Idea A Pokemon RP that encompasses everything?

[CallmeMyth]

Hello everyone,

So recently I've been thinking of creating a Pokemon RP. I know there are tons of Pokemon related RPs on the site, and some of you guys who are reading this may wonder how mine would be different from the numerous other RPs out there.

I'm gonna be honest with you guys and say that I know some of you might even feel like we don't need another Pokemon RP on the site because the concept has already been tried so many times before. Sometimes with success, but also sometimes with failure. In fact, I had a previous Pokemon RP myself, which died a few years ago.

I intend to make a Pokemon RP that is different from my last one. I want to make an RP that is well thought out but isn't too complicated like my previous one. If you guys will bear with me through this lengthy post, I'll explain my ideas in further detail with you all.

First of all, I want to make a Pokemon RP that would be inviting for everybody. An RP that has something in it for everyone. It would be different from other RPs on the site because I would do my best to make it enjoyable for all the Pokemon fans on the site who enjoy different types of roleplays. How would I achieve this? Well, from what I've seen most Pokemon RPs are free verse. But there are some people, myself included, who also enjoy some sort of battle system in their RP. Most Pokemon RPs are casual from what I've seen. I don't mind people who enjoy casual writing. Detailed writing is enjoyable to read, but I know a detailed RP can be difficult for some RPers to handle because of the amount of thought you have to put into each post, which can sometimes slow down the progress of the RP because a lot of RPers suffer from writers block. I have suffered from this frequently in the past, as well. I'll be honest and say I don't like simple RPs with one liners, but if that's how some people prefer to RP I am open to the idea. As long as the people who are into simple RPs are using good grammar, are making an effort to reply to each other, and have a decent plot going with frequent posts, I have no issue with it. As long as you're doing your best, that's all I ask. My RP would be mostly casual writing, but all writing styles would be accepted as long as people are putting forth effort into their plotlines and characters.

As I mentioned before, I enjoy having some type of battle system in my RPs. The reason is because the Pokemon universe is centered on battling. And we all know how difficult it can be to judge a battle where two RPers have a back and forth where one person posts, the other person responds, until someone makes a mistake. How do you judge who wins the fight in that case? That's the reason I would like to include some sort of battle system. I don't want it to be too complicated, mainly because I want to focus on the writing aspect of the RP, and also because a lot of RPers tend to get annoyed with complicated battle systems. My idea was that I would be the judge of all battles, but I would have people use the damage calculator on Pokemon Showdown to help them get a general idea of how much damage their Pokemon would be doing to their opponent. Of course, for people who have never played Pokemon Showdown, explaining how to do this might seem too complicated, but I would do my very best to help anyone who does not understand how the damage calculator works. Of course, at the end of the day the outcome of Pokemon battles would still be judged by me based on how well I feel you did in the battle. So in that regard, the damage calculator will be used more or less to give you help, rather than being the absolute determining factor of who wins and who doesn't.

Next I'd like to talk about plot. Some people enjoy a more traditional Pokemon plot, focused on friendship and defeating gyms and whatnot. Others prefer a darker setting, which the Pokemon games hint at but usually don't go into much detail about. In my RP, you would be free to detail how Pokemon eat each other if you want to. I don't want people to go too in depth with dark subject material, but if that's what you find cool I don't mind if you take a more mature approach to your writing. Sexual content would obviously not be allowed, but you can still have romance between characters and light interactions (like your characters kiss each other because they love each other) if you want, as long as you describe it in a way that would not be against forum rules or be too graphic. So basically, don't describe in detail how your character's mom tongued it out with professor Oak. (Lol it's just a joke.)

As for the setting, I know some people prefer Pokemon RPs that take place in a made up region. Most people (from what I've seen) prefer Pokemon RPs that take place in a currently existing region. I would prefer my RP to take place in a currently existing region/regions, but I am open to other suggestions as well.

