Murder Most Foul: The Usual Suspects

In my last post, I discussed things that should be considered prior to planning a murder mystery.  Today, a quick look at the actual planning.

The Victim is naturally the first concern.  Who’s dead?  The death should draw the PCs into in the mystery plot, ideally.  The victim could be a prominent figure — the nobleman, the prominent businessman, the starship captain.  The victim could be a friend or relative of one or all of the characters.  The victim could be a devotee of the PC’s faith, a member of the PC’s union, or an old college classmate.  Whatever the case may be, the victim is someone whose death the characters will feel — either directly or indirectly.  (They may not know Count Plotdevice personally, but his death means that things will be different in the kingdom…)

Alternatively, perhaps a PC is the prime suspect.  The victim could be a fellow traveler at the inn — which is snowbound because of a blizzard, meaning the murderer has to be one of the other guests.  Or the murder in the otherwise-peaceful village is blamed on the outsiders who camped out there — all those fancy weapons and armor, and that one in the robes is a witch, she was clearly seen casting a spell.

Once you know the victim, the means are next.  Was the victim poisoned?  Strangled?  Shot?  Stabbed?  Found dead with a ghastly expression on his face and not a mark on him?  The means of death will say something about your killer.  If the victim was stabbed 35 times and left impaled with a spear pinning his body to the ground, the killer is not going to be a sneaky schemer plotting the “accidental” death of a rival.  If that’s the sort of killer you imagine, poison or a similarly “sneaky” means is much better.  On the other hand, if you want your players looking for a crazed psychotic killer, messy stabby death is very viable.

At this point, you know the circumstances of death; it’s time to come up with the suspects.  These are the NPCs you foresee the players pursuing or the ones you feel they’re most likely to interact with.  The count’s eldest son and heir, the businessman’s rival, the maltreated servants, the estranged relatives, the other guests at the inn.  Include all NPCs you think it’s likely the players will want to talk to while investigating the murder.  If that doesn’t encompass all of the NPCs in the area, come up with a couple more, and include them too.  You don’t need to list every inhabitant of the village, but you want some “unexpected” options in there.

Once you have a list, come up with the motives.  Every character on the list of NPCs should have one.  Many of these will be obvious — the eldest son stands to inherit the count’s title and estate.  Others, particularly those “unexpected” NPCs you added, will require more thought.  Is the peasant woman actually the mother of the count’s illegitimate child?  Perhaps the businessman’s lovely trophy wife had previously been married to a clerk who committed suicide after the businessman ran a company into the ground?

It doesn’t matter if some of the motives are tenuous — that’s to be expected, in fact.  The important thing is that you have at least a couple that sound plausible.  Once the characters begin to investigate the murder, they’ll learn many of these motives.  A few, they might dismiss out of hand; others they’ll find warrant further investigation.  Most players will be aware of the “it’s always the one you least suspect” genre trope, so even a very unlikely motive might be seized upon.  You can always “cheat” a little and further develop a motive the players seem particularly interested in.

Once you have these four things — the victim, the means, the list of major NPC suspects, and their corresponding motives — you have everything you need to run the mystery.

What about the murderer? you may ask.  Don’t you need that?  No, and I’ll discuss the reasons why next time.

Related posts:

1. Murder Most Foul: The Deed Itself
2. Murder Most Foul: Premeditation