Articles

GUMSHOE System articles

Robin D Laws has written a series of articles on the GUMSHOE system. These are available as part of See Page XX: The First 24 Columns. You can find out more at rpgnow.com. More recent ones are avaible free on our webzine See Page XX

Fear of Structure Part One: The Diagnosis

We look at the paradox inherent in running investigative scenarios, whether in GUMSHOE games like The Esoterrorists, or with other systems: structure is essential to the mystery genre, but players have learned to fear it, equating it with railroading or so-called "bread crumb trail" plotting.

Fear Of Structure Part Two: Exploratory Surgery

An example of how to structure a mystery adventure.

Red Herrings and Ticking Clocks

Time to zoom in a bit and talk about a couple of other narrative devices you can use to add spice to the basic mystery format.

Kitting Out GUMSHOE

The game's core engines are easily adaptable to whatever investigative genre you want to run. Here's how to adapt GUMSHOE to emulate your favorite procedural, whether it be 24, Torchwood, CSI, or The X-Files.

Don't Do That

Since the end of the process is a foregone conclusion-the characters get the info they need-why waste time, focus and creativity with a system that provides only the illusion of chance?

GUMSHOE Example Of Play

This column appears by request. Some GUMSHOE players have asked for an example of play for an information gathering sequence, to see how the various types of clues are conveyed to the players.