Murder Mystery General How-To-Play

[The City [EclipseZwolf]]

Murder Mystery Games How-to-Play

    Welcome to Murder Mystery Games! Here I will be taking you through the ropes of playing in standard rule games on Murder Mystery along with some tips and tricks to have you filling all the competition with despair in no time! From now on I will be referring to the games as Seasons so be sure to remember it. Every season revolves around the players being dropped into a Dangan Ronpa style scenario and their journey to survive and escape. In order to survive in this terrible environment you need to be able to Move around the Map like the wind, Examine your surroundings like a hawk, and Act faster than the competition. So let us begin the first step in turning you into a hopeful hero or a despairing devil! But first, here are some important terms you need to know!

Important Terms
1. Season: The term for a game of Murder Mystery. These will be preceded or followed with a unique label for each season. EX: Season One, Season Two, Super Season
2. Mastermind: The person running and managing a Season
3. Player: Anyone besides the mastermind participating in a season.
4. Map: The collection of Room Threads that make up a single season of Murder Mystery
5. Room Thread: A thread that contains the information pertaining to one room and any necessary additions
6. Player Character: Any single person being controlled by you or another person who signed up for the game.
7. Non-player Character: Any single person being controlled by the Mastermind.
8. Inventory: The current list of items being carried on a person.
9. Inventory Size: The max weight that can be carried at any one time.
10. Weight: The weight of an object to determine the amount of space it takes up of your inventory
11. Movement Post: A post signifying your current location.
12. Movement: The process of deleting a movement post and creating a new movement post in your new location.
13. Examination: The process of obtaining more details on a specific item, location, or person through direct contact with the Mastermind.
14. Action: Influencing a specific item, location, or person through direct contact with the Mastermind.
15. Culprit: The person behind the current murder(s)



The Map, Movement, and You

    Movement in Murder Mystery is performed through posting on a series of threads that represent the rooms that make up the map. Think of these threads as jigsaw pieces in a puzzle. A room thread will contain a bare minimum of three things: A room description, an item list, and “doors” to other rooms.

An example Room Post. It has been color coded to show what each section is. Blue is the room description. Red is the item list. Black is the door links. 

Now the question is, how do I move between rooms? The answer is with a Movement Post. When you are “in” a room you will show this on the forums with the use of a Movement Post.

An example Movement Post. A simple post with a dot to signal your being in the room. Only ONE Movement post like this should ever exist per player on the map at once.

 

This post is deleted when you leave that room and move to another, via the links. The step-by-step process is as follows:

1. Create Movement Post in the room you are entering
2. Perform whatever you need to do in the room, be it actions or nothing at all (This time frame must be a minimum of 1 minute so that both the mastermind and players have time to notice you sprinting through a room.)
3. Delete your Movement Post and immediately
4. Follow one of the door links
5. Return to Step 1.

    There are two special situations in which you will not have a movement post. One is when you are hiding, which will be explained in the Actions section. The second and more common is when you are talking inside of a room. In this situation you will have posts in the thread with what your character is saying. If you have said anything in the room after you arrive it takes the place of your movement post (so delete the movement post once you have said something). You will not delete any talking posts though when you leave. Instead you will edit in a –leaves- message at the bottom of the last thing you said before you left.

This is an example talking post with a leaves message. Simply edit in the Leaves message when you would normally delete a movement post. 

That covers the entirely of motion in standard format Murder Mystery seasons! Please note that some special seasons may alter these rules so make sure to check for any additional rule pages inside of a season you are applying for!



Examination
    The next important thing you must do to survive the depths of these worlds will be to examine your surroundings. This part of the game REQUIRES the use of Skype instant messaging, there are currently no alternatives. As you saw above rooms will have a number of items in them as well as a basic description. These items and even the rooms themselves may contain secrets that are hidden at first glance. In order to examine something in more detail you must alert the mastermind. Using Skype send a Personal Message to the mastermind containing, “I examine __________ in the –insert location- in more detail.”

    This is an example Examination Personal Message and the Mastermind’s response. Blue represents the player’s message while red represents the mastermind’s. 

The mastermind will respond with the results of your examination. Just remember that the mastermind is doing this for every player and may take some time to reach you. Please be patient! You can examine anything and everything including the contents of rooms, the doors of rooms, and even the other players as long as they are within the same room. Just be careful! They may notice you eyeing them! If you examine an item where someone is hiding you will also discover them!



Action
    The next things you must understand is how to perform an action in the game itself. You have learned how to move about and learn more about the world, but now you must learn how to change it. Actions occur in the same manner as Examinations. You must Personal Message the Mastermind on skype with your action. Your action is only limited by your own imagination and the bodily limits imposed on your character. Here are some basic commands that everyone will need to know:
1. Pickup: “I Pick up the Hammer” : The Pickup command will have your character take an item and place it in their inventory. This will add the items weight to your current space in your inventory.
2. Drop: “I Drop the Hammer on the Shelf” : The Drop command will have your character remove an item from their inventory and place it where specified.
3. Attack: “I _____________________________ Player X” : A attack command refers to performing any kind of action against another player. This is again only limited to your imagination and what your character is physically capable of. Be careful! Other players may get alerted and have time to react! This is the standard way to attempt murder.
4. Hide: “I Hide in _________ at Location X” : This unique command allows you to hide from the eyes of other players. When you hide like this you send the message and upon receiving confirmation from the mastermind, will delete your movement post. No one will be able to locate you without a lucky examination Personal Message. Simply tell the mastermind and replace your movement post when you leave your hiding place.
So now you know how to move around the map, examine the world, and how to act and potentially strike fear into the hearts of your victims. This covers the basic mechanics of how to play in the world of DRMMO. Let’s move on to the basics of the game itself.



