let's be rid of this troublesome secret

[shiritai]

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

helen brume | oc (vampire) | ota.

[brumaire]

Name: HELEN BRUME | SANS-CULOTTE
Age: 259 | Species: Vampire | Occupation: Freelance translator
Likes: Revenge, inquisitiveness, water.
Dislikes: The idle rich, people who prey on the poor, sunlight...
Traits: You only ever see her at night. She's always very polite and convivial. Loves rivers and moving bodies of water.
Trivia: No French accent.

Bryn Pendragon | OC

[draconite]

Name: Brynhilde Pendragon | Champion of Ashes / Draconian (you can pick your poison i'm not fussy)
Age: 18 | Species: Human, dragon | Occupation: Wandering troublemaker adventurer
Likes: A good fight, hot food around a campfire, adventuring
Dislikes: Humans, princes, losing.
Traits: Adventurous, impulsive, cheerful, vengeful
Trivia: She likes to be called Bryn.

[ Physical impressions cliffnotes here! A traveling warrior with as many braincells as she has functioning eyes (which is to say, one). She was raised by a dragon as part of his horde until a prince whose name and face she's yet to find out went and slayed him. After taking on the powers of her Dead Dragon Dad, Bryn has set out on a Revenge Road Trip across the continent of Seidrfold, a Fantasy Kitchen Sink setting full of all sorts of neat European mythological nonsense. Despite how edgy that description makes her sound, she's actually a cheerful, high-energy sheltered weirdo who cannot be trusted with her own braincell and is having SO MUCH FUN out here on her wild adventure. She can get kind of weird and condescending about Regular Humans as a consequence of her upbringing, and she's also kind of cheerfully bloodthirsty about seeing culprits executed??? I'm sure it's fine. ]

downtime-3

[bigcore]

[Bryn's fellow one-eye-haver is studying the prize machine and plunking in coins. So far it's just been dispensing the common drops (how many nolo pens are in this thing?), but Tita's next coin produces an entire bucket of... um.]

Staaare.

[She does crouch down to stare at it, then looks up at Bryn.]

Oh, see. [Point, point.] Normal human food. I think? Not sure.

[draconite]

Are... are you really sure?

[ SEE ICON... ]

It's such a bright shade of green... that's not natural, is it?!

[bigcore]

[Tita sniffs it and sits on the floor, leaning back.]

Probably not. But the sign says "monster energy," right? If it's made out of monsters, maybe that's why it looks weird.

Yuri | Doki Doki Literature Club

[impurifies]

Name: Yuri | Champion of Markov
Age: 18 | Species: Human | Occupation: Ordinary High School Student
Likes: Horror and fantasy fiction, tea, poetry
Dislikes: Manga, people who try too hard to act cute
Traits: Introverted, apologetic, bashful
Trivia: She's kind of into knives.

[ On the surface, Yuri is Your typical Shrinking Violet (HEH) bookwork girl, super withdrawn and self-deprecating and bad at making friends with new people. Can be super clingy and a bit intense if you manage to engage her and get her out of her shell, but she's really just a lonely girl in need of some good friends. But other than that, she's Totally Normal!

... Until she starts getting some memory regains and then things go to shit a lil bit. UPSIDE DOWN SMILE EMOJI.

Obviously, threads come with a preemptive warning for potential DDLC spoilers as well as potential content warnings (highlight to see!): Unreality, gaslighting, self-harm and attempted suicide. ]

2... ish?

[small_potatoes]

[So Yuri, who did you stab? Cuz this sure is the sound of someone else being awake.

Weird, since usually everyone else in the group is magically passed out once the crime is started...]

[impurifies]

[ Yuri's breath stops in her throat. She's been breathing so hard and so fast the past few minutes that she's close to hyperventilating. Her vision swims and she feels the knife slide out of her numb fingers and clatter on the ground. Her fingers are thick with blood. For a moment, she thinks that it's her own – but then ah, of course. She doesn't have a scratch on her, for once.

Hubert... well, that's a different story. Yuri's trying not to look right at him. Not that it's hard – her vision feels like it's skipping and blurring, like huge chunks of time are gone between each blink. And wouldn't that be convenient, for this to be a thing she did unawares, without even knowing it herself.

But of course, it's not quite that easy. She's a murderer. She's only the survivor here by chance and nothing more. But probably not for long. ]

... w–who... who's there...? [ Her voice is a rasp, like each word is dragging its way out of her throat. She doesn't even know what she's saying – the words tumble out of her mouth without her even thinking about them. ] I didn't– I didn't mean to...!

1/2

[small_potatoes]

[Oh, it's the nice detective boy! Akechi stares at what he sees, a look of shock on his face. He looks from the bloody Yuri down to the assassin at her feet like he can't process what he's seeing]

Yuri-san...

[small_potatoes]

...

Idiot!

