The Mystery Ball Discussion Forum

 (This message was edited by payitforward on 01-20-03 @ 8:25 am EST)

Okay guys, here's what I've come up with. In a nut shell, there will be two games, last man standing and catch the villain. If a villain is caught, a new one will be summoned from the pool of both live and dead guests. Also, a caught villain runs the chance of being eliminated from the game all together. This gives all players a chance to be the villain if they like and to exact revenge. Here are the specifics:

How To Play

The Murder Mystery Ball is a role playing game that takes place in a forum. The goal of the game is to is to be the last man standing with the most points. Also, there is a bonus game of "catch the villain". (if a villain is discovered, another will be secretly summoned to take over Clockwork 's account until only three players are left alive in the game.

The Villain
The Villain character will be randomly selected from those players who indicate they would like their character to be The Villain. The Villain will then have to play two roles, the role of his/her character as a guest at the party and the role of The Villain. As The Villain he/she will have access to a special villain account to post all of his/her messages. If a villain is detected at any point in the game play, he/she will loose the role as The Villain and may even be eliminated from the game. When a villain is detected, a new villain will be seceretly summoned from the pool of both live and dead players. If the player summoned to be a villain is a ghost, he/she will be allowed to take on physical form as The Villain.

The Prizes

There will be three prize pots, a Grand Prize Pot and two Bonus Prize Pots. The Grand Prize Pot will be worth 250,000 gift points. The two bonus prize pots are a Gift Point Bonus Pot of 25,000 (replenishable) and a Point Bonus Pot 3 points (to start).

The Grand Prize pot is award to the last man standing with the most points between the last three players. In the event of a tie, the pot will be split equally.

The Gift Point Bonus Pot is available for the player who correctly guesses the identity of Clockwork A player who correctly guess the identity of the Clockwork will have a choice between The Gift Point Pot or:

The Point Bonus Pot. The Point Bonus Pot will have 3 points in it to start the game. However, as the game progresses, players can will, give and buy cards with their gift points to bulk up the pot.

The Points

Each player will begin the game with 3 points. A player can loose or gain points based on the conditions of the game. Points allow a player certain actions throughout the game and ultimately determine who will win the game. A player can use his/her points in several way:

*He/she can use a point to make a guess about the identity of Clockwork .
*He/she can use points to buy and play a game card. (only Power and Resurrection are available for point purchase)
*He/she can award a point/s to other players.

However, if a player uses all his/her points, he/she will be eliminated from the game.

How To Amass Points

Player Wills
Every Friday, before a player posts to the game forum, he/she must fill out The Player Will. The Player Will designates to whom a player's gift points are awarded in the event of his/her death the following week. A player may will all his/her gift points to one player or divide them up between several players. If that player is a victim in the following week, ♥Pay It Forward♥ will honor the will. Since only ♥Pay It Forward♥ will know who is the benefactor of each will (players are encouraged not to tell to whom they are willing their gift points), it is in every characters best interest to create in-depth role playing interaction with other players in order to assure that your role playing partner will leave you his/her points. Also, creating role playing scenarios with other characters may encourage the individual to whom a player left his/her points to use some of the deceased players points to purchase and play a the resurrection card so that he/she can be brought back into the game and continue with their scenario. However, a player may choose to leave some or all of his/her gift point to The Point Bonus Prize Pot. These points then become part of a bonus prize if one should correctly discover the identity of Clockwork .

Player Guesses
If a player uses a point to guess the identity of Clockwork and is incorrect, the player who was incorrectly accused will revived that gift point. If the player is correct, he/she may keep the point and will have the choice to select proceeds from The Gift Point Bonus Pot or The Point Bonus Pot or, take all the points of the player that was discovered to be Clockwork eliminating that player from the game. If a villain is discovered, another will be secretly summoned to take over Clockwork account

Player Gifts
If a player wishes to win favor with another player he/she may award a point/s to him/her. A player may want to do this for any number of reasons. It is also a way for a player to leave the game. To leave the game, all a player has to do it give all his/her points away, either to another player or to The Point Bonus Pot or both. To give a gift point, simply create a post for the hostess and address the subject line to the hostess, with the player action and with the player you whish to receive your gift points:

Hostess: Player Gift:Lady Jessebell

Use the post to describe the event that you give the player a gift and how may points you are giving him/her.

Catching Clockwork
If a player correctly identifies Clockwork , he/she will have his choice of the Gift Point Prize Pot, the Point Prize Pot or all of the points belonging to the character playing the captured villain eliminating that character from the game.

The Ghosts
Ghosts are characters who have been murdered by the Villain. Even though they are dead, they are not completely eliminated from the game. However, they are limited as to how they can communicate and must be creative with their interactions. Ghosts can not talk or have in-depth conversations and are limited to haunting and spooking the other guests. Other players can buy Resurrection Cards to bring them back into the game and if the Hostess is pleased with the haunting activities of a ghost, she may also choose to award him/her a Resurrection Card. If a ghost is resurrected, he/she is will be awarded one point from The Point Bonus Pot.

The Cards
...To purchase a card, a player must address the Hostess in the subject line of his post:
CR:Hostess: Purchase:Resurrection

Note that a player cannot play a card until he Hostess and acknowledged the purchase. Upon the acknowledgement of the purchase, the player must play the card by his/her next post.