Editing Unwritten: System Reference Document/Discovery and Investigation (section)

===Solving Puzzles===

When solving the puzzle in front of you, you and the gamemaster will be acting out the situation. You ask questions about what you see, and try different things out to see what happens. Some of the things you attempt may require actions to complete, but a lot of what you will do will just be talking back and forth with the gamemaster.

There are pitfalls to this approach, however. Sometimes you just draw blanks on a particular puzzle, or you are in a situation where your character would know what to do, but you as the player do not. That can bring the game to a screeching halt. When this happens, you have a few tools available.

====Asking Questions with a Discover Action====

When you need guidance, you can use the questions gained from a discover action to help you out. Ask questions that give you information you might not be able to get through role-playing. This is ideal for characters who have expertise that you do not (“My character is a trained physician, what would they think made sense when dealing with this plant?”)

You can also use questions to double-check the solving process. Describe how you think something works and ask if you are correct. Or, ask if a particular detail you are looking at is relevant. Even on a tie, the gamemaster should tell you if you are ‘hot or cold’.

====Aim for a Hint====

When you get stuck, you can aim for excelling by carefully choosing a high skill, creating situation aspects and free invokes to use, spending fate points, etc. When you engineer the situation to get that hint, ask for what you have been missing. Or ask the gamemaster to consider letting you solve the puzzle using the hint.

====Change the Situation====

If you just can’t get past the puzzle, think about how you can change the situation to your advantage. Is there a way you can move the focus of the situation to one of your higher skills, or where you might be able to invoke relevant aspects? Also consider if there is a way for you to spend a fate point to declare a minor detail that will give you an opportunity to use your skills and aspects more effectively.