[Violet De Camp]

Trial mechanics:

At the end of the day, the judge (Chester) has the end-all-be-all say in regards to the trail.

There will be a crowd/jury present… they will have shifting opinions throughout the trial, which will depend on the actions of the players and suspects. Going with or against their opinions will have benefits/penalties to be discovered later.

The goal of the trial is simple - figure out “whodunnit”, whether it be through a confession, strong-arming, or complete and utter guesswork. The five suspects will each be on display, and the trial will be pretty free-form. If you've ever played Danganronpa, it'll be a lot like there, where people can speak at will in an open-trial setting.

You will need to use many tools at your disposal - using critical evidence, catching lies, piecing together missing pieces of information…

Each character will have the ability to call a bluff for a lie one time - if you succeed, your “check” is refunded, and you can proceed accordingly… But if you fail, you lose your lie check. You may use more than of your lie checks at a time, but you can only do so BEFORE you roll the first one. (ie - you can’t “save” it until you find out if you succeed or fail). Lie checks can be earned individually or as a group depending on how well the tempo of the trial swings in your favor.

The “opinion” of the jury will also be important, as their comments can help drive the trial favorably or unfavorably. Each time you make a statement or assertion, you may make an “appeal” check, which functions in a similar way to the “lie” check - if you succeed, you will earn the favor of the audience. Fail, and it will turn against you and give you an uphill battle. Lose enough, and the courtroom will turn into complete and utter chaos.

Chester, as the main judge, will also have a unique ability, called “order in the court” - upon using this, he will be able to do one of the following:

- Make an appeal to the crowd to calm themselves
- Change the topic of the trial to anything of his choosing
- End the trial

The ability will work similarly to the lie and appeal checks - however, there will be no roll associated with the success. No matter what, he will succeed. But, he will have to make a roll to see if his charge of the ability “resets” or not. Additional uses can be earned when certain conditions are met.

That sums it up, and I’m sure it will become more clear as the trial starts and progresses… The outcome is entirely in your hands, adventurers. The people of Hadrian (and perhaps those even beyond this fledgling city) shall be watching with interest…