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Mystery RPG with an AI game master

A precinct at night, a school stuck on Monday, a sleeper ship with a religion. Pitch the case; the game master hides the answer and plays every suspect.

How mystery plays in Orpheus

A good mystery needs someone who knows the answer and won't tell you. That's the game master's whole job here. You ask the questions, search the rooms and lean on the witnesses. The game master plays every suspect, each with their own reasons to lie.

And they do lie. People want things, keep secrets, and remember how you treated them, so the clerk you bullied stops cooperating and the witness you protected calls you back. Some can be taken aside to talk in private, away from whoever they're afraid of.

Scenes mark things you can interact with: look at the ledger, take the key, open the desk drawer. A roll decides whether you spot what's hidden or talk your way past a locked door, and the game master tells you what you found, or what it cost you to find it.

Mysteries mix well with everything else. A case in a fantasy city, a time loop at a school where you're the only one who has noticed, a trial where the defendant breathes fire. Open the history whenever you need to reread a statement.

Nothing forces the answer on you. Accuse the wrong suspect and the story keeps going with the consequences: someone guilty still loose, someone innocent with a grudge. Come back tomorrow and the case is where you left it, notes and lies included.

How a scene opens

An example first beat from “One more case”, written the way the game master writes. In the game, nothing is scripted: this is just how a scene like it might start.

A cluttered detectives' office at night, an evidence board on the wall

The precinct is empty except for the coffee machine and the evidence board, which someone has updated since you left. A new photo is pinned in the middle: a pier at night, a coat on the boards, no body.

“Don't,” says your partner from the doorway. Detective Hale has their coat on and their keys in their hand. “The captain closed it. Officially, that's a man who went for a swim.”

Hale doesn't leave, though. They're looking at the photo too.

Your choices

  • Ask Hale why they're still here
  • Take the photo down and turn it over
  • Call the captain at home

Or type what you do in your own words.

Pitches to start from

  • A cluttered detectives' office at night, an evidence board on the wall

    One more case

    “The detective from your favorite mystery novels, one case after the last book.”

    Fan fictionYou play: The detective's partner

  • An empty classroom in morning light, a triangle drawn on the chalkboard

    Monday, again

    “Every morning is Monday again, and you're the only teacher who's noticed.”

    Time-loop mysteryYou play: A substitute teacher

  • A row of frosted cryosleep pods in a blue-lit hall

    Three centuries late

    “You wake from cryosleep three centuries late, and the crew has started a religion about you.”

    Sci-fi mysteryYou play: The last sleeper

  • Stone steps up to a columned courthouse under a blue sky

    Dragon on trial

    “A courtroom drama where the defendant is a dragon, and you're his public defender.”

    Courtroom comedyYou play: A public defender

Make it yours

Decide how fair the puzzle should be. Tell the game master whether you want a cozy whodunit or a case that gets people hurt, what stays out, and how hard it should play. Start from a pitch below, pick up one case after the last book of a detective series you love, or write a sentence of your own.

More worlds: Fantasy · Sci-fi · Horror · Comedy · Cozy · Adventure · Fan fiction. New to this? Read what an AI game master does.

Open a case

Pitch the crime, the detective or the town with a secret, and the game master sets the first scene. Free to start, no card needed.

Play free

Plays in your browser, on a computer or a phone