The Riddles of the Sphinx

[ruy343]

I'm hoping to get some DM help here: I need riddles, puzzles, or other trial ideas that you have used for the various guardians (like sphinxes) in your games to test the character's/player's cunning. Does anyone have any good suggestions?

[pwykersotz]

I've grown to dislike using riddles as the entire challenge for a Sphinx. They're either too trivial to solve, or they test the players more than the characters. I like them to include some sort of active element as well. For example, Snape's potion riddle in the first Harry Potter book. The riddle was a clue to help find the solution.

That said, I've used this thread (http://community.wizards.com/forum/homebrew-campaigns/threads/1809766) a few times. Also this site (http://www.codehappy.net/sphinx/sphinx.htm).

[kladams707]

A simple riddle:

Riddle: Young men may think they lose beauty as they get older
Wise men know that true beauty lies here.

A: In the eye of the beholder.

And yes, I myself plan on using this to set up on encounter with one.

[Talcan]

There is tones of resources for this. Books of riddles are a great start, many of which can be found online for free. Wikibooks has a good amount of riddles to use. But you may also think about puzzles with movable objects. Have the PCs move the objects in specific patterns. Maybe put increasingly difficult Str checks on the objects in order to move them? Or there is always a good old game of Simon Says (the colour game). I hope this give you something to start with.

[Fwiffo86]

My fav that I found online:

Large room with two doors on opposite ends. Players enter room on one side. In the center is a flesh golem. The room is composed of a maze of invisible walls of force that the players cannot actually navigate as it all comes to dead ends.

The golem, radiates a field of anti-magic that allows it to walk past/through the walls. The field is just large enough that ranged characters can stay "just" out of reach (say 15 feet) When the golem sees the players, it moves to attack.

The players have to kite the golem without killing it to the door they want to go through. If they destroy the golem, the field dissipates and they are trapped. If they kill the golem when they get to the other door, they can't come back this way.

[ImSAMazing]

I'm hoping to get some DM help here: I need riddles, puzzles, or other trial ideas that you have used for the various guardians (like sphinxes) in your games to test the character's/player's cunning. Does anyone have any good suggestions?

Give them subtile hints when they get into the Sphynx' pyramid, but don't make it to hard. Also make sure it is appropiate for the intelligence of the party, because else the players will just answer the question themself, not their characters.

[Celcey]

I've grown to dislike using riddles as the entire challenge for a Sphinx. They're either too trivial to solve, or they test the players more than the characters. I like them to include some sort of active element as well. For example, Snape's potion riddle in the first Harry Potter book. The riddle was a clue to help find the solution.

This, 100%. I've found riddle either have to be too obvious to make them solvable, or my players just get stuck and frustrated. I was also going to suggest pulling a Snape, because logic riddles are always solvable. If you're looking for ones like that, look at standardized test books (I think the SAT has them). They'll have a bunch of questions like Jamar, Hannah, Miguel, Li, and Abdul are standing in a line. Hannah is standing directly front of Jamar, but behind Abdul, etc, etc. (And yes, ALL of them will have ridiculously diverse names like that.) Change the context, maybe have them not be people (or at least have different names), and you're good. Riddles depend on knowing the answer, logic puzzles depend on figuring out the answer.

[CNagy]

Whenever I offer riddles, they are the equivalent of the "easy way" versus the "hard way." Answer the riddles right, it disarms traps, delays enemy reinforcements by raising defenses, whatever. Get them wrong, and perhaps more guardians awaken, the terrain becomes difficult, natural hazards appear, etc.

That way, if they can answer the riddles they can save themselves a bit of pain and maybe gain an advantage. If not, their progression isn't barred completely, simply made more difficult.

As for finding riddles, I suggest finding the list from the game Betrayal at Krondor. Some of the riddles are common knowledge enough that you probably won't want to use them except as an easy one to get things going, but most of them are good and not often used, but not impossible to reason out.

[Shining Wrath]

This, 100%. I've found riddle either have to be too obvious to make them solvable, or my players just get stuck and frustrated. I was also going to suggest pulling a Snape, because logic riddles are always solvable. If you're looking for ones like that, look at standardized test books (I think the SAT has them). They'll have a bunch of questions like Jamar, Hannah, Miguel, Li, and Abdul are standing in a line. Hannah is standing directly front of Jamar, but behind Abdul, etc, etc. (And yes, ALL of them will have ridiculously diverse names like that.) Change the context, maybe have them not be people (or at least have different names), and you're good. Riddles depend on knowing the answer, logic puzzles depend on figuring out the answer.

