This puzzle is absolutely amazing. I used it in my campaign and the players got super invested in it. Once they solved the puzzle I had the four dead warriors appear as ghosts and give the party information on the BBEG of that arc since they were killed by him. Originally they were going to just disappear afterwards, but of COURSE the party had to put a wrench in that plan. Since the party was composed of mostly spellcasters, they were able to revive ALL 4 DEAD WARRIORS to fight alongside them against the BBEG. It was super cool having these regretful knights of honor fight against an evil that killed them long ago, finally getting their revenge. The fight was much easier for the party as a result, and they seemed to love the entire thing. Just thought I should share this story, because none of that awesome roleplaying would've happened without this puzzle.
This is amazing! I love when I get to hear stories about how my puzzle ideas are used, thank you for sharing this... super cool! And... I love this idea of reviving the dead warriors. Awesome!
Ran this puzzle a few hours ago in my 3-year campaign, it's probably now my favourite in 17 years of DMing. Just awesome. The only real tweak I'd straight-up suggest is using the window dressing and scenery to help dispense some of the clues; I did have an NPC there (mine was a ghost who hid a tome containing a couple of clues in it, forcing them to either risk combat for the tome or strike up a bargain), but also included a statue of each hero around the room (a mausoleum). So rather than just being belt-fed clues from an NPC, they had to actually use the statues and their epitaphs to figure out the clues, which makes your players feel more like problem-solvers who sought out and deduced the information, rather than just correctly arranging the puzzle pieces they were told in dialogue. So, rather than being told "Ray's tombstone is onyx", perhaps the statue of him has onyx eyes or an onyx stone concealed in his palm on closer inspection. Or instead of the NPC expositing that "Egon is not buried at either end," maybe their epitaph records their final words as 'Bury me between my greatest friend and my greatest rival' - they'll enjoy putting together that obviously that means they can't be at the end, and you'll enjoy them wondering about the 'friend & rival' red herring. If they ultimately failed at figuring it out and placed the headstones/arranged the names incorrectly, I also included some decorative gargoyles on the roof that would become animate and defend the graves (and, if they somehow messed up **twice,** a stone golem). I wasn't totally sure how this would go, but the party did an awesome job quickly figuring out the different pieces of information, and it closed the session, with the whole encounter taking about 30 minutes complete with descriptions, talking with the NPC, searching for clues, discussion, and so on. Most importantly, they loved it and felt like they done well accomplishing something, which is the best feeling as a player. Super clever of Wally giving such a classic logic puzzle a D&D twist.
I like the idea that historical records you can find in previous areas would dictate the order in which characters died and this would be the correct order.
Hey there. Once again I used your tips of puzzles in my sessions and it was awesome. This time was to an one shot prepared in an hurry. The object was retrieve the silver weapons from fallen heroes (burried on the tombs). A local wizard gave the party a scroll with all tips that he could solve by himself. The cool part was I changed the names to characters from another campaign played by the same players of this session. It was funny specially because I use the characters personalities on the tips like "Arkin, the coward, had to be burried in one of the middle graves". Thanks again for your videos.
Oh nice! What a great story Ricardo. Super cool. I love that you used previous character names, lol. I'll bet the players enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing your experience... on to the next!
Hey Wally, first of all, I want to thank you for the time and effort you put into providing all these puzzles. As I did with this particular one of yours regarding the Missing Tombstones, I will be incorporating them and changing them up a bit to fit the dynamics of my campaign. So, a big THANK YOU! I incorporated your puzzle idea into a Random Wilderness Encounter of an Ancient Cemetery Adventure (D&D 5e) I ran the players through last Saturday (09/01/2018). However, I changed it up slightly. The whole encounter went very well and the players loved the puzzle aspect of it. It was the first time I had thrown something like this at them. First, after entering the cemetery, they were greeted by a Wight, which was an illusion that a Lich had created to appear after a certain period of time when someone entered the cemetery. The Lich also gave his monologue and later the Clue through that illusion. After all the PCs had entered the cemetery, an invisible barrier appeared around it "locking" them in. I didn't mention the word "barrier", I just stated that those with a passive perception of 14 or higher noticed tree limbs along the cemetery's border being moved and held back. I let them come to their own conclusions. Once the barrier was complete, they were attacked by zombies and skeletons. After the battle, the Wight reappeared and they were given a puzzle to solve for their salvation. They were given 3 attempts to succeed. If they succeeded, then they could leave, knowing from the initial monologue that they would be watched as they continued their adventures until they finally met face-to-face. This was the first time in the campaign (they are now level 3) that they learned that they are being watched. If they failed, then they would remain in the cemetery until they died and then raised as zombies or skeletons to protect the cemetery and its treasures from the next hapless fool or fools that dare to stumble upon it. For my version of your Missing Tombstones Puzzle - I had a Path leading from the gate at the south end of the cemetery northward to the mausoleum. On the east side of the path lay two rows of four graves (Rows 1 & 2). The same to the west of the path (Rows 3 & 4). Each row had graves with headstones and missing headstones. Since we can't upload pics here, I have tried to provide a representation below of how the cemetery was laid out. Hopefully, it all remains in full alignment. NOTE: In Row 1 and Row 3 there are 2 shorter marks representing graves of children. The graves in the cemetery were actually shorter also. Also, the "|" with a "^" above it represents a grave WITH a headstone. The "^*" symbol at the end of ROW 1 represents the headstone with the sun symbol on it (This is where they had to start in order to determine the order of placement the headstones had to be placed to solve the puzzle and drop the invisible barrier around the grave). M ^ | | ^ ^ (Row 4 - West) | | | | | | | | | | Row 2 (North East) | | ^ ^ | | ^ ^* (Row 3 - West) | | I | | | | | I | Row 1 (East Horizon) G There were four headstones that were "hidden" among the rubble of the falling down stone fence. Made them pretty easy to find. > 1 headstone had a Black Shards in it = Death > 1 headstone had Green Shards in it = Life > 1 headstone had Dark Blue shards in it = Deep Waters > 1 headstone had Red Shards in