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frequently asked questions [round 2]
The Game
- What is "Dangan Ronpa"?
Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and its sequel Super Dangan Ronpa 2 are visual murder mystery novels. Familiarity with the two games is encouraged but not required. There’s a strong possibility of spoilers for both games over the course of the game so we at least recommend an openness to spoilers.
With the release of NISA’s English adaptation of Dangan Ronpa, we want to make it clear that for canon terminology we will be using Orenronen’s translation, since that was what we used for round 1 (so Super High School Level instead of Ultimate, Monobear instead of Monokuma).
- How long is this going to last?
Our goal is 12-14 weeks, no more than 16 including end game. 1 OOC day = 1 IC day, except for investigations and trials, which are on a 2:1 day scale (meaning: investigations and trials take place on Fridays, ICly, but Friday-Saturday OOCly).
- Who can I app?
All canons are accepted, including characters who participated in round 1 AND Super Dangan Ronpa 2 characters + Dangan Ronpa survivors . Appable characters must be at least 15 in human years (though we will allow a little leniency depending on individual character’s personal maturity where age is not explicitly known), have human-level sentience and be able to communicate. Animals who show human-level intelligence and sentience are appable (ex. Simba from The Lion King) but animals who do not (Ex. Ein from Cowboy Bebop) are not.
Basically, you can app Goofy but not Pluto.
We also accept fandom OCs (troll ancestors from Homestuck for example) so long as they appear in canon and have some sort of story significance and/or dialogue. Certain canon AUs are also welcome. More info on this can be found on the reserves page.
We do accept OCs. Their apps will be judged with a bit more scrutiny than fandom apps. We are accepting 3, like the rest of the canons. Characters who participated in round 1 will be counted as their own canon as well as their native canon (so John Egbert would count toward both Homestuck and DRRP).
- What if my character died in canon?
Bring 'em anyway! You can either finagle it so that their last memory was seconds before they actually bit it, or just have them remember biting it and then wake up in murder school. As long as they have a solid, corporeal body that will remain solid and corporeal after their death, they're considered appable.
- Do I need to reserve before I app?
Yes. We will only be processing and accepting apps that have been reserved. We also ask you submit your app with the same account you used to reserve.
- Are challenge reserves accepted?
No.
- How long do reserves last?
Reserves last one week.
- When do apps open/close?
Apps open May 7th, reserves open May 3rd. Reserves will be closed after the first 30 characters, but if we haven’t processed 30 apps by May 10th then reserves will re-open for however many slots remain. You may re-reserve a character if you were one of the original 30 reserves who didn’t get their app turned in on time.
- Can I change my reserve?
Before you submit your app, yes. Just comment to your original reserve with the change.
- What if I reserve, but then decide not to app?
Because of the limited cast, we would appreciate it if you would tell us if you change your mind and decide not to app, either by leaving a comment on your original reserve or by contacting us via PM or PP. Your reserve slot will be opened again for someone else.
Activity requirements
Round 2’s activity will be stricter than Round 1’s. Living characters much submit two ten-comment threads with two different characters per week. Dead characters need only comment to check-in as a formality.
AC threads may come from the weekly mingle log, the body discovery/investigation log, or any player-posted logs from the check period, but since the trials have their own activity requirements they are ineligible for the activity check.
Failure to meet AC without informing the mods will result in a strike. Two weeks in a row will result in an automatic death roll. AC will go up on Sunday for the previous Sunday-Friday, and will close at 12:00 pm (EST) on the following Friday.
IC FAQ
- Where am I?
This is Hope’s Peak’s auxiliary campus! It has a lot of the amenities that Hope’s Peak is known for, including private dorm rooms and of course 24/7 surveillance!
- Who are you?
I’m Monobear! Your cuddly cute Headmaster for your time here!
- How did we get here?
Upupu, that’s for me to know and you to find out! Maybe.
- Is there a network?
Pssssh, you kids and your networks and communication devices. Do you think we're made of money?! When I was your age we talked face-to-face and we liked it! And you're going to have to get used to it too because no network for you!
- What does SHSL even mean?
Super High School Level! It means your talents excel above the rest in a certain field! For example, the SHSL Athlete has broken records in multiple sports and has great potential to go on to break even more!
Students who meet such criteria are screened and selected to attend Hope’s Peak Academy, where their talents can be nurtured and brought to their full potential!
- Wait a minute, I don’t go to this school/am an adult/not human/don’t know what high school is!
Moving on…
- What happened to my powers?
