I've been looking for a link to your broadcasts as I think they would be great to listen to on my way to college every morning but I can't find one. Could you post one in the comments? Would be much appreciated if possible!
lol - the music from my formative years not necessarily fond of that one, but definitely remember hehe In terms of describing how a character checks for traps etc you mentioned using a spear or pole to lift up rugs and things of that nature. Isn't there a joke or maybe funny observation would be a better description, about how in maybe 1st edition D&D PCs or at least one of the hirelings always carried around poles to check for traps and such? (::sigh:: once again I need to listen all the way through before typing - so, I'm seconding your reasoning then hehe though I think I have some decent recommendations further down that weren't specifically covered) It's a great idea to recommend this style of handling things b/c I think for newer players and DMs in particular it can help them get better or more used to explaining their characters' actions in all settings, not only in searches and the like. It can aid in developing a richer narrative experience all around and allow people to better visualize actions and such in their "minds eye." Excellent recommendation. Another suggestion to avoiding some roles is to have a clue or an additional, but optional, way of discovering clues come through conversations with NPCs. In that way you can encourage the party to interact with your NPCs more. Possibly even reward them extra by giving them some really big clues that they get through conversing with NPCs, but obviously don't make it mandatory in case the players are less comfortable or unsure about themselves when it comes to NPC interactions. And the conversations don't have to require persuasion/intimidation roles to get information from the NPCs - you just talk to them or ask the right questions, and you can give them hints through conversation regarding even what they might want to be asking about - to sort of lead the conversation if it feels like the players are stumbling a little or getting frustrated. In some extent you're encouraging the players to interact with your world in ways other than killing things, by showing that it can be really beneficial to talk to the right NPCs. And there are ways to work around truth forcing spells or other charm-related spells - for instance, in order to get someone to tell you the info you want after you've cast a spell forcing them to tell the truth, you still have to ask the right questions and the NPC has to know the info as well. You can be a stickler with requiring the party to go beyond asking blanket questions and be more specific when they are fishing for info after charming or dominating someone. Another enjoyable and helpful video - thanks.
had a player ask if they could investigate, the rest of the table was like "you are"....he's new and still learning: solving a puzzle or figuring out a mystery isn't settled by a die roll ...so the "investigation skill" seems to be misunderstood
Maybe he wants to know who had it out for him as he might not be so lucky next time. That's why he hires the party. Maybe he doesn't trust the local authorities as they might be in on it.
One more thing you should not forget as a DM is the Wild Shape. We had a murder mystery and our DM prepared for all the spells you mentioned, but I was a druid, so I wild shaped into a badger to have that keen smell and I sniffed around and caught a scent. Then when we had a suspect I wild shaped again, sniffed him, turned back: yep, that is the same smell!
A technique I see Chris Perkins use often is having players roll to get useful hints as they are trying to figure things out. So, if they just effectively role play through, they might never have to make a skill check, but if/as they get stumped by your massive intellect, you can prompt them to make different kinds of rolls to have characters notice or realize things. Another important aspect of the mystery is that it is always possible your PCs might just suck at the investigation and fail to solve the mystery; you want to make sure there are interesting ramifications that move the larger plot forward in that case as well. Never keep your story behind any kind of success/fail wall.
Way I like to do it is 1) if the player thinks to make a perception check (or INt check or whathaveyou), and pass the check then I give them not only information but also XP. 2) If they don't think to make the check and I have to tell them then they get less XP. 3) Then if they still have failed the rolls but they need the clue to move on in the story, I will just point it out to them, but they get no XP for it.
If anybody wants to hear a great D&D mystery story, the "Murder on the Rockport Limited" series of episodes from the podcast "The Adventure Zone" are HIGHLY recommended!
I find players are just too paranoid about anything I describe to them as even mildly trapped. They'd rather just light the room on fire and hope that solves the mystery. "You enter the room, there's a funny smell in the air..." "I cast fireball and close the door" *Dusts hands off*
Jared Prymont The fun I would have, if a player in my game arbitrarily wasted their spells as you describe. I'm a fair DM, but the smile, playing like that would put on my face, would be priceless I'm sure. Because that fireball would most certainly be better used somewhere down the road... And probably soon... So go ahead, waste all the spells you want. " Oh and by the way. Take this fresh character sheet. You are most likely going to need it before this session is over. "
PC: I cast fireball and shut the door. DM: The door blows off it's hinges. Make a Dexterity save at disadvantage to take half damage. Oh also, everything in that room was destroyed including any "fragile" magic items. Think potions, scrolls and wands.
@Insignatious Can be, certainly. But it can also be a symptom of a player who wants to "win" so much that they assume the game is a contest between player and DM when it's not. I've seen this situation happen with first-time players who have no negative DM experience to be paranoid about. It's often a symptom of an overly competitive mindset, whether that's from history with the game, or not.
A very good framework for a DM who might be intimidated is a boxed Murder Mystery Party game, or one of the better-written, richer ones you can find online. Long ago I recycled one from my sister's party (a standard 1930's theme, but easily tweaked) and I borrowed a lot of the structure and story. The game (3 sessions worth) went very smoothly and was a hit. Now that I'm more experienced it's not a problem to write/DM mysteries, but that was an easy, fun "hack" that taught me a lot.
The Ghost of the victim randomly possesses one of the party and gives obscure metaphoric clues. The only way to stop this possession is to solve the mystery. You can insert this little trick at any point in either an occurring adventure or as a side quest, and then use the Ghost as an RP hook.
If Scooby-Doo has taught me anything, it's to never trust a portrait... And to always attempt to rip the bad guys face off once you finally catch them, just incase it's a mask
One of my players is a diviner wizard. So I just expect an arcane eye and legend lore. Never make a player's character build feel useless (assuming its not a screwball type thing). So arcane eye can usually scout most things, but every once in a while there are magical protections or quality doors. They should make sense. A wizard's keep or noble's house might be protected from divination, but something is weird if a farm house is warded. Which is a form of information too. When your have diviners or clerics that like to use divination magic use them to move the story along. A fiend keeps returning after killed so the player 'legend lore', "The demon can only be slayen with Sunbringer Axe". Then 'divination' "Where can I find Sunbringer Axe?" Answer: "Sunbringer rest in the tomb Grog Bloodflint at the highest peak of the White Hart Mountain." The last murder in my game the victim had their head removed which stops 'speak with dead' and 'raise dead'. You need a caster that can perform 7th level 'Resurrection' which should be very rare in most worlds.
