The Illustrious Casebook of the Great Detective

Ahh, the Great Detective, here they come again to solve another inscrutable mystery! Their reputation precedes them, all those famous cases that have made them a household name. Why who could forget the uhh…

1: Perhaps You’re Wondering Why I’ve Gathered You Here?

This is a table to help prepare or improvise extravagant titles for the past cases of a Great Detective or Famous Sleuth type of character. Think Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple or Nancy Drew.

This table was made for the Table Jam 26.

2: Using These Little Grey Cells

The table is a collection of Adjectives, Hooks (mysterious sounding plot points) and Details (people or locations) that can be stitched together into an evocative name for a mystery story.

For maximum flavour, use all three, like this:

[Adjective] of [Hook] [Detail]

In reality, not many classic mystery stories have such flowery three-part names (cowards). But the prompts should work fine if combined as:

[Hook] [Detail]

[Adjective] [Detail]

And for a straightforward Holmesian title, The Adventure of [Hook] will work in most cases

3: Three Blind Dice

Entries in each column are ordered according to their FSG rating (fantasticalness X specificity X goofiness). This is so that by using different dice you can calibrate the FSG to fit the tone of your game as well as your appetite for challenging improvisations if you’re using this table during play.

If you use a d6 for all three you’ll get credible sounding mysteries like “The Mysterious Case of the Stopped Clock in the Library”. It’s vague, deliberately cliché and you’re not tied down by too many specifics.

If you decide to use d12s instead then you’ve opened up the possibility of results like “The Tragic Case of the Prodigal Son at the Top of the World”. This time you’ve got an implied fantastical location, a specific plot element and a theme of tragedy.

Finally, if you use a d20 you’re getting into The Goofy Zone. Do you find part of the fun of TTRPGs is the steady accumulation of absurd world-building that’s needed to justify ill-conceived on-the-spot improvisations? Then introduce a case like “The Rhyming Record of the Unforgettable Luncheon at the Bottom of the Sea” into your otherwise period-accurate locked room mystery to really throw some fuel on that fire!

4: The Game’s Afoot!

This table is a system-neutral resource that can be used for any game or story that includes a Great Detective (either real or fictional within the world of the game). I initially had this idea when I wanted to flesh out the backstory of a player character who was related to a famous sleuth.

It could also be used to add some flavour to the history of Pietro Contrari from Murder Most Foul, the second scenario of Brought to Life, Kevin Kulp’s collection of adventures for his and Emily Dresner's Sword of the Serpentine. While I have not read Jason Cordova’s Brindlewood Bay I imagine this table could be used to roll-up some names for the in-universe Amanda Delacourt novels or past cases of the Mavens themselves. Chris Bissette’s In The Library With The Wrench isn’t out yet but I daresay this table could be used to give a Great Detective spin to the Investigator role. (Maybe this goes without saying but this is an independent production and is not affiliated with any of the people, publishers or systems mentioned above).