Paper Trail- Following the Cards

Visiting and business cards may seem like a mundane setting detail to some, but they can tell extraordinary stories at the gaming table. They’re the perfect Victorian clue machine, leading investigators and scoundrels forward to the truth. Finding a mysterious card in a poor corpse’s pocket is just the beginning. Both business and visiting cards form tangible connections between people. Every respectable home keeps a collection of visiting cards in their entryway. While peeping at this pile is an absolute taboo, it would be an easy way to check if any of the other suspected cultists have dropped by. In the same vein, finding a business card for an industrial chemist in the back room of the anarchist pub connects a few dots.

The etiquette of visiting cards could guide a story’s pacing. A servant drops off the visiting card of a person of interest. Her At Home day for visits is tomorrow. It might be a trap, but we can look into other leads until then. Or the right man might drop off a visiting card in person at the right moment to be asked to translate some hieroglyphics. Alternatively, a providentially dropped visiting card might pull the party away from an accidental red herring and back into more productive investigations.

A player character with visiting cards at their disposal has a host of new ways to approach a problem. While it won’t open every door, following the etiquette of introductions impresses most respectable people or spooks the right guilty persons into the open. Leaving a card with the right people at the right time could also bring much-needed backup in time-sensitive situations. A pack of cards with a variety of names could also help add a layer of verisimilitude to an improvised lie.

Adventure Ideas

Customer’s regularly found new uses for business cards. A card with all the ingredients needed to hatch a basilisk listed on the back distinctly spells trouble.

The social codes surrounding the proper use of visiting cards provide the perfect cover for clandestine communication. Every few weeks, a clerk in the foreign office receives six visiting cards from different names but all with the same folded corner.

Of course, once a social visit begins, adventures should be on their best behavior, despite the temptation to search the house for the missing balloon plans.

After a bout of slight inebriation, a friend remembers dropping off a visiting card with some ill-advised words written on the back. Fortunately, the lady of the residence is in the country for the weekend. Will someone please help him get his card back before the lady returns home?

We're past all the prologue! Paper Trail is ready for its release next Friday.