Template-Event

Status

::Revise::

Location

Status:

GC PoC: (650) 395-8463, lab@trenchwood.com

Site PoC: (only to be contacted in emergency or if directed to by GC HQ)

Parking:

Bathroom:

Food:

Type

Mandatory Puzzle

How To Give To Teams

SUBJECT: Project: Password
FROM: lab@trenchwood.com

Research Project Title: Password
Objective: Find password to Doctor When's Brain-O-Matic 9000 supercomputer
Location:  Doctor When's childhood home, 632 Cole Street, San Francisco
Upon Completion: Call lab on speakerphone and ask to speak with Prof. Chronos
Parking:  Street, some metered; nearby lot at 801 Stanyan Street
Need To Park: Yes
Bathrooms At Location:  One
Food At Location:  Restaurants and cafes around the corner, especially on Haight Street
Notes: 
* All members of your group should go into Wesley's home--you may need every set of eyes to find clues leading to his password
* After you visit Doctor When's home is a good time to have lunch

Open Time Period

Saturday, 10:20 AM to 15:55 (3:55 PM)

Staff Instructions

Your Role:

Setup Instructions:

• Call GC when you arrive (so we know you are setting up)
• Set up props
• Call GC when you are ready for teams

Handout Script:

PLAYERS:

Pardon us. We were sent by Doctor When's laboratory. He misplaced some information and they thought perhaps it was here.

Hints: Teams have been instructed to call GC; it would be out of character for Mr. When to give hints (besides, they're unlikely to be solving at the actual location)

Answers: Teams have been instructed to email their answer to the Institute.

Site Close Down:

• Thank the host
• Call GC

Other Instructions:

• Stay in character.
• Except ... if a team says "time out," break character and help them.

Puzzle Solution

The story has only 3 outcomes: conclusion 1, conclusion 2, or a "try again" page that sends you back to the beginning.

The "try again page" (16) actually describes the sequence of layers you will encounter in the course of solving this puzzle. They are called out below as GUIDING SPIRIT quotes.

GUIDING SPIRIT #1:  "You shouldn't be here. This is not the right path for you. You must start on the right path."

Starting from page 1, follow all right-hand choices at bottom of each page. All of them lead to a right-hand (odd-numbered) page, to further reinforce the right-ness, and it ends up at a conclusion (p31) instead of the "try again" page. Initial letters on this path spell a message:

1 23 7 19 21 17 9 25 29 5 27 11 3 15 31
PAGE NUMBERS INDEX

For reference, the story on this path flows as follows:

• straight to castle
• accept princess quest to slay dragon
• encounter troll bridge
• detour to blacksmith
• proceed to wizard
• detour to grouchy
• fight dragon
• return and stay with princess

GUIDING SPIRIT #2:  "The being of light extends its index finger"

Following the same path, and indexing the text on each page by its page number, yields this sequence of letters:

PARIGRAPH LENGTHS
(There was a typo in one playtested draft, to be fixed for game: PARAGRAPH)

GUIDING SPIRIT #3:  "... the route you have chosen ... look at it with remorse."

On that same path, each page now represents a letter of morse code. Short paragraphs are dots, long paragraphs are dashes. The new message obtained reads:

L AND R ALTERNATING

GUIDING SPIRIT #4:  "There is an alternate path.  It does not start out right, but it ends well as well."

Find a new path starting from page 1, this time choosing the left option (does not start out right), then the right, and alternating thereafter.

A new, but still consistent, storyline is obtained on this path. It happens to use all even pages, which is an artifact of construction and not relevant to the solution. Like the other path, it ends with a happy conclusion (p32) (ends well as well).

 1 22  28 4  18 24  12 30  26 10  8 20  2 14  6 32

The new story flow is:

• farmer gossip
• minotaur
• gypsies, stay the night
• giant's castle
• hide in sheep
• find harp, treasure
• slay sleeping dragon
• rescue princess
• chased by giant
• bring her to your time

The first letters of the new path spell a new message:

PATHS AS SEMAPHORE

GUIDING SPIRIT #5:  "Are there any symbols or flags ...?"

The two choices at the bottom of each page on this path represent two cardinal directions. They may be of the form North + West, or Up + Left. Sometimes they're explicit in the choice text, sometimes the direction is given in the page body and only indirectly referred to in the choice text. In one case, some deduction is required to remember which direction was traveled FROM to arrive at this page, and the reverse of that direction matches the "go back" choice.

Matching the two directions to semaphore flag signal code yields this message:

XS BECOME BIG DOTS

GUIDING SPIRIT #6:  "you do not see. You must learn to see the right spots ... completely blinding you."

There are very few instances of the letter "X" (capital or lowercase) on the pages of this path. They are to be interpreted as Braille, in the frame of the whole page. This yields one more message:

PRIME PAGE ENDINGS

GUIDING SPIRIT #7:

There is no guiding spirit hint for the final step. Starting from the beginning of the book, look at the last letter on all page numbers that are prime. This is your final message:

2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29 31
BUFFY ROCKS!

Credits

• Dwight - concept and prototype.
• Wei-Hwa - structural revision.
• Trisha & Erik - narrative writing.

Manager

Trisha and Wei-Hwa

Hints

?

Response to Correct Answer

Team phones Institute. Answer is verified by lab assistant (p. 10 of script)

LAB ASSISTANT (O.C.)

Hello. Trenchwood Institute. How may I direct your call?

VISITOR 1

We're the ____ team. We've cracked the password to the Brain-O-Matic supercomputer.

LAB ASSISTANT (O.C.)

Excellent! What is it?

VISITOR 1

It's _____.

Use the following lines for an incorrect answer:

LAB ASSISTANT (O.C.)

Oh, that can't be right. We tried that one already. Would you keep working on it and call back later?

VISITOR 1

Sure thing!

The call ends.

Use the following lines for a correct answer:

LAB ASSISTANT (O.C.)

We haven't tried that one yet...let me patch you though to Prof. Chronos. But first...are you on speakerphone?

VISITOR 1

Absolutely.

LAB ASSISTANT (O.C.)

Excellent. I'll connect you.

PROF. CHRONOS (O.C.)

Hello! I hope you have good news--we really need to access his supercomputer!

VISITOR 1

The password is "BUFFYROCKS"!

PROF. CHRONOS (O.C.)

Buffy? He can't still be thinking about that stuck-up, conniving, boy-stealing bimbo of a cheerleader from high school, who right now is probably a waitress at an all-night diner in Reno? Buffy? I...

Keyboard sounds in the background as Prof. Chronos types in the password.

PROF. CHRONOS (O.C., CONT'D.)

I can't believe it. I just typed it in and it works!

VISITOR 1

What can we do now?

PROF. CHRONOS (O.C.)

Oh, yes, there's so much more we need your help with. But I have to rush off to an urgent calculation. I hope you don't mind if I hand you off to one of the lab assistants for your next research assignment.

Lab assistant sends them to either optional, role-oriented puzzle or Calibration puzzle.