DRX - Mirrored Embers - 0/16

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#79

Building E

Rooms:

Reception
Hospital Ward
Experiment Room
Observatory

I forget if we have any puzzles for these rooms, if we do I can add them in

Reception

The Reception room is ringed with sixteen plastic chairs, with six chairs on the wall opposite the door to the outside and ten chairs on the wall with no doors. There are three coffee tables surrounding the rows of chairs; each coffee table has a lamp that seems to shine despite no external power source. Near the wall connected to the rest of the building, there is a reception desk. The walls have several motivational posters attached, with messages like “Hang in there!”

Public objects: chairs, coffee tables, desk, posters

If the lamps are inspected, it can be determined that they don’t have a cord, and don’t produce heat.

If the underside of the coffee table between the two rows of chairs is searched, a wooden stake can be found.

A search of the chairs reveals nothing unusual except that one of the chairs has a broken leg. If someone tries to sit on the broken chair, it will break further.

The reception desk has a circular glass mirror, as well as a coffee cup filled with miscellaneous types of pens and pencils.

Hospital Ward

The hospital ward contains eight different bed areas, divided from each other by thick white curtains. Each area has a bed covered in a white blanket, as well as a shelf area. In the back of the room, there is a rack of hospital gowns.

Public items: beds, blankets, hospital gowns [NOTE: the gowns come on metal hangers, which can be used as weapons], shelving, dividing curtains

hospitallayout
hospitallayout945×563 2.16 KB

(not to scale)

Room 1

The shelving unit in room 1 contains a bottle of pills with a label saying IBUPROFEN. As suggested by the label, they are in fact Ibuprofen. They’re basically useless, it’s really hard to OD on Ibuprofin.

Room 2

The shelving unit in room 2 contains a medical chart. The chart reads:

Patient appears to have tendonitis in the elbow as a result of repeated stresses leading to inflammation. Recommend that they reduce draw weight in the future so as to limit this stress.

(this is a soft-clear on the Archer)

The shelving unit in room 3 has a vial containing a clear liquid; it can be identified with an Int% chance roll, or automatically by the toxicologist. The liquid is a poison that kills after 24 hours; symptoms first appear after 16 hours, and after 23 hours the victim becomes unable to move (though if an antidote is force-fed to them they will be able to swallow it),

The shelving unit in room 4 is empty. However, searching underneath the blankets finds a crossbow (with no bolts)

The shelving unit in room 5 contains a straitjacket.

The shelving unit in room 6 contains an empty syringe.

The shelving unit in room 7 contains a bottle of pills. Each pill, if consumed, knocks the person who consumed it unconscious for 1 hour.

The shelving unit in room 8 contains a box of Legos and instructions for how to assemble them into a Lego Parisian Restaurant.

Experiment Room

The experiment room has four lab tables, each of which has a built-in sink and a cabinet underneath. Additionally, there are four cabinets full of different equipment. Each of the tables and cabinets is labelled with a number 1-4.

There is a discarded crossbow on the floor.

Each lab table, when searched, contains a manual balance with several different weights, a 100 mL volumetric flask, a 50 mL graduated cylinder, an evaporating dish, and four beakers of various sizes.

Lab Table 1 additionally contains a case of vials of different kinds of ink (taken by TL). The ink comes in six different colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Each type of ink has different properties, which can only be determined experimentally.

Red ink: The ink glows as if it were a candle for the next hour after applied.
Orange ink: The ink causes anyone reading it besides the original writer to experience blinding pain, which gives murder attempts against them for the next hour a +20% chance to succeed.
Yellow ink: The ink quickly fades to transparency. It can only be revealed by saying the word “reveal” out loud (when writing a message in the ink, you feel an overwhelming compulsion to say the word “reveal”).
Green ink: If applied to skin, the ink heals minor injuries.
Blue ink: Regardless of what one attempts to write, all words written with this ink will become the word “Repeated.”
Purple ink: When a message written in this ink is read by someone other than the writer, the paper the message is on will catch fire.

Lab table 2: In addition to the normal lab equipment, it contains several different types of dead plants. These can be combined in various ways to be determined to create different forms of potions.

Lab table 3: In addition to the normal lab equipment, it also contains a buret (taken by Trochi, smashed slightly) and a pH meter (taken by Derps).