As for how often you guys would be expected to post in my RP, that would vary depending on the person. I know people have lives, and personally I have been very busy myself lately. There will not be a specific "schedule" in my RP that you have to meet. Of course, if you are writing one liners, you will be expected to make more posts than someone who is writing detailed posts. I will pay attention to how much effort you guys are putting forward in the RP. I hope this doesn't seen unreasonable. After all, if you are not willing to make posts regularly or put in effort, why would you join an RP? Again, you would not be confined to a schedule, so this would vary from person to person. Communication with me and your fellow RPers would be key in my RP. If you join the RP but then one day you become uninterested, let me and everyone else know that you have lost interest and you can drop out. It is very simple and nobody will make you feel pressured into staying. If you haven't made a post in a while and the person you're in a conversation with asks "when will you be able to reply to our conversation?" I expect you guys to be open with your fellow RPers and say "I've been busy recently." If you don't have an excuse and you just don't feel like it at the moment, let people know! If you're currently playing that new game you got, and you don't wanna reply at the moment, that's ok! Just tell someone so they aren't wondering where you are. Of course, I want all of you guys to be fair to each other. If you haven't made a post in a while and you just don't feel like it, do your fellow RP member a favor and get off your butt and make a post so that they aren't stuck in a conversation with you for days or weeks. At the end of the day though, different people have different posting speeds and different lives, so situations like these are going to happen. So if you guys find yourself in one of these situations and your partner is just being lazy, just be flexible! Pretend like your conversation never happened, write a post basically saying "ok, good talk." And walk away. Do whatever you gotta do. JUST MOVE ON. It's not difficult guys, you can do it. If the RP hasn't moved in a while and it starts to die, as GM I will obviously come in and move the RP traffic jam along myself, so it will never be a problem.

Now that I'm coming to the end of my explanation, I want to say that I know I said that I don't want the RP to be too complicated and I know I've covered a lot of stuff here, but in the end it's all gonna be really simple but at the same time it will be very well thought out. And if there's anything else I haven't mentioned that you guys would like me to explain, or if you guys have any suggestions, please feel free to comment.

 

[CallmeMyth]

For anyone reading this who has a Pokemon RP already, I want you guys to know that I am not making this RP because of something any other RP is lacking. I am making this RP as a way to hopefully bring everyone together. But of course, I am not trying to take away from other people's RPs. If you like my idea and want to join, ok! If you like the other Pokemon RP you're in and you don't wanna join mine, that's perfectly ok!

I could really use some help with this RP as well. As I mentioned in the OP, I have been very busy recently and I had to take a hiatus from an RP I was in that I really enjoyed. My computer is also horrible so most of the time I am confined to making posts on my phone. If you would like to help me with the RP, or if you have any ideas for it, it would be much appreciated!

I also would not mind joining other people's RPs, as long as I would be able to keep up with them because of my currently busy schedule.

 

[Noivian]

The idea is good in theory, but quite difficult to actually execute, and execute well. There's already quite a few problems that I can see with this approach.

One, maintaining player interest. If there's no definitive plot, and characters aren't developed enough to have their own goals and aspirations, then your players are going to drop out like flies. Maintaining some semblance of a plot that isn't character-driven is paramount to keeping an rp alive on RPN. So if you're just basically making a sandbox rp and anyone can be whoever they want, well, where's the conflict? What's the point of playing in this world, if there's no game?

Two, stating you want a combat system and then deciding said system is "I'll decide every time." Humans are full of errors and biases, and if a certain player looses too many times, they might want to start up drama and claim you to be an unfair gm. That'll probably lead to them getting kicked. One less rper. Possibly more if there's an ugly argument. A simple dice system isn't too hard to come up with - take the basic level system present in Pokemon Tabletop and make it a stat. When two people or Pokemon do combat, instead of deciding who wins by your own opinion, roll on the levels instead. Say player 1 has a level 5 Mudkip, and player 2 has a level 7 Audino who are fighting. Add the levels, and roll a virtual dice with that many sides. 1-5 means the Mudkip wins the battle, and 6-12 means the Audino wins. Whatever was rolled could then potentially be a starting point to add bonuses on either side and move the result like a slider up and down (for things like type match ups and the like). It's not that difficult to make a simple stat-based coin toss.

