Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 99typhoons Sep 29, 2015 21:08:38	A few of the people I DM for are starting to get the itch to play again, while I am still working on our next "Main Story" session.    So Id like to put together a one shot that has to do with Vampires, or A vampire slowly killing all in a small town in the countryside.    As of now, my idea is that the two people that will most likely be playing are sent to this town to help solve the mystery of why the townsfolk are dissappearing. Also every few days someone is found as a pile of ash in their home or somewhere in the town seemingly from Spontaneous Combustion, with no explanation (they have been turned into a vampire and came into contact with sunlght and burst into flames).    Id like to draw up a map of the small town that the PCs could travel around and do an investigation trying to find out what or who is causing this. I just dont want them to enter this town and be like, "VAMPIRES GUYS! ITS VAMPIRES!!"    Id like to have some sort of hidden route into the city like a tunnel at the bottom of a well or secret stone door leading to hideout in the forrest or something.    Any ideas on how to give this more of a detective-esque feel that they my find clues or something so they slowly unravel what is truley happening to this town?    Thanks.
#2 Ralif_Redhammer Sep 30, 2015 7:32:52	Sounds cool. I think the main trick will be obscuring the whole "drained of blood" part, which is an instant giveaway. Maybe the vampires use acid on the victims that don’t end up turning to obliterate the evidence?   As far as running a mystery, I think the best way to think about it is what beats you want to hit, and how to get to each one.   I completely love this article on investigative adventures, and think it has some great advice:   http://blogofholding.com/?p=6649
#3 Slagger_the_Chuul Sep 30, 2015 10:20:22	While the PCs often come up with their own ideas, you want some additional groups thrown into the mix, so that part of solving it is working out who is really responsible.  For example, if the town also has some fire worshippers, there's another possible cause for people being burnt to ashes. You've basically got a murder mystery and need some additional suspects, each with a plausible motive for killing people and/or a reason for the PCs to distrust them.  The good thing about working with people in the suspect groups involved is that you can readily have them move around if they need to turn up somewhere to reveal a clue or give the PCs a nudge.  For example, the fire worshippers might also have an acolyte investigating the murders who can tell the PCs what he's seen to help them uncover the vampires (if they trust him), or might end up seeming suspicious because he's sneaking around the murder scenes while he investigates.  If you want to throw some suspicion on particular people to start with, make sure the PCs hear about them before they learn much about the murders, so that they seem like a natural fit at first (for example, they might see the burnt-out remains of a bonfire from the fire worshippers on the way into town). The question the PCs will be asking themselves is "why are these people being turned to ashes" and you want a few other answers around for them to consider.  It could be fire creatures, or disintegration, or mummy rot, or whatever else takes your fancy, as long as the PCs can ask questions and find clues to eliminate the wrong answers.
#4 BRJN Oct 02, 2015 16:53:57	The Hardy Boys mysteries, I remember this trick from When the Clock Ticked: A local tinker is experimenting with what we would call a drone or an RC gadget or a home-made "industrial robot".  As a field test, he places it on the peak of somebody else's house's roof, then remote-controls it to drive forward to the chimney and fishing-reel-drop a letter (or something) down.  Do this at night, or while the owner is at work.  From inside the house, letters and little gifts just appear in the fireplace for no apparent reason.   An alternate suspect, if you would like to use him: The letters are being delivered to an eccentric rich old man, "suggesting" that he needs to fund scientific research and (a friend of the letter-writer) would be a good person to start.  Vague threats are made that more than just letters might arrive.  Then the other strange happenings in town begin, and the letter-writer does NOT take steps to disassociate himself from them.