Murders and Mysteries

[alex_greene]

A question for Referees and for players alike:-

- For Referees, have you done many murder mysteries? I'm thinking along the lines of Murder on Arcturus Station, sort of thing, where the players have to perceive the presence of clues you leave for them, which can either exonerate or condemn a NPC as some poor schmoe's murderer?

- Players, have you participated in such a game?

It's just something I'm curious to know.

 

[AndrewW]

A question for Referees and for players alike:-

- For Referees, have you done many murder mysteries? I'm thinking along the lines of Murder on Arcturus Station, sort of thing, where the players have to perceive the presence of clues you leave for them, which can either exonerate or condemn a NPC as some poor schmoe's murderer?

That Adventure is due out in December.

- Players, have you participated in such a game?

It's just something I'm curious to know.

You aren't specific did you mean specifically in Traveller or others as well?

 

[kristof65]

I've done a murder mystery based on Arcturus Station, but it wasn't Traveller.

It was actually a fantasy RPG that I translated the entire adventure to - instead of a space station, it was a remote castle, station manager was the castle lord, etc. Other than those changes, it was basically the MoAS adventure - and a lot of fun.

I've actually done that with more than one Traveller adventure - my fantasy campaign has had variants of Exit Visa, Expiditon to Zhodane and Signal GK as well.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

I played in a game where a passenger was murdered the first day after we jumped. As the crew, we had to figure out who-done-it. The Referee actually used the game CLUE to figure out the clues and who-done-it. It was OK, but since none of us were really mystery buffs, we had a hard time getting the clues figured out.

I personally think this scenario works better with a big group of NPCs. Think 10 Little Indians or the new US TV show "Harper's Island" where people keep dying until you figure out who did it. It seems like this would take a LOT of preparation to keep the group interested for very long (lots of false leads etc).

Any of the CSI or police shows currently airing might be good inspirations as well.

 

[kristof65]

It seems like this would take a LOT of preparation to keep the group interested for very long (lots of false leads etc).

It does, which is why I wound up basing my Fantasy scenario around MoAS, which provided most of the framework for me. I learned a lot from it, and won't hesitate to run another murder mystery scenario if it fits the campaign, and I think the players would enjoy it.

1 - it's best if it's in a closed location, so that the number of possible suspects is finite.

2 - At first, everyone is a suspect - PCs get to the bottom of the mystery by eliminating NPCs (and possibly PCs). If only one NPC has motive and means, then it's a very short adventure. If every NPC has motive and means, then it can get dragged on well beyond a group's tolerance. So the GM has to balance it all - at first every NPC should look like a possible suspect, but it shouldn't take long for the PCs to whittle that initial long list to a shorter list of 3-5 real suspects. That requires a lot of prep work on the part of the GM.

3 - it's also best if the PCs have motivation to solve the mystery. That means the GM has to give them a vested self interest in solving it quickly. I did it by framing one of the PCs who happened to not be attending that particular session - the rest of the party had to figure out the truth while she rotted in a dungeon cell. The other player's motivation was getting her PC released before that particular player returned from her vacation and found out that the group hadn't done anything to free her PC.

 

[Fireflame]

I ran a brief segment from 'The Traveller Adventure' where the party was approached by a nervous man who was prepared to pay a fortune to get off planet ASAP. On questioning him, he had embezelled (sp?) several million from Akerut and claimed the wouldn't find out for at least a month.

The players accepted his half million 'high passage' payment (for two 2 parsec jumps) and came to an agreement with him that he would stay in his room and not talk to any passengers.

After the first jump, the players took on board a pair of miners, one of which was an undercover Veheme agent working for Tukera. He murdered the embezeller and stole the money, planting evidence on the other miner as well as expertly covering his tracks, hacking into the ships computer and sensors and removing all evidence on what had gone on.

His Intention was to disembark before the embezeller was found and would have gotten away with it too had not one of the characters, a noble who loves to gamble, decided to try his luck one last time to get his hands on some of the money just as the ship entered orbit around the planet of disembarkment. The resident ships doctor created a sleeping gas and fed it through the life support system into each of the rooms.

The miner who wasn't the Veheme agent was eventually let from the ship with the half million the Agent had planted as a decoy. The ship earned MCR 4.5 from the incident but now are too paranoid to take on general passengers because of the hassle they went though...

 

[Sangrolu]

Yep, I've done MoAS (though not in MongT yet) and other murder mysteries. The jumpspace scenario is great for a "we're all trapped here with the murderer/orient express" type of setup.

 

[rust]

- For Referees, have you done many murder mysteries?

Not a single murder mystery, as far as I remember. However, there have
been lots of other mysteries, mostly of the more or less "scientific" kind.

