Murder Mystery at the Mansion
Your group has just returned after solving a Murder Mystery at the Mansion. Who done it? How was it done? What secrets were discovered?
Bad timing, High Adventure, and a little Danger.
Over the course of the podcast, your characters will describe who they are, what happened and what the outcome was. The host will guide you through a series of interview questions (prompts) that you should answer in character using improv rules.
Suspects:
Characters
Other guest
Household employee
Motives:
Jealousy
Revenge
Greed
Accidental
Objects:
Clock
Harp
Spear
Armor
Monocle
Weapons.
Poison
Knife
Rope
In character:
You will be playing in a character. The characters will describe the events that happened to make the story.
The focus is to have fun. Sometimes craziness ensues and you may break character (especially laughing). While you should minimize the break, it’s more important to ignore the obvious out of character laughing that can happen.
Yes/And
You should strive to take whatever narrative is presented by the host and other characters and add to it to build the story. Those unexpected curveballs are what makes the exercise fun.
No/But
Lines and Veils are in full effect. If the narrative turns to an area that you can’t just ignore or play through, say something.
If a player says something about “I’d rather not go into detail”, assume that we need to “fade to black”. It still happens, but we should not describe more detail on the action.
If a play says, “I’d rather not talk about that”, or “Let’s talk about something else”. Assume it’s a line and find a different direction to go.
Hard stop:
If anyone says, “Break Break Break”, this is our safe word. Stop and the person who broke tells us if we need to strike a topic from the story or what we need to do to move forward. Can also be used for real life intrusions.
Opening:
Welcome to the Survivor's Tavern podcast where we interview a different group of travelers to tell us stories of their latest adventures.
This episode is titled “Murder Mystery at the Mansion”
Our guests tonight returned from a night at the Mansion where a murder took place. Hear their tale of who dunnit.
Introductions
Let’s go around and tell me who you are and something about yourself.
The Trigger
Before we get into the story, let’s go back to how you got into this mess.
Why
What was the party for?
Who was the host slash victim?
How:
Why were each of you invited to the party?
Who:
Where their other guests at the party or just the household help?
Who else was there?
Stakes
Body.
Who found the body of the host and where?
Mystery
What were your initial thoughts upon finding the body?
What prevented you from just leaving the mansion?
Did you have a reason to kill the host?
Turning Point
Did someone take charge or was the evening a chaotic mess of mystery solving?
You didn’t know if there was someone else (a murderer) hiding in the house, how did your group split up to find them?
Challenge
The Kitchen
What was the meal that was being prepared for the evening?
What was in the box on the counter?
What unusual seasoning did you find on the counter?
Where is the chef?
The Office:
What note did you find?
What about the safe behind the painting surprised you?
What did you find in the chair seat that made you question the motives of another?
The Bedroom
What item made you realize that another person at the party had already been in here?
What was notable about the perfume bottle on the dresser?
What about the clothing in the closet was the most surprising?
Cellar
What challenges did you run into trying to explore the cellar?
How did you locate the secret room?
What did you find in there?
Discovery
Moving forward
What secret did you uncover to move you in the direction of finding the murderer?
At what point did you most fear for each of your own lives?
Who was severely injured during the investigation?
Resolution
What previously unrevealed clue exposes the murderer?
Who did it?
Why did they do it?
Aftermath
Money
Was there an inheritance?
What happened to it?
Fame
What happened with each of you following the party?
Closing:
This has been the Survivor’s Tavern podcast coming to you from the backroom at the Survivor's Tavern and end at the Crossroads to everywhere. 'Til next time, may all your adventures be worth the trouble.