How Not to Host a Murder (5e)

Really great one shot. My players and I loved it. I added a few details as well. After they opened the invitation, I said that Elminster was their long lost godfather:

“You recall this name, Elminster, from a long, long time ago. Elminster is your godfather - you think you remember being told that he is a wizard. But you have never met him, you have never been contacted by him before, you haven’t heard his name for years. In times of loneliness in your youth you thought of seeking him out, but had no idea where to start, and eventually any dream you may have had - of seeking out an exotic, wealthy wizard who could have taken you under his wing - faded into the memories of your childhood. You decide to attend this strange party tonight, putting on your finest garments for the occasion.”

I also created a half-written speech hidden on Elminster’s body which revealed that he had actually invited each of the players’ characters to the party because they were his long lost illegitimate...See more children (they didn’t know each other before arriving at the party). He’d had a change of heart and decided to track them down, throwing the party as an excuse to meet them and welcome them into his family.

I would really recommend encouraging your players to mingle with the guests before they find Elminster dead (as suggested by the writer of the one shot). I made the mistake of having Diz go to find Elminster as soon as they arrived, then realised that he would have to find the body within a minute or two and they wouldn’t get a chance to mingle - my bad. Then when they got to talking to the guests and finding out their details, it was made harder by the fact that Elminster had just died and they didn’t trust anyone. They need to have an introduction to the other guests without the murder affecting their perception of the guests’ words and stories.

My players ended up being more interested in interrogating the guests than exploring the study, so if I run this again I shall try to find a way to gently steer them towards exploring the study. I might introduce a detective character who takes aside the guests to question them, and asks the players to look around for clues. One of the players casted Detect Good and Evil which I decided would lead them to the Soul Gem under his body due to sensing the necromancy magic, but they did not go through his pockets, so they did not find his half-written speech.

I decided that “Athalantar” (the bird’s password) would be the place where Kira and Elminster had met, inspired by Glenn H’s comment below. In the desk drawer I had them find a locket with a miniature portrait of himself and Kira - inscribed on the back of the locket were the words “I shall always remember where we first met”. Also, I made it so Athalantar was written underneath the desk, but they didn’t check under there.

In the desk drawer I also put a floor plan of Elminster’s house. I found a great map of this one shot online with a secret passageway. To get into the passageway, they had to stand in front of a portrait of Elminster in his kitchen eating his favourite sweet, ‘sugarwumbles’, and had to say the word sugarwumbles. There were plates of these floating around when they arrived in the house and also Mrs. Owlbear had told them that they were Elminster’s favourite.

Down the passageway I put a chest. To get into the chest they had to consume a potion, but there were three potions to choose from. They had to make Constitution Saving Throws against the potions’ effects. There was a blue potion that would have turned the drinker into a talking llama (inspired by the Emperor’s New Groove!), a green potion that would have required the drinker to only speak in song for the next 1D20 minutes, and a yellow potion that either poisoned them or opened the chest depending on how they rolled.

In the chest I put a Cloak of Invisibility which was super fun for the players to wear and spy on the guests at the party.

In the end when they were spying on Pathos I had them see him take a to-do list in his pocket:

1. Polish belt buckles
2. Organise scarf collection
3. Mow the lawn
4. Send the Soul Gem to Elminster

This was the definitive proof they needed to confront Pathos and attack.

However my players killed Pathos and Kira with just one hit each! There were only two of them, but their Level 7 characters totally outpowered their opponents. If I run this again I will have my players make lower level characters, maybe Level 4 or 5.

Adding my own details was just an opportunity to get creative but it still would have been a fantastic one shot to play without those additional bits. I highly recommend it.

This game was perfect!! I had my players be the NPC: Kira, Diz, Pathos, and another one I added. I tweaked a couple of things, though. For example, I changed the bird's password and got him to tell the players clues in order to guess it.

Also, I was tempted to create clues for the original murder party (Diz and the poison and stuff) but that would have totally confused my players, so I didn't, and it was sooo fun!

Maybe a bizarre question, I'm getting ready to run this a second time and I just realized that there's not clue or indication for the password of the song bird. It gives the password but how would the players know/guess it? Am I missing something

What I wonder is what was the plot to the murder mystery the old wizard had originally planned (whodunnit?) and did what kind of clues did he have prepared?

If (like me) you're looking for the character artwork Gabe made for the PAX 2016 session, you can find the jpegs here: https://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2016/04/26/acquisitions-inc1

Just wondering as I'm a newb DM I read tru and the only actual fight is the boss right? Is it possible to make it a low level adventure instead? And for more players?

LOL both of the AI adventures are Fantastic. I encourage everybody who grabs these to listen to the Acquisitions Incorporated podcast. The adventures will mean more if you do.

Great little one shot. Kinda bummed they didn't the artwork of the NPCs from the show.

bummed they Dropped AI from these for distribution.