Whodunnit? :: AAO Roleplay Edition
Any person willing to help out with GMing should contact me in good time. Co-GMs are thus not required, but appreciated.
This round makes references to popular AAO roleplays, but play will not be dependent on knowledge of these RPs to any degree.
"I am Archibald A. Orland. And you, every single one of you, are my guests."
The first thing to come to your attention is the fact you are not alone. Around you, more people awaken in a sleepy daze. It looks like they're just as confused and scared as you are. Other kidnapping victims, you assume. The second thing that you notice is a high-tech metal ring around your neck, sitting loosely upon your shoulders. A red light upon it flashes in long intervals, and there appears to be no way to remove the thing without first cutting your head off. Your gut sinks even lower, and suddenly you feel an overwhelming sense of despair. Everyone else is doing the same, using common sense to figure out just what exactly it was they're wearing. Before you can explore your suspicions, a speaker begins to echo a voice through the grand hall your group is in.
"Welcome to my estate." the strong, deep voice of a man reverberates off the walls to greet you "I am Archibald A. Orland. And you, every single one of you, are my guests. This rooms of this mansion are fashioned after stories I have collected over my life, written collaboratively by great authors. It is a homage to great literature! I assure you the entire estate is quite enjoyable to explore. But, you see, exploration is not why you are here."
Orland takes a pause to let his introduction sink in.
"You may have noticed collars around your necks. Those are wonderful devices, set to explode into a cloud of blood and brain pieces at my command."
The atmosphere of the room grows heavy, some guests beginning to get shaky.
"But fear not! For all you have to do to keep your collar from going off is to follow my rules during your stay. It will be a peaceful, fun journey through the world of fantasy. That is, if there wasn't a crazed killer among you."
Again, the mood takes a dive towards despair.
"All but two of you are simply regular Guests. There is also one Detective and one Murderer. The murderer will try and kill any of you. Why? Because they want to! No other reason. The job of the rest of you is to discover this foul killer, and to reveal to me who they are. Shall you succeed, I will have him or her executed and you can enjoy the rest of your vacation her. Fail, and I'll happily feed him another group of victims. Are we clear? Then, you'd best be off. Enjoy my estate to its fullest, my honoured guests!"
The speaker clicks off. Well, this is going to be quite the ordeal.
The Estate
The estate is split into five floors, Floor G, Floor B1, Floor B2, Floor F1 and Floor F2. Each floor is then split into multiple interesting rooms to explore. The maps are in the spoiler tag below.
!! - Golden Locks denote locked doors that cannot be broken down. Every door locks, but these ones are invincible. The keys must be somewhere...
!! - Blue Arrows denote a change in floors, with the adjacent letter indicating where these paths lead to. These arrows also indicate a small ordinary staircase. What use could those be? Probably no use.
!! - Black Pathways are not actually hallways, simply ways to show which room is connected to which.
!! - Rooms which have lockable doors (from the inside) are: Hall of Heroes, Gift Shop, Archives, Defendant's Lobby, Museum. Doors can still be barred or otherwise obstructed.
Rules and Guidelines
Want to avoid getting your head exploded? Follow these rules!
Don't worry, it's nothing too complex. At the beginning of the game, the GM (me) will select the murderer (obviously). Naturally, the other players will be oblivious to his existence. At the start of the game, you will also be provided with a map of the building where the game takes place which you will be free to explore. There are two possible ways for this game to be won:
The murderer will win if he's able to kill all the other members without being caught.
The guests win if they are able to pinpoint the murderer.
Doors can be broken down if a majority of the living players have voted and a majority of that majority vote to break the door down.
The murderer's methods may range from locked rooms to a massacre. It's completely up to him/her. The murderer will, however, PM me about the murder method and who he intends to kill. When that happens, a a blackout will occur. During this blackout, guests will lose all track of their movements and their locations will be unknown to each other. The 'victims' for each blackout will be sent a PM 'You are dead'. (A bit anticlimactic, I know, but...) They will also be informed of any actions the murderer might've wanted them to take before they get hacked off. Once the murderer selects you - that's it. You're done for. If he wants you to do something reasonable that will benefit his trick, you'll do it whether you like it or not. In other words, this could be used for some great manipulation by the murderer. It's all a matter of creativity.
Being the murderer offers you two benefits aside from that:
The murderer gains the complete map of the building where the game takes place, including any secret passages, should they exist.
The murderer gets to PM me of any secret actions (actions that other members will not be aware of, such as inspecting certain thing, taking certain things, etc., etc.).
There's also a bit of an interesting condition for the guests - you only win if you figure out the murderer AND if you are able to solve his crimes in entirety. In other words, if someone were to come along, and locked rooms started to pop up, you would still need to actually solve them. Can't accuse without proof!
