DM Help Ideas for clues involving a planned murder mystery. [Archive]

View Full Version : DM Help Ideas for clues involving a planned murder mystery.

dascarletm

2015-11-03, 12:45 PM

The Situation
I read the murder mystery thread that was here about a week ago, and I decided to add that element to my ongoing campaign. I've been setting up an assassination of an NPC in my game details below.

The NPC is the High Priest of Kord. In the campaign currently he is sponsoring The Highland Games (or my variation thereof). The king of the land wants to make his kingdom godless. Why you ask? Well the king is a puppet of Hell and through adequate rules-lawyery they can obtain the soul of every citizen that does not worship a god (regardless of alignment).

Where We Are
Now the players have competed in my version of the games, and they are at the last event. One player is the champion of his clan (Slaine), the other was asked by the king to play in his stead (Ren). This was suspicious as the king is duplicitous and has no love for the character. The king gave a veiled threat to the lives of his family and the player obliged.
They are hunting a white dragon that lives nearby. The Hunt Nocturne takes place at night and all the spectators are told to stay within the city so that no one may interfere with the hunt. So, all 12 participants traveled out to the wilderness where the priest had built a log cabin for them to get ready. They had some food while the priest discussed the rules of the hunt, and what they would be hunting. While eating the players noticed an empty vial, and that the priests drink was slightly off-color. What the priest was drinking was a potion that would decrease his ability to resist a poison that will be released later. The beast is released (with clipped wings) and the participants were let loose.

They are to bring the heart back to prove they have killed the beast, and warned that the area is dangerous. Should any feel they wish to return to the cabin they may seek protection. During this the priest was yawning pretty heavily, so one of the players, Ren, instead left to protect the priest. Outside the cabin he hid while the rest set off.

He waited, and after a few participants began to return, and seeing that the priest was still not asleep he thought perhaps the priest was okay. The assassin would never attempt anything with everyone around, and the high priest still being awake. So with a little nudge from me (I didn't want him to be left out from a cool dragon fight) he went to find the dragon.

Now, both players can track, and are level 13. The one who waited was a ranger, and the other is a Wolf Shifter (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/3rd-party-classes/paizo-fans-united/wolf-shifter). He tracks by scent and can move pretty fast, while the ranger can move full speed uninhibited by the terrain. The ranger is going to catch up a couple rounds into the fight.

This is where we ended last night. I had also set up some possible motives for multiple participants. Now bear with me. I'm going to get into the details of the murder, and details of the participants.

The Murder Plan
The murderer knows that when the winner brings back the heart the priest will add it to a large bowl containing a magical liquid. This liquid should bring about some sort of effect to prove that it is indeed the correct heart. However he has been supplied with a similar looking liquid and has switched it. When the heart is submerged in this liquid a powerful poison gas will be released which should knock out everyone, except the murderer, who has taken precautions to immunize himself to poison. While everyone is knocked out, he will kill the priest, and plant the weapon on Ren. (I might add more if anyone has good suggestions). Hopefully he will kill the priest, frame the player, and get away Scott free.
The Participants
In the games, there is a tournament of champions. This is done along-side the other games that are open to everyone. Only 12 may enter, 1 from each of the 9 Highland Clans, 1 chosen of the priesthood, 1 chosen by the king, and 1 of the lowlanders. The lowlander is usually determined by a regional tournament that takes place before the event. The players, Solomon, and Moyra have had their descriptions given to the players. The others may be given descriptions to help give depth to the clues.

Ren Karth - Chosen of the King
This is the player who is going to be framed for the murder. He is a Skirmisher (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/ranger/archetypes/paizo---ranger-archetypes/skirmisher)/Yojimbo (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/ranger/archetypes/rite-publishing---ranger-archetypes/yojimbo) archetype ranger.

Slaine Macdoth - Chosen of Clan MacDoth
The other player. A Wolf Shifter.

The one they call Solomon - Chosen of the Lowlanders
This character is a large built man, dark hair. The players had recently freed him from imprisonment deep below a Hextorian church. He however was not friendly and very powerful. He wields a huge sword and has been very mysterious. The players think him dangerous, and rightly so. He has been staring at the priest and almost killed the characters during the combat tournament. They think he wants to kill them and the priest.

Moyra - Chosen of the Priesthood
This woman is well-built and is on the shorter side. She has long red straight hair. This woman has performed well in the games, but due to poor luck in some of her rolls she has been performing in the median. She was the first to arrive at the cabin, and had access to the priests possessions while no one else was there.

