Fandom Digimon Story: Calculated Corruption OOC

[Sir Les Paul]

Calculated

Corruption

A Digimon

Story

check it out - oh the larceny

OUT OF CHARACTER

The official OOC for the game! I don't normally keep a super active OOC on RpN, but if it pops off, so be it! I'll be working on enough lore so you can confidently make characters, then a character sheet section.

With that said, I do often use Discord for faster communication. This is purely optional, but I have one for almost all my other games. For this game, you can find it here:

Discord Link​

With that said, I would like some feedback from everyone interested!

I almost never require a specific post or character format, but would you be interested in a post template? If so, would you like it relatively simple or fancy? (do keep in mind you can always use your own)

Here is a good example of a post template I made for a different game.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Alright, guys, I've got the basic lore up and a character sheet page up. Discord Link is maaaade... so I guess what we need is some time for everyone to cook.

Ask questions wherever you want.

The resources I'm mostly using areeee...

Grindosaur: Your daily dose of gaming content

Grindosaur is an aspiring gaming site that features video game wikis, guides, news articles, information on collectibles, professions, grind strategies, and much more to improve your gaming experience.

www.grindosaur.com

Wikimon - The #1 Digimon Wiki

wikimon.net

DigimonWiki

The Digimon Wiki is a database covering the Digimon virtual pets, manga, and games developed by Bandai, and the anime produced by Toei.

digimon.fandom.com

And, of course, my own imagination.

Have fun! I think at minimum I'll give it a week full of bumps and reviews to see where we're at since this got a lot of traction quick.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Fandom - Digimon Story: Calculated Corruption Lore

A tasty byte of a dark Digimon story.

www.rpnation.com

This is another lore post going over some clarifications to how we'll be addressing partners and some ideas I had.

Because this is all flexible, anyone with a sheet is free to edit it right now if they want to make any changes based on this new information. And, of course, feel free to shoot me any questions!

On that note, I will offer a "review" option before I make decisions at the end of the week for anyone wanting to go through a first revision. Just PM me here or DM me on Discord and I'll provide feedback. I can't promise anything, but it never hurts.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

How goes it, guys?

 

[Merciless Medic]

 

[Pumpkid]

Gucci

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Pumpkid Merciless Medic The Regal Rper AnemoVictorious KittyTangerine Acethekidd Zufaix GamerKitty205

I don't even think this is all of you given there are ten of you in the channel, but I'm going to post this question in both places.

Preface: I have still not made any decisions. This is purely thoughts going in.

1. Who here intends on choosing to transform into a Digimon and who wants to do a partner dynamic?
2. If you want to do a partner dynamic, do you want to play the Digimon, do you want me (the GM) to play the Digimon, or do you want another player to play the Digimon?
3. If you want another player to play the Digimon, do you care who and if so do you have a friend in mind?
4. Is there anyone that wants to or otherwise would be willing to play a partner Digimon?

I'm wanting to open up a dialogue so that people are aware of their options.

 

[GamerKitty205]

My character is absolutely choosing the transforming option! Very excited to see how that get introduce in the plot :3

And I'd be willing to like, double up and play someone's digimon if they really want another player to rp them.

 

[Merciless Medic]

I also sent this into the discord but I'll put this up here too

1. Transformation
4. I dunno if I want to play as a Digimon, but I wouldn't mind if someone wants me to.

 

[The Regal Rper]

I'm going for transforming option.

I'm not as interested in playing a Digimon.

 

[KittyTangerine]

1. I would prefer a partner dymanic for my character
2. I am fine with either playing the digimon myself, or someone else playing them
3/4. If someone plays my digimon, I will play someone else's as well

 

[AnemoVictorious]

posted in the discord but i would like to go the partner option and while i'd rather not play anyone else's digimon, i'm okay with someone else playing mine and lean towards that over playing my own - though im also okay with doing so if need be.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

As promised, I'm getting around to first-line reviews today. Note here that solo route refers to players that choose to transform into their digimon, partner route is the more standard route.



Code Key of Gluttony will go to Merciless Medic with Drake Hawkins. Medic has to go the solo route. My only slight point with this character is that, as he is now, he appears more mature than 17, especially given he's been drinking since like 15.

