My friends introduced me to D&D a couple years ago, and I decided I might return the favor with a one-shot murder-mystery, and settled on a circus run by former adventurers as the setting.
Now, to be clear - if this isn't the forum to post this on, I am extremely sorry, and please tell me where to go!
Basically, I'm looking for ideas, tips, common pitfalls or even general prompts you thing I should follow on this little adventure!
I've already got the basic cast, murderer, and culprit named (motive needs some work), but I welcome any and all ideas and feedback!
The cast as it stands is as follows -
Ringmaster: Human Paladin (Victim) (carefree idiot)
Record Keeper: Elf Wizard (Culprit) (very protective of Elven heritage)
Courtesan/Dancer: Half-Elf Arcane Trickster-Rogue (sibling) (hides in plain sight)
The Traveller: Tiefling Druid-Monk-Warlock kinda maybe I dunno I just like the idea of a Warlock Tiefling who just wants to protect nature, and why not make it a mysterious traveler who brings the players to the circus.
That's enough from me for now, so please let me know what you think, how to continue, and am I even in the right place.
Seems like a cool setting. I'd recommend the murder done in a creative way if that wasn't already planned. Everyone can do a generic stabbing, but an elephant trampling is much more memorable. Also, just a heads up, make sure any clerics have no resurrection spells, for obvious reasons.
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For god's sake. Find a hobby or something. Sheesh. Please stop using this font.
My suggestion would be to have a Druid in there, one that uses wild shape to pose as a circus animal. Maybe no one knows they're actually a Druid and believes they're actually just an animal. They could have a hidden agenda for why they're doing this, which could be related to the murder or not (red herring).
The problem with this kind of adventures is that this not computer point and click game. Players can't go back to dialogues with each npc 10 times to get as much information as possible.
Another pitfal is that in 80% your players will not get the simplest clues. You will have put at least twice as many as you think "should be ok" (you do not want to end rolling insight checks to throw clues in characters faces)
My suggestion would be to have a Druid in there, one that uses wild shape to pose as a circus animal. Maybe no one knows they're actually a Druid and believes they're actually just an animal. They could have a hidden agenda for why they're doing this, which could be related to the murder or not (red herring).
I will say that kill with magic/shapeshifting is to complicated. Unless charcters have arcana checks high as hell.
What clues will you have for players when the killer animal will disappear without a trace and your players will roll 8 and 7 on perception/arcana rolls?
I will say that kill with magic/shapeshifting is to complicated. Unless charcters have arcana checks high as hell.
What clues will you have for players when the killer animal will disappear without a trace and your players will roll 8 and 7 on perception/arcana rolls?
I will say that kill with magic/shapeshifting is to complicated. Unless charcters have arcana checks high as hell.
What clues will you have for players when the killer animal will disappear without a trace and your players will roll 8 and 7 on perception/arcana rolls?
Doesn't have to be based on arcana checks. Could be that the victim has bite marks that tell the party it was a tiger which killed, but who let the tiger out of the cage? (Tiger let itself out)
Do you have a hook for the heroes to start the investigation? I think it is classic Poirot/Miss Marple tradition to have the murder occur when the party is there on unrelated business - just enjoying a break and a visit to the circus. But maybe the Emperor/Queen/High Priest also asked the party to deliver a message (in the form of a little communication crystal ball) to their friend the Paladin. The party doesn't get to talk to the Paladin until it's too late, so when the Emperor calls on the crystal ball while the party is standing over the corpse the Emperor will demand that they solve this mystery and return with the murderer in chains before the end of the week.
You could have the body found killed and also drenched in magic unholy water which prevents any attempt at resurrection.
