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Murder Mystery Party Kit Details
Description
Something sinister stalks the halls of Shufflemore Manor...
Backstory
The Barony of Shufflemoore Woods is being plagued by wolves - or perhaps only a single wolf. The creature or creatures have been responsible for all sorts of deviltry, including the disappearance of livestock and, most recently, of Mitchell and Susannah Miller's youngest daughter. Now, several residents of the Barony have retreated to Shufflemoore Manor, seeking the protection of Baron Castaign. Several visitors have also appeared, including a trio of wandering Gypsies and a hunter who has offered up her services in tracking down and slaying the beasts that are terrorizing the Barony.
A Reluctant Protector
This party is divided into two primary segments. During the first portion of the evening the guests arrive at Shufflemoore Manor, just as a terrible storm begins building up outside. The players in the adventure include Baron Castaign and his family and servants, villagers and common folk from the surrounding Barony, and various travelers who are passing through. Though the Baron himself is a gloomy, somber man with no love for company, propriety and decorum dictate that he must provide accommodation for those in need. With the storm gathering outside, Baron Castaign reluctantly offers to feed everyone dinner and let them spend the night.
Murder!
After dinner, the guests retire to their rooms to sleep. Shortly before midnight, they are awakened by a shriek of terror and find that the maid, Luella, has been killed in her bed, drained of all blood. Suspicions are immediately raised that one of the company is, in fact, a vampire. Now the players must use their wits and skills to find a way to escape from the castle before the monster in their midst kills them all.
Solving the Mystery
Guests must work together to identify the murderer. A terrible evil stalks the solemn halls of Shufflemoore Manor, and only the most clever and lucky of Baron Castaign's guests are likely to escape with their lives!
Characters
There are 12 primary suspects in this mystery, however only 8 are required to play the game. The host or hostess will play the role of the Narrator, a gamekeeper and guide who is there to run the game. Read the "How To Play" section for more information on how to play an expanded game with more than 12 guests.
* = Optional character
Male Roles
- Baron Venedict Castaign: Lord of Shufflemoore Manor and the nearly forgotten Barony of Shufflemoore Woods, Baron Castaign is a somber, silent man, prone to melancholy and introspection.
- Desmond Othas: A peasant who ekes out a living cutting wood and performing rough carpentry in the Barony of Shufflemoore Woods, Desmond wears rough clothing and carries a hand axe.
- Winston Phipps: Butler and manservant to Baron Venedict Castaign, Phipps is a formidably competent and icily professional butler.
- Edgar: Caretaker and groundskeeper of Shufflemoore Manor, Edgar is an ill-kempt, lazy drunkard whose primary goal is to do as little work as possible while still collecting the pittance the Baron pays him.
- *Curtis: A Gypsy juggler and husband to Maven, Curtis is an outgoing entertainer always ready and able to put people at ease with his clever wit and well-timed jokes.
- *Mitchell Miller: A simple farmer who ekes out a livelihood in the Barony of Shufflemoore Woods with his wife Susannah, Mitchell has fallen on hard times with the disappearance of his daughter Krista. He has come to Shufflemoore Manor to petition the Baron's aid in locating his daughter.
Female Roles
- Esmerelda: A Gypsy girl and occasional dancer who travels the land with her brother, Curtis, and his wife, Maven, Esmerelda is bright and vivacious, a lively sort of person who always has a cheerful comment and smile, even for strangers.
- *Maven: A Gypsy seer and wife to Curtis, Maven is wise and mysterious. She always seems to know more about people than she is inclined to let on.
- *Susannah Miller: A soft-spoken woman, Susannah is the wife of the farmer Mitchell Miller. She has recently lost her young daughter, Krista, and is heartbroken and distraught.
- Luella: One of the maids of Shufflemoore Manor, Luella is a cheerful young woman who has aspirations of traveling to some place more cosmopolitan and compelling than Shufflemoore Woods.
- Constance Castaign: The sister of the Baron, Constance Castaign is a dour and devoutly religious spinster.
- Tatanya: A hunter and tracker of some skill, Tatanya is a taciturn woman, more at home in the wild than in a baron's castle. She dresses in rugged clothing and carries a pistol, something of a novelty for a woman in this time and place.
Extra Players
- *Investigator: If you have more than 8 players, additional players have the option of playing the role of "Investigators". In this role the players are not suspects and do not have character backgrounds but can question the suspects and try to solve the mystery along with the other players.
