Solo Mysteries - Play Part 1

So last time I generated a setup for a solo mystery using the system in Technoir. Now to actually start playing it.

As this is a how-to and not a detailed write up of how I'd describe the events unfolding I won't be adding 'literary flourishes' that I'd usually do.

First I need to show you the current map and table of clues in case you are just coming to this.

Click to make it visible

The mystery revolves around Ran finding out his ex-lover Rhesan has developed, or is developing a magical virus. He has come to the Guard to exact revenge on Rhesan dumping him.

So here are a few more details of how I use the clue map and table to play solo:

1. Each clue has the possbility of revealing another clue linked to the mystery.

2. No matter what I roll I will discover this additional clue, randomly generated from the table. If it doesn't make sense then I may pre-pick a particular column, or columns, to generate the next clue from (but stay open to interpretation for a little while, and possibly ask a Mythic question(s)).

3. What I won't know is if this connection to the mystery is accurate or not. This is where your gaming system steps in.

4. If you roll an incompatible, or duplicate, clue either re-roll, or simply move down the list to the next available clue. Otherwise you can link them, which makes the mystery more interconnected.

This always leaves me somewhere to go, even when I'm not sure how that clue relates to the overall mystery, or if it is accurate or not.

So, back to my example, where do we go from here? It makes sense that Ran is our first point of contact, so our intrepid hero, let's call him Shan, interviews Ran.

At this point I can generate a few details for Ran - there are plenty of tools around to do this, so I won't list the ones I use, but here are the pertinent facts:

Ran Riverbrand

Occupation: Banker

Description: Tall

Personality: Clever

Motivation: Defend Belief

Shan interviews Ran and using FU as my system and gets a Yes, and result.

This means I generate at least one truly connected clue and I decide the 'and' nets the next clue as well. So what do I get? [2] [4] - which is the Virus again. OK this is a little early so I don't want to link it again at this point, but helpfully shows my 4th rule above, I will simply move down to Bad Drugs.

I decide to connect this to Rhesan (as Ran is informing on him, and shows you can be flexible with the plot map) and use a Mythic complex question to come up with the connection - Release Messages.

My interpretation is that Rhesan received a 'vision' while under the influence.

My second clue gained is [6] [3] the Threat Emerson Seabright. Ran also mentions Seabright was do to with the drugs, which as a Threat, is bad news. As I wasn't asking directly about Seabright I won't write anything for the connection between the Bad Drugs and him.

I add them to the clue map as follows:

Click to make it visible

Now, I can either follow up on Rhesan or Emerson. So, in a spot of genre emulation I decide that I don't know enough to approach Rhesan at this point (and potentially give away the investigation), which leaves a scene with Seabright.

I decide that we were in control the last scene so Chaos is now 4.

Here are the current Mythic lists, with personal additions from my character (in true downbeat detective fashion):

NPCs - (Personal) Ex-Sarra Stoutfish, Ran Riverbrand, Rhesan Coli, Emerson Seabright

Threads - (Personal) Have a drink, Stop virus release, Arrest Rhesan/conspirators

I of course roll the obligatory 4 so an Interrupt scene, Move away from a thread (Arrest) - Proceedings Food.

OK, so we're a little early to be moving away from a thread, especially that one. So maybe it's a brief respite?

After a moment of inspiration here's something I've never had to do before, but maybe again shows the flexibility of the clue map approach.

I'll generate another clue and put it on the map but not connect it. [4] [3] New Inn in Snake Alley, showing that Mythic does indeed write itself perfectly some times.

On the way to see Emerson Seabright my guard stops at the New Inn for something to eat (and possibly drink), does someone turn up? Likely 69 - Yes Emerson Seabright.

On that cliff hanger I'll leave it there for the time being.

