so unfortunately I can't help with the riddle itself, but I think if you do want the traditional written format (Like they find it inscribed on some evil tome or something), I think a 6-line prayer defining each of the 6 is pretty straightforward. I am no poet, but the style you have already can work great, just come up with a line you like, and build another around it to fit and adjust as necessary. You can google up some rhymes and go from there!
six gods are greater than one...
"To Bring the night and blot the sun" OR
"To see our long struggle won" OR
"For our dark work to be done"
and so on!
@itnige oh wow, thank you so much for the help man. Very in depth and thoughtful. Maybe I could come up with a way to combine all your ideas.