MIRIN SCASSELLATI
Designer, Maker, Student
Puzzles
The Intro: Our 4 detectives receive a call from Lisa Lous's old friend Daisy. The call keeps breaking up, but it seems like Daisy and her husband Sawyer are in trouble. When they arrive, they find the house full of traps.
The Premise: the players are trapped in a time loop that resets every time Sawyer or Daisy dies. Once the
players figure out how to get past a puzzle or obstacle, we assume they do that every time, so each time loop they continue to explore more parts of the house. Most puzzles allow them access to new rooms, along with clues about the murderer and what they can do to escape the time loop.
Because this was created for an RPG, each puzzle is designed to be optional (the mystery could be solved with only a handle of clues) and many puzzles have multiple ways they can be solved.
Born again when sun peaks the sky
The heels of my master I’ll always be by
Swelling outward
Ground devoured
Yet dead when the night is nigh.
More precious am I than silver or gold
For more than 5 minutes, a strongman can’t hold
I’m light as a feather
An invisible tether
But I show when the world turns cold
My voice resounds from distant peaks
Sometimes in whispers and sometimes in shrieks
But when you harken
Cease and listen
You’ll hear not a pip nor squeak
The Three Books Puzzle
Type: Riddle
The Setup: In the library, the players find 3 pedestals, each with a riddle.
The Solution: The players have to find books in the library that are the answers to each riddle and place them on the pedestal. Answers, in order: Shadow, Breath, Echo
The Musically Inclined Puzzle
Type: Riddle/Trivia
The Setup: Also in the library are three busts--King Baldwin IV, King Baldwin V, and King Gui de Lusignan--a plaque about the three kings, and a harp. (The kings are also used for another puzzle)
The Solution: If the players realize, they can play the carol "We 3 Kings" on the harp, which opens a secret room (in addition to the busts of the three kings, the rhyme scheme of the three books puzzle is also a clue!)
The Treacherous Hallway Puzzle
Type: NPC communication/combat
The Setup: In the hallway are 6 suits of armor. One of our players is able to talk to inanimate objects. If the players try to pass through the hallway, the suits of armor attack.
The Solution: This fight can be avoided by the players talking to the suits of armor and figuring out what it is they want (the suits talk in broken English, which makes this more challenging). There's also some creativity required. The six suits want: to be polished, some tea, some kind of flowers, something to warm up (the suit is too cold), something that will make them more attractive, and to be loved. Some of these require creative use of finding objects around the house (ie. how do they make tea if they haven't figured out how to get to the kitchen yet?) and some require an understanding of the suit of armor (ie. how do you show a suit of armor love?). Of course, this also can be a combat encounter.
The Treacherous Hallway Puzzle
Type: NPC communication/combat
The Setup: In the hallway are 6 suits of armor. One of our players is able to talk to inanimate objects. If the players try to pass through the hallway, the suits of armor attack.
The Solution: This fight can be avoided by the players talking to the suits of armor and figuring out what it is they want (the suits talk in broken English, which makes this more challenging). There's also some creativity required. The six suits want: to be polished, some tea, some kind of flowers, something to warm up (the suit is too cold), something that will make them more attractive, and to be loved. Some of these require creative use of finding objects around the house (ie. how do they make tea if they haven't figured out how to get to the kitchen yet?) and some require an understanding of the suit of armor (ie. how do you show a suit of armor love?). Of course, this also can be a combat encounter.
The Only The Blind Puzzle
Type: "Eureka" puzzle
The Setup: In the main hall, the staircase to the second floor is trapped. Any wrong step causes the stairs to explode in fire. What's worse, what constitutes a wrong step changes constantly, so they can't just trial and error their way up. Also in the main hall is a note:
“Watching you try to solve my puzzles is getting tiring, Sawyer. You might as well be doing this in the dark for how hopeless you are. You’d better figure my tricks out soon, because I’m going after Daisy next.”
The Solution: The trick is in the note--you have to solve this puzzle in the dark. If the players turn the light off, they can see glowing (and moving) spots that show you where to step.
The Broken Lift Puzzle
Type: Problem Solving
The Setup: There was an elevator here--until someone cut the cables. Now there's a 40 ft chute to the upper floors instead.
The Solution: Anything the players can think of--the goal is for the players to find some clever way to use their powers or the environment to get up.
The What's For Dinner Puzzle
Type: Brainstorming
The Setup: This is the only puzzle that they need to bypass more than once, because the lion loose in the dining room is stuck in the time loop too.
The Solution: The first time through, anything they try will get them past the lion. The second time though, the lion has learned--they'll have to try something else. In fact, every time they want to get past, they'll have to come up with a new solution of how they kill or escape the beast.
The It's A Bomb! Puzzle
Type: Easier than it looks
The Setup: There's a bomb on the door:
The Solution: Does it have a lot of complicated wires and flashing lights? Yep! Is it making an ominous beeping noise? Yep!
Does it also have an off switch clearly labeled on the front? Also yes.
The Tricky Lock Puzzle
Type: Puzzle
The Setup: On the door to the Greenhouse are three locks.
A Number Lock: The front of the lock reads DIX, 3 numbers.
A Word lock: "Wind is to Fire as Absence is to", 4 letters.
A Key lock
The Solution: There's two problems here. The first is to solve the lock puzzles:
Number lock: 509
Word lock: LOVE
Key lock: the key is in the kitchen, or Daisy's bobby pins can be used as lock picks
The second problem is that the locks are also trapped. The number lock catches fire, the word lock freezes anything that touches it, and the key lock will electrocute you. The players can either find ways to bypass this, sacrifice 3 of their group to get in, or just... break the glass of the greenhouse.
The Lockbox Puzzle
Type: Riddle
The Setup: The players find a lockbox, inscribed “If the sun and air dyed, who’s night holds the piece?” with a 3 letter lock to open it.
The players also need to have seen the three busts in the library of King Baldwin IV, King Baldwin V, and King Gui de Lusignan and the plaque that tells their history: Baldwin IV died and left the throne to the 6 year old Baldwin V, and when he died, the French knight Gui took over the throne.
The Solution: The answer is GUI. (Take the homophones of the riddle to get ‘If the son and heir died, whose knight holds the peace?’, and reference the history of the three busts in the library).
The Pick Your Poison Puzzle
Type: Use Abilities
The Setup: On a table are four potions, each with a small tag. A sign reads “You must each drink one to proceed. See, I’m a gracious killer. At least I let you choose how you want to die”.
The four potions are labeled as follows:
-
This potion causes the drinker’s muscles to atrophy, until they are too weak to even go on breathing.
-
This potion causes the drinker to age a hundred years, until their brittle bones are the only things left of them in this world.
-
This potion causes the drinker to turn to stone, cursed to spend life unmoving, unfeeling.
-
This potion causes the drinker to shrivel and shrink, until they are no larger than a speck of dust and disappear with the wind.
Solution: Each of the players has a power that will counteract a potion effect. If they give the right poison to each player and use the correct power, they can all survive.
Hector Kane--muscles atrophy (he can pair this with his super strength power)
Calliope--age 100 years (as a muse, aging does nothing to her)
Ted--turn to stone potion (he can use his transmute ability to turn back to armor)
LLS--shrivel and shrink (by altering a physical attribute, she can grow back to regular size)