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]

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.

[selfreliar]

[Aqua took one, too, though all he did with it was look down its length as he spoke.]

If it was all about killing, maybe, but now we know there's more to it than that. There's putting on a convincing performance, at the trial, too--and on the other side, investigation skills, the ability to read people, and persuasive argument.

Even those who seem too kind for this situation, or whose skills are in softer things... I think there's a way for them to fight, too.

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn hummed in quiet contemplation as he turned that thought over a few times.]

I don't believe something like an unskilled or untalented person exists, truthfully. You may be on to something with that idea, but to what end?

[selfreliar]

No idea. I'm only speculating based on who's here and how it's going for us so far.

[He rests the practice sword against his shoulder like it's something he's used to.]

Well, what do you think? Will these work?

[scourgingstars]

Oh, these should be fine. You're already handling it well, so why don't we just get straight to it?

[Taking a few steps away, he held the sword lazily at his side in what was probably supposed to be a combat stance.]

Take a swing at me, and we'll see what it is we have to work with.

[selfreliar]

Now? Well, okay...

[Just two guys playing with swords in the closet--

With a doubtful look on his face, Aqua lifted the sword from his shoulder and shifted into a more proper sword-fighting form, both hands on the sword's hilt, tip up. When he closed the distance and swung, however, two things became clear: he swung to be blocked, not to strike; and he had no actual desire to hit Ardyn at all.]

[scourgingstars]

If you're being attacked, it won't be in an ideal environment. Better to understand your surroundings, in case you can't choose your battlefield.

[remember you asked for this, aqua.]

[That noncommittal swing was met by sudden motion. Something flashed in gold eyes, and suddenly the harmless and unassuming pacifist moved with far more speed than someone his build should have had--darting through the openings in Aqua's inexperienced stance and bringing down his own sword-]

[-in a light tap to the head, followed by a smile.]

I'm afraid you'll have to put much more into it than that.

[selfreliar]

[Aqua's usually underplayed expression morphed from startled to embarrassed. You know, in a grouchy tsundere way. He batted Ardyn's sword away from his face with his hand.]

Look, I told you. It was acting when I did it. The point is to not hurt your coworkers.

[>BT]

[scourgingstars]

Yes, and that is something you'll need to quickly relearn. The good news is, your basic fundamentals aren't that bad. A little adjustment on your stance, and we may have a good baseline from which to start.

[selfreliar]

[Oh. Well, that was good. For all that he'd tried to make a case for himself before, Aqua looked faintly surprised to hear he wasn't awful.]

Really? Huh. [He glanced down at his sword again and almost seemed kind of pleased.] Guess I should thank the theater company for that. They did a lot in just a month's rehearsals.

[Anyway. Aqua lifted the sword once more and firmed up his grip.]

Okay. What am I missing?

[scourgingstars]

Your footwork, mostly. It's fine at a glance, but your stance is a little unstable in practice. Easy to throw you off balance, easier still to cut straight through your defenses. [Lightly tapping Aqua's shin with the practice sword.] This one, a little to the left. The other, just slightly back.

[selfreliar]

Mm.

[Adjusting as instructed, Aqua gauged the new positioning and distance between his feet first with his eyes, then by shifting his weight from one leg to the other, as if to memorize the feel. Here was a more visual learner than a kinesthetic one, and more studious than intuitive.]

Like that?

[scourgingstars]

Better. Keeping a stable footing will leave you with less openings to exploit, so it's a vital thing to learn and put into practice.

Secondly, you need to strike like you absolutely mean it--with no hesitation. Assume your enemies will have no such reluctance, so you need to be sure you don't give them the chance.

[selfreliar]

[Aqua pulled another face.]

Ugh. I know, but I've never actually had to hit anyone before. It's not like I want to hit you, either.

[scourgingstars]

Aqua, I promise you couldn't hurt me if you tried.

[A short laugh followed that, as if it was a joke only Ardyn found particularly funny.]

Come at me with everything you have. Challenge is an excellent tutor.