This is a murder mystery party written over the course of a few months.
I'm opening this up for people to use and improve however they like, as it seems like a waste to let it die after only playing it once.
File format is .odt. This was partially chosen because of the fact that github won't display it so guests can't inadvertently stumble upon this repo and browse through the characters.
Players: 27 playable characters + 2 hosts
Duration: Roughly 4.5 hours
Setting: Luton, England in 1666
Notes for hosting: This is a party is not designed with children in mind. It may be possible to change some characters to accommodate them but it was not planned for. As an example, some characters have drinking alcohol written in as part of their character description.
To set up this murder mystery party you will need to get reliable RSVP's from the 27 people you wish to invite. There will likely be one or two last minute cancellations so it's always useful to have a few people that can come in a pinch. It's also very important not to have guests that are not part of the story at the party to ensure that everyone stays in character for the whole night. It's also important to get the gender ratio correct, there are a few gender-neutral characters to make this a little more flexible.
Once you have your guests lined up, read through the character sheets and assign each person a character from the Public Character Descriptions file. We find that it's usually a good idea for these events to separate couples so that their characters aren't closely tied to one another as they will either reveal all of their information to each other, or feel disgruntled when the other opposes them.
Cutting out character abilities, illnesses, money and items takes a very long time so make sure to do it at least a day in advance. You can choose whether or not you wish to send them out ahead of time but each character should have an envelope with all their relevant information in it. You can also give everyone a newspaper as well if you wish. Some characters will have shillings for their money, we used small metal washers.
Half way through the night there is a town dance. Many characters have goals related to it. You can use anything, but here is a helpful list of medieval dances to make the decision easier. http://middlegate.atlantia.sca.org/Library/MedievalDanceforVillageIdiots.pdf