Well, I promised an RP proposal in July, so here goes nothing.
Pokemon: ASB Edition
Synopsis:
The basis of this idea is that it combines elements of a more traditional RP game and Mafia. While other RP's may have people in groups, they almost all lack a plotline determined by player choices. By that, I mean a plotline that extends outside of a dungeon that is largely determined by actual RP-ers. In this game, several (depends on location, which will be explained later) players would be put into a location from the Pokemon world with their team. Some people would be given a role with one of the various factions at work (crime syndicates, global police, gym leader/trainer, etc) that would give them a goal and alliance. However, the vast majority of people would be unaligned at the start, free to pick a path. Following the start of the game, certain events would occur based on the actions of characters (both players, and NPC's) that would set the game in action. It ends when a single player or faction fulfills a requirement for "victory." This will normally be quite hard -virtually impossible to do alone- and not always be clear until later in the game. Between start and finish, unaligned players may choose their actions and alliances. However, one should always be careful in picking their allies. Not everyone can be relied upon as fully trustworthy.
Location: The various games are set roughly 15 years after the end of the Orre games, which are assumed to be set between Gen One and Gen Two for the purposes of the game. Some things will have changed, others will be very much the same. Some areas will be closed, and a few may be added. However, every game will always focus on one area where all action will occur. This can be as small as Ilex Forest, or encompass the entire Pokemon world. The first game will be set in the Sevii Isles.
--Cities: Cities are obviously an important aspect of games. Cities will contain Pokemon Centers, where Pokemon may be healed or withdrawn for free. They will also contain Pokemarts, where various items needed for the quest may be purchased. They are also very good places to gather information and meet up with other players and key NPC's. Some will also contain other features, such as gyms, but those will not be in effect in the Sevii Islands, so they will not receive much attention here. However, the basic concept is that they will be places to meet with important NPC's, and train your team. Badges also enable certain effects, and may come with TM's. Just expect one brutal fight.
--Hometown: Honetowns will be the regions that most players start the game at. Additionally, certain benefits will be given in a hometown, such as the ability to carry more than six mons and faster Center Services. Additionally, it will also be easier to gathe information from NPC's in a hometown. For the Sevii Islands, these would be the various islands.
--Dungeons: Dungeons will be caves, mountains and mazes to explore. It will be possible to capture Wild Pokemon here, as well as a somewhat unreliable place to train a team. Some must be crossed to reach other areas, while some will contain key items or bosses in the plot. Actual exploration of dungeons will be very similar to either Deck's RP or the Labyrinth, depending upon the dungeon. In other words, both exploration skills and combat will be required.
--Headquarters: HQ will be the bases of various factions. They provide absolutely excellent ways to obtain items, train mons, gather intelligence and allies, rest and heal. However, these will only be accessible to players of that faction, and will normally be in a secret location. This will be one of the key trust issues in the game. Can you trust someone enough to take them to HQ? If you mess up and bring a spy, you could jeopardize your team. Speaking of risking HQ's, they will obviously be very difficult to capture. However, doing so will earn very a lot of intelligence and resources. It will also normally be key to foiling another faction's objectives and fulfilling your own. While it is possible to build an HQ after one has fallen, it will be difficult and costly in both time and resources. Also, this isn't like the games. One ten year-old can not (join Smogon) capture an enemy HQ alone.
--Bases: Smaller HQ's. Most of the same rules apply, just on a smaller scale.
--Routes: Roads between areas. Trainers and Wild Pokemon may await, but their main function will always be getting from Point A to Point B.
Pokemon: Alright, so with that out of the way, onto the second most important aspect: Pokemon. A player may bring in their full team if they so wish, regardless of If they are in another RP (multi-month event requires this). However, they must pay 2 TC for every three mons, and one TC for each individual mon not in a group of three. Additionally, with very few exceptions you may have no more than six mons on you at a time. This keeps battles somewhat balanced in the wilderness. Let's go into a bit more detail on the system, shall we?
--Gyms and Friendly battles: These will function like normal ASB battles, with set rules, and no chance of a Pokemon dying or being critically injured. These also give normal token rewards for inside the RP (can not be used outside) that are the best way to train up a Pokemon within the RP. While refs could be taken from the pool of game masters who run every othe aspect of the RP, any other player in the town can ref it for in-RP ref counters to raise their team, and let the game masters have more time with other aspects. The major downside of these battles is simply the fact that they take up a lot of time that could be used for more productive activities.
--Wild Battles: Handled like battles in the Lanyrinth or Deck's RP. Some wild Pokemon will actively attack, but most of the time you will have to seek out and battle a mon. These Pokemon will sometimes run away if given a chance. The reasons to engage in wild battles? First off, they are a way of training up a Pokemon if no other players are in the area to have a friendly battle with. Secondly, these will be essentially your only way of capturing new Pokemon in the game. However, you do run the risk of a Pokemon dying if the opposing Pokemon scores a hard enough finishing hit or is naturally aggressive. One final note: wild battles must be one on one if you intend to capture the Pokemon, and battles against a wild Pole on with mutliple team members used will only award 1MC per mon, along with the KO.