Lab table 4: In addition to the normal lab equipment, it contains a Bunsen burner (I forget where this is right now but definitely not here) and a lighter (taken by TL).

Cabinet 1: Cabinet 1 contains a bottle with the label “Hydrochloric Elixir” and several racks of test tubes.

(this elixir functions equivalently to Hydrochloric Acid)

Cabinet 2: Cabinet 2 contains a leather belt pouch (Taken by Arctic), a barometer, and a device with the label “animometer.” (Taken by Jane)

The belt pouch gives whoever wears it an extra public item slot.

The animometer is marked with labels from 1 to 10. It can be brought from room to room. Any murder attempts that occurred in a room will increase the number by 1. A successful murder occurring it in a room will instead increase the number by 3. If there is a dead body in a room, it increases the number by 5 (this stacks with the other values). The minimum number is 1 and the maximum number is 10.

None of this information about how the animometer works is public.

Cabinet 3: Cabinet 3 contains the preserved remains of various animals, including frogs, starfish, and mice. It smells faintly of formaldehyde.

Cabinet 4: Cabinet 4 contains sixteen skulls (taken by Dat), each of which appears to have come from a different species of animal.

cat
hedgehog
deer
squirrel

badger
eagle
robin
iguana

snake
chinchilla
salamander
rat

swordfish
gerbil
[unidentifiable]
[unidentifiable]

(I tried to make the experiment room a cross between a kind of sucky chem lab and a room for supernatural experimentation)

Observatory

[not sure if you had anything in mind for this, I don’t want to interfere with your plans]

#80

i don’t have any particular plans, so if you have any ideas go ahead

#81

Observatory

The walls of the observatory are lined with an intricate brass staircase, spiralling up the room like an inverted fire escape. At the top is a dome and a metal grating, with a telescope standing at the center, visible even form the floor. Speaking of the floor, on the floor of the observatory there is a desk with a primitive-looking computer on it, a desk with a tray on it, and matching office chairs for both.

Public Items: None.

Desk (Tray): Tray contains 1000g of dust (In watering can), and is marked “Thaumdust”. Dust glows when it is in direct contact with a magic item. No other items.

Desk (Primitive-Looking Computer): Desk has a Newton’s Cradle on it, next to the computer. Computer’s screen shows the following:

**BLACK BOX**

Please enter password: []

Black Box is completely indestructible, and cannot be opened by any means.

A (strangely) typewritten post-it note attatched to the desk reads:

If you know the test number, enter it in words. If you do not, it will not be useful for you to know what's on that computer - Guardian Angel

Once the test number is entered (found out quite late in the game, this one is mostly meant to make people actually want to figure out lore details not directly concerning the mastermind), the black box instead shows the following information:

**BLACK BOX**

Welcome, researcher. When **BLACK BOX** was last activated [1] test ago, it recorded the following information:

~ Number of Stars: 000 ~
~ Number of Life Signs: 5 ~
~ Local Animetric Readings: 5 ~
~ Net Animetric Readings: 78 ~
~ Expected Test Result: Failure ~

[!] **BLACK BOX** records the following message from [7] tests ago. If this message seems vague, note that **BLACK BOX** has a character limit of 256 for emergency messages placed into it:

helo my name is joe and i am about to die. can you hear me me. if you can't you lost this one as well. that's okay. rules say it cant be them but i know it has to be because im dying and im drinking one last time so no pain and its all ending for everyone.

This is a clear for Josephine Farrierson, but it takes deduction to figure out that she’s talking about her Elixirs here in order to know they’re talking about her and not him, and that the person who killed her is the Mastermind. The test number should be revealed before the time loop, though, since this is also a clue towards that, and I think it’s a really cool one!

Staircase: There is a coat hanger near the bottom of the banister with a lab coat on it.

Telescope Layer: If you look through the telescope during the day, nothing special happens, but at night, receive the following information depending on the Chapter

Chapter 1: You look out and see the stars, glowing and twinkling in glorious fashion.
Chapter 2: You look out and see the stars, yet they seem a bit dimmer than they would normally.
Chapter 3: You look out and see the stars. There are patches where there are no stars and yet there should be.
Chapter 4: You see a sparesely populated sky, clear yet showing very few stars indeed.
Chapter 5: You see a lone star pricking a hole in an uncaring void.
Chapter 6: Where the stars should’ve been, you see nothing.

