I’m working on a campaign that has the player meet a creature pretending to be a sphynx and ask riddles of the players.
The trick is that that creature is both not that smart and thinks he’s very clever. They way past him is to praise him for being so smart that he agrees to let the adventurers go
What are some good ‘bad’ riddles to ask ?
You’ve got a few options here, as I should think that ultimately the solution will be found by the not-sphynx’s behaviours and mannerisms (though the questions themselves do help bring those behaviours out).
You could go for something everyone knows, like “What’s lighter: a tonne of bricks or a tonne of feathers?” When the players get it right by saying they both weigh a tonne, have the not-sphynx insist on the obvious wrong answer instead (the feathers, as a single feather is lighter than a single brick). Then when the players explain why that’s wrong and their answer is right, the not-sphynx pretends he knew that and was just testing them. Stuff like that.
If the campaign isn’t super serious in tone, you could work-in famous pop-culture examples. Ask the questions for crossing the bridge from Monty Python “What’s your name/quest/favourite colour?” With the not-sphynx not getting that the difficulty came from Tim alternating to a super hard third question for every other person he asked. You can even use the question about the African Swallow, with the not-sphynx not knowing if it should be laden or unladen, and just handwaving that one away when the players ask.
Ask the “What have I got in my pocket” question from the Hobbit. The players might try and answer “The One Ring” or something clever. When they exhaust their ideas and give up, the not-sphynx gets embarrassed and plays it down, admitting he forgot he doesn’t have any pockets…
Cool idea overall though - I think your group will have a lot of fun.
I’m imagining a player asking, “laden or unladen?” The not-Sphinx immediately replying, “I don’t remember, but I wrote it down one sec- fuck I can’t read in the dark.”
Really wishing I could do this in my next game lmao.
“You are driving a carriage. The carriage is empty when you begin your route. In the morning, you bring 2 merchants to an auction. In the afternoon, you take 3 farmers to the market. In the evening, you bring a noble to a ball. What color are the driver’s eyes?”
The creature was told this riddle by someone else, and misunderstood the answer: when the creature was “the driver,” the answer was “purple,” because its eyes are purple. It still believes the answer is “purple,” even though the players’ eyes are not purple.
“A man is sentenced to death. He has to choose from three rooms to receive his punishment. The first room has a firing squad holding fully charged Wands of Magic Missile. The second room is full of deadly poison. The third room is full of bulettes that haven’t eaten for six months. Which room should he choose?”
The creature believes the answer is the second room, because it is immune to poison. It does not understand that bulettes feed constantly, so a bulette that hasn’t eaten in 6 months would be dead, and refuses to grasp the answer no matter how many times it’s explained.
@DoctorTYVM
I did this last month with an idiot shiftless Hieracosphinx reluctantly guarding a treasure, and just had him ask the dumbest possible riddles in the most pompous and self-satisfied tone:“Why did the chicken cross the road?”
To get to the other side.
“Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
The egg. But he will argue.
“What is the difference between a duck?”
One of its legs are both the same.
“What’s got two wings and is going to eat you?”
Point at the sky behind him and shout “That thing?!”I would say, use some classic riddles like the ones from The Hobbit, but then add one more line to the riddle that gives it away.
Also, recommend you have a look at this classic