 

[Klaus Kipling]

I have run a murder mystery, where SolSec has to investigate the canniballistic murder of a Hiver in Sollie space, but it was essentially a red herring. The culprit actually wanted to be caught, as it was part of an infernal Manipulation, which revealed facts so dangerous that if they had gone public, it would have meant full blown war between the Sols and the Hiver Federation.

Ultimately, to at least delay the revelations, the SolSec detective was forced to execute the Hiver perpetrator, with the tacit approval of his hiver colleagues and some Party officials. So what began with the murder of a hiver also ended with one.

I'm now running a sort of sequel set 8 years later with different PCs, where the repercussions start to become apparent.

MGT is very useful for this, as you can chart 'the facts' based on Effect.

That is, when using Interrogation when questioning a suspect or Investigate when putting "soft eyes" on a crime scene, you can grade the quality of the info gained by Effect of the roll. At it's most basic you can use the Effect as the number of facts revealed.

For instance, when Detective Gumshoe questions Colonel Mustard, Eff 0 could be, denies everything, but seems shifty.
E1: but he saw Mrs White in the back garden
E2: while he was in the library
E3: with Miss Scarlet!
E4: but not canoodling - she is a KGB spy selling him secrets, etc etc.

The greater the Effect the more difficult to find the clue is...

 

[Jame Rowe]

I have run a murder mystery, where SolSec has to investigate the canniballistic murder of a Hiver in Sollie space, but it was essentially a red herring. The culprit actually wanted to be caught, as it was part of an infernal Manipulation, which revealed facts so dangerous that if they had gone public, it would have meant full blown war between the Sols and the Hiver Federation.

Ultimately, to at least delay the revelations, the SolSec detective was forced to execute the Hiver perpetrator, with the tacit approval of his hiver colleagues and some Party officials. So what began with the murder of a hiver also ended with one.

I participated in this as one of the Solomani. It was a good game (but we didn't get that far, and I take it we won't now).

I'm now running a sort of sequel set 8 years later with different PCs, where the repercussions start to become apparent.

I would like to know how this turns out (not being a participant).

(And I think I've offended Klaus in some way as he seems to want me to not know how it turns out.)

 

[Klaus Kipling]

I participated in this as one of the Solomani. It was a good game (but we didn't get that far, and I take it we won't now).

I would like to know how this turns out (not being a participant).

(And I think I've offended Klaus in some way as he seems to want me to not know how it turns out.)

Not so, sir, not so!!

I am currently thinking on how to write it up. Just had the second extended session on the 'sequel', which is progressing nicely.

Not sure where to put the summary of "A Sophont Well Seasoned" as it would be a bit of a threadjack. Or would it, it being a murder-mystery-manipulation and all?

I would say that the aborted PBP was the second time I'd run the scenario, but the first time the player had only got half way through, and I wasn't sure how to finish it. It was your character, Jame, Janna Demarco, that finally gave me the 'in' I needed.

I'm sorry about the PBP but the game I wanted to run required a lot of back story and stuff, and I think now that is not the most suitable for a PBP. In the end, it became a bit like work, but really it was RL work-stress that put paid to it. Unfortunate, really. I would love to write it up as a proper MGT scenario, but it being set in the Spica sector along the Sollie/Hiver border it won't fit under the Foreven license, so it's Fair Use only, which means I can't use all that useful MGT crunch. Ah well.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Submit it to Signs and Portents. Then you don't have to worry about setting and you get paid!

 

[alex_greene]

Aren't you guys glad you've got a catalyst like me here on this forum, sparking off discussions left, right and centre?

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Well someone has to do it! :lol:

 

[Gaidheal]

Hmm, adapting the Murder Mystery boxsets (for running at a party, etc) to a setting and system would seem to have some potential, too, actually.

 

[Klaus Kipling]

Submit it to Signs and Portents. Then you don't have to worry about setting and you get paid!

It's a tempting idea...

Just that there are a few complications; for instance, there'll need to be some fluff on SolSec and the Hiver Fed, which is probably beyond the remit of an S&P submission, and some other issues.

But, wait and see when Agent comes out. Depends what it contains, but then it might be possible to wrangle a tie in with it that smooths out some of the thorny knots.

 

[Jame Rowe]

I participated in this as one of the Solomani. (And I think I've offended Klaus in some way as he seems to want me to not know how it turns out.)

Not so, sir, not so!!

Ah. Good. A weight off my mind then. *Gets Klaus a nice cold drink*

I'm sorry about the PBP but the game I wanted to run required a lot of back story and stuff, and I think now that is not the most suitable for a PBP. In the end, it became a bit like work, but really it was RL work-stress that put paid to it. Unfortunate, really. I would love to write it up as a proper MGT scenario, but it being set in the Spica sector along the Sollie/Hiver border it won't fit under the Foreven license, so it's Fair Use only, which means I can't use all that useful MGT crunch. Ah well.

If ever we meet in person, then I would like to play in the FTF version (if you're willing).