Riddle Enemy

Planescape: Torment, Cassius gives the option of fighting with strength or wits (image source)


A riddle enemy is one who must be overcome through a battle of wits, in the form of solving riddles or answering trivia questions. Riddle enemies are rarely aggressive, even when attacked. Punishment for a wrong answer, however, is often a loss of hit points or abilities.


  • Type: whether the quiz is trivia (real-world vs. story-based) or riddles
  • Reward: the reward for winning the encounter
  • Punishment: the punishment for answering incorrectly
  • Optional vs. Non-optional: whether the player can bypass the riddles, either through ignoring the enemy or by engaging in combat instead


  • Planescape Torment. The jailkeeper at the prison in Curst offers the player the option of fighting him with strength, wits, or speed. Choosing the “wits” option initiates a series of riddles that the player must answer correctly.
  • Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. The boss MODOK requires the player to answer a series of trivia questions (requiring real-world knowledge). Failure to answer correctly results in a loss of hitpoints for the player. After completing the trivia questions, the player must still engage in a boss battle with MODOK.
  • Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. A room in the Spellhold dungeon is full of stone faces. Each time a face is touched, the player is transported to a statue in the center of the room, who asks the player a riddle. An incorrect answer is punished with hitpoint loss; all riddles must be answered correctly to progress through the dungeon.
  • Puzzle. Riddle enemies are closely related to puzzle rooms, which are more environmental in nature. Some puzzle rooms require the player to answer riddles, such as a room in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn where the player must answer riddles associated with statues by placing the item that symbolizes the riddle's answer in the statue.

Quest-Level Relationships

patterns/riddle_enemy.txt · Last modified: 2011/06/17 01:45 by Gillian Smith