--Training: One final aspect of training a team would be training exercises. These can only be performed at a Pokemon Center or Gym, and consume moderate amounts of time. These training sessions involve giving up a certain amount of the time allotted to you for a period to either teach a Pokemon a specific move, or gain an EC or DC. These will take up roughly 1/4 of an action phase, but pose no risk of a Pokemon dying.
--Syndicate Battles: Whether they be Global Police vs Syndicate, Syndicate vs Sydndicate, or Trainer vs Syndicate, don't expect these to be pretty. Syndicate battles provide the same counters as a normal battle, but are definitely not training. Syndicate battles will always involve large groups of weak trainers fighting each other. One powerful trainer fighting off a mob, or duels of incredibly powerful trainers, making these the most difficult fights possible. However, there is more behind it. If a Pokemon faints, it dies, with a few exceptions detailed later. How can you avoid this? Withdraw the Pokemon before it faints. Additionally, if one loses a Syndicate Battle, they will probably either be kidnapped and interrogated, or killed. Never rush into these unprepared. Note: Syndicate Battles will always have a game master reffing them, and the length of the sequences will probably delay the game's flow significantly. However, this is viewed as justifiable, as a syndicate battle will almost certainly be important to the flow of the game.
--Boss Battles: Certain Pokemon far above the rest inhabit the world. Some are legendaries. Some are merely extremely powerful gaurdians. Whatever the case may be, these are wild Pokemon battles; but much harder. These bosses will normally fall into two categories. They will either be labyrinth style boss fights against an impossibly strong foe, or an extremely powerful foe surrounded by hordes of minions. Either way, fighting them is hard, and almost imossible after a growling dungeon. Catching them is borderline impossible. These will sometime be key to the objectives of a faction, but normally only the syndicates. Whatever your reasons may be, expect casualties, and never come alone.
--Prize Claim: The Game's Prize Claim Thread will work like the normal prize claim thread, with a few differences. First off, new mons can not be purchased here. Second off, anything purchased outside the game will not appear in-game. Anything purchased in-game will not apply outside. Anyone caught breaking the rules will be disqualified with no compensation. Approvers will be the game heads, and maybe approvers not involved with the game. Same rewards to approvers as the normal prize claim.
--Casualties: I've been mentioning them. Let me state it here: It happens. However, a Pokemon who dies in RP who was brought with you at the start will not die out of RP. Pokemon obtained in RP are dead permanently. This happens if a Pokemon faints during a Syndicate or boss battle, and after some wild battles (Tauros, Scyther, most things is particularly enraged). However, there are two exceptions.
---Healing: If a "dead" mon gets to a Center or HQ fast enough, they can be healed at the cost of a lot of currency, and it will take a lot of time before they can battle again.
---Revives: These items are hard to find, and incredibly expensive, but they are quite useful. A revive can bring a Pokemon from "dead" to "KO" if used immediately after the death occurs. However, normally only Global Police members, Syndicate Admins, and very good trainers (read: win many battles) can afford them.
Role Playing: Now that the Pokemon Mechanics and world have been explained, how does this work? Well, two words. Currency and Time.
--Currency: ASB Currency will be very big here. Every player will start with a certain amount (Police and Admins obviously have more). These are needed to buy items, bribe officials, and buy supplies. It can also be used to pay Grunts, Police, or other Trainers. It can be won for completing quests for NPC's, battles, and robbing trainers or raiding HQ's... or other areas. Just don't expect to be publicly accepted for some of that. Currency can also be used in the Sevii Islands to buy tickets for ferries, buy HM's, or Buy Permanent Ferry Passes. These will prove absolutely critical.
--Time: Time is absoltutely huge here. Every turn (roughly three days), you will earn 20 time counters. These can be invested in training, exploring, moving from point A to Point B, resting, healing, and battling. Just remember, here time is money.
--Intelligence: How are you going to win if you don't know what your enemies are doing? How are you going to unlock ancient puzzles without knowing about the legends and cultures behind it? The key: intelligence. Talk around at Pokemon Centers. Visit NPC's. Go to museums and libraries. Call old allies. DO SOMETHING! The point is, there are always options that are well worth your time.
--Traveling: Most travel in the Sevii Isles will be done by air or water. Elsewhere, it will be walking, riding, or bike. The HM's Fly and Surf are valuable here, as walking is time consuming, bikes are rare and expensive, and Ferries add up quickly on your currency. However, travel will always be important to the game.
--There will always be NPC's and other players (and maybe game heads) who need you to do some task for them. The most common will be reffing, which always pays well. However, sometimes it will be finding objects, escorting people, calming wild Pokemon, collecting a Pokemon for a professor, or even finding a runaway pet. These will always have some reward, and most of these tasks can be found in either the Pokemon Center or Police Department of a town.
