Three Rookie Adventure Builder Mistakes- and How to Avoid Them
As The Mystic wrote about a few weeks ago, there are lots of harsh realities that might gum up an adventure you have meticulously planned. In addition to those bad luck, didn’t-see-that-coming-from-a-mile-away sort of hiccups, there is also a subset of face-palming mistakes that surely no self-respecting adventure artisan could possibly make. Right?? Wrong!
Ok, I know some of these sound incredibly obvious but -- trust me -- just like the mind boggling warning labels on consumer products- these advisories are often needed. I may or may not be speaking from experience. Sometimes, it’s the most obvious mistakes that can really throw a hunt off!
ROOKIE MISTAKE #1: LOCKING THE KEYS IN THE BOX
You’ve got the treasure chest all loaded up with the big prize. You close it up, and as you feel the click of the lock, you realize you left the keys in the box. The keys. The keys you need to OPEN the lock...both copies are now IN the locked box.
Well, snap.
You just made a whole different kind of adventure-- Locksport! Yes, I speak from my own experience on this one. Fortunately, it was just an adventure for my kids, so we were able to make an afternoon out of trying to learn to pick the lock. Traditional lock-picking is not something we were equipped to do, but luckily our lock was shimmable. We watched this video to learn how to shim a lock with a soda can. Took some force, but it worked!
How to avoid this mistake:
For starters, if you acquire any keyed locks- they will often come with two copies of the key. My best advice would be to immediately- and I do mean immediately- put one key on a backup “spare key” ring.
Second, if your lock did not come with an extra, or, like me, you locked BOTH keys in, see if there is another way to open the box. Often the hinges of the locked container can be popped on the lid and you can open it backwards.
ROOKIE MISTAKE #2: LOSING THE LOCK CODE
Recently, I acquired my first directional lock. Very versatile things, and perfect for all sorts of puzzles. (Be sure to look forward to an upcoming blog post for more lock lore!) I played with the lock, threw away the packaging and carried on with my day. Came back to it a week later, the day of a hunt, and couldn’t find the packaging with the code. Earned myself a new $20 paperweight. This mistake can apply to any coded locks, but with most 3-5 digit locks you can make an educated guess or try to crack the code. Directional locks can have anywhere from 4-30 steps, so tread carefully!
How to avoid this mistake:
First of all, write everything down! Whenever you start a new hunt, write down a list of what locks you will be using, and record their codes. This seems so obvious but, again, this advice is here for a reason.
Second, consider resetting your locks to something neutral every time. For directional locks, that might mean up-down-left-right. For combination locks that can take digit or letter answers, set everything to all 0’s, all A’s, or all one color. You’ll thank yourself later!
ROOKIE MISTAKE #3: MIXING UP CIPHER KEYS
When including a cipher with a specific key (such as a pigpen cipher) make sure the source you are using to write the clues is the exact same source as what the players will use to solve it. I found out mid-hunt that when you search “pigpen cipher” in Google, there are two different versions in the Google image results. I pulled one up on my phone to write the clue. Then, on the day of the hunt I googled the cipher again, and copied from a different one to make the player key. I did not realize my mistake until my players were getting really weird answers with their cipher.
How to avoid this mistake:
First, when crafting an adventure, just print out your source for the cipher. Write the clues and the key at the same time.
Additionally, don’t rely on your players to google a cipher. If there is a cipher in the hunt, then include the key in the hunt somewhere! It is always fun to have the players find a cipher key, have no idea what to do with it, and then have a built-in lightbulb moment later when they find the ciphered text.
Again, I know these mistakes seem painfully obvious, but they truly happen to the best of us. Hopefully, my chagrin can be your learning opportunity!
For additional advice, we welcome you to share your past mistakes, and learn from the mistakes of others in our Constructed Adventures Discord and Subreddit. You’ll find lots of good folks who have a lot of great advice to give--including lock picking resources to help you avoid disastrous screw ups and make your next adventure a success!