Hint is a one-shot adventure for Monte Cook Games’ Cypher System Revised game system. It’s available (as “pay what you want”) at Drive-ThruRPG. If you’re not familiar with the Cypher System you can find it and some free resources here.
Hint is a classic detective game (inspired by the board game Clue) which you can role play using the Cypher System. The game is played by a game manager and 2 – 6 players. Each player chooses a character from those provided. If there are less than 6 players the game manager plays the remaining characters as NPCs.
Each of the game characters will be tier 1 characters using the Cypher System. One will be chosen at random as the killer. It could be you! Or it could be another player character, or an NPC. No one will know until the mystery is solved.
The Premise:
It is November of 1926. Six people are invited to their friend Johnny Persson’s manor house outside Big City for a dinner party. They all eat dinner, although curiously Johnny is not present. After dinner the butler enters the dining room, introduces themselves as Dee Steward and informs the guests that Johnny Persson is deceased. The butler continues, saying that Johnny was killed by poisoning last week while he was alone in his home. He left a letter saying that these six guests should be invited to a dinner party. He also claimed that there are clues to who the murderer is throughout the house. Johnny says he has faith that one of his friends will put the clues together and find the murderer because “although we met in places all over the world, and I respectfully note that you each have your favorite artists, types of music and authors, you are all exceptionally bright. In your own ways.” He also warns that the murderer is one of the guests. The butler suspects that Johnny Persson was being slowly poisoned which made him act erratically, and suggests this might explain the odd circumstance Mr. Persson has put you all in.
The Goal of the Game:
All characters are innocent except for one who is guilty of the murder of Johnny Persson.
The goal of the innocent characters is to find clues hidden throughout the house and figure out who the murderer is. They can then confront the murderer in any manner they decide.
The goal of the murderer is to find three clues. If they find three clues before any innocent characters solve the mystery they can escape safely. In order to escape they must get to the Entrance Hallway.
The Contest:
We’ve got 100 downloads already! Because of that we’re celebrating with a contest. Let us know what you think in the comments below. Next week on March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day!) we’ll choose one of the commenters below at random as the winner. What’s the prize? We’ll create you an original “old school style” illustration of YOUR RPG character! You’ll receive a signed original print as well as a digital version to us on your character sheet. Just comment away below!
