Ropecon, the biggest Finnish roleplaying game convention, is once again upon us! And once again, I will be hosting table-top role-playing games there.

This year is a biggie for me as the game I’ll be running this year has been a longer creative endeavour for me. I’m running Tyhjyyden meren hirviöt (Monsters of the Void Sea in English), a murder mystery oneshot in the setting of Blades in the Dark.

The idea of this kind of game came to me early last autumn. Since then I have been fleshing out the design. From the start I was aiming for a more co-creative, procedural experience than just a murder mystery adventure module.

Here is a brief synopsis of the game: A naval steampunk murder mystery in a fantastically Victorian setting.

Players co-create the details of the mystery and the resolution remains a mystery until the end for even the GM! The events of the game hop back and forward along the timeline of the night of the murder as the secrets unravel.

Set on a former leviathan hunter ship turned a pleasure cruiser sailing on the perilous Void Sea, a peculiar place for a birthday party to one of the most influential nobles in Doskvol. Who is found murdered in the dead of night. Can Inspector Renout and their companions solve the mystery?

The game is based on the rules of Blades in the Dark as far as different action rolls and flashbacks go. But I have created a couple of novel mechanics to enable the co-creative and procedural nature to a murder mystery oneshot. With those in place the GM can run the game and not know whodunnit until the session reaches conclusion.

I’m quite excited about the state of the design after running two test games this spring. So much so that I’m thinking about writing up the game and publishing it in one form or another in the future.

And of course, I have created a lot of handouts for the oneshot as well: a vintage menu that outlines the oneshot for players, Dramatic personae – a list of people present, a timeline of events during the time of murder etc. All to make it easier for players to get stuck in playing out the murder mystery together.

All in all, I’m really excited to introduce this game to two groups of Ropecon participants during the weekend. Wish me luck!