Name Tags and Place Cards for a Murder Mystery

Every kit PDF contains the same five things: a host guide with the introduction to read aloud, the run of the rounds and a section on adapting the game to your number of players; one character sheet per player; the clues to hand out, organized by round; secret ballots for the final accusation; and the solution, for the host only. It does not contain invitations, name tags, place cards, awards or decorations. The file is the game, and the table dressing is left to you. What the kit does give you is the complete character list. The host guide names the core cast of six roles that are always handed out and the roles that join at eight, ten and twelve players, and each character sheet opens with who that person is. That is all the information a name tag needs, and it is why making them takes fifteen minutes rather than an afternoon: you are copying a name and a role, not inventing anything. The seven murder mystery kits all follow this structure, so the method below works for a night train, a casino or a Venetian ball alike.

At six players, everyone remembers who is who after the first round. At ten and twelve, they do not. A guest who has just been told that the notary was seen near the study needs to find the notary, and a room full of unfamiliar character names turns that into a game of asking around instead of an investigation. A tag that reads the character's name and a two or three word role solves it at a glance. The larger tiers are where this pays off most, which is why Printable Murder Mystery for 12 Players treats tags as part of the setup rather than as decoration. Tags also help when the guests themselves have not met. A birthday with two friend groups, a team night with a new colleague, a family gathering with a partner meeting the cousins: the character name gives strangers a way to open a conversation that has nothing to do with small talk. And they protect the host, who otherwise spends the first round repeating who plays whom. One rule covers everything you write on a tag: the public part of the character only, the name and the role everyone in the story would know, never a secret from the sheet.

Two methods, both from a home printer or a pen. Tent cards: cut a sheet of card stock in half lengthwise, fold each half in the middle, and write or print the character name on both faces so the tag reads from either side of the table. Under the name, one line: the role. Twelve guests need six sheets of card stock. Sticker labels: any sheet of blank adhesive labels through the printer, or a marker on a plain label. Name in large letters, role underneath in smaller ones. Worn on a lapel, they travel with the guest when the game leaves the table. What goes on the tag: the character name exactly as it appears on the sheet, so that clues and tags match, and the public role, the kind of thing a stranger at the party would know. "The late owner's niece" is right. "Secretly in debt" gives away round three. If in doubt, take the first sentence of the character sheet, which describes who the person is, and stop there. Make one extra tag for the host, labeled with the non-player role the guide gives you, the casino manager or the majordomo, so guests know who to address in character.

Place cards are the same tent cards, put on the table before guests sit. The difference is that you decide where each one goes, and that decision can help the game. You printed every character sheet and you hold the solution, so you know more than anyone in the room: who the culprit is, which characters share a secret, and which are on the same side of the inheritance or the card table. Three rules for the chart. Seat the culprit centrally, where every guest can reach them without crossing the room, so that the person with the most to hide is also the easiest to question. Separate allies: two characters who share a secret should sit apart, so that comparing notes means getting up, which other guests notice. And seat a shy guest next to a talkative one, never between two silent people, so that the conversation reaches them. Between rounds, when guests get up for food, the cards stay and the seats reset; if you want the culprit surrounded by different neighbors in round three, move two cards while the plates are being cleared. A seating chart written on the back of the host guide takes five minutes and saves the first ten minutes of every round.

You do not need a design program. Any word processor with a table of two columns and six rows gives you twelve tent cards on six pages; set the font size to about 36 for the name and 14 for the role, print, cut, fold. The only decisions are the font and the color, and one of each per theme is enough. A serif font in black on cream for The Cursed Manor and The Last Vintage. A geometric, art deco style in gold or black for Murder at the Royal Casino. A typewriter font on white for Crime Aboard the Orient Express and Hollywood Noir. A hand-drawn or brush font on sand-colored card for The Cursed Island. A calligraphic font in deep red or purple for The Masked Ball. Most computers already have a font in each of those families, and the difference between a tag that looks like an office badge and one that looks like part of the set is that single choice. Print in black if you have no color ink: on colored card, black type reads as deliberate. Keep the same font for the place cards, the suspect board and any signs you make, which is how Printable Decorations and Props for a Murder Mystery ties the room together.

Make the tags at the same time as the envelopes, the evening before the party. The routine in Assembling a Printable Kit: Envelopes and Packets is one envelope per character with the name on the front, the character sheet inside, and the clues sorted by round in a separate pile for the host. Slip the tag or the label into the envelope with the sheet. When guests open their envelope on arrival, they put on their name at the same time as they read who they are, and nobody has to hunt for a tag on a side table. Place cards go on the table before the first guest arrives, following the chart. Keep two blank cards and a marker within reach for the evening's surprises: a guest who swaps roles because someone canceled, or a late arrival who gets a witness role. And if a tag is lost mid-game, a folded index card with a name in marker does the job; the tag is a tool, not a prop. For the five things the kit does contain and how the tiers and the license work, see the printable murder mystery kit page.