I had a great time with this game.
At first I honestly worried I wouldn’t be able to shape anything meaningful out of all the random elements the tables threw at me. But once I started using “oracle questions” to interrogate each scene, everything snapped into focus. The story gradually built itself, clue by clue, and the whole investigation became surprisingly gripping.
If anyone’s hesitating because they feel intimidated by randomness: don’t.
Asking small questions and following the answers is where the fun really begins. I ended up with a session that felt both chaotic and strangely coherent in the best possible way. Loved it!
Below is the actual play of my run, written up like a local newspaper article, in case you’re curious how a session might unfold:
Finchwood’s quiet routines took a curious turn yesterday when Beca, a well-liked diner waitress and amateur birdwatcher, raised the alarm about the sudden disappearance of Esther, her favorite regular and a clerk at Town Hall.
What began as a simple concern turned into a trail of strange scenes around town.
First clue: Esther’s coffee, waffle, and even her car were left untouched at the diner. A tote bag inside the vehicle held a flyer for a bookshop reading but Esther was nowhere near the event. Witnesses next spotted her rushing toward the Pharmacy, where a sudden flood forced everyone out. Powdered sugar traces on the shutoff valve suggested someone had staged a distraction to slip away.
From there, the search grew stranger.
A cluster of dogs outside the library hid a trained fox, of all things.
At the barbershop, a Town Hall employee nervously flashed a signet ring with an unfamiliar emblem.
A lost fake ID, a threatening letter, and later a dusty journal dropped by a man fleeing through Town Hall’s back corridor all pointed to a shadowy group working inside the building.
Meanwhile, farmers protesting across town revealed they’d been coerced by a printed blackmail note. Esther, who worked at Town Hall, had written her own notes on the same official paper ; notes addressed to the local church, describing what she had uncovered and how she escaped through the Pharmacy diversion.
The breakthrough came when Beca located these handwritten notes inside a car parked near the Funeral Home, along with someone quietly watching her through tinted windows.
By the end of the day, sources close to the investigation confirmed that Esther is safe, sheltered by contacts who received her warning.
The Town Hall employee tied to the emblem, the fox incident, the lock-in attempt, and the blackmail is now under scrutiny, thanks to Beca’s persistence and her ability to see meaning where others saw chaos.
Finchwood residents commend Beca for her quick thinking, steady nerves, and the unlikely role she played in unraveling one of the oddest days the town has seen in years.