Reverse Murder Mystery

My stars, that's a lot of blood! And what happened to all the mirorrs?

Something has gone terribly wrong at the English Channeler Society's annual necromancy meeting. Eleven of you are dead. One of you is alive...but who? With only a few hours left until morning, see if you can remember who you were, what happened, and solve the mystery of who's still alive. Reverse Murder Mystery is a tragicomical theater LARP that explores dubious mystery solving, ghost shenanigans, 19th-century literary tropes, and Victorian high society's weird obsession with the supernatural.

Long Description

My stars, that's a lot of blood! And... good heavens, no, what happened to that poor body? You can't even make out the face...

Wait. What happened last night? You've seen this before: post-humous amnesia. Nothing like getting clobbered to death with a hammer to knock a few memories loose. You should know—after all, you're an expert on talking to the dead. Oh, damn. Does this mean what you think it means?

Something has gone terribly wrong at the English Channeler Society's annual necromancy meeting. Eleven of you are dead; one of you is probably not. But all twelve of you seem to have forgotten a few things in the confusion. It would be a lot easier to sort everything out if someone hadn't smashed every last mirror.

Well, no matter. This mansion is the current (and perhaps final) home to twelve of the best spirit mediums that the 19th century has to offer. Surely, by the time the sun rises, you should all be able to sort out who you were, what happened, and why.

...and, perhaps, what to do about it.

Europe, the late 19th century: a society in the grips of the Spiritist Craze. In London, the exclusive Ghost Club counts among its members Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; the seances of Paris draw such scientific luminaries as Marie Curie. Even the American Thomas Edison, on his trips to the continent, attempts to market telephones for talking to the dead. For all that society cries scandal, it’s an open secret that Queen Victoria herself frequently hosts séances, while hypnotists and mediums lecture from the most distinguished universities in the world.

Alas, amid all that fuss, it can be a little hard to figure out exactly who is actually dead.

Reverse Murder Mystery is exactly what it says on the tin. In a house full of garish murders, you'll have a few hours to figure out who's still alive, and why, before the morning ferryman returns and stumbles in on the whole dreadful scene. It's a LARP about ghost detectives, dubious clues, unreliable narratives, ectoplasmic projection, pointless crime, and above all, improvisational storytelling and roleplaying. The game is heavily inspired by science fiction and horror literature of the 19th century, as well as the Spiritist movement—Victorian societies devoted to exploring the paranormal, who were often as scandalous as they were wealthy.

This is a systems-light game, with a focus on imagination and solving problems through shoddy guesswork. All combat will be resolved via Tarot draws.

Since ghosts tend to not interact with anything anyway, the whole thing should run just fine over Discord. Exact runtime may vary slightly, depending on players' level of creativity (and sanity).

Note: Unlike a regular murder mystery, this game will not be too focused on correctly solving any mysteries (though it will draw heavily from the murder-mystery genre and tropes). Yes, there are some crimes to solve—but some of them will be unsolvable. You've got a lot of loose ends to tie up, and justice is just one more consideration.