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Friday 31 January 2020

A Detective Game - Retrieving the Grimoire of Life

“How in the name of all that’s unholy did you manage to lose my Grimoire of Life, it’s only four months past that you were able to acquire it in the first place and now you’ve lost it”. There was a short pause.

“Have I spent the last 18 years teaching and training and schooling and coddling and wiping your snotty nose for it all to have been a waste of my time”. “I’m not getting any younger you know and don’t have the years or the patience to go through all that nonsense again”. “I knew I should have stuck with the cat, at least he could catch mice, had a better aptitude for potions and was a better conversationalist than you, you great clod of an apprentice”.

As you will appreciate this was all a little unfair but the tirade directed at Rufina Grey Eye by her boss Thanda the Grim was never going to be fair. Thanda was not known for being fair, she was known for being Grim, she was from up north and there’s no fair about it, no one ever says it’s Fair up North, especially Southerners.

Rufina Grey Eye bowed her head and waited for Thanda’s wrath to fade, she knew it would take some time but it would eventually pass, erupting again a few times and then the air would be cleared. Well apart from the static charge as if a great lightning bolt had just struck the earth and of course, the faint smell of sulphur as well.

That was the real reason she wore the battered hat with the big brim, she had learned the trick when she was only ten years old. If you lowered your head and wore a big brimmed hat no one who was taller than you could see your face, at 10 she used to pull faces at Thanda from beneath the hat and that helped to pass the time before life got back to normal and her wrath subsided. Now she was older and taller she had to bow her head even more and refrained from pulling the faces because that would be undignified for the Apprentice to a renowned Wizard, she just thought them instead and the brim hid the smile in her eyes.

The painting above is of happier, carefree times when Thanda led the band of warriors, thieves and vagabonds throughout the land and Rufina was the Apprentice and did as she was told, - usually. Things were changing, she had recently been sent out leading her own party on Thanda’s errands, the responsibility was hard for her to bear but on the last mission she had successfully recovered the Grimoire of Life, from it’s rightful owner of course, which in a well policed country might be considered stealing. It was this same Grimoire that had gone missing, or maybe been recovered or stolen depending on your point of view.

“You will have to go and get it back” Thanda’s voice had quietened from the volume of a volcanic eruption to more like a bull in heat and Rufina knew it was time to start listening again.

The obvious question was “where is it?” but she had learned to not ask obvious questions for obvious reasons.

“Take six of the household, ask Sonia and Tina if they will go with you and take that new lass, the tall one - Astrid, let’s see if she can fight as well as she can eat, oh and try and get her to keep her shirt on”. “I know she comes from Vanaheim and they have some strange ways up there but it doesn’t set a good example to the rest of the Household if she goes around half naked”.

“How many days provisions do you think we should take” Rufina asked cannily. “Six or seven should be fine, you’re only going a day beyond River Run” Thanda replied.

So far so good thought Rufina, we’re going west 3 days, about 40 miles, the only village she could think of was Halfdan’s, maybe that was too obvious but she tried it anyway. “Does Halfdan know where it is” she asked.

“Of course not you oaf, Halfdan and his people left when the Dead moved in, but they’ve probably moved on by now, however the Grimoire is there, or if not at least you will find evidence to lead you to it”

Ok that didn’t sound too bad, how much trouble could a few dead spirits be, even if they were still there?

Thanda went on “Just to make it perfectly clear, I want the Grimoire back, or at the very least to know where it is, and I also want to know who stole it so we can have a little discussion about my property” “Oh and you might need to find out how they’ve protected it before trying to pick it up”

Hummm it might be a little more difficult than she had assumed, oh well best get on with it then.

A sexy little shot of Halfdan’s village.

This after action report is about an experimental game I played trying out concepts of solving a crime but doing it solo, so it’s not just for fun. About 18 months ago there was some discussion on here about detecting games i.e. games with detectives, detecting and solving a crime and how they could be played solo maintaining the essence of finding clues to solve the case without knowing the answers. I want to maintain it as a miniatures game and all that entails, grafting on the detecting, clue solving bit to give some sense of solving a crime as well.

Someone, I think it was Eduardo suggested using the board game 221a Baker Street, the Sherlock Homes detecting game, it’s a more sophisticated version of Cluedo, can be played solo and means I have to work out who done it etc.

I already had some 1930’s gangsters, they just needed a lick of paint and of course I needed to build a city to have my hard boiled detectives wander around, so no problem there then.
Well the figures are still unpainted and the city block’s still waiting for planning permission but for Christmas I received a cobble mat to lay it all down on. So rather than wait for it all to be ready, I’m going detecting in some other time zone, with swords, spells and horrors rather than guns, molls and mobsters and this is the result.

I thought I would describe the clues as I find them so that anyone reading along can see if they are smarter than me in solving the case sooner than I did.
Essentially the game board has 15 locations and you visit each of them getting clues or not as the case may be, once you have enough information you rush back to Baker Street to announce the result of your deductions. Mrs Vagabond seems to be better at this than I am.

I’m not sure about the law of copyright so if I get sent to prison, maybe some one could send me a cake with a file inside I would much appreciate it.

The village is deserted, obviously abandoned in a hurry, there are sacks of produce and food left behind in the rush to leave. Tina has climbed one of the trees surrounding the place and has spent most of the day watching to see if there’s anything useful to be discovered before the group enter the village.

Tina in her eyrie.

Nothing stirs, it’s as quiet as the grave which might be an ominous sign, we’ll just have to wait and see. Rufina has decided to enter the village after night fall. It’s a full moon and there should be plenty of light to explore by, this might not be such a good plan but at least it’s a plan.

