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What would a society do in this situation?



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Sat May 23, 2015 4:19 pm
Redbox275 says...



Okay so I am writing a story based on the party game mafia.

The god of death (or something or other) felt bored so he abducted many random people and put them in a town. He told them on the morning they woke up there was a killer who will murder one person each night and in the morning the townspeople will vote who they think the killer is. If they are right they get to be set free. If they are wrong they will have to spend another night in the town.

I only wrote the first scene to this story where the god is explaining the rules so I don't have everything worked out yet because I want to know how a society would react and act to this life and death situation.

A few things I am positive on:

Who the killer is

It will be in third person.

The god isn't going to starve them. He gave the people a garden and crops where they can get their food, well with plenty of water, clothing ,and their own homes.

So going back to the question: How would a society and people act in this situation?
  





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Sun May 31, 2015 12:48 am
Rosendorn says...



Well, you have to consider where these people are from.

Each culture(/subculture) has a different reaction to death, and each person's individual reaction will be different, as well. What you're doing is basically bringing in a bunch of different societies together, then building a new society based off what they all bring to the table.

You can't really answer the idea of what "society" would do because if you've got random people, you could have some people from India, some from Japan, some from Egypt, some from Nigeria, some from Canada, some from Sweden... and they'd all bring both their personal experience plus their cultural experience to the table, plus it'd take them awhile to figure out how to react together because at the start they'll be more individual than collective.

If you want to answer your question, figure out:

- Where these people come from
- What their attitude about death is, personal and cultural level (these can be the same or different)
- How rigid they are in sticking to their beliefs/how receptive they are
- How domineering they are (ie- who's beliefs would "win" in the cultural narrative)
- How quickly they'd interact and start building society

That last question is key— societies aren't built overnight. It takes time for people to work together and make something that resembles a dominant cultural attitude. On top of that, there will always be outliers and those who might not believe in it 100%. There's trial and error for what works the best for the current situation, people sometimes stop looking for better solutions when they find something that's comfortable for them (but might not be comfortable for others). People are standoffish and people collaborate and people all bring their own things to the table, that can take a long time to figure out. Some will click instantly, some will take days or even never (depending on how long they have).

Really, it all depends on the characters you've brought together.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

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Sun May 31, 2015 5:37 am
Griffinkeeper says...



The most rational course of action would be for everyone to sleep in the same room. Instead of everyone falling asleep at the same time, people would sleep in shifts. This way, the killer would be unable to kill anyone without being seen; and if he were to attempt to kill someone, the other guards would wake everyone up.

When a group of people are threatened, they form into groups for protection. They do it for tigers and sharks, and they'll do it for a murderer.

This strategy is optimal. If the murderer chooses not to strike, then the people can continue guessing until the murderer is chosen. If the murderer does strike, then it would be obvious who the murderer was; and they'd go home with only one casualty.

Something that might be interesting is to check out Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None." It is a story of ten people who are invited to an island by a mysterious stranger. Once on the island, it is revealed that all of the guests have committed murders of various people; and that they have been invited to the island to face justice. They are then gradually killed off, one by one by a murderer within the group.
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Sun May 31, 2015 6:48 am
Redbox275 says...



Thanks for the advice both of you. I will put you suggestions into consideration.

But, I am going to have them not sleep into shifts. Since there is a god involved he will in a way have everyone fall alseep together if they like it or not.

Also thanks for the book recommendation. I know it will be very helpful.
  





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Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:48 am
PRANC1NGJ35T3R says...



I like where your going with the death god, reminiscent of Ryuk from Death Note, who acts as a neutral party that provides the needed resources yet is responsible for death (albeit indirectly). But I do have some ideas to help, for instance is this god (how about you give him/her the title of an official such as 'The Mayor') ever-present or does he/she appear from time to time (each night) and what is the driving force of the murderer and how does he/she conceal their true nature.
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