Investigation Scenarios: Just Tell Them
Just Tell Them
One of the primordial lessons of Columbo is that the majority of people want to tell you everything about their lives. Everyone craves to be understood and admired, even the guy who has completed a clever murder by burying his benefactor in a cement piling.
Similarly, in roleplaying game investigations, the majority of involved characters probably just want to tell you what the fuck is up. If you understand the social dynamics they exist in and how much each person knows, the investigation is largely not about who lies to you and what clue you find, but rather about who you choose to talk to and what their grudges or prejudices are.
Similarly, in roleplaying game investigations, the majority of involved characters probably just want to tell you what the fuck is up. If you understand the social dynamics they exist in and how much each person knows, the investigation is largely not about who lies to you and what clue you find, but rather about who you choose to talk to and what their grudges or prejudices are.
In other words, your NPCs should almost all be ready to just tell your players what they believe the truth of the situation is. Similarly when they arrive at a scene they should just get at least one clue or detail. The fun in investigations is in the slow peeling back of information, not rolling dice to see what the players find.
This parallels the system in the oft-maligned in OSR spaces Gumshoe but it bears underlining that even a system you do not like can do something right from a scenario design perspective. Don't be afraid to steal it.
This parallels the system in the oft-maligned in OSR spaces Gumshoe but it bears underlining that even a system you do not like can do something right from a scenario design perspective. Don't be afraid to steal it.
Lens of the Auditor
An item for old school roleplaying games with magical items.
Once in the great trade city of Burrel (if not the crown jewel then certainly the glittering brooch of the Half-Divine Empire) there was an Auditor tasked with adjudicating fraud among the merchants. He was an honest halfling, living in a city of riches and graft, and a vexation to the wealthy. When he was killed some of his essence fled into this trinket, a gift from his wife.
This small lens is ground from a off-color and flawed citrine. It has no setting or frame. Close inspection shows that looking through it always shows a different location than it should, warped and distorted. Once per day by closely examining an item with it it will show you the last person who sold or made the item.
Once in the great trade city of Burrel (if not the crown jewel then certainly the glittering brooch of the Half-Divine Empire) there was an Auditor tasked with adjudicating fraud among the merchants. He was an honest halfling, living in a city of riches and graft, and a vexation to the wealthy. When he was killed some of his essence fled into this trinket, a gift from his wife.
This small lens is ground from a off-color and flawed citrine. It has no setting or frame. Close inspection shows that looking through it always shows a different location than it should, warped and distorted. Once per day by closely examining an item with it it will show you the last person who sold or made the item.
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