I am currently DMing a homebrew campaign in which the characters are trying to stop a mad Hobgoblin Lich. They have found that previous people who tried to destroy the Lich had failed, but not before creating seven potions (or eight, I cannot remember at the moment) that can be mixed together to create an acid that will destroy the Lich's phylactery. To keep the potions out of the Hobgoblins hands, they hid them and made riddles that tell where they lie. Each potion comes with a riddle to the next potion. I have already done three riddles, but my mind is already spent, (and one of the players is my brother who thinks EXACTLY LIKE ME!!) I want one of the potions to be in a red dragon's board on an island nearby, and another to be in the Lich's lair (unknown to the Lich because his lair is a mountain that holds thousands of his subjects).
Beneath the sky, but just as high, I climb without ever moving. As for the red dragon on the island maybe something about a volcano? Apparently I'm not good at riddles.
A thousand voices speak for a throne of the kingdom beyond life in the rising lands. I hide from the king's prying eyes in plain sight. (Lich in the mountains with many subjects. Lich doesn't know about the potion.)
All precious things float in the watchful gaze of a serpent as radiant as the dusk sky. There, you will find me. (Red dragon's hoard on an island.)
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
It is hard to properly answer without knowing much about the culture the PC's come from and Hobgoblin culture in your world, but a standard trick would be to use cultural references outsiders (such as hobgoblins) would be very unlikely to know.
The riddles could be standard, relatively easy on their face. "Black arms take to the sky, all the land around it spies.... from what the forest no longer needs, it builds its home high in the trees" would be some sort of bird (easy part to guess), but once guessed, someone in the party realizes that the Ninn (arbitrary name, make up whatever suits your fancy) is the proper name of a specific blackbird used in heraldry (or the national bird of the kingdom, or the temple that hid the potions kept such birds, again, pick some arbitrary historical significance) and someone with good history skill realizes that there was a small shrine known as the Ninn Shrine. Worst case they could find a historian to ask in the local city or town.
The key would be to have a relatively easy part that the players do not have too much trouble figuring out and have the lore heavy stuff that the players would not know (because you likely made it up just for this adventure) flowing automatically by way of their characters reacting to that mnemonic trigger.
The nice thing about riddles in D&D is that they not only can, but should, be stupidly easy! The goal is to make players feel smart, not force them to be smart—doubly so if the story's progression depends on the riddle. So don't be afraid to make a riddle that seems ridiculously obvious...the truth is, it's a lot harder to solve riddles when you're trying to role-play a character and juggle all the other points of the plot!
Entombed within stone, In a cavern dark and deep, As cold as icy bone, Where the serpents sleep.
But this treasure that is needed, To find the thing you seek, Its words must not be heeded, Or the road ahead is bleak.
(It's in a cave guarded by serpents of great power. Maybe a spirit naga and some bone nagas? The second verse basically says that you have to do the opposite of what the next one says.)
The nice thing about riddles in D&D is that they not only can, but should, be stupidly easy! The goal is to make players feel smart, not force them to be smart—doubly so if the story's progression depends on the riddle. So don't be afraid to make a riddle that seems ridiculously obvious...the truth is, it's a lot harder to solve riddles when you're trying to role-play a character and juggle all the other points of the plot!
If they are too easy though, any intelligent player will consider them a joke not just for being easy, but for no one else having solved them before now. Plus the point of them is to add an intellectual challenge of at least some degree.... it is tricky getting the difficulty right. It depends on your players, really.
My players in this guild have difficulty roleplaying most of the time, so an easy riddle would probably be a little anti-climatic. And they have an NPC who travels with them, so he can drop hint when necessary. But I have made my riddles too hard in the past.
I am where the money flows, where the water flows, where the people flow, and where light does not flow. It is there you must go. Answer: underwter in a harbor
Have you considered a physical puzzle... Like a chessboard on the floor where they have to step on certain squares, and there is a clue to which squares that they have to work out? Or one of the types I used to like in NWN modules (and eventually built my own) where you have say 7 levers, and they open seven chests, and all 7 chests have to be open at the same time, and each lever opens some and closes others. So you have to do the levers in the right sequence to get all 7 chests open, and then a secret door unlocks or what have you.
