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Dachimotsu
2015-01-05, 05:18 PM
I'm designing a puzzle, and its pieces are based on riddles told over the course of the adventure (the puzzle solution is found by re-arranging the first letter of each riddle's answer). What I need are two "what am I?"-styled riddles whose answers both begin with the letter "i". The riddles and answers should contain only things that would be found in a medieval-fantasy setting (so no guns or phones, or anything like that).

I tried to look for a simple riddle whose answer was "ice", but I couldn't find one that made sense.

Honest Tiefling
2015-01-05, 05:40 PM
Do you perhaps have a god or demon in this setting whose name start with 'i'? Or one with an alternate name that does? They could be the first answer to it.

Also, a quick google search got me this (http://www.darktowercompendium.com/rolandsriddles-notsoeasy.html), and the first riddle is indeed, ice.

Dachimotsu
2015-01-05, 10:01 PM
Yeah, I came across that one, but the riddle sounds kind of awkward. I tried finding ways to re-word it. Something like:

"I have the power to crush ships and end species,
Yet I must always fear the sun.
Fire cannot burn me, -------------,
--------------------(word the rhymes with sun)."

Note that the riddles don't have to rhyme, but I am looking for good presentation. The kind of riddles you'd expect to hear Olmec recite.


EDIT: Okay, I've written a good one for "ice". Here's what I got:

"I have the power to crush ships and end species, yet I couldn't be more fragile.
I fear the sun, but I cannot be burned.
Unlike you, when I die, I become warmer.
What am I?"

Now I just need one more riddle.

Kid Jake
2015-01-06, 11:49 AM
Not great, but off the top of my head:

I compel both the highest king and the lowliest peasant, the tiniest sparrow to the mightiest dragon.
Resist me and I will drive you mad, indulge me and you will be rewarded.
Strength and numbers are useless against me, but the merest scratch will chase me away.
An Itch

Pinnacle
2015-01-06, 12:41 PM
Shining liquid black as night,
I have the power to grant you might.
With sweeping strikes your soul I tell,
I stand ready in a well.
Ink


"I have the power to crush ships and end species,
Yet I must always fear the sun.
Fire cannot burn me, -------------,
--------------------(word the rhymes with sun)."

I have the power to crush ships and end species
Yet I must always fear the sun.
Fire can not burn me,
Yet near it I run.

Dachimotsu
2015-01-06, 03:45 PM
Shining liquid black as night,
I have the power to grant you might.
With sweeping strikes your soul I tell,
I stand ready in a well.
Ink

I like this one a lot. I got the answer right away, but testing it on my family shows that it is generally difficult without being too complicated.

Lathund
2015-01-06, 05:32 PM
With the 'black as night' one, the first line gave it away. For me at least. Still, decent riddle.

The 'compel the king' one was great. I failed to solve it, but other than that it has all the feel of a classic riddle.

Cealocanth
2015-01-06, 06:01 PM
Here's another one for you

My home is in an azure plain
But compared to it, I am but a grain
Many lost souls come to me
But they are trapped for eternity

An island

Premier
2015-01-06, 07:26 PM
EDIT: Okay, I've written a good one for "ice". Here's what I got:

"I have the power to crush ships and end species, yet I couldn't be more fragile.
I fear the sun, but I cannot be burned.
Unlike you, when I die, I become warmer.
What am I?"

Now I just need one more riddle.

I think the "end species" part goes against what you said about feeling medieval. People in the middle ages didn't know about ice ages and mass extinction events.

Pinnacle
2015-01-06, 07:30 PM
Y'know, I think "lives" would fit the rhythm better there, anyway.
One thing to keep in mind: We all know the correct answers start with i, while that's the information the players/PCs are trying to ascertain. This means both that we have an extra clue, making each others' riddles easier to solve, and means we need to be more careful not to overlook other "correct" answers which we want to avoid.

I'm never possessed by a sayer of sooth,
By no means a Lie, yet I'm slain by the Truth.Ignorance


This one assumes that the riddles are intended for adventurers--it doesn't work if anyone can get them:
Vanquished by evil
But by knowledge too,
No villain can hold me--
But neither can you.
Innocence


See through deception,
Find a thief in the night,
By my hand you'll see
What's been hidden from sight.
Insight or Intuition

Deceptive, misleading, a magical fake.
Unsolid, intangible, of wizardly make.
Illusion

(Un)Inspired
2015-01-07, 12:02 AM
Rumbling inside, I struggle for release
I bring peasants and kings down on knees to pray
Their shine of worship, the porcelain throne

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Jeff the Green
2015-01-07, 12:40 AM
None are greater than me, no matter how they strive, yet of me are multitudes, each greater than the last.
...infinity. In particular, infinite sets.