--Items: Alright, you've got money. Now what? Items are a core aspect of the game, and will be described below.
---Potions: Potions and Ether restore HP and Energy Respectively. This can be very useful for mid-battle or out in the field. In battle, however, they take an action to use and enemy attacks will deal 1.5x the damage during that action. Status items fall into the sane vein. These can all be purchased at the local Pokecenter: for a price.
---Pokeballs: These work the same as other RP's. They just cost money here. Just dont expect all of them to be sold at every Pokemart. Oh yeah, one last note: In some games, Snag and Master Balls will exist.
---Revives: Either revives a fainted mon (outside of battle) or heals a "dead" one. Very useful, very expensive.
---HM's: Rare machines that can teach a mon a skill. Also, HM's can not be taught by anything other than level up or HM in-game. Sorry. Regardless, HM's require a certain task to get them more often than not. But once obtained, every mom you have that can learn the move learns it for free.
---Legendary Items: Almost always possess a huge role in the plot. You will learn about them by intelligence gathering.
---Other items: There are other items that will serve various uses and be obtained in various ways. That is all for now on items.
The Players: General things you should know about the players, NPC's, and teams.
--iRC: If you are in the game, iRC will help immensely. This will have an iRC Channel where you can talk to other players, and sometimes Game Heads acting a crucial NPC's at certain points in your game. Just, make sure you can trust anyone you give information to.
--Alliances: You are always free to ally with and travel with whoever you want to. In fact, you are encouraged to travel in groups. There is safety in numbers. Just... never be too trusting.
--Syndicates, Police, and Civillians: Oh boy, here's where things get messy. There is a silent war going on between the factions. Syndicates will normally be groups of powerful admins, an insanely powerful boss, and a large group of grunts. They will always have an objective that is almost always bad for everyone else. Why would you ally with them? Because they might just win with the world opposing them, and it's better to live than resist and die. Or not. The Global Police will be a small group of players with better resources and information than the rest. Their goal is to form up the trainers against the syndicate(s) in the game. And finally, trainers. Trainers start independent, and may hide from, join, or resist the syndicates.
--NPC's: NPC's will be other trainers on larger maps, and most every Champion and Syndicate Boss. They will be powerful, and serve a variety or roles. In most of the games with a decently large scale, you will be forced to deal with them one way or another. Side note: most of these are taken from the games.
--Player Types: A list of the Players roles.
---Game Masters: These are the people in charge. They ref most battles and dungeons, progress the plot when needed, man the shops and centres, and interpret the actions of players. There will likely be 5-6 for the Sevii Island Game, and up to 10 for larger games. There will be a selection process later, but I am hoping to get people with large amounts of experience in other RP's for this. They will be well-compensated for their tremendous amount of work.
---Syndicate Spies and Admins: The guy who start off as the "villains." They will have nearly limitless resources, and quite a bit of power over the game. While most large attacks will be ordered from above, Commanders will be in charge of recruitment and most operations. The success or failure of the team ultimately rests on them. Spies will have lots of information and money, but will circulate with the masses, gathering information. They report everything they hear back to the commanders. They will be punished if they blow their cover. Depending on the size of failure, this can even lead to death. All spies and commanders will know who the others are they are working with.
Global Police: While having much less money to spare than Commanders, the Police still have quite a bit. Additionally, they will receive a lot of intelligence, and can higher and command police forces. Additionally, all Police Centers are bases to them. However, if their real identity is shown too early, they could be punished. When it is blown, they will become a chief target for the Syndicates, a they have quite a bit of power in late game to take down the crime lords. Play it carefully, and trust no one. All Police will know who the other officers are.
---Trainers: Average, run-of-the-mill battlers who may not even know who the syndicates are for some time; much less their objectives. They will have a decent amount of money available, but nothing special. They will be the front lines in the late game battles, and the most numerous group by far.
--Bonus Points: A good character who acts in character will be rewarded at times. This could be in information or currency, or sometimes even an item. However, it will never be game breaking. Also, some good story-telling or RP'ing with your orders will go a long way.
Rewards: So, other than the experience, whats in it for me? Well, quite a few things really. If you do well, you can be considered for a game master spot in later games. Beyond that, any Pokemon caught in-game that didn't die will be given to you. Furthermore, a certain amount of RP counters will be given determined on just how well your side did, how fun you were to ref, and how much you actually did. It could be anywhere from 10-50 free counters, depending on how much you did in the game. 30 would be about average for people who made it until the final battle. This seems like a lot, but consider the amount of time it would take to get there. You can claim this when you are eliminated, or the game ends. Game Masters: We'll talk later. I assure you, it will be worth your time.
Elimination/Victory: You lose if you or all of your Pokemon die. You can also lose if a syndicate conclusively wins or is defeated. There is no set "win condition," but some things will effectively end in one side being unable to win.
God, that took forever to write on a phone. As I'm on my phone, I couldn't pu in much detail, but I just want feedback on the concept. Thoughts? Flaming? Snide Remarks?
