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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bawylie" data-source="post: 6418469" data-attributes="member: 6776133">A mystery or investigation is a backward reconstruction of events which already have happened. Clues aren't merely hints or leads to an answer. They are Evidence Of a Fact. And they come in two forms. Direct evidence (such as a dead body) and indirect evidence (like a trail of blood and drag marks in the floor).  A mystery is "solved" when the relevent facts are pieced together to reconstruct the most likely series of events.  Therefore, when you design a mystery or investigation, you must first determine what happened - the who, what, where, when & why. Then you must create the evidence that proves the facts of what happened. Because your players are not likely real life detectives (and you're not Sherlock Holmes), the evidence must be 1.) Obtainable, observable, and accessible(not hidden) and 2.) must clearly prove a fact OR lead to a fact (if followed-up).  Elaborate mysteries with multiple chains and clues are oversold. A single bit of evidence can be sufficient to prove a fact, but it doesn't have to be the only evidence that exists. And because players tend to have access to magic, you should be generous with the evidence you give.  Remember also that the "solution" to the investigation is the MID-WAY point of your plot line. "You've figured out the answer. Now what are you going to do about it?" (TV and movies can put it at the end because, again, the writer controls the placement of all required people and evidence. You don't.).  If you want to see this kind of thing done in an engaging way, look at some of the investigation side missions in Batman: Arkham Origins. Batman scans a crime scene for evidence, reverse-engineers the crime, identifies the perpetrator, and then locates and busts him. They only take 10 minutes of play but that's good pacing for that game.  Write evidence that actually establishes facts and GIVE IT TO THE PLAYERS. Don't make them jump through hoops. The point of a mystery is to solve it.</blockquote>

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