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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gribble" data-source="post: 7688770" data-attributes="member: 12430">I'm not going to give you a precis of the whole rules, but in a nutshell, it emulates the "procedural" (thanks Umbran!) style of story telling, i.e.: the kind of story where there is some underlying mystery/problem to solve, which requires a structure of "get to the bottom of what is going on", followed by "resolve it". E.g.: a typical CoC story, where strange things happen and we follow the slow, creeping discovery of eldritch horrors; or the X-files, where some strange event occurs and we then investigate what is behind it and try to prevent it happening again; or a spy story, where you're trying to get to the bottom of some sinister plot against the "good guys" and put a stop to it. I'm sure you get the idea. It's designed to emulate that media, not any sort of "real world" simulation. E.g.: it emulates CSI, not "The first 48 Hours". Much like that media it isn't about struggling to uncover clues, but more about having the right people in the right place to find the clues (doesn't fail) and then figuring out how they clues all fit together to solve the problem (can fail).It does this by breaking skills out into two categories - investigative and general - and each category works differently. Investigative skills are used to resolve the "get to the bottom of what is going on". Each PC has skills they are expert in. Each investigative scene has one or more critical clues, each of which is associated with one or more skills. Any PC who is an expert in an associated skill, who is present and asks to use that skill will automatically uncover the critical clue, and can spend points from a limited pool for that skill to uncover additional bonus clues (if available).The key things are that although the mechanics (at their core) are pretty simple, it manages something that other games don't to well IMO - it allows experts to shine with no chance to fail to uncover the important clues in their areas of expertise, without making those experts redundant (like the DC 0 approach for d20 does). Crucially, it also isn't just a vignette, where players narrate what they do and success/failure is determined by how well/thoroughly the players describe the important bits - it actually has a mechanic behind it which takes into account *character* skill. Sure, you can still describe the actions and make it more of a vignette if that's your thing, e.g.: "My bomb disposal expert picks through the rubble, looking for any signs of a device. I work out where the centre of the blast is and spend more time there, working my way out from there in a spiral" or you can much it much more task focussed, e.g.: "Can I use Explosives to uncover any clues?".Once the PCs have got to the bottom of what is going on (either at the scene or adventure level), they need to resolve the implications, and this is where things like chases, combat, etc. are resolved. As others have noted, if detailed combat is your thing, then Gumshoe probably isn't for you. Largely the system is roll a d6, try to hit a target number (typically 4 or 5). Each point you spend from an appropriate general skill adds 1 to the roll. I agree with comments that the combat system is a bit simplistic for my tastes, even with the NBA additions. Personally I like a houserule I read somewhere to instead roll and extra d6 for each point you spend and take the highest result. At least that way you're rolling more dice...Anyway, as someone pointed out, it does require a lot of GM work to set up all the clues... but then *any* good investigative scenario requires that. What it does well is that the rules structure pretty much requires you (and helps you) to put together a good mystery. That's where it shines. I would absolutely hate to run something like the Dracula Dossier with a d20 system... I just don't think it'd work - you either make the solving of the mystery:a) Inconsequential - i.e.: just by dint of turning up and making a series of DC 0 checks you solve itb) Divorced from character skill - i.e.: it becomes a series of narrative vignettes which are entirely dependent on player skill and knowledgec) Open to failure - i.e.: someone could fail a crucial check and the group is hit with a brick wall.Gumshoe is the only system I'm aware of which prevents all three of the above.</blockquote>

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