Caput mortuum

I personally think it would be way funnier to stick Bezos and Musk and them in bland middle class lives like Ray Liotta at the end of Goodfellas, it's a perfectly good life if you aren't accustomed to being able to buy entire political parties or go to space or command a herd of creepy little followers who would probably literally kill for you

Making puzzles is hard!  This is definitely a skill I am still working on myself, but here are a few things I’ve learned from experience:

1) Think more Challenge than Puzzle.  In my mind, the difference between a Challenge and a Puzzle is that a Puzzle has a single specified solution, whereas a Challenge can be solved in a myriad of ways.  As much as possible, I favor challenges over puzzles because A) they give the players more opportunity for choice and creativity and B) I’m not very good at puzzle design and few things are more frustrating for players than a poorly designed puzzle.  That being said, if you really want a puzzle…

2) If possible, give your players something to be able to physically manipulate and look at.  If your puzzle involves spatial reasoning in any capacity, it will be important to give your players something to observe rather than just verbally describing it.  Even if it’s a logic type puzzle, giving your players a blank framework to fill in will be very helpful.

Really, anything more complex than a verbal riddle should probably have a visual/physical component.

3) Don’t be afraid to re-skin puzzles from other sources.  

4) Build in opportunities for hints/second chances.  You’ll have no way of knowing how hard your players will find your puzzle until they attempt it.  Have a plan for what to do if they get stuck.  

5) If possible, do an Escape Room.  Escape Rooms are full of wonderful ideas for storytelling through puzzles and riddles.  You will probably learn a lot or at least get inspired, plus they are a lot of fun.  

hoomans

https://x6ud.github.io/pose-search/