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How do you write a Mystery adventure?
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<blockquote data-quote="Wicht" data-source="post: 389527" data-attributes="member: 221"><p>when running a mystery you want to create good notes for yourself. Improvised mysteries will not come off as well as a well thought out puzzle of intrigue.</p><p></p><p>The best place to start is indeed the antagonist. Give him a motivation and a method. These are more important than his actual stats. What is he doing and why is he doing it? Once you know this you have the foundation. The best mysteries of course have an unlikely villain and the crimes are committed in ingenious but memoriable ways. </p><p></p><p>Next, figure out a connection between what the villain does and the PCs. That is, how do the PCs become aware of the crime or mystery? Is it a friend in trouble? Do they witness an unsolvable murder? Are they hired to solve the mystery?</p><p></p><p>Next Design clues. Clues should be of various types. Some should point to motive. Some should point to the identity of the villain. Also throw in a few red herrings to keep the PCs guessing (though not too many or they will get too frustrated - Handling Red Herrings is IMO a very delicate business - you have to have them but you can't have too many).</p><p></p><p>It is also important to plan ahead for divination in DnD. Avoid the instinct to do away with the divination spells. Instead use them to create further confusion. Design the answers to be cryptic but meaningful once fully understood. For instance, in the game I just ran Monday (you can check it out in my sig links if you want a mystery that has already been run) the killer was a man named Griffin, who goaded by an evil priest had been killing people in a misguided effort to save children. A divination spell revealed the killer was "A maddened Griffin, twisted by death's servant, protecting the children." The information in the divination was very helpful once understood, but it was not immediattely clear to the players what it meant. The existance of divination however almost necisitates that the DM plan the answers ahead of time in a mystery.</p><p></p><p>Last, but not least, design the NPCs with which the PCs must interact to solve the puzzle. Like Red Herrings you don't want too many or there will be too much confusion. About 6 significant NPCs would IMO be about right for most games.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wicht, post: 389527, member: 221"] when running a mystery you want to create good notes for yourself. Improvised mysteries will not come off as well as a well thought out puzzle of intrigue. The best place to start is indeed the antagonist. Give him a motivation and a method. These are more important than his actual stats. What is he doing and why is he doing it? Once you know this you have the foundation. The best mysteries of course have an unlikely villain and the crimes are committed in ingenious but memoriable ways. Next, figure out a connection between what the villain does and the PCs. That is, how do the PCs become aware of the crime or mystery? Is it a friend in trouble? Do they witness an unsolvable murder? Are they hired to solve the mystery? Next Design clues. Clues should be of various types. Some should point to motive. Some should point to the identity of the villain. Also throw in a few red herrings to keep the PCs guessing (though not too many or they will get too frustrated - Handling Red Herrings is IMO a very delicate business - you have to have them but you can't have too many). It is also important to plan ahead for divination in DnD. Avoid the instinct to do away with the divination spells. Instead use them to create further confusion. Design the answers to be cryptic but meaningful once fully understood. For instance, in the game I just ran Monday (you can check it out in my sig links if you want a mystery that has already been run) the killer was a man named Griffin, who goaded by an evil priest had been killing people in a misguided effort to save children. A divination spell revealed the killer was "A maddened Griffin, twisted by death's servant, protecting the children." The information in the divination was very helpful once understood, but it was not immediattely clear to the players what it meant. The existance of divination however almost necisitates that the DM plan the answers ahead of time in a mystery. Last, but not least, design the NPCs with which the PCs must interact to solve the puzzle. Like Red Herrings you don't want too many or there will be too much confusion. About 6 significant NPCs would IMO be about right for most games. [/QUOTE]
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