System/Mechanics Blending Roleplay & Digital Scavenger Hunts; Possible? If So, How?

[Toacho]

Hey everyone! So, I've been spending a lot of time recently considering the idea of making a sort of blend of a roleplay and digital scavenger hunt. What I mean by this is a few things like puzzles, clues, and work for the players to research, as listed below. What I mean by this is having a roleplay that has little puzzles and things for the players to do outside of their own posts. I think that this could leave room for the players to work together based on their own personal skillsets as well as could make the roleplay more interactive.

• Mild Suggestions
  • Hiding text inside some posts, either by having certain parts of it linked to other things that could be used as 'clues' or by plainly whiting out hidden messages in some posts. (Ex. Highlight this line. Hi! See me?)
  • Having small references to certain historical events that could mirror the roleplay and provide foreshadowing for events to come. (Ex. If someone is plotting to assassinate a character, then I would have a mention of Abraham Lincoln. Obviously, in roleplay, I'd make the mentions a little more obscure in an effort to have the players research it themselves to figure out what could be going on.)
• Moderate Suggestions
  • Placing links in pictures to route them to other places to pick up more clues. (Self-explanatory, you click a picture and it sends you to a clue.)
  • Alternative accounts or 'mock-roleplays' that can tie into the main roleplay. (Not so sure about this one, I have a feeling it could turn out annoying if overdone. Ex. John is roleplaying with me/the group and receives a message from a different person on RpNation claiming that they were from his interest check. The two of them get roleplaying and after a message or two, they drop a hint to John pertaining to the current rp and ghost. Again, I have a strong feeling this could get annoying real quick so I am less inclined to do this but am still curious at what others think.)
  • BBcode phone/website/email tools. (Mostly for aesthetic. Ex. Someone in the roleplay steals someone's phone to read their texts. I make a phone through BBcode to make a few back and forth messages.)
• Larger Suggestions
  • Links that can route to websites with hidden content. (I have some knowledge with source code and making websites and would love to use that to make a few little hints hidden in the code of self-created websites.)
  • Password locking sections of content within posts. (Again, using BBcode, I would maybe lock something important to the roleplay so that the player/players cannot access it till they have the correct code or find a way around it.)

As for how the roleplay would be played if it is made, I would likely have it be a sort of puzzle/combat style roleplay and would likely be either cyberpunk or modern at the least so that it could have a reason for passwords, phones, etc. Biggest considered route for the plot; hackers in a digital world fighting bosses and solving puzzles. The little puzzles would have to be solved by the people playing the characters, not just their character solving it in roleplay. I would primarily be playing side characters/NPCs and GMing.

Overall, I have a few questions.

• Is this a good idea? Do you think anyone would actually be interested in spending a lot of time researching in roleplays, or would it become a hassle too quick? How could I limit this to be reasonable?
• Do you think that enough people are knowledgeable in BBcode/Source Code to keep up with it? I'm trying to have it be mostly open to people with basic knowledge of both, but I'd like opinions.
• Do any ideas sound really appealing to you? Why? Do any ideas sound awful to you? Why?
• What are some warnings you have for if I decide to go through with this? How often should I use each of the tactics?
• How many people do you think could reasonably be in a roleplay with this? Does this have any impact on how many people should be in a group with this?
• Should I require or suggest that the players all be able to do mild variations of this in order to add more interactivity? Should I have to solve it alongside the other players if one does this? Or should I have all puzzles go through me before being posted since I'm GMing?
• If you have seen this in roleplay before, do you have the links? How well did they work? What would you change or do differently?
• Feel free to add any critique or information. I know that this style is not for everyone because of the hassle of having to research for a roleplay, but I have a feeling at least a few people would find it interesting and new. If you don't like this, why? If you do like this, what exactly is what you like about this?

That's about all. As the TL/DR Version, would you take part in a roleplay where you had to actively research and solve puzzles outside of the roleplay? Why or why not and what would you suggest for someone attempting to lead a roleplay with this as one of their main concepts? Thanks all!

 

[Spoiled Bread]

I think it might be interesting if its only done once or twice, but the whole roleplay about solving meta-puzzles? I think it would get frustating at some point. If its only optional and more like a wink from the GM for the next event then I don't see any problem with it though.

