General Game Rules
- Each participant must try to solve the murder, by correctly guessing the three key details to the murder: the murderer, the room and the weapon. First person to correctly guess all three wins the game! But there is a catch. In honor of fairness, clue sets will be released every 24 hours. Every player must check in once a day with the game host, with solutions to the clue set of that day. The next clue set will not be released until 24 hours. For each solution, players will receive points. The points accumulated will be taken into account with timing when determining the game winner.
- For example, let's say Swarley and Sweeney are neck and neck in the game - three clue sets have been released and both players have achieved the maximum possible points so far. Then, for the fourth clue set, Swarley doesn't manage to solve the entire solution, so Sweeney manages to pull a two point lead, this will be factored in for the win. Therefore, dedication to the puzzle will be rewarded. In the case that multiple players obtain the maximum number of points possible, timing will be the deciding factor for the winner. This particular rule change was added to make the game more fair and more available to players who are not online nearly as much.
- You may submit your daily clue solutions at any time before the end of the 24 hours to receive points. You will receive points for partial completion (e.g. if you solve 3 of 5 clues in a set, you will get 3 points). But you may not submit solutions for points after the 24 hour time limit on that particular clue set. I strongly urge players not to rush submitting their clue solutions. Additionally, hosts should let players know if they are incorrect (even though they won't get points, so they are still able to discover the answers).
- You may not ask for hints through private message. Aside from submitting your daily clue solutions, you should only discuss the game in the main thread, this is to discourage cheating. If you are caught discussing elsewhere, you will be banned from participating. Additionally, you may only submit one valid solution per 24 hours to prevent people from just guessing every possible combination and so the host doesn't get overwhelmed. If someone submits an invalid clue solution (e.g. before their 24 hour timer from their last guess) they simply will not receive points.
- Please use a single PM with the host for your guesses and clue solutions. Do not waste your daily submission. You get one.
- Although you may only submit answers for a clue set once every 24 hours, you may discuss your theories and any clues in the master thread as much as you like.
- The host may release guesses without revealing who guessed what throughout the game. This is strictly up to the host.
- The winner may have the option to host the next murder mystery if they want. Please use the guidelines thread to host.
Additional Information
- This game is styled after the popular board game Clue and our very own Neo-Mania contest. So it is important for participants to read all available rules and information.
- Some helpful tips for players: do not think the clues are linear. The clues may be out of order. You may need to combine clues to figure out an answer. Think outside the box.
- All clues will be presented in a spoiler tag. There will be no clues outside of a spoiler tag. See below for the clue format. This is to ensure hosts do not trick players unfairly. Note: the line identifying the clue will not be identical - this is just to give you an idea of what to look for.
It seems you've stumbled upon something...Spoiler
Rooms
Spoiler
Weapons
Spoiler
Hosting
If you wish to host a Codex murder mystery, everything you need is here. Please be sure to read this entire thread. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me, @Coops, the contest creator. I have made pre-formatted thread forms and included as much detail about the contest setup. The rest is up to you! Be creative and have fun! c:
Setup
- This contest would be hosted once a month or every couple months, up to the discretion of the host(s) and contest team. There is no time limit for this contest, meaning it can take a few days, or a few weeks if needed.
- Sign-ups for the murder mystery party should remain open for 3 days or more. Once sign-ups have ended, the murderer and victim should be selected. The murderer and victim are selected only from the pool of players so the host cannot pick an inactive Codex member for the murderer. Only signed up individuals may submit valid guesses. The host may accept late sign-ups if they want, whether it's due to low activity, or they deem it fair, etc.
- The party host will use a random number generator to select both the murderer and victim. Murderers and victims will be selected from the signup list and numbers are assigned in the order of signups (ex. Rocket signs up first, so she is number one, Coops signs up second, so she is number two, and so on). Clues based on the murderer and/or victim should be individualized each game.
- After sign-ups, the designated host should begin planting clues and the game should continue in a timely manner (so within 72 hours of selecting the murderer and victim). I recommend to hosts - pick the room/weapon early so you can get a head start on clue creation. Additionally, keep track of where you plant clues as you go along, so that it will be easier to link to clues in the winner thread.
- The murderer and victim participate like every other guest at the party, like they would at a real-life murder mystery party. They do not get to know they are the victim or murderer until it is released by the host or confirmed by a guest.
- The victim may use a 'dead' avatar. This is encouraged for funsies, but not strictly required. The dead avatar can be individualized each game or the host may use a stock image provided here.
- A valid guess is defined by a guess submitted by a guest (signed-up participant) via PM to the host once every 12 hours, with these features including the murderer, the room and the weapon.
- Special note about guessing: The host may post in the main thread about someone guessing incorrectly *only if it's a valid guess*, then give a hint to which part is wrong, or right, if the guests are struggling too much. This is strictly up to the host, but encouraged if the game is dragging on a bit long.
- Second special note about guessing: if someone breaks the 24 hour guess rule their 12 hour timer is reset and the host should reply to the guess with this canned response: "You may not guess at this time."
- Rules and setup for the game are subject to change due to unforeseen issues.
- Creation of clues and the mystery are to be crafted by the host (sort of like Neomania contests). These clues can be created however the host sees fit. It is recommended the host use a variety of puzzles and clues for members to solve. The host gets to decide how many clues are given, in what manner, etc.
Some ideas about clue creation:
Word jumbles.
Riddles that lead to old posts or blog posts which would be edited to include the next clue. These clues cannot be in any areas that are locked to specific member groups. This means if the host decides to use a hint like this, it has to be in an area viewable by every member, not in advanced, private, retired or staff sub-forums.
Mystery pictures.
Word searches.
Cryptographic codes.
Short stories.
Dossiers.
Fake news articles.
Fake autopsy reports.
Whatever really.
Etc. - I strongly urge hosts to browse in anonymous mode while planting clues.
- All clues must be presented in a spoiler tag, even the ones you decide to post in the master game thread. There will be no clues outside of a spoiler tag. See below for the clue format. Please do not include clues outside of spoiler tags to trick players. It's unreasonable to expect players to parse through thousands of posts or threads on Codex to hunt down your clues. You may use a different line to identify a clue, other than "it seems you've stumbled upon something", to avoid players from using the ctrl + F function. If you decide to hide clues in old threads or blog posts, please do not remove them until the game is over.
It seems you've stumbled upon something...Spoiler
Game Resources
Stock dead avatar
Rooms
Spoiler
Weapons
Spoiler
Thread(s) Format
Copy and paste these pre-formatted forms to host a Codex murder mystery.
New threads
Previous Contests I will try to update this area so you can view what other hosts have done to get ideas for clues and stuff. [WINNER] Codex Murder Mystery #1
Spoiler
Winner threads
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