Advancing the plot without resorting to the ubiquitous "letter" from the evil mastermind

[GMMichael]

A good idea. I just need to train my players to take prisoners

Ah. Here is the true problem. Murder-hobos. So, a different set of solutions:

• Add an NPC to the group who thinks taking prisoners might help.
• Put out a bounty for henchmen.
• Give the PCs a wagon. That has a large, iron cage in the back.
• Take the PCs hostage. Let them go peacefully when they've given up "useful" information.
• Add to enemy NPC vocabulary: "I surrender!"

 

[JohnSnow]

Depending on the cultural details of your game world, you can sometimes use languages this way. Why would this ostensible merchant have a primer on Infernal?

Or loot/gear that is linked to other plot elements. A group of bandits, for example, may be armed with high quality weapons. (I used that in a recent game... the PCs were immediately curious and took some of the weapons to a nearby city, eventually finding the blacksmith who made them and thus eventually connecting the bandits to a local lord who was encouraging them to prey on one of his enemies.) That's also a cliché, really, but it was more interesting than a letter from the lord in the chief's pocket.

Other quick ideas:

• Coins stamped with the seal of another kingdom.
• Trade goods from an exotic region.
• Something marked with a crest or coat of arms. (History check to figure out what it represents.)
• A map to a rendezvous location.
• A palantír, magic mirror, or other magical communication device. The PCs might try to trick the mastermind into believing that they represent the former lieutenant; the mastermind may be duped or play along to trick them later. Or he may just hang up on them, leaving them with a mystery to solve. Etc.
• A receipt for a large deposit of funds into a mysterious account. (Fantasy Swiss Bank).
• Evidence of blackmail.

This is the best summary of things more subtle than a letter from an evil mastermind. I have used all of them in games. Subtle clues work best, assuming that your players are remotely clever. Also, a short note that doesn't explain the plot in detail is great if you want to have wheels within wheels and keep your players guessing.

And coins clearly from another region are awesome. Weapons bearing a particular smith's mark. Or trade goods that come from a particular guild. Maps. And don't neglect the value of semi-cryptic notes...

"Grickshank - Excellent. Your actions will be brought to His attention. When the work is done, send a message to me at the usual place in Fallcrest. - E.F."

Now the characters have a lead. It's not a great lead, and it's a note that makes sense, but it's a lead. Combine it with a few suspicious trade goods or the like, and they're pursuing a mystery. They'll probably wonder if every "E.F." they meet is the evil mastermind, or it could even be a title: Ellen Fagle, Edward Fitzhugh? The Earl of Flanders? Who KNOWS?! You just have to keep dribbling bread crumbs.

And it's far better than having the bad guys do too much monologuing or leaving out over-expositive letters.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Gotta say, the last time I used a letter from the BBEG, it was a plant. He had written a letter full of bogus info, sent it out by courier, and KILLED the courier in a place he was likely to be found.

The disinformation contained therein made it VERY difficult for the PCs investigation to be taken seriously.

 

[Bacon Bits]

A good idea. I just need to train my players to take prisoners

That's equally easy. You let the PCs know the name of the individual who knows what they need to know, and then you make sure that NPC introduces themselves. If they still kill them, then don't let them find anything. Have them find a note that has the start of the BBEG's explanation, but then the rest is covered in blood and totally illegible.

They'll stare at each other for a minute and eventually they'll ask what they should do. You say, "I don't know. You shouldn't have killed this guy. He's the only one who knew what you needed to know." Then they'll stare at each other for another minute until you "remind" the spellcasters that speak with dead is a spell.

Or you let them fail because they killed their lead. The DM is under no obligation to save the PCs from themselves. They'll never learn anything that way.

 

[Dioltach]

You could try it the other way round: a letter from the mook or lieutenant to the BBEG, all stamped and addressed and waiting to be sent.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

If there's information that the PCs need to move the adventure forward, one thing I will often do is come up with what they find out, but nothing further. They have to come up with where it comes from. It might be a contact at the Thieves Guild, a tome in the library, or a loose-lipped flunky - it all depends on how they go about unraveling the mystery. Of course, they don't know that this was never a fixed source to begin with. This way they become active investigators.

 

[Wasteland Knight]

As for my players taking prisoners, I was partially joking and I think they're turning over a new leaf in this campaign. I pitched it as an urban/dungeon adventure, with a fair amount of intrigue and the resulting PCs are a Roge/Wizard (eventually Arcane Trickster), a Swashbuckler and a Bard. No one has CHA as a dump stat, and every PC has social skills ranging from pretty good to phenomenal.

My subtle hint that "maybe having some Saps or other means of nonlethal damage" was met with a sudden purchasing spree of lead filled coshs, so we shall see.

What I'm really liking about some of these suggestions is they can provide clues that not even the minions may know. As this is wheels within wheels, for a good portion of the adventure many of the foes they face will have an incomplete (at best) understanding of what's going one. But I can use things like "strange/foreign coins" to tie several different groups together, groups who may very well have no knowledge of each other and limited knowledge of who's really pulling the strings.

 

[JohnSnow]

As for my players taking prisoners, I was partially joking and I think they're turning over a new leaf in this campaign. I pitched it as an urban/dungeon adventure, with a fair amount of intrigue and the resulting PCs are a Roge/Wizard (eventually Arcane Trickster), a Swashbuckler and a Bard. No one has CHA as a dump stat, and every PC has social skills ranging from pretty good to phenomenal.

My subtle hint that "maybe having some Saps or other means of nonlethal damage" was met with a sudden purchasing spree of lead filled coshs, so we shall see.

What I'm really liking about some of these suggestions is they can provide clues that not even the minions may know. As this is wheels within wheels, for a good portion of the adventure many of the foes they face will have an incomplete (at best) understanding of what's going one. But I can use things like "strange/foreign coins" to tie several different groups together, groups who may very well have no knowledge of each other and limited knowledge of who's really pulling the strings.

There's a lot of good stuff for conspiracies and secret societies in source books for "the Olde World" (Warhammer Fantasy) and WotC's Eberron, as well as in some of Ed Greenwood's "How I run the Realms" articles. Basically, you need games/settings that are heavy on conspiracies in order to find suggestions for how to leave clues. Pulp adventure stories are a great source.

 

[Wasteland Knight]

There's a lot of good stuff for conspiracies and secret societies in source books for "the Olde World" (Warhammer Fantasy) and WotC's Eberron, as well as in some of Ed Greenwood's "How I run the Realms" articles. Basically, you need games/settings that are heavy on conspiracies in order to find suggestions for how to leave clues. Pulp adventure stories are a great source.

Yes! Two of my favorite settings, and I’ve run campaigns in each.

I ran many a WHFRP game back in the 90’s, but I’m somewhat embarrassed to admitin my games the cultists of the Ye Olde Worlde were VERY fond of writing EVERYTHING down on paper. it made the job of the PC Witchhunter pretty easy in retrospect, lol.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I've never bothered with such things. While intercepting communications is on the surface a viable way of securing intelligence, the ability to use codes (especially book codes or autokeys) pretty well wipes that out.

I stick with trace evidence.