Hello fellow DMs. I need help with crafting a mystery adventure. While I have the gist of it completed (the villain, his agenda and the villains actions) I need advice in building good clues and false leads. The basic plot of the mystery is that many people in the town are getting a unique and undiscovered disease and nobody knows what is causing this outbreak, although the illness seems to have many arcane qualities. In reality a priest turned evil (with the usual tragic backstory making him turn to an evil god) is using necrotic magic to drain the life of many people in the local town as a way to 'sacrifice' to his god. Hopefully this will put a bit of a spin on the typical sacrificial cultist who sacrifices though odd rituals.
What I need help with primarily is the development of clues and leads. One clue I plan on using is that every victim that goes to the local temple to be healed walks away feeling better but soon after their condition worsens and they soon pass away. What are some other clues that I could include to lead the players to the correct conclusion? I am eager to hear advice on how to better craft this story and make the overall mystery more exciting for my players. Any help would be great, thanks!
I don't have a lot of insight into this, but it's a great question, so hopefully this post provides a bit of a "sounding board".
First, develop the "evil priest's" motivation. What changes would happen to this Priest over time, and what may become apparent to the local parishioners -- assuming this is a small/one-church town).
What we know:
People in town are sick.
Neither the food or other factors have changed, so the town suspects magical or "foreign" interference.
What the goal is:
Is it for the party to aid a few people in town?
Is it for them to cleanse the town?
Is it for them to find the root cause of the issue?
Motivation:
I think you'll need an initial push to get them invested into solving the deeper issue.
Is a character's backstory relevant here?
is a family member in town
did a PC grow up there
is this a semi-important town for a noble that the party interacts with -- etc).
A PC drinks some ale/eats food in the tavern then learns about "the sickness" or w/e it's called
Possible clues:
The town chased out a wizard some time ago
As the sickness has spread, more and more go to the church
The Priest is overworked. :) (make him sympathetic)
Is it proximity? is that why those going to church have fallen more ill?
What about the tavern goers that aren't church goers... perhaps they are less affected (or not at all)
Perhaps a surly bartender: "the priest is a good person, but I have no time for religion. My faith is in my work." (or somesuch dramatic speech)
A small supply wagon went on a 4 day roundabout trip and was fine.
The priest's sermons have slowly changed
The priest has become more emphatic about people participating
Perhaps have some pop-culture things like "the maltese falcon" or "murder on the orient express" on in the background as you do some crafting for this. (or a spoof, like "murder by death" :)
Just a few ideas, I'm interested in how this goes/plays out :)
Good luck!
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"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Thanks a ton for the advice! I've got some of this developed already such as the motivation for the priest and his backstory/fall, but I really like all of the clues that lead to the church as the primary culprit. Also the advice about visitors being unaffected is really good. Thanks again!
Don't forget to misdirect them too. Have some "clues" that don't point at the priest. Other townsfolk have dirt and might appear to have a hand in something shady only for it to (if the party finds out) have it be unrelated.
Never hurts to have a few red herrings running around. Part of the thrill of a mystery is the not knowing as much as it is the eventual comprehension.
I am writing another mystery campaign, i have no idea how it will start, or what the clues will be, but this is the outline.
A few factions are fighting over some magical object. it doesn't matter what it is. one of the factions massacred the other faction at some kind of 'town meeting' (people from that faction only invited) and because they all looked like normal people the police launched an investigation. my players get involved in it somehow, and then they crack the mystery and get the magic object.
I have no idea what clues/red herrings i can have there. would anyone like to post some help?
Have the priest give them work or something to "help" the town to make him look like the good guy, but plant a few seeds of doubt that makes the players question him.
Maybe he requests a cursed item be found and returned to him for purification, when it's really needed for some ritual. Closer inspection could reveal its purpose.
Maybe there's a devil making deals at a nearby crossroads that gets blamed for the sickness, but is completely unrelated (maybe it can't even deal in town b/c of a certain priest?)
Maybe the clever use of magic/skill checks could help players follow a literal trail of evidence to the priest.
Or maybe it was Mr. Green in the lounge with a candlestick.
Whenever I write mysteries, I follow a trick that I learned in college from a friend who was a lit major. The trick is to start at the end of the mystery, and work backwards, fleshing out the details as you go. HOpe this helps!
According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible.
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Hello fellow DMs. I need help with crafting a mystery adventure. While I have the gist of it completed (the villain, his agenda and the villains actions) I need advice in building good clues and false leads. The basic plot of the mystery is that many people in the town are getting a unique and undiscovered disease and nobody knows what is causing this outbreak, although the illness seems to have many arcane qualities. In reality a priest turned evil (with the usual tragic backstory making him turn to an evil god) is using necrotic magic to drain the life of many people in the local town as a way to 'sacrifice' to his god. Hopefully this will put a bit of a spin on the typical sacrificial cultist who sacrifices though odd rituals.
What I need help with primarily is the development of clues and leads. One clue I plan on using is that every victim that goes to the local temple to be healed walks away feeling better but soon after their condition worsens and they soon pass away. What are some other clues that I could include to lead the players to the correct conclusion? I am eager to hear advice on how to better craft this story and make the overall mystery more exciting for my players. Any help would be great, thanks!
I don't have a lot of insight into this, but it's a great question, so hopefully this post provides a bit of a "sounding board".
First, develop the "evil priest's" motivation. What changes would happen to this Priest over time, and what may become apparent to the local parishioners -- assuming this is a small/one-church town).
What we know:
What the goal is:
Motivation:
Possible clues:
Perhaps have some pop-culture things like "the maltese falcon" or "murder on the orient express" on in the background as you do some crafting for this. (or a spoof, like "murder by death" :)
Just a few ideas, I'm interested in how this goes/plays out :)
Good luck!
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Thanks a ton for the advice! I've got some of this developed already such as the motivation for the priest and his backstory/fall, but I really like all of the clues that lead to the church as the primary culprit. Also the advice about visitors being unaffected is really good. Thanks again!
P.S. Nice to see another DM from Austin!
Don't forget to misdirect them too. Have some "clues" that don't point at the priest. Other townsfolk have dirt and might appear to have a hand in something shady only for it to (if the party finds out) have it be unrelated.
Never hurts to have a few red herrings running around. Part of the thrill of a mystery is the not knowing as much as it is the eventual comprehension.
I am writing another mystery campaign, i have no idea how it will start, or what the clues will be, but this is the outline.
A few factions are fighting over some magical object. it doesn't matter what it is. one of the factions massacred the other faction at some kind of 'town meeting' (people from that faction only invited) and because they all looked like normal people the police launched an investigation. my players get involved in it somehow, and then they crack the mystery and get the magic object.
I have no idea what clues/red herrings i can have there. would anyone like to post some help?
Have the priest give them work or something to "help" the town to make him look like the good guy, but plant a few seeds of doubt that makes the players question him.
Maybe he requests a cursed item be found and returned to him for purification, when it's really needed for some ritual. Closer inspection could reveal its purpose.
Maybe there's a devil making deals at a nearby crossroads that gets blamed for the sickness, but is completely unrelated (maybe it can't even deal in town b/c of a certain priest?)
Maybe the clever use of magic/skill checks could help players follow a literal trail of evidence to the priest.
Or maybe it was Mr. Green in the lounge with a candlestick.
Whenever I write mysteries, I follow a trick that I learned in college from a friend who was a lit major. The trick is to start at the end of the mystery, and work backwards, fleshing out the details as you go. HOpe this helps!
Thank you so much michealmalavito! less so Wingzero0017, but still interesting.
pull an *EPIC* plot twist