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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 7694594" data-attributes="member: 177">Well, both.&nbsp; I am currently running a campaign of Ashen Stars, another GUMSHOE-based game.Most RPGs make it very difficult to find clues - the basic failure mode of a mystery in D&amp;D is for the players to not find information.&nbsp; GUMSHOE, in contrast, is based on the idea that the act of finding clues is less interesting than the act of interpreting what clues mean.&nbsp; In your favorite TV police procedural, or in mystery novels, you don't see competent investigators *miss* clues, and struggle just to collect data.&nbsp; Instead, they may have information, but not understand what it means yet.&nbsp; So, in GUMSHOE, if you are in a place where there's a clue to be found, and you apply an appropriate skill, you *will* find the base clue.&nbsp; No die roll required, no chance of failure.&nbsp; If you spend some resources (you have point pools to spend) you may get even more information, if it exists.The game then leaves it up to the players to figure out what the information means.As an example, from the Bubblegumshoe session I mentioned earlier, the basic scenario is that three young girls have gone missing.&nbsp; There is a very swift and deep river, with rocks out in the middle, and an overturned rowboat on the rocks, along with a few articles of clothing.&nbsp; Characters with skill look over the area, and automatically find that the denim jacket by the boat is dry, not wet.&nbsp; Clue found!What does this mean?&nbsp; Well, if the jacket is dry, then it wasn't ever in the water.&nbsp; The jacket was then probably *placed* there.&nbsp; Who placed it, and why?The effect is rather more &quot;mystery-like&quot; than the typical D&amp;D-type scenario, in which the players must explicitly search each 5' square (or even describe exactly how they rip apart the bedstead to find the message hidden in the cavity in the bedpost) that spills the entire beans of what's going on.&nbsp; The rules of GUMSHOE games typically give good advice on how to construct a mystery for the game, so the GM isn't left hanging.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 7694594, member: 177"] Well, both. I am currently running a campaign of Ashen Stars, another GUMSHOE-based game. Most RPGs make it very difficult to find clues - the basic failure mode of a mystery in D&D is for the players to not find information. GUMSHOE, in contrast, is based on the idea that the act of finding clues is less interesting than the act of interpreting what clues mean. In your favorite TV police procedural, or in mystery novels, you don't see competent investigators *miss* clues, and struggle just to collect data. Instead, they may have information, but not understand what it means yet. So, in GUMSHOE, if you are in a place where there's a clue to be found, and you apply an appropriate skill, you *will* find the base clue. No die roll required, no chance of failure. If you spend some resources (you have point pools to spend) you may get even more information, if it exists. The game then leaves it up to the players to figure out what the information means. As an example, from the Bubblegumshoe session I mentioned earlier, the basic scenario is that three young girls have gone missing. There is a very swift and deep river, with rocks out in the middle, and an overturned rowboat on the rocks, along with a few articles of clothing. Characters with skill look over the area, and automatically find that the denim jacket by the boat is dry, not wet. Clue found! What does this mean? Well, if the jacket is dry, then it wasn't ever in the water. The jacket was then probably *placed* there. Who placed it, and why? The effect is rather more "mystery-like" than the typical D&D-type scenario, in which the players must explicitly search each 5' square (or even describe exactly how they rip apart the bedstead to find the message hidden in the cavity in the bedpost) that spills the entire beans of what's going on. The rules of GUMSHOE games typically give good advice on how to construct a mystery for the game, so the GM isn't left hanging. [/QUOTE]

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