Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Radiating Gnome" data-source="post: 1761333" data-attributes="member: 150">Yeah, but I wouldn't pull that on my PCs -- they'd see it coming a mile away.  I find I get a little frustrated with the way mystery plots and detective stories are laid out for adventures in a setting like Eberron.  For it to be really, really good, the mystery should be one that could ONLY take place in Eberron -- it somehow depends on one of the many things that are specific to Eberron.  So a murder of an ambassador on a train isn't quite enough.  Also, murder mysteries in a world with spells like Raise Dead and Speak with the Dead seem a bit silly.  I mean, even if the victim didn't see her assailant, if you can just raise her from the dead, what's the big deal?  Murder mysteries, and stories that center around them draw their power from the idea that murder is permanent -- but in Eberron and D&D at large that is not the case.  Now, if someone went to great lengths to make sure that a victim could not be raised, and their spirit could not be contacted (and what are the lengths they would have to go to for THAT), then MAYBE the murder mystery is interesting, but really it's just the stalling that happens between the discovery of the impending battle with the big bad assassin/wizard, and that big final battle.  On top of that, a mystery needs to be the sort of thing that would still require detective work in a world where clerics can pick up the spiritual phone and talk to the almighty (almighties?) and find out what went down.  But if you completely disable divinations, you're unbalancing characters.  So.  A really good Eberron mystery adventure needs:1. To be based on some sort of specifics that tie it in a substantial way to the setting.2. To involve a crime significant enough to warrant PC attention in a world with Raise Dead spells. (so, if it's murder, it needs to be somehow permanent murder . . .)3. To allow characters with divination spells to discover some clues, but not solve the crime outright.4. Some hook that makes it key that the PCs solve the mystery, probably on a timeline (to create a sense of urgency)So, sitting here looking at that, I'm suddenly drawn to the Three Musketeers as a source of inspiration.  Spitballing: the PCs are traveling on the train between two cities.  A Noblewoman is on the train, and has a liason with a lover -- perhaps a house Phiarlan entertainer.  This tryst, if it were made public, would be come an embarrassment for the lady if it is revealed when they arrive at their destination. The Entertainer -- a master of disguise -- is actually there to try to cause the scandal for some reason, and he steals a signature item from the lady -- (think diamond studs from 3M).  The lady, discovering the loss, needs to recover the item before th train arrives, but does not dare reveal the way the item was stolen, so she finds the PCs and asks for their help, but does not tell them about the affair.  She simply tells them that the item was stolen from her, and that she needs them to discretely recover it before the train arrives.  The thief, of course, a changeling and very good at what he does, has the item in a warded location, and has taken on another identity on the train.  The PCs can't very well search the entire train while remaining discrete.  So they will have to do some detective work.  All that remains is to sort out the clues that the Thief would have left behind -- including some red herrings and dead ends -- and you have yourself a mystery.Does it meet my own criteria . . only sorta.  It uses details from the setting, it's not about murder so it slips past the problems with murder mysteries in this setting, and the time limit (solve it before the train arrives at it's destination) creates the sense of urgency.  So it's okay, but there isn't quite enough at state -- perhaps the noblewoman is on her way to be married, and she can still screw it all up if her tryst is revealed . . . I dunno . . . -rg</blockquote>

Verification