How to Play
Follow these steps to host this mystery:
- Each guest will each assume the role of a particular character
Mystery Parties involve a combination of improvisational acting, storytelling, and creative problem solving. Each guest will play the part of that character throughout the course of the game. Each character has specific personality traits, goals, secrets, and information, all of which are included in the character sheet; a big part of the fun is getting into character and taking on a new, exciting role.
- A mysterious Event will occur
At some point during the party, an Event will occur that will force the players to come together in order to solve a problem or unravel a mystery. Traditionally, the Event in question will be the murder of one of the characters (as played by a guest), but the parties crafted by Playing With Murder often use this basic framework to accommodate different types of Events, thereby ensuring that your guests will be surprised and entertained (even if they are veteran murder mystery party players).
- Solve the mystery!
Your guests will need to use the information that their characters know (as well as additional clues that are provided during the game) to solve the mystery or overcome the problem posed by the Event. Typically this culminates in the guests voting on the identity of the murderer, but again, different parties will have different specific goals. All of our parties also come complete with additional subgames (treasure hunts, unique character goals and special puzzles) that are guaranteed to keep the action intense and your guests motivated and focused.
Expanded Game For Large Groups
If you have extra players, there are two ways that you can accommodate everyone:
- Investigator Role - Additional players have the option of playing the role of "Investigators". In this role the players are not suspects and do not have character backgrounds but can question the suspects and try to solve the mystery along with the other players. Expanded Games include a PDF guide that explains how to use the Investigator role, as well as printable character sheets and name tags for anyone that is playing an Investigator.
- Multiple Groups - It is also possible to break your guests up into groups and play multiple instances of the game at the same time. The game will more or less happen the same way; the host makes announcements and each group moves their game forward simultaneously based on the host's instructions. It's good to have one assistant in each group to answer questions and facilitate gameplay within the group. This method provides a more intimate experience for your guests, who get better acquainted with a smaller group and participate in a more digestible story.
Please contact us if you'd like more information about how to run your party using the Multiple Groups method.
Both the standard and expanded games are included with the purchase of any game kit.
Read more about Expanded Games here
First time hosting a murder mystery party?
Visit our How to Host a Mystery Party page to get step-by-step instructions on how to prepare for your murder mystery party.
What's Included
The Terrible Castle of Baron Castaign is a 96-page downloadable PDF file that you print at home. It includes the following features:
- An introduction that explains the basic principles of running a mystery-party and provides specific tips on props, menu items, sound effects, combat and special tips to help make your party exciting, memorable and easy to run
- Step-by-step instructions on how to prepare for your party
- A detailed party guidebook that will walk you through the event in a simple, easy-to-understand format
- Instructions on how to run the party for a large group
- 20 pages describing the rooms in the Baron's castle, each with its own special dangers, obstacles and puzzles
- Nametags and character sheets for each player - the character sheets include tips on costuming and role-playing, as well special goals and information unique to each character
- Fully customizable invitations, complete with RSVP cards and guest lists
- 45 gorgeously illustrated full-color item cards representing the different objects that the players can find and interact with in the castle
- Voting sheets
- Customizable awards for your guests
- And much more!
With your purchase of The Terrible Castle of Baron Castaign you will also receive the following:
- Step-by-step printing instructions
- Four mp3 audio effects for use with your party
- Instructions on how to use these audio clips to best effect
Audio
Playing With Murder offers several audio files for use with each of our Mystery Party Kits. The audio clip below provides a sample montage of the sound effects included with The Terrible Castle of Baron Castaign.
Play audio sample:
The specific audio files for The Terrible Castle of Baron Castaign include:
- The background noise of an ominous thunderstorm and the howling of wolves
- The struggle and murder of the hapless victim, alone in the upper story of the castle at midnight
- Wolves at the door, frantically snarling and scratching in their attempt to reach the guests
- And more!
Mystery Party Reviews
Overall Average Rating:
29 reviews
Result filter:
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Lila
285 10 2022
13 10 202208:39 AM
- more than 2 year(s)
-
Game Rating:
A night of fun and mystery!
