Pokémon: One

[Whimsley]

Pokémon: One is an attempt to step back into our childhoods. When the Pidgey icon was actually Zapdos, when we tried to hold our gameboys at the right angle on long car trips in order to witness the battle. When having a lv 100 Pokémon truly meant something, whether that was obsession or passion. Many of the Pokémon threads I see on here have the players start with as many and as powerful Pokémon as they wish. I want to start with no items, no powerful moves, no insurance to count on. I want to start from the ground up, and with one Pokémon.

I'm looking for a dedicated group of RPers who are willing to post daily, creative posts, and are going to bring interesting interaction to the table. We'll be starting from the ground up, so each person will have one Pokémon starting at level 5, no legendaries, no rare Pokémon, no shinies, no exceptions. I will be playing the world, with all interactions with wild Pokémon, all gym leaders, NPCs, etc. I will also play a character if needed.

I will be creating custom gyms, and a storyline never before seen by any of the games, perhaps creating a new legendary in the process. I will have this posted on this thread in no more than 24 hours.

I'm looking to get some opinions, and the direction of this RP will be decided by those participating:

- How will move learning be integrated?
- How are wild Pokémon encounters established?
- Should there be a set system in place for leveling, evolving, travel, food, and/or other elements within the Pokémon universe?
- How likely is it to encounter a legendary Pokémon? How much involvement should they have?
- Should posts be kept to low, mid, or high casual standards?
- How much group interaction are people wanting to experience? Solitary travel, intermittent interactions with other solo travelers, or all group travel?
- How involved should the Elite Four and the Pokémon League Champion be in the world?
- How realistic should this RP be?
- How closely should we adhere to the games? Will there be turn-based combat, can Pokémon only learn four moves, do you have to require badges to travel on to future areas, etc.
- A huge question: do Pokémon faint, or do they die?

I would be grateful if you gave your input on the previous questions, but it's not required for the interest check. I'm willing to address any and all points, as I want this world to be as developed and understood as possible. I can't wait to hear back from any and all of you, as I'm very excited about starting this campaign! Right now I have a party of 3 to 4 set in mind, but I'm willing to compromise with the group and given interest.

[sMoKe]

Woah. Pretty interested. Also, as far as move learning is concerned, I think a good system would be based on GM's discretion, with a focus on elements like character tendencies (ie, a pokemon who engages in many battles has a higher chance of learning a move, especially if its opponents use that particular move with repetition). That way players that seek out battle more often in turn become better at combat.

[Whimsley]

I'm more than willing to take precedence on these rules, though I'm taking all input into consideration to make the best experience for everyone. That being said, I was going to have leveling up be based on the amount of posts one provides, the quality of those posts (bonus levels), and perhaps bonus levels for combat. Moves learned would be strictly taken from source, and TMs/HMs could be bought from stores and/or earned from gyms.

[Lasrever]

I'd be interested in this. That kind of levelling system would be fine with me, I think. As for the battle system, I'm not really sure. Maybe have it be more turn-based in gym battles and stuff with official rules, and less so in unofficial battles? I don't think it should be limited to just four moves though.

Whether Pokémon faint or die could be based on how much damage they take, I guess. Like if its just worn down and beaten, it could faint, but if it gets overpowered or hit by a strong attack when it was already close to fainting it would die?

[Whimsley]

Hm, I like that fainting rule. It's like a hybrid. We'll go with that. Also: no HMs if your Pokémon has fainted, I always thought that was ridiculous. For (most) out-of-gym battles, I was thinking we could just freeform it and do action and reaction sort of thing, like how most combat works on this site. But for gym battles and higher level trainer battles, I almost want a sense of danger to it. Facing the gym is a terrible and exciting challenge that can lead to epic victory or horrible defeat. For that, maybe the new roll system should be implemented. I believe with the standard action and reaction system, I would have to make the decision on my own of who loses and who wins gym battles, and that seems biased and unfair at that caliber of match. I'd love your thoughts and input on this, as I'm struggling with the idea myself.

By the way, is there a preference for group travel or solo travel? Either is fine with me.

[TheUnknowable]

Pokémon: One is an attempt to step back into our childhoods. When the Pidgey icon was actually Zapdos, when we tried to hold our gameboys at the right angle on long car trips in order to witness the battle. When having a lv 100 Pokémon truly meant something, whether that was obsession or passion. Many of the Pokémon threads I see on here have the players start with as many and as powerful Pokémon as they wish. I want to start with no items, no powerful moves, no insurance to count on. I want to start from the ground up, and with one Pokémon.

I'm looking for a dedicated group of RPers who are willing to post daily, creative posts, and are going to bring interesting interaction to the table. We'll be starting from the ground up, so each person will have one Pokémon starting at level 5, no legendaries, no rare Pokémon, no shinies, no exceptions. I will be playing the world, with all interactions with wild Pokémon, all gym leaders, NPCs, etc. I will also play a character if needed.

