Trigger Happy Equines

How To: Trials

Now for an explanation of the rules! For those of you who are familiar with the mechanics of the Danganronpa video game series you may already know these things so this will merely be a refresher, but for those of you who are unfamiliar this simple set of rules will have you solving cases in no time!

While solving each individual part of the trial is not vital (since I will upload the next part regardless of whether someone correctly solves it or not) you may still wish to participate by putting your answers in the comments. I will keep track of whoever manages to be the first to guess the trickier ones or who manages to guess the culprit when the time comes.

Remember, this is not a fanfic where you are expected to be able to solve the entire case before the trial has even begun as some information may not be revealed until partway through the trial and some testimonies might be inaccurate, either accidentally or purposefully. Instead, I have chosen specific points in the trial in which I believe it would be possible to guess the culprit and simultaneously make it the time for the readers to cast their vote and for Greyscale to make his accusation, pushing the trial forward and solving the last few lingering mysteries of the case!

The trials are split up into different activities, as follows:

Non-stop Debates

These are the crux of the trials and make up the majority of activities. In a non-stop debate the characters discuss and argue their points in trying to solve something. A simplified version of a non-stop debate will look something like this:

Truth Bullets

Coffee Stain

Broken Vase

Can of Tuna

Eddy: There’s no mistake, the killer was drinking coffee!

Freddy: That’s not possible, the instant coffee was in the other room.

Kenny: Besides, there’s no sign anyone drank coffee.

You’ll notice some of the words are written in bold orange. This is where your truth bullets come in! By using the correct truth bullet (Coffee stain) you can argue against the point being made. But this isn’t the only way truth bullets can be used. Here’s another example:

Truth Bullets

Can of Tuna

Cut Telephone Wire

Bag of Sausages

Benny: If the killer broke in from outside it would have alerted the victim!

Lenny: Couldn’t they have gotten help from the outside by calling us? And yet they didn’t!

Olly: What if the killer had done something to prevent them calling.

The words written in blue italicsshow that these words can be agreed with. In this instance the correct truth bullet (Cut Telephone Wire) means Olly is correct in his assumption. Some non-stop debates will have a mixture of statements that can be agreed or disagreed with, so remember the difference. However, there is also one other possible situation that can arise in a non-stop debate:

Truth Bullets

Bottle of Whisky

Can of Tuna

Tiny Violin

Molly: We found the body in the garden, next to the pile of cinder blocks.

Dolly: But didn’t it seem like they were killed in the kitchen?

Bodger: I guess the killer dragged them into the garden.

Badger: That’s not possible. The door has sharp edges so we should’ve seen some kind of mark on the body. After all, it always swings shut. There’s no way to prop it open while carrying the body.

What’s going on? None of the truth bullets match any of the statements! If you find a situation like this you may have to transform one of the statements into a truth bullet! In this case (pile of cinder blocks) counters the statement no way to prop it open while carrying the body. Be aware that in cases like this only the words in bold orangecan be transformed into truth bullets and they can only be used to disagree with other bold orangestatements. They cannot be used to agree with those in blue italics.

Cross Sword Battles

These are similar to Non-Stop Debates but concern a heated debate between Greyscale and one other character. Only bold orangestatements appear and under no circumstances can character statements be turned into truth bullets. This is a straight up battle between two opponents crossing swords where truth bullets become Truth Blades. Here’s an example:

Mary vs Maria

Truth Blades

Equestrian Flag

Can of Tuna

Giant Magnet

Maria: So you say the killer drilled through the metal door. How do you propose they did that?

Mary: By using the contraption we found in the shed.

Maria: Are you forgetting this took place in a wind tunnel? Did they turn the fan off?

Mary: No, of course not. Access to the power source wasn’t available at the time.

Maria: Then your accusation is ridiculous. Drilling through the door would’ve left scraps of metalflying about and out of the window. Tell me, did we find anything like that?

Mary: Well… no.

Maria: I thought so. In that case, it couldn’t have happened.

A very strange scenario… but there is an answer! In this case the truth blade (Giant Magnet) solves the problem of the scraps of metal. What an odd murder this must have been…

Anagram

This one is simple. Sometimes there will be an answer you need to deduce that isn’t listed in any of your truth bullets or in previous chapters. In cases like these a question will be proposed followed by a set of letters. You just need to rearrange them to find the answer!

What could have been used as a battering ram?

F L A G R A N T C O C K H E R D

A very strange phrase indeed… but the answer is actually GRANDFATHER CLOCK, the item which could have been used as a battering ram. All of the letters must be used to decipher the answer, not just a few of them.

Final Panic

Occurring at the end of the trial after most of the case has been solved, one final mystery stands between Greyscale and solving the murder, leaving no stone left unturned and forcing the killer to accept defeat! Here, instead of speaking statements for you to tear apart and disagree with, the opposing character will only speak OBJECTIVE FACTS in an attempt to prove their innocence. They will then ask one final question to be answered while taking into account each of the facts that they have put forward. Here’s an example:

Final Panic vs Polly

I couldn’t have teleported inside the room!

There was a barrier stopping me from getting through the window!

Olly was watching the doorway in the morning!

I was present at the meeting after lunch!

Not long after that I was with Dolly and Molly in the garden!

I didn’t go back into the house until after the body was discovered!

How could I have gotten into the room to commit the murder!?

In these instances there are no clues or anagrams to help, you simply need to answer the question using detective work based on knowledge from previous events. Once this has been done the accused will have nowhere left to run and Greyscale will give a rundown of the case. Be sure to come back to this information at any time if you are lost!