it = Blood They had to find the headstones and place them above the correct grave AND place them in the right order per the below clue provided by the Lich through the Wight. The following was read slow enough (i.e. with pauses as if the Lich was taking a breath or thinking) for the players to take notes but not so slow that one person would get it all down completely. However, anyone could make an intelligence check to recall something important. Here is what they were presented after they had defeated the undead... "Well done. You are stronger and more battle worthy than I believed. My pets deserved to die for their failure. Now, you may leave, IF . . . you can solve the mystery of the missing headstones. “If you cannot, then this will become your eternal resting place and eventually, you . . . my new pets,” he grins, ”and at my bidding, ready to defend it against others who dare to enter and take the riches that lie here." “Now, to prove I am merciful, listen carefully, for your salvation hangs in the balance. “In the cemetery, you will find headstones embedded with colored shards. One, with the black shard of death. Another embedded with shards the color of blood. A third bear shards the color of Deep Waters. A fourth, the shards of life. The last radiates with the shards of the sun. “Eight graves stand headless. Four, in order, you must restore. “Three chances at salvation from this place." “Fail and death,” he chuckles, “you will face.” “Find the sun where it rises upon the horizon." “Travel west to place the blood at the top of the hill just before the path." “Place the sign of life where it fell short across the way." “Journey to the third island of the North East where the Deep Waters belong." “Then find Death’s resting place far west of the Deep Waters." “To receive your salvation." With those words, the ghostly figure vanishes with the fading laughter of death echoing about the cemetery. The players actually finally solved the puzzle on their third try with only 2 Intelligence checks by their rogue who has a higher intelligence than anyone. Once they solved it, they then began to search the mausoleum for loot and trying to find the Wight which they did not realize was an illusion and still don't. He just seemed to walk back in and then vanish. However, I provided them a sense of urgency as I began to indicate, with a successful perception check, that they noticed the barrier was beginning to rise as they saw tree limbs that were next to the cemetery being moved and pushed back. They rushed to the gate and after some making their dexterity checks and others barely making it, were able to escape before being enclosed for eternity in the cemetery. As a couple of them looked back, the four headstones were once again, missing. SOLUTION: 1) They started with the last tombstone in Row 1 ("Find the sun where it rises upon the horizon.") - Sun rises in the East and the last grave represented the horizon. 2) They then went "west" to the first grave in Row 1 (“Travel west to place the blood at the top of the hill just before the path.") - Placed the headstone with the red shards ("blood") at the head of that grave. 3) Then they continued west across the path to Row 3 and to where the short grave lay (“Place the sign of life where it fell short across the way.") - Placed the headstone with the green (sign of life) shards at the head of the short grave of the child (lived a short life). 4) Then they traveled North East (back across the path) to Row 2 to the third grave/"island" (“Journey to the third island of the North East where the Deep Waters belong.") and placed the headstone with the Deep Blue shards at the head of that grave. Notice in the representation that there are two graves without headstones in Row 2, the second one and the third one from the path. The players lost 2 attempts because they were thinking the third from the last grave in Row 2 which would be the second grave and not the third grave from the path. I guess starting them in the "far east" where the sun rises confused them there. 5) Then they headed west back across the path to the farthest grave in Row 4 and placed the final headstone with the Black Shards ("Then find Death’s resting place far west of the Deep Waters.") Hope that provides some inspiration on how to present Wally DM's really cool Puzzles #10 - Graveyard of Missing Tombstones in a slightly different way and throwing a little extra kick in there where they could have possibly still remained in the cemetery even if they solved the puzzle. THANK YOU AGAIN WALLY DM for all your efforts in helping to inspire and make our own adventures more challenging and fun for those we run them for.
Hi Lynn! Wow! This is an amazing response. Thank you for taking the time to share this with me and the subscribers of the channel. I am glad this puzzle was an inspiration for the adventure that you were able to provide your players. You are most welcome! It is an honor to know that a few of my ideas were used as a basis for events in your game. Hope to see you here again in the future. More puzzle videos coming soon! :)
Great puzzle. I had a planned module set in an old theater. The theater masks would animate and the spirits of the masks would talk to the PCs. I am going to have the masks provide the clues - probably each will ask a riddle or a task and give the clue as a reward.
@@WallyDM Reading this comment I have decided to add to this. My players are going to walk into a room set with a stage. 4 life-sized marionettes will be on stage and 5 mannequins will be sitting in audience. One marionette will be wearing the red mask, the others on a table. The audience mannequins will speak riddles and offer the clues. Will see how it goes on Tuesday. Actually they may not get to that room until the next week.
I'm gonna play with this a little. I'm going to have a alphabet lock on my chest, and use the gems to spell a word. Once the stones are put in the right order, the gems starting letter will make a word. once thats entered into the lock, the chest will open! :) thanks so much for the idea!
Love this puzzle. I'm borrowing it for my campaign; The PCs need to get an artifact from a room but to get it they need to put the right weapons in the hands of 4 statues of necromancers. Same puzzle, elven names put in, colours changed to weapons on statues. They have a guide in the tomb who recognises the statue on the far right as "winston replacement". Again, love the puzzle, cant wait to run my players through it.
Awesome! I'm glad you liked the puzzle idea! I like the changes you made to fit your game, hope it works well for you! Thank you for taking the time to comment. :)
I think I'll combine this with gem-keys they'll find spred throughout the current mausoleum mountain they're in. The king and his trusted knights are buried in the mountain. The order of the tombstones in this puzzle is the order in which the key gemstones need to be placed on pedestals near the chamber where the king lies. Thanks for the great inspiration ^^
This fits perfectly in this dungeon I’ve been designing fir the ravenloft setting. It’s a mansion that was at one point owned by a good and generous family but they were slaughtered by a cannibalistic necromancer cult. The ghosts of the old family help the players at various points. Gonna have the graves be I’ve ancestors of the family who’s graves were desecrated by the cult.