Code Key of Sloth will go to Acethekidd , though admittedly this was a more difficult decision. While I cringe at the fact Elijah is a closet brony, when I do a compare/contrast between him and Skylar, what I see is that (at least as written) Elijah has more potential to pull into plotting and/or actually make care about something. Skylar was written to demonstrate pure apathy with the monotonous life of a rich kid. If the core driving elements of the game are to "go home" or "save the digital world", it seems a monumental task to make him care. Elijah on the other hand started out as a bright student and spark of life that slowly dwindled. As a character arc, having him rekindle that spark at least slightly and more so return to his family/friends in the real world seems more feasible. Thus, the deciding factor here was the characterization sloth in each character. Notably, Ace, I would like some additional faceclaims. Not a change of them, just one that gives me a better mental image of Elijah. Ace stated they were open to either the partner or solo dynamic, so that will be decided early in character.

Code Key of Lust will go to Pumpkid . I do have some issues I'll bring up to you directly, but no one else applied, so you win out by default. Pumpkid has chosen to go the solo route.

Code Key Wrath is on pause. While Luke is the only applicant, I don't feel his character fits the idea of Wrath (at least at present) to fit the role.

Code Key of Envy will go to GamerKitty205 . Regal, as much as I love you buddy, you yet again did the thing where you went overkill on character design. At core, Ivy deciding to live in the shadow of what she envies feels more appropriate than some dude living a glamorous lifestyle because he was jealous of his siblings. Being a signed (what I assume is rap, hip-hop, or pop)star at age fourteen is a whole vibe, but it's also a bold leap. Maron feels more like he should represent pride (which isn't playable) than envy. With that said, I don't have any major critiques of Ivy, but I do want to point out you can still choose a different Rookie if you want. GK has elected to go the solo route.

This is what I mentioned previously:

Now I will allow the additional previous forms of ShogunGekomon, Dragomon, and MegaSeadramon. This opens up quite a few more Rookies. Otamamon, Betamon are prime examples. There are more, but some do really stray from the core concept here. What this opens up for the most part is the Gekomon and Seadramon line. If someone switches from DemiDevimon, it would also open up that line via the route of IceDevimon.​

Code Key of Greed No one has applied, so... yeah. If this isn't filled, I may play it.



While I'm going through these decisions, I'm also going to go over some upcoming "functional" decisions for the game.

1. Players must choose a solo or partner route, you cannot do both. There will be no significant power difference between going solo now and a biomerge later, though this does mean that there will be a slight power buff to those going solo in the early game, but I won't make it so overwhelming that it trivializes other decisions.

2. What matters most here in regards to the core cast is who has their Code Key of Sin. If a player drops, becomes inactive, or otherwise cannot play, the simple solution will just be to bring someone in and give them said Code Key. Essentially, what I'm telling you is that while I would like to keep a core cast where decisions matter and plots build, we should never "stall out" or get locked up because of a single individual. I've seen that be problems in the past, so I tried to bake in a solution in the worst case scenario. Like they say, pray for the best, plan for the worst.

3. If someone playing a Digimon drops or a player no longer wants to play them, I will always default to controlling them. I just want to communicate this so that everyone is aware this is an option and it is a default one. You are not "pushing more onto me", this is an accepted cost of running the game on my end.

EDIT: (Thanks to KT for pointing this out), Maron was designed for Greed, not Envy, so I'll contact Regal to hash that out later. All other decisions remain the same.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Since it seems we're coming up on the game starting, I want to quickly go over power I intend to address power scaling - at least, in general.

My intention is to use a modified stat system adapted from the Cyber Sleuth games. Stats are going to end up being pretty Digimon-specific with some elements of certain species having big advantages in some fields. For example, to me, it only makes sense that a giant borderline Kaiju of a Digimon also have considerably higher brute strength. Additionally, I want the Digital World to feel somewhat like a game, but not so much that it can easily be abused. Stats are intended to add flavor to the world, not break it down into easily-abusable little chunks of content. What this also means is that, depending on your Digivolution line, previous evolutions might at times have a gimmick or stat line higher than their next form; this is an intended mechanic so that previous forms don't just become forgotten elements as they so often do.

