History Roleplay / Trustfell

* MoodWhiplash: Often, due to trials' serious tone giving way to {{Courtroom Antic}}s.
-->'''Isaac:''' I devoted myself to revenge... but along the way, I found something else.\\
'''Robert:''' Puns.

* CourtroomAntic: The participants are... distractable, to say the least. Discussed and justified during one of the first round's trials for its use as a coping mechanism amidst all the horror and death.
-->'''Sol:''' We've always made small talk at these things. I can't - sometimes we need to have ''something'' to keep sane, okay?

* BadDreams: Given the setting, these become common for the characters.

-->"One way or another, all Participants are expected to take responsibility for their actions."
-->-The last line of every round's IC rule list (with "Participants" subbed out for another title in rounds 2-5)

Aside from its understated, less wacky (at least as presented) tone, Trustfell sets itself apart by being run and populated with murdergame veterans along with newbies (the format is borrowed from Roleplay/DanganRoleplay with permission from its creators), setting up expectations of the genre and its players, mod team, and premise, and often twisting or subverting them. This makes it into a game where anything can happen, often things that players might never have thought of or automatically ruled out, and there's always something new to see. And, of course, the story takes itself in its own directions.

!This game provides examples of:

* AlchemyIsMagic: Extremely important to the metaplot. [[spoiler:The first round took place in [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist manga Amestris]] and alchemy was how the Students were captured. The second round had ''FMA 2003'' characters crucial to the backstory and its final trial derailed with the Kingmakers wondering what Kimbley's notes were for and what turning lead into gold had to do with any of it anyway. The next four rounds each have at least one FMA character from the start, and in fact, Isaac kept complaining about this trope.]]

* ArcVillain: Each of the masterminds, while they have a tenuous thread between them, acts on their own (even Round 2's, despite technically playing into the GreaterScopeVillain's industry), and is exclusive to their own round. [[spoiler:The last one is the only exception, in fitting with the GrandFinale.]]

* BodyOfTheWeek: Quite literally.
* BookEnds: The first and last rounds take place in Graceside Prep, where the original exercise that started it all also seems to have taken place.
** Round 1's first culprit [[spoiler:declared in his MTB, "I am the industry!"]] Round 6's mastermind [[spoiler:actually represented an organization known only as "the industry."]]

* BroughtDownToNormal: Most of the characters' powers, at least those that would give them an unfair advantage, are removed. [[spoiler:The first round's cast does ''not'' get them back at the end, as they were stolen by the gate as part of the price for taking them, but they do want to keep searching for a way to restore these abilities.]]

--> '''Sol:''' We've always made small talk at these things. I can't - sometimes we need to have ''something'' to keep sane, okay?
* DeaderThanDead: Late in both Rounds 1 and 2, [[spoiler:it becomes known that the victims of the exercise are haunting the living, so the mastermind sets out to put a stop to it and kill the ghosts again.]] It's then made into a motive in Round 4.

* ElectromagneticGhosts: Twisted in round one, where [[spoiler:Ashley trying to use the intercom just creates static for the living to hear]]. In round two, Sigrun tries to invoke this with "ghost radio" experiments.
* ExploringTheEvilLair: Investigating the setting is encouraged.
* FangsAreEvil: Each round aside from 5 had a vampire, who had fangs and who has usually been a culprit ([[spoiler:Round 4/6's Elda bucked the trend by making survivor pool twice]]). Round 5 didn't technically have a vampire, but a throwaway comment in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' indicated that Rin and Young Sakura have a vampire ancestor. [[spoiler:Even the final boss of the last round is a vampire!]]

* TheGroup: "The industry," with no company name, serving to show that [[spoiler:{{Deadly Game}}s are woven into the world they come from deeply, even if they're highly regulated and unconnected ones are deemed to be "unsanctioned." The closest we get to a name aside from "the industry" is the silly FanNickname, "Murdergames, Inc."]]

* TheInsomniac: There are always a few.

-->'''Isaac:''' I devoted myself to revenge... but along the way, I found something else.
-->'''Robert:''' Puns.

