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<blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 6607645" data-attributes="member: 6696971">Good post and on the money.&quot;Mysteries&quot; that manifest at the table as rote SoPs (in this case involving spellcasters and excluding, or at least marginalizing, mundane investigatory approaches), uncovering expository dialogue plot dumps, or rely on reading esoteric, GM-contrived, Sherlock Holmesian-trope, tea leafs (that to the GM feels masterfully and organically intertwined within the system's play procedures/resolution mechanics...while the players might be left scratching their heads as to just what this guy behind the screen is on about...and why they should bite/care...) often carry little, or none, of the feel/thrill inherent to partaking in the cinematic, literary, or boardgame versions of trying to unravel a mystery.It takes a considerable amount of skill to pull mysteries off as a GM (typically requiring very sound prep and reliance on some aspect of the metagame) so I'm mostly sympathetic to the player-side of things here.&nbsp; The vast majority of the time when a team fails at Pictionary or Charades, it is because the person at the board drawing/pantomiming the concept either couldn't think of a way to subtly, nonverbally convey it or they did a terrible job of doing so, leaving his/her teammates floundering well off the beaten path on some wild goose chase.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 6607645, member: 6696971"] Good post and on the money. "Mysteries" that manifest at the table as rote SoPs (in this case involving spellcasters and excluding, or at least marginalizing, mundane investigatory approaches), uncovering expository dialogue plot dumps, or rely on reading esoteric, GM-contrived, Sherlock Holmesian-trope, tea leafs (that to the GM feels masterfully and organically intertwined within the system's play procedures/resolution mechanics...while the players might be left scratching their heads as to just what this guy behind the screen is on about...and why they should bite/care...) often carry little, or none, of the feel/thrill inherent to partaking in the cinematic, literary, or boardgame versions of trying to unravel a mystery. It takes a considerable amount of skill to pull mysteries off as a GM (typically requiring very sound prep and reliance on some aspect of the metagame) so I'm mostly sympathetic to the player-side of things here. The vast majority of the time when a team fails at Pictionary or Charades, it is because the person at the board drawing/pantomiming the concept either couldn't think of a way to subtly, nonverbally convey it or they did a terrible job of doing so, leaving his/her teammates floundering well off the beaten path on some wild goose chase. [/QUOTE]

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