Investigation boards

⚔️ Weaver+

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 four types of elements:

Element	Who creates it	What it is
Clue entities	GM	Facts or evidence — can be linked to world entities or standalone
Unknown entity pins	GM	Mystery placeholders with a label but no revealed identity
Theories	Players	Player-submitted connections and hypotheses
Confirmed facts	GM	Theories the GM has verified as correct

Unknown entity pins

Unknown pins let you represent an entity the party is aware of but whose identity they do not yet know. Add a pin labeled "The Hand's Leader" or "The Hooded Figure" — players see the label on the board, but the underlying world entity (the actual NPC) stays hidden until you reveal it.

Adding an unknown pin:

Click Add Unknown Entity on the board.
Enter the label the party uses for this entity — what the players call it, not its true name.
Submit. The pin appears on the board with a question mark and your label.

Revealing an unknown pin: When the party identifies the entity, open the pin from your GM view and assign it to the actual world entity. The pin updates in real time on the players' board — the label is replaced with the entity's name and portrait, and the pin is marked as revealed.

💡Tip

Use unknown pins at the start of an investigation when you know there is a villain or informant the party has encountered but not identified. Players can submit theories linking to the unknown pin — you can confirm or deny those theories without revealing the true identity until the story moment calls for it.

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.

💡Tip

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.

📝Note

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, unknown pins, pending theories, and the gap between what players believe and what is actually true are all visible in your view.

❗Important

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.

Troubleshooting

The Investigation section isn't appearing in my world sidebar. Investigation Boards require Weaver tier or above. If you're on Chronicler, the sidebar entry is hidden. Upgrade to Weaver to access the feature.

A player submitted a theory but I can't see it in my board view. The board updates in real time. If a theory isn't appearing, try refreshing the page. Also confirm the player submitted the theory and didn't just draft it — theory drafts on the player side aren't visible to you until submitted.

I revealed a clue but players say they can't see it. Check the clue's visibility setting — it must be set to Party for players to see it. Also confirm the players are accessing the board through their character portal (not a companion link), as investigation boards require a full campaign account to interact with.

Players can see a revealed clue but clicking it doesn't open the linked entity. Clue visibility and linked entity visibility are independent. Revealing a clue makes the clue itself visible — it does not automatically reveal the world entity it links to. Open the linked entity and set its visibility to Party separately if you want players to access it.

I revealed an unknown pin but the player board still shows the question mark. After you assign the entity to the pin and mark it as revealed, the board updates in real time. If players are still seeing the old label, ask them to refresh their portal page.