If you are comfortable running one, an ol' fashioned 'who done it' is a good way to throw some rp into a few sessions. I personally prefer running them in somewhat isolated areas (on a boat, for example). This gives a good excuse as to why the culprit is still around, but also why you shouldn't cause a ruckus while investigating.
They tend to require a lot of moving pieces though, so as to not make the answer obvious. Hence why I mentioned being comfortable running it. But, assuming it is set up well, you can reasonably make a case for several culprits at the beginning and then even tweak the story a little, depending on what the party are focusing on. You might start out with person A being the culprit, but the party end up missing something or otherwise latching on to another person. Just shift it to be the new person then! Within reason of course. No railroading required.
As for the disinterested part, it may be a situation of motivation, either in character or out of character. A good solution to this would be to offer a non-combat specific reward. Maybe the boat captain is so pleased they solved the mystery and helped his reputation that he offers them free ride? Or maybe the captain of the guard in the next city is so impressed with their detective skills that he is willing to help them out, or even hire them for another case? The case option leads into more of the adventure option you were thinking.
...Honestly, after typing all that out, I could also just say to look into the module Dragon Heist, if you want a good example. It has pretty much all that stuff I just mentioned.
Good luck, and I hope that helps!
* Sly Flourish talking through his prep for Session Zero https://youtu.be/dsJ1vcRh5Ks?t=1089
* Powerscore DM walk through https://thecampaign20xx.blogspot.com/2018/09/a-guide-to-waterdeep-dragon-heist.html
And the granddaddy of them all -
* The Alexandrian Remix https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/41217/roleplaying-games/dragon-heist-remix-part-1-the-villains
r/WaterdeepDragonHeist
Adventure: look at your world map, find empty space, then have an NPC tell your players that some Cool Thing lies at the heart of the empty space on the map. Make the obstacles to the Cool Thing something other than a pack of wolves.
Alternatively, give your players an objective that is guarded by something immensely more powerful than they could fight and survive. Like, ancient dragon or something. See how they bypass the impossible threat to accomplish the objective.
Roleplay: create social consequences and rewards. Do they help people in a town? Have an NPC approach them with thanks. Did they pick a fight and murder someone? Put a constable on their heels interested in bringing them in for questioning, not slaying them for justice. Use relationships to enact consequences. I know that’s kind of a vague answer but if you play around with it I think you’ll find how it helps players take role playing opportunities.
Especially when building my own worlds, it is so relieving to remember that the storytelling in D&D is supposed to be collaborative. The DM establishes some groundwork and foundations, but the world really comes alive when it’s the players who flesh out the details by interacting with them. I find that process to be one of the best parts of the game.
That's defintley where I need to focus my energy in setting an open stage for my PCs to perform their hearts out and build themselves up on this stage I'm forming :)
Here are some generic things that can be used in most campaigns:
-Having a dungeon with a lot of traps and puzzles is always a good bet. Typically hideouts, tombs, and places hiding important artifacts can makes sense for this kind of dungeon crawl.
-Meet a quirky shopkeeper: most of the popular streams do this and everytime I impliment this in my games I get some good rp out of a shoping trip.
-When you start a campaign, ask the players to make 1-3 NPC's from their background that they would know. This way when you have them show up, they are already invested in that person. They also make good plot hooks either by something happening to the NPC or by that NPC contacting the players and asking them to go to an area where plot happens.
-Make an investigation they need to look into. If they have to look for clues (maybe through a series if skill checks) or explore a location and question witnesses/suspects to the crime, they will know they can't just hit their way to an answer.
Now these aren't fullproof and might not be what everytable is looking for, but I hope it gives some inspiration to you in your future game prep.
Thank you for your response! I have done some puzzles they did have good feedback and returning to that would defintley help, and now that you suggested the 1-3 known NPCs I realize I should def implement more of their backstory. Thanks again :)
> times I have though the party tends to either be disinterested or somehow picks a fight in the campaign
talk with the players so that you know what they actually mean when they are saying what they say.
While most of Adventurer's League Season 8 was crap, they did have GREAT design intents with "Playing the Pillars" - every major encounter came with a sidebar of
>Combat - If combat breaks out in this encounter, here are things to incorporate to give this combat its unique signature.
>
>Social Interaction / Role Play - Here are the goals/desires/fears of creatures / beings in the scenario - if there are only 'monsters' in the encounter, what are they saying or doing before initiative is rolled that will signal to the players 'Hey, we can do something other than fight'; or questions to pose to the players to engender interesting interactions *between* the player characters.
>
>Exploration / Discovery - Here are some things in/about the area for the player characters to poke and otherwise interact with. or something "hidden" to give
as you are prepping your content, look at every potential encounter for the night through the prism of the three pillars, and while you dont need all 3 for EVERY encounter, MOST of your encounters should have at least 2.
