[Tell Me About] Decipher's "How to Host a Murder/ Mystery" Games

[Participant-Observer]

I'm not generally interested in what one would call LARPing, but I am interested in the How to Host a Murder (or Mystery) series that I've seen in game shops. (Linkey (http://howtohost.fanhq.com).)

Well, okay, the groan-inducing puns are a little off-putting (Flabbius Corpus? Flabbius Corpus?!?). But I'd like to know how they work as mysteries, what advice you get in the way of props, if there are any stand out examples, etc.

Are there any other companies doing anything similar? Anything better?































Pretty please?

[coeli]

I haven't got much experience with those. If you run across the Star Trek: Next Generation one (which I don't think they even sell any more), AVOID IT. Really astonishingly stupid plot. Mystery evenings can be a blast, though.

[Participant-Observer]

I haven't got much experience with those. If you run across the Star Trek: Next Generation one (which I don't think they even sell any more), AVOID IT. Really astonishingly stupid plot. Mystery evenings can be a blast, though.

Ah. Duly noted (with thanks). Any chance of spoilerage?

Anyone else?

[komradebob]

I'm not generally interested in what one would call LARPing, but I am interested in the How to Host a Murder (or Mystery) series that I've seen in game shops. (Linkey (http://howtohost.fanhq.com).)

Well, okay, the groan-inducing puns are a little off-putting (Flabbius Corpus? Flabbius Corpus?!?). But I'd like to know how they work as mysteries, what advice you get in the way of props, if there are any stand out examples, etc.

The one I dissected included a menu :D (Fairly nice, actually, since it also included timing for the various food cook times and coursing, which was integrated with story breaks).

As for props, I don't recall much being required, although I believe the invitations which include background usually suggest costuming tips. IIRC, there were also "staging" (room arranging) tips included.

Are there any other companies doing anything similar? Anything better?

I keep hearing about something called Parlor Larps that sound pretty good...

The How to Host... package I looked at seemed super railroady, even by my Iron-Fisted GM of Doom standards.

[Participant-Observer]

The one I dissected included a menu :D (Fairly nice, actually, since it also included timing for the various food cook times and coursing, which was integrated with story breaks).

As for props, I don't recall much being required, although I believe the invitations which include background usually suggest costuming tips. IIRC, there were also "staging" (room arranging) tips included.

...

The How to Host... package I looked at seemed super railroady, even by my Iron-Fisted GM of Doom standards.

Hmmm. Thanks for all that.

I just Googled "Parlor LARPS" and found this:

THIS! (http://www.shiftingforest.com/parlorlarps.html)

[Participant-Observer]

Hmmm. Thanks for all that.

I just Googled "Parlor LARPS" and found this:

THIS! (http://www.shiftingforest.com/parlorlarps.html)

And I just found out that they're based in Menlo Park (http://www.shiftingforest.com/directing.html) and direct games for groups at the rate of $20 per hour.

Hmmmmm ...

[stove]

My gaming group tried one of those games. I'll echo a review I read a long time ago: "For people who don't game, these games are kind of neat. For anyone who's done any roleplaying before, they're odd and boring."

The game (at least the one we had), had a number of character books, a relatively mediocre voice acted intro CD, and some extremely sketchy rules. Each character book was broken into "acts," where each page had some facts to be given out during the act. As the game went on, you learned more and more about your character.
For a roleplayer, this is very odd. For instance, I had a character who was initially presented as being a "good guy." By Act 3, turns out I was actually pretty corrupt, and by Act 4-5 was downright mean. Other players had similar odd twists and turns. The sketchiness of the character bios meant that, by the end, we had dropped all pretense of "roleplaying" and were just reading the plot points to one another.
So a combination of things: vital character traits missing from early parts of the game (like the criminal not knowing they did the crime, a la Clue), absense of anything outside of The Mystery being explained, and the inability to _do_ anything outside of talking made for a less than stellar gaming experience.

The sad part was, at the end, we decided that this would've made a spectacular LARP. Characters had uncertain alliances and conflicting goals. There was a nightclub singer/assassin. A moll seeing someone on the side. A corrupt DA, in league with the mob boss's henchmen. I mean... wow. It was great grist for a short little LARP.

So, approaching it as a chance to dress up in a funny costume and put on an accent for a few hours is wise. Approaching it as anything resembling a LARP seems destined for trouble.

This was the only game I've ever played in of this type, so others may be better.

[Psilan]

Are there any other companies doing anything similar? Anything better?

