Introduction | Session Report | Comments
Introduction
In this session, we once again return to one of our alternate settings for A Weekend in the Country (Second Edition) by Lari Assmuth. I gave my friends the choice of the default setting, the island corporate retreat, and the ski lodge. They went with the last one, so this is the same setup as we used in Snowballing Murders.
Note: We didn’t have a tumbling tower on hand, so we tried yet another means of replicating the threat mechanic from the rulebook using cards.
Author’s Description: Spend a weekend relaxing in the Adlers’ country home with the old cavalry colonel, his wife, his family friends and his staff. Until… a murderer strikes!
This session: At a remote ski lodge, the secrets of a wealthy heiress and her entourage are exposed… when a murderer strikes!
Session Report
Dramatis Personae
Victim
Desirée “Dizzy” Peacemaker, wealthy heiress and childhood friend of the detective (she/her)
Suspects
Jax (J♥), engaged to Dizzy, but not from a rich family (they/them)
Roger (K♠), friend of Jax, an artist from a wealthy family (he/him)
Agnes (Q♦), executor of Dizzy’s trust (she/her)
Alex (J♣), longtime minder of Dizzy as caretaker/chaperone/servant (they/them)
Detective
A Weekend in the Country is designed to have a single detective investigate the murder, with all players controlling that one detective. All 7 players contributed to this description, which we built up turn by turn.
Kris Kross (any pronouns) – A leather-clad musician whose style can best be described as “thrift chic,” Kris is far from impartial, prone to following their desires rather than their logic. Statuesque and bald, they are originally from Ohio and had a brief career as a rap star before attending the Ohio State University and getting a detective’s license. This is his first case.
Locations
Bedroom Suites, Great Hall, Basement, Utility Shed, Kitchens
Clues
1. Bedrooms/10♣: Kris heads to the scene of the murder, Dizzy’s bedroom, but they are distracted by blood on the staircase leading down to the servants’ area.
2. Basement/K♦: Kris follows the blood trail downstairs. Near the door to the basement, he is stopped by Keith, Agnes’s son. Keith urges Kris to drop the case and let the police handle it. When Kris asks if Keith knows anything, he says of course not—he spent the whole night with Kris!
3. Kitchens/10♠: While inspecting the kitchens, Kris looks outside and notices that a window near the bedrooms was forced open.
4. Bedrooms/7♠: Kris finally gets around to inspecting Dizzy’s bedroom. Room service is still here from yesterday, and at the sight of the gold-plated butter knife, the detective is reminded of what they observed last night at dinner. Dizzy was exchanging barbed comments with the other guests.
5. Basement/K♥: Kris slips on his jacket to head down into the chilly basement. When he reaches into his pocket for his cellphone, he finds the invitation for the weekend in his pocket. There was a personal note on it in Dizzy’s hand that said, “Can’t wait to reminisce with you about Billy!” Kris was surprised to receive it, since he hadn’t seen Dizzy or Billy since kindergarten ended.
6. Basement/9♥: Kris finds a positive pregnancy test in the trash.
7. Utility shed/3♠: Kris goes to the utility shed to search the larger trash cans out there for more evidence. While he is looking in one, someone calls out, “Be careful not to fall in!” but they’re gone before Kris can see who it was.
8. Great hall/6♠: Taking a break in the great hall to warm up at the fire, Kris notices a porcelain alligator lying cracked on the floor. This is the mascot of the Garfield Gators, from the elementary school where he and Dizzy attended kindergarten.
9. Kitchens/7♦: In the kitchen trash can, Kris finds a note that says, “Break my gator & die!”
10. Kitchens/4♥: Digging down further, he finds a crumpled page from a diary that says in scribbled handwriting, “I don’t know what I’m going to do with it.” The message is repeated over and over.
11. Great hall/3♥: A servant neatening up the great hall mentions to Kris that she saw Dizzy and Keith making out on the couch there two nights ago.
Accusation
With two pair, Ks and 10s, we accuse Jax of murdering Dizzy because she was fooling around with Keith. Jax found the pregnancy test and got angry, because they knew there was no way the child could be theirs (9♥). Kris realizes the reference to Billy on the invitation he received was a veiled plea for help (K♥). Billy was Dizzy’s first boyfriend (yes, even back in kindergarten) and prone to anger. Dizzy was afraid Jax would be the same. Kris doesn’t think Keith is the killer; he tried to dissuade Kris from the case because he wanted it handled by someone competent, not someone with the ink still drying on their detective license (K♦). Kris accuses Jax of sneaking into Dizzy’s room via the window (10♠) and then fleeing down towards the servants’ quarters (10♣).
Jax’s defense is weak, A♠ with nothing else going for it. They threaten Kris, accusing him of incompetence, and try to claim their friend Roger as an alibi, but they’ve got no leg to stand on. As the police arrive to take Jax into custody, Kris folds his arms in satisfaction and tries out a catchphrase for successful cases, “Kris Kross, applesauce!”
Comments
It was surprising the way Keith, completely fabricated on the spot, became such a major player, fooling around with both the detective and the murder victim. This was a result of how in the original game, Lord Entwhistle’s mother is present at the manor. Since we’d replace young Lord Entwhistle with an older person, Agnes the executor, we decided her child was present instead of her parent.
This was a case where the threat mechanic we tried out didn’t matter at all, but we still had a good time putting the story together without that tension.