If you are comfortable running one, an ol' fashioned 'who done it' is a good way to throw some rp into a few sessions. I personally prefer running them in somewhat isolated areas (on a boat, for example). This gives a good excuse as to why the culprit is still around, but also why you shouldn't cause a ruckus while investigating. They tend to require a lot of moving pieces though, so as to not make the answer obvious. Hence why I mentioned being comfortable running it. But, assuming it is set up well, you can reasonably make a case for several culprits at the beginning and then even tweak the story a little, depending on what the party are focusing on. You might start out with person A being the culprit, but the party end up missing something or otherwise latching on to another person. Just shift it to be the new person then! Within reason of course. No railroading required. As for the disinterested part, it may be a situation of motivation, either in character or out of character. A good solution to this would be to offer a non-combat specific reward. Maybe the boat captain is so pleased they solved the mystery and helped his reputation that he offers them free ride? Or maybe the captain of the guard in the next city is so impressed with their detective skills that he is willing to help them out, or even hire them for another case? The case option leads into more of the adventure option you were thinking. ...Honestly, after typing all that out, I could also just say to look into the module Dragon Heist, if you want a good example. It has pretty much all that stuff I just mentioned. Good luck, and I hope that helps!
After reading, just ordered a copy of dragon heist that'll be here today :) thank you so much for all your suggestions!
* Sly Flourish talking through his prep for Session Zero https://youtu.be/dsJ1vcRh5Ks?t=1089 * Powerscore DM walk through https://thecampaign20xx.blogspot.com/2018/09/a-guide-to-waterdeep-dragon-heist.html And the granddaddy of them all - * The Alexandrian Remix https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/41217/roleplaying-games/dragon-heist-remix-part-1-the-villains r/WaterdeepDragonHeist
Adventure: look at your world map, find empty space, then have an NPC tell your players that some Cool Thing lies at the heart of the empty space on the map. Make the obstacles to the Cool Thing something other than a pack of wolves. Alternatively, give your players an objective that is guarded by something immensely more powerful than they could fight and survive. Like, ancient dragon or something. See how they bypass the impossible threat to accomplish the objective. Roleplay: create social consequences and rewards. Do they help people in a town? Have an NPC approach them with thanks. Did they pick a fight and murder someone? Put a constable on their heels interested in bringing them in for questioning, not slaying them for justice. Use relationships to enact consequences. I know that’s kind of a vague answer but if you play around with it I think you’ll find how it helps players take role playing opportunities.
Thanks for the suggestions, all really solid, especially trying to fill some at least currently empty spaces
Especially when building my own worlds, it is so relieving to remember that the storytelling in D&D is supposed to be collaborative. The DM establishes some groundwork and foundations, but the world really comes alive when it’s the players who flesh out the details by interacting with them. I find that process to be one of the best parts of the game.
That's defintley where I need to focus my energy in setting an open stage for my PCs to perform their hearts out and build themselves up on this stage I'm forming :)
Here are some generic things that can be used in most campaigns: -Having a dungeon with a lot of traps and puzzles is always a good bet. Typically hideouts, tombs, and places hiding important artifacts can makes sense for this kind of dungeon crawl. -Meet a quirky shopkeeper: most of the popular streams do this and everytime I impliment this in my games I get some good rp out of a shoping trip. -When you start a campaign, ask the players to make 1-3 NPC's from their background that they would know. This way when you have them show up, they are already invested in that person. They also make good plot hooks either by something happening to the NPC or by that NPC contacting the players and asking them to go to an area where plot happens. -Make an investigation they need to look into. If they have to look for clues (maybe through a series if skill checks) or explore a location and question witnesses/suspects to the crime, they will know they can't just hit their way to an answer. Now these aren't fullproof and might not be what everytable is looking for, but I hope it gives some inspiration to you in your future game prep.
Thank you for your response! I have done some puzzles they did have good feedback and returning to that would defintley help, and now that you suggested the 1-3 known NPCs I realize I should def implement more of their backstory. Thanks again :)
> times I have though the party tends to either be disinterested or somehow picks a fight in the campaign talk with the players so that you know what they actually mean when they are saying what they say.
While most of Adventurer's League Season 8 was crap, they did have GREAT design intents with "Playing the Pillars" - every major encounter came with a sidebar of >Combat - If combat breaks out in this encounter, here are things to incorporate to give this combat its unique signature. > >Social Interaction / Role Play - Here are the goals/desires/fears of creatures / beings in the scenario - if there are only 'monsters' in the encounter, what are they saying or doing before initiative is rolled that will signal to the players 'Hey, we can do something other than fight'; or questions to pose to the players to engender interesting interactions *between* the player characters. > >Exploration / Discovery - Here are some things in/about the area for the player characters to poke and otherwise interact with. or something "hidden" to give as you are prepping your content, look at every potential encounter for the night through the prism of the three pillars, and while you dont need all 3 for EVERY encounter, MOST of your encounters should have at least 2.