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Rules and characters follow. If you have any questions, please ask.
And remember this game/exercise is meant to be atmospheric and fun – try not to take it too seriously.
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mcornetto
Posted: October 24th, 2008, 4:52am
Guest User
THE RULES
The object of this game is to end up as the sole survivor. In order to survive you’ll need to be clever and ruthless, you’ll need to kill all the characters on board the S.S. Craven before they kill you.
You do this by creating engaging characters and writing engaging scenes. You will write two scenes. One will further the “story”, the other will get rid of the competition, and they won’t necessarily be in that order.
YOUR TURN
When it is your turn I will send an email stating that it is your turn. I will also post that it is your turn in this discussion thread. Refer to the discussion thread to get information you will need for your turn, i.e. who’s introduced, who’s a possible victim.
In your email only, I will also state what type of scene you will be writing during your turn either CHARACTER or MURDER. You may also be provided with additional instructions.
You will write a scene and post it in the game thread.
You have 48 hrs to write your scene. If you take longer than 48 hrs, your turn will be postponed and someone else will get a turn. Please tell me as soon as you can if you will not make your turn so we can keep the game moving.
GENERAL SCENE GUIDELINES
You may not create new characters, not even minor ones.
A scene can be no longer than one post in a thread. If you use Word then this is somewhere around 7,850 characters including spaces and lines.
All formatting will be left aligned (see game thread for example). All locations slugs should be in bold. [ b ]slug[ / b ] <-- like that without the spaces.
You may have more than one location in your scene.
If you introduce a character please use the introduction provided by the player. You may modify to fit your setting but please keep it as close to the original as possible.
CHARACTER SCENE GUIDELINES
During a character scene your mission is to develop “story”. This might be your character’s “story” or if your character has already been murdered (this might happen) then you will need to develop another character’s “story”. You may even choose to develop more than one character.
The important thing is that there are no murders during a character scene. During this scene, you should move characters around, have them talk to each other, cast suspicion, gossip. You may move any character. Put victims in locations where they are alone and vulnerable, and killers in situations where they have no other choice but to kill.
Make the reading interesting. Follow an earlier “storyline” or go off on your own tangent. A character scene can be just about anything that moves the “story” forward. I’m putting story in quotes here because there really isn’t much of a story here, more than likely there will be many fragments of stories, after all this is a game.
MURDER SCENE GUIDELINES
1. The character being murdered must have been introduced.
2. The character being murdered must be alive.
3. A murder involves two characters. The characters must be together and alone or in a reasonably secluded situation (with someone knocked out or asleep, in the dark corner of a room).
YOU MAY NOT MOVE CHARACTERS BEFORE THE MURDER IN A MURDER SCENE. An exception can be made to this rule if no two characters are together – then you may move one and only one character. After the murder you can move whomever you want.
You should first decide who you are going to murder. If they are the only character in their location then they cannot be murdered. They must have one other character in the location with them. The other character is their killer. When you write the scene you will have one character kill the other.
A character is not considered dead unless we see the murder and identify the body. Missing characters are not dead.
MOVING CHARACTERS
A character is considered moved when they exit a location. Placing them in a new location after that ends the move but does not count as a move in itself.
So if John Doe is IN TRANSIT from the Sun Deck to the Gymnasium, then he can appear any where on the ship on his way to the Gymnasium. Of course, if he ends up on the Tank Deck he should probably have a good excuse. He can arrive at this new location even if it is a MURDER scene, but once he arrives there an exit from that location is considered a new move.
This is also true of characters that are MISSING.
SPECIAL STUFF Captain Cornetto will take the first turn for each round (I go before everyone else). Dr. Bert Newcomer will take the last turn for each round (he’ll clean up the mess).
Dr. Bert Newcomer also has a special ability and you can decide if he gets to use it. He can resurrect one character during his first turn. However, he can only resurrect this character if he is still alive. If you think you’ll be one of the first to go and you want a second chance at life then keep Dr. Newcomer around. Or perhaps you think differently…
Introduction: CAPTAIN CORNETTO laughs. His jiggling rotund belly and not-quite-grey-bearded face gives the impression of a younger Santa but the anagram lies behind his eyes.
Background: Captain of the S.S. Craven. He is currently under investigation for the disappearance of the passengers and crew of the S.S. Romero. He was the only survivor. He claimed it was the “Bermuda Triangle” and that he couldn’t remember what happened on that ship. In an effort find out he is undergoing regression therapy. Just this morning he had a breakthrough, he said he could see the face of the person responsible for the S.S. Romero disaster but he couldn’t remember that person’s name – yet.
