Good Crime Dungeon adventures?

[Trench]

Just figured I'd poll the breadth of knowledge of ENWorld for this. (And some of my players may want to... stop reading if I decide to use any of these...)

I'm running a police procedural campaign set in Ptolus. Most of the PC's are members of the City Watch, with some "specialists" brought in (thieves for the more dirty things, an illusionist for undercover work, etc...) for a special task force. Adventures have been Murder mysteries, dealing with the politics between precinct captains, running into some fallout from various crime families, the usual. The shape of the campaign is still working itself out, although I have a solid idea of how it will look for the first few adventures.

So in honor of Dungeon's soon-to-be demise, I was wondering if there were any solid, well-plotted crime/investigative adventures that people would recommend? Even stuff that could be adapted. I have the usual suspects tracked down (Chimes at Midnight, Murder at Oakbridge, Mad God's Key, The Styes, Chains of Blackmaw, etc) but I'm wondering if anyone has any diamonds in the rough I should consider tracking down or looking at in a new light? Thanks.

 

[Storminator]

Just figured I'd poll the breadth of knowledge of ENWorld for this. (And some of my players may want to... stop reading if I decide to use any of these...)

I'm running a police procedural campaign set in Ptolus. Most of the PC's are members of the City Watch, with some "specialists" brought in (thieves for the more dirty things, an illusionist for undercover work, etc...) for a special task force. Adventures have been Murder mysteries, dealing with the politics between precinct captains, running into some fallout from various crime families, the usual. The shape of the campaign is still working itself out, although I have a solid idea of how it will look for the first few adventures.

So in honor of Dungeon's soon-to-be demise, I was wondering if there were any solid, well-plotted crime/investigative adventures that people would recommend? Even stuff that could be adapted. I have the usual suspects tracked down (Chimes at Midnight, Murder at Oakbridge, Mad God's Key, The Styes, Chains of Blackmaw, etc) but I'm wondering if anyone has any diamonds in the rough I should consider tracking down or looking at in a new light? Thanks.

There was an Alternity adventure set in London that I thought would make a good D&D mystery with a little tweaking. London Calling? That might be the name...

PS

 

[MojoGM]

I'm planning on running just such a campaign set in Ptolus eventually, so I'd be interested in hearing more about your game.

 

[Shroomy]

"Shut-In" may be something you are looking for, it is in issue 128 I believe.

 

[diaglo]

The Pen is Mightier...

edit: the actual name is Mightier than the Sword. iirc it was in Dungeon #29

 

[Shroomy]

The Pen is Mightier...

edit: the actual name is Mightier than the Sword. iirc it was in Dungeon #29

Those are good ones. If we are going in the way back machine, I would recommend "Nine-Tenths of the Law," also by Willie Walsh (the name escapes me), and "Of Nests and Nations" from Issue 13.

 

[zerotkatama]

There's also "Chimes at Midnight" and "Murder in Oakbridge," both Eberron adventures but easily adapatable to Ptolus, since they take place in Sharn.

 

[Sidekick]

Dungeon 147 has the Aundairian Job, which while not completely appropriate is could be a good turn the table adventure where the police officers need to break into a place to steal the McGuffin...

Just an idea...

Other than that you've mentioned most of the ones that I would have suggested?

Ben

 

[Trench]

heh. Many of us are on the same page. Cool.

"Mightier Than the Sword" was the first adventure I ran, with some adaptations. The penmaker ended up making a typewriter instead of a fountain pen, which multiple guilds and the technologist fascist group (the Shuul) ended up being major protagonists in. The best part of that adventure was that it gave a great walking tour of the city. In fact, any Willie Walsh adventure is good stuff. "Nine Tenths" is great.

"Shut-In" is also on the list. I even tossed a recent background detail detailing the killer's activities in a recent adventure.

And you better damn well believe I've threaded Victor St. Dumaine references in. I really hope I get to run that adventure.

Haven't had a chance to track down Andurian Job yet. But it sounds promising.

I'll have more details for you MojoGM when i get some sleep...

 

[Trench]

I'm planning on running just such a campaign set in Ptolus eventually, so I'd be interested in hearing more about your game.

As I said, the first adventure I ran was "Mightier Than the Sword". Basically, a penmaker in the South Market was murdered, supposedly for his invention of a typewriter, and it's caused riots in the Guildsman Districts (The Ironworkers wanted rights to make it, The Masons wanted it not to happen because of their rivalry, Scribes uild protedting, Printers Guild protesting... Etc...). The Shuul, of course, were involved in their own investigation- and ran afoul of the City's own Investigators. The actual perpetrator was a distant relative former watchman who killed the penmaker so he could inherit the swanky South Market house and get out of his Warrens hovel. The typewriter was just a smokescreen.

I wrote up a primer on the City Watch Captains, that got posted on Delver's Square, and the PC's have already run afoul of some of the harrier ones.

Obviously, social skills like Gather Info and Diplomacy are a plus. Knowledge skills are helpful as well (as one of the Watch were able to identify some chalk marks at the crime scene)

One thing I noticed, is that treasure is perhaps a problem. Given the PC's are explicitly aligned with the Watch, they leave any treasure at the scene (with the exception of one shady PC with a good sleight of hand check). So they're fairly treasure light so far. I've tried to correct this by giving them access to the government stores and armory.

I'm still working out the kinks, but it's fun so far. Currently, they're playing politics by trying to get on the Guild's good side (after peeving them off last adventure) and solve some murders of Masons by unkown assailants and they just fought off a horde of ratmen who were squatting in an abandoned keep in Dalenguard.

The big crime families are lurking in the background... and haven't shown their heads yet. Right now the PC's are mostly stumbling upon fallout...