Game Mechanics

The Phases
Any one game of Murder Mystery is split up into phases where the rules differ slightly during each phase. Let’s start with the phase that the game will be in the majority of the time.

Standard Phase
    The standard phase will be whenever the game ISN’T in another phase. In the standard phase there are no limits on your actions and will not change from this phase until a body is discovered. Standard Phase may be split up into Day/Night based on the discrepancy of the mastermind, but it will only limit your vision during some time frames. Act in any manner you wish, because actions will become more limited in all other phases. Standard phase will shift to Investigation Phase when a Body Discovery Announcement is made. This is made when THREE players discover a body, THIS INCLUDES THE MURDERER.



Investigation Phase
    The investigation phase begins immediately upon a body discovery announcement being made. Players will be provided the Monokuma files giving basic details as to the murder. In this phase players are FORBIDDEN from killing each other and must investigate the body. During this phase movement and examination are unaffected, but your actions are more limited so that the body count does not rise. As you investigate during this phase you will discover evidence as to the crime and Important Facts known as Verbal Bullets. The evidence along with the Verbal Bullets will be used in trial in order to discover the truth and uncover the Culprit. This phase will end after a set amount of time determined by the Mastermind and proceed to the Trial Phase.


Trial Phase
    The trial phase begins upon the ending of the investigation phase. In this phase all players will be summoned to the trial room. The only excuse for not being in person at a trial is to be dead, as such hiding during trials is impossible. During this phase all players will be forced to discuss the murder(s) that occurred and the who, how, and why of the crime. This will be done in a specific thread created for the trial. The goal during the trial phase is to construct theories as to the culprit’s entire plan and what they did. A theory requires the following:

1. A Culprit: The person behind the entire murder. This is the person who masterminded the murder. Even if they did not perform the final stabbing as long as they were the one who planned it they are the culprit and the target to be executed.
2. The Victim(s): Who was killed by this person, this must be specified if there are multiple murders just in case the murders have differing culprits.
3. The Murder Weapon(s): This section must include ALL the weapons that were used to inflict the injuries on the victim’s corpse. This includes the killing blow and any extraneous injuries such as bruises or light cuts. ALL of the damage to the corpse must have a weapon that dealt the damage.
4. The Murder Route: This Section states the path the culprit took during the setup of the murder, the enactment of the murder, and the clean-up of the murder. This section must be included in order to decide how the culprit got the necessary items for murder as well as how they got away and hid the evidence without getting discovered.
5. The Closing Argument: This section puts together the above four items by walking through the entire murder in the culprit’s shoes, stating every step they took and every swing of the weapon they made. This explains everything.

    Once a set amount of time passes as decided by the mastermind the trial will close and a vote will open. The vote will only include players who have been made the culprit of a theory in the above format and the theory was not denied with Verbal Bullet evidence. If no successful theories are made then the Culprit instantly wins and there will be no vote. The vote will be closed after a set amount of time passes. The person who possessed the highest vote count at the end of that period will be executed, EVEN IF THEY WERE INNOCENT. The results of the trial will be posted, but whether you voted correctly or not may or may not be revealed by the mastermind. Upon conclusion of the vote the game will return to standard phase.


I have talked a lot about the phases but there are some unique mechanics that have to be explained in more detail. They will be explained in this section


Final Notes

The Art of Murder

    Murdering someone is as simple as sending the mastermind the personal message saying you do it. The mastermind will alert you if you do something completely impossible so that you can revise some of your actions to be possible. Once you perform a murder you are officially the culprit and will win the game if you make it through your trial without being voted as the culprit. This isn’t something the mastermind will do for you though. Setting up the murder, performing it, and cleaning up are entirely in your job. You must perform all these actions through Action Personal messages to the mastermind. The mastermind will be creating verbal bullets as you commit the crime that hint at how exactly the murder went down. Clean up to the best of your ability and make a safe getaway, if you get spotted you may find yourself in an impossible to win trial.


The Body Discovery Announcement

    The body discovery announcement is what changes the standard phase to investigation phase. The announcement is triggered when the body is seen by a total of three people. This includes the murderer and anyone who sees the body while alive. Even if a player who sees the body is killed before the announcement, they will count one of the three witnesses to a corpse.


The Verbal Bullet System

    The verbal bullet system is to assist in solving the mystery and shooting down bogus theories created by the competition. During the investigation phase when you examine critical pieces of evidence the mastermind will give you a verbal bullet.

Example: Verbal Bullet #6: Missing Kitchen Knife

A verbal bullet is an undeniable piece of evidence, arguing that the bullet itself is false is only going to make you look foolish, so don’t. Verbal Bullets are forbidden to share. You may not post the bullets you find in the trial, skype chats, or private messages with anyone but the mastermind. You are only allowed to post a verbal bullet in trial when you are countering a theory someone has forged. If the bullet proves their theory false the theory will be considered faulty and the person considered the culprit removed from the vote until another theory with them as the culprit is created. Bullets may be used an indefinite number of times to deny any number of theories. You must explain why the bullet counters a theory though in your counter post, if your logic is faulty, as determined by the mastermind the theory may not be countered and the other players may laugh at you. On a side note the Monokuma file is ALWAYS Verbal Bullet #1. If there are multiple files then the first few bullets will be the files, one for each body.


Mastermind Unique Mechanics and Rules!

Mastermind Levels and their Permissions:
Higher ranks of masterminds are allowed to adjust certain mechanics and add new ones into their games. The highest tiers of mastermind can scrap these rules entirely and write their own unique ones for their games. As Such make sure to read ALL documents posted by any games you are planning to participate in that way you know if there are any differences in how the game will operate.