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

Mordred "Mo" Phontes | Original

[undyedwool]

Name: Mordred Phontes | Champion Wool Puller, The Sheepish Knight, Lionhearted
Age: approx. early 30's | Species: Resilient | Occupation: Knight/Instructor
Likes: cats, sheep, battle tactics
Dislikes: dogs, bards, creepy masks
Traits: analytical, eccentric, loyal
Trivia: It's a rumor among Mordred's trainees that if you see her eyes long enough to determine their colour it'll be the last thing you ever see. So watch out!


[ Mordred (who will insist on being called just "Mo" or even "Momo") is a knight from Avalon, a country in the magical world of Feo with Arthuriana inspiration. She serves the newly crowned twins, Prince Arthur and Princess Morgan, who are in the midst of rebuilding their homeland after a very long and drawn out battle for succession with their relatives, during which she was their strategist and teacher. She continues this role while also instructing new knights.

Mo is often referred to as "The Sheep Knight" (her version of the Knights of the Round Table have a zodiac theme to their titles) but it is clear after knowing her for a while that this is more of a "wolf in sheep's clothing" situation (though she would really personally prefer "lion" to "wolf"). Mo's seemingly ditzy and cheerful exterior is a tool to hide how intelligent and powerful she truly is. She's highly observant and has a talent for fighting in particular, sometimes called a "battle freak" by the other Knights. She constantly has a "^_^" expression and only stops when things are especially serious, in which it becomes... well.

In a murder game scenario she would stay pretty "^_^" or "-_-", with her more serious faces making appearances at trials. She would have no problem examining bodies and is the type to gently offer to do so to keep it from going to softer characters who might struggle with it. She is mostly sweet but will also just Say Shit, including more biting commentary or theories that other people aren't going to like. If she gets close enough to open up to anyone she would start alluding to a lost love she can't move on from just yet. ]

rng put them in Fucking Jail

[ensiforme]

[ Three weeks into the little game their jailer has set for them to play and the prisoners of Neverland Correctional Facility are finally let out into the exercise yard as a reward for 'performing within expectations', whatever that means. Eglantine doesn't really care - it's been cooped up within those walls for so long that even the featureless wall enclosing the yard and quashing any hopes for escape isn't enough to ruin its mood. What's more, there's not just space to train but all sorts of unusual equipment that... seem to have something or other to do with fitness?

Well, whatever their purposes are, that's what she's here with Mo to figure out. Weirdly, nobody else felt especially moved by her invitation to the yard for a sparring match, should there be any equipment for it. ]

So, what do you suppose this is? Some sort of hammer?

[ Said while examining a set of dumbells... ]

[undyedwool]

[ Mo meanwhile is practically vibrating. Not because the yard itself is particularly exciting or anything, but because the prospect of sparring is that exciting to her. Especially with Eglantine - this might actually be a worthy challenge!

She tilts her head back at the question. ]

Oh, don’t be silly! That’s to tie to the end of a flail of course!

[ ……is she just fucking with it. Who can say. ]

[ensiforme]

Oh, is that so?

[ She accepts this seemingly without missing a beat and reaches out to lift one of the smaller dumbbells and weigh it in her hand. It's certainly hefty enough, even if the shape is a little awkward... ]

I suppose it would do well enough. Though don't you think it would be much more troublesome to try and swing it around? The chain would snap much more easily...

[ It adjusts its hold on the dumbbell and... gives it an experimental swing through the air??? DO NOT MISUSE FITNESS EQUIPMENT ]

let's saaaay island

[ourweapon]

[Khet'a had perused the profiles on day 1, of course. Wrote anything useful in his journal and moved on. But something had stuck out about Mo's, so when things start to settle he goes out to find her]

Pray, can I ask you somethin'?

[undyedwool]

Mm?

[ She turns her head to Khet’a when addressed, all smiles. ]

Sure, what’s up?

[ourweapon]

You're a knight trainer, yeah? What do you specialize in.

[To the point]

[undyedwool]

Oh, just combat.

[ “just” combat she says, as if that isn’t an incredibly wide field. ]

Mostly with swords and lances. That kind of stuff.

[ okay, a little more helpful. ]

[ourweapon]

[A BIT more helpful, but it makes his ears wiggle regardless]

Think you could show me a bit? I'm long out of any training, but I like picking things up from other country's fighting styles.

[undyedwool]

[ Mo’s face stays as unchanging as ever but there’s… something a little different in her posture. ]

Are you asking me to spar?

[ourweapon]

[He nods, punching his fist into his open palm]

[undyedwool]

[ Did she somehow get… brighter? ]

Well, well! Usually people are too spooked to ask me so directly.

I accept!

[ourweapon]

Not much scares me. Let's go outside. Do you have a weapon?

[undyedwool]

Not at the moment. They haven’t returned any of my swords to me yet. [ A frown. Those are her children, how dare the mastermind— ]

But… mm.

[ She looks around, spotting a broom nearby. Picking it up she tests its weight… before throwing it over her shoulder. ]

I can make do.

[ourweapon]

[he has a few of his soul crystals, and with them his weapons. But he's not using a master forged sword against a broom. So he shakes out his hand, shifting his feet to limber up]

If that's the case, do you mind if I stay hand to hand?