As well as the possible crime clues each building may contain something or someone that caused the village to be deserted. I’m just using a shuffled deck of cards, all the diamond cards have had something allocated to each card, nothing good usually. To counteract that I left the Jokers in the deck and they will represent the Grimoire which will be a lucky break because otherwise I will have to solve the riddle of the crime to find the Grimoire. So odds of 1 in 4ish that there will be a reception committee waiting in each building.

Entering the building the first through the door has to succeed on a stealth roll and they get the advantage in any confrontation, fail and they are at a disadvantage and equal it and it’s even - yes I know, - I like to keep it simple.

Night falls and this is me trying to simulate moonshine, by turning off 2 out of the 3 lights, all it did was make it difficult for the camera to focus and didn’t achieve much additional atmosphere, it does means there are a few more blurred shots than normal, sorry, I would sack the camera man but it was me.

If you are concerned about semi naked people please switch off now because it looks like Astrid ignored Rufina’s instructions about taking her shirt off before a fight.

The village is quite large and as Rufina is expecting to have to enter and search most, if not all of the huts she decides to split the party into two separate groups to try and get the job done sooner rather than later.

This was to be a re-occurring theme at each hut, Tina the Swift who was a skilled thief, well versed in entering places stealthily would be the first through the door. Rufina would take up a position at the window to provide a magical spell casting back up and Red Sonia and Atsuko would be prepared to rush into the building to protect Tina if there was anything dangerous inside.

You can’t see Tina because she’s quite small and is hidden behind Red Sonia who’s quite stocky.

I checked to see if the door was locked before Tina tried to enter but then decided that as the village was abandoned hurriedly no one would lock their doors even if they had locks.

Nothing and no one inside, they spent a couple of turns searching and then went on to the next building going in a sun wise direction around the village, (no one had invented a clock yet and this is the northern hemisphere)

Minors and easily offended people look away now. In fact keep your hands over your eyes throughout the story because there are disturbing things happening in Halfdans village.

Signy Freyasdotter is also an experienced footpad and pickpocket and so leads the way into their first building, she enters quietly but finds nothing. She is backed up by Ayesha and Astrid, the tall one of the group.

Astrid is a recent recruit to the band and didn’t appear in the round up of the members that I posted late last year. She feels a little out of her depth amongst this tight knit group of adventurous souls and is a little awkward about her height, she’s trying to create a legend for herself, and likes to be called the Ice Maiden which the others find amusing. She is armed with a double handed axe that because of her strength she can wield one handed and when doing so can also use the shield to defend herself. This was going to come in useful later.

Searching the next house Tina discovered a scrap of burnt parchment that was written in some rune-ish script that they could just decipher, the first part appeared to be a poem ___ for the wings of a dove, the first word was burned away and then a part of a riddle Reverse of Nil, they puzzled on this, wondering if it might be some reference to where the Grimoire was hidden?

Continuing round the village you can see them emerging from the 3rd building, it was obviously used as some work room, to what purpose they weren’t sure but they found nothing and moved on quickly.

On the far side of the village Signy Freyasdotter had investigated the flat roof building but it was also empty however in the low building they are entering, daubed on the wall, written in charcoal in the common tongue were the words Little _____ Least, the middle word was smeared and undecipherable, was this an indication of the Thief?

They needed to press on and in the next building found a piece of a clay tablet inscribed with the three words Puffins Liberation Organisation. Had Halfdan been a bird lover, was this left by the dead who had driven him out, no it had to be human or semi human to put pressure on the clay! Could this be some indication of the protection afforded to the hiding place of the Grimoire? No point in guessing and they moved on.

Rufina’s party had entered and searched two more buildings and I was wondering if I’d left the diamonds out of the deck of cards. No encounters but the tension was ratcheting up, they had however discovered a piece of a clay tablet inscribed in a pictorial script which was translated as No___ pense Spared, translating it was easy although the big thumb print after No might mean anything, a clumsy scribe probably. In the last hut someone had written on the wall in charcoal Commerce Wind in the Southern Ocean what the hell did that mean.

Clues on Parchment indicate Location, on Clay Tablets – Protection and daubed in Charcoal are the Thief but I expect you got that by now.

Signy has a very good stealth roll as she makes her way into one of the buildings in the centre of the village but draws the Queen of Diamonds, not a clue but a Green or Gollem Demon. This thing is horrific and inspires horror into anyone who comes close to it, she draws a horror card and pushing past Astrid and Ayesha who were just behind her, she runs like hell. The creature chases after but with fear providing the spur her little legs going like pistons she easily outdistances it but will continue to run next turn after that she may regain her composure.

Ayesha and Astrid see what’s caused Signy to run and also take horror cards, being overcome with madness Ayesha strikes out with her sword, not at the Gollem but at Astrid who has retreated in the face of the Green Horror. Recognising her weakness it rushes at her but taking a firm grip on her shield she defends herself bravely and holds off the attack from both the Demon and Ayesha.

Ayesha lost control of her mind to the Gollem for a short time, hopefully she will regain control or it’s curtains for Astrid.

Things have taken a turn for the worse, I expected the split parties of 3 and 4 adventurers would be able to stand against most of the creatures and horrors that they might encounter but this is not going well.

The next turn Signy continues to run away and makes it to the tree line. Astrid has still not recovered her nerve and continues to back away from the Demon but facing it and ready to fight if she needs to. Ayesha though recovers quickly from the madness that overtook her, she comes to her senses and places herself between the Demon and her retreating friend. The Demon considers the new threat and a very aggressive threat it looks as Ayesha waves her fist in the air and threatens the Demon with hell and damnation (which if he could understand her words he might like the prospect) but her aggressive stance matches his own.

They both failed the test to charge.

The next turn Signy is now overcome by panic and instead of running away, runs in a random direction which was back the way she had just come. If only she can pass her guts test next time she is in a good position to aid the other two.

