Aurrorian

Children of the Zodiac (Open)

Is this like Fruits Basket? If so I can give this a shot.

When the Evening Cicadas Cry, A Collaborative Mystery RP Idea

You can disregard the anime or any source material related to the fandom, I really do want this RP to be welcoming to anyone not in the know.

Why do certain people talking with other certain people turn them into murderers? And how would the people in game figure that out?

@Zoey Boey

This will be the underlying mystery for the entire RP which will be slowly uncovered, but the player responsibility is to first uncover the surface mysteries of which NPCs have special interactions with which other players IC. The phenomenon of "people turning into murderers" will be interpreted in the setting as either a supernatural curse or a conspiracy by specific people in the village. Coupling the opinion of a character on the phenomenon (being superstitious of a curse, paranoid of a conspiracy, etc.) with personal sources of stress (the "triggers" by your written NPCs) leads to the true cause of the phenomenon turning characters violent (homicidal or just suicidal). To borrow a general saying from the source material, it is not just the will of a person that leads them to committing crime, but also the environment that encourages it.

I hoped to not reveal right away the rules that will allow players to figure out mysteries in hindsight, since what I am about to explain could lead to questioning the level of commitment to this RP without trying it first. Basically, I am aiming for multiple short RPs that could even be concluded in less than 100 posts (50 even? Whatever you think a short RP thread is), where after each RP thread is concluded, I will start a new one and continue like a sequel (each thread can even invite new players to join). The rules to transfer continuity between threads you can call "deja vu," where players can choose to recall events from previous threads in order to influence current thread events in new ways. It is like a time travel or alternate universe rule. I created this format to test run to try and find an alternative to RPs demanding long term commitment, and allowing new and returning players to hop in and out between threads.

When the Evening Cicadas Cry, A Collaborative Mystery RP Idea

@sassy1085 Yes please mention them here, I will handle things once they reply.

When the Evening Cicadas Cry, A Collaborative Mystery RP Idea

Unfortunately it seems advertising for a niche Japanese franchise fandom as an RP does not attract enough interest.

Unless, @sassy1085 do you think the players from the How The Leaves Fall RP would be interested if directed here?

(For anyone who read my comment about the Gou anime, the plot of this RP will have nothing to do about it, just keeping this thread alive.)

When the Evening Cicadas Cry, A Collaborative Mystery RP Idea

Bump, how about that new Gou episode?

When the Evening Cicadas Cry, A Collaborative Mystery RP Idea

@sassy1085 For player characters, okay, as long as you maintain IC that your two PCs do not know each other's NPCs from the start. Max 2 PCs per player though, and you can only write 1 NPC to interact per PC, because I don't want to RP 3-4 NPCs per player.

When the Evening Cicadas Cry, A Collaborative Mystery RP Idea

Initial CS drafts have been made, I will update everything I have written for rules for clarity and presentation once enough interest is generated to post OOC thread. Feel free to suggest improvements for these CSes.

Player CS

Name (Foreigners to Japan are allowed):

Appearance (Just image is fine):

School Role (Student, or any staff member with GM approval):

Age (5-15 only if student, school is mixed elementary and middle grades):

Background (Why living in village? How connected to school? Any twists and turns in life?):

Skill (Pick one notable skill that is plausible for your character background and build, they can be considered expert level at it, note that setting is 1980s):

Quotes (To get into character, as many as you want):

NPC CS, DM GM THIS DO NOT POST PUBLICLY

Name (Foreigners allowed):

Appearance (Image fine):

Background (Relation to player character, can live outside village, but direct, frequent communication to PC required):

Methods of Triggering (This is where 18+ tag could come in, think of it as what your PC is weak to, GM will handle sensitively when RPing, abuse allowed and only written implicitly, otherwise something less extreme like discrimination, misunderstanding, stigmatization works):

Key Events (Setup a basic calendar below, label each time L2-5 corresponding to general idea of when and how you want PC to progress through levels of phenomenon if uninterrupted, at least one event has to be before festival, L5 only after festival):
i.e.
L2 - Before festival, NPC does this to PC...
L3 - After festival, NPC does this to PC...
L4 - After festival...
L5 - After festival...

Personality and Quotes (For GM reference to RP, as many as you can):

@sassy1085 I assume you are still the first in line to want to be a player?
@Hedgehawk Would you be willing to be a part of 2 Higurashi RPs?

When the Evening Cicadas Cry, A Collaborative Mystery RP Idea

I find it hilarious that it seems no one in your group has caught on. XD

When the Evening Cicadas Cry, A Collaborative Mystery RP Idea

This is an idea that I've been brewing for a while, after I've had my run of more traditional formatted RPs on here. I just took outside inspiration to make it mystery genre.

