Serial Killer Round 39: Return of the Doubles Round (Cycle 12: We Have A Winner!)

[GrimGrimoire]

@[user]Discussion[/user] Well, this has been a most interesting read.
I only started doing "real" RPs back last year, and my first RP here started back in January (one that [user]staika[/user] used to host), so I'm fairly new to RP overall.
And what can I say? It's fun. And as soon as we get going again on "Swords of the Fallen" after a month pause, I'm looking forwards to continue with the story.

I think that roleplay is a pretty wide term, and Avatar Adventures qualifies as one, though it's very different from many others. And too many similar RPs don't really mean much too me, but it's unfortunate if they are very similar.

Quality should always be important, and I (try to) keep all my posts good. Good doesn't always mean long, but writing longer posts is always a good thing. Though, as I said, it's often more the content than the length that makes it good.

Wishing the best for our characters: I see what [user]Link[/user] is going at here.
I have no problems with losing a fight, or (in a early incident in "Swords of the Fallen") getting punched in the gut and flee in a humiliating way.
But on the other hand, I've grown fond of "Drogon LaArel" and I wouldn't want him to die, not whilst I still want to post and enjoy the RP. That said, if I played in a PvP RP, I would not object to dying for it, but not to a Godmodding bastard who sees this as his opportunity to win a "most badass" contest he stared himself. Believe me, those people are out there.
This is one of the reasons perma-death, or just consequences for a loss might be a good thing for RPs, but maybe not to PvP.

PvP can be great, but only with the right kind of players. It's the same as romance, or anything with consequences, or the potential to let someone be a dick.
I don't mean being a dick in character, for it's nothing wrong with that, but being a horrible player.
Roleplay is a team activity, after all.

I guess trying to put story over one's personal character is something everyone should strive for.

@[user]staika[/user] Don't worry, you were a fun GM, and [user]Mort[/user] is working with a post to start it back up, and I'm working on some other secret. I hope I get the opportunity to be in a RP like "Swords" with you again at some point.

 

[staika]

@Stek: Why thank you, I always tried to make the RPing experience enjoyable for all involved. I am still toying around with the idea of making a really slow moving RP that I would be able to be involved in consistently but so far I don't have an idea of what to do with it yet. The hardest part of coming up with an RP is deciding what type of RP to create.

 

[GrimGrimoire]

@[user]staika[/user] Sounds fun. If you need some ideas, there are (weird) ideas abundant in the "Swords" chatroom.
That said, half of those weird ideas are yours.

 

[Link_to_Future]

@Steke: Dang, so much content, so little time.

As I've said before, I've been RPing off and on since about 2005. Of the many hobbies I've entertained over the last several years, RPing will always be my favorite. It's really my only outlet for creative writing anymore and I've always been obsessed with a good story. Having to opportunity to create a story with my friends is just appealing to me.

Loss and death are such powerful storytelling devices when applied correctly, PVP or not. I have a very specific method of forming a character in my mind and one of my steps is to evaluate the strengths and flaws of the character and how these traits might lead to their demise if the situation presented itself. I've only had one character actually die in my experience (in the midst of a heroic sacrifice that redeemed past transgressions and fulfilled his arc) but I've had several others where death was planned before I even put ink to paper. It's just that most RPs don't last long enough for these plans to come to fruition.

That is why I think communication is essential if death is introduced in a PVP RP. Otherwise everyone gets stuck in a constant stalemate of one-upping each other and trying to be the most badass. For the stakes to be real, the characters need to be real. And for a death to be powerful and meaningful, it should be very relevant to the story that has already come to pass.

The more I talk about this, the more I want to do it. It all seems so easy on paper when everything is a perfect world. :/

 

[staika]

@Stek: If I do make one I would like to base it off a game that has yet to be determined. I'll probably think more about it next week when I get my super long two day spring break.

Edit: Maybe a FEAR RP with a unique story, the idea just popped into my head when I took a look at my games xD

 

[Berenzen]

@RP Ideas: If my Mistborn RP doesn't go through, I might make one out of one of the worlds I've been building. Though it could easily surpass the Mistborn RP in terms of content for an opening post. In the word document it's at about 15000 words. If I do decide to make it up, I might make a wiki for it so people don't have to troll through a small novella in order to find a bit of lore.

