Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ydars" data-source="post: 4581141" data-attributes="member: 62992">Some advice for running mysteries; 1) have dead ends or red herrings reveal microstories that both eliminate a suspect and also reveal something useful about the NPC who has been cleared that is a sort of "story treasure". For example, if the PCs suspect a wine-merchant of being a murderer, due to his suspicious behavior (leaving the city at odd times and having unexplained wealth) then when the PCs break into his shop, I would have them discover that he runs a business smuggling people in and out of the city in his barrels; could be useful to the PCs later and he probably knows the thieves guild as well. So the PCs gain a contact or they can turn him in for a reward. They are no closer to solving the mystery but this is ofset by the gold/contact. 2) set up ways for the PCs to initiate action; the problem with mysteries is that they can feel very passive and reactive to the players. They are sitting around trying to solve something but often the action is controlled by the murderer etc. So the PCs need a way of drawing the murderer out or iniating actions. For this to happen, some of the clues, instead of revealing who the protagonist is, reveal instead his motivations and possible next moves; then the PCs feel clever and one step ahead and back in the driving seat. Here is an example; say the Pcs are hunting a murderer. They discover he attacks prostitutes but after one murder, he also kills a laundry-woman about 7 hours after the original attack, though it is not initially obvious that they are the same attacker. Clever PCs are now allowed to find out that he always kills witnesses if they use this clue well. So, if they spread the word that they have another witness in custody, the scene is set for a trap..........  3) Allow the PCs some way of interacting with the protagonist if appropriate; the murderer or whoever. Maybe one of his minions dies early in the piece and/or drops a magical item/mobile phone that allows written communication with the protagonist. Or perhaps he leaves cryptic messages in a local newspaper in the personals columns or produces pamphlets and distributes them. The PCs can then communicate by returning the favour. 4) Make it personal; a mystery is often boring because it is a railroad in the sense that the PCs don't really want to be involved. They would much rather be down the dungeon; but the art is to make them hate the protagonist so much that they rush to try and find him. Make them care about solving the mystery by raising the stakes. If necessary implicate the PCs so that they are both trying to hide to avoid arrest and trying to find the real culprit. 5) Have many ways to get any particular piece of info; if the PCs have no social skills then they should also be able to get the info through bribes, following people and observation, breaking and entering, forgery etc.</blockquote>

Verification