A murder most foul [Archive] - Wizards Community

A murder most foul [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
swccgf
03-31-08, 11:33 AM I was runing my game yesterday and for whatever reason decided that the town that the PCs had just entered had recently seen the murder of the town's magistrate. I've been DMing for several years now, but I've never even come close to running a murder-mystery. Fortunately for the story we adjurned before they got very far along (otherwise I was going to have to write it on the fly). So I'm just wondering what kind of suggestions there are for murder-type stories, and any tips on writing them.

I want to have two simultaneous plots running at once. For example: I thought about having the thieves guild drug the guy to steal some valuable item, but before they get a chance to steal said item someone kills him for another reason entirely.

Anyway I'm open to all the ideas you can give.
iserith
03-31-08, 11:40 AM Can you describe the PCs (class, race, level) and the campaign world?
Shadowshimmer
03-31-08, 11:57 AM The only murder mystery I ever did was a player had a Drow Spy in the party who was polymorphed into a Wood Elf and he would murder a person of importance in each new town the party went to. They could not figure out why they were always being accused of murder and there was a death where ever they showed up. Eventually the Cleric caught the Elf coming into the Inn late one night and questioned him the next morning when a jeweler ended up dead. The party ended up chasing him into the Underdark where they almost died running into several Drow traps and ambushes and when they finally killed him, he turned back into a Drow and the mystery was revealed.
Demetri_Knighthawk
03-31-08, 12:00 PM the thives guild were putting the press on him and perhaps even threatening him with his daughters life, so, he killed himself to point the blame at the thives guild before they could blackmail him. He had planned to bring himself back from the dead but something went wrong along the way.
swccgf
03-31-08, 03:36 PM The PCs are a human Paladin 4,half-elf scout 4, whisper gnome rogue 4, necropolitan divine bard 4, and a vampire spawn 3 (don't ask about the party its very interesting). The campaign world is a homebrew world set in a continent dominated by two major cites. The PCs are closely allied with the southern city and view the northern city as an enemy although technically the cites are not at war. There is a lot of espianage and subterfuge. Currently the PCs are about 800 miles from their home city in a town of about 3500 people. It is a port city on a large river and a boat is leaving soon to take them to their home base. They decided to look into the murder because they had some time in the city.

I've already told them that the magistrate was found with a knife wound in the back in the bedroom of his home. A local shopkeeper claims to have seen a small figure leaving the home 45 minutes prior to the body being found. There are a lot of directions it could go I think, I just want to find something inventive that's not going to be too obvious. On the other hand I don't want it to be so complicated that its indecipherable.
WilliamTanner
03-31-08, 06:30 PM Let's begin with what you had in mind, since that will naturally appeal to you:

The magistrate's house is broken into by thieves of the local guild. The thieves drug the magistrate to sedate him. When the magistrate awakes, he realizes he his house has been violated, and immediately checks on his daughter. As it turns out, his daughter is being violated as well. The magistrate gets into a brawl with the suitor (who by coincidence is also affiliated with the local thieves guild), which proceeds to another room in the house, where the daughter stabs her father in the back. The suitor flees the scene after recovering his clothes.

As a result:
Magistrate: Isn't sure who killed him, but if spoken to from beyond the grave, he'll implicate the guy nailing his daughter, remembering any tattoos or the like.
Daughter: Guilty of murder, but has two patsy options.
Suitor: Unaware of the theft (wasn't on the need-to-know list), knows who killed the magistrate, isn't going to be believed by anyone.
Guild: Doesn't know who performed the murder, but is likely to be blamed.
Drackthor
04-01-08, 02:41 AM Let's begin with what you had in mind, since that will naturally appeal to you:

The magistrate's house is broken into by thieves of the local guild. The thieves drug the magistrate to sedate him. When the magistrate awakes, he realizes he his house has been violated, and immediately checks on his daughter. As it turns out, his daughter is being violated as well. The magistrate gets into a brawl with the suitor (who by coincidence is also affiliated with the local thieves guild), which proceeds to another room in the house, where the daughter stabs her father in the back. The suitor flees the scene after recovering his clothes.

As a result:
Magistrate: Isn't sure who killed him, but if spoken to from beyond the grave, he'll implicate the guy nailing his daughter, remembering any tattoos or the like.
Daughter: Guilty of murder, but has two patsy options.
Suitor: Unaware of the theft (wasn't on the need-to-know list), knows who killed the magistrate, isn't going to be believed by anyone.
Guild: Doesn't know who performed the murder, but is likely to be blamed.