Three, you're forgetting the large portion of the Pokemon community that does strictly Mystery Dungeon, in a world where regions aren't a thing and humans don't exist. How do you intend to incorporate them? How about Gijinkas?

Four, what if someone wants to play as a Legendary Pokemon? Or incorporate headcannon that affects potentially other characters, the world, pretty much everything? There's got to be a limit somewhere. It's uncanny to have a Magikarp survive on land flopping about with one trainer, more or less fine out of water, while another trainer nearby takes a realistic approach and has their Magikarp start dying on dry land like a real fish. There's got to be some base rules in the lore that keeps continuity in the universe, or else you're going to wind up with troll rpers who come in and attempt to break your game by having some sort of "chosen one" magic discolored Lucario with the power of Arceus.

Overall, this seems very promising, if not a little underdeveloped. Hopefully my questions will help extrapolate on this idea more.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I agree with Noivan about all of their suggestions but as someone who isn't familiar with pokemon I thought
I'd add a few more

1. If you want your roleplay to be open to people who aren't familiar with pokemon you're going to have to provide some world-building information. What kind of pokemon are available in this world, how you can catch/find them, what you can do with the pokemon, how battling works ( both the battle system and just the battles themselves ) , and as Noivan explained an over-arching plot.

2. Posting. Gonna be honest what you described is not going to work. Mostly because you already said your busy and in order for that system to be effective you'd have to be VERY present and willing to talk to each individual player in you're roleplay pretty much constantly about their posting.

Which is honestly giving yourself a lot more work and headache than you need.

What I think you should do though is ask all you're players at the start - What time zone are you in and when can you post? Then divide them up into posting groups where people that will be available to post at the same time are grouped together. Each group having a specific time when they are posting.

So Group A posts Monday thru Thursday, Group B posting Friday thru Sunday. Also if you get an over-arching plot assign week long scenes - Ex. This Week We're Catching Wild Pokemon @ X Location. Or whatever.

 

[QuirkyAngel]

I'm replying to this because I'm running a pretty sandbox-y pokemon rp myself. Rather, than a complete open world though, I'm trying to emulate a pokemon journey in a school life style. I'm letting players wander the school (island), catching their team, then ultimately participate in gym battles, coordinator contests, make friends, play in the plot, do homework events, or whatever they want (so long as it's within the rules). If they want to make a lone wolf character whose primary goal in joining the school is to search for a legendary pokemon, all for them. If they want to join the Zapdos dorm and make themselves the first gijinka through whatever science method they come up with, go for it. The school is very big in my mind and will acommadate various ways of interacting with pokemon whether it's becoming the best pokemon chef in the world to becoming an elite four member.

The reason I can safely do that is that every battle (whether pokemon or otherwise) is done through dice roll. No exceptions. It's a really simple system that basically equates to the higher roll wins. Battling is important in the pokemon world, but tbh, I don't really care for back and forth posts where characters are punching each other. So long as winners can be decided quickly, and fairly, players can write and make their battles as epic (or not) IC as they want. Everyone starts with the same dice. The same amount of hp. As they continue their character's journey through the school, they gain points by catching pokemon, battling, or just plain posting -- points which can be used to modify their die and increase their chance of winning battles.

How I've decided to regulate post length is through a simple system. Points are awarded based on the length of posts. I've put no post limit because I understand that sometimes one-liners are necessary to move interaction forward and some people just want to enjoy the rp without worrying about length. But at the same time, I don't want people who take their time posting, who contribute more to the rp's world, to feel that their efforts are meaningless. Therefore I've made it so every post IC is worth 1 points for one para, 2 points for 2 para, and 5 points for a 3+ para post. 3 para seems like a nice standard and whether the player writes 3 paras or 3 pages, they'd still just get five points, so the not-so-lengthy writers don't feel they have to write gi-ganta posts to be a part of the rp.

