{"id":1199863,"date":"2026-02-19T01:14:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T01:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/n2bMQ8Zvww6CvK85zgkDCf"},"modified":"2026-02-19T01:14:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T01:14:58","slug":"even-19-years-later-oblivions-whodunit-quest-is-rpg-chaos-at-its-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/even-19-years-later-oblivions-whodunit-quest-is-rpg-chaos-at-its-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Even 19 years later, Oblivion’s Whodunit quest is RPG chaos at its best"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I have long suffered from RPG FOMO. It\u2019s a debilitating condition that causes me to question every choice I make in roleplaying games. My selected spells, skills, and methods may \u201cwork\u201d in the moment, but then I\u2019ll hear about some incredible solution another player found that leaves me feeling inadequate.<\/p>\n

I’ve tried to curb this affliction before: Nearly 20 years ago I began my <\/em>Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion adventure as an Orc Barbarian named Smashfist the Plunderful. Through him, I was determined to embrace the core pleasures of smashing and plundering rather than worrying about the endless possibilities. Life was good.<\/p>\n

Then I came to \u201cWhodunit?\u201d This Dark Brotherhood quest tasks you with entering a locked mansion populated by five people looking for a hidden treasure. Only you know they have all been marked for death by the Dark Brotherhood. Though the Brotherhood will reward you if you murder everyone without them suspecting it was you, they\u2019re otherwise not concerned with the particulars. They just want Nels the Naughty, Dovesi Dran, Neville, Primo Antonius, and Matilde Petit to die.<\/p>\n

Whodunit? is essentially an Agatha Christie murder mystery where every victim is an Oblivion <\/em>NPC. Everyone is hilariously easy to fool, but their obliviousness enables so<\/em> many creative ways to murder them.<\/p>\n

The sudden freedom filled me with dread. I couldn\u2019t help but dream of morphing into the Agent 47 of Cyrodiil, if only for one dark and stormy night. But I was merely Smashfist. If murder is an art, Smashfist finger-painted with blood. He lacked the charisma, spells, and skills required to subtly eliminate Summitmist Manor\u2019s doomed guests. So, I resigned myself to being a blunt instrument in a complex world. When Matilde Petit asked who I was, I told her, \u201cI am an assassin, hired to kill you,\u201d and prepared to shatter this subterfuge with the business end of my warhammer.<\/p>\n

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\"Oblivion<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Bethesda)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But that didn\u2019t happen. Matilde just laughed and instantly grew fond of the charming newcomer with the bloodstained fists.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the moment I fell in love. No, not with Matilde. She turned out to be a masquerading aristocrat with as little wealth as common sense. Rather, that\u2019s the moment I fell in love with the concept of the quest, which would turn out to be a standout not just in Oblivion, but in the history of Bethesda’s RPGs. I’d looked at it through the lens of the things I couldn\u2019t<\/em> do and saw it as a stealth mission. It wasn\u2019t that. At least it didn\u2019t have to be. I wasn\u2019t in their murder mystery; they were in my slasher film.<\/p>\n

It started with poor Matilde. Using her misguided fondness for me, I convinced her to go to the basement and search for the treasure together. There she learned the meaning of the Smashfist family motto: Si Splendet, Meum Est (\u201cIf it shines, it\u2019s mine\u201d). Upstairs, the other guests were somehow aware that Matilde had been murdered but did not see me as a suspect.<\/p>\n

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\"Oblivion<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Bethesda)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That bizarre blend of omniscience and ignorance makes <\/em>Oblivion\u2019s NPCs wonderful murder mystery victims. They are aware enough to play along but not so aware that they\u2019re above finding a body, gasping, and then pacing the floor like they\u2019re trying to solve the case through interpretive dance. They\u2019re players in your community theater production of “And Then There Were None.” Their acting is atrocious and everyone is running around erratically, but I\u2019ll be damned if we\u2019re not all having a good time “Yes, anding” with some great material.<\/p>\n

Dovesi Dran was the next to die. When she asked me for words of comfort and I chose not to give her any, she made the rather odd decision to hide in the basement, now formally known as the crime scene, and stare at the corner, Blair Witch style. It turns out shooting fish in a barrel is a good time, actually, when the fish is dumb enough to jump right into the barrel by itself.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, I could have convinced Dovesi that Primo wants to meet her in a secluded upstairs bedroom. It\u2019s one of the many interactions between the guests you can discover and exploit. They are so eager to betray each other as you conduct your symphony of slaughter. Sadly, many of those interactions require a silver tongue. I only brought iron fists.<\/p>\n

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\"Oblivion<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Bethesda)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back upstairs, I was horrified to learn that the nobleman Primo Antonius was not only suspicious of me but referred to me as a worthless peasant. Though I was certainly a peasant and undeniably a murderer, “worthless” was a baseless insult. I’d pickpocketed loads<\/em> of gold by that point. I followed him to a quiet room and knocked him a few rungs down the social ladder the hard way.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the beauty of the improvisational freedom this quest encourages. It isn\u2019t a stealth mission or a linear showcase of the clever character interactions the writers dreamed up. You don\u2019t have to stick to your initial plan, and you can mix and match whatever options you can get away with. There are no fail states, only happy accidents.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately that’s where my plans fell apart: Primo wasn\u2019t quite as isolated as I\u2019d hoped. The cruelly armed Redguard, Neville (who brings a weapon to a party?), caught me in the act and charged at me. His one hit point afforded him more courage than sense.<\/p>\n

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\"Neville<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Bethesda, SilverSoju<\/a> on YouTube)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yes, the guests in Whodunit? are comically easy to kill. A single blow fells them, and they are often hilariously wrong in their suspicions. They won\u2019t even believe you\u2019re an assassin if you wear your Dark Brotherhood uniform and introduce yourself as one. The quest is closer to being a playground than a logic puzzle. If it were part of a proper immersive sim, that would be a problem.<\/p>\n

Instead, Whodunit? is a lone quest in an optional questline far removed from the main campaign. It plays on the roleplaying decisions you\u2019ve made thus far but encourages you to experiment with new options within the unique confines of a cozy murder mystery. Great roleplaying games convince you that anything can happen, even when logic tells you the possibilities are, naturally, limited. Whodunnit? achieves that from the moment you take the job to the moment you decide how to dispose of the last guest.<\/p>\n

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Credit: <\/em><\/sup>SilverSoju<\/em><\/sup><\/a> on YouTube<\/em><\/sup><\/p>\n

Nels ended up being my \u201cfinal girl.” I liked Nels most. He was quick with a joke, generous with his pours, and was the first to realize one of us was an assassin. I respected him for that. I caved his chest in, but don\u2019t mistake a shattered sternum for a lack of respect.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve revisited Whodunit? many times over the years, most recently during my playthrough of Oblivion Remastered<\/a>. Each time my RPG FOMO has sent me searching for new solutions. I\u2019ve planted poison apples in the guests\u2019 pockets, bribed them to do my bidding only to get my refund from their corpses, and used magic and charm to turn them against each other. I have never been disappointed by the clever ways players have solved this locked room immersive sim.<\/p>\n

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