Shadowman's Twisted Treasury

Here are some helpful tools for your D20 based campaign.

todo - Shadowman's garden map (color)
todo - PDFs of the rooms

Below are our suggestions for giving your players hints. Each character should get only one roll against the indicated DC. Our suggestions are for D & D 3.0 (the original system referenced in the book), D & D 5E and Pathfinder 2'nd edition.

#1 - Pazzli (pg 9)

D&D 3E Knowledge/Local - DC15

The instructions are all there on the piece of wood. Huli- is a pretty odd word, isn't it?

D&D 3E Knowledge/Religion - DC18

There's something odd about all those vowels...

D&D 3E Search - DC28

A-E-I-O-U but never Y

#2 - Way Too Easy (pg 10)

D&D 3E Search - DC22

It tells you how to cross safely.

D&D 3E Concentration - DC15

The path really is as easy as 1-2-3

D&D 3E Tumble - DC25

Do we really have to spell it out for you?

#3 - Wise Guys (pg 12)

D&D 3E Search - DC24

You need to make sense of what they're saying using just one word at a time from each mouth's sentence.

D&D 3E Knowledge/Architecture & Engineering - DC22

The first word in the correct sentence should be considered to be the first to speak.

D&D 3E Knowledge/Arcana - DC25

What teeth do you grow last?

#4 - Off Key (pg 14)

A character of the Bard class gets a +5 advantage on any of these rolls.

D&D 3E Read Lips - DC18

In reading music, the lowest note in this piece is a C (3'rd measure, 3'rd note). Each space and line up from there is a different note in the following order: d, e, f, g, a, b, c, d, e.

D&D 3E Decipher Script - DC22

You need to be pretty sharp # or your solution will go flat b.

D&D 3E Knowledge/Local - DC20

Spell it all out, including the words sharp and flat.

#5 - Good Grammar (pg 16)

D&D 3E Search - DC18

It's not a cryptogram.

D&D 3E Spot - DC27

Are you reading it right?

D&D 3E Knowledge/Architecture & Engineering, DC25

Write this out for your players: Kcirt a s'ti.

#6 - When it Must (pg 19)

D&D 3E Search - DC22

The riddle has eight lines in it with each pair of lines reading across three tiles.

D&D 3E Use Rope- DC15

Every other line of the riddle starts with When-.

D&D 3E Wilderness Lore or Knowledge/Nature, DC17

The solution only makes sense if you assume magic is working here.

#7 - Ogres & Ogres & Ogres, Oh My! (pg 20)

D&D 3E Search - DC22

The ogres look VERY stupid, like teaching them to remember a combination would be hopeless..

D&D 3E Open Lock - DC23 or Knock spell

Ogres sure don't know Roman numerals - although witches seem to.

D&D 3E Knowledge/Local or Knowledge/Ogres - DC17

You've sure got to hand it to the guy that made this lock

#8 - Clever Dwarf (pg 22)

A Dwarven character is +5 on all rolls.

D&D 3E Listen - DC19

Think back to what you learned about in kindergarten.

D&D 3E Search - DC22

It's not what's IN the message, but what's missing.

D&D 3E Knowledge/History

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.

#9 - Door Ways (pg 23)

D&D 3E Speak Language - DC23

Think phonetic.

D&D 3E Open Lock - DC22

What if Y- was really TH-?

D&D 3E Search - DC24

Dû eû relê ned enê mor hintz?

#10 - Longing to Belong (pg 24)

D&D 3E Spot - DC24

The number four is important at the right time.

D&D 3E Concentration - DC22

Sing along: One of these things is not like the others.-

D&D 3E Disable Device - DC23

Each pedestal has something that doesn't fit. Now you have a new collection of four things.

#11 - Something Strange (pg 27)

A Bard, Ranger or Rogue is +2 on all these rolls.

D&D 3E Move Silently - DC18

Start searching surf-ward.

D&D 3E Handle Animal - DC22

See snails sporting some.

D&D 3E Knowledge/Nature or Wilderness Lore- DC24

She sells some circa seashores..

