Re: Character vs. Player Knowledge

From: Andrew Raphael <raphael_at_research.canon.com.au>
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 14:20:36 +1100 (EST)


"Nick Brooke (D&T CAS)" <100656.1216_at_compuserve.com> writes:

>The important thing to remember is that your characters could very well
>have been wrong.

I assume the merchant's head was missing. Perhaps he or she died elsewhere & the body was moved. If so, it could even be suicide. A botched hanging can decapitate -- too long a drop & pop! Now you have to find who moved the body, why they offed themselves, etc.

If the body is cold, the head is missing, you can't find it, the merchant isn't dead (you can't summon their spirit), and I was a LM/IO cultist, I'd suspect Thanatari. Thanatar is an outre cult. Apart from its special foe LM/IO, how many non-chaotic cults incorporate it in their rituals as a foe?

>If you're writing a Gloranthan murder mystery (something I'm trying my
>hand at soon), I imagine you'd need to make sure there are plenty of
>suspects, and also do something to prevent an irritatingly well-timed
>Detect Lie or Sense Chaos from scuppering the whole plot. Heaping
>suspicion on the effectiveness of such techniques would be a good start:
>we shouldn't insist that all murderers be Illuminates, when finding
>other ways to get around these skills and spells is More Game Fun.

Some years ago there was a caravan scenario in White Dwarf that had a murder sub-plot. I don't have my copy any more, so I can't say who wrote it, but it was cleverly done.

End of Glorantha Digest V2 #432


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