There's also the problem with contribution. Players that unable to solve the puzzle at all might feel like they're being alienated or left behind. Is the puzzle leaning toward something that you need to discuss with other people? Then unless the players are a tight-knit group or a very niche bunch that have the passion, means and time to discuss the puzzles it would likely dwindle fast.

 

[Toacho]

I think it might be interesting if its only done once or twice, but the whole roleplay about solving meta-puzzles? I think it would get frustating at some point. If its only optional and more like a wink from the GM for the next event then I don't see any problem with it though.

There's also the problem with contribution. Players that unable to solve the puzzle at all might feel like they're being alienated or left behind. Is the puzzle leaning toward something that you need to discuss with other people? Then unless the players are a tight-knit group or a very niche bunch that have the passion, means and time to discuss the puzzles it would likely dwindle fast.

So you're saying that I should not use this often, but when I do, I should use it in a way that it will not break the roleplay if it can't be solved? As an additional question to build off your mention of the tight-knit bunch, what if I accepted people based on certain aspects? For example, one person may be good with BBcode and working through it, another may be good at using source code, and the other may be good at finding things online. I think it could help with getting the group to communicate together and work out issues if they're all good at particular skills, but I am worried it would also make it difficult to even get everything set up plus it could ruin the whole 'using these ideas sparingly' part. What are your thoughts?

 

[Spoiled Bread]

So you're saying that I should not use this often, but when I do, I should use it in a way that it will not break the roleplay if it can't be solved?

Yes, when doing mystery or puzzle roleplay. The GM should not rely on a single linear chain of clues. They might want to prepare a secondary set of clues or branching clues in case the players missed the first one, or they might prepare a 'punishment route' so the players understand that unresolved puzzle will impact things.

what if I accepted people based on certain aspects?

You can do that, but should you? I agree that this might be too much to set up so I suggest to tailor the puzzles to fit the players instead. More brain exercise for the GM but puzzle maker wants their puzzles to be challenging rather than frustating, right?

 

[Nue]

I'm going to be really annoying here because I actually think the opposite; I think if you're going to do a roleplay that involves a lot of meta stuff and puzzle solving, having it pop up consistently through the roleplay is the way to do it. Because if you barely introduce the concept of the puzzles, and then hit the players with one halfway through the roleplay, there's a chance they'll just be thrown off by it. Definitely don't have it happen so often that they have to solve a puzzle every few posts, but just enough that everyone is familiar with the concept that this RP involves solving things outside of it.

I definitely agree that there should be multiple ways around the puzzles though, or that the puzzles shouldn't break the game if your players can't solve them. The ARG Marble Hornets ran into this problem when they included a clue that was waaay too complex for people to reasonably solve, and they just had to have another of the characters awkwardly go "Uhh i think I solved it!" to move on, lol

But I think it's a really cool idea! Would definitely take waaay more planning than a regular roleplay but, it could work out imo.

 

[Onmyoji]

First of all, I love the idea, the execution of it can be a bit hard and will involve a lot of extra planning though.
Let me just elaborate a bit on your suggestions.

• Hiding text inside some posts - that's fun and easily done! The drawback is that once players encounter it once, they will likely check for it every time so better don't use it too often.
• Having small references to certain historical events that could mirror the roleplay and provide foreshadowing for events to come. - While I really like this idea overall, it needs to be done carefully. Something that you reference could be obvious for, let's say, a person from US, may not be obvious to a player from Australia at all. There is a diverse community of various backgrounds and some people may not get the hints simply because of cultural differences. But here is when working together is good. So this idea is totally viable.
• Placing links in pictures to route them to other places to pick up more clues. - I'd say yes, good idea. But depends where those pictures lead to. We do have a rule about keeping rp-related information on the site and discourage external links. Unless it's going to be off-site rp.
• Alternative accounts or 'mock-roleplays' that can tie into the main roleplay. - Interesting, but also depends on how it's done. I also think it can get confusing really fast. Maybe only GM should be allowed to do this, not the players.
• BBcode phone/website/email tools. - This can be done with BBcode I believe, need to work on designs though.
• Links that can route to websites with hidden content. - again, try to keep rp-related stuff on the site, unless it's off-site rp. Can be fun if done carefully, but needs checking, so I'd suggest only GM to use it to keep track of what's done.
• Password locking sections of content within posts. - I'm not sure BBcode allows this. But the idea of passwords/finding clues could be played around and maybe GM could edit the post to reveal the contents after the player guess the code, for example.

