[a / b / c / d / e / f / g / gif / h / hr / k / m / o / p / r / s / t / u / v / w / wg] [i / ic] [cm / y] [r9k] [3 / adv / an / cgl / ck / co / fa / fit / int / jp / lit / mu / n /

new / po / sci / soc / sp / tg / toy / trv / tv / vp / x] [rs] [status / ? / @]

[Home]

sm
eaG lanoi t idarT - /gt/

Posting mode: Reply

[Return] Name
E-mail
Subject Submit

Comment

Verification

File Choose File No file selected

Password •••••••• (Password used for file deletion)
• Supported file types are: GIF, JPG, PNG
• Maximum file size allowed is 3072 KB.
• Images greater than 250x250 pixels will be thumbnailed.
• Read the rules and FAQ before posting.
• このサイトについて - 翻訳

New moderators and a new board added: /soc/

As always, questions/comments/complaints: moot@4chan.org
Reminder: In the event the site is unreachable, check the 4chan Status Blog and/or @4chan on Twitter.

File : 1294799915.jpg-(70 KB, 500x370, 1294532071350.jpg)

Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)21:38 No.13487320
So a while ago we had a really informative discussion on horror campaigns thanks to the good anon
(who actually had a name that I forgot :( ) who posted a lengthy how-to on the matter. I found it all quite
informative and interesting, and certainly useful for my campaign.

But it brought another question to my mind. How does one effectively run a mystery-based adventure
campaign? I feel like the effect isn't as difficult to achieve as horror, yet even more spell-binding. The
basic template is pretty universal, and could be applied to pretty much any genre.
Any elegan/tg/entlemen ever run a particularly successful one, or have any advice on how to run one? I
(and perhaps many others) would definitely appreciate it.
>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)22:00 No.13487548
File1294801244.jpg-(264 KB, 678x766, 0008-1294035186014.jpg)
in the meanwhile i suppose i'll
bump with some images

>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)22:19 No.13487738

File1294802364.jpg-(252 KB, 680x1028, 0012-1294035319680.jpg)

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)22:29 No.13487845
File1294802996.jpg-(94 KB, 1200x1213, 0025-1294035641034.jpg)

>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)22:31 No.13487855

I don't suppose the how-to-horror thread was archived?

>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)22:34 No.13487888

File1294803252.jpg-(77 KB, 600x557, 0031-1294035803093.jpg)

>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)22:34 No.13487893

>>13487320
A mystery game can be as similar to a detective game as it is to a horror game. It has a very similar narrative structure to the detective story
(shit be freaky, find out why)
Mystery should stand on atmosphere and the uncanny - not the horrific, not the grotesque. The surreal sense of not-quite-rightness. It's a
much lighter touch than horror, which can be why it's so hard to do effectively.
The woman who speaks in an overly formal and verbose manner, but dresses like a hooker. The five year old kid silently reading "Thus Spake
Zarathustra" in the corner of the room. That weird musty scent, somewhere between old tea and dried flowers, that has started to follow your
fiancee wherever she goes, and that only you can smell.

>> dustythoreau 01/11/11(Tue)22:40 No.13487951

>>13487919

oh dear i seem to be making errors all over the place.

you meant Dr. Baron von EvilSatan. yeah. that guy was incredible.

>> dustythoreau 01/11/11(Tue)22:41 No.13487963

>>13487855
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/13445821/

thar you go

>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)22:49 No.13488069

>>13487855
I actually saved the guy's comments, I could post them if you're interested.

>> dustythoreau 01/11/11(Tue)22:51 No.13488081

>>13488069
???????
------> >>13487963 ????

>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)23:00 No.13488181

>>13487893
Makes sense.

>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)23:01 No.13488192

>>13488081
whoops! didn't see your comment until after i posted.

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
 mah bad.

>> dustythoreau 01/11/11(Tue)23:02 No.13488196

>>13488192
it's cool bro

>> A bit of tuff and tumble, eh chaps?? Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)23:08 No.13488271

'Horror' RPG story:
This past halloween we played a d20 past game set in victorian england. We have a tradition of playing one-shot "horror" games each
halloween, though usually it's traditional D&D with undead and riddles.

But this game was different. We started out in a bar, not knowing eachother, just normal guys. Premade sheets based on a profession we'd
told the GM we wanted. A grave-digger, a candlestick maker, a barber, a gambler, and a few others that I don't remember. One guy was
apparently a half-orc because he didn't get the memo about it being modern.
So we're in this bar and it's a full moon on halloween. We hear an animal growling outside, and screaming. OOC myself and another player
say "werewolves!" and start discussing a need for silvered weapons. At this point the GM decided to change it to something else, because he
had planned werewolves. He switched to the Hellcats from D&D. So when (at least) three monsters came inside all we heard were growls,
and we saw nothing as people were attacked. We managed to fight them off using tables and chairs long enough to get out onto the street.

>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)23:09 No.13488288

>>13488271
We found an inn and barricaded it, but a few people were injured so we split up (yea yea) and a few went out to a shed/kitchen/storeroom to
find medical supplies and weapons. They were attacked by the beasts again but managed to get inside. We hid in a room and snuck out the
window, climbing down the side while they were indoors looking for us.

We headed to the police station to call Scotland Yard. There, the constable seemed to be talking to somebody who wasn't there. Eventually
the Hellcats found us. (we didn't know what they were, I was saying hellhounds and the other genre-savvy player was saying invisible
werewolves, so we agreed to find iron, salt and silver.) By now we'd noticed that they are only invisible in strong light, and we can see them
barely in the dark so we're torn between turning off the lanterns or leaving them on.