If they want their characters to be strong in the rp, pokemon masters or whatever, they're going to have to work for it. 3 paragraphs, no double posting. Or actively participate in events like gym battles, contests, etc. That's the only way I'd feel they deserve to have an over-powered, broken character. If they don't care about battles and just want to have fun rping, interacting with others players that's fine too^^School life rps are mostly character driven, which is why I've emphasized future goals and reasons for joining the school in the character sheets. This rp (like many other rps) is dependent on player activity, so I give lots of incentive to post and whether players buy into the incentives is up to them. I can no more force players to develop their characters and gain points anymore than I force them to post or interact with each other (which is the whole point of school life. Fun interactions).

I guess what I'm trying to say is an open world setting requires strict rules to not fall into chaos. That way you can ensure fairness.

All of Noivian 's points are completely valid. The difficulty I suffer most in running a sandbox-y rp is maintaining interest and ensuring player activity. There's also the hard part of keeping everything organized into a coherent episode when players are off doing whatever they want. I want players to help me expand the setting, make it a school they enjoy posting for, and love posting for their character with the knowledge that they are building one from scratch. I want to let players rp they way they want to rp (same as you). Yet sandbox rps have huge risks of collapse when there's no structure. Hence my choice of a school setting (with teachers and rules) =)

Balance is the key.

If you want to make this sort of rp, I say go for it, but don't take it personally if the rp falls apart. Know that the type of rp you're trying to run is very difficult and don't expect perfection (since it's through my experience that players have lots of ways throwing you off guard when left to their imagination). Experiment a bit to see what players like and don't like. Then start another one if you've got the courage.

 

[CallmeMyth]

The idea is good in theory, but quite difficult to actually execute, and execute well. There's already quite a few problems that I can see with this approach.

I completely agree. The concept I have in mind is something I've been wanting to incorporate in one of my RPs for a very long time, but I know it is very difficult to pull off, and that's why I haven't seen an RP so far that has attempted to do it. But I'm willing to give it a shot. I know there's a higher possibility of it failing than it succeeding, but luckily I'm not the type of person to cave under the weight of odds that are stacked against me. My currently busy schedule would be the only reason this RP might fail or worse, the idea never gets off the ground. It would require an active GM to keep running, and that's why I'd prefer to have someone helping me with this.

One, maintaining player interest. If there's no definitive plot, and characters aren't developed enough to have their own goals and aspirations, then your players are going to drop out like flies. Maintaining some semblance of a plot that isn't character-driven is paramount to keeping an rp alive on RPN. So if you're just basically making a sandbox rp and anyone can be whoever they want, well, where's the conflict? What's the point of playing in this world, if there's no game?

While the concept of the RP is very similar to a sandbox style, there would definitely be an overall plot for RPers to get involved with. I am still in the process of coming up with plot ideas, and I am open to any ideas other people may have. If anyone is interested in the concept of my RP and they'd like to help me come up with ideas, by all means PM me or make a comment detailing some of your ideas!

Two, stating you want a combat system and then deciding said system is "I'll decide every time." Humans are full of errors and biases, and if a certain player looses too many times, they might want to start up drama and claim you to be an unfair gm. That'll probably lead to them getting kicked. One less rper. Possibly more if there's an ugly argument. A simple dice system isn't too hard to come up with - take the basic level system present in Pokemon Tabletop and make it a stat. When two people or Pokemon do combat, instead of deciding who wins by your own opinion, roll on the levels instead. Say player 1 has a level 5 Mudkip, and player 2 has a level 7 Audino who are fighting. Add the levels, and roll a virtual dice with that many sides. 1-5 means the Mudkip wins the battle, and 6-12 means the Audino wins. Whatever was rolled could then potentially be a starting point to add bonuses on either side and move the result like a slider up and down (for things like type match ups and the like). It's not that difficult to make a simple stat-based coin toss.