Players might get itching for a fight, so you could have summoned creatures turning up at random moments. Make sure the creatures match each of the suspects thematically, so that everyone seems guilty: Arcane constructions strangely similar to the bookkeeping elf's clockwork office machines, fey and illusions that seem the work of the trickster courtesan, hired thugs who might be the gladiator's old comrades, elemental forces that the dragon sorcerer would wield, and beasts that the Druid could have summoned. At the end it can turn out that the murderer was the source of all of these but they were trying to divert suspicion, or that some of the battles were the result of a miscommunication, or a sibling trying to protect their sibling. Just watch the final scenes of a few murder mysteries for a bunch of ideas of why innocent people do crazy stuff that interferes with the investigation.
Circus groups are almost like families (my uncle worked in one!) You travel, work, eat and sleep together. The druid would have to stay in animal form for months
Circus groups are almost like families (my uncle worked in one!) You travel, work, eat and sleep together. The druid would have to stay in animal form for months
Agreed, the only way around this would be if the animal had been acquired in the last tenday or so. Also their caravans would be pitched around each other. Create a map that shows where all their caravans are, then do a timeline of the murder and mark who was where at what time. This will help alibis and also highlight where and who has clues.
Definitely stick to murder happening after the parties arrival. What other hook do you need other than "the circus is in town".
I will say that kill with magic/shapeshifting is to complicated. Unless charcters have arcana checks high as hell.
What clues will you have for players when the killer animal will disappear without a trace and your players will roll 8 and 7 on perception/arcana rolls?
I will say that kill with magic/shapeshifting is to complicated. Unless charcters have arcana checks high as hell.
What clues will you have for players when the killer animal will disappear without a trace and your players will roll 8 and 7 on perception/arcana rolls?
Doesn't have to be based on arcana checks. Could be that the victim has bite marks that tell the party it was a tiger which killed, but who let the tiger out of the cage? (Tiger let itself out)
Do you have a hook for the heroes to start the investigation? I think it is classic Poirot/Miss Marple tradition to have the murder occur when the party is there on unrelated business - just enjoying a break and a visit to the circus. But maybe the Emperor/Queen/High Priest also asked the party to deliver a message (in the form of a little communication crystal ball) to their friend the Paladin. The party doesn't get to talk to the Paladin until it's too late, so when the Emperor calls on the crystal ball while the party is standing over the corpse the Emperor will demand that they solve this mystery and return with the murderer in chains before the end of the week.
You could have the body found killed and also drenched in magic unholy water which prevents any attempt at resurrection.
Players might get itching for a fight, so you could have summoned creatures turning up at random moments. Make sure the creatures match each of the suspects thematically, so that everyone seems guilty: Arcane constructions strangely similar to the bookkeeping elf's clockwork office machines, fey and illusions that seem the work of the trickster courtesan, hired thugs who might be the gladiator's old comrades, elemental forces that the dragon sorcerer would wield, and beasts that the Druid could have summoned. At the end it can turn out that the murderer was the source of all of these but they were trying to divert suspicion, or that some of the battles were the result of a miscommunication, or a sibling trying to protect their sibling. Just watch the final scenes of a few murder mysteries for a bunch of ideas of why innocent people do crazy stuff that interferes with the investigation.
Hopefully it is fun for all.
Holy heck, dude -- that's a lot to work with, thank you!!
Circus groups are almost like families (my uncle worked in one!) You travel, work, eat and sleep together. The druid would have to stay in animal form for months
Circus groups are almost like families (my uncle worked in one!) You travel, work, eat and sleep together. The druid would have to stay in animal form for months
Agreed, the only way around this would be if the animal had been acquired in the last tenday or so. Also their caravans would be pitched around each other. Create a map that shows where all their caravans are, then do a timeline of the murder and mark who was where at what time. This will help alibis and also highlight where and who has clues.
Definitely stick to murder happening after the parties arrival. What other hook do you need other than "the circus is in town".
Actually really inspired to draw up mockups of the tent and the surrounding area, which got me thinking about some other paths the players could take on this adventure, so thank you!
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Hey all,
My friends introduced me to D&D a couple years ago, and I decided I might return the favor with a one-shot murder-mystery, and settled on a circus run by former adventurers as the setting.