(This communicates that they exist in a pocket dimension, and is also really menacing)

Breaking apart the Telescope reveals that one of the tripod legs is concealing a sharpened skewer.

1 Like
#82

also this doesn’t go in the official notes but the star thing is a reference to The Outer Wilds because we’re doing the time loop thing and i really wanted to reference that game at least once

#83

also excuse me if my grammar is a little unhinged in the later half
i got very into the whole frantically writing a final message after being stabbed kind of grammar

#84

Building H

Rooms: Library, Storage, Gift Shop

Existing puzzles:

Gift shop (?)

Library

As you enter the library, you see a labyrinthine network of oaken shelves stretching towards the ceiling. The shelves are roughly divided into four clusters, each of which is labelled with a bronze plaque: Literature, Science, History, and Arcana. The deep blue ceiling is painted in silver with astrological symbols. In the center of the room are several ladders, tall enough to reach even the tallest shelves.

Public items: books, shelves, stepladders

If someone searches any of the bookshelves or the bookcases, generate a number between 1 and 25 for the relevant section. They find that book. If they search for a more specific book or type of book, they get a random type of book meeting that description. 5 books in each category give Actually Relevant Bonuses; the rest are just flavor unless someone comes up with something really cool. Reading any book gives a +1 bonus to Int (maximum 1 such bonus per 24 hours)

To describe the book, generate a number between 1 and 5, and use the relevant description.

  1. You find a crisp, new-looking copy of [book title]. It looks nearly unused, save for a slight golden shimmer around the edges of the pages.
  2. You find a bedraggled copy of [book title]. Several of the pages are dog-eared, and the edges of the page seem to sparkle in gold.
  3. A musty smell fills the air as you pull down [book] from the shelf. It looks like it hasn’t been opened in a long time, and dust has nearly covered the golden flakes that surround the edges of the page.
  4. You find a beautifully-illustrated collector’s edition of [book]. You didn’t even know that an edition like this existed. The outside of the pages shines with a golden light.
  5. You find a thin paperback version of [book]. Someone has scribbled annotations in the margins of roughly the first half of it; squinting more closely, it looks like they were reading it for a class. The outer edge of the page sparkles like pyrite.

The golden dust prevents the book from being removed from the library; if someone tries, the air ripples and flashes with a golden light, and an invisible force prevents it.

Literature section

  1. The Aeneid, by Virgil
  2. Paradise Lost, by Milton
  3. The Inferno, by Dante
  4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling
  5. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkein
  6. Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card
  7. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller
  8. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
  9. Night, by Elie Wiesel
  10. Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles
  11. The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane
  12. Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  13. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
  14. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe
  15. Wise Blood, by Flannery O’Connor
  16. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
  17. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  18. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
  19. And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
  20. As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner.
  21. The Tempest, by William Shakespeare [importance: used to solve the puzzle]
  22. To Build A Fire and Other Stories, by Jack London. After reading about the failure of the man in To Build a Fire to build a fire, you think you have a better understanding of how to avoid his mistakes. Fires you start will be deadlier and harder to put out.
  23. Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison. After reading this book, you remember a ritual for invisibility magic, which requires a small piece of marble and a drop of ink. Once per chapter, you may choose to become invisible for the next hour, preventing anyone from seeing you. After using this ability, you may not commit a murder for the next 24 hours. (all copies destroyed by App)
  24. The Masque of the Red Death, by Edgar Allen Poe. After reading this short story, you have gained a better understanding of the symptoms of diseases. You will have a bonus to identify diseases.
  25. The Trial, by Franz Kafka. After reading this book, you have learned a ritual to grant you greater influence over the Class Trial. This ritual requires ash obtained from burning something that your target player has touched, which you must rub on your wrists. Once per game, you may target a living player. If they do not vote during the Class Trial, their vote will automatically match yours.

full disclosure I picked this booklist 95 percent based on what had the most murder-y titles

