All players intending to join create 2 characters. Why two? Because one of your characters will die. Each players' characters will be classified as either essential or non-essential. The essential characters cannot die - the non-essential characters can. This mechanic is constructed to ensure that if your character is among the first to die, you as a player are not immediately eliminated from the game.

Which of your two characters is essential is only known to you and the GM. Non-essential characters are not inelligible to be the murderer by definition - faking one's own death is an event that is possible to occur.


At the start of the RP, the GM randomly assigns either the number 0 or 1 to your characters. Let's say, your characters are called John and Jane, the GM will send you a private message:

"John is 1, Jane is 0"

One of the first events to occur in the game, is determining which characters are essential. Another player will roll a die for you. This player will not know which of your characters has which number - only you, the murderer and the GM know. So, for example:




When creating a character, there are some pointers:

• The character must fit the given era (1921).
• The character must have had some involvement in the war. This involvement doesn't need to be big - they don't need to be soldiers or generals, they may have just been a ration supplier, nurse, tailor or anything else - but your character has made a contribution to the war, big or small.
• The character has a personal invitation to Highwood Manor - a specific reason why the character is invited to the island. This is public knowledge to all players.
• Whether or not the character turns out to be the murderer, they must have a motive: a shady past, a twisted sense of vigilante justice, etc. This information is secret, even to the GM, but the motive must be incorporated in their character development during the RP. Psychopathic tendencies without clear reason are not accepted as a proper motive.

All the rest is up to you. They can be Scottish but don't have to be. Young, old, man, woman.


Every character has a set of statistics that may help them in Highwood Manor. It may help them uncover the murderer or evade a murder attempt. These different features are:

• Strength - plain and simple physical fitness.
• Agility - the ability to run and dodge attacks.
• Intelligence - useful to uncover mysteries.
• Sanity - people dropping dead around you is sure to test your sanity, and thus this stat will be constantly affected by different events.

The player is given a set amount (which is still being determined) to be distributed among these statistics. Depending on certain events or items, these statistics may increase or decrease.

After the essential and non-essential characters are determined, the GM will assign a new number to each character. This unique number is only known to the player and the GM, thus communicated through private message. Next, all players in turn roll a die. The sum of the collective dieroll determines which character is the murderer. The player who controls the murderer keeps this a secret, of course.


As soon as a murderer is appointed, they may attempt to murder other characters. The murderer recieves a list of essential and non-essential characters: only non-essential characters may be murdered.

To attempt a murder, there is only one prerequisite:



Note that there may be multiple characters present during a murder. This means the murderer must be cunning in their murder attempts to ensure there are no eye-witnesses.


Depending on the type of attempted murder, the murderer rolls (a) di(c)e, and writes an anonymous post of the murder attempt. They send this to the GM, who will post the murder attempt. The victim will then roll the appropriate dice for the corresponding statistics, to determine whether or not they survive the attempt. Should they fail, the victim writes their final post: a dramatic death sequence.


As of now, these are the possible types of murder:

• Death by blade (knife, sword, cleaver, ...)
• Death by blunt force trauma (candelabra, stone, bat, ...)
• Death by firearm (pistol, shotgun, ...)
• Death by freak accident (sabotaged chandeliers, explosions, ...)
• Death by poison

This list is subject to change. Each type of murder will have corresponding stats linked to them, for which the murderer must roll their dice in order to increase their chances of a succesful kill (the exact details for this will be worked out later). The creativity of the murder attempt is up to the murderer, but it is up to the discretion of the GM to determine whether an attempted kill is too wildly unrealistic. Though, I greatly encourage whacky attempts!


If the murderer succesfully murders a victim in the presence of other characters, all those who were present in the same room (including the murderer) lose sanity (the exact amount will be determined).

Should no one be present, the body will eventually be found. The character that finds the body, loses sanity (again, will be determined but will be a smaller loss than being present for the murder). Of course, losing sanity is a bad thing, and you as a player may not be tempted to coach your character into a room with a dead body. Therefore, I am working out a mechanic that determines who finds the body. Suggestions are welcome.

The GM has a couple of events up their sleeve that may catapult the story into a specific direction. These events also include the determining of essentials and the murderer, but may also be the unlocking of a new area on the map or the dawning of a new day. All attempted murders will be posted - not written, posted - by the GM. Certain events will be triggered by collective dicerolling. This will all be explained by the GM when the time comes.


Characters may desire to perform certain actions that help them uncover the mystery. This may be observing a room to discover clues or hidden passages, or breaking open a new passageway. These actions are linked to a character's statistic. Physical actions will use strength or agility, mental actions require intelligence or sanity.


Characters may find items that increase their stats or give out clues as to who is the murderer. These could be books, photos, weapons, et cetera. These items may be found during events or when inspecting a room, triggering a dieroll. These events are guided by the GM.

Each character has a prime suspect - who they think is the murderer. Note that this is the character's suspicion, not the player's. Their prime suspect must be declared beneath each post. F.e.:



If their prime suspect dies, the character loses sanity.