Agreed. I want to have my puzzles depend on the characters, not on the players, and that's hard.

[Marcelinari]

Admittedly, the only time I've ever used riddles well myself was in a riddle-battle with a dragon... and the players had the choice of rolling a knowledge check, or answering it directly. So did my dragon, of course - just because I, the DM, am stumped, doesn't mean that the dragon necessarily is.

On that note, though, I designed my own favourite riddle for that encounter. It runs thus.

'Elm and ash, rowan tree and hazel,
They name me each, I nurture them in turn.
Soft to touch, yet solid in my bearing,
I support all, e'en those who'd watch me burn.'

[Beleriphon]

I find the best option is to pull the video game move. Get it right and you pass wihtout harm, fail and the gribble attacks you, or triggers all of the riddling gribbles to attack you in one room. Riddles should be driven by either logic, and be relatively obvoius, or by previously established facts the PLAYERS all know and work on applying them in new ways.

[Vogonjeltz]

I'm hoping to get some DM help here: I need riddles, puzzles, or other trial ideas that you have used for the various guardians (like sphinxes) in your games to test the character's/player's cunning. Does anyone have any good suggestions?

Ok so first the actual riddle of the sphinx (answers in parenthesis):

What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening? (Man)

Then some from other games:

Three lives have I, Gentle enough to sooth the skin, Light enough to caress the sky. Hard enough to crack rocks. What am I? (Water)

Lighter than what I am made of, More of me is hidden than is seen. What am I? (Iceberg)

When I am filled I can point the way, When I am empty nothing moves me, I have two skins one without and one within. What am I? (Glove)

If a man carried my burden he would break his back. I am not rich, but leave silver in my track. What am I? (Snail)

My life can be measured in hour, I serve by being devoured. Thin, I am quick. Fat, I am slow. Wind is my foe. What am I? (Candle)

To unravel me you need a simple key, no key that was made by locksmith's hand, but a key that only I will understand. What am I? (Map or Riddle)

Weight in my belly, Trees on my back, Nails in my ribs, Feet I do lack. What am I? (Ship)

If you break me I do not stop working, If you touch me I may be snared, If you lose me nothing will matter. What am I? (Heart)

I turn around once, what is out will not get in. I turn around again, what is in will not get out. What am I? (Key)

I am only useful when I am full, yet I am always full of holes. What am I? (Net)

You can see nothing else when you look in my face, I will look you in the eye and I will never lie. What am I? (Mirror or Reflection)

I drive men mad for love of me, Easily beaten, never free. What am I? (Gold)

Glittering points that downward thrust, sparkling spears that never rust. What am I? (Icicles)

When set loose I fly away, never so cursed as when I go astray. What am I? (Arrow)

When young, I am sweet in the sun. When middle-aged, I make you happy. When old, I am valued more than ever. What am I? (Wine)

I am always hungry, I must always be fed, the finger I lick will soon turn red. What am I? (Fire)

Each morning I appear to lie at your feet, all day I follow no matter how fast you run, yet I nearly perish in the midday sun. What am I? (Shadow)

Bright as diamonds, loud as thunder, never still, a thing of wonder. What am I? (Waterfall)

You heard me before, yet you hear me again, then I die, 'til you call me again. What am I? (Echo)

Lovely and round, I shine with pale light, grown in the darkness, a lady's delight. What am I? (Pearl)

Until I am measured I am not known, yet how you miss me when I have flown. What am I? (Time)

All about, but can not be seen, can be captured, can not be held, no throat, but can be heard. What am I? (Air)

I am seen in the water if seen in the sky, I am in the rainbow, a jay's feather, and lapis lazuli. What am I? (Blue)

I go around in circles but always straight ahead, never complain no matter where I am led. What am I? (Wheel)

At the sound of me men may dream or stamp their feet, they may laugh or sometimes weep. What am I? (Music)

I sleep within a sturdy dome, when I travel my shield is my home. What am I? (Turtle)

What has roots nobody sees, is taller than trees, up, up it goes, and yet never grows? (Mountain)

Voiceless it cries, Wingless it flutters, Toothless it bites, Mouthless it mutters. (Wind)

It cannot be seen, can not be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes out first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter. (Dark)

Alive without breath, as cold as death; Never thirsty, ever drinking, all in mail never clinking. (Fish)

This thing all things devours; Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays kings, ruins town, and beats mountains down. (Time)

A man with no eyes saw figs on a tree, he took no figs and he left no figs, how can this be? (The man has one eye, he saw two figs on the tree and took one, leaving one).

