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Narrative Devices in Mystery Scenarios

In his latest See Page XX [1] column, Red Herrings and Ticking Clocks [2], Robin Laws looks at using red herrings and time limits in investigative adventures.

I particularly like his succinct breakdown of the two ways to include red herrings (in advance or on the fly), his point that you often don’t need red herrings at all because your players will often create them on their own and this little gem:

Whether preplanned or made up as you go along, a red herring should either be extremely interesting in its own right, or so boring that it can be dispensed with quickly.