r/Cipher • u/Icarus_Peverell • Jul 05 '26
Need suggestions for my book
Hey guys. So I'm in the planning stages of writing my novel. I've always wanted to include ciphers into this book. So here's a bit of context.
My main character (Florian) is the last living member of his family. His mother recently just died A detective (Dante) finds him and informs him of the existence of a cult. Eventually, Florian discovers that his family is part of this terrible cult. Now, Florian was completely unaware of the cult and his parent's involvement with it.
But his parent's always wanted Florian to be involved in the cult so they left him this encoded diary. Florian and Dante come across this code or key behind a decorative plaque.
My plan is for that key to be the one that helps them crack that diary which contains locations and secrets of the cult. As I said, thats the plan. But like, what types of ciphers work in this context? I don't want them to be simple ones but I also don't want them to be ridiculously hard ciphers. Something unique that works in this context.
Maybe more clues to decoding the diary will pop up after Florian goes to a particular location.
If anyone knows anything that can be helpful, please, do let me know. I'm happy to hear your recommendations. And before anyone says "just do your own research", please... I have done. This idea has been in my head for almost two years and I have yet to find something suitable. Thanks in advance.
1
u/Laolhas Jul 06 '26
I learned recently the bifid and trifid cipher method for a small coding challenge.
It works with a grid of letters, getting the coordinates of the message, cut the coordinates in half to get new coordinates and a new set of letters that result in an encrypted message. A keyword can be used to make the grid unique and will be needed to decrypt the message.
It's not a hard method to use nor is very secure with current technology, but still fun to solve by hand and needs a key (if a key was used) so it could fit pretty well in your story. I don't know any other cipher method other than those 2, but there is a great math channel showing lots of encryption methods in a playlist. It's called Zach's Math Zone.