* MythArc: The individual rounds are more or less self-contained, but a metaplot spans the whole thing with plot threads left hanging and picked up again much later. Officially, the story is divided into three question arcs and three answer arcs, a la ''Franchise/WhenTheyCry.''

* TheNeedless: The ghosts.
* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: Happens. ''A lot.''

* PrimalFear: Aside from the ever-present fear of death, most of the themed executions call to these. Rounds 1 and 4 evoke fear of the dark, 2 can be interpreted as either the undead/visceral fear of something that should be dead being alive or dread of consequences, and 3 existential fear. Round 5's execution theme is made to evoke betrayal, a ''learned'' fear, and Round 6's are just callbacks to previous rounds, so they don't count under this.
* PunBasedTitle: "Trustfell" is a pun on "trust falls" (the team-building exercise), "fell" as a DeadlyEuphemism, and "fell" as a term for "[[DarkIsEvil dark or evil]]." The second round adds another layer of pun by moving to a new community, "trusthell," which was reused for round four, and round three and five's community name, "trustfelled," [[spoiler:foreshadows that the Competitors of Round 3 and the Risen of Round 5 were DeadAllAlong]].
* ResurrectedRomance: If a survivor pool earns an ending that revives the dead, some pairings will consist of a survivor and one of the revived.
* RewatchBonus: Since it's a mystery, there are plenty, especially from round to round.

** ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'' tends to come up quite a bit- especially series villain Solf J. Kimblee (and his 2003 counterpart Zolf J. Kimbley), who [[spoiler:played the role of the Conductor in Round 1 (manga version) and returned as a Round 6 cast member, was mentioned in Round 2 (2003 and manga versions) and 3 (manga and Brotherhood versions)'s backstories, and became a member of Round 4's cast (2003).]]
** The six mysterious women; at least one will have part of her backstory revealed per round, and most of them have been deadland [=NPCs=], even if she was already the signature character of ''another'' round (R4 [[spoiler:was Ziska's round but R2's Hilda was a major NPC in it]], and R6 was assumed to be Johanna's round but Alena was one of the Coordinators [[spoiler:and all six end up being important to and appearing in R6]]).
* RunningGag: The resident {{Troll}} theorizing that the mastermind is a dork in a sweater vest. In round 4, ''everyone'' wears a sweater vest with the school uniform.
** The laundry room having old buckets and washboards instead of modern machines. While in Round 1 it fit with the pre-modern setting, it's returned even in later rounds, where there's newer technology available. [[spoiler:Except Round 6, even though it's set in the R1 setting.]]

* SoreLoser: ...And other culprits don't take being caught well at all.
* StealthPun: The characters' titles can be, and "Conductor" in the first round certainly was.

** As shown by the first round's ending, ''any'' setting is game, [[spoiler:including those from established fictional settings none of the captives are from]].
** Since [[spoiler:Giovanni survived the first round]], the "dad curse" is not in effect here. Round 2 adds to the curse-breaking: not only do more dads live, but so does TheLeader!

** Weapons ''can'' be distributed with the regains in specific circumstances: "gifts from the Kingmaker," which are generic weapons, and "dead regains," which are given at random to other characters after their owner has already died. As 2-5 proved, [[spoiler:if the mastermind thinks it'd be interesting, you can ''also'' get back your own supernatural murder implements by asking nicely.]]
** Unwritten rules regarding TheMole may as well not exist. For example, "there can be only one" or "it probably wouldn't be a mod character" ([[spoiler:double-subverted in Round 2, though; Mettaton wasn't a mole, he was a mastermind pretending to be one]]).
** [[spoiler:Stan in Round 2]] proves that the same player can make survivor pool twice without having died in another round.
** Character roles are very different from the Hero/Heart/Cynic triad of Roleplay/DanganRoleplay. For example, there is clearly no protagonist, though usually a character will make survivor pool who ''could'' have been the protagonist if this were a shounen manga instead of a more mature, darker RP, like Bakugou or Yousuke. Other roles include a hero who's become more cynical balanced out by a villain or ex-villain who's become kinder.

** Round 3 is built on subverting murdergame conventions from the start, like seeing the mastermind in the flesh from day one. As well, unlike in Rounds 1 and 2, where they were genuine, [[spoiler:any hauntings or ghost communication (aside from Chitoge's return and the mass return in the final trial)]] were hoaxes.

