The verser wakes in darkness, inside a stone hallway. After a bit of travel he happens up a small group sitting there arguing with each other fruitlessly about who's responsible. They have a primitive electric light.

They will welcome the verser, but wonder how he got here. One guy will wonder if he is supernatural which will make the others scorn him. Another will think that he might be responsible, but the fact that the verser is down here will make that unlikely.

The verser and the small team of four is inside a pyramid. Some of them are a bit injured on the hands. The only way out, at least before the oxygen runs out is through the shaft above their heads. (although a side way out may be to decipher some puzzles on the walls). Unfortunately, the shaft, at a forty-five degree angle above their heads is blocked by its original stone cork.

Fortunately, the cork has a hole drilled through it during earlier excavation. So they could bang for noise on a metal pan with a metal spoon once nightfall sets in and the four other archeologists start their nightly watch duties. (it was this team of four's turn last night to do the watch).

Unfortunately, there is no way the huge, twenty ton stone plopped into the shaft trapping them here, despite a couple of their's heroic efforts to stop it (see the injuries), was an accident. It had to be deliberate murder.

They wonder what the murderer is going to do to explain the cap being moved back with a bulldozer, and where teh other half of the crew went to. And they wonder what motivated the crime.

They do have one benefit. One of their member is very sharp of hearing. He thinks he will be able to listen to the footsteps of the passing night watch person, and guess who it was (it was a parlor trick he did frequently before).

So if they can figure out who the murderer is then they can call out for help during another of the watch, but if they call out to the murderer he or she will likely finish the job by pouring gasoline into the hole and lighting a match which would burn up their oxygen.

But of the the four outside, who is the guilty one? 1)The Lady Archeologist 2)The German 3)The Drunk 4)The Brilliant Analyst.

Unfortunately, while I have a clue who is guilty, I don't know how to get there.
A spoiler follows after some white space, so be warned...

Any ideas for help?

[18 blank lines suppressed]

============================================
Three of the four outside are guilty, and even one of them inside is guilty, but he got double-crossed by someone as he was a pawn. He only knows one other guilty person for sure.

PT

And the twenty-foot long shaft has a block in it as well which noise but not oxygen will penetrate.

Blue Canary replied--

Are you looking for clues to give the Verser to be able to solve the mystery?

I think you have to decide exactly how the crime happened and work backwards deciding what evidence would have been left and what information the verser might be able to discover. Defining a motive is an important start, I think.

You would also need a good personality sketch of each individual - those trapped and those outside. These personalities would be a big part of figuring out that one of them was allied with the murderers and why the murderers wanted to kill the other three.

Why was the one innocent outside not killed? Or maybe he/she will be soon - which would be a clue.

Playtester replied---

Are you looking for clues to give the Verser to be able to solve the mystery?

In a word, yes.

The crime happened when Bad #1(the Lady) told Bad #2(the Infatuated Sucker) to lead the three Good #1,2 and 3 into the pyramid claiming to show them something interesting that had been discovered. And then B2 was to leave and go back for something, and G1, 2, and 3 would be trapped inside when B3 (who can handle a bulldozer) shoved the stone cap back into place.

B1 never liked her admirer (she found him an insipid little lapdog), B2, and so had B3 trap B2 in there as well.

Now B2 has had to dissemble a bit, and state that he overexzaggerated the importance of the discovery (it was a minor bit of hieroglyphics worthy of a little study, but not of dragging half the camp down to see it.) B2 is heartsick now, wondering if he got betrayed or if B1 got her hand forced by the other (he thinks there is only one other among the crew. And he does not know who it is.)

G1 is a believer is supernatural curses and such (which don't work in this universe since its flat-lined). He's the most creative of the lot, but also the least rigorous in his thought.

I don't want the trio of villains outside the Pyramid to kill G4 because that would pretty much close off hope for the trapped people. Now why did they do this murder? Obvious reason, they found something really valuable which they can resell for tons of do-re-mi. But G4 is the acknowledged expert on this thing they found, and they want his stated opinion to the buyers of its worth and authenticity.

So they tell G4 that the others suddenly left because one had a medical emergency and the others accompanied him also intending to make some contacts about this cool thing they found. And they blocked the passage because "they were not willing to continue working and take advantage of the others, and besides their might be thieves in the dessert, and we really need to work on this Cool Thing anyways." (a little bit of fast-talking there).

This story requires them to drive one of the jeeps into the dessert and abandon it.

