The Directors (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
productions) wrote2014-05-19 08:48 pm
productions) wrote2014-05-19 08:48 pm
Entry tags:
rules | FAQ
✖ the introduction
✖ about the setting
✖ about the game
✖ about murder and trial mechanics
✖ about memory loss
✖ faq
✖ activity requirements
✖ rules
You wake in an unfamiliar bedroom, with no memory of how you came to be there. The room is luxurious and comfortable, but there is a musty feeling of disuse and decay in the air. You're provided with a wardrobe of expensive clothes, a dagger, a revolver with a single shot, a vial, and a handkerchief, but no clues to suggest where you are or why you've come.
As you explore the castle and the grounds, you'll find you aren't alone - others are here who share your predicament, but there is not a familiar face among them. There's no way you can trust any of these strangers, is there?
And as you explore, a dawning realization creeps over you that even your own memories may not be trustworthy. Somehow, they've been tampered with, and what you've lost may be the key to unlocking the mystery of the mansion and of your own past.
Your character has awakened in Craven Castle, an opulent yet somehow gloomy medieval-era castle, set in a vast and sprawling estate. They've all lost a piece of their past, something important, as well as any memories of any friends or foes who may also be here among the players. The castle has been refurbished into a more turn-of-the-century style, with amenities and technology taken from around the 1930’s. The castle is also empty aside from you and the others who were also brought here under mysterious conditions. There is no way out - although the estate is enormous and spans hundreds of acres, it eventually ends at either a jagged cliff or an electric iron-wrought fence.
Still, there is much to occupy yourself at the castle. You may spend your time at the theatre, exploring the vast grounds, committing murder for fabulous prizes, or simply hiding and waiting for the danger to pass. Whatever you do, every week without fail a murder will occur, with a victim, a culprit, and a mystery to solve. Who will you be in the drama? Will you reveal yourself to be a surprise killer, a skilled detective, or simply cannon fodder waiting to be killed off?
You are a player in the greatest mystery ever staged, but beware of what type of player you turn out to be.
This game is a murder mystery game with gameplay elements borrowed from series like Dangan Ronpa and party games like Mafia. Familiarity with either is not necessary to play or even an advantage. For all new players, we highly recommend browsing through the first Murder Manor game to get a sense of how this will work.
The forces behind Craven Castle aren't just playing a game, they're putting on a show, with heroes, villains, and a mystery of the week. To survive, you'll have to do more than avoid being killed - you'll have to win the hearts of the audience or prove yourself a villain too good to lose.
While there will be a group of designated killers with special motives (to avoid the risk of a dull week), everyone will have incentives to kill and everyone can be a killer. Every week, a general motive to kill will be given - it may be to achieve a long desired dream, to change fate, a life gained or lost, riches beyond imagining, or simply the chance to return home. The first to commit a murder will have the chance to realize the prize - if they manage to avoid detection and survive a trial.
Once a murder has occurred, there will be a trial to find and execute the culprit. You will be provided with a list of suspects to choose from and a list of clues to consider - the first rule of a good mystery is that it be solvable. If you choose correctly, the killer will be executed. If you choose incorrectly, an innocent suspect will be executed and the killer will walk free, able to choose to retire from the game victorious or to keep playing for even better prizes.
Of course, the producers want to keep this game interesting, and even in a show like this, someone has to be pulling the strings. Characters who are particularly compelling, due to great performance in a trial, deductive skill, or simple audience appeal will receive favorable treatment - better clues, better tools for survival, even immunity from being killed off for a week. On the other hand, if a character seems to just be dead weight, the producers may take steps to incentivize their elimination, with extra prizes available when a dull character is a victim. To survive until the end, you'll want to make sure the mysterious audience or the producer is rooting for you to make it.
The game will run on a weekly schedule (Monday - Sunday), with one murder and one trial per week. At the beginning of the week, characters can participate in open logs exploring the castle. There may also be specific challenges to compete in. Participating in this stage is crucial, as your characters' whereabouts or lack thereof may become a focal point of suspicion at trial. At the beginning of the week, general incentives will be given
At some point in the week (always by Thursday morning), a murder will occur. Characters will be given the chance to investigate, and then a trial will be held. The specific length of the trial will vary from week to week, but there will always be at least 24 hours for voting and discussion, and the trial will always close by Sunday. Typically, the schedule will run this way, although we may lengthen the trial depending on activity or change the IC days that events happen if there are special circumstances:
Monday-Tuesday: Open exploration log goes up, mods contact the killer and victim of the week to go over details of the murder.
Wednesday: Body is found, investigation post goes up.