Astrid though continues to back away from the Demon and Ayesha thinks she should attack it, but just not yet. However the Demon takes the decision away from her, howling like a Green Demon, which is a bit like a Banshee but not as loud, it attacks. She stands her ground and after a flurry of blows from claw, sword the deciding thing is the small armguard on her right arm that deflects the scrabbling claws trying to reach her throat.

Back to the other party and Tina entering the next hut, trips on the step as she enters making a noise. This turns out to be the first hut that she’s entered that has an occupant so a bad time to make a noise.

It’s the Red Woman, the same one that appeared in the last adventure, she wasn’t so hard then but this time she’s not attacked unawares and her Terrifying Aura overcomes Tina who is a bit chicken anyway and she becomes Transfixed. Being Transfixed means she doesn’t defend herself and the Red Woman easily defeats Tina in the 1st round of combat which means she can move in close and Bite like a Vampire.

Red Sonia was behind Tina but when she encountered the Terrifying Aura she Lost All Reason and backed away loosing a few of her marble for the rest of the game.

Biting like a Vampire sucks Tina’s life force from her, she is not dead yet but isn’t going to be much help for a long while. Rufina pushes past the retreating Sonia and seeing Tina sink to the floor summons all her powers as a would be Wizard and casts her least favourite but most deadly spell, at least it’s been deadly to its caster, making her unconscious one time and nearly so on another occasion. There’s a little blue crackle, a faint smell of sulphur and then nothing. Just a very small tingling in Rufinas right arm, followed by a sense of relief when she realized it hadn’t rebounded too strongly and she was still on her feet. Then a feeling of panic as she realized it hadn’t affected her antagonist either.

Fortunately for her, Atsukio is a brave and bold warrior, also maybe slightly stupid and she overcame the Aura and rushed in wielding her trusty sword but it was the sneaky spikes in her boot that inflicted just enough damage on the Red Woman to cause her to step back from the combat.

Things are not looking good for Ayesha, she continues to battle with the Gollem, back and forth but her allies are getting further away Signy has disappeared entirely, that’s the problem running around like a headless chicken, but Astrid still hasn’t overcome her initial reaction to the horror and continues to back away slowly.

Atsukio in the hut following up her ferocious attack on the Red Woman has been stopped in her tracks and pushed back, Rufina had a second attempt at casting her Elemental Bolt of Power spell but again failed, only just though, which is better than catastrophically but it still has no effect on her opponent.
Red Sonia recovers her bravery if not her brain and prepares to re-enter the hut and help out but it’s a bit crowded in there and she can’t get in.

Ayshas persistence and endurance has paid off, she’s still on her feet and Astrid recovering her nerve (YESSS) has advanced to help her, swinging her axe like a Viking Berserker she charges into the fight, bere shirt as some would have it, although coming from Yorkshire it would be bar shirt.

Back in the hut Rufina thinks bugger this spell casting and pulls her knife and wades in to help Atsukio, who having been beaten in a round of fighting is open to the Bite like a Vampire, fortunately or unfortunately depending on who you are rooting for, the Red Woman gets her fangs tangled in Atsukio’s armoured shoulder plates and misses her opportunity but doesn’t break any teeth so it’s not all bad.
Sonia still can’t get through the door to help and over in the forest Signys nerves have failed her completely and she’s run away.

The fight continued, Atsukio was thrown to the floor, Rufina was thrown back, turns out she’s as good with a knife as with her spell casting, she bounced off the wall which opened a space for Red Sonia to enter the hut.

Trying a different tack Rufina decided to go with a alternative spell and instead of attacking the Red Woman directly she cast one to enhance Sonia’s fighting powers and bugger me but it worked, only just, but who cares. Well Bryan if he ever reads this but he may not.
Sonia feels an extra flow of power coursing through her body. She is a famous fighter, renowned for her strength and prowess with her axe, who’s name I’ve forgotten (the axe that is), but with this additional boost she smashes the axe two handed into the apparition in front of her and destroys it.

Rufina helps Atsukio to her feet but Tina is unresponsive, damn they are going to have to carry her, fortunately she is light and Sonia is strong, but it means their best warrior is encumbered.

They search the hut before leaving but there is no clue to the mystery of the stolen Grimoire.

Ayesha and Astrid finally manage to defeat the Green Gollem, Hurrah!!! The fight went back and forth for a very long time, usually these things are fairly short but the dice decided otherwise this time.

They went into the hut that the Gollem had emerged from but found nothing. What a let down after such a ferocious fight, one of the longest I’ve had apart from maybe the Samurai fight last year or was it 2 years ago.

Back with Rufina and in the next hut she finds another piece of the clay tablet that translates to Implement used to separate fine grains from coarse?

Finally having searched everywhere the two groups rendezvoused in the village square and reviewed the clues and I realised I couldn’t answer the question “where the Grimoire was” because I only had half the clues. Also I couldn’t work out “Who stole it” because I wasn’t bright enough but I did know what it was protected by.

I now have a dilemma, Rufina and her group had visited 14 buildings, and missed one, they would have to go back to search it. With 1 in 4 cards being encounters with bad things I had expected 3 or 4 encounters, so far I’d only had 2 and was loath to chance my arm again.

What’s the saying, “the cork’s been drawn and now the wine must be drunk” Mrs V’s says she’s never heard of this saying and maintains it must be one of mine but I’m sure it was Napoleon or one of his Marshall’s although I can’t find it on Google, mind you I can never find anything on Google unless someone wants to sell me something.

Rufina decides she is the leader on this expedition and with no stealthy thieves left will enter the hut first. Red Sonia and Atsukio disagree in a half hearted sort of a way and let her go first.

There’s no ravening beast or slippery snake in the hut but she does discover a parchment that has a drawing of a flower and underneath is says “A short Violet” and further down “If P’s and Q’s then presumably J’s and ___” the last bit was missing.

