Note: This is a short article, I have provided a pdf version with some art and a .rtf version for download, but I'm also reproducing the entire contents in this project description so there's no real need to download anything.

Why I Always Run Mysteries

Mysteries are my favorite novels. Before I discovered the mystery genre, I was a inconsistent reader at best. After I started reading Hardy Boys and swiftly moved to adult murder mysteries, I blew through a few books a month. I tell you this to show my bias before I start telling you about my favorite style of play in TTRPG.

Why I Love Mysteries as a Player and GM

As a player, I love to figure things out and piece together machinations of imaginary characters. Mysteries prompt me to play better. I take more notes, I discuss with the group more, and I am less idle. All this is thanks to mysteries requiring more thought, more prediction and discussion, and more proactive play.

As a GM, I love that planning a good mystery allows me to give the players a clear task, without telling them how to do it. I can task the players with, "find the killers" but not tell them, "first you need to fight this ghost". Preparing a mystery allows me to focus on what has/may happen in the game world rather than trying to anticipate what the players are going to do. Mysteries prompt me to plan the important bits and ignore the rest. Specifically, I find it forces me to focus on NPC's and characters, which I usually struggle with improvising.

Mysteries are versatile. They can be a simple murder, but they can also be, “why are creatures breaching the city walls?” or “what has the duke schemed?”. Most situations are secretly mysteries in disguise.

How I Plan Mysteries

1. Figure out what really happened
2. Find the bottlenecks
3. Write a list of secrets and clues
4. Organize that list from most to least cryptic
5. Play it!

1. Figure out what really happened

You need to know what truly occurred. This is not the story the characters get from the witnesses, its the puzzle with all the pieces put together.

2. Find the bottlenecks

What must the characters learn to figure out what really happened. This should include statements like, "the characters need to know the victim died from a vampire bite" and "the characters need to know that Count Charles is a vampire" and "the characters need to know that Count Charles slumbers in the catacombs during the day". These are milestones in the investigation. The more bottlenecks, the longer (and possibly more convoluted) the mystery.

3. Write a list of secrets and clues

Write a list of at least 10 secrets and clues with your bottlenecks in mind. Preferably at least 3 per bottleneck. Divorce these clues from the way to obtain them. You want, "Several of the gate bars are scorched and melted with heat" rather than, "if a player looks at the gate, they see that several bars are scorched and melted with heat". If the player looks at the gate, pull that clue, if the players talk with the gatekeeper at dinner, pull that clue, its flexible. Choose some subtle and some blatant clues.

4. Organize that list by most to least cryptic

As the mystery begins pull cryptic bits from the top of the list. As the characters learn more, choose from lower and lower on the list so the players feel they're really unraveling the mystery. When the players succeed in some way or ask good questions or make good decisions, give them information from lower on the list. If they fail, choose something from the beginning of the list or reiterate something they already know in a new way.

5. Play it!

Enough planning, its lonesome fun but we came to play with buds. Get in there and run the mystery.

General Advice

Other bits I assemble because they help me, but aren't necessarily needed for everyone.

• A list of places/locales
• A list of characters, their roles/jobs, and notes for personality or specifics I want to convey if they come up
• A set of non-assigned NPC names to use as needed
• A set of stat-blocks for people/creatures

Don't be afraid to give the players more information than you think they'll need.

Always hand out some gimme information, stuff the players just get for showing up.

Don't be afraid to restate information you already gave them in new ways. If both the Abbot and the cook mention that the prioress is showing up late to her meetings, the players are more likely to find it important.

If the players dead end and can't make a decision of where to go, have the villain do something nefarious, or something bad happen. Make sure you allow the characters to see the "something bad". When in doubt, someone else dies and there are screams in the manor.