I will be creating custom gyms, and a storyline never before seen by any of the games, perhaps creating a new legendary in the process. I will have this posted on this thread in no more than 24 hours.

I'm looking to get some opinions, and the direction of this RP will be decided by those participating:

- How will move learning be integrated?
- How are wild Pokémon encounters established?
- Should there be a set system in place for leveling, evolving, travel, food, and/or other elements within the Pokémon universe?
- How likely is it to encounter a legendary Pokémon? How much involvement should they have?
- Should posts be kept to low, mid, or high casual standards?
- How much group interaction are people wanting to experience? Solitary travel, intermittent interactions with other solo travelers, or all group travel?
- How involved should the Elite Four and the Pokémon League Champion be in the world?
- How realistic should this RP be?
- How closely should we adhere to the games? Will there be turn-based combat, can Pokémon only learn four moves, do you have to require badges to travel on to future areas, etc.
- A huge question: do Pokémon faint, or do they die?

I would be grateful if you gave your input on the previous questions, but it's not required for the interest check. I'm willing to address any and all points, as I want this world to be as developed and understood as possible. I can't wait to hear back from any and all of you, as I'm very excited about starting this campaign! Right now I have a party of 3 to 4 set in mind, but I'm willing to compromise with the group and given interest.

@Whimsley

Not sure if I'm going to join, as I'm not sure if I can post daily, but as for the questions:

Learning moves should probably involve a bit of IC RP with you or an NPC teaching them how to do it. You could also say that TMs and HMs are a kind of memory download device, as a lot of advanced technology is already in the universe.

A leveling system could work, but you would have to give pokemon EXP and keep track of it, like in a tabletop, which would mean a lot of work on the part of the GM.

I don't really have an opinion on legendaries.

With the kind of detail involved, I thought this was an Advanced, so high would probably work best.

I think a story like the original Anime could work well, with every person on the team being a protagonist instead of just one.

...

...

...

Death should depend on how much damage they took and trainers should have more say in how much their pokemon tries to kill the other. With that, a kind of death penalty might be added to the law of the territory. Our pets fighting for fun or to see which one is stronger is one thing, your dog brutally killing my cat is something else. This would be similar to how professional fighters get into trouble if they try to seriously injure their opponent.

[Lasrever]

I think I'd prefer to start off solo or in small groups/pairs and have characters meet up through the RP. Honestly, I'm cool with whatever everyone else decides.

I'm not sure what to do with the battle system for gyms etc. I'd like for it to allow some sort of creativity and strategy if possible, since I don't like the idea of gym battles consisting of just hitting each other until one side falls down. If using rolls would allow for that, then I'm happy to go with it.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Well~

Hello there~

Allow me to throw in my two cents here. I do love Pokemon RP's, and am always up for one~

- How will move learning be integrated?

@Whimsley

Do you mean TMs/HMs? If so, may I ask why HMs even need to be a thing? Why does a water pokemon need to learn 'surf' to be able to ferry a person across water? Why would a machoke need to learn 'strength' to shove a boulder aside? HM's in general are just ridiculous in concept in an RP setting, I believe.

TMs, of course, would work by learning them by buying them from stores or getting a gym leader to teach the pokemon.

- How are wild Pokémon encounters established?

@Whimsley

Well, I think it'd be easy enough to come up with a list of catchable pokemon for a route. Give the RP'ers a list, and let them encounter one they would want to catch if it was reasonble. Say, there are going to be pidgeys on route one, and there's a lot of them. Obviously, they don't really need to search to hard to find one.

- Should there be a set system in place for leveling, evolving, travel, food, and/or other elements within the Pokémon universe?

@Whimsley

I would personally hesitate to throw any sort of system involving actual levels and food/other elements and such. Levels, are obviously a thing and we'd need some way to keep track of them, but I wouldn't say the quality/quantity of posts should have a standing on that.

Not really sure what a good system for this would be, though in the past I have GM'ed a pokemon RP. I left the levels pretty much up to the players as long as they didn't get carried away with it. Maybe 1 level for a victory, and 50% exp for a loss depending on the level difference between the pokemon.

Obviously, the higher level the opponent is the more EXP a pokemon would gain from either a loss or a victory. And in general 'Level' is just the skill level of the pokemon. Basically, how much damage it can take, how hard it can hit and how fast it can move.

I would say the actual numerical stats of the pokemon are more or less just guidelines.

- How likely is it to encounter a legendary Pokémon? How much involvement should they have?

@Whimsley

I would say unless the legendaries are really plot relevant, I would say zero involvement.

- Should posts be kept to low, mid, or high casual standards?

@Whimsley

High casual looks like it'd work well for this.