So, without further delay, I'll go over some of the basic stats I had in mind:

Level [Lvl. XX] Digimon will have a level ranging from 1 - 99 that affects various factors of their existence, ranging from stats to move use to Digivolution lines. Levels do not reset upon Digivolution; which is a big departure from Cyber Sleuth, but is better for story-telling to keep things clean.

Experience / Data [EXP/D] A combined stat that mostly affects what will be the "level" of a Digimon, which itself will essentially be a culmination of its stats, maturity, and power. This one is straight forward, but I do want to establish that the mechanic of "absorbing data" will advance levels / grow power, much like it did in Frontier.

Health We will not be using a traditional health stat. There won't be an HP bar or points to track.

Datapool [DP] This will act as a "mana" pool for certain, more powerful abilities. The idea here is that some attacks are probably free to use whereas more powerful ones will be limited. A Datapool regenerates over time. This mechanic is meant mostly to allow me to design encounters / situations that are more complex than just spamming your most powerful ability until x target dies. Additionally, there is another mechanic to note here: if a Digimon's Datapool is entirely expended, they can tap into the Data uses for their level/experience. Some abilities can be charged or enhanced with more data, so this means there may be a time when you may strategically choose to literally expend levels to become more powerful, or at least risk it. In essence, this entire mechanic isn't meant to limit anyone (although it technically does), but to add some depth to combat.

Strength [STR] Strength is exactly what it sounds like; the intrinsic physical strength of a Digimon.

Virtual Processing Power [VP] This is the "intelligence" or "special" stat from other game systems. Whether it is borderline magical or augmenting a physical attack, VP is going to be the measure of how intense an effect it is.

Physical Defense [PD] This will be a measure of durability and toughness to direct physical damage.

Virtual Attack Firewall [VAF] This will be a measure of resistance to attacks that are related to VP. Think "special defense" if we're using other stat analogies.

Absolute Digital Potential [ADP] A "hidden" stat; one not even the characters can see like the others, but I think it's worth explaining. ADP represents the potential for a Digimon to grow and level. Up until now with the plotline, this has been set at birth. Sometimes, it remains so low Digimon never get past level 10. ADP basically creates a type of caste system where for the lifetime of the Digimon, they cannot exceed a set level and they won't know said level until they reach it. This is going to be a major part of the power dynamic in this game. Many Digivolutions and general stat increases will be locked behind levels that, for some Digimon, are impossible to achieve. In addition to that, ADP represents how much personal growth a Digimon can gain in certain stats if they choose to train them. If this were Pokemon, for example, imagine ADP affects the maximum amount of effort values a Digimon could get if they tried to strength train their whole lives. At a point, they just stop getting physically stronger. ADP dictates that point.

---

Alright, so the stat system in place is mostly about power and defense. I did not include speed, reflexes, etc. in the system here. Reason being, I don't want this to devolve into some numbers crunching game of who can go first and tracking some type of initiative. What I want this system to be is a fairly relative way of seeing "how powerful" Digimon are. Not only that, but a way to make Digimon of lower forms potentially match higher forms, thus increasing narrative flexibility. To further this logic, I will now reveal another game mechanic.

Most of the sins can only see stats as ranks: F - SSS. They only get a vague placement on them they they must learn over time. The sin of Sloth has the unique ability to see stats as their true numbers and make better calculations based on that. Additionally, the sin of Sloth can see if a Digimon is a Data, Virus, or Vaccine type as well as its primary elemental attribute. That is because the game will work on the premise that certain types do more damage to certain Digimon, though only for Virtual Attacks. Physical Attacks are "typeless" for the most part.

It's not super complicated, I assure you. At core, there are three options: hit something really hard (physical), hit something with a virtual (special attack), or hit something with a really strong attack that drains their Datapool. From there, it's just figuring out what works.

Each of the other five sins will have special, unique abilities I will reveal in time.

---

Now, the reason I bring this up now while there is still the chance to switch around forms:

Some Digimon forms will have certain higher stats just based on their form. For example, SkullGreymon is probably going to just have a higher Strength stat than WarGreymon due to the fact SkullGreymon is a giant kaiju of a mon. Where Wargreymon wins out here is that it will have far more maneuverability and attack options as well as a higher VP and Datapool. Since SkullGreymon isn't a Dramon, this would also mean the Dramon Destroyers don't do extra damage to it. Thus, there may be situations where the extra size and strength of SkullGreymon may be advantageous.