For your own protection and to encourage creativity, your powers have been dampened for the duration of your stay. After all, we can’t have you bastards trying to escape, can we?
- Hold on, a school? What kind of boring slice-of-life game is this?
Contrary to what you may think, this game isn't going to be slice of life at all! (Well maybe. A little. At some parts, if you want it to be.) Where's the spark? Where's the thrill? The excitement? How are we going to keep you kids entertained if you're so desensitized?
So we're going to liven things up a bit! You see, just going around making friends is boring, so we're going to use a cadaver-and-stick approach! If you want to leave, all you have to do is kill someone! That's right, welcome to the School Life of Mutual Killing, Redux! If you kill someone and get away with it, you get to graduate and go home.
- So wait, how exactly is this School Life of Mutual Killing going to work?
You see, when a victim and a culprit love each other very much—
Wait, that's not the right story.
Starting the Sunday of the week before that death is slated to happen, your lovely and bootylicious mods will make a roll for the victim and culprit (there will be no murder in week 1). This will effectively give the involved parties two weeks to hammer out the details of the crime, as opposed to the 3-5 days we tried to go for last round. We will proceed to contact both players, who will have until Monday at 12pm EST to check in with one of us in any way shape or form (email, PM, Plurk, smoke signals, messenger pigeon) to let us know that they received the notification and are on board for the trial. The incredibly sexy and charismatic mods will then put the Victim and Culprit in contact with one another to work out the details of the crime (note: the Victim and the Culprit are not predetermined. Two characters will be rolled and the players will decide amongst themselves which one is the Victim and which is the Culprit. This is to minimize plotting in places that will ruin the mystery). The mods will release a motive the following Tuesday in the weekly log. The players will have until the Thursday before their trial weekend to plot out their crime, so as to encourage as much detail as possible.
Friday, the dedicated and hardworking mods will diligently write the body discovery log and post it. This will be the Investigation Start. A Monobear File will be provided with a full autopsy report, which is the One Free Clue that everyone will get. The other clues will be distributed by the mod team as the log progresses, depending on the activity of the log AND what the characters are doing.
Comments from the Investigation Start will be applicable toward the weekly activity check, just as some added incentive to post to it.
Another incentive is the way that the trial system works. Trial logs will be posted on Saturday, and the players will have 12 hours to fulfill the trial requirements.
- What are the trial requirements?
Well, since you asked so nicely, I guess you deserve to know! On the off chance that you thirsty little fighter jets don’t ferret out the killer within the time limit, we have separate win conditions that aren’t dependent on the characters actually solving the crime. 75% of the surviving cast have to post a comment anywhere on the trial log (this does not have to be a top-level!! Threadjacking is encouraged, to create a more despairing trial atmosphere), and a specific comment count has to be met. Of course, because Monobear can be as capricious as he is undeniably attractive, the exact number of comments needed to succeed won't be made known to the players!
- But Professor Monobear, isn't that just so you can change the comment count if the characters figure out who the culprit is?
Be quiet, you bastard, the grownups are talking.
- Okay, so the players don't know about the comment count. Then how will they know when they've met it?
I'm glad you asked! Whether the trial requirements have been met or not, one of two possible posts will go up on Sunday.
If the win conditions are met: Congratulations! You figured out who the killer was! Now comes the fun part – the Execution! Each execution is tailor made to the culprit in the interest of maximum justice and written out in loving detail by your caring and patient moderators. Can't you just feel the despair? The execution will be posted on the trial log, and players are encouraged to thread out the aftermath of the execution. Just remember, attacking your headmaster is against the rules, and will be punished accordingly!
- So what happens if the players don't meet the trial requirements?
Then the players have earned their first strike. And as Kuwata-kun learned the hard way, three strikes and you're out! Upupupu~
If I told you what the strike posts are going to look like, that would take away from the despair. However, I can say that because a strike post is basically a game over, each strike post will have an OOC feedback post instead of a log. Strikes are a failure of the game designer, and since both of your despair-filled moderators are still new at this, we want to make the game run as smoothly as possible. If the players get three strikes, the OOC feedback post will be focused on whether or not the players want to keep playing the game.
- So can you explain how the murders work in more detail?
I'll even use examples! You might be familiar with these.
Example A:
Kuwata and Maizono's names are rolled in the random name draw for the first week. When they check in to confirm that they received the notification of the draw, Kuwata-mun says that they have no preference as to the motive. Maizono-mun, however, suggests that the motive be a threat to their friends and family, because that would motivate Maizono to kill.
