Murder in the Mansion {under construction}

[Crovius]

So I get bored, very easilly, very fast. Decided I'd make a simple murder mystery style game. The theme is Europe during the Victorian Era. All the players will be characters who knew a very wealthy individual and have been invited to spend a few days to his mansion. All the players will randomly be assigned roles to play, and the basic concept is that one player will kill off the others without getting caught. The other players must discover who the murderer is and get out alive.

This game is similar to any Werewolf and Villagers games.

Player Profile

Spoiler: show

Name: The year will be 1845. You can be from any part fo the world, just keep in mind to avoid names that are too modern
Age: at least 19, as old as reasonable for the era
Occupation: Be interesting
Appearance: What do you look like, any distinguishing features?
Personality: Likes/Dislikes, how do you act towards others?
Relation to Host: How does your character know the wealthy individual?

Anyone that wishes to be the killer simply needs to PM me your profiel and add the following:

Killer Profile

Spoiler: show

Preferred Method: What form of murder do you prefer to use?
Psychological Profile: Why are you killing the other guests? Revenge? Insanity?

Turns

Spoiler: show

Instea dof turns, all players post what they want their character to do. These posts are public for the most part. Any action that a character wants to hide from other characters (such as breaking into a locked room, stealing a valuable looking bauble from a desk, etc) as well as the killer's actions are pmed to the GM directly. The GM will gather all player actions both public and private and post a public response showing the players actions and what happens. Actions a character tried to take secretly are not posted, instead PMed to the player. If another character would have noticed they are alerted to some suspicious actions taking place. Only characters that are able to notice these hidden actions are alerted and can keep the information to themselves. Whena character is killed clues are left, but only the GM knows all of the clues. The characters are given the clues if they look for the right things. Background information cna help determine if they have the knowledge or skills to notice a clue.

Help me flesh out how turns will work and the other methods of murder!

Edit: Updated the rules of turns, removed the methods of murder, which was an overcomlicated and constricting idea to start with.

[BLANDCorporatio]

This sounds smashing, ol' chap! Absolutely smashing!

But I do believe you are making things a tad bit complicated there. I had my hopes for a simple Mafia or cluedo style game.

[Crovius]

That's why I'm looking for interest and input. I haven't even gotten to work on how turns will work. I might remove the methods and simply turn it into a voting game. The issue is those games require at least 10 people for it to last long. So if we can get everyone playing in all the other games in on this, then yeah, it could work as a much simpler game.

[Doug]

It sounds like a good bit of fun; I would definitely be interested. As long as ideas are being pitched around I had a few thoughts. They're just suggestions, not anything really rock solid, but they might help.

If we didn't want a straight up voting game, perhaps each investigator could have a small number (1-3) of traits/skills they could use. They wouldn't have to be really mechanical, just that a Sharpshooter can almost always hit his mark, or a Well Read player can know Shakespeare and a smattering of French. Alternately, if mechanics were desired they could be as simple as 1, 2, 3- indicating proficiencies- with 1 being a novice and 3 being a professional. That Well Read could be broken down to English Literature 3, French 1.

A GMed game would mean that the killer only needs to describes to the GM how they do it, possibly using their own skills combined with any weapons or murderous tactics they may have. The GM can potentially go off this to establish clues for the investigators to run with. A quick dirty death might leave a short trail of blood indicating the direction the killer ran off in, or the killer with buttons missing from his suit should the other players think to inspect them closely. An overly elaborate plan might leave few clues but raise the question, "Winston has been gone a long while" or "Why is there a pulley, 12yards of rope, and chandelier diagrams in your room?"

Turns might not be necessary if at certain intervals the GM simply compels his killer (for whatever reason) to kill again. This will cause a new trail of clues to crop up and play can continue. A killer that's too good for the players can be forced to act multiple times in rapid succession in the hopes to make him slip up- one that is too easy maybe can enlist the help of a second killer.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Again me doing the party pooping, but-

there are very nice games out there for precisely this setup (locked system, killer on the loose) that do NOT use anything like skill points and die rolls and the like.