Solo mysteries - Setup

Mysteries remain one of the most discussed elements of role-playing and solo play only adds to this. Many GMs can't handle the issues around discovering clues, providing leads to players and many other elements of investigation adventures. For the solo player these can be even more acute, how exactly can we piece together a mystery and keep our own knowledge of the solution from ourselves? It just doesn't work.

Indeed given the usual structure of a mystery adventure, whereby there is a solution and a (hopeful) myriad of clues pointing to the answer, this clearly won't work for solo play, becuase there is no hidden information necessary for this style to work.

However, having used Technoir in the past for exactly this, it perfectly captures the sense of discovery that you want as a player, and provdes a satisfying solution to the mystery at the same time.

Technoir initially is a cyberpunk noir game of players investigating a mystery, in that game usually the players are somewhat tied up in the initial setup and some of the elements of the game. This doesn't have to be the case, although it does help in some circumstances.

It is also applicable to a lot wider genres than cyberpunk. I've used it in police procedurals through to Scooby Doo style kids high jinks.

I want to take you through the use of 'Clue Maps' for solo mysteries, from their construction through to use at the table and eventual solution.

Pre-game

So, normally with Technoir you take a 'Transmission' and randomly roll three nodes and link them together to form the initial setup, but what does that actually mean?

A Transmission in Technoir parlance is 6 Items (or clues) in 6 Categories. Connections (people), Locations, Events, Objects, Threats and Factions. This leads to 36 clues that can be linked to this particular mystery. You could amend these categories to fit your game better but I've not felt the need to when I've used it.

Now, it is possible to construct these during play, similar to how the Location Crafter can work. However, because of the work that is required to come up with the entries and you don't know how they will come up in your game, I personally don't see any issue with populating it prior to play (again like the Location Crafter).

Here's an example one that I will use in my demonstration. It is based on a police procedural style game set in Port Blacksand, a fantasy city from the Advanced Fighting Fantasy books:

So to go through it and how I came up with those entries.

Connections

Honestly the easiest section to come up with, this is just a list of names at this moment in time. I will generate further details when I introduce them to the Clue Map.

Connections are people that represent single individuals who are somehow mixed up with the whole mystery. They could be victims, perpetrators, conspirators or simply mixed up with the whole thing.

Events

I used Kellri's Sci-Fi Blocks fpdf for this. There is a section at the back for city wide events that is very useful (beyond it's usefulness for generating future locations). Some may need adapting if rolled but well worth picking up (it's free).

These are background (and sometimes foreground) events that are happening around the time of the mystery, and could be involved in some fashion.

Factions

I picked details from the map I am using, and made the rest up myself (only a couple of them). You could probably find generators for these, or pick them from the background of the game you are playing, if you are using an established setting.

Factions are groups that may be involved in the mystery. In a cyberpunk or modern mystery these would be corporations, unions etc. and there's no reason they aren't in a fantasy universe either.

Locations

Again, I picked these from the map and a random generator (I can't remember which now!).

Fairly self explanatory these, it helps if these are generally disreputable places, but high class locations can work just as well.

Objects

I made some of these up, and used a Fiasco playset to come up with the others. Fiasco playsets are great for 'Transmission' population if you can find an appropriate one.

Another fairly self explanatory category, weapons, cash and other desirable items make good objects.

Threats

Again, I came up with these either from the map or random name generation. Once again you could use a random generator or setting elements if they are available.

These are a little trickier, they are factions and groups who want to harm the characters directly, whereas factions are not as direct.

Initial setup

So now I have my 'Transmission'/clue matrix or whatever else you want to call it, it is now time to generate the initial setup of the mystery. This is the core inciting event that starts the whole thing off, it could be a murder, some form of terror incident, or whatever intrigues you.

This always involves 3 clues, giving you enough to work with, without laying out half the mystery in one go.

You can roll these completely at random, hand pick all or some. I have decidced to roll them all, just to walk you through the process.

So I rolled 3 pairs of dice getting, [1] [3] - Ran Riverbrand, [2] [4] - Virus, and [1] [1] - Rhesan Coli.

