[SUCRÉ]

okay so, as i posted in the sites you want to see thread, i really want a mystery type rp like really bad so i've been throwing around ideas for one bc i'm weak. and in case you didn't see my post it was,

"a mystery site where u play detectives or like detectives-in-training and site events are mysteries that have to be solved and like clues are left around the site/the scene of the crime or whatever and the more you find the closer you get to figuring out the mystery? or, like, the answer to said mystery isn't set in stone but the character with the most clues/most imaginative and realistic (??) answer to the mystery is the one who's correct? idk idk idk i explained that badly but i just want something like this /so bad/ it burns"

i don't really have a set plot for it, because the cases are going to be the plot? like, it'll be sandbox but with a bunch of events (the cases) that will serve as ways to move the site forward (or backwards even). in the future maybe i'll introduce a big plot point or something but i dont know? it'll be set in a fictional city in japan called nazo and i've been thinking of maybe doing some supernatural elements in it. like having youkai and any youkai related case will be handed over to the big, old exorcist family or something? idk i felt it would give the site a fun spin, especially with how weird nazo itself is anyway.

the cases themselves probably wont be anything too dark at first and homicide cases will probably be pretty rare??? i kinda want a weird light-hearted feel to it (for awhile at least) because i like plots that progressively get darker (if this one will even do that idk). cases will probably work in the format of: staff posting the "beginning" of the case (the information, setting, some starting clues, etc) and then the members will have to look for more clues themselves??? but the clues wont be set in stone and the member can come up with their own answers to the case and at the end of it maybe there will be a poll for the one that's the most creative / realistic / etc one??? idk im still working out some kinks with that

there's some more information here:

SPECIES
- humans
- youkai (their strength is halved when they come to the human world / most of them don't stay for very long. youkai strong enough to take human form even with their powers halved are pretty rare. most youkai who come to the human world are invisible to humans, except a select few who can see/hear/interact with them. there are families of exorcists, the biggest and most influential of which resides in nazo. maybe offer them as like a prize or canon-only type things? )

MEMBER GROUPS
- amateur detectives (most "high school" detectives will be in this category. generally teenagers or those in their early twenties and aren't usually invited to the grislier cases and stuff)
- private investigators (pretty run-of-the-mill. some own their own agencies, while others just fly solo. often asked to consult on official police cases. can generally be any age twenty and up, but the older you are the more you're taken seriously/asked to consult on cases so)
- police detectives (what it says on the tin: detectives who work for the police. usually in their late twenties and up.)
- denizens (people who live in nazo that aren't detectives. they can be anything else, from students to doctors to policeman to actors and actresses and models it doesn't matter.)
- npcs (mostly used by staff, they aren't a member-driven group. generally npcs are characters that are integral to the site that we don't want to hand over to just anyone. npcs will always stay as npcs, even if a member is given the right to write as them?)

NAZO, JAPAN
- subset of tokyo
- pretty decently sized city
- nazo ( 謎 ) means "riddle, enigma, puzzle" which is pretty fitting bc the city is full of mysteries
- most are relatively harmless and just plain strange?
- surprisingly, for the amount of detectives, there isn't a lot of serious crime (e.g. murders, bombings, etc).
- nazo has seven wonders (much like the seven wonders of the world) which are basically mysteries that have never been solved / have been solved, but the answer has been kept secret for "future generations to figure out themselves"
- nazo itself is just a really weird place in general like people think its the home ground to a bunch of spirits and stuff its so weird. the people who live in nazo are used to it, though, because they've been around it for so long. no one really knows if it's the home to spirits like the rumors say but no one would really be surprised if that's how it turned out

and i've been taking a lot of inspiration from various mystery series, like detective conan (of course it's all i've been watching for weeks now), majin tantei nougami neuro, scooby doo (my childhood), and if i do go with the youkai i'll probably set it up how it is in xxxholic as explained above in the youkai thing. probably a bit of natsume yuujinchou too but idk idk

also, i've been thinking of maybe limiting the number of detectives someone can make??? but it's just been a passing thought and i don't really know if i will or not. and that's really all i have right now. i'd love some feedback or even some interest (though it'll probably get made anyway bc im detective trash sighs wistfully). sorry if this is a bit all over the place i havent gone to bed yet and its 5:30 pm oops


ALSO the title is totally Whodunit? bc how could i ever possibly pass that chance up and it'll be animanga and on proboards bc the tagging system will totally come in handy for this i can feel it in my bones

[redox-kun]

FUCK FUCK FUCK

THIS IS EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED

[UMBY]

I CAN MAKE ANIMANGA VERONICA MARS I'M IN I THINK

i guess my question would be who would play the suspects/criminals?

