The Trouble with Tricksters - A test of wits

ninjanerdbgm

Hey everyone! This is my first submission to the Foundry for publishing and I'd love to get some feedback from you all! If you like exploration, riddles, and combat, then you might enjoy this quest.

On the job board, a small, tacked on message is posted:

"Alright you lot! It seems some little girl witnessed a MURDER! The only problem is there's no body. No body, no crime, right? Well, for the sake of reputation, it would be nice if someone could go talk to her to clear this whole thing up."

Maybe closing this case would help free up time for Prince Never's guards?

Title: The Trouble with Tricksters by @ninjanerdbgm
Shortcode: NW-DPODXQKGW
Time to Complete: 25 - 40 minutes (depending on your aptitude with solving riddles)
Starts at: Commoner girl near the Auction block in Protector's Enclave.
Mission Type: Sleuthing, Dialogue, Puzzle Solving, Combat
Amount of Combat: Normal to High at first (depending on route), then none in the second half.
Difficulty (Solo): Moderate to Hard
Difficulty (Group): Easy to Moderate
Mission Summary: What starts as a murder investigation gone bad quickly turns into a trial of wits.
Author's Tips: Try to find the hidden "Dungeon Bros." Finding all of them will make the third trial (by accounts of the few reviews I've had, the hardest trial) much easier.

imivo

This was an interesting experience.

It took me considerably longer than 20-45 minutes! I enjoyed the writing, the story twists, the characters and the non-combat elements. The encounters also felt balanced and I had no trouble with the L47 healer-less Guardian Fighter that I played the quest with.

I had fun almost until the end, but admittedly, the third trial started to frustrate me a bit and I was considering aborting the quest, but then opted for just opening all doors in a systematic way without trying to solve the riddles. I felt a little lame for that, but wanted to give you the "play" because it's obvious how much time, thought and effort went into making this quest. Finishing it, I felt, was the least I could do.

I think the main trouble, for me, was that there was no feedback as to which answer may have been wrong on the path, and if an answer was wrong, all branches after that were also dead ends, regardless of whether the answers in those dead end branches were correct or not. I actually still don't know where I went wrong the first time! So, there was this sense of feeling lost, "overwhelmed" and a little dumb.

I didn't find any Dungeon Bros, but I must have missed the platform elements in the sanctum. I saw some props that looked like platforms, but I didn't spot any good leads or hints that gave me an idea where to start. Without it being mentioned in the post here, I would not have noticed that aspect at all. Perhaps this, then, would be my suggestion that may help other players who are just as hopeless at solving feedback-less logic puzzles as I am: making it easier to find the Dungeons Bros!

It is definitely worth playing and exploring, and you will get to test your logic puzzle solving skills!

ninjanerdbgm

Thank you for the playthrough and feedback!

The third trial is tough by design. I could make the riddles easier, but I had to figure out a way to make it a challenge given the limitation of having to use multiple choice responses for the riddles, and this was my solution.

I could make the Dungeon Bros easier to find, as you suggested. They were originally intended to reward people who try to break my map or who like to explore, and if you find the fifth bro (though you will need to have found the four before him), he gives you hints on how to pass the third trial.

EDIT: Changes:

- The first NPC after the commoner girl now gives a hint to the location of the first Dungeon Bro.
- Changed the interaction dialogue that hints to a platforming shortcut.

ninjanerdbgm

Updates:

- Fixed a few typos.
- Fixed sound issues.
- Changed wording in one of the riddles.