[He snarls, stalking over. Weird, he sure does seem to have a gun with him! A handgun with a silencer, in fact. But any hateful look he's giving her is NOTHING compared to the look he's giving Hubert's corpse]

All this effort and you get killed by a highschool girl- heh, it's enough to make me laugh.

Lapis De Fiore | Original | OTA

[crisantemo]

Name: Lapis De Fiore | Champion of Occultism
Age: 27| Species: Human (with some questionable supernatural heritage) | Occupation: Ghost/Demon/Abomination Wrangler
Likes: Cute fashion, flowers, long baths
Dislikes: Pants, her hair getting messed up, churches
Traits: Withdrawn, Blunt, Fearless
Trivia: All of her friends are ghosts. Also always carrying some kind of dagger on her.

[A seemingly apathetic and cold young woman who is a very powerful medium, and uses her powers, and some rituals, to deal with the malicious and violent variety of supernatural. Also the heiress of a massive supernatural information network that her Grandmother is the current head of, and there's a few theories that her Grandmother isn't completely human...

Lapis herself is actually very kindhearted and empathetic, but a lifetime of being surrounded by the dead has resulted in a very skewed world view and bad social skills. Especially as she now has the ability to work with demons and even certain eldritch abominations. Expect her to basically face everything unflinchingly and see little issue with executions, especially if the culprit deserved it. More in-depth info can be found here!]

Rose | Final Fantasy XIV (WoL OC) | OTA

[poisontippedcure]

Name:Rose | Super Eorzean Level Healer
Age:25 | Species:Miqo’te | Occupation: Adventurer
Likes: Flowers, art, nature, alcohol.
Dislikes: People, cities.
Traits: Stubborn, antagonistic. She’s very protective of people she cares about, but it takes a lot of work to get close to her.
Trivia: Her real first name is Ahna.

Celestia Ludenberg | Dagnab Rompers | OTA

[stopbeingvulgar]

Name: Celestia "Celeste" Ludenberg | Ultimate Gambler
Age: Believed 17 | Species: Human | Occupation: Student / Gambler
Likes: Games of luck; tea; money
Dislikes: Vulgarity; ordinary and common things; losing
Traits: Classy; Liar; Manipulator; "Victorian"
Trivia: Won a shogi tournament without knowing the game. She's been in this game before....

Lie Ren | RWBY | ota

[firstbloom]

Name: Lie Ren | Champion of Tranquility
Age: 19 | Species: Human | Occupation: Licensed Huntsman
Likes: Flowers, cooking, peace and quiet.
Dislikes: Coffee, horses, being vulnerable.
Traits: Never seen without his dual weapons StormFlower. He's hardly heard speaking unless spoken to first. Somehow, he still radiates a comforting energy.
Trivia: He's also a very talented dance choreographer.

ya boy rng gave me afterparty in a mall

[eupheme]

[ Name: Anika Quinn | Champion Regalia
Age: 16 | Species: Human, allegedly | Occupation: High school student, magical girl
Likes: Cats, pastries, high places
Dislikes: Bugs, spicy food, the dark
Traits: Adaptable, affable, anxious
Trivia: Always wearing her lucky charm, a pendant.

It's been... a trying few weeks.

Between the confusion of waking up, the gradual realization of how much they've all forgotten and just how bad the situation they're in truly is, Anika has not, shall we say, been having a great time. But, as her profile infuriatingly announces to everyone, she's nothing if not adaptable. So adapt she does, and do her best to cope – she doesn't know if she can really call any of them friends yet, but she's on friendly terms with most of the people trapped here as well. And despite everything, she really does think they'll all make it out alive. She really thinks no one's going to die.

Never mind that, then.

All things considered, the trial doesn't go too terribly. They'd found the culprit, voted for them and Anika's doing her best not to think about the part that came after. It'd been the investigation that'd really shaken them all up – the girl who'd been killed had been well-liked, as far as Anika knew. Of course, even if she hadn't... murder is still murder.

In the aftermath of the trial and the execution, it looks like everyone's congregating in the food court. She has no idea why. Right now, Anika just wants to lock herself in her room possibly for the rest of her life and never talk to another human being again. But she knows it won't help, so she forces herself to go as well and gets swept into the busywork of making food. It's... something to do. Something to keep her occupied.

She hasn't eaten anything herself, yet, but she's making sure everyone gets a serving – which is why Anika will announce her arrival with a plate of... pancakes, apparently, set in front of Ren first and then a greeting second. ]

Hey. ... I can get something else if you don't feel up to something sweet. We just have a whole lot of pancakes right now.

Murphy Farenheit | OC

[imp_rovise]

Name: Murphy Farenheit | Champion Villain
Age: Kinda | Species: Demon | Occupation: Familiar
Likes: Music, schemes, heroes
Dislikes: Boredom, practicality, sad endings
Traits: Outgoing, dramatic
Trivia: Murphy is banned from every Chuck E. Cheese location except one in the continental United States.

