Zodiac Murders

Genre: Modern Mystery
Rating: R – Violence, Sex and everything in between.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Timeline: Present Date

Plot Breakdown:
It started with a letter arriving at the Chicago Police Department; it ended in murder.

On May 25th the first letter arrived in a simple unmarked red envelope baring a strange symbol and an encrypted note. Inside were clues to a murder in the making, beginning with the first sign of the western zodiac. They thought it was a hoax, but in the end there was a murder. Ashley Ridings, an in house singer at the Aries nightclub, was found in her dressing room stabbed with a knife using a ram’s horn as it’s hilt. When a second red envelope arrived, police took it seriously. Working night and day to try and decipher the clues. A second murder happened – Joseph Taurus was found hung by a rope tied to ox horns adorning his office walls. Again, a third murder happened; twins born under the sign of Gemini drowned in a hotel fish aquarium.

It’s now June 18th with three murders and no leads. All the department has is a new letter with a new clue. A special team has been formed to work on the investigation. How many more will be killed before they find the Zodiac Killer?

RANDOM INFO

Players can be one of the official investigations team, someone else in the department, reporters, someone close to or related to the police department, someone related or close to one of the murdered victims, or someone that could possibly BE one of the future victims. Remember, if you play someone that could BE a victim there is a possibility that your character can DIE in this game!

The Zodiac Killer is an NPC and sends a red envelope to the police department with clues to the next murder. Characters have to try and decipher the clues if they want to save the next victim, but so far there is very little in the way of information about the serial killer and his methods. What is for SURE is that he is going in order of the Western Zodiac and his victims either have the sign on the zodiac or is directly related to something with the name of the zodiac.

This plot is character driven. That means, things will happen depending on what the characters do in the game. If they play their cards right, they could save a life, if they take too long, someone will die. If they get too close to the killer the character themselves could be in danger!

There is also the possibility for other killers. Copycats or other random events. It’s all a matter of how the characters drive the game!

Zodiac Murders – Official Game Info

Our Plot Details are located Here: [url=http://space-kitten.org/rpg/zodiacmurders.php]Zodiac Murders[/url]

Welcome to the first official game since… a really long time! XD Being an official game, that means we have… [i]expectations[/i]. Nothing too difficult, this is basic Roleplay 101! I’ll explain everything here in this thread, and if you have any questions… just ask!

[b][u]Quick Rundown:[/u][/b]

[b]Basic Plot:[/b] A serial killer is murdering people using the Western Zodiac as his calling card. He occasionally sends [i]red envelopes[/i] to the local police & news stations with clues to his next murder. As an NPC his actions will rely on what characters do in game. (For example, if characters aren’t able to reach the next victim in time, someone might die. Or he might attack any characters that get too close to his identity.) This game is 100% character driven. Players are welcomed and encouraged to plot out stories for their characters, as the NPC and game will mold around what you come up with! Any character could be a potential victim. Whether you design your character related to a zodiac thing, or whether you lag badly in doing your posts… your character has the potential to die. (Where we won’t kill an active player’s characters without permission we WILL murder any characters from missing players if you’ve been given notice.)

[b]Mechanics:[/b]
– Players can start new threads and new locations whenever they feel it necessary. If it’s a new day or a new location, it’s good to start a new thread. Make sure your thread is labeled like “Day 1” so we don’t have issues with timelines. Do NOT wait for me to start YOU a thread, because that is not my job! That’s yours!

– There will be a sticky thread where CLUES are listed. Any characters that work for the police or news will have been able to stop by their station and learn those clues. Clues learned by characters thru gameplay will be listed under a special category called “DISCOVERIES”. Whether or not characters tell the authorities about their discovered clues, is up to them!

– Bios must be Reviewed and Approved by Diana before you can play. Post your bio in the “Application” thread. Your review will be sent by Private Message (in case there’s anything embarrassing!). When the bio is approved, it will be split from the thread and moved to our Biographies forum.

– I don’t care if you post 3 lined posts or 10 paragraphs, as long as you know the difference between practical and redundant. It doesn’t take 5 paragraphs to say hello and walk in to a room, just as it should take more than 1 paragraph to describe walking in to a new scene. (see posting guidelines below.)

Posting Expectations

[b]Participation Wish:[/b] 1 post a day.
[b]Participation REQUIRED:[/b] 1 post a week.
[b]Participation Lagging:[/b] 2 weeks of no post time = a killed character. You’ll get 2 warnings/requests to post.

I understand that not everyone can be online to post everyday, nor can we always post once a day if we’re waiting on someone else to post. HOWEVER, I really really encourage players to get involved in wild posting sprees with their partners when they can. ENJOY getting online and playing with wild abandon! XD Be excited and impatient about when you can post next, and eagerly awaiting the next exciting moment in the game! THAT is what makes an rpg fun and successful!

If take longer than 2 weeks for you to post you’ll get two requests/warnings, and then we’re killing your character. Unless you have an excuse and seriously can not be online for X amount of time (in that case, just let us know!), there is no excuse for not being able to post and keep up. It takes 10/15 minutes to type up a quick post. We don’t expect novels. If you’re bored/stuck, just say so, and we’ll DO something about it! We will come in your thread and shake things up just for your entertainment! Laggy Players can ruin a game for other players, so please have respect for your partners and try to post as often as possible.