As a player I always love puzzles like that. But I realize they are an acquired taste.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Maybe think of it in a Thieves' Cant kind of "riddle": Coded correspondence that is meant to look like nothing important but holds all the references necessary to say specific things of great importance.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
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I am currently DMing a homebrew campaign in which the characters are trying to stop a mad Hobgoblin Lich. They have found that previous people who tried to destroy the Lich had failed, but not before creating seven potions (or eight, I cannot remember at the moment) that can be mixed together to create an acid that will destroy the Lich's phylactery. To keep the potions out of the Hobgoblins hands, they hid them and made riddles that tell where they lie. Each potion comes with a riddle to the next potion. I have already done three riddles, but my mind is already spent, (and one of the players is my brother who thinks EXACTLY LIKE ME!!) I want one of the potions to be in a red dragon's board on an island nearby, and another to be in the Lich's lair (unknown to the Lich because his lair is a mountain that holds thousands of his subjects).
Any suggestions would be helpful!
Not all those who wander are lost.
Check out my Monsters, Magic Items, and Spells. (These are all links.)
Beneath the sky, but just as high, I climb without ever moving.
As for the red dragon on the island maybe something about a volcano?
Apparently I'm not good at riddles.
I'm hard yet soft
I'm coloured yet clear
I am fruity and sweet
I am jelly
What am I?
For the red dragon lair...
Wings and breath as Fire
Red as the Star at Dawn
A bottle in a Treasure Hold
The drop of land that Yawns
A thousand voices speak for a throne of the kingdom beyond life in the rising lands. I hide from the king's prying eyes in plain sight.
(Lich in the mountains with many subjects. Lich doesn't know about the potion.)
All precious things float in the watchful gaze of a serpent as radiant as the dusk sky. There, you will find me.
(Red dragon's hoard on an island.)
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Great idea, this will probably help a lot.
Not all those who wander are lost.
Check out my Monsters, Magic Items, and Spells. (These are all links.)
The nice thing about riddles in D&D is that they not only can, but should, be stupidly easy! The goal is to make players feel smart, not force them to be smart—doubly so if the story's progression depends on the riddle. So don't be afraid to make a riddle that seems ridiculously obvious...the truth is, it's a lot harder to solve riddles when you're trying to role-play a character and juggle all the other points of the plot!
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
You might find some here:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/forum-games/2774-riddle-me-this
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
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Content Troubleshooting
Entombed within stone,
In a cavern dark and deep,
As cold as icy bone,
Where the serpents sleep.
But this treasure that is needed,
To find the thing you seek,
Its words must not be heeded,
Or the road ahead is bleak.
(It's in a cave guarded by serpents of great power. Maybe a spirit naga and some bone nagas?
The second verse basically says that you have to do the opposite of what the next one says.)
There is no dawn after eternal night.
Homebrew: Magic items, Subclasses
My players in this guild have difficulty roleplaying most of the time, so an easy riddle would probably be a little anti-climatic. And they have an NPC who travels with them, so he can drop hint when necessary. But I have made my riddles too hard in the past.
Not all those who wander are lost.
Check out my Monsters, Magic Items, and Spells. (These are all links.)
I am where the money flows, where the water flows, where the people flow, and where light does not flow. It is there you must go. Answer: underwter in a harbor
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
Thanks! Unfortunately most of these will not work, but it is still fun!
Not all those who wander are lost.
Check out my Monsters, Magic Items, and Spells. (These are all links.)
Have you considered a physical puzzle... Like a chessboard on the floor where they have to step on certain squares, and there is a clue to which squares that they have to work out? Or one of the types I used to like in NWN modules (and eventually built my own) where you have say 7 levers, and they open seven chests, and all 7 chests have to be open at the same time, and each lever opens some and closes others. So you have to do the levers in the right sequence to get all 7 chests open, and then a secret door unlocks or what have you.
As a player I always love puzzles like that. But I realize they are an acquired taste.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
It starts but never stops,
It reaches the farthest corners of the world
This is neither yours or mine
(The answer is time)
woot woot mcsnoot
makejoke
what do you mean?
Not all those who wander are lost.
Check out my Monsters, Magic Items, and Spells. (These are all links.)
Maybe think of it in a Thieves' Cant kind of "riddle": Coded correspondence that is meant to look like nothing important but holds all the references necessary to say specific things of great importance.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.