97th ♫ | i'm not lonely at all! i'm not lonely at all, although. . .

[mytarget]

The Murder Game Meme



You know the script. You wake up in a place you've never seen before, with a whole bunch of complete strangers and there's a mysterious voice or a mascot or what have you ready to let you know how things are going to work around here.

The rules are simple: You're trapped here, with no hope of release or rescue. You've been provided with all the basic necessities you need to live comfortably, and all you have to do is settle down and live out the rest of your days here in peace. But if you can't do that -- if you're really so desperate to escape that you'll do anything -- then there's one teeny tiny thing you have to do first.

All you have to do is kill somebody.

But it's not quite that simple. Every death will be followed by a period of investigation, followed by a trial in which the survivors will attempt to solve the mystery and out the culprit. If the survivors guess correctly and out the culprit, the killer is executed and life goes on. But if the survivors guess wrong, then the culprit is free as a bird and everyone else is executed.

Even with the promise of freedom, can you really bring yourself to kill so many other people?

tl;dr: it's a murdergame meme. TIME TO HAVE A BIG OL' MURDERGAME BLAST.


Settings

1. High School A classic! Doesn't matter if you're too old or too young to be in high school -- you've been enrolled and the only way for you to graduate is to kill a fellow student. But hey, the faculties are nice!
2. Tropical Island Weren't you just hankering for a nice tropical vacation? No? Too bad! You're going to have a nice sunny vacation at the beach and if you don't like it, just kill someone and go home. Simple!
3. Prison It doesn't matter if you don't remember committing any crime; you've been tried and found guilty of something or other and now you can go ahead and rot away in jail. If you ever want to see the sunlight again, better put that criminal mind to good use and get rid of your inmates.
4. Mall A huge mall stuffed full of stores, places to eat and all the regular amenities like deadbolted doors and the threat of death. It's like Black Friday but even worse because you can't leave and all the rest of the shoppers might actually kill you for real this time.
5. City Holy shit, you've got the run of a whole city this time around! Maybe with all this room to keep out of each other's way, you'll be able to make sure no one starts killing people. But probably not.
6. Cruise Boat YOU'RE ON A BOAT, MOTHERFUCKER. The accommodation is all five star, even if there's no one around to act as wait staff. The only snag is that you still have this whole murder thing hanging over your head – but on the plus side, they have those little drinks with the umbrellas in, so...
7. Space Station THE FINAL FRONTIER... Maybe you're familiar with space stations like this or maybe all this future tech is fascinating to you. Not like it matters either way, of course, because you won't be getting out of here unless you lay down a murder on someone.
8. Wildcard! None of the above scratch your murder itch? Go wild and come up with your own setting!



Downtime

1. Excuse Me, Who Are You? You've just woken up in this weird place and you have no idea what's going on. But hey -- maybe this stranger's more informed than you. Or maybe you can put your heads together and investigate what's going on.
2. Social Link Go! Well, if you're going to be stuck in here for however long, you might as well get to know the people stuck in here with you. You've got plenty of rooms to explore together and there's enough to do to keep you occupied. How do you plan on passing time without killing each other?
3. Vending Machine Woes Somewhere in this place there's a mysterious vending machine that spits out all manner of bizarre items and occasionally dispenses items that belong to you and the other people trapped here. You've got a fat stack of tokens and nothing to lose.
4. The Corners of My Mind So as it turns out, your lovely hosts have been fiddling with your memories. Maybe you're just discovering this now or maybe you've had a particularly upsetting memory regain you're dealing with.
4. Wildcard! GO WILD AND BE FREE (or as free as you can be here, anyways)



PUTTING THE MURDER IN MURDER GAME

1. Motive Your mysterious overseer has decided there's not nearly enough murder going on and so they've ~helpfully~ given you a little push to do the deed. Maybe one of your loved ones is in danger, maybe they're offering more money than you could ever dream of or they're threatening to reveal your deepest darkest secrets. Whatever is it, would you kill for it?
2. Murder WELL APPARENTLY, YES. Are you a killer or are you being killed? Either way, someone's not walking away from this alive.
3. Body Discovery Rise and shine, murdergame! It's a brand new day and someone's dead. Better get investigating!
4. Trial You know how this one goes. Line up all your evidence and sniff out the killer -- or sit there and sweat and hope no one works out you're the murderer. Will they go down with a confession or put up a fight?
5. Afterparty You've survived another trial, but more of your friends have died. Even without the executions, trials are a stressful enough affair. It's time to destress and lick your wounds and support each other.
6. Mastermind It's the end. It's time to uncover all the mysteries behind this murder game -- and find out just who trapped you here. Are they really an unconnected party, or is the mastermind someone among you...?
7. Freedom Just as it says -- you're finally free, but at what cost? Have those you love been returned to you, or are you still reduced to just those who made it to the end? Are you on your own, or is anyone here to help you? And more importantly, how the hell are you going to get home?
8. Wildcard YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO


OPTIONAL FUN

Lots of murdergames have in-universe public profiles for other characters to get the skinny on yours. If you'd like to fill one out to post with your toplevel, peep at the code below!

