quozaxx Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 As you may have guessed from a recent previous post of mine. I am GMing a group of adventurers that has just encountered a forest giant. Instead of engaging the giant in battle (protecting npcs, storm brewing in the background), they decide to ask if they can go around him without confrontation. He agreed on one term. Answer his riddle. The riddle is simple: "What does a wise unicorn say?" Now, here's the problem. I don't have an answer to that riddle. It has already been established that most unicorns cannot talk in the traditional sense. They are basically horses with horns. It has been established that riddles sometimes don't follow logic unless you think of it. Take the old age riddle: "What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night?" This riddle refers to man. (A baby crawling, a young man, and an old man with a cane). Babies don't have four legs, and a cane isn't a leg. Yet it is the traditional answer to this riddle. So bearing that in mind. What would your answer to my riddle be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maccabe Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Re: Riddle me this.... He agreed on one term. Answer his riddle. The riddle is simple: "What does a wise unicorn say?" What would your answer to my riddle be? He says nothing, for it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to open one's mouth and remove all doubt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escafarc Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Re: Riddle me this.... He says nothing, for it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to open one's mouth and remove all doubt Well done:D have repp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Re: Riddle me this.... It asks "What is the purpose of being a unicorn, if being a unicorn only means being a horse with a horn? Why should unicorns exist at all if they are just like horses?" But seriously - Why do you need to know the answer? If the players think of an answer that seems good enough, run with it. Giant: Curses! You have answered my riddle, so I must let you pass. But if you come this way again, it shall not go so easily for you!" If they can't think of an answer, or an answer you think works, why is the giant obliged to tell them? Giant: Fee Fie Fo Fum! I have waited long enough! If you cannot answer, begone the way you came, ere I spit you and roast you over the fire pit! Lucius Alexander What does a wise palindromedary say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Re: Riddle me this.... He says nothing, for it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to open one's mouth and remove all doubt That was my thought as well. Unicorns are often thought of as the wisest and most powerful of Faerie creatures, yet they do not talk. Why is that? Also, Unicorns are basically horses with horns? IMO, Unicorns are one of the most magical creatures around, short of a Dragon. They should be unique...in my mind, there is no such thing as a "generic" Unicorn. In a game I recently ran, a Unicorn showed up as the self-appointed protector of a local princess. What the PC's didn't know is that the weird NPC they kept running into from time to time was the Unicorn in humanoid form that he would take (secretly) when he wanted to communicate with them verbally. Later, the PC's found out that the Unicorn could communicate telepathically and were kind of perturbed that he didn't do that before (he neighed and whinnied at them a lot and they spent a lot of time attempting to divine his meaning during the game) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Re: Riddle me this.... Or does one of the characters have telepathy, enabling them to pluck the answer out of the giant's mind? Lucius Alexander The palindromedary, suspecting a mind reader, tries to think illegibly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Neilson Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Re: Riddle me this.... How smart is the Giant? Maybe he just made it up and there is no answer. I don't know the backstory on the Giant - does he want to let them pass (any answer will do), want an excuse to attack and/or deny passage (since you could not answer my riddle...) or have some other bias in this regard? It seems unlikely his motivation in life is to accost travelers with riddles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Re: Riddle me this.... Well, since unicorns apparently don't speak, a dumb unicorn and a wise unicorn would both say the same thing- nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Re: Riddle me this.... I say the Nay! (Neigh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maccabe Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Re: Riddle me this.... Player responds: " I have no idea, I don't speak Unicorn.." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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