Science section

  1. A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking.
  2. Cosmos, by Carl Sagan.
  3. The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins.
  4. The Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin.
  5. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstader.
  6. The Feynman Lectures on Physics, by Richard Feynman.
  7. The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes.
  8. Nature Magazine, August 1986, Issue 322
  9. How the Mind Works, by Stephen Pinkner
  10. Prentice Hall: Biology, by Miller and Levine
  11. Chemistry: An Introduction to General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry, by Karen Timberlake
  12. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, by John M. Barry
  13. How To Lie with Statistics, by Darrell Huff
  14. The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet, by Neil deGrasse Tyson
  15. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, by Mary Roach
  16. Essentials of Geology, by Steven Marshak
  17. Modern Statistical Methods for Astronomy (With R Applications), by Feigelson and Babu
  18. Astrostatistics and Data Mining (Springer Series in Astrostatistics Book 2), by Sarro et. al.
  19. Thompson and Thompson Genetics in Medicine, by Nussbaum
  20. The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal, by Desmond Morris
  21. Field Guide to Wilderness Medicine, by Paul S. Auerbach. By reading this book, you learn some basic principles of first aid. You will have a higher chance of being able to treat injuries.
  22. The Trapper’s Bible: Traps, Snares & Pathguards, by Dale Martin. By reading this book, you learn how to make traps. If you have three sturdy pieces of wood, nails or another connector, and rope, you can assemble a trap that will ensnare another student.
  23. Gray’s Anatomy for Students, by Richard Drake. By reading this book, your knowledge of anatomy has increased. If you spend time examining a body, you may learn information about the body not present in the Monokuma File.
  24. Integrating Primitive Reflexes Through Play and Exercise: An Interactive Guide to the Moro Reflex for Parents, Teachers, and Service Providers, by Kobeb McDonald. By reading this book, your reflexes have improved. You gain a +3 bonus to your agility.
  25. Dendrology: Cones, Flowers, Fruits and Seeds, by Marilena Idžojtić. Reading this book fills you with the desire to cut down trees. If you have access to a tree and a sharp object, you can spend 5 AP to turn that tree into several planks.

History

  1. Reading Lucretius in the Renaissance, by Ada Palmer
  2. The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, by Benvenuto Cellini
  3. The Tigress of Forli: Renaissance Italy’s Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici, by Elizabeth Lev
  4. Parallel Lives, by Plutarch
  5. Poland: A History, by Adam Zamoyski
  6. Istanbul: City of Majesty at the Crossroads of the World, by Thomas F. Madden
  7. Binding Passions: Tales of Magic, Marriage and Power at the End of the Renaissance, by Guido Ruggiero
  8. The Art of Executing Well, by Nicholas Terpstra
  9. To Wake the Dead: A Renaissance Merchant and the Birth of Archaeology, by Marina Belozerskaya
  10. Censors at Work, by Robert Darnton
  11. Florentine Histories, by Machiavelli
  12. Who Owns the News, by Eric Slauter
  13. The History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides
  14. Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China, by Jung Chang
  15. The Twelve Caesars, by Suetonius
  16. Precolonial Black Africa, by Cheikh Anta Diop
  17. Forbidden Memory: Tibet during the Cultural Revolution, by Tsering Woeser
  18. Storyteller of Jerusalem: The Life and Times of Wasif Jawhariyyeh, 1904-1948, by Wasif Jawhariyyeh
  19. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James W. Loewen
  20. Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner
  21. The Book of Magic, by Brian Copenhager. Although Copenhager doesn’t seem to believe that magic is real, you can see the spark of truth in the primary sources he references, and you have gained a greater understanding of history. Once per chapter, if you observe a magical effect, you may determine whether that magical effect has ever been used during this game.
  22. The Art of War, by Sun Tsu. After reading this book, you gain a greater knowledge of military tactics. If you are using a sword, your murder attempts have a significantly higher chance of succeeding.
  23. Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History, by Michel-Rolph Trouillot. After reading this book, you have a greater understanding of how historical narratives can shape our understanding of history. You will know if any major facts are missing or misrepresented in the murder summary presented after a class trial.
  24. On Human Worth and Excellence, by Manetti. After reading this book, you are filled with renewed hope in humanity. You will resist the next effect designed to induce despair./[if read by the Mastermind] Seeing Manetti’s hope for humanity strengthens your conviction to do whatever you must. You will have the choice of three motives rather than two the next time you choose a motive.
  25. The Code Book, by Simon Singh. After reading this book, you have a greater understanding of the history of codes. Once per game, you may have a hint to solving a cryptography-based puzzle.