I think it can work out well if you do good preparation work and find like-minded players that love solving puzzles.
Maybe consider doing this as a Quest rp, or incorporate quest elements (where players vote for options).

 

[Toacho]

First of all, I love the idea, the execution of it can be a bit hard and will involve a lot of extra planning though.
Let me just elaborate a bit on your suggestions.

• Hiding text inside some posts - that's fun and easily done! The drawback is that once players encounter it once, they will likely check for it every time so better don't use it too often.
• Having small references to certain historical events that could mirror the roleplay and provide foreshadowing for events to come. - While I really like this idea overall, it needs to be done carefully. Something that you reference could be obvious for, let's say, a person from US, may not be obvious to a player from Australia at all. There is a diverse community of various backgrounds and some people may not get the hints simply because of cultural differences. But here is when working together is good. So this idea is totally viable.
• Placing links in pictures to route them to other places to pick up more clues. - I'd say yes, good idea. But depends where those pictures lead to. We do have a rule about keeping rp-related information on the site and discourage external links. Unless it's going to be off-site rp.
• Alternative accounts or 'mock-roleplays' that can tie into the main roleplay. - Interesting, but also depends on how it's done. I also think it can get confusing really fast. Maybe only GM should be allowed to do this, not the players.
• BBcode phone/website/email tools. - This can be done with BBcode I believe, need to work on designs though.
• Links that can route to websites with hidden content. - again, try to keep rp-related stuff on the site, unless it's off-site rp. Can be fun if done carefully, but needs checking, so I'd suggest only GM to use it to keep track of what's done.
• Password locking sections of content within posts. - I'm not sure BBcode allows this. But the idea of passwords/finding clues could be played around and maybe GM could edit the post to reveal the contents after the player guess the code, for example.

I think it can work out well if you do good preparation work and find like-minded players that love solving puzzles.
Maybe consider doing this as a Quest rp, or incorporate quest elements (where players vote for options).

Glad to hear you like the idea! I understand that I'd need a lot of preparation and I've honestly got a long way to go before I can do all the BBCode tricks I want to, though I've figured out how to do some of the tricks already so it's just a matter of learning how to manipulate the code and make the finished product neater. (Not to mention figuring out how to try and keep it as mobile-friendly as possible.) But yeah, if this is a project I decide to pursue, I'll probably be taking at least a couple of months to get ready for it, find players I can rely on, learn the ropes of BBCode more, etc.

I was worried about the off-site things, so thanks for the heads up, Onmyoji! I'll probably use the Extra Pages section or some other means through RPNation to keep it on the site. If I can get good enough at BBCode, I've seen some people make entirely coded 'forums' through BBCode to mimic people messaging back and forth, fake threads, etc. I'd love to do that, but again, I've got a long way to go till I can properly modify those sorts of codes.

As for the quantity of these clues/puzzles, since it's been mentioned a few times already, I'll clarify what I was planning for it. I was planning on dividing this roleplay into a few sections, probably just five main sections with little sub-sections inside each of them. With each of the five main sections, I'd use one of the big puzzles that cannot be immediately solved like password locking part of my post that could reveal something important to the plot, or sending the players into a small clickhole that will only make sense as the roleplay progresses, etc. Then, during the sub-sections of each major arc, I'd provide smaller clues for players to use to figure out the main clue. For example, I would mention part of the password/how to figure out the password, or I would mention something relating to something from the clickhole and how it relates to something else -- (Either from the roleplay or how it relates to something else in the clickhole that will be expanded on later in the roleplay.)

In general, I'd be using one major puzzle for every large story arc, and throughout the arcs, I would provide the clues to solving the puzzle. Hopefully, that makes sense?

 

[Onmyoji]

Yes, Extra Pages is indeed a good way to store additional content and info for your roleplays!

This whole idea reminds me of Nonary Games. It's a series of games for PC/PSVita/3DS. Really good games, if you like puzzles you will enjoy them ^^