I had a few ideas myself, thought you might wanna hear them too, this comment is copied from above: How about creating a number of suspects, give everyone a motive and a number of different secrets that might function as red herrings. After you have flushed out all the important NPC's, roll on a random table to decide who the murderer is, and set up a number of additional clues around that particular character. Alternatively you could include some kind of plot twist, the victim might have been killed by an outside force, by accident, or it might even have been suicide. If you really wanna mess with the players, speak with one of them ahead of time, and determine that THEY are the murderer, but don't let the other players know about it.
DabIMON I'm doing something similar in a one shot. I have four players three are rogues and the fourth is a sorcerer. it's a heist mission, one of the rogues is the leader and is actually looking for something else, the second rogue is extremely loyal to the first. The last rogue and sorcerer are secretly in love and plann on killing the other two when they get the gold, however the sorcerer has been playing the third rogue and plans on killing her when the other two are dead. (If you know where I got this I applaud you)
hey with tomb of Annihilation coming up, I was wondering if you guys could do a show on Liches, Demiliches, Death knights and death tyrants, the creme de la creme of super intelligent undead?
Siegfried Black cough - pit fiends - cough, but yes I agree, high level undead are often some of the coolest and most interesting monsters out there, I suppose you could throw mummy lords in there too.
A good way one of my players managed to RP out of a failed skill roll was to convince a young manto tell them what happened, but she couldnt, so instead she RPed out telling him why drawing it could help him feel better, to move on. And it worked, it was a far vaguer clue than she would have gotten otherwise, but it helped her to piece what the problem was together and to move on, toward solving the mystery. Placing a skill role doesn't have to remove RP it allows for a way the non RPers can figure something out. Add to that, if they RP really well, give them a +10 or +20, it doesnt become an "if they succeed" but a "how well you succeed"
I don't have a lot of problems with Speak With Dead; but, at the same time I don't see a lot of Divination spells get cast. I think it stems from many GMs just automatically having the NPCs have the defenses against these all the times because GMs don't want it that easy. I try to let my player's know Divination is always an option. #LetDaveHaveTheThing
Great episode guys, as always. And never worry about the 30 min. mark. I would much rather hear everything you have to say on a subject, jokes included, than having anything cut out and edited for "time". :)
One important note I have is to make sure and create an investment in this murder mystrery. Make sure the NPC who's dead is crucial to the overarching plot development, or perhaps an ally. I was knee deep in a murder mystery later in a recent campaign when my players sort of looked at each other and asked "why do we need to find out who killed this person?". I have one player who loves mysteries, but the rest needed to be sold, and quite frankly, I didn't sell them on that mystery. So we moved on to more important things, and it was ok and everything, but I wish I had done more to get them invested in that particular saga. Instead I killed someone inconsequential who just felt like a roadblock to our eventual goal.
How about creating a number of suspects, give everyone a motive and a number of different secrets that might function as red herrings. After you have flushed out all the important NPC's, roll on a random table to decide who the murderer is, and set up a number of additional clues around that particular character. Alternatively you could include some kind of plot twist, the victim might have been killed by an outside force, by accident, or it might even have been suicide. If you really wanna mess with the players, speak with one of them ahead of time, and determine that THEY are the murderer, but don't let the other players know about it.
I've been invited to play in a Clue inspired one shot this summer and I can't wait! I haven't played a mystery type story in years. I've only recently begun DM'ing (shame on me - 20+ years as a player) and have been thinking about areas I'd have a hard thing with, and mystery, especially murder mystery, would definitely be one, so thank you for this!
Although I've never DM'd, if I would do a murder mystery in a setting with "Speak with Dead" I would make the murdered victim have a reason to lie about who murdered them. For example, the murderer could be someone they dearly and unconditionally love and would do anything to cover up their evil deads. This relationship could be known, such as during an insurance scam to make sure the debts of the victim are payed off so their spouse and children live the life they deserve. Or it could be unrequited love, where a knight loves unconditionally a noble person who is toxic in nature, and frequently uses them to get what they. It could also be a case of the victim having fallen in love with someone they could never marry, so they've kept it secret all these years, and are willing to even cover up it was their love interest that murdered them. The victim could also be opportunistic and spiteful and deliberately use their death in order to frame their rival for the murder, even if they know it wasn't them. This also allows for smarter and more invested players a moment to shine as they piece together what really happened and perhaps even give them a moral quandry (do you reveal that the murder was an insurance scam and force the children to lose both their parents and live a life where they have to find a way to pay for the debts of their parents?). If you want to pure detective setting and your players are one the few or even, only people in this setting that have these investigative spells, make part of the story arc. The players are academic magicians that have invented this new spell and want to prove to the public and their fellow colleagues it works. This is basically a sort of Sherlock Holmes story as the novels were written at the time, when new scientific and investigative techniques were being impletemented in police work. In this case, your magician might even deliberately hunt for any sort of murder in the press or other news source in order to prove the validity of the spell. Which is something other player characters might disaprove of. It also means that they would have to prove the murder was indeed how the victim described it under the influence of Speak to the Dead in order to prove to the police their spell works. This sort mystery would give a different dynamic to the investigation, since now you know the murderer, and the murderer now know you know, making it into a race to find all the clues before the murderer covererd them up. You can even make the players decide on a name for the spell, in order to help them get into the proper mindset.
I can't help but imagine the cast of Scooby-Doo as an adventuring group. Fred is the Swashbuckler Fighter, Shaggy is the pipeweed-addled Druid who reincarnated his Halfling Tracker pal as a Great Dane, Daphne is there as a Thieves' Guild spy within the group, and Velma is an NPC Sage that can't resist a chance to show off her knowledge to the group.
i really appreciate the visual aspect you guys produce through your videos here on youtube, but i'd love to be able to download the audio to listen to during long drives. have you considered podcasting?? it would help me ingest your media much much easier - instead of loading your videos on cellular data and just listening to the audio
I get the sneaking suspicion that this episode might be about mysteries... Probably a misleading title though to throw me off the scent of the TRUE TOPIC!
I am DMing my first proper session next week, so excited. Thanks to you guys I feel like I know what I am doing, and words can hardly express how grateful I am...
I love all your guys videos, I listen to the on my commute everyday you give such great advice and have really helped with my DMing. Thanks so much for everything
Thanks so much for making this video! It's helped me understand where rolls are appropriate over roleplay, which I've been having some trouble with. You guys are great.
23:15 so my mum watch's an unhealthy amount of real life crime shows and you wouldnt believe how meany victims of muggins or attempted murders never see the blow that downed them and how meany times a cop will say they never saw it coming, then you have the idea that the talk to the dead spell is letting you talk to a person who is now fully aware they have been murdered some people fall apart after been mugged think how a person would act after been killed? heck depending on how you want spirits to work they may have watched themselfs been eaten or having insects and flys come to start cleaning up the body :(
Also generally someone who's killed isn't executed by the real villain. They use a stooge if they know someone has to be eliminated because they don't want to risk creating more evidence.