Oh cool! I'm glad that you are able to use in this in your dungeon and make it fit into your story. Be sure to stop back by later and let me know how it goes! :)
If they are adventures searching for ancient magic items or artifact to recover, not spoil, I'd add some history check, maybe the colors or gems are asociated with the clan/surname, if they are having some difficulties to solve it. The combination of letters (whether name, clan or gems) may give them the final clue to find the object
using the same concept but in a smaller hand carry form, Have 4 different small statutes or chess pieces that have a colored or metal-type rod, of varying length protruding out the bottom of the base. Each piece will be put into a small circular recess in a stone base that has 4 circular recesses that fit the bases of the pieces. In the center of each recess is a hole the diameter of the rods. The rods are actually varied length pin tumblers that must be in the right order to unlock a cam. Example: The cam can be an iron locking bar that can slide out of the way once the cam is free. Replace name of dead guy with name of chess piece, etc
Fantastic! I am glad that you will be able to use this puzzle in your game. Be sure to stop back by and let me know how it goes! Thank you for subscribing to the channel and watching this video. :)
My players are looking for a necromancer. The tombstones will definitely be the Priests who originally sacrificed themselves to seal the necromancer in his crypt. They set up this puzzle with their last bit of magic to kill any who try to free the necromancer
Here’s how I used this one (btw HEXED system, not D&D per se - “low magic” world) In the catacombs beneath the city, the party wanted to use Speak With Dead to gain information from the deceased, but needed to be sure they were questioning the right skull, after all, this family apparently had members who were either insane, possessed, or cursed 🙄 highborn problems. They could easily end up talking to the crazy brother or even some revenant or demon who could easily pose as Garum Helspeth and feed them deadly misinformation. Rather than having a ghost appear and give them clues, they gained clues by asking the rather bored priest who was guiding tours of another part of the cats all about the standards and practices for how various family members are arranged in their family’s catacombs and how to tell who’s who without disturbing the remains. This provided the details that would be a substitute for the puzzle’s ruby, sapphire, onyx, jade construct and the clues themselves could be found by doing a little research at the Elucubratorium. Also, rather than a linear placement of graves for the puzzle, I used time which is likewise linear (or so they say). So rather than a grave being to the left or right of another, the person died before or after the other person. So it was key to learn the order in which the four sons of Lord Helspeth actually died - Not the order in which they were born which was much easier to come by, but useless in figuring out which skull was Garum’s. Btw the four brothers are Gip, Glebe, Garum and Kevin. Brought to you by The Elucubratorium. Bigger than a library, better than an Athenaeum, the Elucubratorium serves all of your research needs whether arcane or mundane, we’ve got you covered! (Under the Temple of Ikbegrip)
I absolutely treasure the idea of the talking skulls of the family members. Hmmm, I may have to use this idea someday! I really dig how you put this together for your game. Love it! Also, I had an lol moment on Kevin, lol. Cheers!
Ghostbusters nice. I think having clues spread out would be a good idea and saved the spirit if they didn't find any. Now i would have a few sessions before make them come accross some dwarfs, singing, telling jokes and having meal. If the party join them. They would sing dance and tell a few stories one is about the four heroes. And explain how they stand to one another as a clue. They will say how they would be spirits to guide adventures to a safer path. If the get it right a wall open up and allow them to get to the area they need to get, but if guess wrong a different wall open and lead to monster and death traps.
Here's my scenario on-the-spot: The party needs to get to something, and are told (maybe by an old scroll) that an "Winston Wraithslayer" can help them. They go to the spot on the map where Winston is supposed to reside, but find themselves in a graveyard. A plaque before the graves reads "Here lies Peteron, Winston, Egon, and Ray." If the players solve the puzzle, the ghost of Egon appears and leads the players to the thing they need. If they get the puzzle wrong or desecrate the graves, a ghoul/ghast/ghost/wraith appears (tailor the creature(s) to your target CR). Could have a variant where an opponent appears for each incorrect grave. Or, like Wally says, have all hell break loose: a gaggle of ghouls descends upon the nearest town! Thanks for the puzzle, Wally. I'll probably use this one as part of a town.
Thank you for sharing your ideas on this puzzle. I am super stoked that you can use it in your game! I really like the idea of Egon leading them to where they need to go. Be sure to stop back by and let me know how it goes. And... Ninja turtles!? Aww yeah! Maybe the ghost of Splinter makes an appearance? Haha! Thank you again for watching and commenting. :)
Wally D.M. So I finally had a chance to run this puzzle tonight. The players dove right into solving it. After they got it, I had the first grave cry, “cowabunga!” and gave way to reveal a hole to a dungeon. I’m planning on using your Path of the Pacifist puzzle down there. Got very positive feedback from the guys. :) Thanks again for posting! Can’t wait to use more!
This reminds me of the tombstone puzzle in RE1. I'd make a tombstone conceal a key, while the rest are wraiths or skeletons. Maybe the key is hidden behind a gem.
Is this from the original RE1 or the remake? I was guessing the remake because I don't remember it from the PS1. OF course, I don't remember much of anything these days. lol.
@@WallyDM I understand, I'm lucky if I recall breakfast. It was for the Remake. I had it for the Gamecube. Speaking of RE puzzles, have you seen the Chess puzzle from RE0? I finished making the puzzle. I changed the names though. Now I just need to run it.
@@CPL.van7 Interesting. I'll have to see if I can find the puzzle on TH-cam somewhere. I definitely want to check it out. I have not seen the chess puzzle from RE0. I'll take a gander at that as well. I'm a huge RE fan... definitely one of my original puzzle influences. Also.. Some of my earlier puzzles were Resident Evil puzzles. If you watch #17 - Murkwell Family Portraits, I take that one directly from Code Veronica And... #23, the Encrypted Sand Crypt was inspired by the Train Puzzle in Resident Evil 0. Cheers!
@@WallyDM Same here. I love the RE & Silent Hill franchises. I need to look up your episode 23. Hopefully you're able to find the puzzle & happy trapping.
I used this as a headless horsemen puzzle. there are rumors going on about a headless horseman riding around a near by town. when they go to figure out what is going on, they find that the town is terrorized of it. They all account of not seeing a head on the horseman or any where around it. an older person in the town knows of a nobal family that died a while a go and they use to practice necromancy. she assumes that the horseman rose because someone took his head. now they need to find the head, which they do, and then return it to the grave. but to figure out where the head needs to be left, they have to figure out which grave it belongs to. this is where the puzzle comes in. if they fail to put them in the right place the headless horseman will appear and attack them.
Another layer to this puzzle could be that the first letters of the names of the buried people and the colors used on the tombstones could be a password for some other puzzle later on. The names and colors would probably need to change though. In this instance, for example, we could spell something with O, S, R, J from the colors and R, W, P, E from the names of the buried people. I dunno, could be interesting.
I really like this idea. Using the solution of one puzzle as a clue for the next puzzle. Great idea, I may have to do something like this in the near future! In this example, maybe we change the names to Norm, Sam, Edward, and Wilson... Their first names could be map coordinates... N, S, E, W. Perhaps the order of graves 1, 2, 3, 4 is when they travel N, S, E, or W. Hmmm... I dig it
Oh nice! I like that idea! By the way, not that it needs to be said, but you do such great work. Thank you for all of the ideas and inspiration. I only recently found your channel and I am having a blast going through your videos.