Having searched the whole village they have a number of clues and suggestions that might lead them to answer their questions regarding Who Stole the Grimoire, Where is it, What Protects it.

They decide to leave this dark, haunted place and make camp in the forest, have a drink of the super smooth mead they keep for emergencies and have a think about the information they gleaned from the nights work.



OK so that was my first run through of a detecting game, I know it’s not in the true traditions of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett but I wanted to continue Rufina’s story and it seemed like a good opportunity. The best bits for me were nothing to do with the detecting at all but with the standard wargaming storyline, the surprise and adrenaline rush of an exciting game. Yes I know I don’t get out a lot but in the main I find the games exciting, the detecting and clue solving was pretty pedestrian by comparison, but it served it’s purpose.

The various clues were.

Who Stole it – the clues daubed in charcoal:-
Little ____ Least
Commerce Wind in the Southern Ocean

Where is it – the clues on parchment:-
A short Violet
___ for the wings of a dove
Reverse of Nil
If P’s and Q’s then presumably J’s and ___

What Protects it – clues on clay tablets:-
No___ pense Spared
Palestinian Liberation Organisation
Implement used to separate fine grains from coarse

To work it out there was some other information and bear in mind this is a Sherlock Holmes story, so the answers relate to that, also the clues are given in order.

The story line has a number of red herrings but the pertinent information is that Sherlock Homes plays the violin and a master of disguise has escaped from prison and Inspector Lestrade brings Sherlock the news.

In the end I struggled with the Who Stole it because this had the most red herrings but I got there in the end.

So in my adventure Rufina found out the location of the Grimoire, and can go there to recover it, knowing how it’s protected, she knows who stole it and therefore who might be waiting for her to try and recover it, however that might be another story.

The 221a Baker Street game is quite good, I’ve only played 4 cases so far but it’s a bit more of a word puzzle than my idea of clues to solve a crime so if anyone has any thoughts on this I would much appreciate it. I know that Frank is working on something for his own stories and Greg was very helpful with ideas for other sets of rules which I’m looking through although reading rules tends to send me to sleep faster than a few whiskies.
I’m looking at 5010 and the Department but the main problem with trying to solve a case doing it solo is I can’t think how to, not know about it. It also needs to be fairly simple concept as I’m a bear with a small brain and can’t be doing with complex rule systems.

A much shorter post than last time – Thank goodness.

Take Care it's Dangerous Out There.

50 comments:

  1. Great report John,interesting seeing you add detection into the game as well. For the time period you just played I think some clues might be items rather than just writing, for instance clues that ascertain who committed the crime might be objects like if it was an undead character, there may be a destroyed crucifix or potion to raise the dead, these are just first thoughts but happy to discuss further

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    1. Hi Dave It's the mechanics of the process I'm struggling with a little. Using 221a Baker Street means I have to visit a number of locations and collect clues and then I have to work out the clues to solve the crime. That's fine in essence but I found going to 15 locations a bit tedious.
      You are right about the instance of clues and if I was writing this as a straight game I would have changed the description for something else but what I wanted to do was allow anyone reading this to see how the mechanics looked and also try and solve the crime themselves from the same information I had just as a bit of fun.

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  2. First off John I love the new gaming mat, now I know it was a gift but would you happen to know where its from ? come on at least give me a clue lol.

    Before I get to the detection part of things I want to say how much I enjoyed the movie & how glad I am to know your so well learned on Irish folklore that you know what a Banshee sounds like :)

    Now on to the detection part which is something of a holy grail for us solo gamer's, how do we play out a Sam Spade type game when we know the answers ? your try out was to use a game where you didn't know the answers & to be fair I think it worked & I think what's throwing you off a bit is more the setting you used then the game its self.

    I'll try to explain myself a bit better, say if you took what you just did & moved it to the setting you want it to be in with your guys with tommyguns & girls to die for & with attitudes that mean you might just, now we set up your table (I know you don't have a whole city block but you don't need to) using a few buildings some alley ways & a few NCP's the working girl on the street corner often knows more then the bar full of guys.

    So we've set up the table, we have the 15 points we need to get to for the clues, & we add some PEF's, lights camera action, enter Sam Spade as he works his way along trying to fine the answer to the riddle, the other way to do it is that there's no riddle at all but just a chain of events that lead to the answer, but to find out about that you'll have to wait a few more days :)

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    1. Hi Frank a few years ago Mrs V and I decided it didn't make a lot of sense spending money to buy the other person presents that they may or may not like. So we decided to buy our own presents, wrap them up and give them to the other person to open on Christmas Day. So Mrs V got 2 mats to open, the cobbled one and a sea mat both are Deep Cut Studios and I bought one directly from them and the cobbled one from Wayland Games a UK company who sometimes do good deals on war gaming stuff, particularly postage but I doubt that applies to the wilds of Ireland.
      They do 2 versions of the cobbled mat in different sizes and materials. My version is as you see completely covered but the other one is grassed with cobbled streets laid out and for this game would have looked better I think.

      I remember the film Cry of a Banshee so remember how they sounded on film at least, I expect you hear them at night, it must be a terrible thing.

      Your idea about the chain of events will work fine, and I can see adding some competition in the form of PEF's or indeed just spanners in the works as PEF's or other events as I did is going to give you a result but I'm after the sort of thing a games master would bring to the table, without having a games master.

      Maybe we could do a sort of communal game!

      Anyway looking forward to see what you have done with the concept.

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    2. Hi John, good idea, Mrs Panama & myself do up a list of things we'd like & then the other picks some of things from it.

      I think you picked the right one as it doesn't tie you in anyway.

      The older I get the more I hear them lol.