Personally, I like this one.
Cranewings
04-01-08, 02:46 AM To take it a step past what William said:

In a town of 3500, there is only going to be so many intresting places:

Inn #1
Inn #2
Inn #3
Docks
Market Place
Mage's Tower or Library (if it is an advanced world)
The Lord's Keep
Stables
The murder scene
The bandit hideout

Everyone will be in one of those places. If they aren't, someone that knows them will be. Some of the people might have heard so and so talk. Others might have a reason to lie and give false information.

Is the dagger something unique from the market?
If the dagger belongs in the home, it speaks volumes about the murder.
Did anyone brag about what happened?

In a town that small, I don't think there would be a thieve's guild. Everyone knows one another. There might be a bandit gang, or rough necks off of one of the boats. People in town might be aware of the new arrivals and not like them.
swccgf
04-02-08, 12:31 AM I like the ideas so far, if you have any more I would welcome them
WilliamTanner
04-02-08, 12:44 AM I was working on a darker side to the magistrate, but I left it at work unposted. Tomorrow ...
Wizard
04-02-08, 01:57 AM The magistrate is a closet cleric for Erythnull, and kidnapped a child in an attempt to summon a death slaad.

Unfortunately, the child escaped, and when the slaad showed up and found no initial sacrifice, it took what was available and headed home.
razilen
04-02-08, 04:03 AM someone presents a statue as a mark of remerence with carved on it "to my father from your son a great man to end to end"

this is actually made by the murderer who wants the adventures to go off trail when they start to realise who the murderer was[ a good serch role would show broken bits of chisel near a table leg in the stable]

rumors are that "the magistrate once had a son but a servent kidnapped his son after birth and blackmailed the king for a ransom more then the magistrate could afford the king refused to part with his money do the son was never seen again"

once again it isn't true seeing how everybody says there just roomers thoe
theblackpiece
04-02-08, 03:06 PM What if the magistrate was sponsoring a major foresting project in the nearby woods, and, (unbeknownst to him), an enclave of elves (20-40 people) resided there. When he started to destroy the elves home, they sent an assasin to kill him. Perhaps a Knowledge check would show that the dagger is of elven make, tipping off the players.