This will ultimately apply to all Digimon forms. Unique abilities, potential, or traits of a form maybe more relevant at times than the raw power of a higher form.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Alright so I started the IC, you can find it here:

Fandom - Digimon Story: Calculated Corruption

A tasty byte of a dark Digimon story.

www.rpnation.com

It is a little bit lengthy. Not all posts will be like that, but I do want everyone starting out with the same understanding of where we're at and what has happened.

Redundancy with alerts here just to make sure everyone sees. =D

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Since it seems we're coming up on the game starting, I want to quickly go over power I intend to address power scaling - at least, in general.

My intention is to use a modified stat system adapted from the Cyber Sleuth games. Stats are going to end up being pretty Digimon-specific with some elements of certain species having big advantages in some fields. For example, to me, it only makes sense that a giant borderline Kaiju of a Digimon also have considerably higher brute strength. Additionally, I want the Digital World to feel somewhat like a game, but not so much that it can easily be abused. Stats are intended to add flavor to the world, not break it down into easily-abusable little chunks of content. What this also means is that, depending on your Digivolution line, previous evolutions might at times have a gimmick or stat line higher than their next form; this is an intended mechanic so that previous forms don't just become forgotten elements as they so often do.

So, without further delay, I'll go over some of the basic stats I had in mind:

Level [Lvl. XX] Digimon will have a level ranging from 1 - 99 that affects various factors of their existence, ranging from stats to move use to Digivolution lines. Levels do not reset upon Digivolution; which is a big departure from Cyber Sleuth, but is better for story-telling to keep things clean.

Experience / Data [EXP/D] A combined stat that mostly affects what will be the "level" of a Digimon, which itself will essentially be a culmination of its stats, maturity, and power. This one is straight forward, but I do want to establish that the mechanic of "absorbing data" will advance levels / grow power, much like it did in Frontier.

Health We will not be using a traditional health stat. There won't be an HP bar or points to track.

Datapool [DP] This will act as a "mana" pool for certain, more powerful abilities. The idea here is that some attacks are probably free to use whereas more powerful ones will be limited. A Datapool regenerates over time. This mechanic is meant mostly to allow me to design encounters / situations that are more complex than just spamming your most powerful ability until x target dies. Additionally, there is another mechanic to note here: if a Digimon's Datapool is entirely expended, they can tap into the Data uses for their level/experience. Some abilities can be charged or enhanced with more data, so this means there may be a time when you may strategically choose to literally expend levels to become more powerful, or at least risk it. In essence, this entire mechanic isn't meant to limit anyone (although it technically does), but to add some depth to combat.

Strength [STR] Strength is exactly what it sounds like; the intrinsic physical strength of a Digimon.

Virtual Processing Power [VP] This is the "intelligence" or "special" stat from other game systems. Whether it is borderline magical or augmenting a physical attack, VP is going to be the measure of how intense an effect it is.

Physical Defense [PD] This will be a measure of durability and toughness to direct physical damage.

Virtual Attack Firewall [VAF] This will be a measure of resistance to attacks that are related to VP. Think "special defense" if we're using other stat analogies.

Absolute Digital Potential [ADP] A "hidden" stat; one not even the characters can see like the others, but I think it's worth explaining. ADP represents the potential for a Digimon to grow and level. Up until now with the plotline, this has been set at birth. Sometimes, it remains so low Digimon never get past level 10. ADP basically creates a type of caste system where for the lifetime of the Digimon, they cannot exceed a set level and they won't know said level until they reach it. This is going to be a major part of the power dynamic in this game. Many Digivolutions and general stat increases will be locked behind levels that, for some Digimon, are impossible to achieve. In addition to that, ADP represents how much personal growth a Digimon can gain in certain stats if they choose to train them. If this were Pokemon, for example, imagine ADP affects the maximum amount of effort values a Digimon could get if they tried to strength train their whole lives. At a point, they just stop getting physically stronger. ADP dictates that point.

