My players are sailing to a new destination next session. Figured I might throw some events into the sailing itself and decided a murder to solve could be cool.
The mystery doesn't need to be Sherlock Holmes Consulting detective level of complexities as it should only take part of the session with the rest of the ship activities. Figure it could use a few extra details and thought maybe you creative forum types might have a few.
The basic details are Andrea a human researcher has been found dead. a careful inspection of his quarters uncovers evidence that he is a smuggler. He was killed by an elf named Kostess who is also a smuggler and trying to eliminate the competition.
Few misc details:
Murderer stole a knife from a drunk dwarf on deck and used it to commit the crime before dropping it over board. This will likely make the dwarf look guilty initially.
Two passengers are going to have sketchy alibis that can be disproven. Can force them to admit that they are sleeping together which PCs can use said info as they see fit.
Ultimate proof of Kostess' guilt will likely be finding his smuggled goods and discovering a portion of Andreas supplies within them.
Open to suggestions.
The biggest point of failure with situations like these is that the PC's might not find the specific clue you're looking for. From what you've described, there doesn't appear to be any particular leads pointing back to Kostess; the PC's don't even have a reason to suspect him. This creates a catch-22; the PC's need some evidence against Koltess before they have a reason to search his private quarters, but they need to search his private quarters to get evidence implicating him.
Follow the three clue rule: for any conclusion you want the PC's to come to, include a minimum of three clues. The idea is that the PC's are likely to miss or misinterpret many of the clues you leave, so you need a certain amount of redundancy to ensure the PC's get the info they need. Sometimes they'll only need one clue, but you don't know ahead of time what the PC's will think.
Murderer stole a knife from a drunk dwarf on deck and used it to commit the crime before dropping it over board. This will likely make the dwarf look guilty initially.
If the knife was dropped overboard, the PC's have no way of retrieving or identifying the murder weapon.
Two passengers are going to have sketchy alibis that can be disproven. Can force them to admit that they are sleeping together which PCs can use said info as they see fit.
Unless there's some other info pointing towards these two (ie, someone saw them skulking around) then this might not even come up.
Ultimate proof of Kostess' guilt will likely be finding his smuggled goods and discovering a portion of Andreas supplies within them.
That doesn't prove Kostess is the murderer, only that he was an accomplice to the smuggling. It definitely makes him a prime suspect, however.
The biggest point of failure with situations like these is that the PC's might not find the specific clue you're looking for. From what you've described, there doesn't appear to be any particular leads pointing back to Kostess; the PC's don't even have a reason to suspect him. This creates a catch-22; the PC's need some evidence against Koltess before they have a reason to search his private quarters, but they need to search his private quarters to get evidence implicating him.
Follow the three clue rule: for any conclusion you want the PC's to come to, include a minimum of three clues. The idea is that the PC's are likely to miss or misinterpret many of the clues you leave, so you need a certain amount of redundancy to ensure the PC's get the info they need. Sometimes they'll only need one clue, but you don't know ahead of time what the PC's will think.
If the knife was dropped overboard, the PC's have no way of retrieving or identifying the murder weapon.
Unless there's some other info pointing towards these two (ie, someone saw them skulking around) then this might not even come up.
That doesn't prove Kostess is the murderer, only that he was an accomplice to the smuggling. It definitely makes him a prime suspect, however.
Some good points. As far as having a reason to search his private quarters, the main reasoning there is that most of the other passengers/crew will have a solid alibi(assuming you accept with other people as an alibi and don't suspect the entirety of a cabin.) He will be one of the relative few who can't confirm they were with someone else at the time.
I am familiar with the three clue rule, and definitely agree with it. Luckily in this case I know my players fairly well, so I made a lot of the clues stuff they always check for anyway(I.E. hidden compartment at the bottom of Andrea's locker, etc). So they shouldn't have any problems there unless they go totally out of left field on me(always a possibility with PCs admittedly).
And as for actual proof, no they don't have a true smoking gun, but I'd accept prime suspect in this case as at least sufficient.
I should also mention this particular party doesn't have any of the troublesome mystery bypass spells such as speak with dead, commune, etc.
Are the PCs officially enlisted to investigate this (from the captain, etc.) or are they going to be acting on their own? That will probably affect how cooperative some people will be with the investigation.
+1 to giving them more clues than you think they'll need. It's no good when a couple botched rolls derails your entire investigation. Also, don't be afraid to let them solve stuff in a way you didn't expect. Running a good mystery requires a certain amount of improv since you have to adapt to what they do.
Sometimes if I think a mystery is going to be too straightforward, I toss in another NPC or two who is up to something suspicious, but completely unrelated. (Your furtive couple could probably fill this role.)
What level are they? And, if they do have magic, be prepared for them to use it in creative ways to help solve this, even if they don't have access to the usual mystery bypass spells.
It seems like a key piece of your evidence is that Kostess has some of Andreas goods. Since Andreas is smuggling these goods though, it seems unlikely that anyone would know that they were his. It would seem unlikely that a smuggler would have his name on smuggled goods.
So the only thing left is that Kostess is a smuggler, criminal (presumably) but not murder.
If you are going to use someone else's weapon to commit a murder so that that person, and not you, is suspected, it is best to let the weapon be found. I'd try to create some sort of connection between the original owner of the weapon and the PCs, so that they would want to prove his innocence. I'd also make sure the original owner didn't have any alibi, so that finding the true killer has greater stakes.
I don't think the motive of eliminating the competition is very strong. Andreas not being a smuggler himself, but finding out about Kostess and blackmailing him about it would be stronger, and much more 'classic' murder mystery. That would also open up the possibility for other clues such as overheard arguments, a previous payoff, perhaps even Andreas having some sort of evidence or notes concealed somewhere.
Some more good points everyone.
@Meraki They are level 5 and mostly using the spheres of might classes/abilities. Basically no spellcasting to speak of except a couple of potions/wands that aren't relevant.
@Dave In the hidden compartment of the chest I will have a letter from his contact requesting illicit items. Kostess will have found/stolen some of those goods(but not the hidden chest compartment with the most valuable stuff and the letter for plot reasons)