Floating clues are an elegant solution to a common problem. Running mysteries in tabletop roleplaying games can be incredibly rewarding; however, they are one of the most fragile story types. Frustration can easily come into play as players chase red herrings or completely misunderstand a clue’s importance. Floating clues help a gamemaster (GM) make sure this never happens.
Fragile Mysteries
Mysteries are the second most popular genre in fiction books. Consequently, it’s no surprise so many GMs and players love having these in games. In fact, there’s already a general article on running mysteries by our partner at Alkemion here. However, I want to dig into one specific part of this type of game.
Back in 2007, Robin D. Laws wrote a series of articles with his ideas on running mysteries. These were the foundation for his popular GUMSHOE system—a system built purely to play mysteries at the table.
There are lots of insights and advice, but I want to focus on just one. Robin said GMs shouldn’t make one fragile clue the key to a mystery. One example of this is hiding essential clues behind dice rolls. Since publication, this has—thankfully—been a massive influence on designers in the hobby. The logic is simple. There is always a chance dice rolls will fail, regardless of player skill or creativity. So, placing essential information behind a dice roll risks blocking player progress. Pure luck decides whether the story stops or continues. This is neither smart nor rewarding.
Fragile Clues
There are other types of fragile clues, too. Any information that needs the player characters (PCs) to do something unscripted is fragile. For instance, needing the PCs to find a non-player character (NPC), but having a chance of never meeting them. Likewise, the PCs may never go to a certain location; they may not do a certain action, or say a particular phrase. All of these can break gameplay and cause a lot of frustration.
Once, I was a player in a one-shot where the PCs started in prison cells with amnesia. The GM said the doors didn’t open when pushed. There was nothing in the cells to force the doors or pick the locks. Fifteen minutes of trying and failing to find a solution, I remember joking they must be sliding doors. However, because I didn’t say my character tried to slide the door open, the GM stayed quiet. It was another fifteen minutes before we said the magic words and actually stated our PCs tried to slide the doors open.
It’s an extreme example. However, requiring players to do very specific things in a fictional world they cannot see is rarely going to work. It’s like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle without being able to see all the pieces.
Awkward Fixes
Some GMs will try and solve the problem by taking control of characters so they follow the script. Others will offer the players a dice roll for the answer; for instance, the PCs aren’t doing the trigger action, so the GM asks for a knowledge check. Besides the risk of failing the roll, this kind of success isn’t rewarding. There is no creative thinking or agency from the players; important victories earned through luck are unsatisfying.
These are all poor GMing. It’s much better to just give the players strong clues. The best way to do that is to have more than one way of learning the information. And the best way of doing that is by using floating clues.
So What Are Floating Clues?
These are clues the GM can drop into multiple locations. For example, the GM wants the PCs to go to a library. So, the PCs find a newspaper report saying the library has some ancient, occult books; they hear from a passing conversation a NPC refuses to leave there; a noble asks the party to give the librarian an important message; across town, they hear an explosion in the library’s direction.
All of these clues lead to the library, but all of them could be in multiple locations. This gives maximum flexibility to the GM. It doesn’t really matter where the PCs go or what they do, these clues have more than one way of reaching them. The passing conversation could happen in any public place; even if they don’t visit the noble, a servant can arrive with the request.
Additionally, even if the PCs miss one clue, the GM has others in reserve. If the party avoid the noble, they can hear the passing conversation. If they ignore the newspaper report, they can still hear the explosion.
As an aside, there is zero harm in the players finding multiple clues for the same information. This will just reinforce the information is important and they are correct to focus on it. GMs want the players to solve the mystery, otherwise there’s no payoff. It’s rarely too easy. Again, remember the players are doing a jigsaw puzzle where they can’t see all the pieces. When in doubt, give more clues.
Give Information in Different Ways
Clues should deliver information in different ways. In the above example, the PCs can read about it, overhear a conversation, have direct dialogue, and hear an explosion. This is more interesting and more rewarding for players to link together. Four written notes giving the same clue, or three different NPCs saying the same thing, don’t make the brain work. Use as many of the senses as possible while keeping things believable. Have a mix of direct and indirect sources. This helps the players progress without feeling railroaded.
Each important information, location, or action should usually have three to five clues. This means the players can miss one or two and still progress; it also means if they find two or three, they can be sure they are progressing well.
Floating Clues On-Demand
GMs should try to have a clue or two they can use at any moment. Emergency floating clues are particularly brilliant when the players are starting to struggle. If the players aren’t progressing and frustration is rising, the GM can deploy this kind of clue immediately. It does not have to be a full reveal. For instance, a criminal attacks again; the PCs now have another crime scene to investigate, another chance to find important information.
