redthreadmods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
redthreadmods) wrote2017-01-16 12:59 am
redthreadmods) wrote2017-01-16 12:59 am
Murder and Death
Murder and Death
ABOUT MURDERS: IC
Let's start by talking about how things work here normally. Most of the time, characters will have a mild sense that they're supposed to get along. That forming bonds and letting people become important to them might be a good thing. Call it a hunch or a gut feeling, but it's very present, if easily pushed to the side and ignored. Of course, that's just most of the time. Oddly enough, if a character happens to be awake in the middle of the night, they'll find they won't feel the presence of that idea at all. Curious.
And then some days, about once a week, that feeling will be conspicuously absent for a whole day. On those days, the characters will find a message, slipped under the door of their room, with a reward listed. Nothing else. No indication of what the characters would need to do in order to get the listed thing. It's all very mysterious.
That is, until that night. About half an hour past midnight, they'll suddenly understand. If the reward is something of interest to them, their desire for it will only grow, and they'll know, for certain, that what they need to do to get it is kill. At the same time, their feelings about the people around them will be altered in a way that's stronger than the usual. Rather than being encouraged toward bonds with everyone, they'll instead find that anyone outside of those closest to them don't matter. Only the people they've developed the strongest bonds with are important.
So the solution is simple. That reward is tempting, and most everyone has been devalued. Just get rid of one of those people who don't matter, and it's all yours.
How strong are these suggestions? Can they be fought?
Characters will maintain rational thought, so they can talk themselves around it with effort. Ultimately, the choice to kill is still a conscious one. Their feelings about the people around them might be significantly shifted from their normal way of thinking, however. If they normally would think that everyone is important and taking a life is wrong no matter what, they'll still remember that they live by that rule, but they won't feel it the same way as usual. They'll have a hard time remembering why those other people matter so much, and what makes that weigh so much more heavily than the reward they can't deny they want. It's enough of a shift that, given a meaningful enough reward, even the most good-hearted person might still find it within themselves to kill.
So what type of rewards will be offered?
Anything that the powers that be are able to grant. That can be anything from a material reward to a promise that the people you have the closest bonds with will definitely be protected on the next murder night. There will be something for everyone, eventually. (The mods plan on using the "motivations" section of the application as a basis for ideas, so please put some serious thought to what might tempt your character.)
What if someone would want to target one of their bonds?
They won't be able to. In the same way that everyone outside their closest bonds becomes unimportant, the thought of killing someone who is a strong bond for them will be actively repellent. For most people, that will just seem normal, but it might be strange for a character who's naturally inclined to want to kill the people they're closest to. Also, keep in mind that a bond doesn't have to be positive, only passionate. That means if you hate someone's guts enough that they become important, then you might not be able to kill them exactly because you so desperately want to kill them. Ironic, huh?
Is everyone affected by this even if they don't want the reward in question?
Not necessarily. Characters who are in their rooms while all this is going on only feel mild effects. If they want the reward enough to be interested, they'll feel motivated to get up and go out regardless, and it'll be enough of a nagging feeling to even wake them up from sleep. But if they really don't care? They may as well just stay in bed. That said, anyone who leaves their room will find they can't get back into it, so if you just had to go to the bathroom or get that midnight snack, sorry, but you're going to be out there in range of everyone who's looking for someone to murder.
Interestingly, the mind-altering effects seem strongest toward the center of the facility, so characters are welcome to use that to their advantage once they figure it out.
So if everyone really wants the thing, will they all kill each other in one night?
Only the first person who kills someone gets anything out of it. And actually, the powers that be don't really want everyone dying at once, so they've put a system in place for this. As soon as someone dies, everyone else will very quickly fall hard asleep. When they wake up, they'll be in their beds in their own rooms, with no memory of how they got there.
What if my character isn't the murderer but I'm sure they would have gone after someone immediately?
A lot of things can happen. Maybe they had trouble finding someone they weren't bonded with right away. Maybe they attacked someone, but didn't kill them in time. Everyone's free to thread out whatever they think happened on murder night, not just the murderer, and it's likely that other fights would occur that just happened to not result in death.
What happens to a character that was injured in a fight like that?
The powers that be have some good healers around. The injured character will be patched up when they wake up in their room, though they may have some residual scarring. (Or may not be entirely healed if the player so chooses; the powers that be have a lot to do on these nights so it's possible not everyone gets five star treatment.)
Does falling asleep mean the murderer can't do anything to cover their tracks?
The murderer is the one exception to the rule. They will still feel intensely drowsy, but not so much that they immediately fall asleep. They won't be able to fight it forever, but they'll be able to hold it off long enough to do a little bit of tampering--maybe half an hour or so.
