Rule 1: FIND A SETTING - Murder can occur at any time, at any place.
Rule 2: FIND A CAST - Gather friends to take on the roles of your setting's location and time.
Rule 3: FIND A TIME - Normal-length games can occur over the stretch of 3-5 days. Some, even a week! (do not attempt this.)
Rule 4: BUILD A SERVER - Discord houses the virtual setting, from the immersive imagery of the Setting to the bot-controlled NPCs that bring it to life.
Rule 5: DISTRIBUTE ROLES - The Host can choose who among the Cast becomes the Murderer, the Setting's main antagonist, whose task is to, well, you know.
Rule 6: PLAY THE GAME - Visit parts of the setting and interact with your fellow Cast. Perform Goals, and form friendships, rivalries, bonds, and betrayals.
Rule 7: DON'T GET MURDERED! - At a scheduled time of each day, a Murder occurs! Hope that you don't fall victim to one of several methods of homicide.
Rule 8: DON'T BE SUSPICIOUS - Interrogation and accusation can occur both privately and publicly. After at least one Murder has occured, a Host might call upon the surviving Cast to rank suspicision.
Rule 9: INVESTIGATE - The Host will leave clues to the Murderer's motive or weaponry across the Setting, either hidden in rooms or displayed publicly post-Murder. It is up to the Cast to piece the puzzle together.
Rule 10: CAST YOUR GUESS - Once you have enough clues (or none at all), you have until the end of the session to put your guess in and complete the Murder Mystery. A Murderer wins for lack of guesses. A Castmember wins for accuracy over the Name, the Method, and the Motive.
There are endless possibilities on where Murder and Mystery can collide:
Wild Western Settlement | Beach Town | Steam Locomotive | International High-Speed Rail | Arctic and Antarctic Expeditions | Lunar and Martian Colonies | Medieval Palace | Abandoned Mansion | Far-Future Dystopia | Seoul-Based Cyberpunk Metropolis | Dark Academia | Musical Academia | Y2K Urban Orphanage | Canadian Ski Resort | Fashion Show | Retirement Home | Deserted Island | South Asian Capital City | World Conference Forum | Reality TV | and more...