I think that makes the Brilliant Analyst the innocent up top. Although making it the Drunk with the Analyst the ringleader is also possible.

gotta go,
Thanks,

MJ Young replied---

It appears to me that B3 must be involved, as he is the only person on the outside who can handle a bulldozer, and the plug could not have been inserted without that skill. That's a weak clue on three counts--first, there might be another way to do it that we haven't recognized (although probably our victims heard the bulldozer), second someone might have that skill outside our knowledge, and third I don't know how tough it really is to operate a bulldozer so someone else might have attempted and gotten lucky.

We take B2 as not being the brightest bulb in the box, and expect that when someone below recognizes B3 as the obvious culprit, B2 is going to have to tip his hand--"I never should have trusted her," or something like that, at which point the other three are going to wheedle out of him as much as he knows, which is going to have to include that B1 told B2 to bring them down here and then leave them. That gets you B1, B2, and B3. The problem which remains is distinguishing B4 from G4.

The answer to that question comes from the question why are they alive. We know that one of them is still alive because his verification of authenticity of this artifact is needed. Why is the other one alive? We know that the villains are not a generous lot; they've intentionally killed three of the researchers plus one of their own allies--risky on all counts--so they wouldn't have to share. They're not going to keep someone around who isn't necessary.

Thus we have the analyst and the drunk. Why is the drunk even here? Is he just a digger, or a native guide? Or is he some expert archaeologist whose golden age is behind him? Someone from the department of antiquities, perhaps?

Thus we need more information about them. If the drunk is useless to them otherwise, he must be the only one who can authenticate for them. If the drunk has value that only works if he's in on the plot, then he's in on the plot, and the analyst is the innocent one.

Anyway, that's the way I see it playing out.

--M. J. Young

Blue Canary replied--

Yes, MJ's right. You need to define why the Bs have banded together. Were they connected before the dig began, or did they conceive of the crime after the artifact is discovered and are together only because they are the only ones who know about the relic?

Presumably the Bs all need eachother to perform a task and that is why they aren't killing eachother off from greed. Tasks include: having the contacts to get the relic past customs, having transport, having contacts to fence the relic, being strong enough to kill everyone if they don't include him, having the funds to grease palms.

How did they get the relic out without being noticed? It must be small enough. A clue might be recent tool marks on the stone next to an empty space. This would be enough for the Gs to figure out why their lives are forfeit.

G4 must be pretty gullible, or they are expertly playing him. His position would make a good PC position as well - perhaps a more interesting position because he would have to skillfully maneuver around 3 dangerous adversaries. However, if the trapped personalities are good enough it would be very entertaining in the tomb as well.

I think it would add to the mystery is a bulldozer is not used. If a pyramid booby-trap (which was deactivated for entry) is re-activated by the Bs then it won't immediately point to the only guy who can use the machine.

But it still comes down to the trapped B giving himself away and being questioned about his partners-in-crime. Perhaps he is heard whispering in the dark through the stone cork to his beloved. (if this is done right, maybe he could make it back to the main room before a light is arranged and then everyone would deny that he was the one whispering.) If he slid back down to the main room, this would foil the 'parlour trick'.

But how to use the parlour trick? The guy knows everyone's walk (except the Verser's) but how does this help unless he hears the guy walking away from the bulldozer (or the boobytrap). He could hear the person walking away from the whispering (if anyone is listening) and make some conclusions.

Playtester replied--

Let's say the Drunk is the deputy director of antiquities, and is past his golden age, and looking to recover fame.

One reason the B's are Not killing each other is that it is risky to do so. Likewise, trapping the G's and the Weak, Insipid Lapdog/Infatuated Sucker is a lot safer than shooting them--and its less hard on the conscience. Once the trap is sprung, the Outside B's have no way to get to the G's, and while they could be sure to kill them with pouring in gasoline and lighting it, that might also make a scene and a scorch mark they would be hard put to explain to the Drunk and to any other later group of authorities (this massacre can be explained as the B's left for a daytrip to another site, and when they came back the others were trapped and dead, if it comes up).

But it is helpful if they all have uses.

1)Analyst is the ringleader; the thinker
2)Lady Archeologist has the contacts needed
3) The German has the finances, plus he has a dueling scar from Heidelberg, and a matched set of pistols. Not a man to mess with lightly.
4) The Lapdog had nothing useful other than a willingness to go fetch for the Lady. And he was annoying, repulsive, a bit loose-tongued, and easily dealt with so the other three decided it was safe, fun, and safer to dispatch him.

I'd say they know each other's rep as shady operators, and then this opportunity fell in their laps, and they tentatively wondered at the campfire the previous night if the just-discovered Disk of Amenhaten (about a one yard wide worked gold disc with lapis lazuli decorations) should be sold, adn the good guys would not hear of it, so they said it was a joke, and that night they plotted.