Arcana

  1. Runes and their Meanings, by Martin Colombano Acosta
  2. The Past and the Future, by Mahir Karimi
  3. Illusions of Shadow: How Our Senses are Deceived (and How To Fix It), by Siranush Hagopian
  4. Magic in the Irish Tradition, by Soren K. Boyle
  5. Secrets of the Mind, by Noriko Nakama
  6. Sun and Son: Christian Mysticism in the Magical Tradition, by Antonina Leighton-Cantu
  7. 1001 Wards, by Orion Edison
  8. De Mineralibus, by Saint Albert the Great
  9. The Myth of Technomancy, by Adisa Bothe
  10. Introductory Arcana for the College Classroom, Student Solutions Manual, by Inti Huaranga
  11. Was Jeanne d’Arc a Mage? And Other Questions, by Enrique Lafayette
  12. Mereology, by Balthasar De Witte and Emin Ekmeçki
  13. The Unique Magic of Twins, by Mari O’Connell and Nike O’Connell
  14. Prime Numbers, by Ruiha Tukoro
  15. Practical Divinations, July 1987 (volume 221, issue 4)
  16. Communal Magic, by Okorie Musa
  17. What Bothe Got Wrong, by Mei-hui Liu
  18. Nighttouched Whiskers, by Catarina May
  19. Are Polymorphers Furries? A Sociological Approach, by Elias Adams-Grant
  20. The Dragon and the Wasp: How Adams-Grant’s “Are Polymorphers Furries? A Sociological Approach” Oversimplifies the Academic Discourse, by Enyinnaya Smith
  21. Blood Magic, by Gwendolyn Grant. Your hands shake as you read of a ritual that can only be performed with the fresh heart of another person killed by your own hand. You learn how you could use such a ritual to seal the area for 24 hours, warding it against entry.
  22. Safety First, by Iracema Jussara. Although this book is focused on safety while studying magic, many of its techniqes are more broadly applicable to protection. Your Constitution score increases by 3 points.
  23. Time Loops: Warning Signs and How to Prevent Them, by Aroha Abbasi. [This book doesn’t obviously give a benefit, but serves as a subtle lore clue in between all the books that are not at all lore clues]
  24. Magical Arms and Armor, by Carissa Asdi. You learn of a ritual that can be inlaid into a bladed weapon, imbuing it with power to make its strikes deadlier. However, the book warns that it can only be used by the pure of heart. [The ritual can only be used by people who have not yet attempted murder. It grants a significant bonus to kill chance, and allows the weapon to automatically kill if used in self-defense.]
  25. Light a Single Bridge, by Ingris Sok. In this confusingly-named book, you learn of a ritual to allow you to gain insight into others’ minds. Once per game, you may use it to learn of the last location of someone in the same room as you. This ritual requires a drop of their blood and a piece of string, and will fail if they knowingly allowed you to take their blood.

Storage

I’m going to be honest the library part took way longer than I was expecting

I’ll figure storage out tomorrow

#85

suggestion
have it instead be the actual heart of that person rather than merely their blood. firstly, if somebody sees a dissected and ritualised heart, they’re more likely to try and look up the ritual used to do it… secondly, it’s more difficult and requires more creativity to pull off.

i hope that makes sense?

1 Like
#86

Storage

As you open the storage, instead of the piles of boxes you were expecting to see, you see a very small container, almost like a cupboard. At the back of this metal container is a keyboard and a small monitor, fixed firmly into the wall. The monitor appears to have 14 segments for letters to appear on.

Password: EPLURIBUSUNUM. Once the password is entered, the storage room becomes accessible for all players.

As you enter the full storage room, you see boxes piled on top of each other in a precarious manner. Leaning against one of them is a clipboard.with a single page on it. Leaning against another is a rusty sword. You can tell that the room is in disuse, given that only ten or so crates actually contain anything.

Clipboard: Is a list with the following information on it:

New Arrivals (Sorted already)

Light a Single Bridge, by Ingris Sok.
De Mineralibus, by Saint Albert the Great
Mereology, by Balthasar De Witte and Emin Ekmeçki
Introductory Arcana for the College Classroom, Student Solutions Manual, by Inti Huaranga
Blood Magic, by Gwendolyn Grant.
The Code Book, by Simon Singh
Integrating Primitive Reflexes Through Play and Exercise: An Interactive Guide to the Moro Reflex for Parents, Teachers, and Service Providers, by Kobeb McDonald.
Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

BIG!!! shipment of magical books this time. Some mundane books too, although proximity to arcana may have affected other books? Libromancy is still so badly understood. My department needs more funding.