Thank you Dominic! I'm glad you enjoy the videos... it's awesome comments like these that keep me making more. More coming soon. :) Oh, BTW... great first name. My legal first name is Dominic as well... :)
Glad to hear it! I subscribed to your channel and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for new content. Hahaha, you too! You know what they say: "Great Doms think alike!" :)
Hi Jared, the background track is called Dark Fog by Kevin MacLeod. It is in the TH-cam Free Music Library. Which reminds me... I need to put that in the video notes for the Creative Commons license. Thanx!
Something I was thinking about while watching the video. Make either the NAMES of the dead or the NAME of the gem colors spell a word that opens a secret door.
Something else I was thinking about. Your original puzzle to simply open the door or find an escape route. My puzzle to open a secret door or container that would offer something comparable to a God-like item. Likely, if the characters figure out the opening and are able to escape, they would never stick around to look for anything else.
The names are from Ghosbusters. Also Meow am thinking that you probably don't need all of those clues to get the result. Would have to test it, but one could probably get it from just the first three or four clues. Can you test it?
I think someone else may have mentioned this too. I'll have to check it out. The clues are the same as the chart-logic puzzle I found online. All I did was reword it to fit the D&D world. Should be fun to work through this ol' favorite again and see if I can't uptick the difficulty by removing a clue. Thank you for the comment! :)
I'm late to the party, but I figured it out before the last clue, and couldn't find from the previous info any other solution. No need to say sapphire isn't first
Thank you for joining the conversation and helping us evaluate! :) Looks like we can adjust the difficulty level by subtracting a clue. I dig it. And, no worries, you're never late to the party with comments! I'm always here, checking them all. :)
Maybe... if not, they were definitely rolling over in their graves when the new GB movie premiered, for sure. haha! thank you for the great comment! :)
"Well, let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. According to this morning's sample, it would be a Twinkie…thirty-five feet long weighing approximately six-hundred pounds." ---Egon. :) Thank you for the awesome comment and joining in on the conversation!
Hi Rachel! Honestly, I'm not certain. I haven't been able to run this yet in my game (although it's on the list to slot-in very soon). But, after 5 minutes, if the players don't start piecing things together I would have them make INT rolls and start giving out hints. My goal is for them to be able to provide an answer (right or wrong) within 10 minutes. Thank you for the great questions and subscribing to the channel! :)
Haha! Nice. Yep, just a simple logic puzzle... but it should have all of the players working together to figure it out... which is my favorite part about puzzles. Seeing the players work together. :) Lemme know how it goes!
Given the names, they have to be exorcists. Why were they buried together? Presumably someone's done this before, so who reset it, how, and why? or if it hasn't been done before, why hasn't it been done before? What is the purpose of this puzzle? Anyone can solve a riddle, given enough time. What is the relationship between the puzzle and the reward? Who is the puzzle meant to stop, and how is it meant to stop them?
maybe the four buried dead were all revered druids buried with their signature magic item. powerful curses were added to protect the burial plots, but each plot has a unique protective item that shields the user from the curse but only for that plot. the party is there to dig up a specific grave and they have somehow acquired the protection item for that grave - but they don't know which of the four plots has the druid they want unless they solve the puzzle.
This doesn't seem to be an actual critique of the puzzle. This is a critique based off the lack of lore given with saud puzzle, which is not the point of the video. This video exists to provide a puzzle for anyone to use in any setting. Those details are up to the DM to decide and it's pointless to ask these questions here.
It could be... but the clues are exactly what was given in the logic puzzle I found online. I just reworded to fit the D&D world. I am not sure if it can be solved without all of them. None-the-less, if you want to use it in your campaign, you could pick a handful of clues and spread them throughout the dungeon. Maybe if they fail to solve the puzzle the first time, they need to go back out and look for another clue? Anyway. if you end up using it in your campaign, let me know how it goes! Thank you for watching the video and taking the time to comment! Much appreciated. :)
@@WallyDM You don't need "Egon is not buried at either end", the first half of clue #4. From clue #1 it is clear that Egon is not buried at tombstone 4, and from clues #2 and #5 it is clear that tombstone 1 is sapphire. But then the second half of clue #4 precludes Egon being buried in tomb 1, which proves that Egon must be buried in tomb 2 or 3. This in turn is equivalent to saying "Egon is not buried at either end", which I have now proved from the other clues. As far as I can see you cannot remove any other hint while at the same time ensuring that the puzzle has a single solution.
This puzzle is absolutely amazing. I used it in my campaign and the players got super invested in it. Once they solved the puzzle I had the four dead warriors appear as ghosts and give the party information on the BBEG of that arc since they were killed by him. Originally they were going to just disappear afterwards, but of COURSE the party had to put a wrench in that plan. Since the party was composed of mostly spellcasters, they were able to revive ALL 4 DEAD WARRIORS to fight alongside them against the BBEG. It was super cool having these regretful knights of honor fight against an evil that killed them long ago, finally getting their revenge. The fight was much easier for the party as a result, and they seemed to love the entire thing. Just thought I should share this story, because none of that awesome roleplaying would've happened without this puzzle.
This is amazing! I love when I get to hear stories about how my puzzle ideas are used, thank you for sharing this... super cool! And... I love this idea of reviving the dead warriors. Awesome!
THAT IS SO COOL HOLY SHIT
Ran this puzzle a few hours ago in my 3-year campaign, it's probably now my favourite in 17 years of DMing. Just awesome.
The only real tweak I'd straight-up suggest is using the window dressing and scenery to help dispense some of the clues; I did have an NPC there (mine was a ghost who hid a tome containing a couple of clues in it, forcing them to either risk combat for the tome or strike up a bargain), but also included a statue of each hero around the room (a mausoleum). So rather than just being belt-fed clues from an NPC, they had to actually use the statues and their epitaphs to figure out the clues, which makes your players feel more like problem-solvers who sought out and deduced the information, rather than just correctly arranging the puzzle pieces they were told in dialogue.
So, rather than being told "Ray's tombstone is onyx", perhaps the statue of him has onyx eyes or an onyx stone concealed in his palm on closer inspection.
Or instead of the NPC expositing that "Egon is not buried at either end," maybe their epitaph records their final words as 'Bury me between my greatest friend and my greatest rival' - they'll enjoy putting together that obviously that means they can't be at the end, and you'll enjoy them wondering about the 'friend & rival' red herring.
