Astrofotograf
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Posts: 6
Joined: Fri 07 Dec 2018, 09:05

Ideas for a christmas themed mystery

Fri 07 Dec 2018, 10:49

Hi! I'm looking for ideas for a christmas themed mystery. Actually I gm 3 groups (2 pathfinder groups and 1 starfinder group), and we want to play some sort of "christmas special". We decided to play TftL, but I don't have some good ideas for a fitting mystery. It will be the first time for us all to play TftL actually..
Any ideas?
 
Nilo
Posts: 159
Joined: Thu 14 Apr 2011, 11:55

Re: Ideas for a christmas themed mystery

Fri 07 Dec 2018, 20:19

Hi!

The third mystery in the book takes place during the winter, maybe you can decide that it’s actually christmas eve or something? 
 
Jizmack
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri 12 Feb 2016, 23:48

Re: Ideas for a christmas themed mystery

Sat 08 Dec 2018, 21:33

Which aspect of Christmas do you want prevalent in your game?
Start of winter: something to do with winter solstice?
Santa Clause: something regarding the North Pole and elf magic?
Family gathering: adventures to save their families while keeping it all a secret?
Christ: revealing a major religious conspiracy (Da Vinci Code)?
 
Astrofotograf
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Joined: Fri 07 Dec 2018, 09:05

Re: Ideas for a christmas themed mystery

Sun 09 Dec 2018, 12:48

I got an idea meanwhile. In my town a robot went mad and thinks it is santa clause. But instead of giving the children presents he thinks that the children put presents for him under the tree. So on christmas he flies from chimney to chimney with his self built rocket sled and steals all the presents.

The showdown will be confronting himbin his hideout.
Now what still misses is the investigation part. Which lications could fit to get clues?
 
Jizmack
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri 12 Feb 2016, 23:48

Re: Ideas for a christmas themed mystery

Sun 09 Dec 2018, 20:15

Cool story.
It should be something that the kids themselves did, unknowingly, that started a sequence of events leading to the crazy robot.
Maybe, one of the kid’s parent works at an AI research facility, another kid’s parent is an engineering building the robot Santa for marketing at a toy shop, which yet another kid’s parent manages the store.
During their time off from school, the kids inadvertently do something that puts the AI software in the robot Santa, who then stars stealing gifts to restock the toy store.
 
Astrofotograf
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Posts: 6
Joined: Fri 07 Dec 2018, 09:05

Re: Ideas for a christmas themed mystery

Mon 10 Dec 2018, 08:40

Is that a common concept, that the kids started the events leading to the mystery? After all it's "just" a one-shot with pre generated characters
 
Jizmack
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri 12 Feb 2016, 23:48

Re: Ideas for a christmas themed mystery

Tue 11 Dec 2018, 02:17

It’s not uncommon.
Could be a fun mystery when the players realize they’re the cause of the problem, which creates a new urgency (common motivation) to fix what they broke before their parents find out... Because that’s when they’ll get into real trouble!
 
Astrofotograf
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Joined: Fri 07 Dec 2018, 09:05

Re: Ideas for a christmas themed mystery

Tue 11 Dec 2018, 08:37

Hmm.. I still need to find some locations, or rather clues for them..
Maybe they see the robot in the night, flying around with his rocket sled, collecting the presents. Or an npc child saw it and told them. In any case they would have to solve the mystery before christmas, when the parents would put the presents under the tree.
Maybe they just find traces in the snow, or they could sneak outside in the night to follow the robot to his hideout (which would be a very short shortcut to the showdown I think).

Finding something the kids did which lead to that situation is quite tough..
 
Jizmack
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri 12 Feb 2016, 23:48

Re: Ideas for a christmas themed mystery

Tue 11 Dec 2018, 18:15

How about a science school project, where the kids brought some items from their respective parents work (which maybe they shouldn’t have) to win “best project”, and the clues could be reported sightings in the news. Nobody knows what the mysterious flying object is and the police have no leads on the sudden spike in burglaries, but the kids are the only ones who can put all together.
 
Astrofotograf
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Posts: 6
Joined: Fri 07 Dec 2018, 09:05

Re: Ideas for a christmas themed mystery

Wed 12 Dec 2018, 09:04

Nice idea. The school project would also lead to a location where they could find more clues, the school. Maybe it was a presumed not functioning robot they examined in a physics project, and the (actually functioning) robot heard the kids talk about santa clause.

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