110th ♫ | all the things making us sick and tired turn into bubbles and disappear

[phaiinein]

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

[divisors]

My what aesthetic? You mean my criminal mastermind aesthetic? That one?

[He's getting a little more stern, now, feeling PERSONALLY ATTACKED, but it subsides, his dark eyes narrowing. Other worlds...]

[His mouth twists to the side.]

You think this title hails from another world. Mm. A possibility. The existence of such things exists...but a "stupid memory", huh? I suppose it isn't a good one.

[696_9]

Well, partly stupid. I was stuck in another world again, and I was gonna get married to this ultra-hot idol-slash-actor, and I was like, sweet, a way to get out of my boring life with my mom and stepdad trying to replace how life used to be, right? But, they had these archaic sexist laws there, and it turned out the guy only looked charming but he was a total dickweed, super gross, and on top of that he was actually one of those monster guys trying to kill us. And you know what? Chiba isn't even his real last name! It's Chiyokoba! I would've been Chiyokoba Nana! The only thing worse than being Nanase Nana is Choco Banana!

But on the bright side, my friends bailed me out even after I blew them off and told them not to save me, and I had some, uh, self-discovery? It's dumb when I put it that way, but whatever, it made me a magical girl and I shot him in the face.

[The serving conveyor belt brings over the order Nana had punched in, and she grabs the burger tray and sets it in front of her.]

So, like, could've been worse, right?

1/2

[divisors]

[His nose is crinkling upwards as he tries so hard SO VERY HARD NOT TO LAUGH AT "CHOCO BANANA".]

2/2

[divisors]

Erm. [Little cough. Okay. Laughing urge passed.] That's....a whole story and a half.

[............]

[Yeah, let him process that.]

....Magical girl?

[696_9]

Look, you asked. I left enough out already. [She rolls her eyes and pops an entire fry in her mouth.] Yeah, but it's not like I can use that to break out of here or anything. No one else here has their powers, so it's probably the same kind of deal. That and I had to borrow the other Asuka's magic Walkman to even do the whole transformation thing.

[divisors]

Walkman...a...music device, if I remember correctly?

[Though he knows he's never seen one. He simply...Knows. Hm.]

Well, it would make sense for a mastermind to keep others in the dark. So it is hardly surprising. But to trap people with such powers is an astounding feat in and of itself.

[696_9]

Yeah, it's ancient. From, like, the '90s. [Munch.] Then do you have ideas for how we're all stuck here? 'Cause I am so lost.

[divisors]

...

[Ancient, huh....]

I surmise a magical cause is to blame. That would be the most convenient explanation.

[696_9]

Let me guess, because magic can do anything it wants?

[divisors]

No. Magic has rules to it, too. But to perform feats deemed incapable by "normal" means, one would need to fall back on such power.

[696_9]

And know their way around it a lot better than people who are just kind of winging it, huh.

[divisors]

Well, if you're a mage, that's a given. They even pass their magecraft down through their relatives.

[696_9]

Look, not all of us grew up with this, okay? Don't be so stuck up about it. I just got into all this for fun.

[divisors]

Eh, what? I didn't grow up with it! I wasn't a mage when I was alive!

[...Alive?]

[696_9]

What do you mean, when you were alive? More alive than now?

[divisors]

...

[These memories are....]

No. It's...I know I'm not human. But I don't particularly seem like a ghost, either.

[696_9]

So the only other option between "human" and "ghost" is what, "zombie?"

[divisors]

[He gives her a flat look.]

Does it look like I'm a zombie?

[696_9]

Well, clowns aren't undead except in really tacky horror movies, what else was I supposed to say?

[divisors]

[8I]

[>8I]

.....Anyways. Anyways. I'm something else. Something summoned, that I know.

[696_9]

What, was that what you remembered? What kind of ritual does that?

[divisors]

I don't know.

I was summoned and given a job to eliminate someone. What was that job exactly...who knows.

[696_9]

Okay, that sounds a little creepy, not going to lie! That's what a Heroic Spirit is? I just thought they must've been high when they wrote your profile.

[divisors]

High?! Come now! It has to be truth, right?

Besides, you make me sound like some kind of...lowly assassin or something.

[696_9]

You're the one who said it. So you're not an assassin, but you're basically one, except undead and magic so it's nicer.