* SympatheticMurderer: Frequent.

* UniversalTranslator: Though it doesn't apply to some setting evidence.

* Roleplay/TrustfellRoundSix

* ArcVillain: Each of the masterminds so far, while they have a tenuous thread between them, acts on their own (even Round 2's, despite technically playing into the GreaterScopeVillain's industry), and is exclusive to their own round.

* PrimalFear: Aside from the ever-present fear of death, the themed executions call to these. Rounds 1 and 4 evoke fear of the dark, 2 can be interpreted as either the undead/visceral fear of something that should be dead being alive or dread of consequences, and 3 existential fear.
* PunBasedTitle: "Trustfell" is a pun on "trust falls" (the team-building exercise), "fell" as a DeadlyEuphemism, and "fell" as a term for "[[DarkIsEvil dark or evil]]." The second round adds another layer of pun by moving to a new community, "trusthell," and round three's community name, "trustfelled," [[spoiler:foreshadows that the Competitors were DeadAllAlong]].

** The six mysterious women; at least one will have part of her backstory revealed per round, and most of them have been deadland [=NPCs=], [[spoiler:even if she was already the signature character of ''another'' round (R4 was Ziska's round but R2's Hilda was a major NPC in it, and R6 was assumed to be Johanna's round but Alena was one of the Coordinators)]].

* FangsAreEvil: Each round aside from 5 had a vampire, who had fangs and who has usually been a culprit ([[spoiler:Round 4's Elda bucked the trend by making survivor pool]]). Round 5 didn't technically have a vampire, but a throwaway comment in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' indicated that Rin and Young Sakura have a vampire ancestor.

* PunBasedTitle: "Trustfell" is a pun on "trust falls" (the team-building exercise) and "fell" in its context as a DeadlyEuphemism. The second round adds another layer of pun by moving to a new community, "trusthell," and round three's community name, "trustfelled," [[spoiler:foreshadows that the Competitors were DeadAllAlong]].

* VerbedTitle: One which emphasizes the double meaning of "fell."

Six rounds in total have been announced; originally it was to be only one, and the first community was gifted to the players after the round, so every round since has been on a different community. Round one is [[http://trustfell.dreamwidth.org/ here]], round two moved over [[http://trusthell.dreamwidth.org/ here]], round three [[https://trustfelled.dreamwidth.org/ here]], and the answer arcs use their corresponding question arc's community (4 uses 2's, 5 uses 3's).

* AlchemyIsMagic: Extremely important to the metaplot. [[spoiler:The first round took place in [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist manga Amestris]] and alchemy was how the Students were captured. The second round had ''FMA 2003'' characters crucial to the backstory and its final trial derailed with the Kingmakers wondering what Kimbley's notes were for and what turning lead into gold had to do with any of it anyway. The next three rounds each have an FMA character from the start, and in fact, Isaac kept complaining about this trope.]]

* BackForTheFinale: The announced Round 6 is set to be composed only of returning characters.

* CallARabbitASmeerp: Call a captive a Participant, Survivor, Competitor, Apprentice, or Patient and call a mastermind a Conductor, Kingmaker, Adjudicator, Wordsmith, or Transmitter, depending on the round.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Round 1 is associated with black and gold, Round 2 with purple and white, Round 3 with blue and gold, Round 4 with red and black, and Round 5 with teal and black, as per their signature icons.

* FangsAreEvil: Each of the first four rounds had a vampire, who had fangs and who has usually been a culprit ([[spoiler:Round 4's Elda bucked the trend by making survivor pool]]).

** Vampires. It's practically become tradition for each round to have at least one in its cast (Dio, Kamui, Ferid, Elda).
** [[Franchise/FullMetalAlchemist Fullmetal Alchemist]] tends to come up quite a bit- especially series villain Solf J. Kimblee (and his 2003 counterpart Zolf J. Kimbley), who [[spoiler:played the role of the Conductor in Round 1 (manga version), was mentioned in Round 2 (2003 and manga versions) and 3 (manga and Brotherhood versions)'s backstories, and even became a member of Round 4's cast (2003).]]
** The six mysterious women; at least one will have part of her backstory revealed per round, and most of them have been deadland [=NPCs=], [[spoiler:even if she was already the signature character of ''another'' round (R4 was Ziska's round but R2's Hilda was a major NPC in it)]].

