Improvising With GUMSHOE by Steve Dempsey This article discusses an improvised variant of the GUMSHOE rules. It can be just as easily used for Fear Itself, Esoterrorists, or any other GUMSHOE game. Most games of GUMSHOE are played using a scenario that the GM has written. Not only does she introduce each scene and play […]
Tag Archives: GUMSHOE
This toy version of GUMSHOE introduces you to the basic concepts of the system which powers Trail of Cthulhu, Esoterrorists and Night’s Black Agents. Note, I’m not a game designer (whatever wikipedia says), and this version of GUMSHOE really is just for demonstration purposes. GUMSHOE was designed to power games which feature some investigative elements. […]
Here is an example of Trail of Cthulhu combat, in which three plucky adventures confront a crypt-dwelling corpse-eater. Dramatis Personae The consumptive Professor Oberon Lankwiller Player: Larry Health 5, [no rating in Firearms], Scuffling 4 Weapon: Webley revolver +0 Hit Threshold: 3 The brash Tag Hunter Player: Tina Health 13, Firearms 10, Weapons 8, Scuffling […]
A GUMSHOE core clue can be seen as a key, giving the PCs access to a door, behind which more of the story waits. With the key, they can interact with, change, master, and adjust that story. Sometimes a core clue can be a literal key. Literal for the characters, that is, and imagined by […]
Page XX A Column about Roleplaying by Robin D. Laws Out of the box, GUMSHOE’s lie-noticing ability, Bullshit Detector (or Assess Honesty as it is known in more genteel settings) addresses the central problem of its category. How do you give characters in a mystery story the ability to tell when people are lying without […]
New creature for The Esoterrorists The membrane between this world and the Outer Dark is everywhere. Even inside your computer. That’s where seepers break through. They sense the particular stink of paranoia and latent aggression stoked on the Internet’s blackest shoals. When you drink in conspiracy theory or wallow in mythologies of victimhood, they wriggle […]
In the latest episode of their ENnie-winning podcast, Ken and Robin talk holy ashes, Mary Sues, a GUMSHOE fallacy and Immanuel Velikovsky.
Continuing Ken’s theme of looting 13th Age for GUMSHOE twists, let’s talk about monsters. In 13th Age, monsters have a sort of rudimentary AI – instead of the GM deciding to use their special abilities in advance, they’re triggered by the result of the attack roll. So, for example, if a ghoul gets a natural […]
See P. XX A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws As a general rule, writers learn to avoid repetition. In the immortal words of David Byrne, say something once, why say it again? When writing roleplaying material I have to keep reminding myself to strategically violate that general rule. If there’s one thing playtesting […]
From the planet Sumter the call goes out: the wargames are on. Before the Mohilar War, Sumter existed as a synthculture planet. It appealed to both permanent and transient populations wishing to relive the period of the US Civil War, including its major battles. Those reenactments took place with fake weapons and robust technological safeguards. […]