#12 - Can’t Get Theyah from Heyah (pg 28)

There is no riddle room for this puzzle.

#13 - Grecian Earnings (pg 30)

D&D 3E Speak Languages (Any) - DC19

You should consider putting the letters together. No, not that way!

D&D 3E Spot - DC22

Looking in a dictionary is not a bad idea; at least looking up what the letters are called is important.

D&D 3E Profession/Gambler - DC24

What's in a name? I don't know; but I do know what's in the name of a letter.

#14 - Magic Scroll (pg 32)

D&D 3E Disable Device - DC22

Only the first two letters of the message are not seen.

D&D 3E Listen - DC19

Look for repeating portions of the message.

D&D 3E Open Lock - DC24

I pity anyone who needs to work nine to five to figure this one out.

#15 - Witch Lid? (pg 34)

D&D 3E Spellcraft - DC23

What's another way to write out the numbers 1000, 9, 100, 4, 49, 51, 500?

D&D 3E Knowledge/Arcana - DC25

De ancient romens, I mean Romans, not only were not blind, but they also knew their numbers.

D&D 3E Alchemy - DC18

From the Merriam Webster's Pocket Dictionary, Civil, 1: Relating to citizens. 2: Polite. 3: referring to or being a lawsuit.

#16 - Road Block (pg 37)

D&D 3E Wilderness Lore - DC24

The tiles form a maze-like path.

D&D 3E Spot - DC23

Read it right and see what's left.

D&D 3E Handle Animal - DC25

Oh Fnaggle! Who should I feed the leftovers to?!

#17 - Out of Order (pg 38)

D&D 3E Intuit Direction - DC22

In addition to knowing the direction is down-, you think: Hey! Most of these letter clusters are actual words!

D&D 3E Spot - DC24

The ones that aren't words could be words if they weren't so scrambled.!

D&D 3E Use rope - DC25

Maybe if you unscramble the jumbled words and read them in order it will tell you what to do.

#18 - Hidden Puzzle (pg 39)

There is no riddle room for this puzzle.

#19 - Chest Pains - Jewelery Box (pg 40)

D&D 3E Disable Device - DC 15

Open drawer two then drawer five then close both. Do the same with three and six and you're almost done!

D&D 3E Search - DC 18

How can you get the total of two drawers to be 16?

D&D 3E Concentration - DC 14

Let's see, open 2, 5, 7. Close 2, close 5, open 9...

#19 - Chest Pains - Dresser from Hell (pg 41)

D&D 3E Disable Device - DC19

Opening #16 needs to have #1 & #2; or #1 & #3 or #2 and #3 open. There aren't that many combinations...

D&D 3E Search - DC18

When you open drawer #16, none of the drawers in the third or fourth rows, nor in the rightmost column are already open.

D&D 3E Concentration - DC24

Although it says other drawers whose sum-, it doesn't say those have to be the only drawers open.

#20 - Bottoms Up! (pg 42)

D&D 3E Concentration - DC18

The empty beaker is the one to fill first.

D&D 3E Knowledge/Arcana - DC22

You don't need to throw any potions away.

D&D 3E Alchemy - DC19, hint #3, pg 83

You can mix two ingredients in a smaller beaker, then wait to pour this mixture into a larger beaker when it becomes available.

#21 - Hangman (pg 45)

There is no riddle room for this puzzle.

#22 - Caves of Despair (pg 46)

Darkvision or Dwarven racial class confers a +3 on these rolls.

D&D 3E Knowledge/Geography - DC17

Shadowman never went into a dead end.

D&D 3E Gather Info - DC24

When Shadowman says straight- it means it's one of the places where he skipped a possible turn.

D&D 3E Intuit Direction - DC19

Shadowman neither started nor ended in a cave along the top row

#23 - A Barrel of Monkeys (pg 48)

D&D 3E Open Locks - DC20

The names written on the wall are not important, nor are the monkeys bouncing off the walls.

D&D 3E Knowledge/Local - DC24

...her ego turns fourth.- that's almost, but not quite right.