<center><b>Name:</b> NAME | <b>TITLE (Super High School Level, Ultimate, Champion, etc)</b> <b>Age:</b> AGE | <b>Species:</b> SPECIES | <b>Occupation:</b> OCCUPATION <b>Likes:</b> LIKES <b>Dislikes:</b> DISLIKES <b>Traits:</b> A HANDFUL OF NOTABLE TRAITS <b>Trivia:</b> A PIECE OF TRIVIA</ul>

Comments

[imaginaive]

Name: Briar | Champion Apprentice (The Protagonist)
Age: 15 | Species: Human? | Occupation: Apprentice Imaginieer
Likes: The smell of fresh ink, Camellia, sunrise
Dislikes: Dust, nonfiction books
Traits: Creative, curious, capable
Trivia: Briar has never once uncorked a bottle of ink without spilling at least some of it.

[ They're a few weeks and two cases deep into the game at this point and Briar has... not gotten used to things exactly, but she's made herself accept that they're probably going to keep happening, if only to save herself a little heartache every Friday. It probably won't work, but she knows she won't survive this if she gets her hopes up every week only to have them shattered.

If she were a better writer or she'd learned more from Camellia, then she's sure there's more she could do to write them out of this. Even if she could only manage a bittersweet ending, she's certain it would be better than being stuck here. But all her efforts have come to nothing, no matter how hard she tries.

But... she can't just do nothing.

So. Bright and early on a Monday morning, Briar seeks out Whitlock and approaches him with an expression somewhere between determined and a little terrified. ]

Um... Doctor Whitlock...? I have something to ask you.

[carenotawhit]

[He knows he's nto the most... approachable man. His overly still manner and tendency to either refuse to meet gazes or stare too intently put people off. And his awkwardness often read as blunt or cold.

20 years dead would do that, he supposed.

So a flicker of concern crosses his face at her fear]

How may I help you, Miss Briar?

[imaginaive]

[ Whitlock's... a little spooky. She'd be a liar if she tried to pretend otherwise, but working under Camellia has gotten her pretty good at being able to act... well, mostly unfazed. She's a bit fidgety though, which he'll have noticed by now always happens when she's about to voice something she's uncertain of. ]

You've been handling the investigations and the... bodies... all by yourself, haven't you?

[carenotawhit]

[shes nervous, he can tell. And the question is... not unexpected. But for a completely different reason. His concerned look vanishes and he stares her down icily- not uncommon in trials but less so between them]

Is there a problem? I am currently the most qualified.

[imaginaive]

[ Briar immediately splutters, somewhere between surprise, embarrassment and just plain not expecting that sort of response. ]

N–no, of course it's not a problem! F–for something like this, when all our lives are at risk, you're the most qualified– a–and you know what you're doing, but– um–

[ She drops her gaze the floor, not quite able to manage meeting that icy stare. ]

It's just... a terrible thing to have to do all by yourself, so I...

[carenotawhit]

[Her reaction to HIS reaction startles him, and he can almost feel Ivy's cool clay and steel finger against his lips:

Bertram, she is a child. Gentle]

Are... are you worried I am overworking?

[imaginaive]

Mm. [ She gives him a cautious little nod. ] There's that... and, well...

[ She finally dares to peek back up at his face, and her hands, perhaps unconsciously, clasp together in front of her heart. ]

Having to examine the bodies of our friends... it's not something you should have to do alone.

[carenotawhit]

It is no bother to me. I have examined as many bodies in this building now in a matter of hours before.

[That's not comforting, Doc]

... but I will admit it is a valid concern.

[imaginaive]

[ HE REALLY JUST SAID THAT WITH NO APPARENT AWARENESS OF HOW MUCH WORSE IT WAS, HUH ]

I–it's not that I don't trust you, or that I don't think you're capable... you've more than proven that you are and I know we'd be lost without you, but...

[ She fumbles over her words for a moment, but finally settles on just... saying what it is she wants for him to hear. ]

... I want to help.

[carenotawhit]

... ah.

[he looks awkward and a little ashamed]

I see I... may have jumped to conclusions. I'm sorry, Briar.

[imaginaive]

[ Briar shakes her head, letting out a little breath of relief. ]

N–no, it's fine...! I... should've just come out and said what it was I meant.

[ She swallows hard and pulls herself up to her full height, suddenly serving big 'nervous teen at her first job interview' energy. ]

I... don't know much about examining bodies. But I learn fast. And I could take notes for you, faster and better than anyone else could.

[ That, at least, she seems confident about. ]

[carenotawhit]

[he thinks on it for a bit, going creepy-still again but this time not intentionally]

... I'd be agreeable to it.

[imaginaive]

[ She blinks a few times – like she'd expected much more of a fight than he actually put up. ]

Really? You... wouldn't mind?