Developing a Mystery
Jan 7, 2014 10:55:42 GMT -8
Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2014 10:55:42 GMT -8
Hi everybody; this is my first post in the community, so please, be gentle.
[OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING: Players in the "Great Responsibility" Wild Talents campaign, DO NOT READ THIS THREAD.]
tl;dr version: I am currently running a Wild Talents campaign, and am struggling a little bit with developing some mystery/conspiracy threads in a way that I am sure will be compelling. I'd appreciate some feedback and ideas for building these arcs.
Longer version:
So, the game is based around the idea that around 30 years prior to game start, the world was a standard four-color comic-book fantasy kitchen sink; but then a major global threat reared its head whose defeat entailed every superhuman on the planet disappearing. Superhumans are starting to manifest again, and the PCs will be slowly piecing together that there was a conspiracy to get rid of the supers the first time around; this will be the larger arc, while in the mean time the PCs deal with the crime that has become rampant now that heroes aren't around to help keep it down, supervillains (both new ones and older ones playing long cons who managed to hide from the conspiracy), corrupt corporations attempting to exploit the super-tech and magical artifacts left behind by the disappeared supers, and the social/political impact of superheroes returning to a world that assumed they were gone.
The first arc of the game revolves around the PCs dealing with an organized crime syndicate that has all but taken over the city where the game is initially set. The first session (the only one we've played) involved them making enemies of the syndicate by disrupting an attempt to steal evidence that implicated one of the syndicate bosses (who is now in jail). The plan is for the next few sessions to be a mix of investigation and action, as the syndicate acts to try to rid themselves of the new superheroes while the PCs start to piece together what the syndicate's bigger plan is.
Here is where I'm a little stuck. I know I want the PCs to be able to gather clues, collate evidence, and start to figure out what the syndicate is planning. At the same time, I want to start the slow burn of them figuring out there is something even bigger going on, a larger conspiracy that is watching them. But I don't want to either overload them with info early and make the plots unsatisfyingly short, nor give them too little at a time and have them be unsatisfyingly long.
Right now I am thinking that the right thing to do with the syndicate plot is to hammer out exactly what their plan is, and leave some loose ends dangling that the PCs can pick up on through their backstories, relationships with NPCs, and individual superpowers. At the same time, start having one or two little weird things happen each game that indicate they are being watched/studied. If possible, try to make them think the weird things are a result of syndicate attention, so they can be dissuaded of that notion in the next story arc when the syndicate has been defeated/neutralized and they're still having weird stuff happen to them.
Does this seem like a good way to handle the situation? Can anyone provide some ideas for running mystery/conspiracy games that might help me structure my adventures a little more?
Thanks so much in advance for all your help.
[OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING: Players in the "Great Responsibility" Wild Talents campaign, DO NOT READ THIS THREAD.]
tl;dr version: I am currently running a Wild Talents campaign, and am struggling a little bit with developing some mystery/conspiracy threads in a way that I am sure will be compelling. I'd appreciate some feedback and ideas for building these arcs.
Longer version:
So, the game is based around the idea that around 30 years prior to game start, the world was a standard four-color comic-book fantasy kitchen sink; but then a major global threat reared its head whose defeat entailed every superhuman on the planet disappearing. Superhumans are starting to manifest again, and the PCs will be slowly piecing together that there was a conspiracy to get rid of the supers the first time around; this will be the larger arc, while in the mean time the PCs deal with the crime that has become rampant now that heroes aren't around to help keep it down, supervillains (both new ones and older ones playing long cons who managed to hide from the conspiracy), corrupt corporations attempting to exploit the super-tech and magical artifacts left behind by the disappeared supers, and the social/political impact of superheroes returning to a world that assumed they were gone.
The first arc of the game revolves around the PCs dealing with an organized crime syndicate that has all but taken over the city where the game is initially set. The first session (the only one we've played) involved them making enemies of the syndicate by disrupting an attempt to steal evidence that implicated one of the syndicate bosses (who is now in jail). The plan is for the next few sessions to be a mix of investigation and action, as the syndicate acts to try to rid themselves of the new superheroes while the PCs start to piece together what the syndicate's bigger plan is.
Here is where I'm a little stuck. I know I want the PCs to be able to gather clues, collate evidence, and start to figure out what the syndicate is planning. At the same time, I want to start the slow burn of them figuring out there is something even bigger going on, a larger conspiracy that is watching them. But I don't want to either overload them with info early and make the plots unsatisfyingly short, nor give them too little at a time and have them be unsatisfyingly long.
Right now I am thinking that the right thing to do with the syndicate plot is to hammer out exactly what their plan is, and leave some loose ends dangling that the PCs can pick up on through their backstories, relationships with NPCs, and individual superpowers. At the same time, start having one or two little weird things happen each game that indicate they are being watched/studied. If possible, try to make them think the weird things are a result of syndicate attention, so they can be dissuaded of that notion in the next story arc when the syndicate has been defeated/neutralized and they're still having weird stuff happen to them.
Does this seem like a good way to handle the situation? Can anyone provide some ideas for running mystery/conspiracy games that might help me structure my adventures a little more?
Thanks so much in advance for all your help.