Another Puzzle Handout

This is another of those things that I've wanted to make for a while (as I've done similar things in the past) and I  wanted this one to be as versatile as possible, and also have miniature versions that could be used on the tabletop...

...and, as you can see, it's a fairly simple design, and there are lots of different words that you can make - so it could potentially be used more than once.

Furthermore, I've also tied it to one of this months VTT maps (as you might have seen in the video)...

...and I actually got to use the puzzle in my online game last weekend:

Anyway, if anyone is interested, here's some of the riddles that I had lined up (though in my game the players managed to get through the door on their second attempt):

Never foremost, but enduring.

(LAST)

I lie upon the shore, and fall to measure time.

(SAND)

I can shroud both land and sea. A veil before thine eyes.

(MIST)

I have no voice when I'm at rest, and my rings cannot be worn.

(BELL)

My waves are not of the sea, my grip is not of fear.

(HAND)

In the dark I linger. In the light I wane.

In thy mind I haunt thee. Thy courage I will drain.

(FEAR)

Make your own 'puzzle' player handout.

 I've taken a bit of a break from dungeon terrain with my latest video ...and instead I've had a go at making a puzzle piece that your players can get their grubby hands on :)

 

Now, the puzzle itself isn't much more that a crossword puzzle (albeit one where the players already have all the letters they'll need), and it's a simple matter of inserting the letters into the correct slots to spell out the answers to the four riddles.

So the answer to 'I have no wings, and yet I fly." goes along the top (and is 5 letters long) for example.

From there the answer to each riddle goes around in a clockwise direction (so riddle two's answer goes on the right, riddle threes' answer goes along the bottom), and once all of the letters have been correctly placed, the door unlocks (or the chest opens, the trap is disarmed, or whatever).

As usual, I've made a short video showing how easy it is to put together...

 

...and the pdf file can be found on DriveThruRPG (it's pay-what-you-want so feel free to pay as much or as little as you like).

Anyway, I hope you like it ...and I hope you'll be able to find a use for it in your games!

Making a Cursed Dagger Prop from a Cheap Toy

During Halloween, a lot of the cheap/bargain type shops stock things that can be of use in our games (giant spider models being a favorite of mine) - but last year I picked up this plastic dagger for 1 or 2 pounds (I can't remember exactly how much, or where I got it from - it might have been from Wilko's).

Anyway, straight off the shelf it doesn't look very good at all, but I thought I could probably use this as a prop for a cursed/evil magical item at some point - and so I recently had a go at making it look a little less crappy :)

So, in the above picture, all I've done is sprayed it black (after priming it grey), and then while the black paint was still wet, I also dusted it with some silver (all three spray cans were from poundland - and I've always got a bunch of them lying around :) ).

Next, I applied a home made wash (made with equal parts black & brown craft paint, a lot of water, and a squirt of dishwasher 'rinse aid'), and once that had dried, I gave it a heavy drybrush with some cheap metallic paint from poundland (and to be honest that's all it's good for). And, as you can see, I also wrapped some garden twine around the handle (smearing it with PVA glue to make sure it stays in place).

Then I applied some of the same wash to the twine (to darken it up a little), and added some rust by first dabbing on some brown paint with a bit of torn up sponge, and then doing the same thing with some orange paint.

And that's pretty much all there is to it!

It still doesn't look great ...but it's a lot better than what it was :)