Now, to be clear - if this isn't the forum to post this on, I am extremely sorry, and please tell me where to go!
Basically, I'm looking for ideas, tips, common pitfalls or even general prompts you thing I should follow on this little adventure!
I've already got the basic cast, murderer, and culprit named (motive needs some work), but I welcome any and all ideas and feedback!
The cast as it stands is as follows -
Ringmaster: Human Paladin (Victim) (carefree idiot)
Record Keeper: Elf Wizard (Culprit) (very protective of Elven heritage)
Courtesan/Dancer: Half-Elf Arcane Trickster-Rogue (sibling) (hides in plain sight)
Gladiator/Strongman: Half-Elf Barbarian/Fighter /Swords College-Bard (sibling) (loves attention)
Magician: Dragonborn Sorcerer (loves entertaining people)
The Traveller: Tiefling Druid-Monk-Warlock kinda maybe I dunno I just like the idea of a Warlock Tiefling who just wants to protect nature, and why not make it a mysterious traveler who brings the players to the circus.
That's enough from me for now, so please let me know what you think, how to continue, and am I even in the right place.
Cheers!
Seems like a cool setting. I'd recommend the murder done in a creative way if that wasn't already planned. Everyone can do a generic stabbing, but an elephant trampling is much more memorable. Also, just a heads up, make sure any clerics have no resurrection spells, for obvious reasons.
Lol yeah, I was thinking of murder by isoteric spell, but some kind of awesome (say, magic-induced) elephant trampling would be great!
Noted, thanks for the heads up :)
My suggestion would be to have a Druid in there, one that uses wild shape to pose as a circus animal. Maybe no one knows they're actually a Druid and believes they're actually just an animal. They could have a hidden agenda for why they're doing this, which could be related to the murder or not (red herring).
The problem with this kind of adventures is that this not computer point and click game. Players can't go back to dialogues with each npc 10 times to get as much information as possible.
Another pitfal is that in 80% your players will not get the simplest clues. You will have put at least twice as many as you think "should be ok" (you do not want to end rolling insight checks to throw clues in characters faces)
@BirdCopp Good to know, it's probably a bit hard to start with a "linear" mystery for DMing, not knowing how much players can screw stuff up heheh...
I will say that kill with magic/shapeshifting is to complicated. Unless charcters have arcana checks high as hell.
What clues will you have for players when the killer animal will disappear without a trace and your players will roll 8 and 7 on perception/arcana rolls?
Do you have a hook for the heroes to start the investigation? I think it is classic Poirot/Miss Marple tradition to have the murder occur when the party is there on unrelated business - just enjoying a break and a visit to the circus. But maybe the Emperor/Queen/High Priest also asked the party to deliver a message (in the form of a little communication crystal ball) to their friend the Paladin. The party doesn't get to talk to the Paladin until it's too late, so when the Emperor calls on the crystal ball while the party is standing over the corpse the Emperor will demand that they solve this mystery and return with the murderer in chains before the end of the week.
You could have the body found killed and also drenched in magic unholy water which prevents any attempt at resurrection.
Players might get itching for a fight, so you could have summoned creatures turning up at random moments. Make sure the creatures match each of the suspects thematically, so that everyone seems guilty: Arcane constructions strangely similar to the bookkeeping elf's clockwork office machines, fey and illusions that seem the work of the trickster courtesan, hired thugs who might be the gladiator's old comrades, elemental forces that the dragon sorcerer would wield, and beasts that the Druid could have summoned. At the end it can turn out that the murderer was the source of all of these but they were trying to divert suspicion, or that some of the battles were the result of a miscommunication, or a sibling trying to protect their sibling. Just watch the final scenes of a few murder mysteries for a bunch of ideas of why innocent people do crazy stuff that interferes with the investigation.
Hopefully it is fun for all.
Circus groups are almost like families (my uncle worked in one!) You travel, work, eat and sleep together. The druid would have to stay in animal form for months