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Message: <blockquote data-quote="maddman75" data-source="post: 4910173" data-attributes="member: 2673">Another good tip I've heard is to keep it simple.  When putting together a mystery, it can be tempting to make things obscure so it won't be too easy.  As a GM you can think 'well obviously they need to stand on one leg and swing a dead cat over their head at the old crossroads and midnight', but it might not be that clear.  Take something simple and make it look complicated.  Here, I'll do a quick Cthulhu game based on my list of five1) A creepy old man has stumbled into a lost book of spells.  After his wife's death, he decides to try to build her a new body.2) The old man hires some thugs to do his dirty work.  They all worship the dark being in the books to make sure they're loyal.  They dig up bodies and then start killing people for fresh parts.  The PCs are called in to investigate either the grave robbing or the murder.3) The PC start researching.  They learn of more grave robbings, then murders from the newspapers, all in the same neighborhoods.  Police caught one of the thugs who insist that he was working alone, but seemed off to the officer.  An old lady in town has seen these thugs, newcomers to the town, lurking about at night and going into the old man's house.  Only one grave robbing was found by the graveyard but no complaint registered to police - creepy old man's wife.4) The PCs do fieldwork.  They stake out the graveyard/area where people are being killed, or right to the old guy's house.  There are a few thugs in the house, but most are sealed behind a huge door in the basement.5) Inside the basement there is an altar to whatever Great Old One you like with the book on it.  The old man is there, and knows a few spells.  His wife is there too, returned from the grave Frankenstein style and quite insane.  The PCs will have to stop, subdue, or at least escape with their lives and report the grave robbings to the police.  Big epic fight with lots of people going crazy.Easy as pie once you get used to it.  And there's nothing overly complicated in the story - old dude stitches together wife.  By dropping it piece by piece and not in chronological order, you let the PCs put the story together and decide to deal with it.  Makes for a good time <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />.</blockquote>

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