If they ultimately failed at figuring it out and placed the headstones/arranged the names incorrectly, I also included some decorative gargoyles on the roof that would become animate and defend the graves (and, if they somehow messed up **twice,** a stone golem).
I wasn't totally sure how this would go, but the party did an awesome job quickly figuring out the different pieces of information, and it closed the session, with the whole encounter taking about 30 minutes complete with descriptions, talking with the NPC, searching for clues, discussion, and so on. Most importantly, they loved it and felt like they done well accomplishing something, which is the best feeling as a player. Super clever of Wally giving such a classic logic puzzle a D&D twist.
I like the idea that historical records you can find in previous areas would dictate the order in which characters died and this would be the correct order.
Yeah, I dig that idea as well. Searching historical records sounds like a great detective/mystery type of a game, for sure. Great idea!
Hey there. Once again I used your tips of puzzles in my sessions and it was awesome.
This time was to an one shot prepared in an hurry.
The object was retrieve the silver weapons from fallen heroes (burried on the tombs). A local wizard gave the party a scroll with all tips that he could solve by himself.
The cool part was I changed the names to characters from another campaign played by the same players of this session. It was funny specially because I use the characters personalities on the tips like "Arkin, the coward, had to be burried in one of the middle graves".
Thanks again for your videos.
Oh nice! What a great story Ricardo. Super cool. I love that you used previous character names, lol. I'll bet the players enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing your experience... on to the next!
Hey Wally, first of all, I want to thank you for the time and effort you put into providing all these puzzles. As I did with this particular one of yours regarding the Missing Tombstones, I will be incorporating them and changing them up a bit to fit the dynamics of my campaign. So, a big THANK YOU!
I incorporated your puzzle idea into a Random Wilderness Encounter of an Ancient Cemetery Adventure (D&D 5e) I ran the players through last Saturday (09/01/2018). However, I changed it up slightly. The whole encounter went very well and the players loved the puzzle aspect of it. It was the first time I had thrown something like this at them.
First, after entering the cemetery, they were greeted by a Wight, which was an illusion that a Lich had created to appear after a certain period of time when someone entered the cemetery. The Lich also gave his monologue and later the Clue through that illusion.
After all the PCs had entered the cemetery, an invisible barrier appeared around it "locking" them in. I didn't mention the word "barrier", I just stated that those with a passive perception of 14 or higher noticed tree limbs along the cemetery's border being moved and held back. I let them come to their own conclusions. Once the barrier was complete, they were attacked by zombies and skeletons.
After the battle, the Wight reappeared and they were given a puzzle to solve for their salvation. They were given 3 attempts to succeed. If they succeeded, then they could leave, knowing from the initial monologue that they would be watched as they continued their adventures until they finally met face-to-face. This was the first time in the campaign (they are now level 3) that they learned that they are being watched.
If they failed, then they would remain in the cemetery until they died and then raised as zombies or skeletons to protect the cemetery and its treasures from the next hapless fool or fools that dare to stumble upon it.
For my version of your Missing Tombstones Puzzle - I had a Path leading from the gate at the south end of the cemetery northward to the mausoleum. On the east side of the path lay two rows of four graves (Rows 1 & 2). The same to the west of the path (Rows 3 & 4). Each row had graves with headstones and missing headstones.
Since we can't upload pics here, I have tried to provide a representation below of how the cemetery was laid out. Hopefully, it all remains in full alignment.
NOTE: In Row 1 and Row 3 there are 2 shorter marks representing graves of children. The graves in the cemetery were actually shorter also. Also, the "|" with a "^" above it represents a grave WITH a headstone. The "^*" symbol at the end of ROW 1 represents the headstone with the sun symbol on it (This is where they had to start in order to determine the order of placement the headstones had to be placed to solve the puzzle and drop the invisible barrier around the grave).
M
^ | | ^ ^
(Row 4 - West) | | | | | | | | | | Row 2 (North East)
| |
^ ^ | | ^ ^*
(Row 3 - West) | | I | | | | | I | Row 1 (East Horizon)
G
There were four headstones that were "hidden" among the rubble of the falling down stone fence. Made them pretty easy to find.
> 1 headstone had a Black Shards in it = Death
> 1 headstone had Green Shards in it = Life
> 1 headstone had Dark Blue shards in it = Deep Waters
> 1 headstone had Red Shards in it = Blood
They had to find the headstones and place them above the correct grave AND place them in the right order per the below clue provided by the Lich through the Wight.
The following was read slow enough (i.e. with pauses as if the Lich was taking a breath or thinking) for the players to take notes but not so slow that one person would get it all down completely. However, anyone could make an intelligence check to recall something important.
Here is what they were presented after they had defeated the undead...
"Well done. You are stronger and more battle worthy than I believed. My pets deserved to die for their failure. Now, you may leave, IF . . . you can solve the mystery of the missing headstones.
“If you cannot, then this will become your eternal resting place and eventually, you . . . my new pets,” he grins, ”and at my bidding, ready to defend it against others who dare to enter and take the riches that lie here."
“Now, to prove I am merciful, listen carefully, for your salvation hangs in the balance.
“In the cemetery, you will find headstones embedded with colored shards. One, with the black shard of death. Another embedded with shards the color of blood. A third bear shards the color of Deep Waters. A fourth, the shards of life. The last radiates with the shards of the sun.
“Eight graves stand headless. Four, in order, you must restore.
“Three chances at salvation from this place."
“Fail and death,” he chuckles, “you will face.”
“Find the sun where it rises upon the horizon."
“Travel west to place the blood at the top of the hill just before the path."
“Place the sign of life where it fell short across the way."
“Journey to the third island of the North East where the Deep Waters belong."
“Then find Death’s resting place far west of the Deep Waters."
“To receive your salvation."
With those words, the ghostly figure vanishes with the fading laughter of death echoing about the cemetery.
The players actually finally solved the puzzle on their third try with only 2 Intelligence checks by their rogue who has a higher intelligence than anyone. Once they solved it, they then began to search the mausoleum for loot and trying to find the Wight which they did not realize was an illusion and still don't. He just seemed to walk back in and then vanish. However, I provided them a sense of urgency as I began to indicate, with a successful perception check, that they noticed the barrier was beginning to rise as they saw tree limbs that were next to the cemetery being moved and pushed back. They rushed to the gate and after some making their dexterity checks and others barely making it, were able to escape before being enclosed for eternity in the cemetery. As a couple of them looked back, the four headstones were once again, missing.