Thursday-Saturday: Trial and voting goes up. Trials will usually span two IC days (so Thursday to Friday).
Sunday: Weekend post goes up. Incentives for the following week and popularity rankings go up.
This game, unlike more mafia-based games, does not particularly hinge on special roles, although certain characters favored by the Producer may be given additional jobs or information.
The exception is that a group of 'designated killers' will be chosen. The existence of these killers is a secret from the other players and from the audience. They will know one another's identity, but will not be working together like a traditional mafia. Instead, each one will be given an impossible to resist incentive - something to gain, or something to lose. In the event that no murder is plotted in a given week, one of them will have to step forward and commit a murder or all will lose their incentive. This group can choose to help one another or betray one another as they see fit, although they cannot reveal the existence of the group.
If your character would like to commit a murder in a given week, you will need to reply to this page and fill out a form before Tuesday of that week. If we have more than one proposed murder, we will choose what we think will be most interesting.
Note that you are responsible for crafting the murder, complete with means, method, opportunity, as well as potential clues and at least two other possible suspects. Even if your character is exceptionally skilled, the game won't allow for an unsolvable murder even if it is difficult, and you need to write a scenario that will work at trial. After you're chosen, we will put you in touch with the intended victim to plot together so you can alter the situation for the victims' response. You can also thread out the murder, but the mods will need to know the outcome in advance.
We will allow for the murder to go awry because of the victim's actions, although a death does have to take place. We will also allow the intended victim to kill the intended culprit if that outcome makes sense and the killer is amenable, but in most cases the murderer should prevail and we will definitely frown upon the player of a victim who does not cooperate in letting their character be killed.
We will also allow for multiple victims as well as accomplices; however, any accomplices will also be up for elimination as a suspect while prizes/motivations will only be given based on how many people are killed. One body, one murderer gets their motive fulfilled even if someone else helped.
Once a murder has been taken place, there will be a trial to find the culprit. A trial will always go up by Friday and will last over the weekend. The trial discussions take place in the ornate drawing room of the castle. At the start of each trial, the host will appear to share the rules of the trial and answer questions. The players will be presented with a list of suspects, and all clues found by players will be shared. Players will be given time to discuss the clues, determine how the murder took place, and make their case for which of the suspects is the culprit. They will also be free to leave the drawing room to search rooms or further investigate, though you may want to be cautious about who you let out. ICly, the trial will span over two days, with players being ushered out to dinner on the first evening and then to their wings.
Once players are sure of their vote, they will enter the smoking room and select one of the culprits. Unless you are listed among the suspects, there is no way to vote for yourself or abstain. Someone who attempts not to vote will be trapped in the smoking room until their vote is cast; if the deadline passes, they will be trapped in the room and killed instantly. Regardless of innocence, the suspect with the most votes will be executed.
If the killer is caught, he or she will be executed. If an innocent suspect is executed, the killer will face a choice: retire from the game with immunity, never again to be listed as a suspect or considered a valid target for murder, or continue playing with the chance to win more prizes from killing but vulnerable to becoming a victim herself. A killer who chooses immunity will be revealed as the culprit; a killer who keeps playing will not be revealed.
There are two types of incentives in the game - rewards for playing well, and rewards for getting rid of problem players. Characters who perform well, either as players or detectives, may receive gifts from the Producer. These gifts may be tools to help accomplish or prevent a murder, items from home, information, and even, on occasion, immunity.
The most useful or involved players at a particular trial are likely to receive a week of immunity. Immunity means that characters will not be subject to the consequences of certain motives, and will not be considered valid targets for characters trying to fulfill the terms of a motive. They may still be killed, but the game will not reward their killers. Players with immunity may still be listed as suspects except for successful killers. Less popular but still well-received characters won’t have immunity, but they may receive extra prizes or have a disincentive that will make them less likely to be targeted.
On the other hand, characters who are unpopular or considered unhelpful will be made into targets. At the beginning of a week, a list of popularity rankings will be posted, organizing characters into groups based on popularity. Killing or targeting unpopular characters may result in extra prizes, including an advance gift of tools to help commit the murder. There will be no additional prizes for targeting popular characters, and there may be penalties for targeting the most popular characters.
ICly, popularity will be determined based on how interesting the audience or the producers think a character is making the game. OOCly, the rankings are determined solely by comment count during the trials. The more active you are, the better chance your character has of living, and vice versa.
Characters in the game will all experience some form of memory loss upon arrival. This may be a particular important memory, a period of their life, a person, etc. It is up to you, and you can detail that in your app.
