Help me with a Mystery Adventure Idee

[Sunset]

Could you please help me to refine the following murder mystery plot?

- an important and valuable history scroll was stolen from a library.

- a librarian was murderd

- the scroll was protected my magical means

- real thief was a master librarian who sold the scroll to an art collector because he was in need of money

- real thief lay out some wrong clues e.g. wrong spell components sesame seeds for pass wall etc.

Questions:

- PCs should find out about real thiefs money problems. Any idea for a hint?

- do you have an idea for nice wrong clues?

- do you have an idea for the correct clues?



Thanks for help.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

How do the PCs enter the picture? Are they hired by someone? If so, by whom?

- PCs should find out about real thiefs money problems. Any idea for a hint?

The master librarian would be one of the first persons the PCs seek out. They might meet him with another guy who more or less politely tells the master librarian to pay. A rogue PC might know this other chap.

- do you have an idea for nice wrong clues?

Short time ago a sage was declined to access the scroll by the master librarian. The sage made her discontent public. The thief naturally lays false tracks. If the unsuspecting PCs talk to him, he can easily distract them with any number of false accusations.

- do you have an idea for the correct clues?

In order to make money from the stolen scroll the thief has to employ a fence. If a master librarian gets in contact to a fence, that guy probably is somehow known in the community. Perhaps a different fence hears from the deal and wants to topple his rival by selling hints and actively searching for interested parties.

As far as hints on the crime scene are concerned, it mostly depends on the PCs and their abilities.



Thanks for help.[/QUOTE]

 

[MarkB]

Wrong clue: The ashes of a burned scroll were left at the scene of the theft, along with a threat to destroy more documents. Most of the library's staff aren't even looking for a stolen scroll - they think it was destroyed, and are concentrating their security efforts on preventing further attacks.

Once the PCs figure out that the burned scroll isn't the one that's missing, the scroll's remains and the note become clues to the true culprit.