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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wik" data-source="post: 4579572" data-attributes="member: 40177">I dunno.  I sort of like throwing mysteries at the party, but they're usually part of a larger plot.  But then, that's my play style.  A few years ago, I did a generic D&D game set in a fantastic Venice where the PCs investigated Cthuluesque threats.  Sort of like D&D X-Files, really... and it was a game I'd love to run again.  The adventure would start with a corpse, and a little mystery that left the group in the dark.  Then, things would start happening, and they'd slowly put two and two together... and then there'd be a climactic fight.  It was a lot of fun.One adventure I never got to run was a "Deep Mummy" (from Tome of Horrors, I think) that had been thrown overboard by his fellow sailors, and was now hunting them down each night and "Drowning" them with his kiss.  It would have been great, because each crime scene would have a mystery - how does a body in a locked room die from drowning?  I'd love to run that campaign again.  God, too many games, too little time, eh?I dunno.  If the GM is prepared, and has multiple paths to lead the PCs on, a mystery can be a LOT of fun, and I find they're very engaging.  But, I think with D&D, mysteries can be a harder.  Part of is the fact that mysteries tend to encourage heavy RP and puzzle-solving, and less on the die-rolling aspect, so that the player and the character are really closer in ability;  D&D tends to divorce the player and the character by relying on die rolls.  In many D&D mysteries, this tends to mean that to find a clue, you have to make a skill check;  or the strength of your clues depends on how high you rolled.Whereas in games suited for mystery play, the design is set up with the intention of "if the PCs get here, these are the clues they get".  Random elements don't factor into the acquisition of clues nearly as much.  I think if you want to make a D&D mystery, you need to rethink the game a bit.  Make sure there are multiple paths to keep the story moving forward, so the PCs don't grind to a halt when they fail to realize that so far, every crime scene has been on the riverside, and every body seems to have drowned.  Second, get rid of skill challenges that reveal clues.  Instead, identify all the major clues, and give 'em to the PCs.  They don't require skill checks, or set the DC so low that it'd be nearly mathematically impossible to fail (and if PCs do fail, make sure they get the clue anyways, a bit later).  Skill checks can be used to give bonus clues, and they should come from players actively using them - using Heal to do some forensics on the body, using Arcana to detect magic and learn about the latent necromantic energy in the air, or using Religion to find out that Deep Mummies exist.  On the whole, though, I agree with you.  D&D is not a good system for mysteries, and the mystery adventure (especially as they are usually written for D&D) is not fun for an unprepared or uninterested group.</blockquote>

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