I can not tell you how many times something you discussed in your videos has become relevant at my table and because I could draw on your input my game was made better. Thank you so much for your help. :)
When I think D&D with Mystery the first thing I think of is the Coven of Razel-Sinn campaign you guys did quite awhile back just finished watching that today actually and I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who might not have seen it yet but that is a great example of a mystery and it actually gave me an idea for my own sort of mystery campaign/adventure.
Really great timing for this video, I'm just about to start a game where the first tier is basically a Godfather movie, so it gives me a lot to work with.
Have to say, I love when you guys do these theme shows. I wasn't planning on making a mystery for my players, but now I guess I have even more to write... lol :)
This was very helpful for me since I'm trying to do a murder mystery dnd game...and I used everything you said to try and make it good... except when my friends hear it's more role-playing than dice rolling they won't do it. It might just be them and how they are use to dice rolls, but it seems the no rolls pushes people away.. so I've sadly never gotten to do my murder mystery game... but this video really helped me work things out though! So thank you for that!
Jim, I've been running a Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign for a few months now, and it's been amazing. There has been several moments of actual palpable tension, and has been one of most intense role playing experiences I've ever had. I hope you get to play it sometime. I love and look forward to these videos, keep up the amazing work, guys!
Sweet! I love reading about people's experiences with Masks. I toyed briefly with converting the adventure to Dark Heresy, but it seemed like a lot of work.
I like videos walking through how to DM different situations. Thanks for this video, it's a great help in bettering my DM abilities. I would watch more like this. Maybe role-playing different stealth in combat and vision scenarios. I struggle with this when it comes to my party having darkvision and being able to see everything. It's tough to hide anything from the party.
As someone who often ends up playing himbos with low invest and perception skills, I’m a big fan of the idea of forgoing skill checks and examining a situation as I, myself would. It isn’t fun being perpetually useless and knowing that a nat 20 is the only way my character will get to see anything.
The murder victim being alive and contracting the players to find the murderer is exactly how I started the first game I ever ran. The players loved it and I became a regular DM for the group. Great times.
No official list yet, but right now they include: The Enemy Within for WFRP (more must play than read), Masks of Nyarlathotep for Call of Cthuhlu, and the Great Pendragon Campaign for Pendragon. I also really like the classic DnD modules Caverns of Thracia and Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.
In murder mysteries, I like to put the puzzle pieces according to the rule of three. I always consider three options which would allow players to access any given important information. One of these options has to remain possible under every sane series of actions. However, gathering the information isn't everything: I like to complicate things. The NPCs all have things to hide which don't necessarily have anything to do with the case - and some rather random things can produce red herrings as well. Furthermore, the culprit may try to put the blame on someone and manipulate the investigation - which may include planting false evidence. I don't avoid skill checks as those can give the player characters an edge because they may fin evidence earlier than the culprit would like. Maybe they notice something about NPCs behavior which gives them hints on what else is going on. Of course, spells can - theoretically - ruin my mystery. However, if a wizard knows the murderer because he read their mind, the culprit will claim that the wizard is framing him. If the player characters can't prove their claim, the culprit may go free. If they just kill the culprit, everyone will be convinced that the player characters are serial murderers. Maybe they can defeat the villain in a debate - but my villains are not stupid enough to just confess their crimes. Sure, they are restrained and can't manipulate the investigation any more - but they will go free as if no evidence turns up which actually proves the accusation. Even if the murderer is low class (and thus not as respected in court), their actions will be a part of a larger plot - and the players will miss that bigger picture if they don't get investigate for the relevant details the hard way.
Great episode as usual, I liked the impromptu RP to help explain what you meant. I would like to ask though, how do you feel about asking for rolls just for tension in the investigation situation? For example when they give the description of being cautious of going along for traps or when they talk about searching the room, where they can't fail, but if they do exceptionally well they may get a little extra information or it may seem "too easy" then they go off to verify what they found with a contact or by grilling some thugs.
Oh shit son! That's last bit before the outro blew my mind. I had never considered that in a world where restoration/reviving magic is a thing, you could have living murder victims. _(It also reminded me of Monty Python; "She turned me into a newt!" .. "A newt?" .. "Well, I got better.")_
One thing our DM will do is ask aloud what's your passive perception even though he has all our basic stats recorded, which lets us know that there is probably something to uncover without giving much of anything away.
I made an insanely big mistake in my most recent game. I have a module that is basically a very complicated murder mystery that I was super excited to run. Its called Hour of the Knife which is an old competition module that was converted to Ravenloft. An amazing adventure, which I was very excited to run and thought would be loads of fun. I screwed up when I let one player, no, encouraged one of my players to play a Mystic, which gave him the ability to see through any object for the past 24 hours. Totally screwed over my murder mystery. I wanted to see a Mystic in play, but ultimately ended having to cancel one of my better Adventures as a result. So my advice, if you plan on doing any sort of mystery adventure, don't allow your players to have a Mystic or Knowledge Cleric. You can probably get away with a Diviner, but I still wouldn't recommend it if you plan on running this type of game. On the bright side, I got to see a Mystic in play and learned some viable tactics as a DM even though I had to dramatically alter my campaign roadmap. DM failure for not anticipating this complication, but I learned some viable lessons on psionics in a DnD game. I am just glad I caught it before it ruined an adventure.
In Phoenix wright: Spirit of justice had pretty interesting ideas on world where one could see the deceased's final moments and it becoming base of the country's juridical system.. and then the troubles with it. It has nice stuff like even if you saw and heard what victim saw and heard and even felt at moment of death how little things could have huge impact on how the vision is interpreted.
This is gold. I've DM'd for a long time but it's useful to have someone laying this all out in a single place. Same goes for all your stuff, but I'm actively planning on FINALLY doing the From Hell ripoff i've wanted to put in a game for years. Jack the Ripper's a convenient and rich archetype, cuz (1) the local priesthood in a big city may not care about the declining hooker population, and (2) the Ripper lore (and the From Hell version is a good example) includes theories that he was a really well connected figure, so he can use political leverage to dissuade lawmen from sniffing about. But enter a party from out of town, and now you have motivated investigators on the job, opposed by local corrupt powers. Lawmen on the take. Church officials who discourage other faiths... I'm gonna watch this vid like 5 more times. You guys do good stuff.
no actually just an engineer friend of mine playing a sorceror who is basically creating a telephone network in the savage north with sending stones lol. (i just came back to rewatch this again , making my mystery today, there are some spontaneous combustion happening in orphanages in Mirabar. )
Great video (as always) guys! I'm working on another mystery campaign and some of these tips will help smooth the game play to allow for more immersion and focus attention to exploration and discovery rather than just skill rolls.
