Omnipresent Inspiration Hypothesis Day...3 is it?

Just got back from NYC. The art got shown and sold and all that. At some point soon I may be able to settle back and resume the regular broadcasting schedule here.

Anyway: still testing the hypothesis.

So I just saw Zach Galifinakis interview Bruce Willis and made me think of this player-skill-test mechanism:

NPC (or magic talking box, or communed with deity or whatever) asks a question. If the PC hesitates, horrible things begin to happen.

Unlike the Python "Name/quest/favorite color" gimmick, it's not just a binary answer-or-get-fucked-over situation, it has to get progressively worse the longer the player fails to answer and the player has to know it.

Also, I wouldn't go with a riddle, I'd just go with something that you have to think about for a minute.

Like the cleric goes "Oh, Mighty Vrogthrot, guide me in my hour of need!"
Vrogthrot: "Then tell me, holyman, what is the finest meal you've eaten since you left the Brass Forests of Klee Ten Krhome?"
Cleric: "Uh..."
DM: "You lose a fingernail"
Cleric: "What?"
DM: "Tik tik tik. You lose another. Off your thumb."

And then if you lie, things of course get much worse.

Alright, there you go.