 

[Malyc]

@Staika: *cough*Sanguinis*cough*

@Stek: And the lead contender for "Most OP character ever" seems to be in Swords...

@Link/CA: You guys make my writing sound like I write at a 3rd grade level... I thought I was doing good. *tears*

 

[Lost In The Void]

Well shitty death, but it is a death

Spoiler: Alone and Dying

I could still see the fires of celebration from my window. Apparently we had finally caught the killer. Again. I'm sure that no one could blame me for being pessimistic. I'd been too far in this game to believe it would end that easily, not after the blood and violence that had cut through the group. At first I had walked with them, more in numbers after all, but as we executed more and more I began to isolate myself. I couldn't relate anymore, just cast my vote to the ballot collector and went back to my start isolation. If it stopped the games I'd continue to vote, but at the end of it all, I just couldn't do it anymore. Not the killing, I'd lost too many friends for that.

I wonder though, is it possible to stop my part in the game? Could I just end my role in it all, take myself out of the equation. I don't want to play anymore, I don't need to goddamnit, there is nothing left to play. The idea that I could even look at myself after this is all over and still want to live is laughable. So I put the trigger into my mouth and prepare to die alone, in my self-imposed exile. But I hear a knock on my door and a morbid curiosity overtakes me. I look through the peephole and see a person in a mask. They knew I had the place bugged. That could only mean one thing; this was our Killer. We hadn't won after all. It was disheartening on one hand to see that murder would still continue, but it was also exciting to know the Killer had chosen me next.

I opened the door and we stared at each other for a period of time. Finally I spoke to break the silence between us, "So, you've come to take another life then?"

The voice of the Killer was distorted, sounding like a mix of a high pitched whine and radio static, "That is correct, I've decided that you've lived long enough," they took a step towards me, "Most run at this point, why don't you do that and make it fun?"

I sigh and smile sadly, "Maybe before I would have done that, prolonged my life by running and hoping someone would save me, but that won't happen, people don't care here, as we speak they're celebrating execution and death of an innocent and they don't even realize it, they're barbarians and menaces; there is no care for life here anymore."

The Killer's laugh chills me to the bone, its distortion and static crackling in my ears as it echoes throughout my house, "Don't you think you're so self righteous?"

"Excuse me?" I reply, I'm hesitant now, where is this Killer going with this, what was the plan for me?

"You claim they're the barbarians? They fight for their lives at least, so you can sit here moping and sobbing about the trials you've faced, that you can't go on anymore, you are nothing but a coward and that is why I decided to kill you tonight."

The words hit me like a truck, that is why the Killer chose me, because I had already chosen to die?

It was like the Killer could read my thoughts, "I didn't come here to kill a dead man, I came to kill a coward that would never be able to pull the trigger by himself. As you stood there with the gun in your mouth did you really ever think you'd have the balls to do that?

They were right; I don't know who I was trying to prove that I could do it, I didn't want to die, I just wanted the attention that came with it. Pathetic; so pathetic.

It too late now I realize too, I had this epiphany too late to have any meaning , I was going to die regardless now, I had signed my own warrant by isolating myself, in my paranoia I did indeed commit suicide. There was one comfort to it all though, "At least I'm not dying alone this way," I say out loud and coax another twisted laugh from the Killer.

My own pistol is raised but the Killer is faster, I feel the solid thump of one shot, then another enter my chest and the air is forced from my lungs. I choke and a mixture of bile and blood spills onto my floor. I can't breathe, I can feel the liquid, my blood flowing into my lungs, drowning on dry land.

The Killer kneels down to me, so close the warmth of their breath can still be felt through the mask, "We all die alone my friend. There was no distortion and I knew exactly who they were. Adjusting the mask while they stood up, the Killer walked through my front door and alone I stayed on my floor, the slow death taking me as it grow harder and harder to stay awake. We all die alone and soon more would.

 

[Lost In The Void]

@Stek: Why thank you, I always tried to make the RPing experience enjoyable for all involved. I am still toying around with the idea of making a really slow moving RP that I would be able to be involved in consistently but so far I don't have an idea of what to do with it yet. The hardest part of coming up with an RP is deciding what type of RP to create.