- How much group interaction are people wanting to experience? Solitary travel, intermittent interactions with other solo travelers, or all group travel?

@Whimsley

I think a small group of trainers traveling together would work best. Otherwise, things could just get messy and difficult to keep up with.

- How involved should the Elite Four and the Pokémon League Champion be in the world?

@Whimsley

Well, that would depend on how you want to do the E4? I'd say our trainers should have little interaction with them aside from a few possible meetings, either for plot reasons or just sort of a side thing.

- How realistic should this RP be?

@Whimsley

I'd say go for some fairly decent realism in my opinion.

- How closely should we adhere to the games? Will there be turn-based combat, can Pokémon only learn four moves, do you have to require badges to travel on to future areas, etc.

@Whimsley

Turn based combat? In a realistic scenario? Perhaps in more official matches it could be a thing, but I doubt most opponents are gonna just wait around while you think of a good strategy to use against your opponent. As for four moves, why are pokemon only able to learn four to begin with? I'd say as long as they are of an appropriate level, they can use any move from their moveset, with the 'four' moves being sort of the ones they use most often, or rather their signature moves.

It'd be the moves your pokemon uses most often, but would also allow for some creativity and some fairly decent strategies if your trainer was competent enough.

I would say no to the badge travel thing.

- A huge question: do Pokémon faint, or do they die?

@Whimsley

Dying should be a thing only if the pokemon push themselves much too far, or get blasted with an attack from something that is obviously gonna wreck them. So the proposed system works well for me.

Hm, I like that fainting rule. It's like a hybrid. We'll go with that. Also: no HMs if your Pokémon has fainted, I always thought that was ridiculous. For (most) out-of-gym battles, I was thinking we could just freeform it and do action and reaction sort of thing, like how most combat works on this site. But for gym battles and higher level trainer battles, I almost want a sense of danger to it. Facing the gym is a terrible and exciting challenge that can lead to epic victory or horrible defeat. For that, maybe the new roll system should be implemented. I believe with the standard action and reaction system, I would have to make the decision on my own of who loses and who wins gym battles, and that seems biased and unfair at that caliber of match. I'd love your thoughts and input on this, as I'm struggling with the idea myself.

By the way, is there a preference for group travel or solo travel? Either is fine with me.

@Whimsley

I personally, would like to avoid dice rolls of any sort. I honestly will nope out of here so hard, since dice rolls kill the excitement and danger of a fight to me, since it takes out any sort of strategy involved I think. That said, if you want to avoid deciding yourself...let the RPers take control of a gym leader and gym related things and such if they wish.

You could be the official referee in a fight if something gets out of control, but your the GM...you're supposed to do that. You'd remain totally unbiased, since you're not playing the gym leader or the challenger.

The problem with that though, as the persons trainer charcater who's challenging the gym will essentially be fighting themselves. Dunno what to do with that, though, except for maybe have someone else assume control of the gym leader perhaps.

I think I'd prefer to start off solo or in small groups/pairs and have characters meet up through the RP. Honestly, I'm cool with whatever everyone else decides.

I'm not sure what to do with the battle system for gyms etc. I'd like for it to allow some sort of creativity and strategy if possible, since I don't like the idea of gym battles consisting of just hitting each other until one side falls down. If using rolls would allow for that, then I'm happy to go with it.

@Lasrever

Yep, I'm all for creative strategies trumping just spamming Close Combat or Hyper Beam until you win. I don't think rolls would allow that myself, but eh...

[Whimsley]

Feel free to contend with these points, but these are answers that I’ve formulated so far:

- How will move learning be integrated?

I like these ideas y’all are putting forward. I’m going to use Rune’s idea of inherent HMs: a water Pokémon likely knows Surf, a flying Pokémon knows Fly, and any Pokémon that is arguably strong will know Strength (not just Fighting Pokémon). Furthermore, Cut can be used by Pokémon with claws, talons, etc. and Flash by electricity-using Pokémon. If you can argue a sensible reason why your Pokémon can utilize an HM, I’ll let you have it. That being said, there are moves known by Pokémon in the game that I’m not allowing, such as Nidoking using Surf. That’s stupid.

TMs can be bought as discs and used as “memory download” devices as Unknowable suggested by inserting them into the Pokédex. Special TM moves can be learned and/or taught by gym leaders and influential trainers. That being said, one might be able to have a powerful trainer teach their Pokémon “Thunderbolt” rather than having to buy the expensive TM.

- How are wild Pokémon encounters established?

There will be a set list of Pokémon for each route, however the list will not be known. Trainers can learn what Pokémon are on each route by experiencing it for themselves or asking around the local area. If a Pokémon is known to be on the route, a trainer is completely able to seek that Pokémon freely and as many times as they wish. There will be rarer Pokémon to be encountered on some routes, and they will be known by few if any locals. There will be one or two to a route, but not every route will have a rare Pokémon. Special circumstances will need to be met to encounter these rare Pokémon.