I like the idea of a missing disk inside the tunnels.

I'd say the Lady and the Analyst are pretty good at playing him, and besides he spends a good part of the day drunk (which could add problems. He's probably drunk when the trapped people try to signal him).

Its possible to do the Lapdog trying to beg help through the mud plugged hole in the capstone.

The guy listening is through the hole in the stone to people walking outside which come to think of it might be too much. So I need some sound amplifying device like an ancient Egyptian metal plate that can be cuved into a cone. Probably need to shrink the stone as well.

It would definitely add to the mystery to skip the dozer. Maybe too much so. Have to add some more clues if I got rid of the bulldozer. As to MJ's question, I think using a bulldozer of early vintage to shove a multi-ton stone block into a tight space would require skill--quite a bit of it.

list of clues for easy version:
1. overexzaggerated hyped claim-lame apology
1b. noise of dozer
2a. closed in
=====npc's lost in shock, fear etc. until verser's coming rouses them
2b. disk gone
2c. realization of murder--consider not yelling for help as that may provoke them
3. #2b triggers memory of 'joke' last night at the campfire
4. realization of dozer's import-- means The German is guilty
5. hear pleading that is somewhat incriminating in the dark from near the hole-- whoever it is slides back before a light can be lit--but this, plus earlier clues tossed in (#1) will result in a general paranoid questioning with possible weapons drawn, and lapdog is simply not tough or bright enough to withstand this close a scrutiny
6. #5 yields Lady and lapdog
7. leaves Analyst and drunk. both could be innicent; both could be guilty at this point. Analyst was not in on the joke, and drunk was passed out.

It would be nice to have a hard version without a bulldozer, but mysteries are usually pretty hard to begin with.

I can come up with some moderately interesting personalities for the insiders, but to be well done it would require that their personalities and secrets and plot twists play a major role in escaping and impeding escape.

G1 is the non-rigorous one ready to make wild leaps of logic, and throw accusations.
G2 is a partially controlled claustrophobe who's getting wound up tighter, and relaxing with alcohol but that is unleashing his temper, and he is armed and a bit paranoid.
G3 is a former cheat at cards, and he badly rooked the arrogant analyst a number of times; "I was going to tell him, honest, right before we left. I never, even in the bad old days, cheated my partners or my friends, for real, that is. Thing is, he was the type of guy who has a brilliant plan and thinks he's going to beat the gambling houses. There sort never do. It would not surprise me if he's big in debt. Right now he owes me five thousand."

All their character flaws get accentuated as the lights dim and time goes on.

Blue Canary replied--

some quick thoughts:

The dozer also points to murder from the authorities point of view. If the Bs don't want to get caught they should make it look like an accident. If they plan on using the "We were away when they were trapped" excuse, there had better be someone else who can use the dozer.

The superstitious guy could hear the whispering and think it was the ancient Egyptian gods speaking to him. That would add some drama.

If you wanted to add something to allow them to escape or to add drama, some excavation might reveal a boobytrap counterweight resevoir of water (or sand, but it's harder to use to an advantage). An underwater escape through the resevoir (into a river?) or using the water to attack the mortar, using it to swim up to the ceiling airhole or even using the increasing air pressure to whistle through the cork hole to sound the alarm.

More Blue Canary replies--

Just thinking of the game timeline to see if there are holes to fill:
Things in brackets are options

-site is found. Who is leading the whole expedition? The Lady? One of the Gs?
(-Bs are looking specifically for the relic for profit - a la Indiana Jones' nemesis - but they can't do it alone and Gs are required manpower.)

-excavation begins and pyramid is opened, etc.

-the relic is found, Bs want to sell it, Gs want to give it to museum for study
(-or Bs manage to keep relic a secret)

-Bs plot to steal the relic and kill the Gs

-Bs manage to remove the relic

-lapdog B lures Gs into tomb and trap is sprung

-cover story for missing Gs is made up. Jeep abandoned in desert. Remaining G is told that the Gs had to evacuate to city for medical reasons. Where was he when this happened?

-Cover story for why they blocked tomb - to prevent thieves getting it, etc.

-Verser arrives in tomb.

-discussions with people in tomb and realization that someone has deliberately trapped them inside

-internal investigations to try to escape.

-Find missing relic and realize motive. If they remember that the Bs were talking about selling it, then the mystery is over.

(-find a button or other easily lost item that identifies a B who removed relic - maybe something very subtle so that the Gs could put the pieces together once they have to choose between some Bs. Like a scrap of linen that could be a mummy wrap or the linen coat on the Lady, or a streak of red that could be blood or the Lady's nail polish.)