      I don't know about a Gamesmaster but your a blood hard taskmaster ;) not only do you want a game were you have to try & work out what happen from clues but you want it that we can try as well.
      Right I'm going to do this is the most simplest why I can think off using your game.
      Who took it, where are they keeping it & how are they protecting it ? to help me I'm going to take a leaf out of cluedo & a pack of playing cards.

      How many suspects do I want ? I'll go with 4 Mr Spades, Mr Heart's Mr Clubs & Mr Diamond the 4 kings, if you want more add the queens, more again add the jacks.
      Where is it hidden ? I'll use the tens.
      For what's protects it I'll use the aces.
      Now as with cluedo remove one of each of the cards without looking at them & put them to one side, you are now left with 3 kings 3 tens & 3 aces, shuffle them up & put them to one side, then put the rest of the cards to one side you will use them as well if things don't go to plan :)
      Now to try to make this all work to solve a clue you'll need get to an NCP or building then take a test, for the test use whatever suits but you'll need to be able to get 3 different results, win you'll draw a card from the pile with the kings, tens & aces, a draw means you get no card, a defeat means you'll take a card from the pile with the rest of the cards & add it to the pile with the kings, tens & aces.

      At the end of the game of the game you'll have a hand of cards that you have gotten from solving clues & might be able to work out the answer, yes but can't I just keep playing until I have the 3 kings, tens & aces in my hand & so win ?
      No you can't because were going to add a few things, Rep will give the main character a Rep score, I'll go with 5, what this means is that after your team has failed 5 clues the game will end, also if at any time you have a pair of cards in you solved clues hand that are not kings, tens or aces the game will end, eg 2 sixes, if you want to make the game more difficult instead of using all of the cards that you draw when failing a clue test just use say the fours fives & sixes that will increase your chances of ending up with a pair in your hand that is not kings, tens or aces.

      That's it in a simple form mate, hope it helps.

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    3. Frank I've read this through twice and think I've grasped your concept, it seems sound, I'm not sure it was the route I was going but it might be a better route. I'll think on it and get back to you.
      Thanks for taking the time to explain your ideas, it's much appreciated and we can think of some clever name and you can patent it. Panama Jacks Deduction Philosophy humm thats not very catch, I'll try and come with another name.
      Cheers

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    4. Always happy to try help out John & its to my benefit aswell tbh as this has been in my head for some time & writing it down here as made it a bit clearer to me.

      I noticed in your first reply that you hit on the ides of a communal game, if I commit the crime could you solve if I left you some clues ?

      PS look in your emails as I hopefully sent you something that will help you sleep ;)

      PPS You were wondering why no one had taking a shot at solving the clues, on my part tbh I was lost, while I knew what some of them related to I couldn't put them together, I guess in my case you could say it wasn't so elementary lol

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    5. Too late I went straight to sleep, I'll look in the mail when I get up.


      Fitz has answered the last one EXpense - Palestine Liberation Organisation - Implement used to separate fine grains from coarse is a SIEVE = EX-PLO-SIEVE or explosive, the other clues work in a simalar way. ;)

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  3. Great report/movie! Excellent scenery and characters, as usual, too. Also as usual, you do like to make it tough on yourself, don't you? ha ha I mean those encounters sounded brutal.

    I can think of at least 2 approaches to doing a mystery/detective sort of scenario: 1. using another game that handles the mystery, as you did here. 2. kind of like Frank alludes to and the way Pulp Alley does it (I think), is to not bother with details, but rather finding enough clues (which can be items, tokens, or just check marks) gives you some level of success at determining the information you need to go on to whatever is next. In the latter case it doesn't really matter what the clues are since you aren't really working out the details of the mystery through figuring the clues out. It's more like, if you get x clues you can do y or know about z or whatever the case may be. They are basically a set of Macguffins. Of course, that does mean you don't have an actual mystery to work out, too, so you do lose out on that part of the fun if it's a part you want to have in your game.

    It is a tricky question and one I have thought about, too. There was a game/scenario I played some time ago where I had to figure out a codeword. In the scenario it was a specific word, which a second player would know, so you could actually play to figure out that word. I couldn't figure out a good way to handle that solo, so I resorted to rolling each chance I had to make a guess at the word to figure out if I knew one of the letters. In effect, it meant getting something like 10 successes on die rolls over the course of the game. Not quite as satisfying as actually solving a puzzle.

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    1. Hi Fitz or should I call you Poker Face, anyway thanks for your thoughts and you've covered the same bases as I did when I was thinking about this originally. I did play 2 out of a series of 3 game scenarios from the guys who wrote the rules I think called .45, they had specific clues that you could find in the first scenario that gave you an advantage in the 2nd one and so on into the 3rd game. I think that's what set all this in motion. I like the idea of the 20's and 30's gaming but to me the genre is hard boiled P.I.'s who will get into scrapes on the way but the essence of that sort of Pulp Fiction is solving the crime and saving the Dames. OK there's a few mobsters to beat up or shoot on the way and if it involves moonshine so much the better.

      I notice no one has tried to solve this case yet, maybe I should answer one of the clues so you can see the way the game goes.

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  4. I had to examine the clues again. Not sure about the first 2 (and it's past my bedtime), but for the last, what protects it is an explosive question.

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    1. Correct, the other 2 are the same style of answer. I think once you know how the answers are obtained from the clues its reasonably straight forward. Some of the answers relate to the case notes and so its possible to make an educated guess without knowing all the clues, eg if theres a Mr Whitehouse as a suspect you could maybe guess if you know either white or house is one of the answers.