The cop gets crazier and as the invisible hellcats start attacking everybody and he says he can't see them, doesn't hear anything, etc. We
end up fighting him and the things but manage to run into a back room and close it off. We hear him getting ripped up outside, but we find
some guns and I'd grabbed a iron poker from the Inn, and I think we had some knives, candles, and ink to throw at the hellcats (in order to
see them better.)

We're locked in this room and we hear above us digging. We can tell they're going to get in, so we poured lantern oil all over and rigged one to
fall as we shut the back door, then we waited and as it jumped down we slammed it and heard it die.

>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)23:10 No.13488297

>>13488288
This is where it got scarier.
The sky was red, the moon was huge, it was horrifying. We decided to go to the church, so we followed the gravedigger. Along the way he
saw a large bird-like creature staring at him, perched on a house. It was tall, thin, had long arms with claws at the ends, and it was all black.
Oh, and it had no face or something. Its head was all wiggly... hard to explain. He ignored it and we kept going. Nobody else saw it, though.
We get to the church and find Father Mackenzie murdered, with his face missing. So we split up. I go to the kitchen to find salt and our group
finds a back room to secure. The other group goes across the cemetery to find a shovel (to bury the Padre) and end up getting attacked by
undead.

On the way back to the church the birdthing is standing there. Most of them go in but the gravedigger sees Father MacKenzie's face on it, so
he attacks. The half-orc helps. They end up getting picked up and stuck onto its back spikes.
Meanwhile inside the church we head digging on the wall. My character hears the voice of a girl who works for him, and decides he's crazy
and isn't having any of that bullshit. So I lay down a line of salt where I hear the digging, ready my ink and poker and tell the others to run for
it. It doesn't end well for me.

>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)23:11 No.13488310

File1294805470.jpg-(60 KB, 600x800, 99672.jpg)
>>13488297

So they run across town and get to the bridge. There are four men, one woman (npc girl the gambler has been dragging
along, he met her in the bar...) and one child (one guy's little brother NPC.) So one of the men sees his brother who is dead.
He's got like a missile through his stomach, which explodes. But then he's still there.....crazy shit, idk. Then a giant spider
comes down and eats the guy (the PC.)

The remaining three PC's try to cross a bridge to get out of the city. They're crossing and the bridge ends suddenly, and
below they see redish water and mist, they can't see the other side. Then they realise it's a suspension bridge. They throw a lantern into the
mist and it vanishes. Then a giant tentacle pops up and kasmacks one of them off.
So the two remaining PC's run back to shore, before getting there one (with the now dead PC's little brother) gets smacked off as well.

The gambler then takes his wench and has sex with her. Before it's over, the giant spider kills them. Then end. That story was long and
awful..sorry. :)

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
 Pic related, it's my character.

>> Mystery Orc 01/11/11(Tue)23:17 No.13488376

The key to a mystery based campaign is that it is the puzzle that draw your players in. Half the fun for them is piecing together all the clues.
Therefore it is vitally important that you ensure your players not only get those clues no matter what, but that they understand that they are
indeed clues. That's the big difference between mystery based campaigns vs. other campaigns.

Don't make your players go through silly rolls or skill challenges to get a clue, and don't design challenges that if failed, will prevent them from
piecing the puzzle together. You should still make them work for the clues, thats what your encounters and challenges are for, but make
success or failure in those challenges affect something other than whether or not they get the clue. Then, ensure there are multiple paths to
your important clues (this helps avoid railroading). Last, beat your players over the head with your clues, that way they know they are clues.
Your players aren't Sherlock Holmes, and you're not actually a villain trying to cover your tracks. The assumption is that in the end, your
players will solve the mystery, so don't make your puzzle so convoluted and obscure your players can't do that. You'll just end up having
explain how clever you where, and while that might be fun for you, it's not really fun for your players.

>> Mystery Orc 01/11/11(Tue)23:18 No.13488392

When I set out to design a mystery campaign, I start with a grand scheme, the overall mystery, and I design a few paths of clues that would
give my players the pieces to uncover the plot. This helps pace the campaign. Then I design various meandering trails of tertiary clues that
branch out and then return to those key clues, ensuring my players are always brought to the key revelations, but still feel like they're in
charge of the investigation. Then I think of interesting encounters or challenges traveling between or uncovering those clue would entail. Add a
few interesting twist and spins to those encounters, and I'm done. I always work with the assumption that my players will find the clues, and
that the fun will come from piecing together them together once they have them. The rest is standard adventure and encounter design, make
them fun, make them interesting, and give your players a chance to shine and enjoy their style of roleplaying. Let your hackers slash, let your
actors act, and while someone else is in the spotlight, your other players will be trying to figure out the meaning of the clues they know they
have.

If you're looking for further ideas, TheAlexandrian.net has a number of really helpful blog posts on the subject, and the gumshoe rpg system is
completely designed around the concept. Both are great resources for mystery campaigns.

>> Anonymous 01/11/11(Tue)23:35 No.13488563

>>13488376
>>13488392
awesome, thanks for the pointers! all good stuff to know.

[Return]
Delete Post [ File Only] Password •••••••• Delete Report
Style [Yotsuba | Yotsuba B | Futaba | Burichan]
[a / b / c / d / e / f / g / gif / h / hr / k / m / o / p / r / s / t / u / v / w / wg] [i / ic] [cm / y] [r9k] [3 / adv / an / cgl / ck / co / fa / fit / int / jp / lit / mu / n /
new / po / sci / soc / sp / tg / toy / trv / tv / vp / x] [rs] [status / ? / @]
- futaba + yotsuba - [Home]
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective parties. Images uploaded are the responsibility of the Poster. Comments are owned by the Poster.

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com