In addition, characters will lose their memories of anyone from their canon who happens to be in the game. For some characters this may not be a big deal and will just involve certain gaps in their memory; for others, if the person was a major presence in their life, the loss will be hard to ignore - their memories will feel right, but if they try to examine carefully, it will be obvious something major is missing.
For canonmates, players will also lose memories that would allow them to identify one another. For example, two Homestuck trolls would not be able to remember that they were both part of a group of 12 that included Vriska; instead, the people and very unique situations in common in their memories would be replaced by generic replacements. Castmates should talk about this with each other who should remember which character or event they remember in common. Generally speaking, though they’re free to figure out that they may be from the same world, it should be very difficult for castmates to realize that they once knew each other.
Finally, we're going to ask that any characters from Dangan Ronpa or Dangan Ronpa 2 do not remember the events of the game. This is because the killing mechanic here is in some ways similar to the mechanic in both games, and we'd rather all characters start from square one.
How big is this game? Can I app more than one characters?
There will be a cap at about 30 characters. For the time being we will not be allowing multiple characters, but if we're short of our cap we may allow a few. There is also a canon cap at 5 characters; once all five slots from a canon have been filled, we will make an announcement and you will no longer be able to app from that canon.
What is the pacing of the game?
One real life day = one game day (although the trial takes place over the course of a few days OCCly, in-game it will usually take place on Thursday and Friday). However, there will only be one murder and one trial per week. Backtagging is perfectly fine, but we do expect players to be around and posting during the week and active in the trial.
How long will the game last?
It will likely be around two months long, three months maximum. We’re looking to wrap this game by mid-August.
What if I need to drop halfway through?
Please contact us as soon as possible and let us know so we can minimize the impact on the game. However, if you drop, you will be negatively impacting the other players. We understand sometimes things come up that were impossible to anticipate, and we'll work with you in those situations. However, if there is a reason you would have to drop that you can foresee now, this game probably isn't for you.
Can I app characters from the first Murder Manor?
If you played in Murder Manor and want to reapp your character, you’re free to do so! However, they will have all of their memories of their time in the game completely wiped. For everyone else, the original Murder Manor characters are completely off-limits. This means that unless you played them in the first game, you cannot app any of these characters.
How do powers or special skills work?
We won’t necessarily be depowering every character, but we will ask you to nerf any powers that may give your character an unfair advantage in surviving. Basically, the question is whether or not your character’s powers may make a murder interesting. Keep in mind that no matter what powers your character keep, all skills and abilities will be made public knowledge. Also, any power that will make solving trials easy such as lie-detecting or telepathy will be erased.
What are the differences between Craven Castle and Murder Manor?
The setting’s bigger and there may be some new twists we’ll add during a few weeks. As for the rest...you’ll have to play to find out. However, as far as mechanics go, there aren’t any significant differences that you won’t be made aware of.
How can I contact the mods?
The easiest way is to send a PP to
We're not going to be keeping tabs on activity, although if someone is frequently inactive, we may speak to them. However, our expectations are that everyone will be tagging regularly during the week (at least be involved several days out of the week) and will be active at trial (threading, participating in discussions, making suggestions, etc.) over however many days it goes. All characters will be required to vote, and anyone who doesn't without letting us know in advance will have their character killed. Anyone who idles without good reason will not be invited back to any future games.
If you do know you'll be unavailable for any reason, just send a PM to the mod account or PP the mod plurk and let us know in advance. We know things come up, and we also know this game takes place over the summer when people may be traveling or on vacation. We just need fair warning and we can help make sure your character won't be prominently involved that week and can even randomize their vote for you if we know beforehand.
If your character is killed or made a target due to inactivity, and the reason you were inactive was a serious emergency and there was no way to let us know beforehand, please tell us right away and we'll help out. The activity requirements are not meant to punish anyone for circumstances outside their control.
1) Your character can, and likely will, die. This is something you must agree on as a possibility by playing this game. But not to worry- the dead will still be able to watch the game unfold and comment from the graveyard.
2) Characters won't necessarily be depowered completely, but anything really powerful will be nerfed.
3) Characters will be capped at 30 characters overall, and 5 per canon.
4) IC knowledge =/= OOC knowledge. Don't take advantage of knowledge you have outside the game of plots and roles to help your character in the game.
5) While it's not absolutely required, we really suggest you keep your character's role and plot involvement secret from other players. Trust us, it's much more fun that way.
6) We expect you to be active; inactivity can make the game a lot less fun for the other players. If something unanticipated comes up that affects your ability to be present, please let us know. We're happy to try and help, but we can't do much if we don't know in advance.
7) If any issues arise, please contact us through
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