D&D 3E Animal Empathy - DC20

Put the message together and then take it back apart differently.

#24 - Bingo! (pg 50)

D&D 3E Decipher script - DC24

Did you know that BINGO cards had the following ranges B=1-15, I=16-30, N=31-45, G=46-60, O=61-75? I certainly didn't.

D&D 3E Search - DC20

Hmmm that's strange. There aren't supposed to be two squares with the number G-50!

D&D 3E Knowledge/Local - DC23

Each square stands for a letter but, in some way, you need to count fresh in every column.

#25 - Inescapable Chamber of Doom (pg 51)

D&D 3E Concentration - DC18

You need to apply the instructions to the line of jumbled text.

D&D 3E Knowledge/Architecture & Engineering - DC24

MayYOUbe one shouYOUld mess arYOUound with the jYOUumbled sentence sYOUome.

D&D 3E Disable Device - DC24

Odd sieves (which to many rhymes with grieves-) means you probably want to split the sentence into odd and even parts.

#26 - Inefficient (pg 55)

A character with an ocean-going or fishing background is +3 on these rolls.

D&D 3E Animal Empathy - DC16

Wait a second! This manifest is really a clever code! But why is there only one zero?

D&D 3E Spot - DC24

The manifest is sort of a cryptogram, but it does not seem to have a perfect one-to-one correspondence.

D&D 3E Speak Language - DC26

Think of the manifest not as numerals but as words.-two, one, etc.-

#27 - Monster Hall (pg 56)

D&D 3E Wilderness Lore - DC25

What's in a name?

D&D 3E Knowledge/Nature - DC22

Hmmm that's strange. Each of the guardian monsters has a name made up of three words.

D&D 3E Handle Animal - DC25

Come to think of it, each of the food choices is named by a word that has three letters.

#28 - It’s not that easy (pg 58)

D&D 3E Spot - DC20

It's not as easy as a straight BINGO game.

D&D 3E Search - DC24

The grid on the west wall is also not necessary to the solution.

D&D 3E Profession/Gambling - DC18

In the message- on the east wall, some letters occur more than once, but the numbers never repeat. Hmm.....

#29 - Lair of the Nommag (pg 60)

D&D 3E Concentration - DC22

Think back to what Nommag might mean.

D&D 3E Sense motive - DC20

The answer to the riddle is the name of a game.

D&D 3E Profession/Gambling - DC16

SdrawKCAB si eman sih

#30 - Monastery - Signpost (pg 62)

D&D 3E Speak language - DC22

Can you think of one thing wrong with each of those words?

D&D 3E Search - DC18

Can you think of things that would make each of those words a real word?

D&D 3E Spot - DC23, hint #3

What letters do you need to change to correct the spelling ” perhaps those would be good to concentrate on.?

#30 - Monastery - Fork in the Forest (pg 64)

D&D 3E Wilderness Lore - DC18

What is written on is as important as what is written.

D&D 3E Search - DC20

Shadowman was fairly accurate about what's down the three paths, although he worded it a little different.

D&D 3E Concentration - DC24

Shadowman wrote: Shadowman was here-.

#30 - Monastery - Knock Knock (pg 65)

D&D 3E Disable Device - DC24

The sum of the number of knocks is thirteen. Really.

D&D 3E Search - DC23

One door isn't knocked on at all!.

D&D 3E Open Lock - DC22

You need to knock on one of the doors six times.

#30 - Monastery - Sword lacking hilt & guard (pg 66)

D&D 3E Concentration - DC18

What things are used for warmth and modesty?-

D&D 3E Knowledge/Architecture & Engineering - DC23

Left in its lee- means it leaves its tail- behind.

D&D 3E Search - DC24

Scabbard soft- means it's usually stored in something soft when not in use.

#30 - Monastery - Xdmbplf (pg 67)

D&D 3E Spot - DC20,

It looks kind of like a cryptogram, doesn't it?

D&D 3E Speak Language - DC23

Could it be two simultaneous cryptograms? Would those monks do that to you?

D&D 3E Balance - DC24

Down, up, down, up, down, up.