Duncan Fraser - Chosen of Clan Fraser
This man was overheard having an argument with the High Priest by the players. He threatened to kill the priest if he wouldn't revive his sister (who died in childbirth) from the dead. The high priest said that it was fate and that he wouldn't go against fate. The man has been flippant to the priest ever since.

Ian Mackenzie - Chosen of Clan Mackenzie
The murderer. This clan is the most loyal to the king. Ian was tasked by the king to perform the murder, and make it look as though Ren Karth did it. He has been pretty quiet as to not arouse suspicion to himself, and has performed poorly in the competition.

The Rest
The names of the other clans are as follows:
Cameron
Graham
Kincaid
MacDougall
Ross
Sinclair

None has been particularly important, however I have some time before the murder to maybe throw a few red-herrings to the players. Clan Kincaid is somewhat of a rival (living in close proximity) to Slaine's clan. Besides that none of them have anything specific about them. I will flesh them out before next session, but I want to build this mystery first so that the participants fit into it.

So, tldr; I am doing a murder mystery and I want some clues for the players to find that will narrow down suspects and make the session fun
I'm thinking of some myself but, I want to get some input and help from the community first.
If you have any questions about the specifics let me know.
Thank you all very much, and pardon my grammar/spelling if there is any issues.

If you want, for those who help I'll name some of the minor characters after you. :smalltongue:

dascarletm

2015-11-03, 02:24 PM

Additional thoughts

They both have pretty good perception, and some decent knowledge rankings in local and nature. I was considering modeling this almost as a logic puzzle. Clues narrow down subjects. If you have all of them it leads you to the right person, but having some will get you close enough to venture a strong guess.

Examples:

They find a smudge on one of the bottles used in the ritual. The hand-print is a certain size excluding X characters.

I'm at a loss for the most part though.

As far as the poison. I'm thinking a DC 30 to resist. The smoke provides concealment and contains 4 doses concentrated to all within the area on round 1, 3 doses on round 2, 2 doses on round 3, and 1 dose for each round after 3, until it fades at round 10. With the DCs increasing at each application there is a strong chance the characters pass-out. But, perhaps that is a bit too harsh. I want there to be a really strong chance of the characters succumbing to the poison, but I don't want it to basically boil down to fiat. Perhaps I should reduce the starting DC. They have a +12 and +17 to their fortitude save.

The killer will also jam the door lock so that it requires them to break or otherwise disable device the door open.

jok

2015-11-03, 02:28 PM

dascarletm

2015-11-03, 02:37 PM

What is the Assasins plan exactly right after the murder? Will he play knocked out aswell? How long is everyone knocked out? Will everyone wake up at the same time? Do people know and will they remember beeing gased? Who will discover the crime scene. How does it make sense for the framed "assasin" to be knocked out with the murder weapon right next to it?

1. The plan is to pretend, or even poison themselves with something similar so they seem to be just like anyone else.
2. They will remember being gassed (if the memory being a little fuzzy), and should wake up at roughly the same time. Although maybe the characters not remembering what happened could be interesting in its own right... "Did I actually kill him?"
3. The participants will discover the scene. As everyone else is in town waiting for their return. Many will say that the killer must be found out and bound before leaving. To prevent them from escaping
4. Some will call that highly suspicious (being knocked out with the murder weapon). Others may claim that the assassin finally fell pray to the poison after the deed was done.

Part of the assassin's plan (or really the king's) is that they want to get Ren publicly defamed and/or executed for the crime.

FocusWolf413

2015-11-03, 03:03 PM

dascarletm

2015-11-03, 03:10 PM

If the victim was knocked out, he wouldn't know who the murderer is.

Also, in this world magic is on the rarer side. the high priest may be one of the very few within the entire church actually blessed with magic.

jok

2015-11-03, 05:23 PM

If the victim was knocked out, he wouldn't know who the murderer is.

Haha shame on me, yes you are right!

Clues could be blood splatter on the Assasin.
Or some side effect from the gas that is only on the people effected by it, like blue urin for a week.
Or maybe the assasin has still traces of this magical liquid on him and contact with dragonblood will create the same reaction again. He knows that this could happen and is the whole hunt extra careful not to get any contact with dragonblood. You could make a point during the hunt how everyone looks bloody. Getting the heart will be pretty bloody. Everyone leaves bloody tracks in the snow/dirt but one...
One corner of the hut smells funny, because of the original magic liquid beeing discarded there.