There is a house. One enters it blind, and comes out seeing. What is it? (School)

Thirty white horses on a red hill: First they champ, then they stamp, then they stand still. (Teeth)

What we caught we threw away, what we didn't catch we kept. What did we keep? (Lice)

[1Forge]

Have the sphinx say "If you lie to me I will rip your head off" If you tell the truth I will throw you off a cliff"

To solve this they must say "You will rip my head off"

[Celcey]

Have the sphinx say "If you lie to me I will rip your head off" If you tell the truth I will throw you off a cliff"

To solve this they must say "You will rip my head off"

I think you need to add the context of the sphinx allowing them to make a single statement. If it's false, their head it ripped off. If it's true, they get thrown off the cliff.

Sidenote: did you get that riddle from the Deltora Quest books?

[1Forge]

IDK a freind told me it and I remembered it. Though if its an Japanese then probably (he loves anime, manga, ect)

[Vogonjeltz]

I think you need to add the context of the sphinx allowing them to make a single statement. If it's false, their head it ripped off. If it's true, they get thrown off the cliff.

Sidenote: did you get that riddle from the Deltora Quest books?

You might want to be more specific saying, "tell me how I will kill you. if you lie to me I will eviscerate you, if you tell the truth I will throw you from this cliff."

Otherwise he could just decapitate the person for lying and then chuck them off a cliff once the person was shown to be correct.

[1Forge]

Ahh I did not think of it doing both... thats one devious sphinx.

[EccentricCircle]

This weekend my player's encountered two sphinxes guarding the door to a pharaoh's tomb.
When they were taking a bit too long to guess I had one of them ask the other, "What walks on two legs and tastes delicious?" They got the hint and ventured an answer.

I also decided to change things up a bit by having an actual riddle game where the PC's had to come up with riddles for the sphynxes to solve as well rather than just answering them.

[Fwiffo86]

This weekend my player's encountered two sphinxes guarding the door to a pharaoh's tomb.
When they were taking a bit too long to guess I had one of them ask the other, "What walks on two legs and tastes delicious?" They got the hint and ventured an answer.

I also decided to change things up a bit by having an actual riddle game where the PC's had to come up with riddles for the sphynxes to solve as well rather than just answering them.

hehehehe, makes me think of Blaine the Mono.

[KorvinStarmast]

A man with no eyes saw figs on a tree, he took no figs and he left no figs, how can this be? (The man has one eye, he saw two figs on the tree and took one, leaving one).
This one seems to contradict itself. It's a new one to me, so what am I missing on this riddle?

Korvin
Now known as KorvinSphinxsnack

[pwykersotz]

This one seems to contradict itself. It's a new one to me, so what am I missing on this riddle?

Korvin
Now known as KorvinSphinxsnack

It's a play on the pluralization. He did not have multiple eyes, he had an eye. He saw multiple figs on a tree. He didn't take multiple figs, he didn't leave multiple figs.

[Vogonjeltz]

This one seems to contradict itself. It's a new one to me, so what am I missing on this riddle?

It's a play on the use of plurals.

He took no figs, but he did take a fig. He left no figs but he did leave a fig. So it's technically correct to say that he took no figs, because he didn't take more than one.


It's a play on the pluralization. He did not have multiple eyes, he had an eye. He saw multiple figs on a tree. He didn't take multiple figs, he didn't leave multiple figs.

Nailed it.

[Hawkstar]

A simple riddle:

Riddle: Young men may think they lose beauty as they get older
Wise men know that true beauty lies here.

A: In the eye of the beholder.I fail to see how disintegration, petrification, being cooked alive, slowed, knocked out, robbed of all magical ability, etc. is considered "True beauty"

[KorvinStarmast]

Thanks to all for help on the riddle.

I fail to see how disintegration, petrification, being cooked alive, slowed, knocked out, robbed of all magical ability, etc. is considered "True beauty" The relationship between Beholders and Beauty is a profound archetype. This goes back to the Dragon Magazine article, ecology of the Beholder, which described young beholders being habitually signed up for youth hockey, before they get all of their stalks. The frequent exclamations of "Beauty!" when they score a goal tends to recede when they mature and the central eye gets the post-puberty powers of less sporting magical damage. (Of course, when they check each other into the boards they tend to bounce and ricochet all over the ice, which makes the beholder hockey far more chaotic than human hockey ... )





(*Actually, that Dragon article was never written, even though Ed Greenwood was Canadian.) :smallsmile:

[Pex]

Another classic or words to this effect:

The one who makes it doesn't need it.
The one who buys it doesn't use it.
The one who uses it doesn't know it.