The Netflix show (and i guess its also a book) Altered Carbon is a great example of a murder mystery where a person is trying to solve their own murder. (kind of like suggested at the end of the vid with the wizard and the simulacrum.) just an idea
I just started writing a CoC adventure for my kid's squad, and I had so many questions that were just answered in this video. Crazy! I was also wondering about buying the Mask of Nyarlathothep, looks like I'm throwing more money at Amazon.
Better yet, watch the very funny cartoon Hoodwinked (with great voice acting by Patrick Warbuton). Like Agatha Christie it will have the big reveal at the end but until then is great with all the run around to find clues and maybe a few Red Herrings. The way the clues are accumulated is just random enough you can see how it could translate to a D&D mystery. The key is have the clues be cumulative so that if you throw them in the air and let them fall the order in which they are discovered doesn't really matter.
For the magic, I was thinking why not have it a cosmic alignment sort of event that nullifies magic for the night. Could also be the reason that the people are together for the evening. Maybe there was a party at the location where it happened to celebrate it, or they had gathered for protection as their house security would be down. Could also be why that night was chosen as magical protections the victim would have had would have been down. Maybe the party was brought on as extra security for this reason.
speaking of speaking with dead in murder cases and all, there is ace attorney game Spirit of justice that plays with the idea that you are able to see last moments of the victim by victims eyes.. you would think it would be easy find the culprit, but nope..
This gave me an amazing idea. A dude who was killed but brought back by the priest, who then starts a huge murder mystery to find his killer. At the end they find out that he killed himself knowing he was gonna be brought back so he could waste the party's time with the mystery while he set up a master plans to summon something like Demogorgan, Orcus, or Tiamat.
first off I thought the opening to this was hilarious. secondly is that the background is it from You Can't Do That On Television? now to the point I've always wanted to play or even run a Murder Mystery like campaign. lot of good points you guys hit on. one thing I would make an addendum to is the point where you use spells to trip up the party would be a a great way to introduce the infamous red herring to the party.
I think a way to think about a situation like this could be on a video game sense. If your players are unfamiliar with non-skillcheck areas, make sure you are making them aware of what is "e to interact" like the rug, the mooshead, objects in the room. Give them the description of what is and is not to do with the clue, but give them the confirmation that they can press the interact key with a whole bunch of stuff.
One thing I discovered is necessary for mysteries is to know the entirety of the events involved. I had my party put on the case of a serial kidnapping. Several different witnesses gave their accounts, but the father of the first child kidnapped had the best info. After the party got the information I thought they needed, they decided to bring the guy home and search his house. I thought they had enough info to move on, but they wanted more. So, they searched the room for clues in the kidnapping. I knew that the kidnappings were actually performed by multiple people in order to feed an oni who was giving them power. So this place would look very different from the other crime scenes because this kid was taken by someone less discreet than the other scenes. I had to make up clues on the fly for them, which I wouldn't have been able to do if I hadn't known all of the details of the events.
I think a good way to do stuff is have people investigate stuff with no rolls, then have them roll a straight up intelligence check if they need a hint, then you can be like "your character thinks maybe do x" if need be.
I had to stop the video at the intro just to dry my eyes I was laughing so hard. The worst part is I saw "building a mystery" and literally that was the first thing to came to mind. Oh my god I'm dying.
Thanks for watching! Want more Web DM in your life? Get our podcast here: www.patreon.com/webdm
I've been looking for a link to your broadcasts as I think they would be great to listen to on my way to college every morning but I can't find one. Could you post one in the comments? Would be much appreciated if possible!
lol - the music from my formative years not necessarily fond of that one, but definitely remember hehe
In terms of describing how a character checks for traps etc you mentioned using a spear or pole to lift up rugs and things of that nature. Isn't there a joke or maybe funny observation would be a better description, about how in maybe 1st edition D&D PCs or at least one of the hirelings always carried around poles to check for traps and such?
(::sigh:: once again I need to listen all the way through before typing - so, I'm seconding your reasoning then hehe though I think I have some decent recommendations further down that weren't specifically covered) It's a great idea to recommend this style of handling things b/c I think for newer players and DMs in particular it can help them get better or more used to explaining their characters' actions in all settings, not only in searches and the like. It can aid in developing a richer narrative experience all around and allow people to better visualize actions and such in their "minds eye." Excellent recommendation.
Another suggestion to avoiding some roles is to have a clue or an additional, but optional, way of discovering clues come through conversations with NPCs. In that way you can encourage the party to interact with your NPCs more. Possibly even reward them extra by giving them some really big clues that they get through conversing with NPCs, but obviously don't make it mandatory in case the players are less comfortable or unsure about themselves when it comes to NPC interactions. And the conversations don't have to require persuasion/intimidation roles to get information from the NPCs - you just talk to them or ask the right questions, and you can give them hints through conversation regarding even what they might want to be asking about - to sort of lead the conversation if it feels like the players are stumbling a little or getting frustrated. In some extent you're encouraging the players to interact with your world in ways other than killing things, by showing that it can be really beneficial to talk to the right NPCs. And there are ways to work around truth forcing spells or other charm-related spells - for instance, in order to get someone to tell you the info you want after you've cast a spell forcing them to tell the truth, you still have to ask the right questions and the NPC has to know the info as well. You can be a stickler with requiring the party to go beyond asking blanket questions and be more specific when they are fishing for info after charming or dominating someone.
Another enjoyable and helpful video - thanks.
had a player ask if they could investigate, the rest of the table was like "you are"....he's new and still learning: solving a puzzle or figuring out a mystery isn't settled by a die roll ...so the "investigation skill" seems to be misunderstood
Great video.
"Yeah I was murdered and the priest brought me back, but I was still murdered. That's still against the law."
LOL
Maybe he wants to know who had it out for him as he might not be so lucky next time. That's why he hires the party. Maybe he doesn't trust the local authorities as they might be in on it.
...."you can't wake up dead, stupid" Lmfao
One more thing you should not forget as a DM is the Wild Shape.
We had a murder mystery and our DM prepared for all the spells you mentioned, but I was a druid, so I wild shaped into a badger to have that keen smell and I sniffed around and caught a scent.
Then when we had a suspect I wild shaped again, sniffed him, turned back: yep, that is the same smell!