I organized this game for my friends. It was a group of 20 people. The characters were quite entertaining and detailed. The Hosts Guide was quite helpful for me as a host. I would recommend starting the preparations for the game early, since some aspects of the game are a bit complicated to organize. The tasks were engaging for the players and I found that even though it was quite longer than a traditional murder mystery, the players were enjoying every minute of it. I must say that the gypsies stole the show!
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Shields
10 01 2021
11 01 202112:38 PM
-
Game Rating:
Headline: Rookie party goers figure things out!!
We hosted a murder mystery party on Oct 30 and it was a hit!! The kit I downloaded was very thorough in the instructions and supplies! No guess-work or experience was required. I give this company a “strongly agree”; 10/10; thumbs up; smiley face.
- Evening cocktail - Bloody Mary
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Gemma H.
308 11 2021
05 11 202111:42 AM
- more than 3 year(s)
-
Game Rating:
A little long!
I organized this evening for a friends birthday event (and as a present.) We are in Paris so I had to translate everything which is a little arduous but that's life!
This game is much more complex than previous murder games we have played and as such quite a bit longer. I would recommend taking the shortcut and bypassing a zone or two as it cuts out a few scenes. I found that the narrators text was very long indeed in some parts and would also recommend abbreviating them a little.
I think overall, we preferred the simpler games on this site, as more implication from the players and less description from the organizer. Still very good though!
This game is much more complex than previous murder games we have played and as such quite a bit longer. I would recommend taking the shortcut and bypassing a zone or two as it cuts out a few scenes. I found that the narrators text was very long indeed in some parts and would also recommend abbreviating them a little.
I think overall, we preferred the simpler games on this site, as more implication from the players and less description from the organizer. Still very good though!
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Barbara B
320 11 2020
16 11 202002:46 PM
- more than 4 year(s)
-
Game Rating:
A very memorable night!
We held the "Terrible Castle of Baron Castaign" as an alternative to trick or treating on October 31st. We had a group of 10 people ranging in age from 11-47. Our group had more men than male characters but it was easy to change "Tatanya" to a male role. My youngest was Luella and if I had to do the party again, I would make Luella an older player. Luella's character does not actively participate in solving the problems - so the young player felt left out. The highlight of the night was when the neighbours showed up (predetermined time) with dollar store laser lights (I had tied 2 lights together to look like red eyes) that they shone through the windows while they scratched and banged on the doors - pretending to be the wolves plaguing the Barony. It scared everyone and really set the mood for the rest of the night!
- I made a few vampire inspired shooters for the adults along with the usual wine and charcuterie board. For the meal, I took inspiration from another review and made lasagna. It was easy to prepare early in the day - giving me more time to prepare as guests arrived.
- Decorations were easy since it was Halloween. I just went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of skeletons and rats.
For props I had reserved a fogger on Ruckify but the renter cancelled the day before. I went to Home Depot and was lucky to find a fogger at 1/2 price. I tested to see if it worked, but didn't realize how powerful it was. The first room was so full of fog, we could hardly see (and set off the fire alarms). Lesson learned, play around with the fogger ahead of time to find the appropriate settings! I made the portcullis with two old baby gates. The top one was fixed but the bottom one was hanging so it could swing up with the rope. For the moat, I used two blue exercise mats and a bunch of dollar store rats. For lighting I used microdot light strings (From Costco) taped to the floor to show the narrow ledges in the tunnels. I had downloaded the music but had trouble getting it to play on loop - I should have played around with it more beforehand.
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Alena
131 05 2020
11 05 202001:59 AM
- more than 4 year(s)
-
Game Rating:
Still Works Remotely!
We had a great time playing The Terrible Castle of Baron Castaign! Even though this version wasn’t written to be played remotely, we did our party through Zoom, skipping Act One, and it worked really well! I created slides illustrating each room and photoshopped in the items and interactive pieces of the room. We had 10 people playing, and that worked out pretty well. The guests said they had a great time!
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birthday blowout
283 10 2019
11 10 201909:57 PM
- more than 5 year(s)
-
Game Rating:
Too many players, not enough roles
We had purchased this game to play with a group of 25 adults, as the expanded game said it has up to 30 players. Unfortunately, once we read through the expanded game information, we learned that after the first 12 players have been cast, any additional players are "fly on the wall detectives" who don't interact with any of the other characters. Needless to say, this game did not work for our party, so we went with a different game. We will be using the Terrible Castle of Baron Castaign for a get-together instead, when we have a more intimate crowd.