Separate post because I don't want to conflict with my death, but as someone who practically only goes in slow moving RPs due to time, let me say that I generally enjoy them much more than fast moving ones, I feel that when they move slow, they give more time to think about a post and generally result in better writing over all

 

[CounterAttack]

@Nouw: I'll keep that in mind. SK players and my Skype friends will be the first to know when it is released into the wild.

@Sky: The round is indeed not over yet.

@Trilby: I never said anything about the people involved in avatar-based role-plays not being role-players. That is just plain wrong. I simply don't like the concept of basing role-play characters around forum avatars, is all. That and the short length of the posts I've seen in such threads are why I hesitate to place them in the same group as the role-plays I know and participate in.

That does not mean, however, that I do not. They are here like any other role-playing thread... and I don't think it's all that hard to believe when I say I've seen far worse threads on the Escapist. I imagine we all have at some point in our lives.

@Link/Stekepanne: Communication is vital to any role-play, not just in PvP. If we get to know each other in real life, it becomes so much easier to discuss the events of our characters. Bouncing ideas off of one another, or discussing how the actions of one character affect another, soon becomes a vital aspect of role-playing alongside those people.

That is why I request that people get Skype, if they don't have it already, when I GM a thread. It is quite possibly one of the most efficient methods of out-of-character communication, and I've made some good friends through it.

 

[RaNDM G]

@Lost: You say "she". Does this mean the killer is female?

 

[Lost In The Void]

Did I. Disregard I honestly have no idea

 

[CounterAttack]

[HEADING=2]Lost In The Void was indeed the murder victim for Cycle 6! It is once again time to vote![/HEADING]​

@Void: Now that is the kind of thing I wanna see in people's deaths. It was a good read, bud.

 

[staika]

@Lost: I usually like to make them slower but now its more of a need to do it since my classes are going to get harder and I will have less time to RP. I also think that the slower the rp the more time you can think about your posts which help me a lot.

 

[Link_to_Future]

I just woke up from the best nap in the history of naps. I don't even care that all of the dogs in the house decided now was the time to cuddle. I needed the rest. >.<

@Malyc: Based on your deaths alone, I have nothing bad to say about your writing. Just because I like talking about the philosophy behind my words doesn't necessarily make me excellent at putting them to page. In fact, I can think of about five other writers off the the top of my head who frequent this thread that could write circles around me.

So yeah, I wouldn't worry about anything like that. XP

@Lost: You're one of those writers I'm talking about. Nice one.

@CA: You're right, communication is vital regardless of PVP verses PVE. I'm just saying that a PVE RP can reasonably be faked for far longer without everything collapsing than in PVP. People are usually able to naturally get along a little better when they aren't encouraged to be at each other's throats.

I had more, but it was a touch more venomous then I liked. We'll just put this here instead.

 

[GrimGrimoire]

@[user]CA[/user] Indeed, communication is important. One of the best things about "Swords of the Fallen" is the meta-game. I think that the main reason many of the players like the RP is the Skype chat. It can at times be a random, weird, funny and serious place.
I have discussed everything from children's TV shows to philosophy, and ethics. That, and lot's of meta-RP and random conversations.
I think this is the only reason it's still alive after a month's hiatus.

@[user]Malyc[/user] And now, with the rise of our new GM, our very special "OP-godmode guy" is gone.

 

[Malyc]

@Link: Why thank you. I tried to make them interesting, although I probably went overboard on the first one... Still not sure why I chose to splode a car.

@Stek: Mortis eliminate him? I'm fairly sure I saw that he posted again

 

[Lost In The Void]

@Lost: I usually like to make them slower but now its more of a need to do it since my classes are going to get harder and I will have less time to RP. I also think that the slower the rp the more time you can think about your posts which help me a lot.

I understand completely dude XD just check out my RP if you wanna see slow RPs.

@Link: I appreciate the compliment. I haven't seen too much of your writing so I can't really say anything good or bad about it XD

@death: I feel my ending was a little rushed. If i go home early tonight from work I might tweak it a little

 

[staika]

@Lost: Thanks I'll do that and hopefully I'll be able to run a slow RP well. I'm always looking to improve my skills

 

[Lost In The Void]

@stalkia: what I find keeps large slow RPs alive is a previously planned plot idea and a large scope to keep players engaged