Puzzle Locks and FRPG Riddles

 There is a FRPG “urban legend” about a really famous dungeon adventure that was first used at GENCON and then later became a published adventure module.  Within this deadly dungeon of tricks and traps there was a riddle whose answer was “NOON”.  I don’t remember the riddle, but it was something about the time that was the same backwards and forwards and upside or something like that.  Apparently one of the groups that lost the tournament was furious at the idea that an English word with English lettering was required to answer the riddle.  After all, they don’t speak English in Greyhawk (I think it was Greyhawk).

I consume a lot of fantasy media.  I read comics (print and online), I watch movies (both good and bad), and I read a bunch of “stuff”.  I am reading a book.  (I have some bad things to say about it, so I’ll keep this generic).  There is a riddle in the book:  If you are holding a bee in your hand, what is in your eye.  The answer is supposed to be “beauty”.  See, if you are holding a bee in your hand then you are a “bee-holder” and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I am a lot less annoyed about the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” because I often will claim that Earth based sayings could easily be the same in a fantasy world, or incredibly similar.  But the word “beholder” is an English word.  I assume that the words for “bee” and “beholder” are completely different even in French, Spanish, Chinese and Russian, so this riddle wouldn’t even make sense in most of the countries on Earth, let alone a game world.

And that is the point:  Using English word tricks or letter tricks makes no sense in a fantasy world.  Even if that world is Medieval England, they weren’t speaking the same English we speak today (assuming they were even speaking English).  This style of word play doesn’t belong.

I want to be fair.  There was another riddle in that same book.  It went something like this:  It has cities but no houses, mountains but no trees, seas but no fish.  The answer is a map.  OK, I have certainly seen maps that show houses and have artistic trees and fish, but now I’m really overthinking the riddle.  I think this riddle is perfect for a FRPG! 

In the Palace of Ballogfar, there are a bunch of puzzle locks.  The use of keys isn’t something they did, so there are these puzzle locks, many of which haven’t been opened or solved in centuries.  (Ballogfar is a ruin in case you didn’t know.)  We had to be very careful not to allow anything that might be considered “English” to enter into the puzzles; hopefully we did a decent job.

For the GMs out there - You know your players.  Maybe some of them would be happy to solve riddles that were 100% based on the English language and our letters, and if that’s what works for you, obviously you should do it.  But while our modern concept of riddles typically involves some play on words, there are an infinite number of puzzles and tricks that don’t.  It just seems to make more sense to avoid using English (or whatever language you’re speaking around the game table) riddles in a fantasy world that has never even heard of that language.

This post was written as part of The Lost City of Ballogfar Part II aka All About Ogres (and Ruins), the latest in our Small Bites editions.  Each Small Bites book looks deeply at one subject, a character archetype, a race/monster, a style of questing, or some other role-playing/world building subject.  This one is showcasing ogres, especially those who live in fantasy ruins.

We hope we’re getting you interested.  If you want to see the World Walker edition for FREE!! click the link here.  If we’ve hooked you and you want to get the full 130 pages of content in the Game Masters’ edition, click here.