baggysack
owner of the bag
For my first game, I was set on making this impression with a super-serious, psych-horror adventure story and I was planning out a bunch of research... but my heart wasn’t into it. I just want a dumb-ass Pokemon anime game. So here it is.
Project Poffin is a Pokemon roleplay set in an alternate universe of late-80's Japan where a Pokemon League never took off; where trainers and coordinators are one in the same, competing for that elusive title of Top Coordinator. The finished game will draw from the games, anime, and even the novel for world-building and feature a character-driven spirit. General knowledge of the franchise and its different Pokemon are the only other things required to join. You start having worked your way up through low-bar Contest Spectaculars before being discovered and ultimately sponsored by an idol agency. Now, you enter the wider world of Pokemon coordination, the real world: magical and dramatic and cutthroat. Being the best is more than just contests. You're a public figure now, and if you don't know that now, your agency will work you 'til you do!
Right now, the project can head in one of two directions:
In the games, contests were mini-games where you used a Pokemon's moves to appeal to a judging panel while disrupting NPCs. In the anime, contests were treated as an equal alternative to the Pokemon gym challenge -- instead of winning badges, you won Ribbons; instead of concentrating on knocking out other Pokemon, the point was to apply moves in cool, creative ways. This means they could excel outside of basic Pokemon training, say combine two Pokemon moves together.
Project Poffin pulls from both the games and the show while streamlining things for the sake of creativity. Moves won't have "contest categories," but contest categories will still exist as a way to evaluate performances. Pokemon won't be limited by arbitrary mechanics outside of what type they are and what moves they can learn and even the latter is pretty flexible.
Why contests? Why not just battles?
Right now, I need to work on the immediate setting of the game, plus a supporting cast. I also need to finalize a few mechanics to track character progression and smooth out the actual contest parts of the roleplay. But what I need most of all is some fucking support, otherwise I'm gonna sit on this forever and nothing will happen with it.
The game will support multiple player-characters whether big or small, but I'm treating this check like a partner-finder (for multiple partners, or however many are interested.) I'm looking for people to compare ideas with, receive feedback from, brainstorm with, even potentially help lead the game. Specifically, I'm looking for people who:
And of course, if you have any questions or concerns, if you want to help out, let me know here, too!
Project Poffin is a Pokemon roleplay set in an alternate universe of late-80's Japan where a Pokemon League never took off; where trainers and coordinators are one in the same, competing for that elusive title of Top Coordinator. The finished game will draw from the games, anime, and even the novel for world-building and feature a character-driven spirit. General knowledge of the franchise and its different Pokemon are the only other things required to join. You start having worked your way up through low-bar Contest Spectaculars before being discovered and ultimately sponsored by an idol agency. Now, you enter the wider world of Pokemon coordination, the real world: magical and dramatic and cutthroat. Being the best is more than just contests. You're a public figure now, and if you don't know that now, your agency will work you 'til you do!
Right now, the project can head in one of two directions:
- A big [8-10] semi-sandbox game where characters participate in contests, leading up to a final Grand Festival. Characters are given different objectives by their agency within individual sections of the world. Each section revolves around a different contest event.
- A small [2-4] GM-led game where characters end up part of the same idol group or performers' troupe and who travel the region together.
- ...or just the first one with less people. I dunno.
In the games, contests were mini-games where you used a Pokemon's moves to appeal to a judging panel while disrupting NPCs. In the anime, contests were treated as an equal alternative to the Pokemon gym challenge -- instead of winning badges, you won Ribbons; instead of concentrating on knocking out other Pokemon, the point was to apply moves in cool, creative ways. This means they could excel outside of basic Pokemon training, say combine two Pokemon moves together.
Project Poffin pulls from both the games and the show while streamlining things for the sake of creativity. Moves won't have "contest categories," but contest categories will still exist as a way to evaluate performances. Pokemon won't be limited by arbitrary mechanics outside of what type they are and what moves they can learn and even the latter is pretty flexible.
Why contests? Why not just battles?
- Contests are creative! Any move and any Pokemon (except maybe the ones that can stop time) can be an asset for your character. The only limit is your creativity and storytelling capabilities. So while you will be competing against other players, both directly and indirectly, you're going to be rewarded for what you put out, not just your understanding of arbitrary video game mechanics. It's an entire roleplay based on Rule of Cool!
- Contests make Pokemon matter! This won't be a roleplay about a character amassing a big army of fan-favorites. Instead, you get to actually develop the little guys and give them personality. It will keep the game from feeling too much like the games: it'll feel like a story. And if you like giving Pokemon characters thematic teams and plotting them out, goddamn, you'll love this.
- Contests are dramatic! If you lose a gym battle, you go out and train some more, come back, and beat it. If you lose a contest... you lose a contest. Try again next season. Higher stakes mean more tension, mean stronger character motivations, mean stronger characters.
- ...have you seen the contests? They're pretty heat, most of the time.
Right now, I need to work on the immediate setting of the game, plus a supporting cast. I also need to finalize a few mechanics to track character progression and smooth out the actual contest parts of the roleplay. But what I need most of all is some fucking support, otherwise I'm gonna sit on this forever and nothing will happen with it.
The game will support multiple player-characters whether big or small, but I'm treating this check like a partner-finder (for multiple partners, or however many are interested.) I'm looking for people to compare ideas with, receive feedback from, brainstorm with, even potentially help lead the game. Specifically, I'm looking for people who:
- Can take initiative; can respond to ideas.
- Treat roleplaying like creative writing, which doesn't mean you "take it seriously," because I definitely don't give a shit. But who can separate characters from themselves and who like telling stories.
- Aren't huge stickers for le Pokemon canon. I've always taken Pokemon to be a pretty blank slate, anyway, which is why, so far, I've been pulling from sources with the coolest ideas to me, not just the "right ones."
And of course, if you have any questions or concerns, if you want to help out, let me know here, too!
