[PXFIRE] Roleplay Discussion

[Neo Emolga]

PXFIRE Roleplay Discussion

Hey guys! With PXFIRE starting in less than a month, things are going to heat up fast! In this thread, we'll brainstorm and discuss things people would like to see in the PXRFIRE Roleplay. Anything is possible right now, but here are a few touchpoints that might be good as starters for the discussion. I'll try to use as many of the best ideas as I can and we'll go from there to make a community RP that as many people as possible can enjoy.

These points are just food for thought and are really meant to just get thoughts about this going. You're more than welcome to build off of them, but definitely don't feel restricted by them.

Overall Structure and Setting

Here's your biggie. There's three kinds of things we can do here.

RP with player characters being human. - Basically your typical Pokémon Trainer characters with Pokémon of their own. They don't need to be league competitors either, but we can get into that later.

RP with player characters being Pokémon. - This would be akin to a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon setting where YOU'RE the Pokémon.

RP with player characters being something completely different. - With or without Pokémon? Who knows. It's always a possibility.

Genres

Genres are loose and are definitely meant to be more like labels rather than straightjackets. For example, there are plenty of times when Harry Potter reads like a mystery novel even though it's more in the fantasy area. Lord of the Rings has plenty of moments of romance. And then you have things like Scary Movie that blend horror and comedy together. There's really no limitation on genres and it's possible and even neat when stories wander into other areas. It's something that makes them unique.

For this RP, think of it the same way. Instead of saying "I want something with fantasy," shoot for "I like X, Y, and Z from some of my favorite fantasy games and stores. Maybe we could put those in this?" Try to aim to be a bit more specific, since there's a lot of things to fantasy. Fantasy races, fantastical creatures, magic, and all that other stuff are big areas. Maybe just grabbing one or two things from here and there are all you need. When you shop at a grocery store, you buy things from all different departments to make a tasty and unique meal. Same thing here.

Team Involvement

Keep in mind the RP setting will have multiple teams which could be themed off of anything from the cool, the cute, the weird, the funny, and the silly. The RP should be pretty flexible to allow for any team to jump in and feel right at home, and the same goes for the other way around. A team of noble fighters that specialize in electric-type Pokémon could work well in a space-age sci-fi setting, a medieval setting, or a modern day one. A team of computer hackers might be out of luck in a RP where there's only Pokémon and not even a single smartphone laying around.

A key thing to remember is the RP will be PVP (player vs player) in nature. Which means players will be trying to strategize and keep each other on their toes as they try to rise to the top and be the ones in control. It's fun, it's exciting, I've done it before and it's cool and fun to see what kinds of curveballs people will throw your way. If it sounds a little intimidating, it's totally not. Remember, we're all in the same boat together! Be open and ready for anything.

Crisis Creation

Every good story has something that knocks the characters out of the norm of everyday life and challenges them with all kinds of obstacles. Otherwise, there's really no story unless their everyday life is really that unique and different from everyone else's and that is the story. But even then, there's got to be things that are different that make this particular day noteworthy compared to others.

In RPs and stories, usually something tragic is going on and the characters either have to solve it or at least survive it. For our RP, we'll need that also. Because there will be many players involved, the crisis should be large enough for just about everyone to be a stakeholder in it and have their lives affected in some kind of way that makes them take action. How they react is up to them, and there will be differences between how one team wants to address the situation compared to another. And that might cause them to become rivals. Then things really get fun! >:3

Extras

If you need more guidance, you can always read the Pokémon Crossroads Role Playing Guide if you need some extra thoughts to go with. It's an oldie but goodie! Guide #3 is more of what we're focusing on here, but the other stuff is worth a look as well.

I'll try to provide feedback on as much as I can. I feel together, we could make something really sweet and definitely fun for everyone.

[LKWayvern]

I feel pretty neutral when it comes to what species the characters should be honestly. I tend to enjoy creating Pokemon characters the most, so I really like PMD settings most of the time, but I'd be up for other kinds of characters, too!

When it comes to genres, I really love steampunk and fantasy fusion types. Two of my favorite book series have a fantasy/steampunk kind of genre, they're called Parasol Protectorate and A Memoir by the Lady Trent. The former is set in a world where supernatural creatures are very much real, so humanity created more advanced technology in order to survive, and then supernatural creatures began integrating into society, and the latter is basically about a woman named Isabella who travels across a fictional alternative version of Earth studying dragons, and they both have some really interesting worldbuilding as you can probably tell.
So perhaps we could explore the side effects of magic and Pokemon powers on technology? That's something I almost never see in fanfictions and roleplays. You have telekinetics, telepathics, beings literally composed of data and code, Pokemon that can transform into water, Pokemon that can absorb and dispel electicity and fire, massive Pokemon, tiny Pokemon... Their technology and buildings would probably be very different from human.

I don't have any ideas or preferences concerning teams and conflicts at the moment, maybe I'll think of something later?

