Social Engagement Puzzles (working name) · Game Master's Laboratory

Social Engagement Puzzles (working name)

I have recognized myself doing something recently I will tentatively call Social Engagement Puzzles. I am sure someone must have written or vloged about this, but for the life of me I cant find it. I feel like I have a lot to learn or figure out, but am sharing in hopes someone can give me or direct me to a different perspective...

Basic Process ...

I send each player a private note/DM in discord with a bit of information about an investigation, possible next steps, or observations in a social encounter. None of these clues solves the current issue, but contained in them are pieces that fit together to reveal the solution. The characters then reveal the pieces through the prompted roleplay and discover the information they need together.

Observations so far ...

It is much more interesting to discover the answer to lore checks this way than having one player roll and get a lore dump.
Giving the pieces to each player out loud skips the discovery step and feels like the GM gave them the answer rather than they found it.
The players have to buy into the concept of the roleplaying game instead of stepping above table to read their clues.
It can be effective in brining normally quiet players into the roleplay as they have soemthing needed in the conversation.
Shaping clues to backstories makes those choices feel impactful
Don't make them tricky puzzles, avoid important word choice, the telephone game effect is real be ok with the solution not being what you expected

It seems to work in a variety of settings ...