Introducing the Cast

The next important step in writing a mystery party game is creating your amazing cast of characters!  Mystery party games use very punny character names and in general, the puns follow the theme of the mystery.   They can be a spoof of real or fictional people that the character is emulating.  This can help the audience, because recognizable character names communicate basic information about who the character is or is supposed to be.  Schmerlock Homes will leave the individual playing them, and the other participants, with no doubt as to the general air and manerisms they should use.  

This doesn't work for every scenario.  If the tone of your party is serious or dark, then punny names will pull your audience out of the story.  In the case of the mystery I am writing, the cast are all authors.  (Yes, we could have included publishers, editors, personal secretaries and other roles but not this time)  While I have punned names of famous writers in specific genres, not everyone in my audience will be familiar with them.  Nor will everyone recognize the pun.  Pun fun should be just that, a minor giggle that shouldn't take up too much of your writing time.  If puns don't work for your character names, then you'll have to decide how intentional you want your names to be.  Do they reflect that characters job, character, or motive?  Does it serve the story to make it obvious?  Either way, don't get bogged down in this step.  They are generally only used to distiguish the character and are rarely pivitol.

You will, by necessity, need to have determined your cast size to create your cast list.  If you are writing a traditional mystery party game, each character needs to be present to reveal specific information.  In general you are trying to create a 6-8 person dinner party.  For me, I am working with a minimum of 20.  This means I'm creating my story differently than a traditional mystery party which will allow for an indeterminate number of participants.  I will, however, still need specific things for each character whether they end up being present at the event or not.

1. Character name
2. 1-2 sentence general intro so the audience can pick the character they want to play and become familiar with the other characters.
3. costume suggestion
4. a more indepth paragraph describing the characters personality traits, manerisms (if important), general motives, and important specifics, like their job and why they are present for the event.  

This list of items will be the first information your audience receives so make sure the names and descriptions are consistent with your theme, taste level, and character specifics.  Character names can get very off color or offensive.  As always, check to make sure that names and traits match your audience/friend groups level of comfort. For the commercial venues I tend to write for, and my personal preference, I stay G rated.  Lastly, your descriptions and names should be consistent all the way through your documents. and how you characterize each character in the mystery game itself.  Do not release any information you haven't checked first.  If Schmerlock Homes is an arrogant know it all in your first draft but a tortured lovelorn genius in your final draft, make sure that is consistent all the way through from your character description to the final reveal.  It's easy to forget to check the initial character descriptions when you are approaching the end of such a complicated effort.

How about you?  What do you think is important when creating your cast of characters?