Riddles and pranks

[JThunder]

I'm looking to use a villain who's a cross between the Riddler and the Prankster (not so much Joker with the blatant insanity), but I need to come up with some good riddle gimmicks to throw out in the middle of some fights with the player characters to really flesh him out. Unfortunately, this is not the sort of thing I'm good at.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[JThunder]

Also, cheesey on-the-spot stuff is just fine as it would fit in with the Prankster-theme. It doesn't all have to be stuff pointing to what the big crime is/will be. I want the guy to be played for laughs even if his victims might not find him so funny.

[Damren]

What about pranks that take modern terms/items and twist them a bit? For instance; a Boom Box ... that blows up, a Gadzooka ... that fires neon-loud-stun rounds, Funk Grenades ... that smell really really life-threateningly bad, a heavy mallet-like weapon called a Tenderizer, a gun called the Boom Stick (Evil Dead Reference), Electric Whip called a Live Wire, a Party Wagon that's actually big, loud, throws smoke and stobe lights and sparklers (whatever you want to add) that the crook uses as a distraction while he escapes via detachable mini-car in the front or an elaborate ejection-seat ... and is often boobytrapped.

[peregrine]

Steal all the padding from Guinan's furniture.

Blow up a tobacco shop.

[kirinke]

The Eggazooka.

A bazooka like gun that literally shoots eggs at the hero. If nothing else, a really good non-lethal distraction.
Unless the hero is allergic to eggs of course.

[JThunder]

Some of these are pretty cool... others, I'm not so sure I get.

Love the Gadzooka ("Gadzooks," an expression of surprise... stunning targets is a surprise!)
Boombox, nice... radio goes boom. I can use that to deliver a riddle clue to his next target and then have it explode if the heroes don't shut it off before the message plays out.
The booby-trapped Party-Wagon shall become his official mode of transportation.

I'm not sure I get the Funk Grenades reference, though. Stinky grenades works... but what's the joke?
I think I'll pass on the Boomstick BECAUSE its an AoD reference and the players are die hard fans.
The Live Wire would be cool if he had something clever to say when he uses it, otherwise it just seems like a standard supervillain schtick (Constrictor, Blacklash, Whiplash, and even a guy named Live Wire).
I'm kind of iffy on the Tenderizer just because it seems less gimmicky and more chef-themed... but, on the other hand... maybe a baker? You've inspired me to create the Scream Pie --the standard pie in the face gag with a sonic amplifier for a pie plate so you get a face full of sonics damage.

I'm not sure what Guinan's furniture is? You mean the Whoopi Goldberg character from Star Trek? Seems a little out of place for my game.
Also not sure how to justify blowing up a tobacco shop.
And while the Eggazooka sounds good for laughs, I definitely want to use the gadzooka previously mentioned... one too many bazookas. Definitely for a follow-up encounter when the heroes are expecting the loud pop & flash stun but get a face full of egg instead. After all, I wouldn't want him to repeat his jokes on the same audience.

[peregrine]

I'm not sure what Guinan's furniture is? You mean the Whoopi Goldberg character from Star Trek? Seems a little out of place for my game.
Also not sure how to justify blowing up a tobacco shop.

Whoopi cushions, and exploding cigars.

The tobacco shop could be a bomb threat against a mall or some area, and it's found to be in the tobaccanist's shop.

[JThunder]

Here's a couple I got from friends on Facebook...


What has thirteen hearts but no body and no soul? A pack of playing cards.
* Follow this one up with ranged attacks from a deck of thin metal playing cards with razor sharp edges.

What do you call a bear without an "ear"? B(ee)
* Said right before using an electric joybuzzer or a drug-tipped needle on a ring as a stinger.

Who can shave 25 times a day and still have a beard? A barber
* Pull out a simple straight edge razor blade.

When is a gun unemployed? When it's fired.
* Cue use of any kind of gun from standard firearms to something like Harley Quinn's over-sized boxing glove gun.

The more you take, the more you leave behind. Footsteps
* Said right before making a hasty retreat.

What goes around the world yet stays in a corner? A stamp
* Clue to next crime which is the theft of a recently advertised rare stamp acquired by local museum.

[saint_matthew]

What word starts with a P, ends with an E & has hundreds of letters in it? Post Office
Followed by mail bombs.

[JThunder]

Nice.

[Crazyivan777]

I remember running a campaign with a villain group named TRI (Three Random Initials) wherein the villain group stole:

A tremendous amount of fish.

A famous fashion designer's sketches for a new set of formalwear

An enormous top-hat (out of a vegas magic show)

And two giant crystal spheres.

In the end, they were all part of the GIANT MECHA PENGUIN that rampaged down mainstreet. Of course, the rampaging was just waddling, and in the end the entire purpose of said penguin was to squak, lean over, and dump out of its beak a crystal star to land on the top of the town Christmas tree. (The spheres were cufflinks for the tuxedo'd giant bird).

When arrested for the deed, two of the members of the team escaped, leaving a message:

"If at first you don't succeed..."

Several months later, the supers got a nice chill up their spine as the punchline was delivered with another seemingly nonsensical crime:

"TRI, TRI again!"

(TL:DR? Sometimes the weirdness of the crime and the pay-off can be enough for an oddball villain!)

[Bombaatu]

There was an old Champions module called 'C.L.O.W.N.' (The Criminal League Of Wacky Non-conformists) with some pretty hilarious pranks. Among them:

• Washington Monument readied for launch
• Shrinking the Statue of Liberty and hiding it in a New York gift shop
• Putting a big dotted line across the Florida peninsula with the words 'Cut Here' inscribed (this prank backfired when aliens showed up to do just that...)

[Kevin_MacTaggert]

I'm looking to use a villain who's a cross between the Riddler and the Prankster (not so much Joker with the blatant insanity), but I need to come up with some good riddle gimmicks to throw out in the middle of some fights with the player characters to really flesh him out. Unfortunately, this is not the sort of thing I'm good at.

Anyone have any suggestions?

This.