[SUCRÉ]

UMBY at first, the criminals will probably be npcs played by staff, but people can definitely make criminals if they're okay with them being eventually caught and stuff like that

[zerohour]

this sounds awesome
i don't have a ton of feedback to offer but um good luck
+1 future member

[SUCRÉ]

here have a premise thing:

"A moderatley sized city in Tokyo, Japan, Nazo is regarded as strange - by both those who live outside it and those who live within it. Things unexplainable to the normal human mind happen on an almost daily basis and some whisper that it's the work of youkai - spirits from another world. The Yamazaki family implores you to bring any concerns regarding rumors of youkai to them. But these rumors are not the only things that make Nazo what it is. The city is practically overun with detectives, whether they be amateurs or employeed by the Nazo City Police Department, all searching for the answers to the strange happenings that decorate their city, and with only a single question on their minds. Whodunit?"

i have all the ooc boards made. all i need to do is finish the ic boards, write up the site info, and make/request ad images and an aff button.

[harusame!!]

This is a totally badass idea SUCRÉ. I'd totally be up for this.

[MASQUE]

+forevercharacters okay

Also YES YES YES @criminals I'd love to play some~ definitely will enjoy the darker turns to say the least. Also good that we can play witnesses or something.

Maybe even allow some criminal characters and then have a thread where something happens and the detectives have to solve it or something? Because thus far it seems really focused on the events, which will be taxing for the staff to run eventually, and may leave the rp a bit dry when there's no event.

I'm sure people can social threads and stuff but does get boring. .w. so maybe clarify how to set that up or something? IDK I'm not the best at feedback but I'm definitely interested skhfsaf maybe the Detective Ryuko one too SQUEE

Also I think it'd be hilarious if the city is legit where most of the detectives have to take a stint for their training, but that's just me. XD Hope some of this helps <3

[SUCRÉ]

then i'll definitely come up with a way to slip criminals in, though it probably wont be a member group in and of itself. most cases will have on-off criminals (or none at all, depending on the nature of said case) and big things like murder and serial cases probably wont be until a bit later so that the site has some time to get on it's feet.

the events aren't actually events, just staff-posted cases?? though if someone with a criminal wants to post their own case, that'll probably be fine as long as they're okay with the consequences i.e. their character going to jail if they get caught. i'll definitely have to come up with an explanation for that and some rules, though, because no criminal is perfect and there is always evidence (unless it's a youkai but even then, that case would go to the yamazaki family who're the exorcists of the city). there is also the seven wonders that people can look into and stuff.

im so bad at explanations wow

[MASQUE]

it's okay!

I just want this you have no idea like gg.

[mercredi]

did you say detective conan / squints
okay dibs on playing that one gentleman thief rival that nobody likes--

NO IN ALL SERIOUSNESS THIS GOT ME TO LOGIN AND POST. Congratulations. My apologies for the text wall, but I am one of those people who is and has been desperate for a mystery rp. Anyhow: time to bounce ideas, hopefully you don’t mind. Props for the inspirations, I like 'em. The setting has real promise if you're willing to stretch into the fantastical a little. <3

That said, a few questions--do people go missing Spirited Away-style? Are they Professor Layton-eqsue and everyone just has a unique mystery that they stumble into as part of living in the town, like a curse/Japanese!spell or something to that effect? Would there be, say, detective agencies that specialize in "paranormal incidents?" Outside of exorcism, naturally. do they badmouth the exorcists behind their arrogant exorcist backs for taking all their work ho ho

Oh, and with the exorcist slot being a reward, I think that's a good idea. You might wanna wait until you have enough Yokai characters, though.

As for limiting the number of detectives, I'd say it goes either way. I imagine there will probably be lots of interaction with NPCs that serve as plotty go-betweens, so another method might be keeping a record of detectives vs others. Usually, I dislike censuses as a rule, but it works if you are specifically trying to encourage a fair amount of different character groups. There's also the option of letting civilians be generic "mystery enthusiasts" because--har har, funny. And then they can still solve without needing the label of "detective" exactly. This type of group could be for players who don't necessarily like the darker aspect if you ever decide to pursue it, because some people are discouraged when the setting does a 180. (You’ll also have to decide how you want to organize NPC characters, whether with one public account that handles them all or by letting members throw them in as thread-specific. Or both, depending on the case in question.)

Regarding how having an excess of detectives factors into events, one option is to limit the number of available detective slots for event!cases. First come, first serve. Add some variety each time, like mentioning that detectives who participated in the last event!case can't participate twice consecutively if you get a large member base.

Also, about the way cases are solved--how do you expect to make a call on what is most imaginative and/or creative? Because this approach can be a touch subjective and unfair. My recommendation, personally, would be picking who's right via random numbers assigned by staff. Otherwise, let them have free reign in their regularly scheduled roleplay!time. (Mostly 'cause I think this solution is A.) very simple to implement and B.) impartial. Polls might pose unexpected issues. For example, sometimes people feel uncomfortable with voting or forget. On another note, they could slow down the event's progress b/c players will need time to respond and to read the thread. This can be a bit of a buzzkill if people want to keep writing, and you might not want people to be caught up in showing off, put bluntly.)