Nic/Nic Beqiri
Introduction: NIC BEQIRI, 20's, enters the room and everybody stares. His trusted camera hangs around his neck, one hand on it, ready for action. His face, a twisted smile, that seems more crazy than angry or happy.
Background: Nic Beqiri is a journalist photographer who always seems to be "right on the scene" when murders happen. He has made a fortune selling those exclusive scoops to the tabloids. He's a bit of a strange one though, and no one seems to like him very much. One prosecutor disliked him so much that he charged him with one of the murders he was "right on the scene" for. The charges were dropped but the prosecutor still insists to this day that Nic is guilty, and he says it's not just the one murder. Nic wasn't going to show up when he was invited to the S.S. Craven. But that voice inside his head told him to come, that voice he's never told anyone about practically insisted he be on the ship. And he should bring his camera.
Mr. Ripley/Gabriel M. Ripley
Introduction: GABRIEL M. RIPLEY sits alone at the far corner of the room, eating his dinner. He appears as a business man dressed in his suit and with his hair jelled back. But his stern composure reflects something else.
Background: Considered as one of the wealthiest man in the world, he lives in a mansion up on the hills of Stanches with his butler, Stolas. He rarely goes out except for business. His life story is shrouded in mystery and conspiracy. The most present conspiracy has Mr. Ripley linked to 20 deaths (some say more) including the latest deaths of Mr. Peter Jacobs, head tycoon of the automobile industry; Mr. Randal Williams, owner of Software Tech, the biggest franchise ever in computer software; and Mr. Thomas Pierce, a up and coming senator. However, he was acquitted from all charges due to insufficient evidence.
MBCgirl/Mistress Morgan Cooper
Introduction: Mistress Morgan Cooper's shapely legs appear from the cab as it comes to a stop at the pier. She's curvy in all the right places and smiles a delicious smile that sparkles in her emerald green eyes while pushing back her auburn hair. She looks at her watch...so much about life is about timing. She carries herself with an old school "English proper" way...which somehow gives her a look of classic innocence...even though her life has been anything but that!
Background: She comes from Swindon, England. No one knows her full background, as it has been mysteriously misplaced. She claims to have lost her entire family in a devastating storm off the coast of Wales. These days - she lives a charmed life as the owner of a Marketing firm, wining and dining clients of a number of large companies. Still, no matter how she has tried to perfect her life on the outside...there is still something brewing just below the surface and it isn't pretty.
Stebrown/Ste Brown
Introduction: STE BROWN(20s), sits at the bar with a deck of cards. He shuffles them without effort as his gaze falls across the other inhabitants of the bar. A bottle of WILD TURKEY on the bar in front of him, his glass full. He knocks it back.
Background: Ste Brown has three vices; gambling, drink and women. On a recent trip to Vegas, Ste was found to be counting cards at blackjack. Beaten within an inch of his life, Ste went looking for a different life. What he found was a strange Priest in Ireland who promised him all he could ever want; the ability to have as much drink, women and gambling without any consequences. Well, there is one consequence and it is deadly one. People start to wind up dead wherever he goes.
Dreamscale/Bush
Introduction: BUSH (40’s), large…maybe too large…obviously notices, as a hot BLONDE , at least half his age, sits down next to him at the otherwise empty bar. He glances over, smiles…very awkward…but very planned. She’s already entranced…something about his easy going way…his worldly, honest eyes…maybe his dilated pupils. A camera flashes behind them…
Background: Five Gold medals at Sarajevo, three knee reconstructions, and forty pounds are a world away, but the legacy of this sports playboy, and his four revolution “Dreamscale” have stood the test of time. The fact that his last two wives “mysteriously” died while skiing; leaving him in excess of $25 Million, has been media and camera fodder…much deserved media and camera fodder. Here we go again…
Blakkwolfe/T. Joe
Introduction: T. JOE busses tables in the elegant stateroom. His faded Kill 'Em All t-shirt stained with sweat under the requisite plastic apron. He strains slightly as he picks up the plastic tub of dirty dishes and moves to the next table.
Background: A few years back, there was a Government type who needed his mistress "taken care of." It was supposed to be an easy hit. It wasn't. A dozen or so fake names and odd jobs later, he finds himself here.
He's thirty, maybe forty, the handsome type that hates to shave except when he has to. He keeps his streaky grey hair tied in a loose ponytail, more out of necessity than style...Friends used to call him Black Wolf, back in another life. But for right now, T Joe will do just fine.
Introduction: DR. BERT NEWCOMER (40), the ship's physician, exits the infirmary, and with a wry mix of amusement and contempt, he eyes the passengers that mill about the ship. His slightly graying hair lends him an air of dignity that some might even consider attractive -- were it not for the smug arrogance that infuses his every word. The crew does not much care for Dr. Newcomer, and most passengers soon follow suit.