Why use those and not make something new you ask? Well, why make it with skill points and die rolls and the like? Something like cluedo is sophisticated enough as it is, and is readily playable by forum. Werewolf/Mafia might not, they rely a lot on real-time face to face interaction but still.

I hear the "if you don't like, don't play" thing rearing its ugly head.

It's actually fair enough, just giving my 2 cents though. I agree we should see who is interested, and interested for what. The more the merrier ... and simpler the game system can be, for some value of simple.

[Sinrus]

I think it sounds great. The only thing I have a problem with is the killing methods. I think it should be that you can kill them in whatever ingenious way you come up with, so long as the GM agrees that your stats are high enough for it.

[Crovius]

I think it sounds great. The only thing I have a problem with is the killing methods. I think it should be that you can kill them in whatever ingenious way you come up with, so long as the GM agrees that your stats are high enough for it.

I could remove the murder methods. That was one of the big stat things.

[Crovius]

Yeah, I'll work up a different system then instead of the emthods thing. A lot of what I want is detail. I love exposition.

Woudl everyoen prefer a simple stat system like what I have in LoC? Just 4 stats, very simple numbers, usually the difference of a stat between two people is all it takes and a random number now and then. But for the most part I'd move it along for story. Mostly I do this for the players to amke characters, tell em (the GM) what their characters want to do, and I write a few paragraphs every couple days of what events unfold between the characters based on what you describe your character as.

Does that make sense?

[BLANDCorporatio]

"Murder, Crovius wrote".

Okay, why not? Sounds cool!

[Crovius]

Ok, so got rid of the killing methods. The turn spoiler is filled in now. I'd appreciate it if people began posting profiles. Regular people's profiles go here. Anyone that wants to be a killer should pm me the additional information. I'll pick who would make an interesting killer for the story. The basic story is you all are friends/family/business partners with a wealthy person, in this case it will be a Wealthy man in his 40s who passed away. All of you are supposedly called on to hear his last will. More details will be given when we have a few players. And yes, people can join late.

[Doug]

Name: Winston Burbike
Age: 33
Occupation: Pest Control- it's a dirty job but somebody has to do it
Appearance:Winston can most often be found smeared with grease or a sticky, foul smelling sludge that permeates the lower reaches of the city. He is not a large man by any standing, and has made more than one lady cringe with his bulbous nose and crooked grin. Though he cleans up well enough for a person of his profession, the slicked, long, oily black hair and tattered waist coat would never fool anyone into thinking he was a man of culture- or civilized society for that matter.
Personality: Never one to shy away from conversation, Winston is often overly friendly with any response, even an admonishment, egging him on even further. He is a man of simple pleasures and crude mannerisms, liking a stiff drink (or any drink really) and the company of whatever ladies can tolerate him. Though not overly honest, he knows that sloppy work now means no work in the future and as such is a fairly reliable gentleman. The only thing to truly put him off is the Gospel. Oh, he's Christian as the next man, but just because he occasionally drinks, fights, steals, and womanizes every halfwit with a bible thinks he's in need of salvation- shows what they know. (deliberately ironic, not trying to offend)
Relation to Host: Far from the notable socialite, Winston is a distant nephew of the Host. And like all obscure relatives, as soon as he discovered that he had a rich uncle he wasted no time in attempting to get in his good graces. As ingenuous as his beginnings may have been, Winston and the older man did come full circle, developing a genuine friendship. Before his death, Winston brought the Host lunch every Thursday and afterward accompanied him on his afternoon constitutionals in the park.

[Sinrus]

Character Profile:

Name: Edward Taylor
Age: 32
Occupation: English Christian Minister, recently returned from missionary work in India
Appearance: Not especially tall, but strong from years of living in the Indian countryside. Light red hair, the kind of piercing dark eyes that suggest either a genius or a fanatic.
Personality: Kind and honest, at least on the surface. He's the sort of person that anybody would trust out of hand.
Relation to Host: Nephew, but on a different branch of the family tree than Winston Burbike. Edward was called back from India because a sizable portion of the victim's wealth became his inheritance (Edward donated it all to the poor, of course). He is only staying now so that he can preside over his Uncle's funeral.

[Crovius]

Well that's two characters! I really hope we can get at least 4 more people to make it interesting.