---

Alright, so the stat system in place is mostly about power and defense. I did not include speed, reflexes, etc. in the system here. Reason being, I don't want this to devolve into some numbers crunching game of who can go first and tracking some type of initiative. What I want this system to be is a fairly relative way of seeing "how powerful" Digimon are. Not only that, but a way to make Digimon of lower forms potentially match higher forms, thus increasing narrative flexibility. To further this logic, I will now reveal another game mechanic.

Most of the sins can only see stats as ranks: F - SSS. They only get a vague placement on them they they must learn over time. The sin of Sloth has the unique ability to see stats as their true numbers and make better calculations based on that. Additionally, the sin of Sloth can see if a Digimon is a Data, Virus, or Vaccine type as well as its primary elemental attribute. That is because the game will work on the premise that certain types do more damage to certain Digimon, though only for Virtual Attacks. Physical Attacks are "typeless" for the most part.

It's not super complicated, I assure you. At core, there are three options: hit something really hard (physical), hit something with a virtual (special attack), or hit something with a really strong attack that drains their Datapool. From there, it's just figuring out what works.

Each of the other five sins will have special, unique abilities I will reveal in time.

---

Now, the reason I bring this up now while there is still the chance to switch around forms:

Some Digimon forms will have certain higher stats just based on their form. For example, SkullGreymon is probably going to just have a higher Strength stat than WarGreymon due to the fact SkullGreymon is a giant kaiju of a mon. Where Wargreymon wins out here is that it will have far more maneuverability and attack options as well as a higher VP and Datapool. Since SkullGreymon isn't a Dramon, this would also mean the Dramon Destroyers don't do extra damage to it. Thus, there may be situations where the extra size and strength of SkullGreymon may be advantageous.

This will ultimately apply to all Digimon forms. Unique abilities, potential, or traits of a form maybe more relevant at times than the raw power of a higher form.

I'm going to list a reply to this here further fleshing out how stats work, but it will mostly be for my reference so that I remain consistent. It's not necessary reading unless you want to understand the mechanics.

Leveling will work from level 1-100 and will use the fluctuating level-up curve from Pokemon. This is so I can actually track it for appropriate levels without melting my brain trying to do some weird exponential value system. EXP/Data received will be proportionate between the level of area/zone/Digimon it comes from and the recipient Digimon. This is to reward taking down stronger or at least equally-powerful targets; we don't want a South Park WoW montage of you guys just farming boars. Training will be more of a milestone reward system.

As mentioned above, the stats are ranked from F - SSS. I'm using an adapted version of the Cyber Sleuth stat system for this with each rank representing 25 points of "base stat total", so for example, F would be something with a BST of 1 - 25, E would be 26 - 50, so on and so forth. This is meant to be a closed system with 254 being the maximum integer for a stat, thus requiring SSS to even be near it. The other important factor: the F - SSS system only references the BST, not the actual stat value. The actual stat value will be affected by level. After some backwards math, the way this will be calculated out is each level is a two-percent multiplier for the BST. Essentially, at level 50, actual stat values will be double the BST and at level 100, they will be triple. This all isn't super relevant and I don't want this to become a numbers calculating game even though I've designed a system for it. That's why the system is simplified as level and the F - SSS marker. Instead of worrying about math, all you need to concern yourselves with is the relative level and stat rank.

As an aside, stats can have a + in them to mark the important stats for a Digimon. Wizardmon gets a + in VP because he's essentially a spellcaster/mage. It's a flavor thing.

We will use the general trifecta of vaccine - data - virus in some cases and elemental weaknesses will apply where appropriate, but I'm not super fixated on balancing the game around min-maxing for hat beautiful 3x multiplier you get from hitting Virus into Data with a Water attribute into Fire. That's fun in Cyber Sleuth, perhaps not so much in a text-based RP. Think of this more of a soft-system than a hard system then.

Which leads me to my final point for anyone actually reading this: I am adapting a lot of "hard systems" from video games into "soft systems" for the sake of writing, but still trying to present them as "hard systems" for the game to follow. I am truly not expecting anyone to sincerely go through and calculate the power of attacks down to a t, but I do want it to feel good and appropriate narratively when you come up with a strategy that works really well or hit with a move that's "super effective." The reason that I went through the effort of creating this framework stat system is so that, over time, I don't get caught up in portraying something poorly that breaks your immersion or ruins some fun.