Background: Once a respected biochemist, Bert is now exiled from the world of science and academia after falling into disgrace. His unauthorized clinical trials of untested medications in human subjects met with disastrous results. Bert has now been reduced to this -- dispensing aspirin and Dramamine to dimwitted tourists on a second-rate cruise line. He is a tired and bitter man. But there are some who say his clandestine experimentation on human subjects continues to this day...
Me/Countess Zadora
Introduction: Countess Zadora of Sweden seems to appear magically out of the fog. She is tall, dressed in black with snow white hair and blue eyes. Blue eyes that frequently change with her mood -- to obsidian black reflecting her true dark nature.
Background: Countess Zadora is originally from Sweden... or so she says... A nosy reporter once joked that the only Count she'd ever been near was Dracula. No one ever found out what he meant since he died in a freak accident shortly after making that joke. Somehow he managed to trip and impale himself on hundreds of Swedish wooden matches.
There has been many men in her life, most notably the Russian drug lord Vlad the Inhaler and the most famous one of all Vlad the Invader aka Putin. She's been seen playing on both sides of the fence though because when it comes to money and blood, they both taste the same no matter who you extract it from...
Itmightbeorange/Dana Orange
Introduction: Dana Orange, a 23 year-old insomniac with a short stature and petite frame, sits slovenly on a weathered wooden bench near the edge of the pier. She turns to the boat to see the other guests have started to arrive. She pulls her worn olive jacket closer, picks up the black guitar case sitting near her foot, and approaches the ship. She leans the case on the side of the boat and with one foot on the boat and one hand on the railing, she pulls herself up, momentarily revealing the shiny object tucked purposefully inside her boot.
Background: Failed writer and musician Dana Orange has had her streaks of bad luck. If it isn't her pets succumbing to horrible accidents involving blenders it's critics reviewing her music with harsh words. With one critic saying, "If it sounds like cats clawing at a radiator, It might be Orange™," Dana has vowed to not let the negativity of others stop her from living her dream. Unfortunately, tourists in floral shirts aren't exactly her prime audience. "Just one more time, "she constantly swears, "If I have to play 'Copa Cabana' one more time I don't know what I'm going to do..."
Alffy/Alffy Hudson
Introduction: Alffy Hudson, a young looking 30 year old, leads a well dressed business man across the dining room and to his table. He pulls out the chair and the business man removes his jacket, hands it to Alffy and sits. Alffy swings the jacket on the back of the chair and extends his hand waiting for a tip, a fake smile plastered across his mush. The man ignores his gesture and picks up the menu. Alffy smiles and swaggers off toward the bar, removing a wallet from his pocket. He pulls out a handful of crispy notes, stuffs them in his uniform pocket and tosses the rest in a nearby rubbish bin.
Background: Forced to leave his previous job as a Postman after allegations of stealing mail. All charges were dropped after the accuser, manager of the office, abruptly left town for no apparent reason. He left behind only a note which stated he had family issues and needed some space, he has not been heard of since. Alffy thought it best to leave and start a fresh, nothing to taxing as he is financially sound for the time being, twelve years of stealing birthday cards can add up to a tidy sum.
GM/Patrick (Spud) Murphy
Introduction: Patrick (Spud) Murphy stands behind the bar polishing glasses and watches the first class passengers eat. his smart black suit and white shirt give him an air of someone important. To many he in fact would be the most important person on the ship, he is the head barman, he alone holds the keys to the booze store.
Background: His name badge may say Patrick Murphy, his application form lodged with the cruise company may say Patrick Murphy, but this is Michael O'Neil, once a semi-pro boxer from Galway, Ireland. Mixed up with the wrong crowd north of the border he was paid to throw a fight and he is adamant he had every intention of throwing that fight. He cannot quite remember what exactly happened but when the final bell rang he had not only won but his opponent was in a coma, one he would not recover from. Fearing for his life Michael fled for the US that night and has never returned to Ireland, now Patrick Murphy he is keeping himself hidden on cruise ships serving drinks to rich Americans and occasionally serving rich American widows.
Patrick still watches the passengers eat, one seems to be getting much more of his attention than the rest. He drops a glass with a SMASH, the sound is hidden by the noises from the passengers, only one or two seem to notice. Patrick stares at the unseen person in the dining room, he looks like he has seen a ghost.
Sandra E:/Sandra
Introduction: Sandra rushes to the ship at last. Her long brown hair is tucked up under a turquoise scarf; around her neck dangles a small leather pouch and she's carrying a small piece of luggage. She clutches at the pouch momentarily, closes her eyes and whispers something before boarding the ship.
