Alright, so started a new campaign for some of my players and one of their first quests was a sort of murder mystery. I used http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule as a general guide to try and make sure they had enough ways to discover what was going on.
At the end of the session the group still really had no clue what was going on and some trouble connecting the dots despite having found nearly all the relevant pieces of evidence. So I'm looking for some advice on how I could have improved the session. Obviously the players themselves are not detectives and shouldn't have to know exactly how to conduct such investigations
General session outline:
Discover a water drowner(water mildly acidic , 20% miss chance, hit in jav negates miss chance 1d4 rounds) killing civilians in the town of Gillamoore. DC25 and at least 3 clues to discover the nature of the beast.
Optional: Rescue Jaina from being burnt at the stake as a guilty party.
Option A. Force 10 villagers will try to stop her from getting rescued.
Option B. Persuasion DC 24 dip/int check will result in him releasing Jaina into their custody for "interrogation" Circumstance bonus with a bribe
Option C. Stealth 4 guards at the prison. Can be knocked out or bypassed
Victims:
Farmer - Generally well respected.
Village drunk - petty criminal, begs, borrows, or steals to get drunk
Local Blacksmith - having an affair with Abigail
Gather information/rumors:
DC 10 monster must be from that cursed tower. Blighted necromancers
DC 12 careful with the rum. Old jack drank so much it turned him into a hen. I'm dead serious
DC 14 Every few weeks a mysterious stranger walks through town. Anyone who looks at him suffers terrible luck(malfactor, pilot's idea)
DC 15 The last mayor was corrupt. He embezzled a ton of gems and hid them somewhere in the forest gemstone
DC 18 Couple nights back every dog on my farm started barking in the middle of the night. Downright eerie if you ask me. Dogs hate the creature +2 check and if they investigate near the farm a 15 perception check locates the affair site
DC20 They say the blacksmith was having an affair. And the farmer murdered his own wife and kid. And Everyone knows about Village drunk. Monster is punishing the wicked I'd say
Clues:
Victims appear drowned although bodies are found well away from water DC10 heal check +2 check
Farmer in particular DC 15 survival check notes that he has no footprints near his body +2 check
Blacksmith was last seen by Abigail at the outskirts of town. She can be convinced to tell the PCs where they met if caught not telling the truth. Sense motive DC12 to notice and 15 dip/int to get her to talk +2 check
Attacks happen every 4 days(next attack should be the night after they arrive) +2 check
If they search the blacksmiths house a DC 18 perception check locates a cryptic letter saying that we need to meet.
Investigating the site leads to ants as well as placing all 3 victims in a very small area. +2 and tells PCs where to go to confront the creature
Red Herring:
"Cursed" tower bat later wraith
Notice board:
My friends, I've recently received a contract for a griffon coat. Sadly I've no suitable materials to craft such finery. There is said to be a Royal Griffon(+10 touch AC acid spit 3d6 damage(hitting in the jav will cause griffon to land)) hours south of the town. Anyone feeling adventurous enough to retrieve such materials will find themselves 100 gold richer for their efforts.
- Andrea
I've not much to give as a reward but anyone who kills the Barghest that killed my wife will have my eternal gratitude. It was last seen in the forest.
- Oren
If they decide to start searching the water for the culprit Sea urchin
Points of interest:
A. Blacksmith house
B. Farmer's field
C. Jail cell
D. Mayor
E. Ant field
F. Lake
G. Necro tower
H/I. Taverns
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The biggest trouble was that even having found that all 3 murder sites and having them right on top of each other on the map they didn't really make the conclusion that they could try and find the creature the next night when it came out to hunt.