** The laundry room having old buckets and washboards instead of modern machines. While in Round 1 it fit with the pre-modern setting, it's returned even in later rounds, where there's newer technology available.

** Round 2 is not a direct sequel to Round 1 and none of the latter's characters received a PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo. [[spoiler:One clue in the final investigation indicates that it's actually a ''prequel.'']] The same goes for all the other rounds, which have a few references to the previous rounds but nothing from the previous player characters.

* SupermanStaysOutOfGotham: Unlike the Future Foundation in ''Roleplay/DanganRoleplay,'' nobody is coming to save the captives in other worlds, even if [[spoiler:many Round 2 characters and a few from Round 1 wanted to do just that. Presumably, they're off chasing false leads or some of the real murdergames we ''don't'' see]].

* Trustfell 6 (presumably to be named for ''Die Hardest'' should that exit DevelopmentHell)

* Roleplay/Trustfell5LiveFreeOrTrustFall

Six rounds in total have been announced; originally it was to be only one, and the first community was gifted to the players after the round, so every round since has been on a different community. Round one is [[http://trustfell.dreamwidth.org/ here]], round two moved over [[http://trusthell.dreamwidth.org/ here]], round three [[https://trustfelled.dreamwidth.org/ here]], and round four moved back to round two's.

* AlchemyIsMagic: Extremely important to the metaplot. [[spoiler:The first round took place in [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist manga Amestris]] and alchemy was how the Students were captured. The second round had ''FMA 2003'' characters crucial to the backstory and its final trial derailed with the Kingmakers wondering what Kimbley's notes were for and what turning lead into gold had to do with any of it anyway. The third and fourth rounds each have an FMA character from the start, and in fact, Isaac kept complaining about this trope.]]

* ArcVillain: Each of the masterminds so far, while they have a tenuous thread between them, acts on their own (even Round 2's, despite technically playing into the GreaterScopeVillain's industry) and is exclusive to their own round.

* CallARabbitASmeerp: Call a captive a Participant, Survivor, Competitor, or Apprentice and call a mastermind a Conductor, Kingmaker, Adjudicator, or Wordsmith, depending on the round.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Round 1 is associated with black and gold, Round 2 with purple and white, Round 3 with blue and gold, and Round 4 with red and black, as per their signature icons.

* FangsAreEvil: So far, every round has had a vampire, who had fangs and who has usually been a culprit ([[spoiler:Round 4's Elda bucked the trend by making survivor pool]]).

* OneSteveLimit: Averted with Rounds 2 and 4, each of which had a different character named Bruce.

* OntologicalMystery: The guy in charge certainly won't tell everyone where they are and why.

** The six mysterious women; at least one will have part of her backstory revealed per round, and two of them have been deadland [=NPCs=].

** Round 2 is not a direct sequel to Round 1 and none of the latter's characters received a PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo. [[spoiler:One clue in the final investigation indicates that it's actually a ''prequel.'']] The same goes for Round 3, which has a few references to the previous rounds but nothing from the previous player characters.

* Roleplay/Trustfell4TrustFallOrDieHard

* FangsAreEvil: So far, every round has had a vampire, who had fangs and who, at least in the completed rounds, [[spoiler:has been a culprit (as of this writing, Elda is still alive)]].

* DeaderThanDead: Late in both Rounds 1 and 2, [[spoiler:it becomes known that the victims of the exercise are haunting the living, so the mastermind sets out to put a stop to it and kill the ghosts again.]]

** Vampires. It's practically become tradition for each round to have at least one in it's cast (Dio, Kamui, Ferid, Elda)
** [[Franchise/FullMetalAlchemist Fullmetal Alchemist]] tends to come up quite a bit- especially series villian Zolf J. Kimbley, who [[spoiler: played the role of the Conductor in Round 1 (though that was a different incarnation than the rest of his appearances), was mentioned in Round 2 and 3's backstories, and even became a member of Round 4's cast.]]