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  5. Who Stole it – the clues daubed in charcoal:-
    Little ____ Least Less
    Commerce Wind in the Southern Ocean Trade
    Lestrade

    Where is it – the clues on parchment:-
    A short Violet Vi
    ___ for the wings of a dove Oh
    Reverse of Nil Lin
    If P’s and Q’s then presumably J’s and ___ K's
    Violin Case

    What Protects it – clues on clay tablets:-
    No___ pense Spared Ex
    Palestinian Liberation Organisation PLO
    Implement used to separate fine grains from coarse Seive
    Explosive

    Great little adventure John, and the new cobblestone mat was perfect - like Frank I think having "roadways" would limit your layout options, and as it is, your additional scatter terrain works perfectly to blend the buildings into the mat :-)

    I'm going to dig out my old 221B (the detective business must be doing well if Sherlock has moved to the larger downstairs apartment at 221A!), and have a look at the components.
    I'm sure our 'Hive Mind' can come up with a "mystery mechanic" for our solo detective games :-)

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    1. Spot on Greg, the Lestrade threw me for quite a while because I didn't see Less and there were a lot of other characters who were more likely. I just assumed Sherlock would know Lestrade even though the killer was a master of disguise.
      Of course once you've got it, it's obvious.

      I realised I'd got the address wrong when I packed everything away, but I'd posted by them, I guess you've got to be a pretty good detective to see that clue;)

      My plan with the cityscape is to make some big 'plates' of paving slabs to sit the buildings on top of and that will define the roads. From the pictures I've seen most of the roads didn't have lane and junction markings, certainly not in the earlier part of it, so they should look ok.

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  6. What an absolutely brilliant report John! The perfect post to come back to after months of no internet access 🙂 I love mystery games and your table and models added to it perfectly - and as mentioned, really like your new mat!

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    1. Hi Ivor, I assumed you were just busy with the move, but I couldn't remember when it was to happen. I fonally got round to writing up the western game, its the previous post, I think you got shot, sorry. :)

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    2. That's hilarious 🤣 I will definitely take a look!

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    3. Sorry, shot but after being beaten up by a woman. Mind you a lot of bad men got beat up by the women in Little Whiskey. I think I mentioned somewhere we are an equal opportunities blog. It doesn't matter if you are male or female, what colour you are or even what race, you will all take your chances, good or bad, and it's usually bad.
      Cheers

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  7. Great report of a very interesting concept but of course it is problematic playing it all solo. Ny own variabt on this "treasure hunt" may also have some possiblities for you the ide is a similar process (see https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?hl=en-GB&tab=jj&blogID=4776165776368681924#editor/=post;postID=4866373878278126004;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=81;src=postname and the game the following week).
    I'm sure there's great mileage in this idea coupled with adjusting the theme.
    the terrain looks great and the cobbled mat is a great addition.

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    1. Thanks Joe, I think you have given me the link to your blogger acount rather than your public blog page as it says I don't have access rights. If you could give me a post date I should be able to find it from that.
      I'm very interested to see what you did.
      Cheers

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    2. OOps, many apologies - I was just showing of my lack of techy skills.
      Sates, 16th and 23rd July 2018 (hopefully)

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    3. Cheers I'll have a look later, by the way you mentioned somewhere you liked 2HW rules but not the shooting, I'm inclined to agree with you, question is what did you substitute instead?

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    4. IRe THW :
      I keep the sgooting 'rep' (o have various abilites) on a scale of 1 to 5
      Shooting is as per THW but the shooter throws a success on his shooting ability equal to or less on a D6 (thus a '6' is always a miss)
      The target then gets a saving roll dependant upon the shooters situation (eg. riding in a fast moving vehicle etc.) AND the target's situation (eg cover).
      No matter the circumstances the maximum saving roll is '5'. I have a minumum save for flintlock weapons of ;1; as there is always the chance with such weapons of a mis0fire, flash in the pan etc.

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    5. Thanks Joe so if I understand it correctly you are using shooting rolls the same as normal pass dice rolls, so the better you are, the better your chance of a hit is by rolling under your stat line. I'm not so clear how this is different to adding a D6 to your rep to achieve a high score, i.e. the better you are the higher your dice roll will be.
      I keep looking at the shooting and want to go back to my roots, i.e. how good am I, what is the range, have I aimed, run, moved etc, what has my target done, moved, hidden, etc and I sort of end up thinking the result is still very similar to 2HW rules even though I feel vaguely dissatisfied with it.
      Maybe if in my next game I detail a shooting situation and perhaps you could explain how yours would differ that might be helpful and I would much appreciate your input.
      Cheers

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    6. Ok Ive read the 2 posts you refered to and as I commented on both of them at the time I'd already read them :( but quite forgotten about it. :( :(. Thanks for that, I'll mull your ideas over a bit and see what crops up.
      I noticed in your posts, you refered to a corner cutter, I wondered where that idea came from, I bought one because I'd read about it somewhere, they are great, thanks for the idea.

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    7. Hi John, I'll join in here if I may ? what the hell I'll join in anyway :)
      I'm not a fan of Rep as I think its very limiting & D6 doesn't give much room for scope, take a sniper for example how do you make him much better then a Rep 5 character ? sure you can give him extra dice to roll to increase the odds of him hitting, but how many do you give him ? & then at what point will he never miss ?

      I think what your looking for was best covered in a game called Inquisitor, but tbh its very much like hard work as you work out all the permutations, for my liking 45 adventures covers it well enough, as its D10 with the shooters heaters score plus D10 against the targets dodge score plus D10, the amount of D10's each one is rolling depends on different things.

      In the end no matter which system you use you'll only as in real life get one of two results either a hit or a miss, so it really is just a case of what ever way of doing it rocks your boat.
      I think its the results of the shooting in where we get details from, eg did he hit if so where did he hit & what damage did the hit do, how did the target react to been shot at regardless if the shot hit or missed, been shot at by a sniper would mean (If your still alive) that the smart move would be to get out of Dodge, on the other side a cop been shot at by a tug would most likely return fire if able, a smart cop would do so while getting behind some kind of cover.

      Anyway that's my two cents on it, hope its of some help.

