I need some advice on a mystery.. And this may just be a “I don’t fully get how to run a mystery yet” situation.
I will try to be succinct, but warning, that isn’t my strong suit…
I have a mystery I am developing that goes something like this:
Day: Hunters are called to a crime scene by a local cop. At the scene, they find a body of a man laying on a bed with blood coming out of his nose, ears, eyes, and corner of lips. The record player is running but no record is on the turntable. (there will be other little clues, but i’m shortcutting to the relevant. The land lord asks them to be quick because the tennant hadn’t paid rent in a couple of months, so he needs to flip the apartment to start bringing in some money.
Dusk: The hunters are called to another murder a few days later. In this apartment, the scene looks about the same as the first. Investigation will reveal that the dead man worked for a record store. There is also a flyer for a halloween party at a dance club featuring DJ Big Easy.
Investigating the record store ties back to the original murder scene because the landlord sold all the records of the first victim to the record store. Victim 2 found one of the records, a Louis Armstrong record he’d never seen before, and took it home to listen to it…
I will forego the rest of the mystery at this point, because this is enough info for me to pose my question.
After the hook (Day), I am unclear what kind of clues would lead to something else. I think that players would kind of have to spin their wheels attempting to investigate, but not really find anything until the second murder reveals more clues that can be followed and therefore dots to be connected. Is it fair to create a mystery that isn’t solvable until a sufficient amount of clues/events take place?
Secondly, within the context of the previous question, how do you deal with starting moves like, the Flake’s “When and where will the next event occur?” I don’t see how that could be determined after victim 1 is killed.
Any suggestions or thoughts are greatly appreciated.
The countdown isn’t a list of scenes you’ll play, but a list of things that the monster will do if it is not stopped. Don’t plan what scenes will be played (except the first), just think about what all your threats (in particular the monsters and minions) will be doing in the background. Only rarely should the countdown mention the hunters at all (and then usually if it is an old nemesis after them or something like that).
The hook is what brings the hunters in, so it’s the call from the police officer. It’s not necessarily a scene you’ll play out itself. It might be that your mystery would work better if the hunters are called in after the second death, so they have two seemingly unconnected weird cases to pull together.
And as to how abilities like the Flake’s (or indeed investigate a mystery) play out, you can get a long way by asking the player how they find out. Then you can consider what that approach would give them.
In general, the hunters’ finding clues moves are powerful, and that’s because the game’s not really about the investigation itself, but about what the hunters do to resolve each situation.
Thanks! That’s what I needed. I had thought about bringing the Hunters in after the second murder.. I’ll do that so as to not have the scenes preset.
The Flakes ability works because the Flake is awesome, so work with the player to understand how the flake comes to their conclusions.
Sometimes, the flake is full of shit and happens to make a right guess for the wrong reasons.
As for your mystery, I’d say that’s not the best structure. The Day/Night/Etc countdown is less of a, in my opinion, step by step clue-leaving and more of a “Here’s Some Terrible Shit Happening!”
So, for example, Day shouldn’t be “called to a scene where a murder has already happened.”
Day is “Alabaz the sorcerer mystically murders a teenage music prodigy, absconding with the magical record he recently acquired.” That’s plot. It says things are happening. Wheels are in motion.
Then, drop the PCs in (even using the called to the scene to investigate thing) and go from there. The point is, if you can’t imagine they’d get any clues than you may need to reframe how you’re thinking of the mystery countdown so you can see how they could get clues.
Your job isn’t to leave breadcrumbs to the players play your super cool pre-written story, remember! Your job is to keep tabs on what your bad guys are doing, and follow the PCs and give them honest, action-packed answers.
will do. thanks!