Investigation boards
An Investigation Board is a shared space where players track clues and theories for a mystery, conspiracy, or investigation thread. You create and control it; they interact with it through their portal. You always see everything — they see what you have revealed.
For the player experience, see Investigation boards — for players.
Creating a board
- Open the world sidebar and go to Investigation.
- Click New Board.
- Give the board a name tied to the mystery — something specific enough that you will not confuse it with another board.
- Optionally link the board to a world entity (the suspected villain, the crime scene location, the faction being investigated).
You can run multiple boards simultaneously — one per active mystery. They are independent of each other.
Board contents
Each board contains three types of elements:
| Element | Who creates it | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Clue entities | GM | Facts or evidence — can be linked to world entities or standalone |
| Theories | Players | Player-submitted connections and hypotheses |
| Confirmed facts | GM | Theories the GM has verified as correct |
GM controls
See all theories: You see every theory players have submitted, regardless of whether they have made it visible to each other. Use this to track how close the party is to the truth.
Confirm a theory: When a player theory is correct, mark it confirmed. The theory pin highlights green and snaps to the confirmed entity. Players see the confirmation immediately.
Mark a theory incorrect: The player sees a clear indicator that this theory is ruled out. Use this when the party has drawn a firm wrong conclusion and needs to know.
Add clues: Clues have the same visibility tiers as entities. A clue can exist on the board before you reveal it.
Add clues before the session when you know what evidence the party might find. Toggle the clue visible at the table when they actually find it — it appears on their board in real time.
Revealing clues
Each clue has its own visibility setting:
| Visibility | What players see |
|---|---|
| GM Only | Clue exists on the board only in your view |
| Party | All players with access to the board can see it |
| Public | Visible on any Public Portal for this world |
Toggle a clue from GM Only to Party when the players have discovered it. The reveal is immediate.
Clue visibility is separate from linked entity visibility. A clue can be revealed to the party without revealing the full entity it links to. For example: players find a signet ring (clue revealed) without yet knowing which noble house it belongs to (entity still hidden).
The value of the board
Players use the board to track their own reasoning. When they submit a theory and you confirm it, they know the reasoning was right — not just the conclusion. When a theory is marked incorrect, the record of that wrong turn stays visible, which helps them notice when they are going in circles.
You see the full picture at all times. The board does not hide anything from you — unrevealed clues, pending theories, and the gap between what players believe and what is actually true are all visible in your view.
Confirming a theory is a deliberate GM action. You choose when to confirm, not the system. A theory that is factually correct in your world stays unconfirmed until you decide the players have earned the validation.