-Discover that it might be possible to communicate through stone cork but it is risky if they communicate with murderer. They must attract attention of remaining G. They can detect him by his walk.

-Verser will undoubtedly try all sorts of things to get out, including high explosives.

-superstitious guy is pumping up stories of supernatural and curses, unnerving everyone. Verser probably determines mag and psi flat-lined. Claustrophobe is proving panicky and useless. Gambler is being blamed for shady background. B is throwing a lot of accusations to try to throw suspicion off himself. Verser must try to organize this herd of cats to escape.

-trapped B is heard begging for release at cork but slides back to room before a light is raised and new accusations arise. They now know one of them is traitor.

-process of alibis and motives to determine who is traitor. Verser probably uses trickery or violence to solve the puzzle. Trapped B is discovered.

-B would be unwilling to identify the Lady, but might quickly finger the German or the Analyst.

-Gs would then have to choose between signalling Lady, the other B or the Drunk.

(-Gs make the connection of a clue found at site to identify other B. Narrow it to 2.)

-Gs have tense moment trying to figure out who to signal, perhaps they manage to work it out based on logic that Lady is most likely. Perhaps they get lucky, perhaps they get killed.

-If they signal the remaining G, how does that help? He is a drunk, for one. He has the other Bs to contend with. He doesn't know how to drive the dozer. He could radio for reinforcements.

Playtester replies--

I know you are not totally fond of the dozer, and MJ points out that it makes things a lot simpler, but from my view--that of a tired designer who is not familiar with making mysteries, and therefore wants an easy mystery (something I can cope with) I think I'll stick with it.

Your point about it tipping off the authorities is good. Let's say the Drunken Deputy Director can also run a dozer, but not all that well, even when he is sober. But he will serve as a fall guy if needed. That may inspire a little more thought by the people inside, but ultimately they should decide that he could not have pulled it off.

Whispering is "gods" is good. We could add some air noises inside the tunnels as well.

The air noises would lead to a blowhole which if the room is filled they could swim up to.

Also the Disk is part of an off-shoot slanting downward (short) of the major tunnel that the verser arrives in (main tunnel), and it is part of an inscription. Something like "The River Gods protect the disk from harm" with the disk in the middle of the hieroglyphics. However teh trap did not get set off by the removal of the disk (the thieves got lucky).

The water behind the wall is fresh which indicates moving water, and so they could swim out through the reservoir (hoping there is not a gate--there should be one, but it will be bronze so as to survive the water unharmed which will make it weaker than an iron grate). This leads into a river. Then they can emerge dripping wet, and march a hundred yards across a flat plain to the tents of their would-be murderers.

The PC's can then knock a hole in the wall from the main tunnel and overlook the reservoir, or flood the pyramid by knocking a hole in the wall near the disk.

This gives teh PC's two ways to escape.

(Yes, I like to make it easy on my PC's).

I think we mostly got this, and I can add names and some details, and add this to my Placeholder Worlds for Desperate GM's project. Whatdya' think?

More Playtester replies--

Nice Timeline. If you don't mind I'll give you some of the credit (or maybe that's the blame  ) for this world.

I think we'll have the disk known to all. Although I could see doing it the other way. That would be an archeological puzzle to solve for the NPC's.

The easily dropped clue should lead to the German. He's the most logical to steal it, unless the Lapdog did it. The Analyst is a thinker, and the Lady would not sully her hands with actual manual labor. The German is strong enough, and cool enough to pull it off.

The Lapdog kinda needs to only know one of the other conspirators because otherwise he can give away the whole plot-so he has to be the one that gives up the Lady.

And wouldn't high explosives in a tunnel kill the people with "Overpressure??" ?

Other than that, it looks very good.

Blue Canary replies--

Absolutely, high explosives are a bad idea, but Versers will try anything!

No need for credit or blame.

MJ Young replies--

A couple of notes--

There's no reason why one of the good guys trapped inside wouldn't know how to use a bulldozer. It might then be plausible for the trapped good guy to describe to the free good guy how to do it, teaching from a distance. The drunk's first attempt to use it would be based on a skill learning roll, but the instruction would bonus that.

You should also consider whether the verser might know how to do that.

Graeme's right about the things versers will try. When I first read the problem, I envisioned Whisp trying to figure out how to set the kinetic function on his multiblaster to drive the multi-ton plug out, but then I decided this was really not a very good scenario for Whisp anyway.

I've a problem with the "unidentified whisperer". A guy who can identify a person by his or her footsteps on the rock at the top of a plugged column is going to know someone's voice even in a whisper--nuances are nuances, and so somehow you've got to decide that he didn't hear it.