There's also a pretty good system in Umineko where they outline vaguely-defined "truths" in color code. "Gold" truth and "red" truth and the like, where Gold is universally true and red is more-or-less literally true. You could try something like this in staff-created cases, and force players to have to work with some preset conditions that give the thread direction.

Not meaning to sound serious, but I figure the mechanics of the mysteries will be important. If nothing else, I'd look at the game Clue for inspiration, since it's already a story-crafting method. You could assign roles/info to start the event, and then have members design their IC-actions around those set conditions; this way everyone will know what to expect, and you don't have to do much staffing outside of an occasional NPC post with instructions. (Are you the only staff right now? If so, you'll wanna make things easy on yourself.)

As for rping when events aren't going on, I wouldn't worry about boredom exactly. If it becomes any kind of issue, you could do a little list of "Mysteries to solve This Month" as prompts for players or something--people who work most with the setting can get an award-type thing, maybe. That way it doesn't get stale. / BUT FOR ME PERSONALLY detectives would never get stale and I join a site pretty much intending to write stuff whatever is happening so yeah

I'd like some criminals too, but big plotty sorts, some of which are harmless and mind-game fodder--and others dangerous Moriarty-types that can get caught. Either way, a more stringent review process will definitely be important, like you mentioned. Maybe they could be awarded, much like the exorcist slots?

Anyway, that's my two cents. My hope is that it will be of some use to you. :"D

[SUCRÉ]

HELL YEAH I SAID DETECTIVE CONAN
it's literally the only thing i've been watching for weeks so ofc its gonna be inspiration

there will definitely be detective agencies that specialize in paranormal incidents, though probably not a lot bc the big main exorcist family (the yamazakis) are really big on dealing with the supernatural themselves for various (sometimes ridiculous) reasons. people can definitely go missing spirited away-style, but it probably wouldn't be too often??? and yeah, characters can definitely have random mystery encounters because what's the fun in knowing when a mystery will come your way???

for now, i think i'm just gonna let people have free reign in terms of how many detectives they make? and see if i'll need to implement any rules if things get too out of hand. and of course civilians can be mystery enthusiasts - they can also be assistants to detectives and solve some cases without being actual detectives, though they won't get as many opportunities and will definitely be not allowed to solve bigger / heavier cases. with npcs, the big main ones will get their own accounts (like the police chief, the head of the yamazaki family, etc) and the rest will be introduced when needed and allowed to be controlled by members with certain restrictions and stuff like that. and yeah, im planning to limit the number of detectives that can be in cases, and even the type of detective depending on the case.

i like the idea of choosing based on random numbers and how i was planning to do it has only been rocky bc deciding on how the mysteries will be solved has been the hardest thing too figure out. since i don't want to make it a "whoever solves it first wins" type deal bc that'll be both stressful and unfair to those who can onlybe on for certain times and things like that. there will be some preset things, like information about the case (the suspects, the victim (if there is one), the setting, some clues, etc) but i don't want to give away everything because i want to give some freedom in how the cases are solved / they way they're solved. if that makes any sense.

yeah, i am the only staff right now, so i'm definitely trying to cut down how much work i'll be doing, which is part of the reason for my first idea in how mysteries are solved. and you don't sound too serious, i'm glad u asked about how mysteries are going to be solved bc i'm still really iffy on that orz

omg yeAH i'll never get tired of detectives i love them so much. the mysteries of the month thing sounds super cute, and there are the seven wonders everyone can try their hand at and stuff. oh, criminals as a reward type deal sounds pretty good actually, because i'm not too keen on having too many of them??? since most will just be on off type deals and it wouldn't be very fun (in my opinion) to play a on-off character. or something idk

it was very useful, thank you!!! i'm sorry if this came off as jumbled too

[mercredi]

<3 haha i am sucker for that series so it makes me happy to have something take inspiration from it or just detectives at all really

Well, I figured not a lot of them, largely because it was more like . . . just for people who wanted to do stand-alone deals that might not fit into exorcist culture. I was curious about any flexibility in how the Yokai are handled. Speaking of which, is exorcism limited to Japanese exorcism, or will there be variety? For example: could I make a Chinese or Korean or Western exorcist with inspiration from those cultures? Would they still belong to the exorcism family, much like a branch of the clan? (sorry about all my weird questions ahaha |||| OTL but i figure somebody will ask this eventually so why not think about it beforehand if you can)

Okay, I agree that there's probably no need to limit the amount too, really. Certainly some people won't necessarily want to be heavily involved in the cases, so it might not even end up much of a problem. To make another point a little clearer, I was actually thinking of “mystery enthusiasts” as being a member group for fun! I j-just thought it sounded cuter than "civilians," haha. <3 / but obviously you don’t need to use it, har.