A technique I see Chris Perkins use often is having players roll to get useful hints as they are trying to figure things out. So, if they just effectively role play through, they might never have to make a skill check, but if/as they get stumped by your massive intellect, you can prompt them to make different kinds of rolls to have characters notice or realize things.
Another important aspect of the mystery is that it is always possible your PCs might just suck at the investigation and fail to solve the mystery; you want to make sure there are interesting ramifications that move the larger plot forward in that case as well. Never keep your story behind any kind of success/fail wall.
Way I like to do it is 1) if the player thinks to make a perception check (or INt check or whathaveyou), and pass the check then I give them not only information but also XP. 2) If they don't think to make the check and I have to tell them then they get less XP. 3) Then if they still have failed the rolls but they need the clue to move on in the story, I will just point it out to them, but they get no XP for it.
There just needs to be a full video on Jim swaying ever so gently from side to side whilst trying to hide a smirk in.
Varsidian I'd watch that. All day.
10 hour loop. There need be no context or plot. Just the soft strumming of a harp and an ever-encroaching zoom in on Jim being mesmerizing.
U guys should put the web dm episodes on itunes as podcasts
Varsidian 10/10 would watch!
(@daggerstorm) They'd risk splitting their audience though, drives views down and waters down metrics on both platforms.
If anybody wants to hear a great D&D mystery story, the "Murder on the Rockport Limited" series of episodes from the podcast "The Adventure Zone" are HIGHLY recommended!
Nick Jacobs it's fantastic and doesn't take it self seriously either! my kind of D&D!
I find players are just too paranoid about anything I describe to them as even mildly trapped. They'd rather just light the room on fire and hope that solves the mystery.
"You enter the room, there's a funny smell in the air..."
"I cast fireball and close the door"
*Dusts hands off*
Jared Prymont The fun I would have, if a player in my game arbitrarily wasted their spells as you describe. I'm a fair DM, but the smile, playing like that would put on my face, would be priceless I'm sure. Because that fireball would most certainly be better used somewhere down the road... And probably soon... So go ahead, waste all the spells you want. " Oh and by the way. Take this fresh character sheet. You are most likely going to need it before this session is over. "
or that room had evidence and they get arrested for arson
"That funny smell was a methane pocket held in place by some wild magic aura."
Roll save versus explosive force and chaos.
PC: I cast fireball and shut the door.
DM: The door blows off it's hinges. Make a Dexterity save at disadvantage to take half damage. Oh also, everything in that room was destroyed including any "fragile" magic items. Think potions, scrolls and wands.
@Insignatious Can be, certainly. But it can also be a symptom of a player who wants to "win" so much that they assume the game is a contest between player and DM when it's not. I've seen this situation happen with first-time players who have no negative DM experience to be paranoid about. It's often a symptom of an overly competitive mindset, whether that's from history with the game, or not.
A very good framework for a DM who might be intimidated is a boxed Murder Mystery Party game, or one of the better-written, richer ones you can find online. Long ago I recycled one from my sister's party (a standard 1930's theme, but easily tweaked) and I borrowed a lot of the structure and story. The game (3 sessions worth) went very smoothly and was a hit. Now that I'm more experienced it's not a problem to write/DM mysteries, but that was an easy, fun "hack" that taught me a lot.
I may have cheated and just put the game "Clue" into my campaign. But hey, it's fun.
The Ghost of the victim randomly possesses one of the party and gives obscure metaphoric clues. The only way to stop this possession is to solve the mystery.
You can insert this little trick at any point in either an occurring adventure or as a side quest, and then use the Ghost as an RP hook.
I always poke all portraits in the eyes...just in case.
If its someone's manner you would probably have to pay the cost for the paintings to be fixed
xD
You could take a fine point needle, and make an unnoticeably small hole in the pupil of the eye in the painting.
Ah, a man of culture as well
If Scooby-Doo has taught me anything, it's to never trust a portrait... And to always attempt to rip the bad guys face off once you finally catch them, just incase it's a mask
One of my players is a diviner wizard. So I just expect an arcane eye and legend lore. Never make a player's character build feel useless (assuming its not a screwball type thing). So arcane eye can usually scout most things, but every once in a while there are magical protections or quality doors. They should make sense. A wizard's keep or noble's house might be protected from divination, but something is weird if a farm house is warded. Which is a form of information too. When your have diviners or clerics that like to use divination magic use them to move the story along. A fiend keeps returning after killed so the player 'legend lore', "The demon can only be slayen with Sunbringer Axe". Then 'divination' "Where can I find Sunbringer Axe?" Answer: "Sunbringer rest in the tomb Grog Bloodflint at the highest peak of the White Hart Mountain."
The last murder in my game the victim had their head removed which stops 'speak with dead' and 'raise dead'. You need a caster that can perform 7th level 'Resurrection' which should be very rare in most worlds.
This video is literally a saving grace, was going to set up an mystery themed one-shot for some friends who are new to the game
Woohoo! Just in time!
I had a few ideas myself, thought you might wanna hear them too, this comment is copied from above:
How about creating a number of suspects, give everyone a motive and a number of different secrets that might function as red herrings.
After you have flushed out all the important NPC's, roll on a random table to decide who the murderer is, and set up a number of additional clues around that particular character.
Alternatively you could include some kind of plot twist, the victim might have been killed by an outside force, by accident, or it might even have been suicide.
If you really wanna mess with the players, speak with one of them ahead of time, and determine that THEY are the murderer, but don't let the other players know about it.
DabIMON I'm doing something similar in a one shot. I have four players three are rogues and the fourth is a sorcerer. it's a heist mission, one of the rogues is the leader and is actually looking for something else, the second rogue is extremely loyal to the first. The last rogue and sorcerer are secretly in love and plann on killing the other two when they get the gold, however the sorcerer has been playing the third rogue and plans on killing her when the other two are dead.
(If you know where I got this I applaud you)
Haha, that sounds awesome.
Sadly I do not get the reference.
DabIMON you forgot the other rogue who was passed up for promotion and is trying to kill the leader
hey with tomb of Annihilation coming up, I was wondering if you guys could do a show on Liches, Demiliches, Death knights and death tyrants, the creme de la creme of super intelligent undead?
ZerkMonsterHunter 4 I agree completely
ZerkMonsterHunter 4 Dracoliches too, and Illithlich
PattPlays d'oh, forgot those.
Siegfried Black cough - pit fiends - cough, but yes I agree, high level undead are often some of the coolest and most interesting monsters out there, I suppose you could throw mummy lords in there too.
