Hello fellow DMs. How do you handle a mystery/intrigue quest, like a murder mystery or an investigation?
While this type of quest can work early in the game, when the characters have relatively few spells, it cannot hold really well at higher levels. Any ideas on how to spice up such a quest and make it more interesting, without allowing the players to trivialize it using spells like Speak with Dead, Zone of Truth and so on?
Something to remember is the villian lives in this world, and is aware of the existence of that magic. So it’s reasonable for them to take steps to avoid it. They might invest in a ring of mind shielding, for example. And with the spells you mention, people can’t say what they don’t know, so keep the information compartmentalized. For a real twist, they could do it, then have someone modify memory themselves so they don’t know what they did.
Design non-player-characters with something to hide, that way, everyone can look suspicious. Even if someone doesn't have something to hide, they probably would have a few qualms with letting a character use magic to interrogate them. For spells such as Detect Thoughts, you only give surface thoughts until your characters probe deeper. Even if they do just that and the suspect fails their saving throw, that doesn't automatically mean the characters figure out whether or not they're the disguised murderer/villain.
Spells cost resources. Your characters can't just throw them around. If they do, they'll be weaker when they finally confront the bad guy. And if they only use a spellslot a day, then impose a time limit to make them hurry it up. Also, your villain can be active. They can be working to foil the characters investigations and make sure they aren't caught.
Do your best to make your characters not have an easy time solving the mystery. If they use clever spells and smart tactics to figure it all out, then good job for them. Let your players succeed and allow their creativity and the spells they picked to matter. Sure, don't make it so they can automatically solve everything, but give them ways to figure it out and reward them for smart plays and a job well done.
All the suspects should be suspicious. They should all have horrible (or ridiculous) secrets that they will try to cover up. That way, when spells like zone of truth are cast, everyone is lying.
And if their are enough suspects, the characters won't have the time or spell slots to interagate each one in ideal circumstances.
I just finished an intrigue campaign that ended at level 11. My players really liked to spam Detect Thoughts, Detect Magic, Augury, Commune, Contact Other Plane, Dream, and Suggestion to get info. Over time, you learn to balance rewarding their resource investment with not giving the game away.
Also remember that villains will use silence, obfuscation and lies when they need to. Sprinkle in bad information with good information. Have the baddies leave red herrings and false clues. Then, honestly, let your players run with their really wild conspiracy theories. They'll do half the work for you, trust me.
Maybe also suggest during session zero that, in order to give the players some active investigating to do, maybe nobody plays a cleric, or any characters especially suited towards investigation with skills that will immediately solve the problem. Maybe your character isn't a world class detective on the case, maybe you're an amateur getting sucked in and taking on the case to protect yourself/someone you care about, kinda like Marta in Knives Out.
A battle Master fighter or a storm sorcerer-- basically any character--can be an effective investigator by relying on their wits. Maybe the players will like the idea and accept the handicap and instead focus on martial characters with high perception, or rogues that can rely on their Swiss army knife of skills at their disposal.
Otherwise, if the players don't like the idea of that, you could always factor those abilities in as essential as you write your mystery. Reward your players for thematically appropriate character design, but maybe even with spells like Detect Thoughts or Speak with Dead, maybe many people only know a piece of the puzzle, and physical evidence is needed to back up what they find. Maybe people's varying perceptions of the world and personal prejudices color what thoughts can be detected, to the point that reading "Sven is DEFINITELY the killer" in someone's mind isn't necessarily reliable when you factor in the fact that the witness's father was killed by Sven's father, coloring them against Sven anyways.
Or maybe they cast Speak with Dead on the murder victim and, surprisingly, the victim doesn't want to talk. Maybe they were killed out of retribution for a past misdeed and have accepted their fate, not wanting their killer to suffer. Or maybe somehow knowledge of who the killer is will hurt one of the victim's living loved ones, and they think keeping quiet about it will protect them. OR maybe the killer is an evil cleric/infernal entity who has threatened to subject their soul to greater torment if their spirit communicates about their murder to anyone living. I feel like an uncooperative witness is basically the LAST thing players would expect from the spirit of the victim, and that twist could lead to a fun encounter where the players have to essentially 'treat the witness as hostile', and you could still use that encounter to pepper in hints about *why* the victim won't talk.