Maizono-mun then proceeds to ask Naegi-mun if they can use Naegi and Maizono's CR, and Naegi-mun agrees. Maizono-mun and Kuwata-mun hash out the details of the murder and submit it to the mods, who approve it and write up a body discovery post.
The body discovery log is posted on Friday, and the trial is posted on Saturday. Because everyone was so active during the investigation, the mods decide that the trial is going to be an easy one, so the players have no problem meeting the requirements. At the conclusion of the trial, a log goes up with the details of the crime and Kuwata's execution.
Example B:
Once again, the random name draw is used to determine the weekly culprit and victim. This time, Oowada and Fujisaki's names come up. Unlike the previous trial, this time both culprit and victim suggest the same motive: secrets. They write up the murder and send it to the mods.
However, in the time since the last trial passed, Togami-mun approached the mods and expressed an interest in tampering with a crime scene because of their character's CR with Fukawa/Genocider Syo. The mods ask Oowada and Fujisaki-muns if it's alright, and they agree. The mods send Togami-mun part of the write-up that Oowada and Fujisaki sent in, and Togami-mun replies with what they're going to alter the crime scene to look like.
The body discovery post is written up and posted on Friday accordingly, and the trial is posted on Saturday. Because of Togami's intervention, this trial is held to a higher standard for success than the previous one, but the conditions are met. After the trial, a log goes up with the details of the crime and Oowada's execution.
Example C:
Before the random name draw is done, Ishimaru-mun tells the mods that they want Ishimaru to be the next victim. Meanwhile, Celes-mun and Yamada-mun also tell the mods that they have decided they want Celes to murder Yamada. The mods offer the three players the option to plot out a double murder amongst themselves, and they take it.
A body discovery log is written up for Ishimaru. At the same time, Celes posts an open log about her being attacked, and in it Yamada is attacked as well. The mods respond to threads in both logs with clues as they're discovered, and then state that Ishimaru's body has gone missing. A new body discovery log is posted, this time for Yamada.
The trial log is posted. Because of the high level of activity from all the players, the mods decide that the case is rather straightforward. The players make the requirements, and Celes' execution is posted in a log the next day.
Example D:
Along with her acceptance into the game, the mods approached Oogami-mun with a proposal that she be a mole for the mastermind. The mun agreed, on the basis that it's because of blackmail.
Neither of the muns whose characters were drawn for that week respond to the mod's inquiry. Instead of re-rolling entirely, the mods ask Oogami-mun if they wouldn't mind having her be the culprit. Because of the extenuating circumstances, Oogami-mun proposes that the motive be revealing their character as the mole, and they can find a victim based on the threads. The mods agree, and the motive is revealed.
Oogami-mun turns in their homework, complete with a suicide letter, and explain that Oogami wouldn't kill anyone but herself at this point.
The mods agree. As soon as the suicide is approved, Oogami-mun posts a log with one part private to Asahina, and one part private to Hagakure, Fukawa, and Togami. Togami-mun doesn't respond, but the threads with Hagakure and Fukawa both end with them attacking Oogami in the recreation room.
The body discovery log is then posted. When the remaining players meet the requirements, the details of the suicide and most of the suicide note are revealed in a log. The log ends with the characters uniting against the Mastermind, inspired by Oogami's sacrifice.
- Okay, so the endgame is player-driven?
Not necessarily. When the game gets down to the last ten or so characters, the
endgame will begin either way. Player involvement will determine how long the mutual killings continue after that point, but the goal is definitely to have it end with a bang, not with a whimper.
- What happens to the characters when they die? Do I still get to play in the game?
There's only one way to find out, now isn't there? But don't be afraid of dying, because there will still be things for your character to do!
After taking into consideration some of the feedback from Round 1, your lovely and despairful mods have decided that in this round, death is permanent. Upupupu, I can just feel the despair!
- What if my character gets rolled but I have plans for them?
Then you can opt out of the death roll! But this is only an option three times, and the price gets steeper every time! The first time you opt out of a death roll, you lose your next opportunity for a regain from the Monomono Machine (this means that you have a 100% chance of getting one of the default items). The second time, the Monomono Machine will eject between 2 and 20 default items of the mods’ choice. The third time you opt out, one of your unregained items will be gone forever from the Monomono Machine. In order to opt out of a death roll, you must have at least one pending Monomono Machine-eligible thread. This is partly so that if you opt out we have some guarantee that you are or have been active.
If your character gets rolled a fourth time, then your luck is terrible and you have to deal with it.
- What even is a Monomono Machine?
That’s all explained here!