- Should there be a set system in place for leveling, evolving, travel, food, and/or other elements within the Pokémon universe?

I will not require players to eat and keep track of hunger. Each route will involve a set amount encounters if travelled through, which range from wild Pokémon encounters to trainer battles and random events. Each route will have a different amount of encounters depending on its size. The size will be known before entry.

Side note: I need to start making a map… that’d make it much easier.

I will keep track of experience, no need to worry. This way, a player is kept blind to when a Pokémon is to evolve, and it will be that much more exciting when it occurs. This will also take away a lot of the maintenance of making a post. I’ll likely create a custom leveling path so evolution can’t be predicted from source. I will ask, though, that players keep track of their Pokémon and their condition (SLP, FRZ, BRN, FAINTED, etc.) in the subheading of their posts.

- How likely is it to encounter a legendary Pokémon? How much involvement should they have?

At the moment, legendries will make very minor appearances throughout the story. Only the most wise of individuals will know where these Pokémon might lie waiting.

- Should posts be kept to low, mid, or high casual standards?

High casual sounds best to me as well. If people aren’t able to post daily, I will ask you at least post once every other day, no less. I say this because too many threads I’ve been in have died at the 3-day mark. One warning will be followed by suspension from the RP.

- How much group interaction are people wanting to experience? Solitary travel, intermittent interactions with other solo travelers, or all group travel?

This one becomes a bit difficult to answer, as I see mixed interest for this. I would propose travelling in two groups of 2 or as one group. If everyone has their heart set on travelling alone, I may need help in GMing this. I don’t mind having a co-GM, it’s just the matter of finding one.

- How involved should the Elite Four and the Pokémon League Champion be in the world?

You may see certain, powerful trainers in towns you’re in, and some of they just might be of the Elite Four. Their identities are kept anonymous, however, so as to protect them for certain plot reasons. The true Elite Four will only be revealed by obtaining all badges and challenging them at the end of the League.

- How realistic should this RP be?

Modern realism it is, save for the not being required to eat stipulation. I will integrate day and night cycles into the game, so sleeping is recommended (though some Pokémon can only be caught at certain times).

- How closely should we adhere to the games? Will there be turn-based combat, can Pokémon only learn four moves, do you have to require badges to travel on to future areas, etc.

Since I’m keeping track of levels, I’ll also inform you when your Pokémon have learned certain moves. Again, this will not be off of source so as to keep the level and stage of evolution anonymous.

Moves will not be limited to a set of four, and combat will not be taken in turn. Multiple moves may be used in sequence in order to make room for creativity, and utilization of the environment is encouraged. Again, I’ll keep track of what moves your Pokémon do and do not know, but I encourage you do the same.

Badges are not required unless attempting to access restricted areas, such as high-skill facilities and the Elite Four.

- A huge question: do Pokémon faint, or do they die?

Intent to kill must be made apparent in the post, and is possible. Though, most trainers will not do this. Killing another trainer’s Pokémon is considered a criminal act and authorities will take proper action. A kill shot can only be made by a much higher level Pokémon, and/or if the assaulted Pokémon is very weak or fainted.

Oh, and Explosion and movies alike to it will not result in the death of the Pokémon.

- Gym battles? Oh boy…

Alright. If the party is opposed to dice rolls, I will not implement them. HOWEVER: I will not make it known what level the gym’s Pokémon are at. Creativity, utilization of environment, and sometimes luck are required to defeat a gym battle. And even then, victory is not guaranteed. I will also take weaknesses/type advantage, environmental advantage, and critical hits into consideration.

Oh, and a Pokémon may not switch out in the middle of combat. Switching out in this manner would be grounds for disqualification. Fights, or rounds, must come to an end before a switch is made. This is to avoid constant type advantage and an infinite cycle of switching to gain an edge.

And yes, spamming powerful moves will always lose to combination attacks or quick thinking.

If there are any more questions, let me know! I’ll be working on the OOC right after dinner, with character sheet and plot introduction included. Everyone that’s shown interest will be tagged upon creation. I’m looking forward to this story, and hope you all are as well!

[Rune_Alchemist]

Everything looks more or less awesome to me. No complaints or questions here~

[Whimsley]

@Rune_Alchemist @Lasrever @sMoKe @TheUnknowable @A Tattooed Girl

The OOC is up! Feel free to begin working on your characters. I am allowing a maximum of six players to enter, and will choose the best CS provided if there are more than six given.

Pokémon: One

[Carlsberg]

hmm, potentially interested.

[Whimsley]

Feel free to check out the OOC, @Carlsberg. Currently there's no CS submitted yet.