What is it?


coffin

[VoxRationis]

Atop a wall, on stilts of stone,
I surround and shield hall and throne
Jutting forth into the sky
I enable guards to hold the line
A gross of arches make my frame
Can you, pray tell, say my name?


Machicolations.
That's one for trickster types against a dragon or something—if you used it as a DM, your players would probably throw things at you.

[whibla]

Atop a wall, on stilts of stone,
I surround and shield hall and throne
Jutting forth into the sky
I enable guards to hold the line
A gross of arches make my frame
Can you, pray tell, say my name?


Machicolations.
That's one for trickster types against a dragon or something—if you used it as a DM, your players would probably throw things at you.

Nice riddle, though I'm afraid your answer is wrong.

The right answer would be Battlements (which do jut upwards towards the sky ... well, it might have to be a crenellated battlement to 'jut', but never mind). Machicolations are the holes in the battlement, between the corbels (the arches in your riddle) that support it (the battlement), that allow stuff like oil to be poured down on attackers at the base of the wall.

Pedantry, it's a curse. Sorry! :smallsigh:

[VoxRationis]

Ah, but it's jutting forth, not jutting up. It's describing the horizontally projecting nature of machicolations, the aspect which allows them to be effective against foes at the base of the wall. And the battlements themselves are not made of "a gross of arches" in the same way that many machicolations are. And I know very well what the word I used means! I also know that before they came into vogue, they used to use temporary wooden versions called hoardings. Which would actually make for a good 'hoard'-based pun somewhere in the riddle, now that I think about it.

[whibla]

When you put it like that, I can see your point, but the first two lines definitely say battlements, not machicolations.

I still like the riddle though.

[VoxRationis]

Yeah, it came to me when I was considering riddle contests and found myself asking why the answer is always something near-universal. It makes sense from a fairness perspective, but when your life is on the line, you'll want the riddles to be as hard as possible, so a riddle that's "fair" in the sense that it describes well the thing it's supposed to be but describes something obscure would be a better option.

[Ghost Nappa]

I'm going to copy those from the WotC link because that website has a tendency to not show me things over time.
imho, the best riddles are either short ones or ones that rhyme.

"What has four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?"
A humanoid.

"What has four legs in the morning, two all day, and one in the evening?"
A Centaur. During the day, I eat two legs. During the evening I eat another.

From the Hobbit:

A box without treasure, key or lid.
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.
Eggs.

What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes
and yet never grows?
A Mountain.

Thirty white horses on a red hill,
First they chomp
Then they stomp
Then they stand still.
Teeth.

Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites
Mouthless mutters.
Wind.

It cannot be seen
Cannot be felt
Cannot be heard
Cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars
and under hills
and empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after
Ends life and kills laughter.
Darkness.

Alive without breath
as cold as death;
Never thirsty ever drinking,
all in mail never clinking.
A fish.

This thing all things devours:
birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
gnaws iron, bites steel;
grinds hard stones to meal;
slays king, ruins town,
and beats high mountain down.
Time.

From Elsewhere
Round she is, yet flat as a board
Altar of the lupine lords
Pearl on black velvet, jewel in the sea,
Unchanged but e're changing, eternally.
The Moon.

I have beak at front
I have feather on end
I kill without peck
I fly without wings
But alone or in a group, I kill strong men.
An Arrow.

I am the ultimate, destination of all
More wicked than demons, I make gods fall
Owned by the poor, needed by the wealthy
Do not eat me if you wish to stay healthy.
Nothing.

Only you may have it,
Take it and you lose it,
Answer, 'tis your treasure,
Failure, 'tis your forfeit.
Your life.

What of yours, would it please you more if your enemy broke it?
Your fall.

The more you take of me, the more of me you leave behind. What am I?
Footsteps.

I make you weak at the worst of all times.
I keep you safe, I keep you fine.
I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold,
I visit the weak, but seldom the bold.
Fear.

Always running
Never walking
Sometimes babbles
But never talking.
What am I?
A river.

The commonest of soldiers found where rival armies meet;
He'll lead the charge or hold the line, and never will retreat.
A Pawn.

