Guess who made another 200-word RPG as yet another proof of concept? That's right, it was me. This time, it happened because I was talking with a bunch of other game designers a while back about modifying who gets to know what in the game. Gumshoe's way of solving it is fine, but I figured maybe there should be something more to it, so I suggested "secret tokens" that the players could spend to find some secret they think is in the present scene. Smoooze took that idea and improved upon it, both by naming it "Hunch", and by letting the player regain it upon a correct guess. This would make for a cool game mechanic in a mystery game, so yesterday I gave it a go.
Clues and Hunches
The GM defines the Domains their clues fall into. Players create one detective each that has:
- a name
- a quirk
- Domains from GM's list (minimum 1) and Hunches (minimum 1), the sum of both numbers is 6.
A detective gains a new Domain or Hunch (player's choice) after every third successfully solved case. The GM can come up with new domains as the games go on.
The GM must give a detective all clues in their general vicinity that belong to their Domain. Some information must be discovered through Hunches. When a detective suspects something is true, they can spend one Hunch by stating publicly "I have a hunch that...", following it with their assumed fact. The GM gives the detective their spent Hunch back if it's true. Spent Hunches are otherwise regained after the case.
If the GM allows it, a detective could possess supernatural abilities like speaking with the dead or lie detection. Such abilities count as two domains each.
GM guidelines:
- Come up with a seemingly impossible hook, and its logical explanation.
- Give at least 3 clues in detectives' domains for everything they need to know (including motive).
- Play the suspects and other NPCs.
- Avoid red herrings.
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| Never had a chance to make these lengthy convoluted noir monologues that detectives give just before they get into describing how they got the case. But when she came knocking on my door, I knew that was about to change. Commission: Detective, by chirun |
- Example Quirks: neat freak, amnesia, never talks in first person, ...
- Example Domains: chemistry, history, geography, forensics, ...
- Example Hunches: "I have a hunch that there's a way to get from the living room to the garden without using the doors or windows obvious to everyone.", "I have a hunch that the victim was bludgeoned to death with a thing I've already encountered.", ...
I've had multiple arguments with folk on Discord about why I avoid putting Charisma into my games. With this Hunch mechanic, I think it would be fine to remove Wisdom (especially Perception and Insight, Investigation too to an extent) equivalents too. It's a statement Gumshoe makes already by showing that someone shouldn't have to roll to learn something crucial to the game's story.
Hunches go one step beyond, boiling these situations down to their core: The player thinks there's something hidden or off here, so they want to see if their suspicion is correct. In a game where one rolls for these, and the player's suspicion is surprisingly accurate, what is the GM supposed to do? Do they punish the player with a chance of not learning what they should be able to learn? Do they let the player skip the roll completely? What if a player with low Wisdom makes these correct guesses way too much?
Drop the Wisdom (maybe even Intelligence), and give the players tools for learning information. Drop the Charisma, and give the players tools for controlling the conversation they have with the NPCs. And if someone brings up Strength to me again, saying "should I ask the player to lift a boulder in order to prove their barbarian can crash through the door?", I'll direct them to my response. Mental attributes are tricky, which is why I see their removal as more acceptable. That being said, I can see some scenarios where a mental attribute could still be viable.
Thank you for reading, and I wish you all a wonderful day!