An unusual grouping, but let's see what I can come up with, and here's my initial mystery sheet.

Now, what does it mean?

I must admit to feeling a little stumped, so I fell back on that best of solo gamer's prompts - a Mythic complex question, for which I rolled Disrupt Magic!

So this instantly came to me, one of Ran or Rhesan is trying to release a magical virus and the other has come to the Port Blacksand Guard to report them. Is it likely he was involved in this plot initially? Very likely - No. Well, there's Mythic doing it's thing again. So there must be some other connection between them - complex question time again - Negligence Wounds.

So (let's determine this 1-3 Ran 4-6 Rhesan [1]) Ran was the lover of Rhesan, but he has been rejected and is now ignoring him, now Ran has found out that Rhesan is planning to release a magical virus in to the city and wants to get revenge by informing the Guard.

OK, hopefully that makes sense and you can see how I have arrived at this using the map and Mythic to clarify things. You know I was tempted to pick some and run a 'standard' murder, but now I'm glad I didn't!

I will post the second part in a few days, once I have had time to play it out and type it up. In the meantime feel free to ask me any questions below, or find me on the Mythic Discord.

Investigation Characters

So here are the stats of the detectives I've been using, and are going to use for the next investigation system, which is standard Mythic GM Emulator.

As you may have read I was going to change the game system as well, but with varius things going on (not least of which is Euro 2020/2021) I just haven't found the time to get it sorted. So in the interest of getting a game in in the forseeable future I've stuck with my interpretation of the Danger Patrol Beta.

So here are Butler and Bates first:

Archie Bates

New Recruit

D4 - Agent
D8 - SWAT
D12 - Athlete
D10 - Detective
D8 - Streetwise
D6 - Driver
D6 - Hacker
D6 - Martial Artist

D6 - Gun
D6 - Evidence Analyser

Brandon Butler

Veteran Mayhem PD Detective

D6 - Agent
D6 - SWAT
D4 - Athlete
D12 - Detective
D10 - Streetwise
D8 - Driver
D8 - Hacker
D6 - Martial Artist

D6 - Gun
D6 - Evidence Analyser

For the next installment using Mythic here are my new cops:

Hank Turner

Street smart Detective

D10 - Agent
D8 - SWAT
D6 - Athlete
D6 - Detective
D12 - Streetwise
D6 - Driver
D8 - Hacker
D4 - Martial Artist

D6 - Gun
D6 - Evidence Analyser

Connor Olson

By-the-book Detective

D8 - Agent
D8 - SWAT
D6 - Athlete
D10 - Detective
D4 - Streetwise
D6 - Driver
D12 - Hacker
D6 - Martial Artist

D6 - Gun
D6 - Evidence Analyser

While I originally created Archie and Brandon, Hank and Connor were generated by a randomising spreadsheet I threw together. I may well stick with it for future characters, although I'd also love to try various character generators - something to think about, although I don't want to bog this down any more than necessary.

New Hope City PI - Case 2

Crime 2

Type - Casebuilding (Deviant Android)
Victim - Ordinary Joe - Sales Clerk (Domestic Help)
Time - Evening
Area - Downtown South - Cinnamon restaurant
Difficulty - 4 - 8 Clues
Weather - Spring - Breezy

Preston Kemp's spouse, Betsy, made the call, and he's been taken to Central Hospital in Capitol Hills.

Despite initially being uncooperative Brandon Butler talks Preston round and he confirms what his wife said, that he was sitting outside the restaurant when he was confronted and attacked by a skinjob. He has no idea why.

Get an object

Butler and Bates head to the Cinnamon, passing an escort and 2 rough looking possible customers. The escort wishes them a good evening so they leave her to it.

As they arrive at the restaurant the chefs appear to be leaving and in high spirits but they are still just about open and manage to get access to the video files.

The video backs up Preston's account (first Clue) so they send it off to Tech.