Thousands lay up gold within this house,
but no man made it.
Spears past counting guard this house,
but no man wards it.
A beehive.

I sleep by night,
I wake by day.
At dawn I rise,
At dusk I lay.
I ache when hungry,
Shiver when cold.
I was born when young,
And will die when I'm old.
What am I?
The answer is the identity of whoever is asking the riddle.

At your command
Seven spears in hand
Six draw bows
Seven swing swords
Twenty soldiers march
Loyal indeed
Every command they heed
They'll fight and die
They'll willingly bleed
Who's at the lead?
You are.

Those who need me
Cannot get me
Those who receive me
Shouldn't need me
What am I?
A loan.

[Vogonjeltz]

Yeah, it came to me when I was considering riddle contests and found myself asking why the answer is always something near-universal. It makes sense from a fairness perspective, but when your life is on the line, you'll want the riddles to be as hard as possible, so a riddle that's "fair" in the sense that it describes well the thing it's supposed to be but describes something obscure would be a better option

The problem being that, if it does describe whatever the answer given is, then the answer given is also correct. It's not a game of guess what I'm thinking of, it's a game where you figure out what the thing describes.

[VoxRationis]

Always running
Never walking
Sometimes babbles
But never talking.
What am I?


A most perplexing riddle. I'm guessing it's some sort of dragon.

[Pex]

My favorites from the Chucklepatch of The Magic Garden.

What looks like a bell, rings like a bell, and sounds like a bell?


a bell


What do you lose whenever you stand up?


your lap

[Afgncaap5]

I think the trick with a sphinx encounter is to make it reliant upon the story, and most of the "classic" riddle techniques not even having anything to do with the challenge itself.

Have your sphinx spouting riddles all the time, of course... make it so that it can't help it, if you're up to the challenge, constantly peppering its dialogue with poetic descriptions, mental challenges, anagrams and perplexing curiosity. It helps to have a lot of stock phrases in mind and on a quick sketch pad. Umbrellas aren't umbrellas, they're "a house with but a single wall", lightning is the "fork with uneven tines and the worst of tunes", and calendars are "fields where a chain gang's line makes their prisoners weak." Your riddles won't have to be perfectly formed, either, there's some room for flubbing if inspiration strikes.


Case in point: players approach a sphinx's cave while it's raining, seeking her advice for some alchemical or potion related issue. The sphinx stares out from its cave and refuses to let them in, saying "Up the hill there lies a house with only one wall, a house made of bronzewood. Don't come seeking my shelter until you've found your own." At the top of the tree, have a series of umbrellas (a score or more) hanging off the branch of a tree. The umbrellas (houses with only one wall) all have different designs carved into them, but a player can make an appropriate Intelligence check to determine which of the umbrellas are bronzewood. With the umbrellas in hand (open to avoid the rain) the sphinx will let people into her cave. She'll take a path through a small hole near the ceiling where most players won't be able to follow, but she'll say "Stay inside, it's raining" before moving to the next room. The players can continue, but the green slime will fall. If they 'stayed inside' (remaining in 'the house' by holding open their umbrellas) they'll be safe from 'the rain' of the green slime... unless they failed the check to determine which umbrellas had bronzewood handles, because only those umbrellas had been coated with the alchemical substance that would neutralize the acidic slime as it fell. Anyone else without an umbrella or with one of the wrong umbrellas will have the slime fall right on them. It'll be an encounter they can get through, but failing to solve the riddles didn't actually stop the story, it just caused a negative consequence. Don't necessarily have every failed understanding cause negative consequences, but if you can make it sound like everything the sphinx says might have two or three different meanings at once, then it'll feel more mysterious than it actually is.

When you get to the part where the Sphinx ACTUALLY poses a mental challenge to the players, don't even make it a riddle. Make it an incomprehensible query that can't be solved through player logic. Possibly a trivia contest like Odin engaged in ("What were the final words whispered by the Heir of the Rose Throne line?" could reference a historical event or a play... and if a play, a good intelligence check could reveal that the final line said by Hamir Rosethrone in a play called Heir of the Roses before the character dies is "I die... but our new kingdom never shall!" Players could say the line... and the Sphinx may grudgingly accept it, even if the players forgot that Heir of the Roses was written by a goblin playwright and the final words whispered would actually be "Nyx lor... Fane niafur nyx nar!") You might also make the riddle incomprehensible in some way ("If you bite the tooth, you eat well...") so that only the highest of intelligence checks could solve them. Later, when the players eat the food or scratch their hand on the wall coated with Wyverntooth Poison (which has a secondary effect of rabid foaming of the mouth, but a constant delicious taste along with the debilitating poison effects), they might make a lesser check to realize what the sphinx was talking about.

