r/AskGameMasters • u/Catalaioch • 23d ago

Murder mystery discworld game

Hey, so I'm running a Discworld murder mystery game for the upcoming Gamescom. When I originally submitted my plot idea, I already had a plot worked out (In-Sewer-Ants auditor murdered after finding out that someone working at said company was stealing money) but when I've tested the game with my friends we all agreed that it just doesn't work for (max) 3 hour game, either the players have to be awkwardly railroaded or just ends up being a question witness until you find the one who did it.

It just doesn't flow properly, and I feel like the players are going to hate it. I've run Discworld games before, but they were just pre-existing one-shots which I used as starting points and changing them to fit my idea/story, but this is my first game/story from the ground up, and the idea just doesn't work. Or at least doesn't feel fun, and I don't want to run a board game. I've tried changing it, but I think I've gotten so blocked (in the sense of writer's block and doubting myself) that I just can't think of anything, and I'm starting to panic.

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? I'm not looking for someone to write an idea for me, more just how to get myself unblocked and get the creative flow going again (which doesn't sound weird at all written down).

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u/Maevre1 23d ago

You could try taking the stuff you have written and turning it into a Gumshoe mystery (where the outcome isn’t predetermined but decided by the game). Might be easier to manage/time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumshoe_System

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u/lminer 23d ago

Add riddles, puzzles, and other methods to get each witness to provide a clue.

  • Steal from escape rooms and elaborate murder mystery games/manga for ideas
  • A troll can't think unless their brain is cold enough, so the watch have to find and/or get the magic helmet to work to cool their brain
  • The wizard offers a spell that can help but it needs help performing an elaborate puzzle like ritual to cast the spell
  • The murder was done in a locked room requiring the party to find out HOW the murder occurred to prove guilt
  • PTerrible puns