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    8. I've become a bucket of dice fan, I used to be a percentage dice fan but not anymore. Its to do with the odds of something happening. If I think the odds are 50/50 and I roll 100 dice I will likely get that result, if I roll 1 dice I won't, I will get big variations around it. Thats why I like the 2HW concept of rolling a number of dice for each character in a fight, it evens out the rolls and I don't get such big abberations as with something like Frostgrave using a single D20 dice each to resolve combat.
      I think thats why I'm vaguely dissatisfied with a single dice roll for shooting, it's alleviated by Rep, class, attribute whatever you call it, but is still a single dice roll.
      I supose nothings perfect ;)

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    9. I get where your coming from on rolling multiple dice John, I remember when playing 40k this guy keep rolling 2 dice for his save, so after awhile I ashed him how come you get to roll 2 dice for a save ? he answered he didn't but could reroll it so as the odds were the same he just rolled both to speed things up, now that might be true but the funny thing was when he started rolling just one & then rerolling it he started to fail a lot more saves :)

      What I was trying to point out with Rep was how a d6 limits the difference between different characters I've no problem with the amount of dice you're rolling for it mate, to go back to the sniper how would you make him much better then a Rep 5 guy ? also should add that in 45 its possible to be rolling more then 1 dice to hit even when you can only hit once.

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  8. I think this is our best story yet, and the `who done it` approach just makes it even more fun. I admit I could not work it out at all, far too clever for me.. and I`m normally a bit of a smart ass genius when it come to things like Cracker, Morse, Lewis, Frost, Prime Suspect, and all those shows (never can work out Poirot though, but I suspect that's down to the style of the writing more than anything else) Love the characterisation, love the characters themselves, and really enjoy your style of writing. This actually looks like it must have been a hell of a lot of fun to play too.

    I`d like to read a lot more about this bunch of `heroes/heroines: I think you`re onto a winner here. Oh and the game mat is yummy... I WANTS it precious.`

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    1. Stevie The detective idea was driven by this bit of writing I came across one dark night, after the 3rd glass of Calvados, and revved up by Greg's still born Blade Runner story.

      "Carlotta stood leaning her weight against the heavy wooden desk in her office... and looking out through the greasy, dirt smudged window at the cars below her as they rolled back and forth along Fifth Street. 'They look like black beetles with shining white and yellow eyes,' she thought. The gloom had this effect on her mind, which always ran in macabre overdrive once the light clocked out from the routine day shift workers with whom she shared the old damp office building.
      She inhaled deeply on her ju-ju stick, sucking in the noxious substance like it was a meal and a delicious sedative rolled into one. Perhaps it was. Part of her felt nourished by the addictive oils of the illegal substance... another part of her enjoyed the mind numbing coldness of the muggle, anesthetising her worries into oblivion for that oh so brief a time."

      Carlotta Wynn PI, can't remember who wrote it;) but it made a big impression on me. I enjoyed the writing and wondered about the game play behind it, and for a while I don't believe there was any and then it started to come through after a few chapters of background. It's not quite what I'm after but the end result in terms of a story will be similar.

      I'm trying to stay on Piste here, making the game drive the story rather than going rogue and making the story drive the game, or indeed not having a game but just illustrating a story which if I was a writer would work, but this is Vagabonds Wargaming Blog and we play games here.

      Any how glad you liked it, I was hoping for a few ideas from your fertile mind on potential mechanics as to how melding detecting into a game might work but I'll keep plugging away at it.

      By the way you'll like the other mat I got, I've played one game on it, but quite a short one.
      Cheers

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    2. Oh goodness that`s a blast from the past. I played and wrote the Carlotta Wynn tales years ago. I haven`t seen it in a ages... completely forgot I did that, but I do remember now I had a lot of fun playing the games - I wrote a set of rules to go with it as well:

      http://tabletoptitans.com/rules/0001.php

      I do have a few ideas for the style you are looking for, I`ll try and find out the relevant files which might help, soon as I find time to search.

      But yeah, the mat is superb, I do have a liking for these (I use a lot of the rpg Pathfinder ones). More please, I could enjoy this stuff `til the cows come home.

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    3. I must have pointed half a dozen guys at that game/writing tale over the last few years, I'll be honest and say that anyone can write a few rules but it takes a certain someone to interpret the rules and come up with an interesting storyline emanating from them.
      I think it's the concept of how to have a puzzle (crime) and be able to solve it solo that's really bugging me. I know I can have dice rolls to be overcome, plot points to gain but it's all a bit of a construct to get around the issue that I'm solo and all knowing, although Mrs V would disagree with that statement and she'd be right.
      I'll keep thinking on it.
      Thanks for your thoughts though.
      Cheers

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    4. For me, doing solo, I approach it as though I am writing a story or a book. I set up an interesting scene, and then I try and work out how an earth I`m going to try and represent that on the wargame table. This often means I have to `interpret` an existing rule set (usually my own) to allow the situation I have set up to play out in an exciting and enjoyable way. This almost invariably (for me) means, when an exciting in game situation occurs, I then write a series of outcome possibilities on file index cards.. again thinking of each one as possible outcomes I would write if I were doing it as a story/chapter in a book: after I write about 6 possibilities.. i.e. potential courses of action, I shuffle the cards up and draw one at random, and this becomes the thing my guys on the table WILL attempt to do. Then I resolve it (again either by writing some additional rules to implement the decision I have made or by staying in writer mode and just telling it in an interesting way), but at no time am I really in any doubt once the decision is made. For me that random moment of exciting indecision comes at the point of writing out the index cards then pulling one randomly from the bunch I have made.

