Let me introduce myself

[DeJoker]

I'm a man of wealth and taste but what's troubling you is the nature of my game.

Well I am a Storyteller and collaborative writer of many years and many genres

I have used the medium of face-to-face tabletop as well as play by post.

I came looking to see if a Storyteller was needed and if so what sort of genre's are players looking to delve into. As such I have not come with any pre-ordained story but I have come with a plethora of ideas garnered over the years that I can use to morph into whatever the players are wanting to delve into.

Note while I use various mechanics (to maintain inter-player balance) I have developed a method of keeping those mechanics mostly hidden and allowing the player to have a more real-world-like experience. For instance you know your good at doing something but how good is good, on a 1 - 10 scale you feel you are about an 8 give or take a point or two. So you examine this problem and you realize it is going to be difficult for you but what is difficult mean well basically you have a solid chance of failure but a good chance of succeeding but it will all depend on the precautions and preplanning you undertake before you tackle the problem. Thus while I use mechanics you need not know them as they will be built behind the curtain based off the character description. Which means you cannot necessarily have anything and everything you want but I am always open for negotiation depending on the back story. Oh and do not be concerned 100% about that backstory because I realize that on your own you can only paint a 2D picture and in order to get that 3rd Dimension you need collaboration and input from the Storyteller and this gets delivered from get go. So sometimes the character building becomes a semi-adventure in itself. However I do ask that players be willing to make a solid commitment so that they and the other players can have continued fun. In my experience the biggest issue is player atrophy, and it seems only fair that if I the Storyteller have to make a solid commitment then the players should do likewise.

Look forward to getting something started soonish

 

[Meliodas]

Hi there Storyteller. Absolutely love the poll. I know quite a few users especially who would be thrilled to throw up a Pokemon RP. I recommend talking to @MissMudkip because she discussed with me her vision to have a huge vast open-world style RP on this subject. Not to mention I know several users and staff who are huge fans of Pokemon. You would definitely see a level of interest and collaborative effort. Also, while you lost me on some parts, I think having mechanics in play to balance a story is very important. Having some level of control where everyone is treated fairly should be stressed in all roleplays.

Look forward to seeing what you do!

~M

 

[DeJoker]

One of the main issues I have seen with most Pokemon stories is the lack of direction -- most of the time you are in a known pokemon world and you are trying to collect pokemon but it is really hard to move the players from this to a more story based methodology where there is rhyme and reason to what is going on much like what occurs within the various shows For while the characters did not know they were in a story arc -- the script writers had full control of what they did, where they went, and so on. Where in a storytelling world I as a storyteller try not to "make" the players do anything thus I prefer to start with a sort of seed adventure that the players can then (from clues they picked up) pursue some other adventure or do nothing if that is what they want. However whether they pursue an adventure or not the main story arcs progress along and things happen bad things usually if the players do not intervene. Further another element of the normal Pokemon world that does not work well in group games is the nature of teams as they are always scripted if they even occur at all -- and that is very difficult to do in a story world -- it is generally in my experience better to create a sort of group dynamic team story form the get go --- although a pokemon sandbox can be done as well -- in my experience these tend to peter out fairly quickly as it quickly grinds down to pretty much a grab em and bag em repetition. As for game mechanics on this -- well I have the Pokemon RPG game which I have tweaked to create a version that helps the players be the characters within the world that they are somewhat familiar with and then grow and learn as they go. Note -- I only very roughly use the world of pokemon as a setting back drop but many of the in world dynamics are no longer the same -- so an alternate reality pokemon world so-to-speak which allows for some familiarity but not complete familiarity like a characters would experience themselves

 

[Meliodas]

On another site, they had a massive RP about Pokemon where most of the stories were user driven. Users would come up with one arc or another and pull people into its involvement. It was a very massive and collaborative effort that appeared to sustain itself. A lack of direction isn't a bad thing in the sense that you try to encourage a direction from the players itself, and if that fails, you drive one home yourself to get people back on center. Find stories that everyone must get involved with because they will have some major impact on the world itself so it is hard to simply ignore.

But rather than creating what we consider an Epic, this could start out as a basic journey in one location with a group of players, and if this succeeds, you could take that backstory and apply it to an Epic with a very vast world. There are far too many locations or Pokemon for that matter to start an Epic. While it would work you will most likely face people being spread too thin for awhile.

~M

 

[Spike1d23]

Never done a pokemon rp... wonder if its fun.. c:

 

[DeJoker]

Btw how long before I am able to post to threads -- I validated my account (I thought) but it still says I cannot post yet.

 

[Meliodas]

If I recall, as long as you are active in what's available, most likely your account will be validated by an administrator within the next 24 hours. In the case this does not happen, feel free to shoot one of the owners (Tiko or Dashmiel) a message to ask them about it. This is just a measure to avoid spam.

~M

 

[DeJoker]

As to the sandbox Pokemon RPs working -- yes I know they can work if you get the right mix of players -- what I was saying is that usually this does not happen. I have been in perhaps a dozen Pokemon games as a player and ran half as many myself and been aware of (and monitored) twice as many as that. So I am not talking from lack of experience here. Then again I am new to this site so perhaps the right mix of players do exist here -- oh and I generally start small and then let things grow -- these generally means I have something going on in the background in the more "epic" arena but this does not necessarily mean it comes to full fruition for quite some time in the mean while there are minor epics and grand adventures and minor adventures and such. What I strive to stay away from is contrived groups -- aka a group of adventurers meet in a bar and despite the fact that none of them know each other they are all willing to go off and trust their lives to one another for absolutely no reason at all. This is where I get involved in character creation, tying the characters to one-another in some fashion as well as tying them to the world I am presenting more solidly. Things like A knows B who knows C who knows D etc ... and this is something that grows out of the character design process -- I hope that helps clarify things a bit more

 

[Meliodas]

Oh, you should hit me up then because nothing I do has no reason behind it. I'm not big either on placing moving parts together without it actually having some level of complexity or truth behind it. Just doing something for the sake of doing it doesn't work for me. Everything has a reason. Check out my signature. There is a reason I offer that - for this reason. I like to enact a level of realism and common sense versus everyone just holding hands in a way that doesn't really work in the real world. Depth is important.

Anyway, if you want to continue this conversation, please message me in private. I don't like using these threads as a means of promoting this kind of discussion - at least for too long. Alternatively, create a thread in the bulletin when able and we can talk about this more and bring in fresh faces.

~M