Rusty Sword: Acts as a regular sword, but has an Ouroboros carved into the hilt.

Boxes: When searched, randomise which one looked at.

  1. Nothing.
  2. A set of two dusty kunai (taken by Light). One has a tag attatched saying “Courtesy of the Iga clan.”
  3. A bottle full of hemlock (taken by Light), labelled “Courtesy of Socrates”
  4. Nothing
  5. Nothing
  6. A few crumbs.
  7. An extremely tough, slightly burnt scone, labelled “Courtesy of Arthur”.The scone restores 7 AP when eaten.
  8. An ice pick, labelled “Courtesy of Trotsky”
  9. An ivory to-scale model of a four-horse chariot from Ancient Greece, labelled “Bribery materials for dealing with Herodotus.”
  10. A dvd of the anime “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”, Season 2. A sticker is attatched, reading I cannot believe we are pinning our hopes on you people being weebs. on it. (For reference, eight episodes of the 14-episode season of the anime are taken up by a time loop plotline where it is QUITE LITERALLY the same episode over and over again) (Taken by Eevee)

(If the Ultimate Historian asks, she can determine what each historical reference is, except for the Maltese Raven and the anime.)

Maltese Raven

A piece of wood painted and weighted to look like a golden raven. Whenever you enter the same room as the raven, you have a (100-Luk)% chance of receiving the following message: “Suddenly, your vision blurs for a moment and you see a burning raven made of gold flash before your eyes. In that instant, you sense an extremely powerful artifact nearby… [either says “In the posession of [player]” or in a particular location], and that someone intends to do something dreadful with it.” - This artifact is actually completely useless, and is just a red herring with enchantments to make people think it’s important. Any detailed inspection reveals the gold to merely be gold leaf.

1 Like
#87

personally i think the Maltese Raven is likely to be interesting
and is also a funny haha reference

#88

side note this is the best joke in the game and i hope somebody encounters it

1 Like
#89

Kitchen

A fairly standard kitchen stretches before you. There is a sink, an oven, a set of cupboards, a set of drawers, a fridge, and a washing machine.

(washing machines are usually stored in the kitchen in England. that’s why it’s here)

Sink: Nothing

Drawers: Plastic knives and forks, a whisk, a corkscrew (taken by Night).

Cupboards: Pots, pans. bowls, cereal, flour

Fridge: Milk, chocolate, butter, three two cans of Monster Energy™

Washing Machine: Any item placed in the washing machine and left for a wash cycle has blood cleaned off it, but shows visible signs of being… put inside a washing machine.

General Kitchen Notes: In this room, players can make food. Rules for making generic food:

  • Makes either Good Healthy Food, Bad Healthy Food, Good Unhealthy Food, or Bad Unhealthy Food.
  • Whether the food is healthy or not is based on the ingredients.
  • When making food, make a (Int/2+Agi/2)% roll. If you succeed, create Good food. Otherwise, create Bad food.

Good Heatlhy Food - Restores 30% of max AP.
Bad Healthy Food - Restores 10% of max AP.
Good Unhealthy Food - Restores 15 AP, and makes you receive 5 less AP from every unhealthy food eaten in the next 24 hours.
Bad Unhealthy Food - Restores 5 AP, and makes you receive 5 less AP from the every unhealthy food eaten in the next 24 hours.

#90

(wonder if people will actually be confused by the washing machine being in the kitchen. probably not but it’s interesting to see.)

#91

Dorm Room (Generic)

The dorm room contains a bed, a cupboard containing a spare copy of your distinctive clothing, and an ensuite bathroom.

(Nothing much to say here.)

Deluxe Room (Ultimate Aristocrat)

The dorm room is dominated by a massive bed, but there are other notable features. There are two cupboards, one containing spare clothing, and another empty one which appears to have a keyhole and a key inside. There is also an ensuite bathroom.

Bathroom: Written in small text on the bottom of the mirror above the sink is the phrase:

ROTATE HANDLE THEN CLEAN

If you turn the toilet handle backwards instead of flushing it then go for a shower, the shower acts as an elevator down to the Wine Cellar, which makes no noise.

Cupboard: Nothing much to say. It can be locked, protecting stuff from theft and investigation.

