Your fav dissolving mystery RPG is…?

KenPerry · 03-21-2022, 12:16 AM

Hi guys! Is there anyone interested in mystery themes? If you’re also into dissolving mystery RPGs like me, then tell me what’s your favorite? We can discuss them in this thread.

Anaraxes · 03-21-2022, 08:38 AM

I confess I'm not familiar with the term "dissolving mystery". (Cozy, caper, procedural, heist, locked room, noir, amateur and private detectives... but not "dissolving".) What would you say are the characteristics of that subgenre?

Or is it a game-mechanical reference, perhaps some sort of system that abstracts the mystery solving so that the difficulty drops as the PCs do appropriate things, without respect to individual clues, so that the mystery "dissolves" as the game progresses whether or not the players actually figure it out themselves? (Kind of the way players don't have to become expert swordsmen to defeat a dragon...)

The Colonel · 03-21-2022, 10:23 AM

I've purchased a couple of small press RPGs that have mysteriously disintegrated, but I think that was just poor production values...

L.J.Steele · 03-21-2022, 02:33 PM

You could start with GURPS Mysteries. The various versions of Gumshoe -- Trial of Cthulhu, Nights Black Agents, Bubblegumshoe -- takes a different tack. Dresden Files RPG has some advice.

RogerBW · 03-22-2022, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.J.Steele

You could start with GURPS Mysteries.

That has become the book I recommend to everyone considering running/writing mystery adventures – in particular for the way it lays out the distinctions between real life crime, satisfying mystery stories, and satisfying mystery games.

L.J.Steele · 03-22-2022, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogerBW

That has become the book I recommend to everyone considering running/writing mystery adventures – in particular for the way it lays out the distinctions between real life crime, satisfying mystery stories, and satisfying mystery games.

Thanks! Glad you like it.

Farmer · 03-22-2022, 05:22 PM

And for easy reference, it's available here http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/mysteries/ in PDF.

03-21-2022, 12:16 AM	#1
KenPerry Join Date: Feb 2022	Your fav dissolving mystery RPG is…? Hi guys! Is there anyone interested in mystery themes? If you’re also into dissolving mystery RPGs like me, then tell me what’s your favorite? We can discuss them in this thread.

03-21-2022, 08:38 AM	#2
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: Your fav dissolving mystery RPG is…? I confess I'm not familiar with the term "dissolving mystery". (Cozy, caper, procedural, heist, locked room, noir, amateur and private detectives... but not "dissolving".) What would you say are the characteristics of that subgenre? Or is it a game-mechanical reference, perhaps some sort of system that abstracts the mystery solving so that the difficulty drops as the PCs do appropriate things, without respect to individual clues, so that the mystery "dissolves" as the game progresses whether or not the players actually figure it out themselves? (Kind of the way players don't have to become expert swordsmen to defeat a dragon...)

03-21-2022, 10:23 AM	#3
The Colonel Join Date: Jul 2006	Re: Your fav dissolving mystery RPG is…? I've purchased a couple of small press RPGs that have mysteriously disintegrated, but I think that was just poor production values...

03-21-2022, 02:33 PM	#4
L.J.Steele Join Date: Apr 2005	Re: Your fav dissolving mystery RPG is…? You could start with GURPS Mysteries. The various versions of Gumshoe -- Trial of Cthulhu, Nights Black Agents, Bubblegumshoe -- takes a different tack. Dresden Files RPG has some advice.

03-22-2022, 05:22 PM	#7
Farmer Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia	Re: Your fav dissolving mystery RPG is…? And for easy reference, it's available here http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/mysteries/ in PDF. __________________ Farmer Mortal Wombat "But if the while I think on thee, dear friend All losses are restored and sorrows end."