And no worries, I think you're going about how to design the cases well! Naturally you want the players to have fun crafting their own rationale and IC-responses to the case; even when I first mentioned it, I meant 'preset' in a very loose way. As for how to sort of manage it, I had some commentary on that as well, if you don’t mind.

For example, you might occasionally post as an admin-NPC account titled like "Truth" or "Fact" something. That account could then drop one line of evidence, either confirmed as absolutely true or flexible--like a time of death or a method of murder or a suspect in-thread, which the detectives could then analyze, agree with, challenge, or counter-prove. This way, the case continues alongside their IC-deductions and in real time, and you don't have to undo the entire scenario or become too heavy-handed. You could then change up your NPC!account one-liners every round of IC-posts to match how the thread is proceeding, perhaps? (Plus, the work will be comparatively small if you don't need to write up full posts. This is why I recommended colored pieces of evidences--red could be flexible [meaning the detectives can interpret it as having many potential what-if scenarios] and gold could be certain [meaning it must stay intact exactly as-is]. Or whatever colors you hypothetically chose. |||| OTL )

You could even go a bit further, and sometimes drop clues that relate to any civilians or police officers participating. Then the detectives could interview them or those characters could expound on their position in the case? My hope is that might make those other characters feel more involved as a whole, even if they are not solving.

I personally like this because it isn't completely left up to the members, who might start off a little uncertain how to move the event. Plus, there's always the chance of one gung-ho person hijacking the case accidentally and making it difficult for other players to respond. / it’s nice to have the admin pop in with new information to reply to if there’s a long lull between posts or a member can't think up anything, too!

Does that make a little more sense? ||| OTL I'm not sure exactly what you want out of or have done with the cases thus far, so this is just how I would try doing it. / coughs. i don't wanna step on your toes if you already have more or less a set process in mind, so. right.

As for how the cases will be handled as a whole, don't put too much pressure on yourself this early on. Because I've never seen a free form mystery rp before, I think you can probably post an announcement saying that you're betaing until you and your members get a hang of it--there may be some unexpected issues or concerns, and you want people to know that the process will be tweaked until you feel comfortable. You could ask for their input to see what works for everyone and what doesn’t the first time that you host an event, too.

And I'm glad I was able to help you out a bit, then! I am very excited for the idea if you go through with it, and would definitely join up. (I pretty much got what you were trying to say, yep! So no problems on my end. Sorry for writing a lot, though. <<

[MASQUE]

going back to that Umineko thing for cases because AAAH UMINEKO

Reading over I got a mini-idea over how to go about event cases. You open the case of course with the appropriate NPC, and have all of the NPCs go ahead first. Then, you allow people to do the intro/first theory round or what not. All theories could be in a different colored text, like a universal site text (blue in the context of the example I will make. Also could name it 'Theory') Then afterwards, after a set number of rounds, you could have a singluar staff account present facts and answers in one of two colors. One color (Red in this example) would be the 'Truth', where it is facts that are considered truth and unmoveable by a wide birth. (for example The Earth is Round as it is a widely scientifically accepted fact. But say back in older times, it would be more of a Theory thing then a Truth thing /digressing) And then finally, the second color, is 'Absolute Truth' (gold of course, because it fits) which means it is a truth that is unable to be disputed period.

Now, Theory would be used for the detectives and participants trying to find more information and solving the case. The Truth could be use to rebutt, correct, or add in tibits of information that are still capable of being flexible. And then finally Absolute Truth is to lay down some things that are unflexible and unable to be changed period.

Example

SPOILER: Click to show

The facts in the example case are as follows.
Absolute Truth
The victim is dead, not by their own hand.
The culprit is in this room.
The culprit was also at the party
The victim's body did not die in this room.

In the case of both gold statements, they are unable to be mutated (as in the victim is playing dead and that's why the body was moved, or something like that.) Red statements can be taken and interpreted different ways. (the victim, poisoned, died in another room, but in post death throes, ended up spasming into this one). Now the dectives, to lay out their theories, would use another text color during their post.

''So let's put it this way. The victim was poisoned in the main room, as the culprit handed them a special glass. They then left to go to the bathroom, but died at the door, before falling into the bathroom and when the door closed, it pushed their body away. It's rather sound don't you think? Of course.., why was the victim targeted?'' or something like that. It could also, when used with a question, be the detetive or member speaking to the staff/npcs in order to get more specific and pertinent information. )Did the victim die in his current position? and what not.

Idk it's just a neat little something I was thinking about, feel free to grab it and then change what you want or what not. It just came to me when thinking about Umineko .w.

[SUCRÉ]

so i think everything's up and ready to go? besides the characters i'm making ad the opening announcement but i'll get to those so here
whodunit?