Murder Mystery Mechanics

Long time no post! I have been working hard on various games, especially the murder mystery party I'm hosting next week. This time, we're trying to introduce some simple mechanics into the game, in order to give people an incentive to participate and provide a more straight-forward way of solving the mystery. Here's some of the flavor text I've shared with the players so far:

This murder mystery will be a mafia-inspired game of informed minority (Conspiracy) vs uninformed majority (Innocents). You can try to bribe, intimidate, or trick your fellow players into giving you clues. The team that has the most clues/cash at the end of the night wins. But be careful - there’s a murderer on the loose, and you never know when they’ll strike next!

Here are the major details of game play:

- The questioner must get the informant alone. If the informant wishes, they can volunteer to trade Clue Cards or give up Cash. In this case, no one reveals their scores. Otherwise, the questioner declares his/her intent (Bribe/Intimidate/Trick). Use your role-playing skills!

- IF the questioner is the Detective, she/he can ask “Which is your highest attribute?” BEFORE declaring intent. The informant MUST truthfully tell them which attribute is highest (though they don’t have to provide the score).

- IF the informant OR the questioner is the Murderer, they can take this opportunity to hand the other player a Kill Card, taking all their Clue Cards/Cash and removing them from the game.

- The questioner reveals their TOTAL score (just the number, including any bonuses). The informant does NOT reveal their score, but simply tells the questioner if they succeed or fail. BE HONEST.

→ Bribe: if the money offered meets/exceeds the informant's bribe price (ties go to the questioner), the informant takes the entire bribe and turns over a Clue Card of the informant's choosing. If the money offered does not meet the the bribe price, the informant takes one Cash for the insult and tells the questioner nothing.

→ Intimidate or Trickery: if the questioner’s level is higher than the informant's, the informant turns over a Clue Card of the informant's choosing. If the questioner’s level is lower than the informant's, the informant take one of the questioner's Clue Cards. Ties go to the informant. If the losing player has no Clue Cards, the player turns over half of their Cash.

- When you take someone’s Clue Card, decide whether it’s going to give you a +1 bonus to Intimidate or Trickery. If someone takes the card off you, they also take your bonus. If you start with Clue Cards, they do not provide any bonus.

Sample Clue Card:

It was rumored that Earl Grey murdered the Victim, Ms. Darjeeling, over a lover’s quarrel. But just the other day he was seen enjoying a very cozy English breakfast with the Prince of Wales.

Bonus (check one): [ ] Intimidate [ ] Trickery

Getting Cash: Getting Cash: aside from taking cash off other players, you can earn cash by proving to the GM that you have completed a mini-game. Each mini-game is worth 5 cash. (Note: mini-games are simple activities like cookie decoration or bobbing for apples - whatever is appropriate for the theme of the party.)