I think that'd be a solid show
A good way one of my players managed to RP out of a failed skill roll was to convince a young manto tell them what happened, but she couldnt, so instead she RPed out telling him why drawing it could help him feel better, to move on. And it worked, it was a far vaguer clue than she would have gotten otherwise, but it helped her to piece what the problem was together and to move on, toward solving the mystery. Placing a skill role doesn't have to remove RP it allows for a way the non RPers can figure something out. Add to that, if they RP really well, give them a +10 or +20, it doesnt become an "if they succeed" but a "how well you succeed"
I don't have a lot of problems with Speak With Dead; but, at the same time I don't see a lot of Divination spells get cast. I think it stems from many GMs just automatically having the NPCs have the defenses against these all the times because GMs don't want it that easy. I try to let my player's know Divination is always an option.
#LetDaveHaveTheThing
Great episode guys, as always. And never worry about the 30 min. mark. I would much rather hear everything you have to say on a subject, jokes included, than having anything cut out and edited for "time". :)
One important note I have is to make sure and create an investment in this murder mystrery. Make sure the NPC who's dead is crucial to the overarching plot development, or perhaps an ally. I was knee deep in a murder mystery later in a recent campaign when my players sort of looked at each other and asked "why do we need to find out who killed this person?". I have one player who loves mysteries, but the rest needed to be sold, and quite frankly, I didn't sell them on that mystery. So we moved on to more important things, and it was ok and everything, but I wish I had done more to get them invested in that particular saga. Instead I killed someone inconsequential who just felt like a roadblock to our eventual goal.
How about creating a number of suspects, give everyone a motive and a number of different secrets that might function as red herrings.
After you have flushed out all the important NPC's, roll on a random table to decide who the murderer is, and set up a number of additional clues around that particular character.
Alternatively you could include some kind of plot twist, the victim might have been killed by an outside force, by accident, or it might even have been suicide.
If you really wanna mess with the players, speak with one of them ahead of time, and determine that THEY are the murderer, but don't let the other players know about it.
Sparks flew today between Pruitt and Jim
ethan kleiner when are they not?
JPruInc I personally come for the sparks and palpable erotic tension between you two and stay for the DM tips!
ethan kleiner I ship them
I've been invited to play in a Clue inspired one shot this summer and I can't wait! I haven't played a mystery type story in years.
I've only recently begun DM'ing (shame on me - 20+ years as a player) and have been thinking about areas I'd have a hard thing with, and mystery, especially murder mystery, would definitely be one, so thank you for this!
Oh holy shit that introduction
Right!?
The intros are like 90% of the reason I watch these videos
I'm liking these last couple of videos a lot. You guys are on point with the advice and the production. 10/10 will watch again.
Vem Pra Lane thanks for the support!
Although I've never DM'd, if I would do a murder mystery in a setting with "Speak with Dead" I would make the murdered victim have a reason to lie about who murdered them. For example, the murderer could be someone they dearly and unconditionally love and would do anything to cover up their evil deads. This relationship could be known, such as during an insurance scam to make sure the debts of the victim are payed off so their spouse and children live the life they deserve. Or it could be unrequited love, where a knight loves unconditionally a noble person who is toxic in nature, and frequently uses them to get what they. It could also be a case of the victim having fallen in love with someone they could never marry, so they've kept it secret all these years, and are willing to even cover up it was their love interest that murdered them. The victim could also be opportunistic and spiteful and deliberately use their death in order to frame their rival for the murder, even if they know it wasn't them. This also allows for smarter and more invested players a moment to shine as they piece together what really happened and perhaps even give them a moral quandry (do you reveal that the murder was an insurance scam and force the children to lose both their parents and live a life where they have to find a way to pay for the debts of their parents?).
If you want to pure detective setting and your players are one the few or even, only people in this setting that have these investigative spells, make part of the story arc. The players are academic magicians that have invented this new spell and want to prove to the public and their fellow colleagues it works. This is basically a sort of Sherlock Holmes story as the novels were written at the time, when new scientific and investigative techniques were being impletemented in police work. In this case, your magician might even deliberately hunt for any sort of murder in the press or other news source in order to prove the validity of the spell. Which is something other player characters might disaprove of. It also means that they would have to prove the murder was indeed how the victim described it under the influence of Speak to the Dead in order to prove to the police their spell works. This sort mystery would give a different dynamic to the investigation, since now you know the murderer, and the murderer now know you know, making it into a race to find all the clues before the murderer covererd them up. You can even make the players decide on a name for the spell, in order to help them get into the proper mindset.
Or the murderer casts it on them. For 10 days nobody can cast Speak With Dead on them again, and that narrows down the suspects quite a bit.
I can't help but imagine the cast of Scooby-Doo as an adventuring group. Fred is the Swashbuckler Fighter, Shaggy is the pipeweed-addled Druid who reincarnated his Halfling Tracker pal as a Great Dane, Daphne is there as a Thieves' Guild spy within the group, and Velma is an NPC Sage that can't resist a chance to show off her knowledge to the group.
i really appreciate the visual aspect you guys produce through your videos here on youtube, but i'd love to be able to download the audio to listen to during long drives. have you considered podcasting?? it would help me ingest your media much much easier - instead of loading your videos on cellular data and just listening to the audio
I get the sneaking suspicion that this episode might be about mysteries... Probably a misleading title though to throw me off the scent of the TRUE TOPIC!
I am DMing my first proper session next week, so excited. Thanks to you guys I feel like I know what I am doing, and words can hardly express how grateful I am...
All though being five months later would like to know how it went
I love all your guys videos, I listen to the on my commute everyday you give such great advice and have really helped with my DMing. Thanks so much for everything
Alvin Sullivan thanks for the support!!
Alvin Sullivan you are truly welcome!
Thanks so much for making this video! It's helped me understand where rolls are appropriate over roleplay, which I've been having some trouble with. You guys are great.
Good ol' 10ft pole. Always taking one for the team!
It was the minstrel in the temple with the -1 mace they killed Flabbergast Mctrundlebut the fourth D:
23:15 so my mum watch's an unhealthy amount of real life crime shows and you wouldnt believe how meany victims of muggins or attempted murders never see the blow that downed them and how meany times a cop will say they never saw it coming, then you have the idea that the talk to the dead spell is letting you talk to a person who is now fully aware they have been murdered some people fall apart after been mugged think how a person would act after been killed? heck depending on how you want spirits to work they may have watched themselfs been eaten or having insects and flys come to start cleaning up the body :(
permeus2nd Also, the body can't speak if you just destroy the mouth.
Also generally someone who's killed isn't executed by the real villain. They use a stooge if they know someone has to be eliminated because they don't want to risk creating more evidence.
I can not tell you how many times something you discussed in your videos has become relevant at my table and because I could draw on your input my game was made better. Thank you so much for your help. :)
diRe glad we can help!!