SOLUTION:
1) They started with the last tombstone in Row 1 ("Find the sun where it rises upon the horizon.") - Sun rises in the East and the last grave represented the horizon.
2) They then went "west" to the first grave in Row 1 (“Travel west to place the blood at the top of the hill just before the path.") - Placed the headstone with the red shards ("blood") at the head of that grave.
3) Then they continued west across the path to Row 3 and to where the short grave lay (“Place the sign of life where it fell short across the way.") - Placed the headstone with the green (sign of life) shards at the head of the short grave of the child (lived a short life).
4) Then they traveled North East (back across the path) to Row 2 to the third grave/"island" (“Journey to the third island of the North East where the Deep Waters belong.") and placed the headstone with the Deep Blue shards at the head of that grave.
Notice in the representation that there are two graves without headstones in Row 2, the second one and the third one from the path. The players lost 2 attempts because they were thinking the third from the last grave in Row 2 which would be the second grave and not the third grave from the path. I guess starting them in the "far east" where the sun rises confused them there.
5) Then they headed west back across the path to the farthest grave in Row 4 and placed the final headstone with the Black Shards ("Then find Death’s resting place far west of the Deep Waters.")
Hope that provides some inspiration on how to present Wally DM's really cool Puzzles #10 - Graveyard of Missing Tombstones in a slightly different way and throwing a little extra kick in there where they could have possibly still remained in the cemetery even if they solved the puzzle.
THANK YOU AGAIN WALLY DM for all your efforts in helping to inspire and make our own adventures more challenging and fun for those we run them for.
Hi Lynn! Wow! This is an amazing response. Thank you for taking the time to share this with me and the subscribers of the channel. I am glad this puzzle was an inspiration for the adventure that you were able to provide your players. You are most welcome! It is an honor to know that a few of my ideas were used as a basis for events in your game. Hope to see you here again in the future. More puzzle videos coming soon! :)
I love this one! I’ll be running a one shot tonight and my players are definitely coming across this room
Hooray! Glad I could help. Hope you and your players enjoy the puzzle! :)
Great puzzle. I had a planned module set in an old theater. The theater masks would animate and the spirits of the masks would talk to the PCs. I am going to have the masks provide the clues - probably each will ask a riddle or a task and give the clue as a reward.
Nice! I like your take on this with the masks in the old theater. Be sure to stop back by and let me know how it goes. Thanks for watching! :)
@@WallyDM Reading this comment I have decided to add to this. My players are going to walk into a room set with a stage. 4 life-sized marionettes will be on stage and 5 mannequins will be sitting in audience. One marionette will be wearing the red mask, the others on a table. The audience mannequins will speak riddles and offer the clues. Will see how it goes on Tuesday. Actually they may not get to that room until the next week.
I'm gonna play with this a little. I'm going to have a alphabet lock on my chest, and use the gems to spell a word. Once the stones are put in the right order, the gems starting letter will make a word. once thats entered into the lock, the chest will open! :) thanks so much for the idea!
Love this puzzle. I'm borrowing it for my campaign;
The PCs need to get an artifact from a room but to get it they need to put the right weapons in the hands of 4 statues of necromancers.
Same puzzle, elven names put in, colours changed to weapons on statues. They have a guide in the tomb who recognises the statue on the far right as "winston replacement".
Again, love the puzzle, cant wait to run my players through it.
Awesome! I'm glad you liked the puzzle idea! I like the changes you made to fit your game, hope it works well for you! Thank you for taking the time to comment. :)
I think I'll combine this with gem-keys they'll find spred throughout the current mausoleum mountain they're in. The king and his trusted knights are buried in the mountain. The order of the tombstones in this puzzle is the order in which the key gemstones need to be placed on pedestals near the chamber where the king lies.
Thanks for the great inspiration ^^
This fits perfectly in this dungeon I’ve been designing fir the ravenloft setting. It’s a mansion that was at one point owned by a good and generous family but they were slaughtered by a cannibalistic necromancer cult. The ghosts of the old family help the players at various points. Gonna have the graves be I’ve ancestors of the family who’s graves were desecrated by the cult.
Oh cool! I'm glad that you are able to use in this in your dungeon and make it fit into your story. Be sure to stop back by later and let me know how it goes! :)
If they are adventures searching for ancient magic items or artifact to recover, not spoil, I'd add some history check, maybe the colors or gems are asociated with the clan/surname, if they are having some difficulties to solve it. The combination of letters (whether name, clan or gems) may give them the final clue to find the object
A good shirt to wear in a graveyard scene 👌
🧟♀️ 🧟♀️ 🧟♀️
I probably planned it that way, lol. I need a new Umbrella Corp shirt, I think. Hmmm. Cheers!
A lot like the flesh golem puzzle from White Plume Mountain. Ghost Busters.
White Plume? Ah, interesting, I'm gonna check that out now. Also, who ya gonna call?
@@WallyDM Indeed. And I guess a little Hermione's potion logic puzzle from The Philosopher's Stone.
The names come from my all time favorite 80's movie, Ghostbusters. Definitely going to use this puzzle in my game tomorrow
Awesome! Glad I could help... By the way... If you used this... How did it go!?!?
@@WallyDM it went great. My players roared with laughter once they got the reference
haha! nice! Who ya gonna call?
using the same concept but in a smaller hand carry form, Have 4 different small statutes or chess pieces that have a colored or metal-type rod, of varying length protruding out the bottom of the base. Each piece will be put into a small circular recess in a stone base that has 4 circular recesses that fit the bases of the pieces. In the center of each recess is a hole the diameter of the rods. The rods are actually varied length pin tumblers that must be in the right order to unlock a cam. Example: The cam can be an iron locking bar that can slide out of the way once the cam is free. Replace name of dead guy with name of chess piece, etc
.......Very nice. Ghostbusters references I love it my friend.
Haha, Who ya gonna call?
Wally D.M. YOU FOR MORE PUZZLES! :P lol
lol. nice!
This is perfect. I have a town that has become prestigious to be buried in. Now up in a mountain cave, I will have the tomb of four brothers.