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LivviPearson
294 10 2019
22 10 201901:53 AM
- more than 5 year(s)
-
Game Rating:
INCREDIBLE
This set made for a fun night! The instructions were easy to follow and the clues kept all the guests thinking! The different characters were so fun to play up and do costumes for! One thing I wish was different was for there to not be so many rooms. A few rooms would be nice, but this set had "12 rooms". Makinh switching quite repetitive.
- As narrator, I made 3 different soups and then each character brought something that their character was likely to make.
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Boredandhot
274 10 2019
02 10 201905:50 PM
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Game Rating:
30 is too many
We played with about 30 people of varying levels of sobriety and maturity. It was pretty chaotic. Couples were asked to "share" a character or be an investigator. Tried to share a character with my boyfriend, but drew the investigator card anyway. As you can see in the description, investigator is a non-role. It's like "playing" a video game with an unplugged controller while your brother actually plays. Moving through a house, even a sizeable one, with 30 people is loud and crowded, making it hard to actually try to solve anything. It was basically shuffling from room to room while trying to avoid being groped by the "vampires." Spent most of the night being bored, hot, annoyed, and having no idea what was going on because it was just constant noise. Most of the people in the group said they had a blast though, so maybe I'm just being salty. But in my opinion, playing with a large group is a bad idea unless you have a group that's committed to following the rules and being respectful.
- Potluck
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Deborah
362 12 2018
29 12 201801:44 PM
- more than 6 year(s)
-
Game Rating:
Thanksgiving tradition
This script is really for advanced players & especially the host or hostess. He/she should have theatrical experience. The scenes were well described, the characters also developed well in the download materials. However to get the full experience we had too many people with no experience. We used props & still had a hard time. Also it was very long, which was stated in the materials, having never done this before I did not know what to expect. Going to try the 30 minute sit down mystery this time!
- We used the MP3 downloads, most were in costume, used props. Our efforts were definitely 100percent!
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Olathe Youth
344 12 2018
11 12 201805:23 PM
- more than 6 year(s)
-
Game Rating:
This was the BEST night!
This was everything we wanted and more. Our Youth Group had so much fun! It was exciting, and you will not be disappointed by choosing this Murder Mystery. Overall, this was an awesome time!
- We kept it simple and had pizza and soda.
- We had our event the weekend after Halloween, so all of the decorations were 75% off! This was perfect because we were able to buy more items to really set the mood. We had a fog machine and Jack O Lantern strobe lights. We had rubber bats and rats which will come in handy if you choose this adventure.
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Nancy
130 05 2018
11 05 201805:36 AM
- more than 6 year(s)
-
Game Rating:
Fun Night
Last night we celebrated our annual Halloween party. We used The Terrible Castle of Baron Castaign. This was our first ever murder mystery. It was for a group of 15 kids. I added more villagers and vampires to fit our group, but mostly kept the storyline the same. The kids seemed to really enjoy themselves and playing in the dark made it exciting for them. I added a scavenger hunt to the beginning and the kids loved it. You need a big space for this game be prepared for that.
- We mostly served appetizers and for the main course we served split pea soup (which was amazing) and spaghetti. For dessert we served cheesecake and cookies.
- I made little books for each of the players that contained their character information, their item cards and life cards (my adaptation) as well as space to solve the logic puzzles that they found when doing the scavenger hunts that I created.
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Charles of Philadelphia
100 04 2018
11 04 201801:02 AM
- more than 6 year(s)
-
Game Rating:
Costumes, Acting, Murder Mystery, Escape the Room!
This murder mystery is one of the coolest ones out there. I feel like it almost deserves to be in a category of its own because it combines the dungeon master narrator and combat elements of d&d, escape the room puzzles, the scares of a haunted house and costume dinner party. This should absolutely be the mystery you choose if you are ready to put in the extensive time and effort necessary to prepare. I knew what I was getting into from other people’s helpful reviews so I didn’t mind at all when I ended up putting in probably 20 hrs preparing over the span of a month including 2 late nights leading up to the event. My housemate also put 8hrs into building the catacombs out of the junk in our basement (see the picture and video). Totally over the top prep but the screams of both guys and girls when they went through was so worth it :D
Having the assistant was crucial to keeping the plot moving forward seamlessly. You simply don’t have time to inform the dead guests what they should be doing while still narrating for the main group.
