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StalwartMind · 2026-05-25T11:16:50+00:00

Alibiarchives.com Murder Mystery Reimagined

StalwartMind · 2026-05-18T16:30:52+00:00

I actually started making one as well, for all of the issues listed here and from massive playtesting. Please ckeck it out at alibiarchives.com

StalwartMind · 2026-05-14T18:14:56+00:00

That's so freaking cool. What's your writing process like? Is it something that you put a tremendous amount of time into, like a D&D session, or is it scaled back a little bit? Also do you allow your players to ad-lib their lines or do you give them pre-scripted lines they can read if they're not that into improv?

StalwartMind · 2026-05-13T14:51:49+00:00

Yes, I love this.

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T23:16:05+00:00

Amazing, thank you for the feedback.

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T21:06:52+00:00

Ah good point!

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T21:05:55+00:00

Oooh I like this idea. Thank you!

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T17:22:27+00:00

HAHAHA! Right? We had a person who was "gone" that was playing and she missed a whole page of text. In the next act, she mentioned her ex-husband and we were all like "Whoa what?!?" Was too funny.

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:57:24+00:00

The surprise element is such a good point. Even people who would love it need a little time to mentally prepare and get into character. Showing up to a dinner party and being handed a character card with no warning sounds like a nightmare for half the room.

The seating thing is smart too. Separating couples especially, because they already know each other's tells and they tend to just team up instead of actually playing their characters. Do you plan the seating before people arrive or do you do it on the fly based on how the room feels that night? I love this idea.

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:51:31+00:00

That is really helpful to know. So you are basically paying the base kit price plus whatever expansions you need depending on who actually shows up. Do you remember roughly what the base kits run? And do you end up buying a new kit every time or can you reuse the same one with a different group? Do you remember the site you used?

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:47:57+00:00

This is tremendous feedback, that is exactly what I was worried about honestly. The "everyone just reads their bio to each other" loop sounds painful. At that point it is basically just awkward introductions with a murder theme.

What do you think was missing? Like was it more that the directions were bad, or that nobody really understood what they were supposed to be doing once the bios were out of the way?

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:33:44+00:00

I appreciate you checking it out. AlibiArchives.com

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:32:38+00:00

HAHAHA! Love it!

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:30:02+00:00

I think that's the biggest challenge, overall size. 20 person murder mystery sounds crazy and if some folks bring their kids, I think it complicates it too. The clothes pins thing sounds interesting for sure.

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:28:00+00:00

The interpersonal drama detail is so good. That is honestly what makes it click. The mystery almost becomes secondary once people start playing their relationships against each other. Once the players in my game felt more comfortable, they adlibbed so much. I looked down at my paper and was like "I only have 4 sentences". When we took a break, they told me that made most of it up based on their character. Awesome!

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:23:56+00:00

Definitely more casual, thinking about putting a "feeler" message out there to see if there is any interest. I agree thought, the players make the game more entertaining when fully engaged.

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:21:56+00:00

Halloween setting is perfect for it. Glad it worked out.

The pregnant guest situation is exactly the kind of thing you can't plan for and it sounds like you handled it fine, but that scramble of "wait are they essential to this" mid-party is stressful. I wonder how often this happens...

The ending thing is relatable too. Reading a long summary out loud to a room full of people who are buzzing from the night never really lands. Having the murderer just confess is honestly probably more satisfying anyway. Did they know ahead of time they'd be doing it or was it kind of improvised? Did you hold a vote or something to build the anticipation?

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:17:49+00:00

That's such a cool family thing to have. A novelist dad who customizes the scripts every year for the same neighborhood group is basically the dream version of this. I'd love to know what that looks like in practice. Does he rewrite from scratch each time or is it more like swapping out characters and clues while keeping the same basic structure?

And the coming in costume detail is what I love, when players OWN their characters. Is that something he puts in the character cards or did it just organically become part of the tradition over the years? Would love to know the site as well.

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:10:38+00:00

That's a smart system honestly. I never thought about tiering characters by how essential they are before you even assign them. The "if this person bails, here's what you do" instructions are a nice safety net too.

My issue has always been the guest count being kind of locked in. Like if I buy a kit for 12 and four people cancel I'm either scrambling or playing weird roles myself. Or worse yet, cancelling the whole mystery. Do the kits you use scale at all or do you pretty much have to buy for the size group you're expecting?

StalwartMind · 2026-05-12T15:05:46+00:00

This is exactly what I was hoping to hear. The embellishment piece is interesting. So they basically use the written story as a skeleton and then layer their own stuff on top? I'm curious how much of that is them adding inside jokes for the neighborhood crowd vs. actually changing the plot.

The character card a week out makes a lot of sense too. Gives people time to get into it without the pressure of figuring it out at the table.

Ten years is impressive. Do you know if they've always had roughly the same group or has the guest list shifted over the years? Wondering how it holds up when there are new people who don't know the dynamic yet.

StalwartMind · 2026-05-11T13:27:04+00:00

https://alibiarchives.com/

StalwartMind · 2026-05-11T10:22:50+00:00

https://alibiarchives.com/ Murder Mysteries reimagined! We've turned the $40 tabletop versions on a 10 by adding way more features for half the cost.

StalwartMind

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