Question someone

They decide to go and see Betsy and she tells them she's in a coffee shop near home in The Boroughs.

Outside the shop they bump into a well known 'information broker' before heading inside and speaking to Betsy.

During their chat they ask her if she knows anyone who has a grudge against her husband and to their surprise she says a detective!

[At this point I want sure what to do with this so the following only came to me in hindsight]

She also says if they come by tomorrow she'll give them more details as she can't remember them now, so they wish her a goodnight.

Day Two - 2 Clues solved

Get object

They head into the office next morning where they are told there could be more footage, so they head back to a bar next to the restaurant.

Downtown South - The Studio Bar
Early
Breezy

When they enter the bar Butler recognises a known criminal, and they eye each other before the crim leaves. Butler tells Bates it’s Roger Bowman and to keep an eye on him if he ever sees him again.

They get a look at the security footage but it comes up empty (failed roll). They do see the information broker, Kurt Kennedy, from yesterday though so decide to pay him a visit.

Question a person

They get a trace on him at a Drug Store in Capitol Hills, so swing by and have a little chat. Unfortunately he doesn’t know anything. This case is getting a little frustrating.

Butler decides it’s now late enough to call on Betsy Kemp so they travel to their condo in The Boroughs.

Get object

The Boroughs - Condo
Day

She’s worked herself up into a frenzy when they arrive, (Hostile reaction) but they calm her down and get the documents her husband has put together (third Clue).

Looking through them they decide they need to speak to Detective McFadden. It’s not someone they know as he’s part of the National Crime Force.

Question a person

Evening
Downtown South - Restaurant - The French Bass

When they arrive at the restaurant McFadden is talking to Bowman, well say they talking they seem to be having an argument. When Butler and Bates tell him to skip it he refuses until Bates manhandles him and he leaves.

Once Bowman is gone they sit down with McFadden who tells them he’s working a large Android case. He can’t tell them more than that as they’re not cleared for it, he does tell them to look into Jordan Ferguson of Canonics. He hasn’t been able to question him yet and their local contacts may be better (fourth Clue).

Question a person

Evening
Downtown South - Coffee House - Eats & Treats Cafe

They get back in their and call in last known sighting of Jordan Ferguson, he’s tracked to Eats & Treats Cafe around the corner so they decide to pay him a visit now.

Unfortunately they never make it, on the way they bump into Bowman with three associates. They don’t back down and Bowman pulls a gun. Butler immediately triggers his emergency response beacon for the station and draws his own gun, and Bates does the same.

Bates shouts out his official warning and the gangers just ignore him, as they start to split up to fan around them. Butler shoots at Bowman but misses and Bates opens fire half a second later, dropping one of them.

Bowman returns fire and Butler has to retreat to cover. Bates fires again and this time Bowman is down, the remaining gangers don’t fancy the odds and run for it. Butler comes out of cover and tells him to go get ‘em then.

Bates easily catches up with one of them but doesn’t manage to bring him down, in fact he gets a chain smashed into his arm. Bates knows he can’t beat him in a brawl so decides to pull his gun and shout another warning but the ganger just grins and swirls the chain, a fraction of a second later he’s laying on the floor, a textbook centre mass shot blowing him off his feet.

He hears sirens as he sits on the ground before his legs give way.

Day Three - 4 Clues solved

Day
Capitol Hills - Central Hospital
Overcast (seemingly to match Bates mood)

Butler picks up a discharged Bates, and after a brief chat about last night they head to see Ferguson at work.

Question a person

Downtown North - Office - Canonics
Day

As they arrive at the gleaming office building they recognise the man they need coming out with colleagues. He’s not very co-operative but eventually admits he knows Preston Kemp, but says that he’s tied up with Bowman and they should be looking there (fifth Clue).

Not getting any more out of him they decide to go see if Bowman has recovered yet.