Fantastic! I am glad that you will be able to use this puzzle in your game. Be sure to stop back by and let me know how it goes! Thank you for subscribing to the channel and watching this video. :)
My players are looking for a necromancer. The tombstones will definitely be the Priests who originally sacrificed themselves to seal the necromancer in his crypt. They set up this puzzle with their last bit of magic to kill any who try to free the necromancer
This sounds like a fun use of the puzzle! Hope your players enjoy it. Well done Spencer. Cheers!
Ghostbusters!!!!!
Awwww yeah. That's right. lol. Super cool to see you make your way through these old videos. :)
Here’s how I used this one (btw HEXED system, not D&D per se - “low magic” world)
In the catacombs beneath the city, the party wanted to use Speak With Dead to gain information from the deceased, but needed to be sure they were questioning the right skull, after all, this family apparently had members who were either insane, possessed, or cursed 🙄 highborn problems. They could easily end up talking to the crazy brother or even some revenant or demon who could easily pose as Garum Helspeth and feed them deadly misinformation.
Rather than having a ghost appear and give them clues, they gained clues by asking the rather bored priest who was guiding tours of another part of the cats all about the standards and practices for how various family members are arranged in their family’s catacombs and how to tell who’s who without disturbing the remains. This provided the details that would be a substitute for the puzzle’s ruby, sapphire, onyx, jade construct and the clues themselves could be found by doing a little research at the Elucubratorium.
Also, rather than a linear placement of graves for the puzzle, I used time which is likewise linear (or so they say). So rather than a grave being to the left or right of another, the person died before or after the other person. So it was key to learn the order in which the four sons of Lord Helspeth actually died - Not the order in which they were born which was much easier to come by, but useless in figuring out which skull was Garum’s.
Btw the four brothers are Gip, Glebe, Garum and Kevin.
Brought to you by The Elucubratorium. Bigger than a library, better than an Athenaeum, the Elucubratorium serves all of your research needs whether arcane or mundane, we’ve got you covered! (Under the Temple of Ikbegrip)
I absolutely treasure the idea of the talking skulls of the family members. Hmmm, I may have to use this idea someday! I really dig how you put this together for your game. Love it! Also, I had an lol moment on Kevin, lol. Cheers!
Works well as a magical door lock/trap as well (with two sets of stones instead of gravestones and bodies of course) good one.
Rock on! Thank you for the comment! :)
Ghostbusters nice.
I think having clues spread out would be a good idea and saved the spirit if they didn't find any.
Now i would have a few sessions before make them come accross some dwarfs, singing, telling jokes and having meal. If the party join them. They would sing dance and tell a few stories one is about the four heroes. And explain how they stand to one another as a clue. They will say how they would be spirits to guide adventures to a safer path.
If the get it right a wall open up and allow them to get to the area they need to get, but if guess wrong a different wall open and lead to monster and death traps.
I like the role-playing avenue of getting the clues. Great idea. Glad you liked the puzzle (and got the Ghostbuster reference!) :)
Here's my scenario on-the-spot:
The party needs to get to something, and are told (maybe by an old scroll) that an "Winston Wraithslayer" can help them. They go to the spot on the map where Winston is supposed to reside, but find themselves in a graveyard. A plaque before the graves reads "Here lies Peteron, Winston, Egon, and Ray." If the players solve the puzzle, the ghost of Egon appears and leads the players to the thing they need. If they get the puzzle wrong or desecrate the graves, a ghoul/ghast/ghost/wraith appears (tailor the creature(s) to your target CR). Could have a variant where an opponent appears for each incorrect grave. Or, like Wally says, have all hell break loose: a gaggle of ghouls descends upon the nearest town!
Thanks for the puzzle, Wally. I'll probably use this one as part of a town.
Also, I changed mine to the ninja turtles. :)
Thank you for sharing your ideas on this puzzle. I am super stoked that you can use it in your game! I really like the idea of Egon leading them to where they need to go. Be sure to stop back by and let me know how it goes. And... Ninja turtles!? Aww yeah! Maybe the ghost of Splinter makes an appearance? Haha! Thank you again for watching and commenting. :)
Wally D.M. So I finally had a chance to run this puzzle tonight. The players dove right into solving it. After they got it, I had the first grave cry, “cowabunga!” and gave way to reveal a hole to a dungeon. I’m planning on using your Path of the Pacifist puzzle down there. Got very positive feedback from the guys. :) Thanks again for posting! Can’t wait to use more!
This reminds me of the tombstone puzzle in RE1. I'd make a tombstone conceal a key, while the rest are wraiths or skeletons. Maybe the key is hidden behind a gem.
Is this from the original RE1 or the remake? I was guessing the remake because I don't remember it from the PS1. OF course, I don't remember much of anything these days. lol.
@@WallyDM I understand, I'm lucky if I recall breakfast. It was for the Remake. I had it for the Gamecube. Speaking of RE puzzles, have you seen the Chess puzzle from RE0?
I finished making the puzzle. I changed the names though. Now I just need to run it.
@@CPL.van7 Interesting. I'll have to see if I can find the puzzle on TH-cam somewhere. I definitely want to check it out. I have not seen the chess puzzle from RE0. I'll take a gander at that as well. I'm a huge RE fan... definitely one of my original puzzle influences.
Also.. Some of my earlier puzzles were Resident Evil puzzles.
If you watch #17 - Murkwell Family Portraits, I take that one directly from Code Veronica
And... #23, the Encrypted Sand Crypt was inspired by the Train Puzzle in Resident Evil 0.
Cheers!
@@WallyDM Same here. I love the RE & Silent Hill franchises. I need to look up your episode 23.
Hopefully you're able to find the puzzle & happy trapping.
I used this as a headless horsemen puzzle. there are rumors going on about a headless horseman riding around a near by town. when they go to figure out what is going on, they find that the town is terrorized of it. They all account of not seeing a head on the horseman or any where around it. an older person in the town knows of a nobal family that died a while a go and they use to practice necromancy. she assumes that the horseman rose because someone took his head. now they need to find the head, which they do, and then return it to the grave. but to figure out where the head needs to be left, they have to figure out which grave it belongs to. this is where the puzzle comes in. if they fail to put them in the right place the headless horseman will appear and attack them.
I love the ideas of using the headless horsemen! Also... really good story behind the puzzle. Well done Nanao!
Another layer to this puzzle could be that the first letters of the names of the buried people and the colors used on the tombstones could be a password for some other puzzle later on. The names and colors would probably need to change though.
In this instance, for example, we could spell something with O, S, R, J from the colors and R, W, P, E from the names of the buried people.
