102nd ♫ | sell your soul to the devil on the street corner

[superorbit]

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

[ofyourdreams]

[ Of all the others stuck here in this dreadful situation, Ruby's been the one hardest to get a read of. It isn't surprising that she's having a harder time than usual, of course – real people aren't two dimensional personalities like she's used to dealing with. But Ruby is especially interesting – it'd be so easy to write her off as a clueless, innocent princess out of her depth, but... between the way she's so carefully ingratiated herself to the group and her profile (Dislikes: complicated people. Traits: bold, resilient), Camellia finds herself hesitant to do that.

Does she have ulterior motives? Is she just more clever than she appears? For once, Camellia doesn't know and that's quite exciting.

For once, though, she's finding it hard to see any novelty in their situation. She's let the motives thus far wash over her as best she can but this– this feels pointed. She doesn't even have to open the envelope she'd been given to know who they're offering her and she's so wound up about the whole thing that she chews her nail til it cracks and her thumb spots with blood.

She can't let herself give in to this. It's not part of her story. She's certain it wouldn't work out if she tried. But the temptation is undeniable and she's been pacing around her living quarters like a caged animal, talking herself in and out of it since the motive was dangled over their heads. In that sense, even a visitor in a state like Ruby is feels like a welcome distraction.

She looks – out of sorts. Camellia's usually placid and calm, but for once her ever-present smile seems frayed or strained, somehow. Not that it stops her from putting a gentle, steadying hand on Ruby's shoulder. ]

No, no, you don't have to apologize. I think we're all taking this one a little harder than expected.

[ The hand at Ruby's shoulder gives a gentle squeeze. ]

Do you want to come in? I can see if I have a spare handkerchief for you...

[appeale]

Yes, please...

[ Ruby trails after Camellia like a child, and she sobs openly like one too; like a little girl who hasn't learnt yet to be embarrassed about it. or perhaps, more deliberately, a spoilt princess used to being doted on — utterly uninterested in dignity and propriety both. incapable of looking after herself. in that sense, being Rudbeckia is much easier than who she was before. Ruby doesn't need to be smart to be perfect. just helpless.

she rubs at her eyes with the heels of her palms, whining: ] I'm sorryyyy... I'm sure you must be upset too, Lia.

[ is she? as warm and gentle as Camellia is, she never seems to show anything else. she gives you the impression that she's open without ever letting anyone get a glimpse through the crack. maybe she's lying to be kind, to spare others the burden. but maybe she's not. ]

[ofyourdreams]

It's alright.[ Her voice is low and soothing, barely more than a gentle murmur and she puts a careful arm around Ruby's shoulders to guide her across the room and over to the bed so she can sit. ] I'd much rather you come to me to talk than sit by yourself and stew in things when you're this upset -- here.

[ The white handkerchief she hands over isn't particularly fancy, but it's elegant somehow. It's exactly the sort of thing a woman like Camellia should be carrying around.

She sits herself gently on the bed next to Ruby, that smile never leaving her face all the while. It's probably not a surprise, then, when she says - ]

I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm upset, myself. I'm... troubled, I suppose, but that's no rare thing in our situation. ... But whatever was in your envelope has you really rattled, hm?

[ She isn't quite prodding but she's certainly promoting. Just what could someone offer to Ruby to get her in a state like this? ]