Need a break from heavily combat-focused encounters? Want to offer players something different and memorable?
It's time you tried running a DnD murder mystery one-shot!
In this post, we'll cover:
Our three-step formula for building awesome DnD murder mystery one-shot adventures
Five tips to make your one-shot something players will remember
A few additional resources to make your life even easier
Why Run a DnD Mystery?
Slaying baddies will always be a big part of what makes DnD so much fun. But it shouldn't be the sole focus of every single game because your players will get burned out.
Ready to foster more role-playing, collaboration, and atmosphere in your DnD games?
Start with a mystery!
The DnD Murder Mystery Formula
Aside from a slain victim (or several victims), you'll need three essential components in your pocket to draw players into your mystery, keep them guessing, and make them all feel like a badass fantasy Sherlock Homes:
1. Immersive Setting/Location
Your setting can be as detailed or simple as you want, but you need an interesting place for the mystery to unfold, ideally one filled with intrigue and at least some danger.
You can’t really go wrong with proven tropes like an old decaying mansion or fog-shrouded seaside town. But don't be afraid to think outside the box: a remote monastery nestled deep in the mountains, a centuries-old arcane university campus, or a derelict merchant ship.
2. A Handful of Interesting NPCs
You’ll want at least five good NPCs for your players to meet and talk with. This allows you to incrementally reveal crucial details behind the mystery, including background information, clues, secrets, motives, and relationships that can help players solve the case. Your cast of NPC characters will also serve as potential suspects, one of which is the murderer (although in some cases you may have multiple murderers or co-conspirators).
Although you don’t need exhaustive backstories for every NPC, you at least need a short description along with a handful of details about how each NPC plays into the story and mystery. This includes the relationships NPCs have with each other, both in public and in secret. Make sure at least three different NPCs have some kind of motive to commit murder to keep players guessing.
3. Clues and Secrets
No mystery is complete without clues and secrets for the protagonists to find, which will (hopefully) help them solve the crime (but not too quickly). An incriminating note, a clandestine relationship between two or more NPCs, a witness (possibly unreliable), an old journal, a furtive conversation, a smashed object… There are countless potential clues and secrets that could be used to lead players toward solving the case. Ideally, some of these clues will end up leading players astray, but the majority will serve as puzzle pieces that, once combined, paint a complete picture of the truth.
Five Tips to Create a More Engaging Mystery
Here are some other important tricks of the trade to keep in mind when creating your DnD murder mystery one-shot:
The Hook: One crucial element to consider is why your players should care to get involved in the story to begin with. "Someone got murdered" isn't a compelling enough reason for the party to jump in and solve it.
For some players, a handsome reward in gold coin can be enough to entice them, but you should get a little more creative to really pull them in. Create a mysterious story hook that piques the players’ interest, sets a dramatic stage, and motivates them to learn more. Why is this murder such a tragedy or injustice? What's at stake if the murder isn't solved?
Red Herring: Always include at least one red herring. This might be an NPC that seems like a perfect suspect but actually had nothing to do with the crime. It could also be a clue that briefly leads players on a wild goose chase. Red herrings are an important component of your story that keep players guessing and prolong the intrigue.
Smoking Gun: In any murder mystery, the smoking gun is a crucial clue that incriminates the murderer and leaves no doubt that they committed the crime. In some cases, this may not be required for your players to solve the mystery, but it’s certainly a good idea to have a smoking gun somewhere. Just be sure to run your adventure so players don’t discover it too quickly.
Examples of smoking guns include the murder weapon (and some way to tie it to the murderer), a confession (either verbal or written), reliable eyewitness testimony, or catching the murderer in another murder attempt to cover up the original murder.
Lead-up Encounter: Most of your murder mystery one-shot will include players talking with NPCs and looking for clues, but it’s not a bad idea to include some kind of optional smaller encounter in the middle to provide a little action. This could be a battle with one of the villain’s henchmen or a run-in with a local monster or group of thugs. Ideally, this encounter should provide some challenge but not beat the party up too badly before the finale.
Grand Finale: Once your players solve the murder, but before the one-shot ends, there should be a grand finale. In many cases, this is a final showdown between the main villain/murderer and the party. Either the villain will attempt to kill the players after being caught or will simply attempt to escape. It’s the party’s job to bring them to justice, either by capturing them or taking them down.
Using our three-step formula and including these five elements will ensure you create a fun DnD mystery adventure that sucks your players into the story, keeps them engaged from start to finish, and delivers an exciting conclusion.
A Handy Resource for DMs
Homebrewing your own adventures for DnD is a lot of fun – but it can take a long time. Luckily, the Homebrewer’s Helper makes your life easier with tons of random tables for everything you need, from NPCs and monsters to locations and items.
Get Your Holiday Murder Mystery One-Shot for 5e
Need something to play with your group over the holiday break but don't have enough time to build your own? We have you covered!
Check out our holiday-themed mystery one-shot: Ghosts of Christmas Past, available now for digital download in the store.