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Message: <blockquote data-quote="77IM" data-source="post: 6638635" data-attributes="member: 12377">Here are some Important NPCs that you may want to introduce to the PCs before the adventure even starts. - Chalaska Muruin, the senior sword, a hard-ass. I ran her as stern, and kind of bloodthirsty and impatient, but also very lawful. - Kendrin Feldarr, an exotic animal dealer. I ran him as a gambling addict who thought Doppelgängers were out to get him and was convinced the PCs were Doppelgängers. - Grendo, a young tavern server. I ran him as an earnest and forthright youth, who was smitten with the party's bard. - Inglor Brathren, a dwarven handyman. I made him the senior handyman, and ran him as a sort of conspiracy kook. - Nalaskur Thaelond, the innkeeper, who rides off so quickly that he's not really featured in the adventure. I ran him as a snob who thinks his time is worth more than yours....That's really not enough NPCs for a good mystery. I would add 1-2 more if I were you. Make them interesting and suspicious. Ideas: - Yordram, A Red Wizard of Thay whose goods have been impounded by Muruin and/or Thaelond. He has motive and might have magical opportunity. Maybe he has a really great alias but maybe it's an illusion? - Saliel, A half-elven fey-pact warlock who is a Harper. She insists she had nothing to do with it but maybe some of the evidence points to her. In fact she is lying about her whereabouts during the crime, but only to hide her Harper activities. - Make Grendo more interesting. Maybe instead of a serving boy, he's Thaelond's young protege, and is upset that he didn't get the job of watching the inn while Thaelond was gone. This gives him motivation to act against the PCs during the investigation itself. He's probably the first person Muruin searches, making the finding of his note a good way to kick of multiple courses of investigation.Remember the two golden rules of rpg mysteries:1. Always make sure there are 3x as many clues as the players need to discover something because they might miss 1-2 clues. Mysteries are more interesting when the PCs find the clues and try to piece them together. Corollary: Try to have some clues that are un-missable, or a backup plan if the PCs miss them anyway (like an NPC finding the clue and bringing it to the PCs attention).2. Use red herrings sparingly as they can waste a ton of time. False leads should get explained away quickly during the normal course of investigation. For every red herring clue, make sure there are 3 clues that prove the red herring is wrong (see rule 1).</blockquote>

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