And maybe try to make the elves look innocent-ish to see if the players will tell the town about the enclave.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
swccgf 03-31-08, 11:33 AM	I was runing my game yesterday and for whatever reason decided that the town that the PCs had just entered had recently seen the murder of the town's magistrate. I've been DMing for several years now, but I've never even come close to running a murder-mystery. Fortunately for the story we adjurned before they got very far along (otherwise I was going to have to write it on the fly). So I'm just wondering what kind of suggestions there are for murder-type stories, and any tips on writing them. I want to have two simultaneous plots running at once. For example: I thought about having the thieves guild drug the guy to steal some valuable item, but before they get a chance to steal said item someone kills him for another reason entirely. Anyway I'm open to all the ideas you can give.
iserith 03-31-08, 11:40 AM	Can you describe the PCs (class, race, level) and the campaign world?
Shadowshimmer 03-31-08, 11:57 AM	The only murder mystery I ever did was a player had a Drow Spy in the party who was polymorphed into a Wood Elf and he would murder a person of importance in each new town the party went to. They could not figure out why they were always being accused of murder and there was a death where ever they showed up. Eventually the Cleric caught the Elf coming into the Inn late one night and questioned him the next morning when a jeweler ended up dead. The party ended up chasing him into the Underdark where they almost died running into several Drow traps and ambushes and when they finally killed him, he turned back into a Drow and the mystery was revealed.
Demetri_Knighthawk 03-31-08, 12:00 PM	the thives guild were putting the press on him and perhaps even threatening him with his daughters life, so, he killed himself to point the blame at the thives guild before they could blackmail him. He had planned to bring himself back from the dead but something went wrong along the way.
swccgf 03-31-08, 03:36 PM	The PCs are a human Paladin 4,half-elf scout 4, whisper gnome rogue 4, necropolitan divine bard 4, and a vampire spawn 3 (don't ask about the party its very interesting). The campaign world is a homebrew world set in a continent dominated by two major cites. The PCs are closely allied with the southern city and view the northern city as an enemy although technically the cites are not at war. There is a lot of espianage and subterfuge. Currently the PCs are about 800 miles from their home city in a town of about 3500 people. It is a port city on a large river and a boat is leaving soon to take them to their home base. They decided to look into the murder because they had some time in the city. I've already told them that the magistrate was found with a knife wound in the back in the bedroom of his home. A local shopkeeper claims to have seen a small figure leaving the home 45 minutes prior to the body being found. There are a lot of directions it could go I think, I just want to find something inventive that's not going to be too obvious. On the other hand I don't want it to be so complicated that its indecipherable.
WilliamTanner 03-31-08, 06:30 PM	Let's begin with what you had in mind, since that will naturally appeal to you: The magistrate's house is broken into by thieves of the local guild. The thieves drug the magistrate to sedate him. When the magistrate awakes, he realizes he his house has been violated, and immediately checks on his daughter. As it turns out, his daughter is being violated as well. The magistrate gets into a brawl with the suitor (who by coincidence is also affiliated with the local thieves guild), which proceeds to another room in the house, where the daughter stabs her father in the back. The suitor flees the scene after recovering his clothes. As a result: Magistrate: Isn't sure who killed him, but if spoken to from beyond the grave, he'll implicate the guy nailing his daughter, remembering any tattoos or the like. Daughter: Guilty of murder, but has two patsy options. Suitor: Unaware of the theft (wasn't on the need-to-know list), knows who killed the magistrate, isn't going to be believed by anyone. Guild: Doesn't know who performed the murder, but is likely to be blamed.
Drackthor 04-01-08, 02:41 AM	Let's begin with what you had in mind, since that will naturally appeal to you: The magistrate's house is broken into by thieves of the local guild. The thieves drug the magistrate to sedate him. When the magistrate awakes, he realizes he his house has been violated, and immediately checks on his daughter. As it turns out, his daughter is being violated as well. The magistrate gets into a brawl with the suitor (who by coincidence is also affiliated with the local thieves guild), which proceeds to another room in the house, where the daughter stabs her father in the back. The suitor flees the scene after recovering his clothes. As a result: Magistrate: Isn't sure who killed him, but if spoken to from beyond the grave, he'll implicate the guy nailing his daughter, remembering any tattoos or the like. Daughter: Guilty of murder, but has two patsy options. Suitor: Unaware of the theft (wasn't on the need-to-know list), knows who killed the magistrate, isn't going to be believed by anyone. Guild: Doesn't know who performed the murder, but is likely to be blamed. Personally, I like this one.
Cranewings 04-01-08, 02:46 AM	To take it a step past what William said: In a town of 3500, there is only going to be so many intresting places: Inn #1 Inn #2 Inn #3 Docks Market Place Mage's Tower or Library (if it is an advanced world) The Lord's Keep Stables The murder scene The bandit hideout Everyone will be in one of those places. If they aren't, someone that knows them will be. Some of the people might have heard so and so talk. Others might have a reason to lie and give false information. Is the dagger something unique from the market? If the dagger belongs in the home, it speaks volumes about the murder. Did anyone brag about what happened? In a town that small, I don't think there would be a thieve's guild. Everyone knows one another. There might be a bandit gang, or rough necks off of one of the boats. People in town might be aware of the new arrivals and not like them.
swccgf 04-02-08, 12:31 AM	I like the ideas so far, if you have any more I would welcome them
WilliamTanner 04-02-08, 12:44 AM	I was working on a darker side to the magistrate, but I left it at work unposted. Tomorrow ...
Wizard 04-02-08, 01:57 AM	The magistrate is a closet cleric for Erythnull, and kidnapped a child in an attempt to summon a death slaad. Unfortunately, the child escaped, and when the slaad showed up and found no initial sacrifice, it took what was available and headed home.
razilen 04-02-08, 04:03 AM	someone presents a statue as a mark of remerence with carved on it "to my father from your son a great man to end to end" this is actually made by the murderer who wants the adventures to go off trail when they start to realise who the murderer was[ a good serch role would show broken bits of chisel near a table leg in the stable] rumors are that "the magistrate once had a son but a servent kidnapped his son after birth and blackmailed the king for a ransom more then the magistrate could afford the king refused to part with his money do the son was never seen again" once again it isn't true seeing how everybody says there just roomers thoe
theblackpiece 04-02-08, 03:06 PM	What if the magistrate was sponsoring a major foresting project in the nearby woods, and, (unbeknownst to him), an enclave of elves (20-40 people) resided there. When he started to destroy the elves home, they sent an assasin to kill him. Perhaps a Knowledge check would show that the dagger is of elven make, tipping off the players. And maybe try to make the elves look innocent-ish to see if the players will tell the town about the enclave.