I dunno, could be interesting.
I really like this idea. Using the solution of one puzzle as a clue for the next puzzle. Great idea, I may have to do something like this in the near future!
In this example, maybe we change the names to Norm, Sam, Edward, and Wilson... Their first names could be map coordinates... N, S, E, W. Perhaps the order of graves 1, 2, 3, 4 is when they travel N, S, E, or W. Hmmm... I dig it
Oh nice! I like that idea!
By the way, not that it needs to be said, but you do such great work. Thank you for all of the ideas and inspiration. I only recently found your channel and I am having a blast going through your videos.
Thank you Dominic! I'm glad you enjoy the videos... it's awesome comments like these that keep me making more. More coming soon. :) Oh, BTW... great first name. My legal first name is Dominic as well... :)
Glad to hear it! I subscribed to your channel and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for new content. Hahaha, you too! You know what they say: "Great Doms think alike!" :)
@@WallyDM the idea of the coordinates fits perfectly with the Maze of the Elements :)
I think you could add this to your "Halloween puzzles" playlist!
Holy smokes, you are right! Gonna do this now. BTW... new puzzle in October will be another good one for Halloween!
What's the background ambiance used here?
Hi Jared, the background track is called Dark Fog by Kevin MacLeod. It is in the TH-cam Free Music Library. Which reminds me... I need to put that in the video notes for the Creative Commons license. Thanx!
Very good. Love it
Awesome! Thank you! :)
Great Puzzle, I'm borrowing this :)
Glad you liked it. Let me know how it goes! :)
Superb!
Awesome! Thank you, Krim, and welcome to the channel! :)
Something I was thinking about while watching the video. Make either the NAMES of the dead or the NAME of the gem colors spell a word that opens a secret door.
I absolutely love that idea as well! A puzzle within a puzzle. Good thinking!
Something else I was thinking about. Your original puzzle to simply open the door or find an escape route. My puzzle to open a secret door or container that would offer something comparable to a God-like item. Likely, if the characters figure out the opening and are able to escape, they would never stick around to look for anything else.
The names are from Ghosbusters. Also Meow am thinking that you probably don't need all of those clues to get the result. Would have to test it, but one could probably get it from just the first three or four clues. Can you test it?
100 imaginary points for you my friend! :) Thank you for the comment. :)
One more clue than was necessary.
I think someone else may have mentioned this too. I'll have to check it out. The clues are the same as the chart-logic puzzle I found online. All I did was reword it to fit the D&D world. Should be fun to work through this ol' favorite again and see if I can't uptick the difficulty by removing a clue. Thank you for the comment! :)
I'm late to the party, but I figured it out before the last clue, and couldn't find from the previous info any other solution. No need to say sapphire isn't first
Thank you for joining the conversation and helping us evaluate! :) Looks like we can adjust the difficulty level by subtracting a clue. I dig it. And, no worries, you're never late to the party with comments! I'm always here, checking them all. :)
Did they take their own lives after seeing the new movie ?
Maybe... if not, they were definitely rolling over in their graves when the new GB movie premiered, for sure. haha! thank you for the great comment! :)
Ah, legendary slayers of spectral beings and gods alike. Ghost busters.
"Well, let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. According to this morning's sample, it would be a Twinkie…thirty-five feet long weighing approximately six-hundred pounds." ---Egon. :)
Thank you for the awesome comment and joining in on the conversation!
Who you gonna call?
Tell them about the Twinkie Egon...
:)
Lol. Was it Peter's fault? Good puzzle.
Absolutely it was, lol. Thank you!
Great stuff
Thank you!
_Who ya gonna call..._
Hehee. yup!
On average how long has it taken players to solve this?
Hi Rachel! Honestly, I'm not certain. I haven't been able to run this yet in my game (although it's on the list to slot-in very soon). But, after 5 minutes, if the players don't start piecing things together I would have them make INT rolls and start giving out hints. My goal is for them to be able to provide an answer (right or wrong) within 10 minutes. Thank you for the great questions and subscribing to the channel! :)
I like this one, though I think my players would hate it. Which means I'll probably use it :D
Haha! Nice. Yep, just a simple logic puzzle... but it should have all of the players working together to figure it out... which is my favorite part about puzzles. Seeing the players work together. :)
Lemme know how it goes!
If I run it I'll certainly let you know.
Given the names, they have to be exorcists. Why were they buried together? Presumably someone's done this before, so who reset it, how, and why? or if it hasn't been done before, why hasn't it been done before? What is the purpose of this puzzle? Anyone can solve a riddle, given enough time. What is the relationship between the puzzle and the reward? Who is the puzzle meant to stop, and how is it meant to stop them?
maybe the four buried dead were all revered druids buried with their signature magic item. powerful curses were added to protect the burial plots, but each plot has a unique protective item that shields the user from the curse but only for that plot. the party is there to dig up a specific grave and they have somehow acquired the protection item for that grave - but they don't know which of the four plots has the druid they want unless they solve the puzzle.
This doesn't seem to be an actual critique of the puzzle. This is a critique based off the lack of lore given with saud puzzle, which is not the point of the video. This video exists to provide a puzzle for anyone to use in any setting. Those details are up to the DM to decide and it's pointless to ask these questions here.
Who r gonna call?
Awww yeah! Now... Egon, tell him about the twinkie. :)
#ghostbustered
#whoyougonnacall :)
I think it is way too much hints.
It could be... but the clues are exactly what was given in the logic puzzle I found online. I just reworded to fit the D&D world. I am not sure if it can be solved without all of them. None-the-less, if you want to use it in your campaign, you could pick a handful of clues and spread them throughout the dungeon. Maybe if they fail to solve the puzzle the first time, they need to go back out and look for another clue?
Anyway. if you end up using it in your campaign, let me know how it goes! Thank you for watching the video and taking the time to comment! Much appreciated. :)
@@WallyDM You don't need "Egon is not buried at either end", the first half of clue #4. From clue #1 it is clear that Egon is not buried at tombstone 4, and from clues #2 and #5 it is clear that tombstone 1 is sapphire. But then the second half of clue #4 precludes Egon being buried in tomb 1, which proves that Egon must be buried in tomb 2 or 3. This in turn is equivalent to saying "Egon is not buried at either end", which I have now proved from the other clues.
As far as I can see you cannot remove any other hint while at the same time ensuring that the puzzle has a single solution.