Sphinxes are tough to do well. I do like the "fun-loving sphinx" idea where it engages in little battles of wits for fun, but I'd only use that if you happen to have a few players who really enjoy that kind of thing. And if you do, then have lotsa fun. :smallcool:

[pwykersotz]

I think the trick with a sphinx encounter is to make it reliant upon the story, and most of the "classic" riddle techniques not even having anything to do with the challenge itself.

Have your sphinx spouting riddles all the time, of course... make it so that it can't help it, if you're up to the challenge, constantly peppering its dialogue with poetic descriptions, mental challenges, anagrams and perplexing curiosity. It helps to have a lot of stock phrases in mind and on a quick sketch pad. Umbrellas aren't umbrellas, they're "a house with but a single wall", lightning is the "fork with uneven tines and the worst of tunes", and calendars are "fields where a chain gang's line makes their prisoners weak." Your riddles won't have to be perfectly formed, either, there's some room for flubbing if inspiration strikes.


Case in point: players approach a sphinx's cave while it's raining, seeking her advice for some alchemical or potion related issue. The sphinx stares out from its cave and refuses to let them in, saying "Up the hill there lies a house with only one wall, a house made of bronzewood. Don't come seeking my shelter until you've found your own." At the top of the tree, have a series of umbrellas (a score or more) hanging off the branch of a tree. The umbrellas (houses with only one wall) all have different designs carved into them, but a player can make an appropriate Intelligence check to determine which of the umbrellas are bronzewood. With the umbrellas in hand (open to avoid the rain) the sphinx will let people into her cave. She'll take a path through a small hole near the ceiling where most players won't be able to follow, but she'll say "Stay inside, it's raining" before moving to the next room. The players can continue, but the green slime will fall. If they 'stayed inside' (remaining in 'the house' by holding open their umbrellas) they'll be safe from 'the rain' of the green slime... unless they failed the check to determine which umbrellas had bronzewood handles, because only those umbrellas had been coated with the alchemical substance that would neutralize the acidic slime as it fell. Anyone else without an umbrella or with one of the wrong umbrellas will have the slime fall right on them. It'll be an encounter they can get through, but failing to solve the riddles didn't actually stop the story, it just caused a negative consequence. Don't necessarily have every failed understanding cause negative consequences, but if you can make it sound like everything the sphinx says might have two or three different meanings at once, then it'll feel more mysterious than it actually is.

When you get to the part where the Sphinx ACTUALLY poses a mental challenge to the players, don't even make it a riddle. Make it an incomprehensible query that can't be solved through player logic. Possibly a trivia contest like Odin engaged in ("What were the final words whispered by the Heir of the Rose Throne line?" could reference a historical event or a play... and if a play, a good intelligence check could reveal that the final line said by Hamir Rosethrone in a play called Heir of the Roses before the character dies is "I die... but our new kingdom never shall!" Players could say the line... and the Sphinx may grudgingly accept it, even if the players forgot that Heir of the Roses was written by a goblin playwright and the final words whispered would actually be "Nyx lor... Fane niafur nyx nar!") You might also make the riddle incomprehensible in some way ("If you bite the tooth, you eat well...") so that only the highest of intelligence checks could solve them. Later, when the players eat the food or scratch their hand on the wall coated with Wyverntooth Poison (which has a secondary effect of rabid foaming of the mouth, but a constant delicious taste along with the debilitating poison effects), they might make a lesser check to realize what the sphinx was talking about.

Sphinxes are tough to do well. I do like the "fun-loving sphinx" idea where it engages in little battles of wits for fun, but I'd only use that if you happen to have a few players who really enjoy that kind of thing. And if you do, then have lotsa fun. :smallcool:

Nice, these are great ideas!

[Dralnu]

A most perplexing riddle. I'm guessing it's some sort of dragon.

I'm guessing it's a river.

[VoxRationis]

A river? Not a dragon?

[kladams707]

I fail to see how disintegration, petrification, being cooked alive, slowed, knocked out, robbed of all magical ability, etc. is considered "True beauty"

Well of course you fail to see it. You don't have the eye of the beholder to look through.