Murder Mystery Recommendation?

Guvnor

The Guvnor
Staff member
I have been asked to organise a very small and short murder mystery evening for my wife's friends. Whilst I can just buy a box from anywhere, I thought I would first ask here if (given our love of the hobby on a bigger scale) recommend anyone who writes and distributes same?
 
Thanks @Maddz, there are some great LARPS there. None quite right.

@steveh
So, I shall be running the game for six ladies, which I know is right down at the bottom of the range.
I can see that your games have male/female and non gendered roles. However there always seems to be two male. How easy it is to either go fully female/ungendered (I see most have spare roles left over) ?
If not then they are all actors so they can cross gender well..

In your games there is a host, which I assume is a GM. Are these very much non-character players, or non-player characters, or can it be either?

On that basis, one evening, six ladies wot act, and me as the GM, which one(s) do you recommend?
 
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Thanks @Maddz, there are some great LARPS there. None quite right.

@steveh
So, I shall be running the game for six ladies, which I know is right down at the bottom of the range.
I can see that your games have male/female and non gendered roles. However there always seems to be two male. How easy it is to either go fully female/ungendered (I see most have spare roles left over) ?
If not then they are all actors so they can cross gender well..

In your games there is a host, which I assume is a GM. Are these very much non-character players, or non-player characters, or can it be either?

On that basis, one evening, six ladies wot act, and me as the GM, which one(s) do you recommend?

I ran one of Steve's (A Will for Murder or something) for a group of friends who definitely thought initially it would be a board-game type thing - but they all got into it and had a great time. Full recommend!
 
We only have a few games for six players - I suggest A Will to Murder (as Guy recommends). It's a classic 1930s English setting.

Unfortunately, there are gendered roles in most of our games - husbands and wives, that sort of thing. We do create gender neutral characters where possible (and we're getting better at that...), but most games have a few gendered characters. (Not just ours - that's true of a lot of them.) However, you can always cross-dress if your players are up for it.

We do have a small game coming out (very soon) with purely non-gendered roles, but it's for 7-11 players. So if you wanted to run that you would have to play the game and also be one of the characters (which is doable and we've written some guidance here). The game is called Murder on the Istanbul Express and is set in 1914. Let me know if you're interested in trying that one - we've done some playtests but more feedback would be good.
 
Ahem, may I recommend you check out Freeform Games? I'm a co-owner.

https://www.freeformgames.com

They're really mini-larps (with a murder), but we don't tell our customers that as I'm not sure they'd understand...

I'm happy to answer questions.

steve
With the new Istanbul Express.. great to see the characters are all gender neutral. Could I double up as one of the characters as well as organiser?
 
Hi - yes, you can host and play the game - I've written an article about that here (basically, because you know what's going on, expect to play your character as an NPC).

If as the host you want to try and solve the murder, then I recommend Reunion with Death, which we wrote as an online game but is much easier to play and host (as there are fewer fiddly rules and no items). Just try not to read anything as you print it out. (However, this game has a mix of male, female and ungendered characters.)

We're thinking of re-branding Reunion with Death as a game the host can play, rather than just being an online game (which was useful a year or so ago, but less so now).
 
I ran "A Will to Murder" from https://www.freeformgames.com/ last night with 6, myself playing a 7th (the butler) as well as the host when required.

They were all thespians terrified of any kind of improv.. save one.. and yet within minutes they were on fire, metaphorically speaking.
They noticed the hidden source.. it's loosely setup based on King Lear! (Several of them had acted in it and directed it, several times, is added to their enjoyment but didn't solve the mystery for them.)

Thanks @steveh

I now have a taste for their stuff, it's well written, well resourced, and requires prep at the level of an RPG scenario - plus a bit. Get others to look after any food, and best not play an NPC as well as host (GM).

I shall try and find another opportunity for a larger one, say 14-20.
 
Thanks - glad you enjoyed it!

And here's where I reveal my lack of culture - I hadn't noticed the King Lear connection. (I'm not familiar with the play.)

steve
 
Thanks - glad you enjoyed it!

And here's where I reveal my lack of culture - I hadn't noticed the King Lear connection. (I'm not familiar with the play.)

steve
Roy O'Leary aged patriarch
Roi Leary
King Lear

They are all there..
 
It's not ideal. I guess the host could also play a character, or were you including the host in the 6?
 
Looking at the characters again, if I only had 6, I think I would (as host) play Esra as a character. I'd struggle to drop anyone, unfortunately.
 
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