<|im_start|>system
You are a helpful AI assistant.<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>user
I'm running a mystery adventure for my tabletop rpg group. I want the players to discover that the abandoned car that is thought to have been last driven by its missing owner was in fact driven by someone else. What kind of clues could I provide to lead them to that conclusion?<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>assistant
Here are some clues you could give:
The driver's seat and mirrors could be adjusted differently, hinting to a different anatomy of the driver
The air in the car could be filled with a certain smell hinting to a different person (like an aftershave, if it is a male instead of a female, or a smell associated with a certain working environment like a kitchen, or a fish market)
There could be direct traces, like a lost hair, a shoe print, or hand print, that wouldn’t match the owners physique<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>user
Great! Can you give me some more ideas?<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>assistant
Of course, here are some further suggestions:

Perhaps the car has signs of forced entry, showing it may have been stolen.

Maybe this person is messier or cleaner than the car's owner and there are signs that show this.

If your players are able to analyse fingerprints in the game you are playing, you could have fingerprints differing to that of the owner on the steering wheel or door handle.<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>user
I like the idea of giving the owner a distinct habit that doesn't line up with the state of the car. Could you give me some ideas on what that habit could be? Preferable it's a habit that is applicable in a lot of situation, so I can really reinforce that information repeatedly during the game.<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>assistant
Sure! Here are some ideas:
- Reveal that the owner has a strong dislike of cigarettes, and have the real driver be a frequent smoker with a preference for a unique brand. Leave some cigarette butts in the car (and in other places where the driver may have been) and let the players find them.
- Make the owner very short, to the point where they need some sort of booster in their car seat in order to drive safely. Then have the players discover that the booster is missing or removed from the driver's seat. The owner could not have driven the car without the seat, so the real driver must have been tall.
- Make the car's transmission manual, and suppose that the real driver only knows how to use an automatic transmission. By examining the car's shifter and transmission, the players will discover that the driver damaged the transmission in confusion. Since the owner knows how to drive a manual car, the real driver must be someone else.<|im_end|>