Edelweiss Lodge

1932, 2,400 metres up, a storm cuts the cable car. In the morning, the banker is dead in his locked room. Seven suspects, one passing detective: you.

The rulebook at a glance

One-shot
Death in Room 7
1 session · deduction, locked room, the 1930s
Cost: 1 Die for the whole table
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By the Icotale team

PlaceThe Edelweiss ChaletA mountain hotel at 2,400 metres: twelve rooms, a large lounge with a fireplace, a wine cellar and a cable car that doesn't run during storms.
PlaceRoom 7The finest room, the one belonging to the banker Oskar Lindqvist: locked from the inside, its window blocked by snow.
PlaceThe fireside loungeLeather armchairs, a bar, a gramophone, and the big window looking out on the storm. This is where everything will be said.
PlaceThe cellar and the kitchensThe staff's domain: a dumbwaiter, a back door, and tracks in the snow that get wiped away quickly.
CharacterOskar LindqvistA Swedish banker, sixty years old, steadily hated by every single guest. Found dead this morning.
CharacterThe Edelweiss SevenHis young wife Hélène; his business partner Vidal; Doctor Baumann; the singer Lou Carrel; the mountain guide Anselme; the housekeeper Mrs Furrer; the young waiter Tomas.

Roll 1d20 and add the attribute's modifier: 11 or more succeeds, 14 against a suspect on their guard, 17 to see through a perfect lie.
A natural 20 delivers a detail nobody had noticed; a natural 1 makes the detective say something silly that the whole lounge will remember.

Initiative : 1d20 + Observation modifier

Observation OBS: Spotting the ash on a sleeve, the stopped watch, the track in the snow.
Psychology PSY: Reading a lie, a sorrow, a fear.
Knowledge KNO: Poisons, train timetables, heraldry, parlour chemistry.
Poise POI: Questioning, bluffing, keeping the whole lounge on the edge of their seats.

The little grey cells: Once per session, the detective can ask for ten minutes of silence: they link three clues already found and the Storyteller confirms or denies the link, without saying anything more. That's the only help: the deductions come from the player.
Alibis: Each suspect has an alibi noted by the Storyteller. An alibi confronted with a clue that contradicts it starts to crack: the suspect lies once, then admits part of the truth (not necessarily the murder). You don't force anyone: you corner them.
The revelation: The case ends in the lounge, with all the suspects gathered: the detective names the culprit and the motive. Right, and the culprit breaks down; wrong, and the real culprit breathes again — and the detective gets a second chance, at the cost of everyone bursting out laughing.

Roll 4 dice with 6 faces per attribute, keep the 3 best · 2 rerolls allowed4d6kh3

Private detective: Paid by the hour, sceptical by trade; +1 to Observation.
Retired police officer: Thirty years on the force, a moustache and methods; +1 to Psychology.
Gifted amateur: Novelist, doctor or curious widow, always in the right place at the wrong time; +1 to Knowledge.

The methodical one: Notebook, timeline, plans drawn to scale.
The intuitive one: A hunch first, then the proof.
The socialite: Gets people talking over dinner better than in an interrogation.
The scientist: Magnifying glass, little bottles, and the chemistry of poisons.

Topics kept off screen: the Narrator never shows or describes them.