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Tips for non-murder mysteries
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Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Dec-2-2008 22:34

Are there any tips for writing a non-murder scripted mysteries. If so, please do share them.
Thanks

Replies

Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Jan-23-2009 04:30

Hello! One more question! I think questions keep on arising as we move forward. Here you go. Can we use explanations regarding atmosphere, character's description etc. in the FM like we do in role playing stage?
I haven't read many of them but I like it and wanted to use them in a mystery. Just tell me if we are allowed.

Anikka
Anikka
Babelfish

Jan-23-2009 09:21

Scripted mysteries should have a "plot", just like a book does. Your SM is a story - think of it as writing a book of sorts. Setting atmosphere is very important to drawing people in and increasing their enjoyment. Character descriptions - not just physical but of attitude as well - is very helpful to making the player/reader understand the character's reasons for what they do. It also makes your mystery more interesting, so feel free to use descriptives as much as you like. If it gets to be too much (very unlikely), we'll let you know. :-)

Secret_Squirrel
Secret_Squirrel
Safety Officer

Jan-24-2009 16:59

word good, blank bad, ugh.

Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Feb-5-2009 13:46

There are some special items unlocked by finishing some SMs successfully.
Firstly, if someone writes a wonderful mystery, will they be rewarded by some special equipment or will there be a special equipment unlocked by completing that SM?
Secondly, are these items created by Admin's choice or by the author's choice.
Thanks

Secret_Squirrel
Secret_Squirrel
Safety Officer

Feb-5-2009 14:57

Special Items received through SM's are rare. SM authors can always suggest to Ben an idea for a reward if they have something in mind.

Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Feb-6-2009 04:10

Those SMs which unlock special items must be special too. The plot of the story should be wonderful. The twists should really be twisting to confuse the players. The suspects and witnesses must clam up on their first or second question and the test chances for tough or charm should be below 30%.
Doesn't a special SM requires all these things?
I can list many other things but right now this much is enough.
Anyone who knows better, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Joseph Zeo
Joseph Zeo
Tale Spinner

Apr-7-2009 21:05

I really doubt that Ben would allow another special items reward through SMs, unless we're at a professional writer level with an excellent line of stories like what Michael Bergen did. However, there's no harm in trying.

As to: "The test chances for tough or charm should be below 30%." That's really tough. I set one of my suspect in my SM at 30% and got one of my friend to test it, and even with all the tough skills and purg he still couldn't get through. I ended up raising the number just so people doesn't need to redo the SM again. I personally wouldn't want to waste another case on the same SM for this reason.

Paranoid_Android
Paranoid_Android
Story Teller

Apr-8-2009 23:25

^ Below 30% is about as low as I like to go and still guarantees nothing. People should be able to fail though. Just like an AI mystery. You don't always solve EVERY case you play. On harder SM's it doesn't hurt players to have to Judge of Character suspects. Usually there is an obvious choice to make.

Joseph Zeo
Joseph Zeo
Tale Spinner

Apr-28-2009 09:22

My way to get through this 'problem' is to design various channels to get to the same suspect: certain townie you create respond better with tough, but through another route another townie respond better with charm. That way, the game seem difficult, but if the play persist, they'll still find all the suspects in the story (and no one can write the walk through unless they offer one for toughies and one for charmies, ha!)

I took it one step further now, in my 2nd SM that i'm currently still writing, that the player will face a situation where they will need to choose between A & B, knowing very well that answering wrongly will guarantee a dead end. It's not hard to do: set the 'number of question before clamming' to 1, and set both charm and tough at 0%.... I know, I know, it's evil, but as long as you give the play another route to go if they fail, it'd be actually a lot of fun.... i think. Can't wait to test it out myself....

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