Hello fellow DMs. How do you handle a mystery/intrigue quest, like a murder mystery or an investigation?
While this type of quest can work early in the game, when the characters have relatively few spells, it cannot hold really well at higher levels. Any ideas on how to spice up such a quest and make it more interesting, without allowing the players to trivialize it using spells like Speak with Dead, Zone of Truth and so on?
Something to remember is the villian lives in this world, and is aware of the existence of that magic. So it’s reasonable for them to take steps to avoid it. They might invest in a ring of mind shielding, for example. And with the spells you mention, people can’t say what they don’t know, so keep the information compartmentalized. For a real twist, they could do it, then have someone modify memory themselves so they don’t know what they did.
Design non-player-characters with something to hide, that way, everyone can look suspicious. Even if someone doesn't have something to hide, they probably would have a few qualms with letting a character use magic to interrogate them. For spells such as Detect Thoughts, you only give surface thoughts until your characters probe deeper. Even if they do just that and the suspect fails their saving throw, that doesn't automatically mean the characters figure out whether or not they're the disguised murderer/villain.
Spells cost resources. Your characters can't just throw them around. If they do, they'll be weaker when they finally confront the bad guy. And if they only use a spellslot a day, then impose a time limit to make them hurry it up. Also, your villain can be active. They can be working to foil the characters investigations and make sure they aren't caught.
Do your best to make your characters not have an easy time solving the mystery. If they use clever spells and smart tactics to figure it all out, then good job for them. Let your players succeed and allow their creativity and the spells they picked to matter. Sure, don't make it so they can automatically solve everything, but give them ways to figure it out and reward them for smart plays and a job well done.
Anyways, there's always a good old Ring of Mind Shielding if you need to use it.
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HERE.All the suspects should be suspicious. They should all have horrible (or ridiculous) secrets that they will try to cover up. That way, when spells like zone of truth are cast, everyone is lying.
And if their are enough suspects, the characters won't have the time or spell slots to interagate each one in ideal circumstances.
I just finished an intrigue campaign that ended at level 11. My players really liked to spam Detect Thoughts, Detect Magic, Augury, Commune, Contact Other Plane, Dream, and Suggestion to get info. Over time, you learn to balance rewarding their resource investment with not giving the game away.
Also remember that villains will use silence, obfuscation and lies when they need to. Sprinkle in bad information with good information. Have the baddies leave red herrings and false clues. Then, honestly, let your players run with their really wild conspiracy theories. They'll do half the work for you, trust me.
Maybe also suggest during session zero that, in order to give the players some active investigating to do, maybe nobody plays a cleric, or any characters especially suited towards investigation with skills that will immediately solve the problem. Maybe your character isn't a world class detective on the case, maybe you're an amateur getting sucked in and taking on the case to protect yourself/someone you care about, kinda like Marta in Knives Out.
A battle Master fighter or a storm sorcerer-- basically any character--can be an effective investigator by relying on their wits. Maybe the players will like the idea and accept the handicap and instead focus on martial characters with high perception, or rogues that can rely on their Swiss army knife of skills at their disposal.
Otherwise, if the players don't like the idea of that, you could always factor those abilities in as essential as you write your mystery. Reward your players for thematically appropriate character design, but maybe even with spells like Detect Thoughts or Speak with Dead, maybe many people only know a piece of the puzzle, and physical evidence is needed to back up what they find. Maybe people's varying perceptions of the world and personal prejudices color what thoughts can be detected, to the point that reading "Sven is DEFINITELY the killer" in someone's mind isn't necessarily reliable when you factor in the fact that the witness's father was killed by Sven's father, coloring them against Sven anyways.
Or maybe they cast Speak with Dead on the murder victim and, surprisingly, the victim doesn't want to talk. Maybe they were killed out of retribution for a past misdeed and have accepted their fate, not wanting their killer to suffer. Or maybe somehow knowledge of who the killer is will hurt one of the victim's living loved ones, and they think keeping quiet about it will protect them. OR maybe the killer is an evil cleric/infernal entity who has threatened to subject their soul to greater torment if their spirit communicates about their murder to anyone living. I feel like an uncooperative witness is basically the LAST thing players would expect from the spirit of the victim, and that twist could lead to a fun encounter where the players have to essentially 'treat the witness as hostile', and you could still use that encounter to pepper in hints about *why* the victim won't talk.