That look at 0:08 - the way Jonathan looks at Jim right there? #relationshipgoals
When I think D&D with Mystery the first thing I think of is the Coven of Razel-Sinn campaign you guys did quite awhile back just finished watching that today actually and I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who might not have seen it yet but that is a great example of a mystery and it actually gave me an idea for my own sort of mystery campaign/adventure.
4:20 such a mystery
"Depending on the person building the Wizard"
Re-watching the series. This is the best general coverage on non-combat magic and how to DM with it, instead of against it.
This is a theme that I wanted people to give tips on for a long time. Nice.
Really great timing for this video, I'm just about to start a game where the first tier is basically a Godfather movie, so it gives me a lot to work with.
Have to say, I love when you guys do these theme shows. I wasn't planning on making a mystery for my players, but now I guess I have even more to write... lol :)
This was very helpful for me since I'm trying to do a murder mystery dnd game...and I used everything you said to try and make it good... except when my friends hear it's more role-playing than dice rolling they won't do it. It might just be them and how they are use to dice rolls, but it seems the no rolls pushes people away.. so I've sadly never gotten to do my murder mystery game... but this video really helped me work things out though! So thank you for that!
Jim, I've been running a Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign for a few months now, and it's been amazing. There has been several moments of actual palpable tension, and has been one of most intense role playing experiences I've ever had. I hope you get to play it sometime. I love and look forward to these videos, keep up the amazing work, guys!
Sweet! I love reading about people's experiences with Masks. I toyed briefly with converting the adventure to Dark Heresy, but it seemed like a lot of work.
Thanks guys! I wrote a mystery one-shot and played it with my regular group. It was a blast!
The intro's and outro's are always so good. the content in between is also great.
Teeon Highhill Like a beautiful sandwich
I like videos walking through how to DM different situations. Thanks for this video, it's a great help in bettering my DM abilities. I would watch more like this. Maybe role-playing different stealth in combat and vision scenarios. I struggle with this when it comes to my party having darkvision and being able to see everything. It's tough to hide anything from the party.
As someone who often ends up playing himbos with low invest and perception skills, I’m a big fan of the idea of forgoing skill checks and examining a situation as I, myself would. It isn’t fun being perpetually useless and knowing that a nat 20 is the only way my character will get to see anything.
7:35 omg look at this! He owns his on mistakes and continues to grow! Someone have this mans babaaay!
The "Hawk and Fisher" novel series by Simon R. Green can be a great source of inspiration for fantasy-themed mysteries.
I really thought I was about to see a web dm sing along. I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about that...
Both?
The murder victim being alive and contracting the players to find the murderer is exactly how I started the first game I ever ran. The players loved it and I became a regular DM for the group. Great times.
Is there a list somewhere of Jim's "modules all GMs should read." Seems this would be a fantastic resource to go with all the excellent advice.
No official list yet, but right now they include: The Enemy Within for WFRP (more must play than read), Masks of Nyarlathotep for Call of Cthuhlu, and the Great Pendragon Campaign for Pendragon. I also really like the classic DnD modules Caverns of Thracia and Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.
In murder mysteries, I like to put the puzzle pieces according to the rule of three. I always consider three options which would allow players to access any given important information. One of these options has to remain possible under every sane series of actions. However, gathering the information isn't everything: I like to complicate things. The NPCs all have things to hide which don't necessarily have anything to do with the case - and some rather random things can produce red herrings as well. Furthermore, the culprit may try to put the blame on someone and manipulate the investigation - which may include planting false evidence.
I don't avoid skill checks as those can give the player characters an edge because they may fin evidence earlier than the culprit would like. Maybe they notice something about NPCs behavior which gives them hints on what else is going on. Of course, spells can - theoretically - ruin my mystery. However, if a wizard knows the murderer because he read their mind, the culprit will claim that the wizard is framing him. If the player characters can't prove their claim, the culprit may go free. If they just kill the culprit, everyone will be convinced that the player characters are serial murderers.
Maybe they can defeat the villain in a debate - but my villains are not stupid enough to just confess their crimes. Sure, they are restrained and can't manipulate the investigation any more - but they will go free as if no evidence turns up which actually proves the accusation. Even if the murderer is low class (and thus not as respected in court), their actions will be a part of a larger plot - and the players will miss that bigger picture if they don't get investigate for the relevant details the hard way.
Great episode as usual, I liked the impromptu RP to help explain what you meant. I would like to ask though, how do you feel about asking for rolls just for tension in the investigation situation? For example when they give the description of being cautious of going along for traps or when they talk about searching the room, where they can't fail, but if they do exceptionally well they may get a little extra information or it may seem "too easy" then they go off to verify what they found with a contact or by grilling some thugs.
Oh shit son! That's last bit before the outro blew my mind. I had never considered that in a world where restoration/reviving magic is a thing, you could have living murder victims.
_(It also reminded me of Monty Python; "She turned me into a newt!" .. "A newt?" .. "Well, I got better.")_
One thing our DM will do is ask aloud what's your passive perception even though he has all our basic stats recorded, which lets us know that there is probably something to uncover without giving much of anything away.
When I saw the title, that song was the first thing that popped into my head.
Best cold open on UA-cam?
Definitely
Shout out to Texas Tea at 29:45 haha such good stuff.
I think honestly my favorite parts of these videos are the end when they are just talking about random stuff.
I made an insanely big mistake in my most recent game. I have a module that is basically a very complicated murder mystery that I was super excited to run. Its called Hour of the Knife which is an old competition module that was converted to Ravenloft. An amazing adventure, which I was very excited to run and thought would be loads of fun.
I screwed up when I let one player, no, encouraged one of my players to play a Mystic, which gave him the ability to see through any object for the past 24 hours. Totally screwed over my murder mystery. I wanted to see a Mystic in play, but ultimately ended having to cancel one of my better Adventures as a result.
So my advice, if you plan on doing any sort of mystery adventure, don't allow your players to have a Mystic or Knowledge Cleric. You can probably get away with a Diviner, but I still wouldn't recommend it if you plan on running this type of game.
On the bright side, I got to see a Mystic in play and learned some viable tactics as a DM even though I had to dramatically alter my campaign roadmap. DM failure for not anticipating this complication, but I learned some viable lessons on psionics in a DnD game. I am just glad I caught it before it ruined an adventure.
Love the work guys. Have you considered a video on the "save or suck" spells and abilities?
This was some fantastic advice, and it gave me a lot of ideas for the campaign I'm about to start running. Thanks!
Best. Intro. Ever. Also! Perfect timing! I'm running a mystery session tomorrow! Y'all are my heroes.