      I know most gamers solo like to feel they are playing an opponent along with all the unknown elements of chance added in (so they can feel like they are winning/losing) but for me, I never really have been very competitive... I don't follow sports and I have never been keen on games that are all about winning and proving who is the best. So I approach the hobby with the attitude that I am the director and narrator of a play or film, and my little guys on the table are my cast, and the rules allow a little bit of randomness (to avoid everything being too finite) and the rest is mind immersion and story telling. This works best when you follow a narrative over many games - i.e. a campaign.

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    5. Hi Stephen & of coarse our host John, its amazing but what you have just written above is the exact same what that I see it & very similar to where I'm now at, although its taking me a few years to get to this point.

      Like yourself I'm looking for a story & in my mind I'm making a movie, hence the blog name Nickel & Dime Productions, I've just done a post which I wouldn't link with out permission & in it I'm doing a lot of the things you talk about though keeping it a bit simpler as these are still early days for me even if I've been a few years getting here.

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    6. Hiya Frank, as coincidence would have it I literally just spotted your post (VERY highly cool btw). I`m sorry my reply there was so awfully short.. just busy busy, but I am now following along, and will play catch up for sure, and write more in comments from now on.

      I forgot to add, when it comes to "who done its" and things demanding clues etc, I tend to ask Hils v-e-r-y nicely if she will write me really cunning conundrums (on file index cards, as mentioned) and then put numbered chits inside crates, under beds etc, within rooms and so forth (bit like you do in the Core Space game), so as I explore I just find the chit, check the number, and then read the index card to reveal the clue. Hils holds the master card and tells me if I have unravelled it all correctly at the end when I come to face the final climax of the story. Its a bit more complicated than I have explained it here, but you get the jist, yeah?

      Isn`t it wonderful when we find we are doing and creating things that are on the same page as other games hehe.

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    7. I'm not sure you two can set up a mutual appreciation society on my blog ;) not without paying rent on the billboards.

      Stevie I'm pretty sure Frank was one of the guys I directed to Carlotta a couple of years back because when I started reading his stuff it was done in a very similar vein as an imaginative storyline game, with the emphasis on storyline.

      To answer you both Stevie's your last paragraph is how I play my games, although it's usually from one sides perspective but I don't feel there is a win or loose situation, usually its more a survive one. Your idea of the alternative possibilities is again what I'm doing but in a simplified way, what are the likely decisions, is one more obvious than the others, sling a dice and that tells me what they will do.
      At the end of the day though, I'm playing a game and hanging a story on it but I think Frank and you are writing a story and hanging a game on it. Similar but different.

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    8. Ok I'll pay lol

      Yes I was one of them John, & its brilliant.

      From my point John your correct :)

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    9. The invoice is in the post ;)

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    10. I was right in my assumption I think, I had a feeling this was how you stage you games.. playing the game and seeing what story comes out of it. This is also where a lot of the enjoyment comes from - for me. Dice, cards... rules.... they all lead us to the same place, the pleasure of telling a good yarn, with miniatures.

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    11. Essentially I named all my figures and created character cards for them so they all have a personality - to me at least, and some more than others. So I tend not to have considered campaigns apart from the Becky story line but one game tends to spawn a 2nd game based on it's outcome. Some times it's story end but not usually and I have maybe 7 or 8 stories to continue, just jumping back over a year there was a story about Argonor a Danish Chieftan who was famous for his bees and mead. His homestead was raided by a boat load of Swedish Vikings to steal them, they got the mead but not the bees. Argonor is nursing his anger and as soon as the Christian Swedes build their Church he will attempt to burn it down. I just need to build the Church.

      The Planters wife was kidnapped by slavers, he attempted to chase them across Africa but encountered wild baboons, many of his party were injured, including himself, but as soon as he recovers he will continue the chase.
      The only story line that I have mapped out is one about Becky who is on the trail of the Red Jade Buddha this is a 10 reel film in the traditions of Frank but unlike him I have no application to following one story line constantly until it's complete. :(

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    12. Hehehe I think your fooling yourself there a little bit John, I remember how Little Whiskey was built & if that wasn't a campaign I don't know what is & I might add a very enjoyable one, plus its an on going story :)

      Before I go & seen as you brought it up will you please got off your butt & get back to Becky & the Girls ?

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    13. I'm fed up with winter here, so going to Spain or at least in that direction for a couple of months. Do you remember the French Frigate Hermionie a few games ago, well I'm hoping to see her in Rochforte on my way south. Still can't find out if she's still there, Rocheforte tourist office won't answer my email.
      I've been rephotographing some old games to hopefully post while I'm away so you don't forget about me completely. They were to be the start of a campaign style but the characters kept getting eaten!!
      Becky will have to wait a while.

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    14. When I said get off your butt I didn't mean for you to head for Spain John lol, enjoy the sunshine.

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  9. Oh my, this is very good indeed. Its very deeply immersive with flavor and character and I want to read it again much more thoroughly, so I can give it the respect and proper justice it deserves.

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    1. Tarot with comments like that you are welcome here anytime :)

      Seriously though - thanks for taking the time to let me know you read it, I do appreciate it.

      I think it was a bit half and half, I wanted to try and explain what I would like to achieve with some form of future hard boiled gumshoe type of game but moving it on from a standard table top game into something slightly different as well as trying to get some feedback or pick other peoples brains for ideas as to how they might approach the concept. At the same time I wanted to write my usual boy's own story of what happened in the game so a bit of a miss-mash in that respect.
      Cheers

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  10. That was enjoyable! (if a bit late on my part)
    Got Lestrade and explosives but the violin case... I just had no idea.

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    1. Hi Joakim, I think it was Meatloaf who said 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Sorry I missed the fact that you had left a comment.

      Hope things are ok in Sweden I've not been keeping track of you I'm afraid.
      Take care.

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    2. It's been a couple of crazy months...

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    3. Too true, but unfortunately I think the economic aftermath will be pretty bad as well.

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