Pretty please?

I've played a couple of these, but only one that I know was from Decipher. It was probably the worst one of them that I played. (It was set at a high school reunion; all the names, for everything, were terrible puns about on par with the character names in Camen Sandiego).

The general way it works is: each player is given a booklet that describes their character, but you're generally not given everything up front. Each "act" you get information about your character that you should try to keep secret, and information about other characters that you should try to reveal. Generally you won't know if you actually comitted the crime until the final act. With the Decipher game, these were pretty shallow and weren't particularly good fodder for improv. I've played much better ones, but I can't remember the names of the companies that produced them.

Also, a final caveat: the mystery usually comes down to the obvious suspect and the "was never given a motive or access to the weapon" guy. It is, in my experience, without fail that it's the guy you would never suspect.


Edit: Apparently, it's a popular passtime (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=murder+mystery+party&btnG=Search).

[Ryan Paddy]

I played the same boxed game as stove (called The Chicago Caper I think) and agree with their sentiments.

There's one big criticism I would add. Our group suffered from complete information overload. The sheer amount of info in those books was overwhelming, and after a couple of drinks and two hours of listening to information I could barely remember all my own character's twists and turns let alone visualise the whole sequence of events we were relating.

When we finished, no one had a damn clue what the solution to the mystery was, and we had some decent problem solvers among us. Too long to play, too much information. If the booklets were half the size it would have made a fun party game.

[Matt-M-McElroy]

FFG has a "party game" currently available:

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/kn12.html

Also worth checking out:

http://www.dinnerandamurder.com

[Participant-Observer]

Well, I thought that this thread had died a death -- thanks for the replies.

I might (might) still give one of the Decipher games a whirl -- if only because it seems you can get away with fewer participants. Looks less and less likely, however. The way that info is handled doesn't seem too well though out (too much, and in dribs and drabs). You all may have saved me lots of money.

However, Hollywood Lives looks intriguing, and I see that it's only $5 in the sale (although FFG's shipping is always pretty expensive, it seems). Hmmmm.

[Participant-Observer]

Okay -- I just ponied up the money for Hollywood Lives. I'll let you all know what I think when it arrives.

I threw in ordes for Dawnforge and Grimm for good measure, as with $10 for p&p/ s&h, Hollywood Lives by itself would have cost only $5 less than from my FLGS. Yeah, I'm cheap. And? ;)

[Peers]

A bit late to the thread, but I played in one fo these some years ago... one set in feudal Japan, where the host of a dinner party was found murdered. We were all gamers, but we hadn't gamed together... all in all, we were pretty committed to staying in character, but... yeah, the lack of character info from the start was annoying.

Having brought a prop sword, and then having to ditch it before the game started as my book said I had lost it, just lead to awkward questions... especially since I didn't know where I had lost it, and it was later found impaling someone important.

These games are the popcorn date movie to the typical RPG's epic fantasy trilogy... lower-budget, lower expectations, but if it's what everyone's in the mood for, much better in some circumstances.

[Participant-Observer]

A bit late to the thread, but I played in one fo these some years ago... one set in feudal Japan, where the host of a dinner party was found murdered. We were all gamers, but we hadn't gamed together... all in all, we were pretty committed to staying in character, but... yeah, the lack of character info from the start was annoying.

Gah. I can see how that would be frustrating.

Hmmm ... I wonder if part of the problem comes in with different design goals. Think about why many people read detective novels. It's not necessarily for characterization, plotting, etc. but for the puzzle of the mystery. They want to find out "Whodunnit?" -- not be told at the beginning of the story.* (Cf. do teen horror fans go to horror novels for characterization, plot, etc. of for the ick factor?)

RPGers might come to the table expecting to play a role -- and like an actor coming to part, they feel they need to know all about a character's motivations, background, role in the story. A murder mystery fan might come to the table wanting to solve the conundrum before him/ her. If the designers give the person playing the murderer all the "necessary" info before Scene 1, he/ she is no longer playing for the same payoff that the others are.

Which, if you've come to solve the mystery, kind of sucks.

Comments?

* I'm excluding writers and TV shows that explicitly go against the grain of genre conventions (e.g. Columbo; Ruth Rendell).

[komradebob]

Gah. I can see how that would be frustrating.

Hmmm ... I wonder if part of the problem comes in with different design goals. Think about why many people read detective novels. It's not necessarily for characterization, plotting, etc. but for the puzzle of the mystery. They want to find out "Whodunnit?" -- not be told at the beginning of the story.* (Cf. do teen horror fans go to horror novels for characterization, plot, etc. of for the ick factor?)