In Phoenix wright: Spirit of justice had pretty interesting ideas on world where one could see the deceased's final moments and it becoming base of the country's juridical system.. and then the troubles with it.
It has nice stuff like even if you saw and heard what victim saw and heard and even felt at moment of death how little things could have huge impact on how the vision is interpreted.
This is gold. I've DM'd for a long time but it's useful to have someone laying this all out in a single place. Same goes for all your stuff, but I'm actively planning on FINALLY doing the From Hell ripoff i've wanted to put in a game for years. Jack the Ripper's a convenient and rich archetype, cuz (1) the local priesthood in a big city may not care about the declining hooker population, and (2) the Ripper lore (and the From Hell version is a good example) includes theories that he was a really well connected figure, so he can use political leverage to dissuade lawmen from sniffing about. But enter a party from out of town, and now you have motivated investigators on the job, opposed by local corrupt powers. Lawmen on the take. Church officials who discourage other faiths...
I'm gonna watch this vid like 5 more times. You guys do good stuff.
ty I literally just had a player add a flaw to his sheet "cannot resist a good mystery"
kyubii972 sounds like a great opportunity to mix curiosity and danger!
Tabaxi?
JPruInc He is now!
no actually just an engineer friend of mine playing a sorceror who is basically creating a telephone network in the savage north with sending stones lol. (i just came back to rewatch this again , making my mystery today, there are some spontaneous combustion happening in orphanages in Mirabar. )
That's my characters Trait. No reason to be a flaw. ACCEPT IT!!!
Thumbs up for opening slow jam
the japanese story rashomon presents a murder mystery with conflicting evidence when the spirit of the deceased is one of the witnesses
Great video (as always) guys! I'm working on another mystery campaign and some of these tips will help smooth the game play to allow for more immersion and focus attention to exploration and discovery rather than just skill rolls.
Do one on material components?
There was a moment there at the start where you guys almost locked eyes mid-emotional song. You really dodged an intimate bullet.
I'm working on a pirate one shot for my friends and thought about introducing some mystery in it, this video might help, thanks!
The Netflix show (and i guess its also a book) Altered Carbon is a great example of a murder mystery where a person is trying to solve their own murder. (kind of like suggested at the end of the vid with the wizard and the simulacrum.)
just an idea
That intro moved my heart...
In before this video is flagged for that intro song.
Noximus Jamaicanus shhhhhhh! Don't tell!
I just started writing a CoC adventure for my kid's squad, and I had so many questions that were just answered in this video. Crazy! I was also wondering about buying the Mask of Nyarlathothep, looks like I'm throwing more money at Amazon.
best dnd channel on youtube great job guys keep it up :)
Have you guys thought about doing a video on organized play. and Tips for DM/players that are planning to play in the adventurer's league modules.
This may sound chaotic neutral, but give me a little Sarah McLaughlin with Jim and Pruitt and you'll get my $1 a day before those poor dogs.
Better yet, watch the very funny cartoon Hoodwinked (with great voice acting by Patrick Warbuton). Like Agatha Christie it will have the big reveal at the end but until then is great with all the run around to find clues and maybe a few Red Herrings. The way the clues are accumulated is just random enough you can see how it could translate to a D&D mystery. The key is have the clues be cumulative so that if you throw them in the air and let them fall the order in which they are discovered doesn't really matter.
By far the best opening
Haven't even watched the rest of video yet... just wanted to congratulate you on the epicly moving intro 😜
Thanks!
Ravenloft is an awesome choice for such plots
Fabricio Caxias True, Ravenloft is my favorite d&d setting
Best intro ever?
It's up there.
For the magic, I was thinking why not have it a cosmic alignment sort of event that nullifies magic for the night. Could also be the reason that the people are together for the evening. Maybe there was a party at the location where it happened to celebrate it, or they had gathered for protection as their house security would be down. Could also be why that night was chosen as magical protections the victim would have had would have been down. Maybe the party was brought on as extra security for this reason.
speaking of speaking with dead in murder cases and all, there is ace attorney game Spirit of justice that plays with the idea that you are able to see last moments of the victim by victims eyes.. you would think it would be easy find the culprit, but nope..
This gave me an amazing idea. A dude who was killed but brought back by the priest, who then starts a huge murder mystery to find his killer. At the end they find out that he killed himself knowing he was gonna be brought back so he could waste the party's time with the mystery while he set up a master plans to summon something like Demogorgan, Orcus, or Tiamat.
True Seeing is the reason old editions had the shadow ilusion spells that where demi-real.
first off I thought the opening to this was hilarious. secondly is that the background is it from You Can't Do That On Television? now to the point I've always wanted to play or even run a Murder Mystery like campaign. lot of good points you guys hit on. one thing I would make an addendum to is the point where you use spells to trip up the party would be a a great way to introduce the infamous red herring to the party.
Liked for the intro music
I think a way to think about a situation like this could be on a video game sense. If your players are unfamiliar with non-skillcheck areas, make sure you are making them aware of what is "e to interact" like the rug, the mooshead, objects in the room. Give them the description of what is and is not to do with the clue, but give them the confirmation that they can press the interact key with a whole bunch of stuff.
Do you record in the multipurpose room of your church? I love the show! I just always crack up at the white backdrop and 4' table on carpet
I love that Jim basically came up with the plot to altered carbon almost a year before it was released.
One thing I discovered is necessary for mysteries is to know the entirety of the events involved. I had my party put on the case of a serial kidnapping. Several different witnesses gave their accounts, but the father of the first child kidnapped had the best info. After the party got the information I thought they needed, they decided to bring the guy home and search his house. I thought they had enough info to move on, but they wanted more. So, they searched the room for clues in the kidnapping. I knew that the kidnappings were actually performed by multiple people in order to feed an oni who was giving them power. So this place would look very different from the other crime scenes because this kid was taken by someone less discreet than the other scenes. I had to make up clues on the fly for them, which I wouldn't have been able to do if I hadn't known all of the details of the events.
I think a good way to do stuff is have people investigate stuff with no rolls, then have them roll a straight up intelligence check if they need a hint, then you can be like "your character thinks maybe do x" if need be.
Amy thechubbylittlesatan I like this
I had to stop the video at the intro just to dry my eyes I was laughing so hard.
The worst part is I saw "building a mystery" and literally that was the first thing to came to mind. Oh my god I'm dying.
Great video guys...
Pruitt, are you going to expound on your thoughts on Starfinder?
As soon as I am allowed to talk about it in full...I shall.
Another great video, thanks for putting the work into making a great resource for us.
In the first few moments of this episode did you lot insert a subliminal message to watch more Web DM?
Andrew C.......maybe...