I'll only act as GM and RP necessary NPCs, while each player not only creates their own character, but 1-2 NPCs that'll have specific interactions with that player's character. The basic "mystery" is that (at least IC) each player does not initially know which created NPCs correspond to which other player character, other than the ones created to interact with themselves. As the GM I'll have NPC sheets DMed to me, not have players post NPC sheets (that could influence game play), and mix up NPC interactions, so at least IC it could take a while to figure out who goes with who.

Now for the actual RP setting that I want to test run this on:

The players are affiliated with a school in a Japanese village (with some modern amenities) during the 1980s, either as a student or staff member. There is a phenomenon that occurs during a summer festival held in the village, where in recent years people have died and/or disappeared on the day of and/or days after it. The players are both susceptible to but also able to investigate this phenomenon for a period of the month the festival occurs (RP in game length). However, the players are susceptible to the point that they can become the specific culprits for the phenomenon that year, causing characters to die or disappear (I will be allowing PK). The goals of players are to prevent the phenomenon from turning them into culprits, and if possible investigate as far into the truth behind it as they can.

The process by which a player becomes a culprit:

The specific interactions by the NPCs created for each player will automatically, inevitably lead to players becoming culprits, by negatively triggering them in someway. (Some RP events may also be triggers, GM discretion for plot advancement.) Thus the primary method to achieving the goal of preventing the phenomenon is to disrupt or prevent NPC interactions from targeting their specified player.

The phenomenon progresses the anxiety, paranoia, and stress of a player character as they interact with their specific NPCs, generally degrading their state of mind until they hallucinate and have violent urges. I split the progression into 5 stages, where each interaction by a player with their specific NPC (most often) upticks their progression by 1 stage (I will notify players by DM):

L1 - Beginning stage.
L2 - Existing anxiety, paranoia, and stress lasts longer without abating.
L3 - Delusions, emotional instability and as above.
L4 - General paranoia like a persecution complex sets in, momentary hallucinations, and as all above.
L5 - Frequent hallucinations, and urges to commit violence against oneself or others, and as all above (PK is allowed when this stage is reached).

For those who have read this far and have realized it, yes this is based off the Higurashi When They Cry franchise. No prior knowledge will be necessary in order to RP this. But below is a spoiler to address those interested already with Higurashi knowledge.

HIGURASHI SPOILERS DO NOT READ WITHOUT PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF COMPLETE STORY

This has nothing to do with Gou (other than piggy backing off the exposure). The only source material I am basing this RP off of is the OG 8 arcs from the VN, and acceptable equivalents (anime, LN, manga, etc.). Below is a list of NPCs I deemed necessary to RP for plot, players may choose to have NPCs from this list to specifically interact with their character, as long as individual sheets are still written for each chosen NPC:

Furude Rika (not looping though)
Houjou Satoko
Takano Miyo
Tomitake Jirou
Sonozaki Oryou
Sonozaki Akane
Irie Kyousuke
Yamainu affiliated NPCs
Kimiyoshi Kiichirou
Ooishi Kuraudo
Kumagai Katsuya

If anyone has Higurashi experience and would like to contribute suggestions for plot, please reply with hiders and spoiler labels. I am considering opening up GM spots later to share my load RPing NPCs and developing the plot, but for the test run I think I will be good on my own. I have more ideas to implement if the test run is successful, so this rule set could be updated.

I will write up character sheets once I catch an initial wave of comments on this thread. General suggestions for the rule set are welcome. For the test run I am accepting up to 3 players, first come first serve. Anyone else is welcome to comment OOC while reserving a spot for a possibly larger RP group in the future. I hope this RP can capture an element of detective mystery I have not seen before in my personal experience.

Persona ~ The Beholder

I blink back to process what had been said. Then I sputter.

"Pfft-f-for fock's sake, that's not what I meant! I just fell asleep, and next thing I know my flat's a wreck and London's a mire. How else would I've thought when I find myself sat down before you? I'm not trying to be cheeky here either!"

I ruffle my hair in exasperation, but turn my head away sharply to hide my embarrassment, and ramble on mainly to myself as my thoughts churn further.

"Let's see, I woke up to my alarm this morning, fixed breakfast while no one else was using the stove, met no one as I left my flat, crossed campus to my microeconomics class, had that...wait..."

It strikes me, a faint clue in a murky, interrelated web. This dense fog, this chill I now discern sinking into my bones, and a head of long strawberry blonde hair sharpening into focus as I peek back at Gloria's face, I've experienced in retrospect. But was that not a dream...?

I slowly turn back and utter my question, "...Have you dreamed of a ship at sea, in fog as thick as this?"

@Landaus Five-One