#92

Last three rooms for Chapter 1. It’ll take a while to organise these notes into a spreadsheet but not too long. Then we’ll have to write the Codex Arcanum, polish up a few things, and we’ll probably have an actually playable DR game.

Storage (Senate)

You enter a dusty storage room, shelved from wall to wall. Only ten or so boxes are actually on the walls, though, and the room has clearly seen better days.

When a box is searched, choose randomly from the following list:

  1. A box full of pens. Contains about 50 pens.
  2. A box containing a geometry set. Compass needle is a bit sharper than you would expect.
  3. A box containing a single can of Monster Energy™, which is Good Unhealthy Food.
  4. A box containing a flashlight with no unusual properties.
  5. A box containing a coil of rope.
  6. A box full of various RPG dice.
  7. A box containing a boomerang.
  8. A box containing a single set of walkie talkies, allowing players to whisper between rooms.
  9. A box full of coat hangers.

Gallery:

The guard rail here is magical, and will not allow a living person to fall over it, as detailed by a plaque on one of the walls. A dead person is fair game.

Senate

You walk out into a cavernous, glorious building resembling a cross between the US Capitol and the Houses of Parliament. On a raised platform at the back of the hall is a giant, imposing desk, with a regal yet distinctly untrhonely chair behind it. A set of 15 much smaller desks are positioned in a circle in the center of the room.

Smaller Desks: Each has an identical set of paper, ink, and a quill. Each has an empty compartment in a shelf. One desk, chosen at random, has an infinite supply of blunt needles, and four notes written on scrap paper:

WHY IS THIS DESK FULL OF BLUNT NEEDLES

Maybe it’s like the Candy Desk in the US, or the Parliamentary Snuff Box in the UK. This place does appear to have been generated by the town based on a combination of those two places, so it would seem likely.

OKAY BUT WHY ARE WE TALKING THROUGH NOTES AND NOT IN PERSON

I… don’t know.

Huge Desk: On the surface has a heavy lamp, a gavel, and a mass of papers. Has two concaled department.

  • One compartment contains a dart and a small phial of poison designed for the dart to be dipped in. (any suggestions for the poison would be appreciated)
  • The other compartment contains an ordinary deck of cards. Well, to a normal person. The Ultimate Magician will notice that these cards are marked in a particular way that allows you to tell a card’s value from over 50cm away (I do actually know how that works, but I’m not going to tell you, because a magician never tells their secrets)
#93

i’m not certain what having a set of marked cards could be used for but
it’s good to put completely useless items in DR games as well really useful stuff

1 Like
#94

Records Room

Pre-established puzzles:

You enter the records room. Stacks and stacks of filing cabinets are full to the brim with records. At the back is an imposing metal locker that appears to be locked with a padlock. There is a desk at the center of the room, as well as the appropriate chair. (Diary is in Marl’s possession)

Chair: Normal office chair.

Filing Cabinets: Basically infinite supply of paper. Contains mostly useless records of past sessions which are incomprehensible to all players.

Imposing Locker: Padlock has no solution (the key has been destroyed) and must be brute forced. Contains the Legendary sword Legislabrand and a note.

Legislabrand (Weapon) (Legendary)

Shortsword inscribed with the entire US Code on the blade. Glows with the light of bureacracy.

+10% attack bonus normally. Has a +30% attack bonus against players who have violated any part of the US Code in the past 24 hours. Note: This is in game only. Alledging that players have violated the US Code in real life is a legally risky idea, and I would prefer it if we were not liable for slander due to this game. Thank you in advance.

Note

This artifact was imported from our american partners, who apparently “Couldn’t make head nor tail of the damn thing.”. Personally, I think having a bunch of students trapped in a magically charged environment figure out how this thing works is a bad idea, but I also think having funding is pretty cool, so.

(In a later hand) This thing is so stupid. I am locking this up and throwing away the key. If you’re reading this, congratulations, you found Legislabrand by literally just breaking open a door, you’re a criminal, very good for you, wow, cool. Please don’t kill anybody with it, please. Capital punishment is illegal in the United Kingdom, which our estimates suggest that this place probably is within the territory of.

Brute force: Either succeeding by rolling 1-100+STR and getting 150 or more, or by using some sort of clever method to make your chances much better.