[b]”Practical Posting”[/b]

Be practical. With practical posting, you can keep a game moving fast with little lag time or boredom! Here’s a few tips to know what sort of posts are needed soon.

[b]Long or “Novel” Posts[/b]
Don’t slow up the game or waste energy writing a novelesque post when it’s not necessary. There are quick and simple scenes, where you will have quick paced moments between characters. These sort of scenes do NOT need epically long posts and can get boring REAL fast when people have to read through a bunch of flowery words just to get to a short and simple point.

Needed When:
— You are painting a picture of a new scene. This lets all the other players know where they are, what they hear, what is around them, who they are with, ect.
— Your are introducing a character to a scene. It’s good to describe what they look like, what they are wearing, ect, so that other players are aware.
— Backgrounds or flashbacks. These are “illustration” moments where it’s good to use a little creative writing.

Redundant When:
— You’re just having back and forth conversation with characters.
— A fight or action scene with another character/NPC where you can only do so much action yourself.
–You’re REdescribing something you’ve already stated before.

[b]Short or “One Liner” Post[/b]
Short posts are ideal for quick and fast paced scenes. However, a short post can leave other players hanging and wondering “what do I do now?” if they’re done when “something” needs to happen. When you must make a short post, always consider “will this post make an difference in the scene if I removed it later?”

Needed When:
— You’re just chatting or socializing. Idle conversation gets boring fast, so typing long posts for these would just drag out a scene longer than needed.
— You’re involved in a high action scene with multiple characters. If you are not controlling the NPC or multiple characters, you need to make the post “to the point” so that the next character can react. If you add too much in an action scene post, it will get confusing and players will miss some of the actions.

Redundant When:
— A scene is getting SLOW and dragging behind. A short post would not have enough content to push the scene forward.
— You are starting a new scene, because no one will know what’s going on.

[b]Thread Getting SLOW and BORING:[/b]

Sometimes players get carried away with idle conversations and scenes between characters. These scenes are good for developing relationships between characters, but they DO get really boring if you drag them out too long.

If you are in a thread where the idle chat is just getting BLAH – Use a “Long” post to introduce EVENT or ACTION. This is a perfect moment to stumble across a clue, have a bad guy attack, or even just have something random or stupid happen like a freak fire or a clown parade.

Be aware that the thread might also have “reached it’s end”, where it’s time for characters to move on to a new scene. Try starting a new topic/scene.

If you’re dying of boredom, but have no idea what you could do to living things up… ASK. We’ll throw an NPC post at you and stir up trouble!

UNASKED BUT NOW ANSWERED QUESTIONS!

[i]Can I play multiple characters?[/i]
YES.

[i]Can I be THE Zodiac Killer or have my character directly related to him?[/i]
No. That guy is 100% NPC. For ease of being able to alter the storyline at any moment, we can’t have any characters related to him or playing him.

[i]Can I play a copycat killer or other bad guy?[/i]
Yes! Feel free! <3 [i]Can I suggest possible clues or find X clue in my thread?[/i] Yup! We have a "Clue Box" thread where you can suggest clues that could be found in game, and we will be crossing out the ones that have been found! [i]Do I HAVE to have my bio reviewed?[/i] Yes. XD I have to make sure your bio meets requirements. The biggest "issue" will be making sure you character is not too similar to any other characters in play, or that your bio contains enough information to really KNOW the character. [i]Can my character have powers, even just small ones or be a magical creature?[/i] NO. This is a "realistic" game. All characters must be human, and there will be NO super natural events. [b]BIO EXPECTATIONS[/b] This is really simple. A quick list of what I am reviewing in your bio. If you can follow these guides, your bio will likely be approved without problem! - A character that is as unique and different from other characters in the game. Make sure you read the biographies that have been approved before yours. For example, if too many characters have dead parents I'm going to say "hey, that's getting cliche in this game". Or if too many characters have the same color eyes. Or if too many characters are working the exact same sort of job. Or if too many characters are trying to fill the "stoic badass" or "super sweet girl" roles. Bios are accepted FIRST COME FIRST SERVE, so if you want to be able to play a certain character type or plot point, you need to finish your bio ASAP. - A well developed background history of the character's life up until now. This is MOST important, as your character's history is what GIVES them their personality, and what has made them the kind of person that they are. What ever personality you give them, something in their past has likely helped to make them that way. - Whys and Hows. If you have any interesting or peculiar, even super special traits about your character. Or even just a completly bland character, make sure you have some sort of reason or explanation for it. Example: Katie is so horrified of dogs she can't even breathe when she sees one. That sort of thing is just asking for a reason why behind it! Example: Jimmy hates cops. Hatred of cops don't come out of no where. We must know why! ...OKAY! I feel as if I am forgetting something. c____c;; In the meantime, I am now officially accepting applications or answering any questions. This game will begin [i]immediately[/i] as soon as your bio is accepted and you have someone to play with. XD See the OOC Plotting Thread to discuss characters and find partners to get involved with.