So my players want to try something different, claiming they are bored with the old kick-in-the-door dungeon crawl. I've always been quite fond of riddles but I need a little help scripting out this session.
The basic setting is a creepy and insane wizard who is astral projecting himself around a haunted city leading the players through a cryptic series of clues that if properly solved will lead them through the encounters to the final showdown.
I'm trying to come up with riddles that have an answer that will lead them to the next location and then stage an encounter based around that location. In addition, I want each of the riddles to have a number in the question which will convert to a letter and spell out the answer to the final challenge. The tricky part is, I'm also trying to write the riddles such that they rhyme (cause I think it adds to the overall creepiness).
As an example:
(from Batman Forever)
"The eight of us go forth, not back,
To protect our king from the foes attack."
The answer is chess pawns, and when they follow that to the correct location (a landmark in the village) they will be dropped onto a large chess board, with various constructs serving as opposing pieces, and they will only be allowed to move like the chess piece who's square they started on.
As another example, a riddle that has the answer "mirror" or "reflection" will have the players fight a party consisting entirely of clones of themselves.
So what I'm getting stumped on is riddles that consist of two to four lines, rhyme, have a number in the question, and answer with something that could serve as an interesting encounter.
Any thoughts?