Mysteries should never stay frozen in time. The criminal will keep acting until they get caught. This gives the GM a way to continuously give the party new clues. Plus, it’s a great way to keep increasing tension. Even ancient mysteries have present-day consequences that keep evolving. This makes having a schedule for future events very helpful. It gives the GM even more ways to progress the mystery; it also makes the players feel the situation is changing—and that’s exciting.
Listening to the players will help a GM decide if they need to use one of these emergency floating clues. Sometimes, players will make connections the GM doesn’t see. Often, this is wonderful and the GM should lean into it—perhaps creating more clues to reinforce it. However, sometimes changing the mystery will get confusing or create belief-breaking inconsistencies. Emergency floating clues are a good way to bring the party’s focus back on target.
There Is No Perfect Crime
Everyone and everything makes mistakes. This should be especially true in tabletop mysteries. Perfect mysteries never get solved. Either by accident, intention, interference, or weakness, there must be multiple clues for the PCs to find. If there is a villain, mistakes will happen or things will go wrong.
Villains can get flustered by PC activity; they may get lazy or arrogant believing the PCs are no threat; they could be blind to the risks they are taking; or, they may get so desperate they start acting regardless of the consequences. All of these are chances for floating clues. Evolving the situation usually gives new opportunities to deliver them.
GUMSHOE: An Alternative to Floating Clues
My first encounter with the GUMSHOE system was running The Fall of Delta Green. Delta Green was already a love of mine, but it’s a different system by Arc Dream Publishing. It follows government agents investigating incidents involving a modern interpretation of the Lovecraft mythos. Basically, it’s present-day Call of Cthulhu with—in my mind—better sanity mechanics and more creativity with monsters.
The Fall of Delta Green by Kenneth Hite is a spin-off. Set in the 1960s and using GUMSHOE, Fall was an education for my mysteries GMing. Recall Robin’s belief GMs shouldn’t build mysteries on fragile clues. GUMSHOE takes giving strong clues to the next level.
Rewarding Player Agency
If PCs visit an important location, they get information vital to solving the mystery automatically. Likewise, if passing a task is essential to the mystery, a PC with the right skill automatically succeeds. This means by going to the right places at the right time, and the right people trying the right things, players get rewarded. This won’t solve the mystery by itself—the players still need to connect the information together, but smart decisions never go unrewarded.
For instance, a group of agents discover the hotel room of an enemy spy. When they get there, they find a murder scene. There are no dice rolls to find the body or realise its bones have been sucked out. They automatically find the spy’s notebook and camera. A PC skilled in Photography can develop the camera film and find a clue to the next location. A PC is skilled in Flattery or Streetwise can get the room’s phone records for another clue.
Good dice rolls will reveal the insides of the body are in otherwise perfect condition; additionally, a good roll can locate a hidden matchbook with a name written on the inside. These clues are helpful to the PCs, but not essential.
Not everyone will love this approach. However, it really works to keep the narrative focus on getting to the mystery’s climax, and how the PCs handle the aftermath. GUMSHOE highlights keeping information from the players to the extent it stops the game should never be part of any mystery.
Skills (and Professions) Can Give Multiple Hints
While talking about skills, I want to add these are a good way to make one clue work harder. A single source can give multiple clues. Players get rewarded for choosing different skills, and it helps make the characters feel different. Taking Dungeons & Dragons skills as an example, a History check should give different information to an Arcana, Religion, or Nature check.
For example, the party find an ancient sword at a murder scene. A wizard with a high History score can learn it has seen many great battles; however, the user always eventually dies to an attack by demons. A cleric with a high Religion score can learn the blade is believed to be evil and demands regular blood sacrifice. A warlock with a high Arcana score may realise the runes on the blade are symbols of warding, but are incomplete. A druid may see the leather on the hilt isn’t cowhide; it’s from a creature that went extinct long ago and something about it makes living animals nervous.
Even a single clue—floating or otherwise—can give different pieces of information. This can make a mystery feel more elegant and give the players multiple paths to investigate. It encourages the group to work together. As an extra benefit, it also helps prevent one character dominating the action.
Floating Clues Make Mysteries Run Smoothly
Floating clues are a tool that gives GMs incredible flexibility. In a hobby where players can go in any direction, mysteries are especially hard to run. However, floating clues are a very smart solution; it’s very helpful to have something ready for use at any moment. They are a brilliant way to ensure the party reach the climax, while keeping the journey rewarding along the way.
Fantastic stuff!
