Post by JPThunda on Jul 27, 2016 0:42:22 GMT
The Orange Archipelago! A tropical paradise packed with sun, sand, surf...and pokemon! This vacation destination isn't just for tourists, however! The Orange Isles are home to the Orange Crew, an elite group of eight Gym Leaders that make up the governing body of the Pokemon League in the Orange Isles--the Orange League. Led by Drake, Orange League Champion, the Orange Isles have known peace and prosperity for many years...but storm clouds may be brewing on the horizon. As a new group of trainers sets out on their first Pokemon Journey from Professor Ivy’s Lab on Valencia Island, what does the future hold in store for them? What adventures lie in store...across the Orange Isles?
Hey everyone, and welcome! I'm JPThunda, and this is “Three Tickets to Paradise: Adventures in the Orange Isles”! I'm launching a gym crawl across a near future version of the Orange Isles from the anime. For those of you unfamiliar with the Orange Isles, the region is an Archipelago, a group of many small islands, South of Kanto and Johto. It has a tropical climate and is a premier vacation destination, drawing in tourists and cruise ships from the world over. Not only that, it also hosts the Orange Crew, a group of four Gym Leaders specializing in non-traditional Gym Challenges to test trainers and their pokemon. As this is near future, I have expanded from four gyms to eight, meaning four brand new gyms for you to challenge, and there are numerous other points of interest to visit and challenge!
This will be a fairly standard gym crawl. I'm not going to pull the rug out from underneath ya and suddenly change setting, tone, and tenor. There will be some unique challenges, but I'm not going to tell you what those are! You'll just have to wait and see.
So without further ado, let's get right down to the brass tacks.
I'm looking for 3 players (MAXIMUM 4) to participate in this Orange League romp. Trainers will begin at Level 1 with 5000 starting cash, five pokeballs, and one potion. Core Book + Game of Throhs are both open for character creation, but if you choose a combat or supernatural or elementalist class you must justify it. How did you get your powers? Why you? How do they effect your character, and so on. DPDOM features and edges for Jailbreaking and Vehicles are allowed as well, so if you want to fly an airplane get a boat for the party, that opportunity will provided for you. B&D is banned at character creation, but I reserve the right to dig into this later. GM's prerogative.
Additionally all Playtest rules are in effect.
Player characters should range in age from 12-15 years old. This is a soft range If you really want a 10 year old or an 18 year old, and you feel you can justify it to me, I will seriously consider it. Also, in your Trainer backstory, please make sure to include your region of origin. It is common for trainers from Kanto, Johto, and the Orange Isles themselves to start their journey in the Isles, but if you are from further away, why have you come to the Orange Isles?
Did you vacation here and really love the area? Are you trying to get away from your home region? Did you think the Orange Crew, with their reputation for non-traditional battles, would be pushovers? Give me a reason!
You will also have a starter pokemon, which you will receive from Professor Ivy at the start of the campaign. Starter Level 5, with one egg move per the Playtest rules. Starter pokemon must be Underdogs with at least one evolution remaining. No single stages, no pseudo legendaries. Pokemon may have, and are encouraged to have, a skill background. You may not use the education skills, or any skill that starts at the "Pathetic" rank, as “dump” skills for Pokemon. I will be controlling pokemon outside of battles for RP purposes. If you have a particular way you want your pokemon to act, give me a description of their behavior! Otherwise, I will assume that they act in accordance with their nature.
Additionally, on your character sheet, you must include a list of up to three type shifted pokemon you would like to encounter. If Shedinja is on that list, I will smack you upside the head. I am not promising you will see any of these, but I still want you to make a list...for reasons.
Lastly, we have a Skype chat! Come join in, chat among yourselves and chat with me! Joining the chat is mandatory, so don't forget to do it!
Alright, now I'm going to give a few tips and tricks on building your applications!
Here are some things I expect to see in an application.
-Detailed Personality Description: 3-5 sentence minimum describing your personality and tendencies.
-Detailed Physical Description: A few sentences, a picture, or both!
-Detailed Backstory: Bare Minimum 1 paragraph telling me who you are and where you came from. The more, the better, but don't feel pressured to write just to add length.
-Detailed Goals/Dreams/Obsessions: What drives your character, and why?
Here are some things I would like to see in an application. It is important to note, these things are optional, but will not hurt your chances of acceptance.
-Significant NPC’s: Parents? Siblings? Childhood friends? Bullies? Connections are a good thing, tell me about them.
-Fears & Flaws: Nobody's perfect. Come, tell the GM all about it…
-RP Sample, Respond to this prompt: Your character has just arrived or awoken on Valencia Island. Either they live here, took a boat, small sea plane, or some other mode of travel. The island is lush and forested, teeming with all sorts of small, wild pokemon. What do they see on their way to Professor Ivy’s Lab? What are they feeling as they're about to begin their Pokemon Journey?
