The Puppeteer
The Puppeteer is a murder mystery game set at the afterparty of a disastrous film premiere.
After an hour of mingling and a scathing toast from the enraged director, the group discover they’re poisoned. They’re given clues that can help them discover the identity and motives of the person who orchestrated the poisoning. This person, The Puppeteer, is also there, spreading false clues, stirring the pot and trying to avoid suspicion.
To ensure there's plenty of dramatic improv, every character has a backstory which puts them at odds with at least one other person.
Everyone also has a task to complete (often in conflict with someone else’s). This creates a loose narrative over the evening and means there’s often some juicy drama unfolding when you walk into a room. SPOILERS:
After another hour, everyone is given one final juicy clue, as well as a target from The Puppeteer. If they kill their target, they’ll receive the antidote for the poison. You can only kill someone if you can get them in a room alone. Toilet breaks are deadly.
ENDING SPOILERS: After the inevitable bloodbath, the Puppeteer reveals that the antidote is in fact the poison and they were all completely healthy until they started killing each other. They could have figured this out, if only they had worked together and shared their clues. Everyone who drank the fake antidote dies dramatically.
You can download all the files here, in case you’re reading this and fancy giving it a go. It needs to be played with 12 people exactly (plus someone to be the game master/butler - probably you, if you’ve read this far). I didn’t document the game master’s tasks, but drop me an email and I can help you figure it out: thomascullum@gmail.com