I need help writing a camp based mystery.

[Tableleg0]

TLDR: I need ideas for clues that a panty thief at a summer camp may have left behind.




After several false starts in the past, im trying to finally make an RPG maker game. The game itself is set in a 1950s type setting where immortality technology exists (with most people being stopped from physically aging in their 20s-30s), and the world is ruled by a species of giants (think 15 feet tall people with really sting parental instincts.) Because reproduction is limited, these giants have developed a tendency to “adopt” normal sized humans and human-giant hybrids to act as perpetual babies and older children respectively.

The story itself is set in a summer camp for male human-giant hybrids, where the player takes the role of a giantess whose acting as a camp counselor during their summer break from college. Of course, corporal punishment is quite frequent at this camp, specifically F/m spankings (although I have ideas for some F/F stuff as well.)


The central conflict of the story is that a camper has been stealing the underwear of the camp councilors, and the player is asked to solve the mystery and bring the pantie bandit to justice.


The idea is to have five clues, each of which will lead to two of the twelve campers, with one camper sort of being the players sidekick. The guilty party is probably going to be one of the more prudish and repressed campers who constantly talks about how his fellow campers are unsavory because they’re all perverts (in all fairness, some of them are.) Each of the campers connected to the the clues has broken the camp rules in some way, and depending on the players stats (Kind, Strict, and Naughty, based off of the players dialogue choices) one of the campers will either admit to what they’ve done wrong (more connected to the players Kind stat), try to get the player to the other camper (connected to the players Strict stat), or try to get the player to help them break the rules in some way in exchange for information about the mystery (connected to the Naughty stat.) All three of these options will ultimately lead the player to the next clue, and will primarily differ in whether the player wants to forgive campers, punish them harshly, or participate in whatever they’re hiding.


Once the player has discovered all five clues, they’ll ultimately be able to find pantie thief, either punishing them personally and keeping their actions a secret (connected to the Kind stat), turning them in (connected to the Strict stat), or helping them pull off a grand heist (connected to the Naughty stat.)


I have some basic ideas for characters, and have already designed the camp in RPG Maker MV. My main issue is that I’m not entirely sure what clues I should use, which is where I’m kind of asking for ideas. Again, each clue has to be connected to two campers, each of which has committed a different violation of the camp rules, and in doing so saw something about the panty thievery taking place. Sorry if this is weird, I’m just struggling to come up with ideas for what clues the thief may have left behind, and this seemed like the best place to ask for ideas!

[RedStingOfDiscipline]

Hmm, interesting mix of complete fantasy and 1950s setting! But if it already giant species (aliens?) and immortality, why not involve some sort of "psyche fingerprint", for example? Stealer, for example, likes horror movies, vanilla ice cream, green color etc and you can reveal it by magically scanning crime scene with alien tech. And then you have to solve zebra puzzle, gradually revealing statements like "John's left neighbor likes comedy" etc and finally deduce guilty one.

[Tableleg0]

Originally Posted by RedStingOfDiscipline

Hmm, interesting mix of complete fantasy and 1950s setting! But if it already giant species (aliens?) and immortality, why not involve some sort of "psyche fingerprint", for example? Stealer, for example, likes horror movies, vanilla ice cream, green color etc and you can reveal it by magically scanning crime scene with alien tech. And then you have to solve zebra puzzle, gradually revealing statements like "John's left neighbor likes comedy" etc and finally deduce guilty one.

This does sound like something I could probably work with! That or having the protagonist have weird dreams or something that lead them to clues!

Edit: I looked up the concept of a zebra puzzle, and honestly might rework the general plot around one of these. It’s kind of a perfect mystery formula.

[Kelsec]

Footprints - describe or show patterns (the type lf boots someone who hikes a lot wears)

Some kind of substance - maybe they left some body lotion or special smelling sunscreen on a windowsill or maybe they had oil or something on them from doing a task

Ash - were they one of a few at some kind of campfire recently

A dropped object - something small that might hint at who it is (chapstick, a key, a candy wrapper)

A witness - did someone notice the thief acting strange or sneaking off

Dialog clues - have others voice their suspicion and see who's right using the other clues

Event clues - is someone ALWAYS late and has just the perfect excuse? Do they seem extra tired or on edge?

Sky's the limit, you could use a lot of those as hard evidence or also as way of throwing the player off a bit. Give some false clues that make the player really have to think about how a clue is connected.