Question a person

Capitol Hills - Central Hospital

Bowman hasn’t recovered, but one of his cronies has. He tells them they were hired and that the skinjob is in the Industrial area of town (sixth Clue).

Question a person

Industrial Area - Flop House

To their surprise they find Betsy Kemp outside and she insists she joins them in the search. Inside it’s pretty derelict but they find the android, Butler tries to question it and it pushes him to the ground and makes a run for it.

Bates draws his gun but the android barges into him knocking him to the ground too. Bates tries to hold on to the android’s leg but it breaks free and makes it outside. Bates grabs his gun and jumps up after it. His athletic nature means that he manages to keep pace with the android but he knows that won’t last, he stops to shoot but it goes wide and the android disappears around a corner.

Returning to Butler he lets him know he’s gone and Butler starts questioning Mrs Kemp. She tells them what she knows, that Jordan Ferguson organises everything and her husband just helps them move them on with his job at Domestic Help (seventh Clue).

Question a person

Downtown North - Office - Canonics

The detectives know they are going to find it difficult when the are met with Ferguson and his lawyer. True enough, with the attorney’s help they don’t manage to get anything out of Ferguson and have to cut their losses.

They are cursing their losses when they are notified that the android has been spotted in the Airport area.

Question a person

Airport area - Apartment above Crypticorps office

The detectives are surprised to find the android and Detective McFadden together. The android is trapped and can’t escape this time. Talking to McFadden and the android it becomes clear that Ferguson really is controlling this operation, his job allowing him to transfer ownership of stolen androids, Bowman procuring them and Kemp helping to move them on (eighth and final Clue). McFadden is looking into a wider issue around android theft and is happy for them to take this local case, and the associated paperwork and trial.

Bates takes the android into custody and back to the station.

Late
The Boroughs - Jordan Ferguson’s House

Bates and Butler aren’t surprised to find that Ferguson has his attorney and accountant with him when they go to pick him up. They still drag him down the station and have enough to charge him.

New Hope City PI - Thoughts

So now I have run two cases, what are my thoughts on 5150 New Hope City PI?

It is very procedural, and you are left with a very bare bones structure to try and weave into a coherent story.

I'm not sure it worked that well in the moment, although the resulting tidying up did seem to make some sense (I'll leave you to make that decision). Overall it seemed to work better in retrospect.

I can't fault the people and location charts and intend to use these for future games if necessary (although they will be in rotation with other tools I want to try out).

What I particularly liked was the fact ot gave me the same types often often to weave them together. Given the actual amount of possibilities I don't know if this is just coincidence or the sheer volume I rolled. Either way it did tie it up quite nicely.

Another decision I've reached is to change the underlying game system. I was going to change to The Department of Fabricant Management but the character creation process was too finicky. Instead I am going to mix it with Mini Six, which is a lighter version of the Open D6 System which is famous as the West End Games Star Wars RPG.

The mixing is replacing the totalling of the dice (which I consider clunky) with DFMs/The GoalSystem 1-3 No Goal, 4-5 1 Goal, and 6 2 Goals. It is much quicker than addition and so less taxing on my brain!

The second investigation system I am going to use is Mythic, the classic GM emulator. Mythic has a reputation for producing sprawling games so I'll see how it handles an investigation. I am not going to try and force a conclusion, maybe this is a case that Mayhem PD don't get to solve.

For this game I am going pure Mythic too, I don't intend to use any other tables (other than naming resources). I'll see how that goes and maybe add some tables in for the second run through (I always intend to run two games so that I can say I've tried them properly).

New Hope City PI - Case 1

Crime 1

Type - Robbery
Victim - Ordinary Joe - Waiting Staff
Time - Daytime
Area - Capitol Hills - The Trinity Bar
Difficulty - 1 - 2 Clues
Weather - Spring - Dull

Start by finding an object

Bates and Butler turn up to the bar and meet a young corporate executive looking type trying to get a group of dolled up women to move on as the bar is shut. Bates and Butler manage to persuade them it's a crime scene, the neon light tape is a dead giveaway. Bates gets a wink from one of them and a backwards glance over the shoulder.