So maybe go like this with the dragon blood clue:
- Play out the hunt, always describe how bloody someone looks but don't do it with the assasin
- do a flavor text of the return to the blockhouse something like:"...tired and proud you return to the warmth of the hut. X of you made it back. The priest asks you to kneel and sing with him the hymn of dawn until the first beams of sunlight break through the woods and now you can see the X-1 bloody tracks of dragon blood in the snow that mark your deeds of the night..." (thats the best I can manage with limited english)

Templarkommando

2015-11-03, 05:27 PM

From a roleplay perspective, your party is going to need hints that help eliminate the other participants. Perhaps there is a struggle between the high priest and the assassin while the knock-out gas is still doing its thing and a scrap of cloth is left at the feet of the high priest. It is of a particular color that would indicate one of just a few of the clans.

You want some specific things as well. Maybe a clue that eliminates a specific clan. For some reason, the champion of Clan Sinclair is a very unlikely perpetrator - Never uses blades, doesn't use poison for any reason including hunting and trapping, or the High Priest is a family member or has close ties to the family.

dascarletm

2015-11-03, 06:38 PM

I like the dragon blood idea, however not many will have dragon blood on them, most likely just the players. The torn bit of fabric is a good way to narrow down competitors.

I could also add in hair color if they find a hair stuck to the murder weapon. Though that may or may not be the killer's.

WalkingTheShade

2015-11-04, 06:06 AM

4. Some will call that highly suspicious (being knocked out with the murder weapon). Others may claim that the assassin finally fell pray to the poison after the deed was done.
And others will claim that Ren was faking and not really knocked out, as any assassin would do.

Additional clue: The one they call Solomon is tough. He was one the last ones to pass out. He claims he understood whatever was happening, and made for the door while holding his breath. At the door, he had a last look back and saw only a select few others not passed out yet, and a couple definitively passed out. Solomon himself passed out outside in the snow.
The players already suspect him, making his testimony dubious to them. The ones he saw still awake will accuse Solomon of being the killer and trying to escape after planting the weapon. There's a large trace in the snow where he passed out, and cursory examination of Solomon will show he suffers from mild hypothermia from lying in the snow for some minutes.

EDIT: another clue: the craftmanship of the weapon points towards a specific region/place/smith/culture, eliminating a couple suspects.

Advice: don't have the killer jump in with accusations on the framed PC (or anyone else). Have him be friendly and understanding of the PC's claims to defend himself, saying he'll side with anyone who can show him definitive proof. (So the culprit might get some advance knowledge of whatever the PC think.)
If the PC has enough proof to establish his own innocence, have the culprit support suspicions against anyone other than himself.

dascarletm

2015-11-04, 10:26 PM

And others will claim that Ren was faking and not really knocked out, as any assassin would do.

Additional clue: The one they call Solomon is tough. He was one the last ones to pass out. He claims he understood whatever was happening, and made for the door while holding his breath. At the door, he had a last look back and saw only a select few others not passed out yet, and a couple definitively passed out. Solomon himself passed out outside in the snow.
The players already suspect him, making his testimony dubious to them. The ones he saw still awake will accuse Solomon of being the killer and trying to escape after planting the weapon. There's a large trace in the snow where he passed out, and cursory examination of Solomon will show he suffers from mild hypothermia from lying in the snow for some minutes.

EDIT: another clue: the craftmanship of the weapon points towards a specific region/place/smith/culture, eliminating a couple suspects.

Advice: don't have the killer jump in with accusations on the framed PC (or anyone else). Have him be friendly and understanding of the PC's claims to defend himself, saying he'll side with anyone who can show him definitive proof. (So the culprit might get some advance knowledge of whatever the PC think.)
If the PC has enough proof to establish his own innocence, have the culprit support suspicions against anyone other than himself.

Yeah. That's good advice on how to play the killer. I am going to take that clue on solomon.

Thank you.

I just need to write out the clues and build a logic chart on it.

WalkingTheShade

2015-11-06, 06:42 AM

Yeah. That's good advice on how to play the killer. I am going to take that clue on solomon.
My NPC could be named Shad Walker. Make him a Rogue or Beguiler, if possible :)

dascarletm

2015-11-06, 10:55 AM

My NPC could be named Shad Walker. Make him a Rogue or Beguiler, if possible :)

It will be a rogue, as it is pathfinder and low-magic. :smallbiggrin:

Thanks for the help.