Actually, I usually couldn't care about the mystery, but then I like stuff by Mosley and Chandler...it's all about the mood and characters (for me).

RPGers might come to the table expecting to play a role -- and like an actor coming to part, they feel they need to know all about a character's motivations, background, role in the story. A murder mystery fan might come to the table wanting to solve the conundrum before him/ her. If the designers give the person playing the murderer all the "necessary" info before Scene 1, he/ she is no longer playing for the same payoff that the others are.

Which, if you've come to solve the mystery, kind of sucks.

Comments?

* I'm excluding writers and TV shows that explicitly go against the grain of genre conventions (e.g. Columbo; Ruth Rendell).

Hmm. Should there be some sort of reward for the murderer, even if just social accolades for being a good sport?

[valen]

My non-gamer friends did a bunch of these for a while and my wife and I (both gamers) were invited. It was pretty fun to just kind of try and figure out the mystery. Oh and the puns aren't so bad if you lubricate things well with some nice wine during dinner.

[stove]

Hmmm ... I wonder if part of the problem comes in with different design goals.



I think you're exactly right, which is why the games "don't work" with people who've roleplayed before.
For the average (non-roleplayer) person playing these games, they want to be in on the mystery-solving. For them (probably), dressing up and having a silly name _is_ getting into a role. They don't want to have "in character" dialogue because, frankly, unless they do a lot of improv exercises they probably don't know how to do it for a long time. (This sounds a lot more condescending than I intended it to, so apologies if necessary.)
Roleplayers may not care about the mystery so much as fun dialogue and situations (I know our group didn't), and so may walk away disappointed that the games don't give them enough grist to do that.

[Participant-Observer]

Okay -- I just ponied up the money for Hollywood Lives. I'll let you all know what I think when it arrives.

Well, it arrived and I've had a read through of the book. Surprised and disappointed to see that there are no rules for setting things on fire!!!





























;)

Other than that, it looks like it could be very fun. I may well start another thread about it.

[Noelle]

You know? I fell for all of those reviews that each mystery game posts on their websites and was so dissapointed after I spent the money and played the game.
I've tried the Murder a la catre series, decipher, and a couple of other and they are all the same to me. Blah!
If you want to try out a game, I will be more than happy to email mine to you for free. I just started making my own, because I was sick of those stupid charater names and crappy CD's. You you don't like it, hey. It won't hurt my feelings. LOL, at least no one else would have to pay for those horrible games.

[Sirharrok]

I think you're exactly right, which is why the games "don't work" with people who've roleplayed before.

I've played a couple of How to Host a Murder games, with a mixed crowd of gamers and non-gamers both times.

I agree that they are nothing like a LARP. And there really is no point in trying to solve the mystery -- the plots are utterly contrived and convoluted.

But they are, in my view, still a lot of fun. It's a chance to sit down, have a nice meal, and to joke and laugh the way through the evening with a mixed group of friends.

It's also a great way of introducing non-gamers to gaming -- just tell them that the real thing is much better, much less railroady, and has funny shaped dice.

Cheers
Bill

[plosiguant]

Here, in South Africa, most LARPs are what you would call 'parlor LARPs'.

Normally they only take place over a single evenning, with each player receiving a premade character. Normally we have 8-20 players per evenning.

Pretty much all the LARPs here are written by the organisers, or by somebody the organisers know.

If you are interested, I could post you some of them.

[steveh]

Are there any other companies doing anything similar? Anything better?

We think we are! :)

A few years ago I founded Freeform Games - a company that specialises in producing murder mystery party larps for the general public.

As we are gamers first and foremost, we tend to have more "game" than "murder mystery", but try to ensure that our games have at least one murder so that we can genuinely advertise them as murder mystery games.

But they're freeforms (the UK term for a stand-alone, rules-light, interactive larp) and I occasionally run them at UK games conventions and most of the time nobody notices the difference.

But gamers aren't our target audience - "real" people are. We just don't tell them that they're larping or roleplaying (or even freeforming). To our customers, they're just having a great time at a murder mystery party!

Anyway, here's our site: Freeform Games (http://www.freeformgames.com/)

[komradebob]

I personally like "Trick or Treat" on this page (http://www.interactivitiesink.com/minigames/index.html).

Short and sweet and non-gamer friendly.