Bates watches her walk down the road and Butler advises him that it's not worth his trouble getting involved with that sort of woman and they head inside.

Once inside they get a look at the security footage (gaining a Clue) but Butler doesn't recognise the assailant (failed roll).

Question a Person

Once they get back to the station Tech have found a match for Brady Hobbs, and where he works so they head out immediately.

They find themselves outside the nice office building for Andromeda Research in Downtown North and head inside. A colleague points them in the right direction and as soon as they find him he almost immediately confesses (Helpful reaction roll and a successful skill roll).

As that's 2 Clues they take him into custody and back down the station. They find out that he had money problems and hadn't really thought of the consequences of trying to rob somewhere so high profile.

That’s enough to charge him and other than a bit of tidying up the case is closed.

New Hope City: PI

So the first system I am going to try is New Hope City: PI (NHCPI) designed by Two Hour Wargames (THW).

There are a few reasons for this, first is that my first real introduction to solo gaming was with THW's Larger Than Life, a pulp miniatures ruleset that first focused on playing a single character and going on what would be recognisable as an adventure. It was from that I discovered their 5150 New Beginnings rules and then after that Mythic GME from which I have never looked back.

Well NHCPI takes the cyberpunk-ish city from New Beginnings and adds an investigation method to it. As all THW games are written for solo/co-op play this means the rules are designed to work for solo players too!

So, what are they like on first look?

Quite table heavy, although I don't mind that, particularly as a lot of it is in the initial generation of the crime.

Abstract clue based. So to 'solve' a crime you need to find/solve a certain number of clues (the amount is variable and set by the type of crime and then a random roll). There is no assistance in what these clues and connections are.

My next post will be a walkthrough of my first crime, and an introduction to the first members of the Mayhem Police Department (the name I chose for the city based on a World Works Games printable terrain and RPGGeek search).

Solo Investigations

So as stated one of things this blog will cover is solo role-playing games, that is playing an RPG without a GM.

This is a fast growing area of the hobby, and with the coronavirus pandemic has become more prevalent.

Generally when I solo RP I use the industry mainstay Mythic GM Emulator (hereafter called Mythic GME). This is, in my opinion, the best solo emulator there is, however it does have drawbacks, particularly in its handling of investigations.

Now investigations in RP have long been an area of difficulty, even in group games. They can be hard to provide the necessary clues to the players, and have the mystery wrapped up in a satisfactory TV or novel  style way.

Given those difficulties it is even harder for these styles of adventure to succeed in solo play as one of the joys of solo play is seeing where the story goes, which is difficult when that story is trying to end in a particular way.

That is not to say that people have not tried, and there are a number of systems and approaches both for group and solo games, although group games understandably is where most of the work has been aimed.

In order to find out which investigation methods and systems work best for solo play I intend to give each of them a playthrough for at least a couple of investigations. That should hopefully let me see that system in action sufficiently to have an educated opinion of each of them.

I intend to follow each system exactly as written to give each its fair chance.

Now in order to make the comparison fair I think that other factors should remain static as far as possible, and this relates specifically to the underlying RPG system I use to resolve actions and scenes.

Ordinarily I would use the classic version of Freeform Universal (otherwise known as FU). This small but fantastic system is great at providing a small narrative push with each roll which would work extremely well for the social interactive nature of most investigations. However when trying to review the systems I feel this could get in the way of how they operate so have decided to use a more traditional system based on John Harper's Danger Patrol beta.

Finally, I have decided to base the run throughs in the same place, a cyberpunk-style city of the near future based on Blade Runner, Detroit: Beyond Human, AD Police, The Department of Fabricant Management and others, where androids and related problems exist alongside good old human foibles and greed.