122nd ♫ | phosphor burned a silent mayday, my hand slipped with a dirty splash

[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></center>

Comments

[scourgingstars]

Alright, alright. You don't need to convince me, I'll do it.

[He didn't have to like it, but the situation was what it was.]

Let's find you a suitable weapon, first.

[selfreliar]

What, now? Weren't you going to eat?

[scourgingstars]

Well, I was planning on cooking for everyone. But I think that can wait an hour or so before it starts getting a bit late, unless you'd like to help with that first.

[selfreliar]

...No, now's fine. If your training's anything as hellish as what entertainers go through, I'd rather do it before eating.

[At least Ardyn probably wouldn't make him do it in a mascot mask...]

[scourgingstars]

Oh, ddon't worry. I can promise you I'm sure to be nowhere near as difficult as my own teacher was. Shall we?

[selfreliar]

Yeah, let's go. Thanks for making the time.

[Of course, not without pocketing his book for later.]

Where will we find something like a weapon in a school, though? In the sporting equipment?

[scourgingstars]

That is a bit of a problem. Unless you want to specialize in kitchen knives, we may have to see about something a little more makeshift as far as weaponry goes.

[selfreliar]

No thanks.

[Ah. That came out more emphatic than he meant.]

I mean, knives don't strike me as the best defensive weapon. Harder to keep someone dangerous at a distance, isn't it?

[scourgingstars]

Okay, okay. [He held up his hands defensively; knowing a complicated subject when he saw one, Ardyn swiftly let the matter drop.]

Distance, then...I don't know, do schools like this teach archery?

[selfreliar]

[Phew. Aqua was glad Ardyn didn't ask. He'd use anything if the situation called for it, of course, but the idea of specializing in kitchen knives--well, it just didn't sit well with him.]

Some have archery clubs, anyway. I guess that sort's likely to have a kendo club, too. That is--sparring with practice swords. That kind of thing.

[scourgingstars]

Well, if you'd like to use a sword, that sounds as good a place as any to start. Easier to teach than a bow and arrow, too.

[selfreliar]

And if worse came to worst, I could fake knowing how to use it more convincingly. [Sigh.] Well, let's go find a shinai or something.

[Coming fresh from the adaptation of Tokyo Blade had to count for something, right?]

[scourgingstars]

Improvisation is at times the first step to developing actual skill, you know.

[Ardyn shrugged, turning to walk out.]

After all, most of my own skills were self-taught.

[selfreliar]

Really? Wasn't that dangerous?

[Assuming Ardyn meant his proficiency in 20 billion weapons, anyway...]

[scourgingstars]

Mm, well... [He hummed thoughtfully, trailing off in the way he tended to do before saying something that sounded a little too carefully constructed to be fully honest.]

...A lot of it comes from intuition. A...result of my world being the way it is, you could say. Combat proficiency is necessary, and one uses whatever they can acquire in such situations.

[selfreliar]

...Yeah. Guess you could say the same about any world. Intuition, talent, and everything else--you make use of what's available to survive.

[scourgingstars]

That much is certainly true. Not everything can be taught, after all.

[selfreliar]

Right. Sometimes, though, there are workarounds for people lacking some natural gift. Those usually involve hard work and study in one way or another.

[scourgingstars]

Of course. Like I said--I doubt myself the best teacher, but making the attempt is better than not trying at all. I've always just had something of a knack for combat, unfortunately.

[selfreliar]

[Aqua remained quiet for a moment.]

I don't think that's such a bad thing.

[scourgingstars]

...

[The only answer was a quiet sigh as Ardyn opened a supply closet, back to Aqua as he looked through the equipment.]

No...the ability to fight is a useful and worthwhile skill to have. Merely one I wish was less necessary than it is.

[selfreliar]

[Being a supply closet for a variety of teams, there was plenty of room and equipment for both of them to search. Further in, on the opposite wall from Ardyn, Aqua discovered the baseball supplies. His face softened slightly as he picked up a glove, though it wasn't pertinent to the task at hand. Though he wasn't facing anyone who could see it.]

...It's interesting, isn't it? The variety of skills and talents they've gathered with us.

[Aqua took the glove with him as he turned to look for something more weapon-y.]

[scourgingstars]

'Interesting' is one word to use, yes. I would guess they wanted a wide range of possibilities in this whole endeavor, whatever the purpose might be.

[selfreliar]

Hmm. I was wondering if it's something more along the lines of a test to see which ones are strongest.

[There, in the back corner. Aqua pulled aside a tarp to reveal a rack of practice swords. Da da da daaaa!]

Found 'em.

[scourgingstars]

I don't think that's likely. If it was, wouldn't they want to start from a more even playing field?

[Ardyn crossed the room and reached over for a practice sword, twirling it around in one hand as if testing it.]

Bit unbalanced of a group, for a test like that.