I coordinated with murderers over group text and told them their cue for the attack in the library and tunnel 2 when the lights went out. They were supposed to poke their target in the neck with two fingers. It worked perfectly and not even the victims could tell who had done it to them.
In the end we lost all but 3 of our humans to the perils of Shufflemoore Manor. But Venedict, Constance, and Mitchell were saved by the protection of the Day Chapel!
Everyone absolutely raved about how much fun they had and we stayed up until 4:00AM recounting the night from each of our perspectives. A lasting memory was made!
Having the assistant was crucial to keeping the plot moving forward seamlessly. You simply don’t have time to inform the dead guests what they should be doing while still narrating for the main group.
I coordinated with murderers over group text and told them their cue for the attack in the library and tunnel 2 when the lights went out. They were supposed to poke their target in the neck with two fingers. It worked perfectly and not even the victims could tell who had done it to them.
In the end we lost all but 3 of our humans to the perils of Shufflemoore Manor. But Venedict, Constance, and Mitchell were saved by the protection of the Day Chapel!
Everyone absolutely raved about how much fun they had and we stayed up until 4:00AM recounting the night from each of our perspectives. A lasting memory was made!
- The Cocktail was apple cider spiked with dark rum, cinnamon schnapps, butterscotch schnapps, and a dash of lemon juice.
½ gallon apple cider
1 cup dark rum
1 cup cinnamon schnapps
½ cup butterscotch schnapps
3 Granny Smith apples, cut into large chunks, threaded onto toothpicks as garnish
1 lemon, juiced 2 tbs
The butter beer was ladled out of a hollowed-out pumpkin with chunks of dry ice tossed in the bottom to make fog come billowing out the top. It was a spectacular centerpiece and tasted delicious!
I assigned a dish for each of the guests to bring to relieve that part of the preparation from my shoulders.
Cocktail - Butter beer (cider)
2 bottles red Wine
Greek olives
Grapes
Nuts
Dried fruits
Flat Bread (focaccia)
Cheese
Salad
Vegetable soup
3 rotisserie chickens
Key-lime Tart
Stewed pears - Our South Philly row home was the unsung hero of this production. It already has a very old style aesthetic so it took little extra decoration to make it feel period. Also the weather obliged us with a torrential downpour all night
- Watch my video
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Midwestgal
300 10 2018
28 10 201805:56 PM
- more than 6 year(s)
-
Game Rating:
Many hours spent on understanding and set up
This was a very hard party to put together compared to other murder mysteries. It took multiple rooms, and so much studying of the script to pull off. My guests said they enjoyed it but preferred the traditional style of a murder mystery. I missed playing a role in the party. This is probably the 5th or 6th murder mystery party I've thrown for our Annual Halloween party.
- Roast Beef Sliders, Spiked Apple Cider, Jekyll & Hyde drinks, cheese & crackers, veggie, and fruit trays
- I was able to use some old castle faux walls and skeletons for the dungeon, lots of tea light candles for lighting, a YouTube video of a castle during a thunderstorm on the TV.
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Annabel
109 04 2018
20 04 201808:01 AM
-
Game Rating:
The Terrible Castle of Baron Castaign
Having previously purchased and run two other playing with murder events I was a little surprised when I read through the full game. To work effectively it was considerably more complicated than the others! However, my bunch of mixed gender 14 year olds loved it and mostly solved all the puzzles. it did take coordination to keep resting the spaces as the moved around the house and garden. The weather even put on an authentic storm for us which added to the complication. All round a great party but definitely best to allow time to think through all your locations and have an adult in reserve for resetting spaces to allow kids to find clues fresh.
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Trinity Lutheran Church Youth Group
335 12 2018
02 12 201805:43 PM
-
Game Rating:
Awesome Group Event
The Terrible Castle of Baron Castaign was more of a team building event which worked great for our High School Youth Group. The character sheets were well laid out with costuming suggestions and enough information for everyone to get into their character. I loved the strengths and weaknesses assigned to each character and how those were used by the group to overcome obstacles with in the mystery. We were able to easily adapt the set-up suggestions to our church to make the most of the story. Some rooms were more elaborately decorated and some were very simple. The Catacombs were so much fun!
- Finger foods to allow the characters to move around and talk to everyone.
- Strobe lights, thunder sound effects and only candlelight set the mood for the dinner.
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