A Wolf in Cheap Clothing

"A Wolf in Cheap Clothing" was my entry for the 2013 RPG Geek 24 Hour RPG Design Contest. The name just sort of popped into my head after I was done designing the game and realized I didn't have a title. I think the name is a nice fit for this Mystery/Noir/Detective setting. What originally got me thinking of this setting was a discussion about those old Charlie Chan movies, which I loved as a kid. I wanted to be able to keep characters from being too min/maxed, thus the "assign a die" mechanic seemed like it might work. I'm not sure if other RPGs have ever used a similar mechanic. Flashbacks and Accolades are obviously similar to bennies, or hero points, two mechanics which I'm somewhat familiar with. The difference I liked about flashbacks was that they are really additional background story plots that are conceived during the game. I really wanted to attach an adventure (job/assignment) within the rules, but the time constrictions kept that on the drawing board. All in all, I spent about six or seven hours on the game design.