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

[hexcrafter]

As I said: topsiders have far too much optimism. But you do raise a larger problem, I admit...

[The calculation in Viktor's eyes shifted for the first time; away from the elaborate chess game, turning inward for a moment as his fingers drummed on the handle where his cane joined to the upper half of the crutch. Chemical compounds were not his strictest expertise, and he was not fully sure he had Singed's expertise.]

[But by a similar token, Singed didn't have the knowledge that came with working on Hextech for years.]

That all depends. Are you willing to give me a chance to try?

[peaceinthewater]

Our problems seem so easy to solve from so far away, don't they?

[He sounds almost wistful, clearly including Viktor in the 'our.' No matter what, it's clear this man is still a Zaunite.

Silco does have to bite back a remark about Viktor being very familiar with certain Topsiders. Now is not the time for those kinds of jabs.]

Get us both out of here and you will be given more than a chance. Perhaps Singed will have a way to help you as well.

[hexcrafter]

Eh...I think the terms could use a bit further refinement, but as a starting point I believe we could be doing worse.

[Pushing further--the return of their crystal and anything else that might serve to defuse tensions--was ill-advised, at least for the moment. If he could prove escape was possible, then there'd be more to actively bargain with. He was no politician, but Viktor understood the workings of give and take in the Undercity better than any of them. In that regard, he held an advantage over any of the Council.]

[Jayce was going to absolutely fucking kill him. Unless he could actually pull all of this off.]

Of course, all of this is contingent on my ability to find us a way out of here. Building any kind of Hexgate given our current supplies is a reach, but if I were to structure a similar principle...at minimum leaving this building is plausible on paper.

[peaceinthewater]

Leaving the building would be a good start. Certainly good enough for some these provisional terms.

[As long as Viktor doesn't ask for something utterly ridiculous like his daughter, Silco can't imagine much he would deny. Still, it's important to not show one's hand.]

I know you don't trust me, but you also know that I am loyal to mine. While we are working together, that includes you.

[hexcrafter]

[look if jinx just conveniently disappears off the radar for a while who is viktor to question it]

Not in the slightest, of course. But trust and cooperation need not be a matching set. I would dare presume that you see no purpose in stabbing a fellow Zaunite in the back, and for the moment that is good enough for me. I do not expect protection or anything further past that.

[peaceinthewater]

Zaunites stick together.

[Silco tilts his head slightly, as if remembering something.]

Speaking of, is there anything I should keep an eye out for that would lessen your discomfort?

[hexcrafter]

I doubt myself so fortunate that we'll stumble upon anything more potent than what is in the infirmary, and to my irritation I have tried most of it. Short of aggravating our host into remodeling that damned trial room, I will accept that I am out of luck.

...The offer is appreciated, to be clear. I am accustomed to pain, and will hold out as long as necessary.

[peaceinthewater]

[Silco gives a nod, glad Viktor did not mistake his offer as pity. Though he supposes it is different coming from someone who understands.]

Should we have the misfortune of another trial, we'll take one of the stools from the art room. [Not much, but better than nothing.]

Now I believe I heard tell of a group dinner.

[hexcrafter]

And...that doesn't sound like hell to you.

[because it sounds like hell to janna's least social engineer]

Frankly, my plan was to sneak into the kitchen well after dark rather than be confronted with everyone assuming I was about to collapse. That gets...exceptionally annoying.

[peaceinthewater]

So you'd rather have them think you were too weak to even eat and suffer the pitting looks tomorrow morning?

[Or worse: make himself a target for anyone looking to escape their prison.]

Probably better to get it out of the way now. I believe I heard Harding say something about making her mother's noodle recipe.

[hexcrafter]

[...stop making sense. it's upsetting.]

Podělaný mrdník...fine. But if risking this group's cooking kills us both, my last words will be 'I told you so'.

[peaceinthewater]

[Silco chuckles. He doesn't mean it to sound foreboding, but this man was born with 'perpetual villan voice.']

If eating this food kills you you must be eating too much of that Topsider food.

[hexcrafter]

Don't remind me, Piltovan food is miserable in comparison. I started cooking for myself a week after I got to the Academy, the relative aggravation in finding decent ingredients is well worth not making myself even more sick with what they think is edible.

[Rolling his eyes, Viktor stood up with a quickly repressed twinge of obvious pain and settled the crutch back under his arm.]

...I can take over an empty classroom and start first thing in the morning. There are a few ideas I can attempt to put into practice, but it will not be a flawless or simple process even if it does end up producing results. Science necessitates heavy trial and error.

[peaceinthewater]

Terribly bland, from what I've sampled. [Not that he's had much Topsider food. What's the point when it's expensive and bad?

Silco stands as well, but does not move to help. He would if it looked like Viktor might fall, but he seems to be handling himself well save for the pain.]

I will assist where I can. Too bad there isn't some sort of science classroom. [Or if there is, it isn't in the part of the school open to them yet]

[hexcrafter]

A moderate problem, at best. We have a number of things I have considered dismantling for parts, and that may well prove enough to start with. The lack of a soldering iron or welding torch is going to be inconvenient, but focusing on the runic matrix first will render that a secondary issue.

[Saying all this at least half to himself as he thought out loud, Viktor seemed to have brightened up a little for the first time; take the scientist out of the lab, etc etc]

[peaceinthewater]

Tell me what you need, and I will bring it to you. [He's already considering who he can get to help with any large or heavy items Viktor might need moved.

Thinking about moving around though...]

Do you have problems with your arms as well as your legs?

[hexcrafter]

Scrap metal, power sources...I'll evaluate the exact necessities of hardware in the morning. Building the framework was not my specialty back at home, but something rudimentary may be doable.

[He paused at the question, untangling himself from thoughts of taking apart technology he barely comprehended to use for parts.]

No. My hands and arms are fine; the issue is in my leg and lower back. What does that matter?

[peaceinthewater]

Would a wheel chair be easier? Something small you could move under your own power, obviously. [Such things aren't as common in the Undercity simply due to the terrain and slapdash architecture, but a bright mind like Vikor could figure something out.]

[hexcrafter]

... [Viktor scowled, but didn't dismiss the idea outright no matter how much he visibly hated it. He'd already resisted the braces and crutch for as long as physically possible, so what was to him another concession sounded like taking his pride down to the courtroom and putting it in the execution woodchipper.]

I would have to think about it.

[peaceinthewater]

Who knows? When we get back to Runeterra you could make a fancy hextech version with your...partner. [Listen, he's not totally capable of holding in the Absolute Bitch Syndrome. That's about as nice as he could have been.]

[hexcrafter]

Yes, and I will then make a point of running you over with it, if we're going to be taking that angle here.

[not a damn thing to lose and not one single solitary fuck to give]

[peaceinthewater]

[Silco gives a short laugh. Against his better judgment, he's actually starting to like Viktor.]

You would have a hard time getting to me unless it hovers. Which would probably defeat the purpose of running me over.

[hexcrafter]

How disappointing. I suppose I would have to pass by at top speed swinging my cane and hoping for the best, then.

[bitch to bitch communication]

[peaceinthewater]

Now it just sounds like you're trying to invent a new sport for the Topsiders.

[hexcrafter]

No, jut fantasizing about hitting people who irritate me. One of the few joys I have left in life.