Background: Sandra is a private cook and counselor to an esteemed military officer who likes to keep his affairs private. Her confidence is golden, but after discovering a family secret, the stew pot has thickened. It seems Sandra is carrying more aboard than just luggage. This is her sabbatical- a time to sort everything out, but things are about to get more complicated.
Yohn Yohnson/Yohn Yohnson
Introduction: YOHN presses the half dangling fake moustache firmly back on to his face. He glances across the room from behind the bar... no one saw. He continues to clean a glass. A curvy blonde catches his eye. He smiles and tries to impress her with a display of his bartender skills. He throws a glass over his shoulder and spins around to catch it... the glass smashes on the floor. Yohn keeps his cool demeanor and continues to smile as the blonde walks away laughing.
Yohn fixes his side parting and uncomfortably adjusts a bulge in his pants... a gun shaped bulge.
Background: Yohn Yohnson, or atleast that's his current undercover alias. Yohn is a hot shot PI out to make a name for himself. His current case has him investigating the death of a Mr Randal Williams, believed to be linked to one GABRIEL M. RIPLEY. This case has brought Yohn to the boat as he trails Mr Ripley and tries to find adequete evidence to link Ripley to Williams' demise. Yohn has been come under heavy scrutiny in the past for allegedly placing evidence where there was none to be found, in order to send down those he was investigating.
My face exploded haha. So this makes me the first dead guy actually since i guess nobody would bring me to life, at least only if they need a photo session.
Bert i promise to make you the best photos ever if bring me back hehehe.
Yohn you'll pay for this (jokkin)
Ha! It was an accident NiK!
I blame ghostly Sandra for freaking me out and making a gun go off in my pants!
I've been away for a day and the discussion board is blitzed!! So much to keep track of but the story is turning out great. I wondered if this would take an age to complete but everyones so into it they are writing their scenes in no time at all.
Yohn and Bert both wrote great scenes. I loved the way you suggested many different murders Bert, very misleading. Michael, are you dead or not? I can't keep up...Why did I have to fiddle with the pyramid doh!
Check out my scripts...if you want to, no pressure.
Congrats, Bert. you added alot of twists and turns within a small post.
Interesting turn Michael, killing the doctor.
A lot of things are coming to a close. I wonder how it's going to end?
Good luck MBCgirl
Just Murdered by Sean Elwood (Zombie Sean) and Gabriel Moronta (Mr. Ripley) - (Dark Comedy, Horror) All is fair in love and war. A hopeless romantic gay man resorts to bloodshed to win the coveted position of Bridesmaid. 99 pages. https://www.simplyscripts.net/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b-comedy/m-1624410571/
Congratulations are in order for both Bert and Michael for writing excellent scenes!
I thoroughly enjoyed the reads.
Lovely blends of action and dialogue. The location of the scenes were also interesting. I loved exploring the sauna. I thought it was a really good choice for where this scene played out.
I love the sci-fi/supernatural factor that's happening in the elevator scene with the intricate clockwork and later- the green grid. Really strong visuals.
Cornetto's come back to life scene is fabulous. I loved the romance between Morgan and Cornetto. I think there is tension in this scene that is remarkable!
I hope some of you noticed that the killer game thread went on to page 2 in a marvelous synchronicity for the 2nd round. I hope that Morgan isn't too upset with the turn of events, I notice she hasn't checked in.
I for one am feeling a bit better. Looked like I was about to get some action, then next thing I know,the cuffs are on and I'm going down. Glad I was able to somehow power out of that sticky situation. It's good to be alive!
Great posts you guys. It's amazing how fast these are going up. Very impressive!!!
I hope some of you noticed that the killer game thread went on to page 2 in a marvelous synchronicity for the 2nd round. I hope that Morgan isn't too upset with the turn of events, I notice she hasn't checked in.
Hey people...I am here Had to work for a few hours today but am done and ready to review and plan...
Cornetto...I'm counting on you to avenge my death baby...but please make sure it's slow and painful and that Bush knows it's a payback! There's a bottle of vodka with a pill in it...and it's not a happy little pill either!
The kids are living with my brother in Australia...so I fully expect you to locate them and love them since theire mom is no longer alive. Boo hoo... They're 13 and so delightful...their names are Ashley and Ashton. Remember one thing...I loved you...till the very end.............
I'll have the new scene posted tonight. Cheers to all!
I love words and the fact that when the page is blank...there's nothing there until words are formulated in my brain. Those thoughts...rushing through my viens and out my finger tips, find "life" on the page.
When people and places come to life...that to me is exciting.
MBCgirl =) My finger nails should look nice while I type - Red works!