Returning Rules
The GM has all the normal GM rights. If something goes wrong, the GM can fix it. For instance, if it turns out that there are way too many rooms, the GM can magically close some of them off.
This mystery cannot be solved without clues that are not presented! In other words, while you are playing as you, you still can't use clues another person found until he/she tells you about it.
The murderer must've at least seen tools he uses to pull off his murders. If he has seen them and taken them with him secretly, then he can just use them at the time of the killing. If he has seen it but not taken it, he has to incorporate how he was able to get the weapon in his description of the crime.
At the start of each round, I will select a player I will call the 'detective'. That person has the right to use three secret actions. (In other words, do something that the other players and the murder himself is unaware of.)
The murderer has the right to select an accomplice. This accomplice does not have to be revealed in the revealing of the solution. This accomplice cannot kill.
This accomplice is allowed to stay alive at the end (in other words, the murderer doesn't have to kill him).
The murderer has 12 Hours to kill everyone.
Time won't move in real-time, obviously. (In other words, I'll decide when I believe time should move forward.)
From the start, the murderer has the right for ONE blackout per hour.
When the clock reaches the 12th hour and the murderer failed to kill everyone, the murderer has lost. However! During this time, other guests will be forced to make their choice of the murderer and explain the mystery. Should their answer be incorrect, nobody wins.
During one blackout, the murderer can only kill ONE person. Exception below.
The murderer is allowed ONCE per game to kill TWO people in one blackout.
The murderer's actions MUST be possible within his physical limitations (you can't just get out of a locked room like a magician...)
The murderer can't god-mod. In other words, you can't magically knock 5 people out in one room.
Secret actions such as pickpocketing will be informed to the person on the recieving end (in other words, they WILL notice). This can also apply to certain situations in that sense (a secret action that I, for example, find extremely obvious or something similar).
If a body has yet to be found within an in game hour of its death, a hint of its existence will be given. (This onlly means existence, not location).
The murderer is strongly encouraged to choose inactive players as victims (Making no attempt to participate by either saying so out loud or by missing two in game hours.)
All of the entrants, please keep your online status hidden while playing.
The murderer cannot pickpocket during the blackout.
Label your actions with green, please. It would make things much easier:
Code: Select all
[color=#008000][b][/b][/color]
Any secret passage is only usable once in a single crime by the murderer.
There are a limited number of uninteractive NPCs in the estate. These NPCs will not hinder the murderer, but the murderer can kill them if they desire (though this does not count as an actual kill).
The murderer is given access to secret passages as per usual, but he does not have access to the maps for unopened floors before they're available.
The murderer can explode a collar they have taken from a guest (via killing) by requesting to do so.
Ghost Rules
-Ghost Investigation may be called at anytime after more than 50% of players are dead under GM discretion.
-Players can only become ghosts if they are dead and their body has been found.
-Ghosts have free reign over map to investigate.
-Ghosts can walk through walls.
-Ghosts CANNOT interact with physical objects (That means pulse cannot be checked and items cannot be picked up or moved.)
-Ghosts can only interact and talk with other ghosts.
-Ghosts can come up with theories, but they do not count towards victory.
-Ghosts can lead players to evidence and theories through apparitions.
-Only ghosts can see ghosts unless ghosts use apparitions.
-Ghosts cannot perform secret actions.
-Secret passages should still be in spoilers (at least for this round).
-Ghosts appear where their body is found, not where they died.
-Accomplice may become a ghost to help through the investigation off in the event they died.
-After last victim is killed, ghosts can present theories for an unofficial victory (that means they can examine the body/ies of the last victim/s.
-Game will end 24 hours after last murder when ghost investigation is put in place.
-Ghost actions should be in purple. (#8000FF)
-Ghost responses will be in italics.
Honoured Guests
To become an honoured guest of this fine estate, you must be someone Orland is interested in. Unfortunately, Orland has already selected all of his guests...
Countess Calliope Tokuno - (Mono the Meerp)
Baron Blaike von Rune - (Blackrune)
Marquis Gwardin Dremmer - (GuardianDreamer)
Viscount Dante Jeremiah - (Trybien)
Duke Desmyrr Vallis - (The Fury Wraith)
Knight Reece R. VI - (reecer6)
Lady Jazmine Diema - (The Ash Raichu)
Sir James Rayner - (Jim Raynor)
Baronetess Haruka Kobayashi - (Singidava)
Mr. Zay T. Azell, esq - (ZetaAzuel)
Mistress Pride von Karma - (VonKarmaPride)
Archduke Edwam Grimm - (DWaM)
Times
Whodunnit will take place at 17:00 to 00:00 GMT+/-0 every day. This gives you a seven hour period of play. Players are not required to be active for the entirety of this period, but are expected to at least be present for a decent amount of it. Whodunnit will take place from Wednesday 05th August onwards.