When does the murderer get their reward?
They'll get their reward after the next murder happens. Call it incentive to stay alive.
Is there any kind of punishment for the murderer?
In an institutionalized sense? No. The powers that be don't care about punishing anyone for that. But if characters want to investigate on their own, they're more than welcome. They might feel more at ease if they know who among them has been willing to kill and for what reasons. There's also plenty of opportunity to enact their own justice next time it's a murder night, if they know who the killer is. After all, why not kill a murderer if you need to kill someone anyway?
ABOUT MURDERS: OOC
After each murder, a check-in will be posted for the next murder, including the reward of the week. We'll ask players for information about:
We'll then randomize the murderer from a list of characters who are the most strongly motivated (even if they might try to talk themselves out of killing) and those who are most likely to kill (whether or not they care about the reward). The victim will be randomized based on the list of available targets for that character.
We'll announce who's killing who a week before the murder is scheduled to happen so you'll have plenty of time to plot.
If a character isn't interested in the current reward, do they still participate?
That's up to you. If your character has no interest at all, you have the option of letting them stay in their room where they will be safe. If you opt to have them leave their room, they can be killed. If a character has just a mild interest in the reward, they will be compelled to leave their room and thus might be a victim, though unless they're generally very willing to kill, they probably won't murder anyone.
What happens if I don't reply to a check-in?
Check-ins are mandatory. If you're on hiatus while one is up, you're exempt from it. If you're not on hiatus and don't check in, your character won't be eligible to kill or be killed, and you'll earn yourself a strike. Remember, three strikes and you're out.
How do I handle a character murdering someone they would have a really hard time taking down?
We leave it up to the murderer and victim's players to be creative in that case. It's possible to win most lopsided battles if you're clever and lucky enough. In addition to any powers the characters may have, there are also weapons lockers scattered around the facility that have any number of helpful weapons, including a few things that will be specifically designed for attacking characters that should generally be difficult to kill. If you're really stumped, ask the mods and we'll help you figure it out.
Will there be a log posted for finding the body?
The mods will not be posting a log for discovering newly dead bodies, but the player of the character who died is welcome and encouraged to post a final log stating the condition in which their body is likely to be found. For the sake of keeping the game moving, this post should be made within three OOC days of the character's death. If you haven't finished threading out the murder, that's fine and you're welcome to continue as long as you need to, but for the purposes of this log, please work with the murderer's player to decide how the body will end up. Remember that the murderer does have a small amount of time to manipulate the body as they choose before falling asleep.
Bodies will be cleaned up by the powers the be one IC day after the murder, leaving the area where the body was smelling strongly of disinfectant. In cases where no log is posted about the body within three days of their death, players are free to assume the powers that be just decided to clean up early and there's no body to find.
ABOUT DEATH
The first thing that happens when someone dies is that a thin red line will appear like a ring on the pinkie finger of each person they listed as a close bond. That is a permanent mark; no amount of scrubbing will get rid of it. It also appears immediately, so if the murderer happens to be someone the person they killed found important, they'll know right away and have a good chance to think about what they've done while they try to figure out what to do with the body. Each new mark will find an open space on that finger, so they'll remain distinct until so many people have died that they have no choice but to blend together... which would take a while.
In addition to the red ring, the characters will receive a more elaborate tattoo elsewhere on their body, in the same red ink. This tattoo is a reflection of the dead character's feelings and its shape will be chosen by the player of the character who died. These extra tattoos will only be semi-permanent, fading over time along with the memory of that character. If your character wasn't attached to the person who left it, the tattoo will be gone within a month or two. However, if your character was strongly attached to the person in question, or is the type to refuse to forget anyone who died, the tattoo can be kept indefinitely.
The character who was the victim's single strongest bond also gets an added benefit. Namely, they will inherit one of the victim's powers. When the character dies, we'll contact the player of the character named as their strongest bond with a list of abilities to choose from.
As for what happens to the character, they'll wake up in the Lotus Machine Club, the afterlife's central hub. From there, doors lead to... well, anywhere they want. Since it's a space created by the collective consciousness of the dead folks, they'll be able to make their own spaces. Sometimes that will be conscious and sometimes not. Much like a dream, it wouldn't be too surprising for something from a memory to show up unbidden just because it happened to be somehow on a character's mind.
The characters in the deadlands will have some contact with a couple of NPCs, and may find ways to help uncover mysteries about the facility and work out some limited contact with the world of the living. Dead characters are only required to turn in half AC and are exempt from murder check-ins, but they can definitely be involved in and have an influence on game plot.
More information will be posted here as it becomes relevant.