Heh, that's pretty darn amusing. Thanks for the link.
Well, the reason we had for the escape route to be difficult to open, was that this is how it is opened only from the outside. From the inside, opening is simple, with the only requirements being that the "pieces" (keys, hinges) all be within a certain distance of the door. So, because of a hasty retreat made generations ago because of some unfortunate event (we're leaning towards volcanic activity because of how the world is built/island is set up), the hinges were scattered across the island and the keys were picked up by birds and such as "shinies". ::shrugs:: It's so hard to open from the outside, we figure, to stop any and all attempt at intrusion. Paranoid civilization, you might say, using magic and a puzzle where military force and architectural prowess were not available to them.
I guess it was my fault for searching for largely active communities with interests in "puzzles". I was trying to avoid roleplay communities simply because I am not familiar with such communities and assumed they were not for discussing this sort of scenario. I guess my mind filed this more under "word puzzle" than "roleplay problem". I'll definitely crosspost over there, and see if there are any other roleplay communities that might help. Thanks for the help!
Oh. Hm. Well in that case magic may be your answer. Perhaps each key or part would attract a certain sort of creature to claim it after its use. Each part could be elemental in nature or have some other attraction for various denizens of the island. Air/Earth/Fire/Water/Shadow/Etc. which might also indicate symbols, shape, or color of each key and its fitting. Maybe there are portions of the island to which each part is keyed and it attracts things from that part of the island to come and get the key in the event of its use. The keys could even teleport to various parts of the island as a failsafe.
If you don't like elemental it could run on some other theme, like earth and sky and water or types of critters, or even parts of the island indicated by the island's shape. A mountain shape might be the center, where a mountain rises, or the beach might be a wavy bit.
No, it's all good. I'm glad you're getting into it, and we could use the help. Honestly, I'm loathe to go with the elemental theme or animal theme for a failsafe as to why they were taken. This is supposed to be a door that, over generations, they have forgotten to unlock. If the hinges and keys are meant to disappear after each use, then it would be documented in the history of the culture so that it could be passed on. Something happened, though, that made the items scatter. The scattering isn't the important part so much as the fact that now characters who have no knowledge of the door have to figure out where they went and where they go now. You know what I mean? I more need to focus on the solution of the puzzle: the door and how to unlock it. How the pieces got scattered is rather trivial in comparison. Using elements for each piece would make it too easy to solve, I think, as each pillar would then have an element, and they would be able to say "Okay, so a gopher stole this item, that means it's earth, it goes on the earth pillar. Door's all unlocked!" We don't want it to be easy. This is a big point on the roleplay, so it needs to take at least some more deductive reasoning--which we can do, but we can't actually seem to create the puzzles for the life of us.
Well, the reason we had for the escape route to be difficult to open, was that this is how it is opened only from the outside. From the inside, opening is simple, with the only requirements being that the "pieces" (keys, hinges) all be within a certain distance of the door. So, because of a hasty retreat made generations ago because of some unfortunate event (we're leaning towards volcanic activity because of how the world is built/island is set up), the hinges were scattered across the island and the keys were picked up by birds and such as "shinies". ::shrugs:: It's so hard to open from the outside, we figure, to stop any and all attempt at intrusion. Paranoid civilization, you might say, using magic and a puzzle where military force and architectural prowess were not available to them.
I guess it was my fault for searching for largely active communities with interests in "puzzles". I was trying to avoid roleplay communities simply because I am not familiar with such communities and assumed they were not for discussing this sort of scenario. I guess my mind filed this more under "word puzzle" than "roleplay problem". I'll definitely crosspost over there, and see if there are any other roleplay communities that might help. Thanks for the help!
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If you don't like elemental it could run on some other theme, like earth and sky and water or types of critters, or even parts of the island indicated by the island's shape. A mountain shape might be the center, where a mountain rises, or the beach might be a wavy bit.
Sorry. Brainstorming. I love this stuff.
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