Ray Greer's Ultimate Mystery Game Off the Top of Your Head System

I get a newsletter from DriveThruRPG.com, and in addition to ads for the role-playing products they have for sale, they also have articles, cartoon strips, and so forth.

Last week they had this article, which I thought was an excellent way of getting the players to create an adventure themselves.

A Better Game

As you might have guessed, the character of Ray in "Bring Dice and Chips" is based in part on a real person*, as are most of the characters in the strip. It's important to note, however, that they are all amalgamations of numerous influences, including some purely fictional ideas.

In Ray's case, however, there's a lot about him that I draw on for the character. Ray Greer (who, along with George MacDonald and Steve Peterson, was one of the Original Hero Games Three) was one of my earliest mentors. I learned a great deal from him about running games, both at conventions and elsewhere, and about connecting with players on a level that dramatically enhances their experiences.

Ray once shared a grand secret, one that truly astounded me when I heard it. Now, many years later, I am going to reveal it to all of you. It is a masterful tool for running a game in an improvisational style. Though expressed in terms of solving a mystery, you can use this approach for both short term plots and over-arching storylines.

So, here it is. Ray Greer's Ultimate Mystery Game Off the Top of Your Head System.

(Yeah, I gotta find a better name than that...)

Take a situation that presents a problem to be solved.

The local constable calls upon you to help him figure out who killed local merchant and alleged loan shark, Jonas the Grand. You're shown his body, laying where he was found behind his shop. He's been stabbed multiple times.

Present four random clues. You don't really have to think them out. Just choose four things that the characters can discover.

A nearby resident heard a dog barking furiously for many long minutes.

The letter "R" is scrawled in blood on the wall next to where Jonas lay.

A blue feather is in the alley that runs to the back of the shop.

Jonas was known to be planning a trip.

You don't need to know how any of these clues actually fit or define the story; in fact, it's best if you have no pre-dispositions about them at all. Plan on having one of them be a "red herring," not really impacting the mystery at all. Don't decide which one that is, though - not yet.

Now let the players start conferring about what they've discovered. As they ask questions, figure out answers to them. As they suggest theories, note the ones that most intrigue you and mentally log them as possible solutions to the mystery. Play off their questions and their actions, building the solution to the mystery around their ideas.

Now here's the kicker - whatever their first suggested solution is, it's wrong. Whatever their second resolution is, that's the correct resolution.

So, for example, let's say the players in the situation above begin by looking for someone who's name starts with an "R" as their main thrust, focusing on anyone that Jonas had business dealings with. You decide that there's a dark and nefarious character named Renthro Garr who some folks think Jonas double-dealed in a recent business arrangement. Throw in that he's known to wear a cap with blue feathers in it. Now they will do everything they can to prove that he's the culprit.

He's not. You might decide that he's actually Jonas' cousin, and their constant interactions actually had to do with family matters. This can be why Jonas was planning a trip; to go see family and set some things aright. Now the players are scrambling to figure out what really happened. One of them might throw out "Hey, what about that barking dog?" They start looking around for dogs in the area that might have been the source of the noise.

You decide they don't find one - that the dog in question was with the attacker. One of the players, out of nowhere, asks "Hey, does the constable have a big dog?"

Boom. You like it. "As a matter of fact, he does. A huge mastiff with a deep voice."

The heroes figure the constable must have owed Jonas a great deal of money, and he tried to make Renthro look like the culprit. They surmise that he had no idea Renthro and Jonas were actually family; that by having the heroes pin the crime on Renthro, the constable would get off clean.

You hear this, you like it... and now they've solved the mystery of the murder of Jonas the Grand. The players think you're a genius, and all you did is let them more or less work out the story.

As you think on this, you'll start to see how such "dangling plot threads" can help you really make your campaigns sing with your players.

~ SPF (06/10/2010)

* - Note that the "creator egotism" aspects are drawn from other sources, as are the more bizarre behaviors.

Sport and patriotism

Anyone who knows me knows I have about zero interest in sport, and that I'm terribly cynical about patriotism.

This last week, however, has been amazing. Like many South Africans, I had my doubts about SA being able to deliver the Soccer World Cup, even though I had some information about preparations a couple of years ago.

Friday showed the world, though.

On Wednesday, we had a national demonstration of support for Bafana Bafana, our team. My company's building was done up in flags and banners, as were many other companies, and people came onto the streets in their thousands to support the team and the tournament. It was great to look out on all that, and see the crowds. Up till then, we'd seen a lot of support anyway; many people have South African and other flags on their cars - hell, even I have one!

( Cut for images )

Then, on Friday, it all came together. The SWC started, and everything worked. All the stadiums were ready. Most of the new freeways were done. The Gautrain was rolling (ahead of schedule!). Everything looked amazing.

And South Africa scored the very first SWC goal on African soil. I was in a shopping centre at the time, and all the staff were clustered around a TV, cheering, and I was there with them, grinning like an idiot.

I watched part of the US-England game on Saturday, and that was great too; the spirit is amazing.

I'm really proud that South Africa can deliver a world-class global sports tournament, the biggest in the world. SA has hosted more global sports events than any other country over the last 15 years, so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised, but the Soccer World Cup is on a completely different scale.

For the next few weeks, the national language is "soccer", and people are forgetting their racial and language divisions. I love it.