Encoding a Letter with a Secret Location...

[TheRinni]

In my latest Campaign, my players will be coordinating with a local rebel group to overthrow the big, bad, evil king.

Essentially, I want to be able to hand my players a physical letter that is encoded with the secret rebel headquarters. However, I'm at a loss on how to make a code that 1. could reasonably avoid obvious suspicion, but 2. is obvious enough that my players will be able to decode (or at least recognize that it is, in fact, a code) it without scratching their heads for more than ten minutes.

Since you guys always give the very best advice, I thought I'd post my questions on the forum.

Thank you in advance,
Rin

[Greenish]

Any code that can be broken in under ten minutes without the key is a code not worth using.

Why don't the players have the key?

[TheRinni]

Any code that can be broken in under ten minutes without the key is a code not worth using.

Why don't the players have the key?

Of course, a code like this would never hold up in the real world. However, this encounter is being tailored to fit my players.

It's more of a fun, little encounter than anything else. Anyone besides the players who look at it, won't be looking for a code. I'd like to make one thing absolutely clear: it should not be a good code by real world standards. It's just a nifty prop I'm giving to my players for the fun of it.

It's also worth noting that my players aren't incredibly intelligent when it comes to codes and puzzles. I want this to be easy and obvious enough so that they can recognize and complete it, while being only a moderate challenge.

A key is a good idea.

[kabreras]

a=b b=c c=d, etc....
Once the text is finished and coded write it from the end to the start.
Simple and efficent enough for a game as you dont want them to stare at it for 2h...
You want it even more disturbing ? keep the spaces as from the normal text before the inversion.

Or for a simple code just use the old mirror coding :) should be a way to do it in word.

[TheRinni]

a=b b=c c=d, etc....
Once the text is finished and coded write it from the end to the start.
Simple and efficent enough for a game as you dont want them to stare at it for 2h...
You want it even more disturbing ? keep the spaces as from the normal text before the inversion.

Or for a simple code just use the old mirror coding :) should be a way to do it in word.

The first one sounds easy enough, but I'd have a hard time making it inconspicuous.

I have to ask, though, what is mirror coding? I'm not familiar with the term.

[Greenish]

a=b b=c c=d, etc....
Once the text is finished and coded write it from the end to the start.
Simple and efficent enough for a game as you dont want them to stare at it for 2h...That's easy to break, but it's also glaringly obvious as a code. I gather the OP wants something that can be hidden in regular, seemingly innocuous text.

[tyckspoon]

I'm assuming you want something using codewords/phrases, because an actual encrypted message is very obviously encrypted- the idea is that nobody except the intended recipient(s) know how to undo the encryption (on the plus side, if you give your players a paper covered in apparent gibberish, they should go 'ah, this must be a code!' and be more ready to work on figuring it/see if they can get somebody to tell them the key.) So, assuming the season is correct for this not to be weird, you might have them come into possession of a letter like

"Dear (Rebel member's name), how are you doing? The birthing season has gone well (we have moved to a different base.) We have 3 healthy new horses (we are in hideout location #3) and all hands are very busy. Please give our love to Uncle (Rebel member contact) in the city."

Mind, for something like that, they'd probably need a reason to be suspicious of the letter- take it off one of the Evil King's soldiers who they just overheard bragging about intercepting a rebel message or something, then they can at least start running Gather Informations and similar efforts to hunt down the people named in the message.

[TheRinni]

That's easy to break, but it's also glaringly obvious as a code. I gather the OP wants something that can be hidden in regular, seemingly innocuous text.

This is true. I was hoping to have the letter say something along the lines of: "Welcome, we'll be seeing you soon," while having the address hidden within it. My first attempt involved taking the first letter of every word, and having it spell out the location. That seems like a nice solution, but I'm wondering if the Playground has any other thoughts they'd like to throw at me.

EDIT:

"Dear (Rebel member's name), how are you doing? The birthing season has gone well (we have moved to a different base.) We have 3 healthy new horses (we are in hideout location #3) and all hands are very busy. Please give our love to Uncle (Rebel member contact) in the city."

Mind, for something like that, they'd probably need a reason to be suspicious of the letter- take it off one of the Evil King's soldiers who they just overheard bragging about intercepting a rebel message or something, then they can at least start running Gather Informations and similar efforts to hunt down the people named in the message.
While different from what I originally intended, I like this solution quite a bit. Instead of the letter being intended for the players, they could find it during a separate quest. Overtime, key phrases used in the letter would be revealed to be rebel code words.

[0nimaru]

You can go a lot of ways. This might sound condescending.. but think back to things like Highlights (that magazine for kids) and the puzzles in it.

Maybe the letter has some VERY obviously mispelled words. If they read each incorrect word in a row, they have a message. You could also make it based on the formatting. Somebody that writes very choppy, and seems weird... could end up like:

I'll have to pick up new fruit tomorrow or we'll
be out before the big feast. John
at the market always gives me the best prices. I'm sure I could talk him into
five copper per beet if I offer to help him with that cart that lost
one of it's wheels. It's hardly reasonable for a man with a
three wheeled cart to carry his goods into town. The trip from that
forest where his farm is takes far too long to walk, and the
avenue between the city and there is full of bandits.

Edit: To read this you'll need to fullscreen or the text might get force-wrapped and ruin it, but I think you get the idea. It's cheesy, but might fit your bill.

[Kenneth]

I enjoy the Nth-letter cyphers myslef they are easy enough to crack without having a key and hard enough that at first glace ( or even third) they seem like a normal letter.


BTW nth-letter cyphers are for a couple of examples 3rd letter cyphers is where you take every 3rd letter and use them to create a message,

[Savannah]

If you're hand writing it, you could set some letters noticeably higher or lower than the rest, and use them to spell out the location. That way, it's something that might be reasonably be passed off as a weird handwriting style, but it's noticeable enough that the players should suspect it.