The damage calculator would be the main determining factor in who wins battles and who doesn't. I might have caused a bit of confusion when I tried to explain how the battle system would work, so Ill go into further detail. In Pokemon, the game is largely about chance. Even with a damage calculator, there's always a "chance" for a two-hit KO, etc. Sometimes it's guaranteed, but other times it's not. This would obviously be reflected in battles between RPers. I would read over battles very carefully, checking for mistakes people may have made, and making sure people aren't trying any shenanigans. This is what I meant by "the damage calculator won't be the absolute determining factor of who wins and who doesn't." Of course, when I look over people's battles, I will check the damage calculator to make sure that their attacks would do as much damage to their opponent as they should, but at the end of the day it's an RP and not a game. There are going to be times when the damage calculator wont be able to decide who wins because of percentages and chance, and that's when Ill have to step in and be the judge. I want to use the damage calculator on Pokemon showdown mainly because there are lots of abilities and moves in the Pokemon games that can't be converted to a dice RP mechanic. Take weather moves for example. Like Sandstorm or Hail. And Pokemon that have abilities that trigger different types of weather like Sandstream or Snow Warning. Weather moves cause chip damage each turn. Of course, in a dice RP I could simply overlook those moves and abilities. But that means I would be leaving out a large portion of the game's mechanics, and in some cases I'd be getting rid of a Pokemon's only ability because it doesn't fit in an RP setting. I'm sure if I really tried I could create a dice mechanic that would take these types of moves and abilities into consideration, but that would take a ton of effort and it would be way too complicated. I'd be better off just using the damage calculator. xD

Three, you're forgetting the large portion of the Pokemon community that does strictly Mystery Dungeon, in a world where regions aren't a thing and humans don't exist. How do you intend to incorporate them? How about Gijinkas?

I'm so happy that you thought to ask me about RPers who like Mystery Dungeon RPs. One of my plans for this RP was going to be allowing players to actually "be" a Pokemon, if they want to be. Of course, since trainers exist in this world, you'd have to understand the possibilities of getting captured by other players. This could be very fun though, if people who are playing the trainer and people who are playing the Pokemon are working together in their posts. The only issue I could see arising with this idea would be if a person stops RPing, leaving someone without a Pokemon or without a trainer. Of course, since I would be allowing RPers to roleplay a more realistic darker setting, perhaps that person's trainer left them? Or their Pokemon died or got lost. There's all kinds of ways that people could get creative and turn a bad situation into an interesting plot development.

As for Gijinkas, I don't think those would be in this RP. I hope that allowing players to be a Pokemon would give people who like Gijinkas satisfaction, but if not I'll continue to explore ways I could make those types of people happy in the RP.

Four, what if someone wants to play as a Legendary Pokemon? Or incorporate headcannon that affects potentially other characters, the world, pretty much everything? There's got to be a limit somewhere. It's uncanny to have a Magikarp survive on land flopping about with one trainer, more or less fine out of water, while another trainer nearby takes a realistic approach and has their Magikarp start dying on dry land like a real fish. There's got to be some base rules in the lore that keeps continuity in the universe, or else you're going to wind up with troll rpers who come in and attempt to break your game by having some sort of "chosen one" magic discolored Lucario with the power of Arceus.

This is a very good question. And one I'm glad you asked. People would not be allowed to be a legendary Pokemon within the RP. I know I have to draw the line somewhere, and this is one place I'd be forced to draw it. Legendary Pokemon are too powerful and too hard to capture to fit into the type of RP setting I have in mind, so unfortunately I'd have to reserve legendaries as special boss fights within the plot or something along those lines. Also, players would not be allowed to come up with ideas that would affect the overall plot, without first coming to me and asking if their idea would be ok to incorporate into the headcanon of the RP.

As for the clash between realism and the traditional Pokemon setting, I would expect players to be reasonable within the RP. If you are in a battle with someone who has a magikarp that is flopping around on the beach, don't try to say that their magikarp is suffocating to death or that yours is suffocating while theirs is perfectly fine. Try to find a mid ground somewhere, guys. An RP is a collaborative story between players. All fish can survive out of water for a short period, and Pokemon can survive situations that would kill normal animals. RPers would need to be aware of this, and be smart with their writing. If something sounds stupid I'm probably gonna just ask you to change it, that simple. Haha