#95

Special Rooms (Dark Door):

image

Heart Room

You enter a sterile, stone chamber. A single raised altar is in the middle. There is what looks like a glowing, blue heart on the altar.

Heart Of The Zephyr (Utility)

When grabbed, enters the heart of the person who grabed it. They can fly for 24 hours. After 24 hours, the heart returns to the altar, and cannot be grabbed by the same person again.

Star Room

You enter a sterile, stone chamber. A single raised altar is in the middle. There is a glowing purple gem in some kind of brass chamber on the altar.*

Unshakeable Beacon (Utility)

Once per game, you may set the beacon down in a room, and choose a player. That player will be drawn towards that room eventually. Once they enter, this item vanishes.

(when placed, player receives the following message; “You feel a force in your very soul drawing you to [location]. Moving anywhere else will cost 2 extra AP.”)

Banner Room

You enter a sterile, stone chamber. A single raised altar is in the middle. A quarterstaff lies on top of the altar.

Rod of Eternity (Legendary) (Weapon)

Quarterstaff. +10% attack bonus.

While carrying this weapon, you may use the stats of a dead player’s instead of yours if a dead player’s would be better than yours.

Kunai Room

You enter a sterile, stone chamber. A single raised altar is in the middle. A kunai lies atop the altar, sparkling with some horrid essence.

Kunai Of Improbable Armageddons (Legendary) (Weapon)

Projectile + Melee. +10% attack bonus as either.

Acts as a homing missle. Follows an exact pattern mentally described by the user when thrown. After this property is used once, it cannot be used again, and the kunai’s blade will turn white.

Final Dead Room

[contains the rough history of the first 13 time loops. can only be accessed in Chapter 6, so we have plenty of time to make it at the time]

#96

Codex Arcanum (for Harleck Abode):

Chapter 1 - The Basics Of Magic

Magic is everywhere. The idea of mana or manna has been around for centuries, and the truth of the matter is that it is, of course, real. It also has very little effect, and must be channeled through one of three methods:

  • Artifact Magic - The most common kind of magic. Most artifact magic is inexorable to a particular object, and follows extremely strict rules. These rules cannot be broken, but they can be circumvented- thankfully, most methods of circumventing these rules can be traced. Elixirs count as artifact magic.
  • Ritual Magic - Slightly less common and misunderstood, rituals are a means of imparting temporary.magical effects by use of esoteric and nearly indescribable rituals. These rituals are conveyed through books, and cannot be conveyed by any other means. They also leave definite magical traces.
  • Ultimate Magic - Extremely rare. The ability to manipulate mana directly is thought to be a myth, and most magically gifted people will only acheive use of this ability once in their life. Make it count.

This book contains examples of the second, Ritual Magic, in order to allow better understanding of the obscure arts, as well as to manipulate them generally.

Chapter 2 - Ritual Of The Swan

Materials Required:: Small sliver of metal, 1g of dirt, a suspected artifact.

-[]-| <- This glyph will impart knowledge of how to perform the ritual to anybody who reads this.

  • Determines the exact rules of the target artifact by means of psychic communication. Does not consume materials.

Chapter 3 - Ritual Of The Raven

Materials Required: A piece of paper folded into a paper aeroplane, ink contained in a suitable vessel.

734123424312 <- Again, this is a knowledge glyph.

  • Determines which Rituals have been used in this location in the last 24 hours. Consumes about half of the ink vessel. It will also tell you if an Ultimate was used in this location in the last 24 hours, but the details will be vague.

Chapter 4 - Ritual Of The Wolf

Materials Required: 50ml of human blood in a suitable vessel.

|||||||||||||||||||||||||| <- Knowledge glyphs are fun, don’t you think?

  • Completely destroys a nonmagical item, but leaves an immovable piece of magical slime where it once was.

Chapter 5 - Ritual Of Blind Sight

Materials Required: Three pieces of food, a piece of wood.

1235u9125391u05nksdamdsl,sagdlamgdlasmsdgda

  • Causes all objects affected by any kind of magic in the room to glow for 5 hours.

Epilogue - Do Your Best

This book always finds itself in the hands of those who will need it. You will need it. All information about artifacts recorded using these rituals will be added to the appendixes of this book.

#97

@Arete I think we’ve just about finished all the materials for Chapter 1. Which is, naturally, very exciting.

#98

okay so
what else do we have to finish
motives, i think?