[fuckgenetics]

[BUCKLE IN KIDS, IT'S TIME FOR A BODY INVESTIGATION!

Unfortunately, Nico di Angelo died in the Hot Topic. Befitting. Fortunately, Shilo's here to discover him!]

Nico? Hey, you can't sleep out here.

[Goth teens gotta stick together, so she crouches down to maybe try and wake him when she sees the blood.]

Oh no. Um, I could use a little help in here!

[imp_rovise]

[Murphy is technically not a goth and only a kid by some rather stretched definitions, but she definitely appreciates their vibe and a lot of the whole Hot Topic aesthetic in general. So it's probably not any more suspicious than literally everything about her that she's headed that way this morning.]

Ooh, starting early this week! Who's- oh.

[She visibly deflates a little, seeing Nico's bleeding form.]

Ah. Snickerdoodles, I actually liked him. He had POTENTIAL, you know?

[fuckgenetics]

Can you - I don't really know what I should be looking for.

[That's a lie. Shilo's father might not have let her go to school, but he educated her. She knows a lot about anatomy and the human body.]

Other than the fact that he doesn't have a pulse.

Rhea | Fire Emblem Three Houses (spoilers possible)

[archboxer]

Name: Rea| Champion of Garreg Mach
Age: Appears to be in her thirties| Species: Human (?) | Occupation: Archbishop of the Church of Seiros
Likes: Her mother, her followers, Fodlan
Dislikes: Bandits, blasphemers
Traits: Kind, vengeful, proud
Trivia: She often burns her mouth on hot things./ul>

( shambhala area 17 redux intensifies )

[philoxenia]

[ It's been nearly two months since this whole thing started, and Mira's-- tired. Even more than usual; with their powers turned back on, she hasn't been able to sleep too well. Too jumpy. Even with Zerinda there with her, it's hard to settle down enough to sleep... So it's little wonder she's awake at this hour. Mira feels horribly restless, so she writes a note for Zerinda and slips out of the room.

It's so late, and she's so tired, but she just can't calm down. Taking walks--that usually helps, and even if it's now Friday... no, she can't think like that. That her powers are still on is a good thing. It means no one has acted. And she has both a knife and the taser Aela had left her, all those weeks ago.

She'll be fine. She believes that; she has to.

It's easier to do that when she spots Rhea. She perks up a little, and clears her throat lightly. ]

Rhea?

[archboxer]

[Rhea has been strangely absent this week. More of their number had been killed. The last week had been a slaughter--unforgivable. The anger at the previous murderers, the man that brought them here, even Angel... it was growing. The pain in her head told her it wasn't wise to be with her fellow prisoners.

So she's begun to take walks at night. Mira probably can feel her peculiar strange feelings as she starts towards the water park. That's when she hears her.]

...Mira? What are you doing up? Will Zerinda not be shocked if she wakes up with you gone?

Oersted/Odio | Live A Live

[thevanquished]

Name: Oersted | Champion/Ultimate Hero, Vanquished
Age: 24 | Species: Demon | Occupation: Knight, Hero, Apocalypse
Likes: Nothing
Dislikes: Everything
Traits: Noble, Hopeful, Insane, Suicidal
Trivia: Was once engaged to a princess. Has an incalculable body count

[Oersted's profile seems to swap from good normal traits to bad scary ones when no one is looking. But as far as anyone knows he's a good loving hero type that brings people together. The ideal shounen leader. Not at all the murdering type.

The fact that any empathy or mind reading powers go haywire near him or that he occasionally seems nihilistic and bitter probably means nothing.

Beyond that he does in fact seem very earnest and likely has a lot of close cr]

deadland deadland deadland deadland deadland deadland

[voicebreaking]

[ Just as she expects, they find her guilty.

It's not as though she tried to hide what she'd done – she'd put up the bare minimum of resistance, just enough to stretch out a trial of decent length, and then she's bowed her head and accepted the punishment given to her. It had been hard, though, looking at their faces and knowing that no matter what, she couldn't explain herself. She had to let them think she was a senseless murderer and nothing more.

But it was better than the truth. At least this way, Oersted's final secret dies with her and no one has to know the truth.

... Or so she thinks, anyway. Until she finds herself waking up from an execution of knives and noise and off-key piano notes and finds herself on a beach, under piping hot sun. She looks around, unable to really comprehend that she is, in fact, seeing anything at all, when she lays her eyes on– ]

Sir Oersted?!

[ ... or so she assumes, anyway. ]

[thevanquished]

[It does seem to be Oersted, sitting there, staring out at the sea. No blood, no wings. But the overly sweet reek of over ripe grapes still clings to him like perfume.

So the phantom of Odio is still here. There was no real difference between the two, no matter how he worded it before, as if Oersted was dead. For a moment he looks like he might roll over and embrace her. Squeeze his hands around her throat.

But instead he turns back to the sea, eyes dead.]

I warned you.