Of course, you could eliminate the need for whispering entirely if you have them spread out in assessing their situation. One guy hears another trying to get a message out, but then the rest of them have to decide which of those two to believe.

Of course, this is all extremely complicated. I've got a couple bits of advice, based on running Mystery of the Vorgo.

First, there have to be at least a few clear and decisive clues. You have to be able to eliminate and/or incorporate a few people easily. A field of "everyone here is a suspect" is a good line, but it's a bad mystery to attempt to solve.

Second, if you're seriously thinking about doing this as a verser world, you should think about alternative solutions with corresponding alternate clues sets. Not only does that provide replay possibilities, it prevents someone from knowing the answer because they read the book.

Third, you should consider what happens if somehow the verser manages to get out of this alive. After all, everyone is hoping he will. I can see setting up something such that for everyone to escape, one person has to stay behind and "hold this" or something, but even in those situations versers can be remarkably resourceful. (I might get my combat practice robot to hold something for me while I escaped, knowing that I could recover him in some future world.)

Playtester replies--

Dozer teaching idea seems good. And that allows him to tell the others no way could Drunk do it-after some discussion.

Verser does not really add much to guy inside already knowing.

If the verser is crazed then he might get crunched, of course, I nee dto consider and answer some of the more obvious bad ideas.

The spread out idea works. and then the whisperer is heard, but not by sharp hearing guy.

First: Is this not clear enough? Its not necessarily crystal clear, but the probabilities say go with the Drunk, unless they are all guilty (I've got to deal with that worry somehow). Everyone is a suspect, but Everyone is small in number and they can work it down.

Second: Aggghh! My brain is already hurting, but I will see what I can do. I'd like to take the opportunity to remind that I'm also working on a much more complicated murder mystery set in a First Contact situation in deep space. That one's complicated enough that I could see making a novel out of it. And that would be a pretty unusual situation for a book in the SF or Mystery fields.

Third: If I do make the multiple paths for it, I'm not sure if it should go in Placeholders or not. Lets consider the world out there beyond the plug.

Primitive electric light, archeologists. I'd say 1930's or so. Make it the Pulp era with larger than life scientific heroes with big muscles and bigger brains battling evil masterminds. But keep it toned down to a low roar.

Or we could make an archeological wonderland world where there's a great number of fantastic discoveries just waiting to be made. Atlantis, Eden, the Ten Commandments, and so forth, and each discovery confirms great swaths of data that may have been considered legend. You find the original Ark landing spot, and the fragments of the alien spaceship which held the Greek "gods", and so forth. This would be a kind of Clive Cussler world I'd say. Probably need some wild conspiracies as well.

I think he believes that Lincoln was kidnapped by the South, and the real Lincoln died in Egypt. Stuff like that for your conspiracies, and also ancient wars between the Vatican and the Illuminati might be nice.

The preceding was copied from Gaming Outpost.  Its one of the world ideas I've had for a while.

But, it needs help.  Partially because merely reading that makes my brain hurt.  Above a certain complexity level, I want to close my eyes, and hide under the covers.

I could use some advice on this on the following if you're interested:
1)On anything.  Feel free to toss in your comments.
2)On the murder mystery as set up.
3)On alternate murder mysteries, a la MJ's suggestion to have four different murder mysteries.
4)On the world construction.  I'm a bit stumped on this one.

PT

*gasps* PT is stumped....

Umm, it sounds pretty good, comments eh, I'll post some later, but it is a good read.

First of, I like this very much! It looks great!

As we are allready in that pyramid as archeologist, I was allready picturing them as 1930 pulp-era people. Certainly with the German Heidelberg kinda character.

This would also be a good start to go about working out the characters. The superstitious guy would be your average 'Romantic Mystic' and know a lot about the hieroglyphs and Old Egyptian curses and rituals. He would probably be reading every hieroglyph he encounters.
(Possibly being able to find out some clue to perhaps a hidden passageway/water behind the wall. Or he could read something that ennerves the others, like that claustrophobic guy. The reaction of that claustrophobic guy could set of a trap or something. Giving a time-pressure to solve the mystery.)

The guy with accurate hearing would be the 'Adventureous Archeolog'/Indiana Jones type of guy.

The Lapdog Character would be a nerveous character, perhaps a smoker that nerveously rols a sigaret and shakingly lights it. He could have a bit of a nasty cough.

If/when they get out, I think the museum could be worked out to advance the story. Or a quest to retrieve that artifact from the B's.

Good thing no one around here is in a scenario like that...  :p

I suppose that is what I get for including both "The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael" (Peters) and The Original "Foundation" Trilogy (Asimov) on my RTJ favorite book list...  ;)