Recruitment will run until at least 11:59pm CST on 8/3/2016. I may extend it up to a week beyond that point, depending on interest, but I will not close it early without a 48 our warning.
Alright, I believe that covers it! If you have any questions, feel free to ask away, and I'll get to them as I can! I will update this post with answers to questions in the spoiler below...
FAQ:
Q: Can I have a Steel or Ghost Type starter?
A: Yup, just keep in mind, Steel types are heavy, and you will be on the open ocean a fair bit.
Q: But JP, the last time you ran something in the Orange Isles…
A: That was one time! This is seriously a gym crawl. I am going to keep it nice a simple, no reach exceeding my grasp this time.
Q: How will battles be conducted?
A: Mostly it will be “Theater of the Mind” where I deem maps unimportant. For key battles, we will use simple excel battle maps, like these!.
Q: I don't like X of your rules, can I do Y?
A: I won't dismiss it out of hand. Bring it to me and I'll consider it...but I reserve the right to say no.
--Q: I don't like not starting with my pokemon, can I start with my pokemon instead of getting it from the lab?
--A: Sure thing. You still have to go to the Lab to get your 'dex and get licensed though.
Q: Will there be any Trainer combat?
A: Some, maybe, but only rarely, and likely not in any League battles.
Q: You said Gym Battles will be non-traditional and unorthodox! Does that mean combat trainers will be less useful in these gym battles?
A: Certainly not! During a non-traditional battle, you can use your various features and edges in different ways to increase your chances of victory. These will be different from gym to gym, as the challenges change, but I will make sure you can make use of your class features!
Q: What is the tone for this game?
A: Light-hearted. There will be darker portions of the game, delving into mystery, myth, crime and horror themes, but overall the game will maintain a very lighthearted theme, similar to the source material. The "rating" of the game will be primarily PG/PG-13, and no higher.
Q: How will the party travel from one island to another?
A: There are a number of different ferry boats, cruise ships, and sea planes to facilitate travel between the islands. And, of course, players will eventually be able to obtain pokemon, or personal boats/planes, to allow themselves to transit from one island to another if they so desire. Swimming from island to island would be a very challenging exercise in most, but not all cases.
Q: How are legendary pokemon handled in the game? Are they viewed as deities?
A: Legendaries are viewed as extremely rare pokemon, some of which are shrouded in myth. They are not actively worshipped as deities, but there may be festivals that revere them for past deeds, stories, and...legends. Additionally, some "Prime" legendary pokemon are viewed as being intrinsically linked to the world in ways that are not fully understood. For example, there are multiple Lugia, however THE Lugia in the Orange Isles is recognized to control the deep ocean currents and influence the climate, but not all Lugia do.
A: Yup, just keep in mind, Steel types are heavy, and you will be on the open ocean a fair bit.
Q: But JP, the last time you ran something in the Orange Isles…
A: That was one time! This is seriously a gym crawl. I am going to keep it nice a simple, no reach exceeding my grasp this time.
Q: How will battles be conducted?
A: Mostly it will be “Theater of the Mind” where I deem maps unimportant. For key battles, we will use simple excel battle maps, like these!.
Q: I don't like X of your rules, can I do Y?
A: I won't dismiss it out of hand. Bring it to me and I'll consider it...but I reserve the right to say no.
--Q: I don't like not starting with my pokemon, can I start with my pokemon instead of getting it from the lab?
--A: Sure thing. You still have to go to the Lab to get your 'dex and get licensed though.
Q: Will there be any Trainer combat?
A: Some, maybe, but only rarely, and likely not in any League battles.
Q: You said Gym Battles will be non-traditional and unorthodox! Does that mean combat trainers will be less useful in these gym battles?
A: Certainly not! During a non-traditional battle, you can use your various features and edges in different ways to increase your chances of victory. These will be different from gym to gym, as the challenges change, but I will make sure you can make use of your class features!
Q: What is the tone for this game?
A: Light-hearted. There will be darker portions of the game, delving into mystery, myth, crime and horror themes, but overall the game will maintain a very lighthearted theme, similar to the source material. The "rating" of the game will be primarily PG/PG-13, and no higher.
Q: How will the party travel from one island to another?
A: There are a number of different ferry boats, cruise ships, and sea planes to facilitate travel between the islands. And, of course, players will eventually be able to obtain pokemon, or personal boats/planes, to allow themselves to transit from one island to another if they so desire. Swimming from island to island would be a very challenging exercise in most, but not all cases.
Q: How are legendary pokemon handled in the game? Are they viewed as deities?
A: Legendaries are viewed as extremely rare pokemon, some of which are shrouded in myth. They are not actively worshipped as deities, but there may be festivals that revere them for past deeds, stories, and...legends. Additionally, some "Prime" legendary pokemon are viewed as being intrinsically linked to the world in ways that are not fully understood. For example, there are multiple Lugia, however THE Lugia in the Orange Isles is recognized to control the deep ocean currents and influence the climate, but not all Lugia do.