[Chakramaster]

I don't get to do it very often, but I'd love any sort of PMD setting. Actual interacting as a Pokemon. Whether this be multi species where the Pokemon can even interact with the humans or not. Sometimes in RP I tend to get lost because everyone else tends to gather while nothing even happens/happened with my character and no real way to lead into it really without a way to work it in,

I have an idea I might drop later I've been thinking of, but it's not much to go on. It's something if anything. I'd love to discuss and hear more out on the idea though.

[VeloJello]

Personally, I prefer a setting where the PCs are humans, or humanoid, but a PMD style thing would be pretty cool, especially since I think WAR has pretty much always focused on human/humanoid characters. As for genre, fantasy - especially urban fantasy - is my absolute jam, although I'm not opposed to focusing on sci-fi or putting a bit of it in the mix.

This is a bit cliche, but maybe every group is assigned a patron Legendary Pokemon? A group with a mischief-making prankster motif might have Hoopa; a group with a slow-and-steady strategy might have Regigigas or Groudon; a very "edgy" group might have Necrozma or Yveltal. These legends could be fighting - maybe because being gods is hard, or maybe because of some outside influence. Different allegiances could be made, but each group's Legendary representative would have their own agenda. There's also possibilities to be found in a post-apocalypse world - maybe humans have vanished and Pokemon are left to figure out what to do with themselves, forming into groups based on what kind of past involvement they had with humans; maybe the world is under the thumb of a horrifying dictator of some sort and each team is forming their own reaction faction. I have a jillion tiny plot bunny ideas; if you want a hand coming up with premises, I wouldn't mind helping helping brainstorm/being a sounding board.

I do have some concerns about activity, though. I know that the nature of this event means that high activity is a necessity, but some people on here can churn out four posts a day, and others are lucky if they can make one post a week. I remember some WARs got really rough because the high-activity people would often make game-changing posts, forcing those of us who couldn't go as quickly to adjust and take even more time, during which more people would shake things up even more, etc. Do you have any plans for how to handle posting order, a post throttle, or anything like that?

[Noblejanobii]

Personally I adore fantasy settings but I've never attempted steampunk before so that could play out to be interesting. A mystery setting could be nice too. Hm… or maybe it's like a D&D type thing? Like just absolutely wacky where almost anything can happen kinda thing? I'm up for just about any genre and the inclusion of Pokémon won't stop me from joining.

Hm… maybe long ago humans and Pokémon lived in harmony, each having some magical powers. But the Pokémon were beasts, unable to be tamed by any magic the humans could muster! So the humans fled to a series of islands that had little to no Pokémon on them, and those that did exist were eliminated quickly. For centuries, the human race evolved into other species such as elves, succubi, orks, etc. and the strongest, wisest, sorcerest, etc. were used to ward off any stray Pokémon. However, supplies are running low, and an attack must be launched on the old lands of beasts to gather more land and supplies to aid in the survival of the once human race.

[Chakramaster]

It's weird, but what jumped out at me once I thought "competition" since this will be sort of like a competition between us, was to work in all three of the options listed. Make some calamity between the worlds. Like a known prophecy in each world that has been done for eons. Though, each time one is completely fufilled, the other world suffers. It works in like a triangle. Human/Pokémon/Human-hybrid (or whatever the third is chosen to be). Say the Human world is thriving. While it thrives, the world of Pokémon is at a full loss. Food, money, sunlight, all are rarely ever seen. It's hard to come by. Ravaged by thieves and anarchy nearly everywhere you go. It takes a selected group to go through the challenges of prophecy to fix it, but once it's complete, world 3 is affected. The world of Pokémon would thrive as the human world once did. Now, the human world would be on a decline. Not in the state the Pokémon world was, but you can see changes as nature begins to change around the world.

Yeah that be kinda hard to run in a short time though xD. So maybe something more simple as to create chaos between the other players rather. I'll give it some more thought and read over the others as well.

[Neo Emolga]

I like the idea of a steampunk PMD setting! I'm only delved just a tiny bit with steampunk stuff, but it's definitely something that sounds fun to work with.

I'm thinking of going with something like this. This is really just me taking the ideas you guys laid out, tying them together, and fleshing out an RP and storyline out of it that uses a little bit of everything that everyone suggested without having contradictions.

So here goes:

Basic Premise

From what I've noticed, people are cool with playing as a Pokémon or as a humanoid. So...



Your character is natively a Pokémon, but because they're extra cool and spunky, they can temporarily take on other forms. Okay, the real reason for this is because they're an Aikon. In a steampunk world filled with humans and Pokémon, your character is a very rare type of magical warrior that comes equipped with a neat toolkit. Aikons are quite powerful, but they also like to blend in all ninja-like before they strike. Aikons are so rare and so mysterious that there's plenty of people and Pokémon that believe they don't exist and are just the stuff of fairytales.

As an Aikon, your character's true form is that of a Pokémon, BUT for combat, utility purposes, and to blend in, your character can transform into other fantasy creatures. Such as if your Aikon character is naturally a Flygon, they can return to their natural Flygon form at any time, but they might also be able to become other things such as a human, a succubus, and a minotaur. We'll go with three forms your character is familiar with. They specialized in these three alternate forms and know how to work with them, but they don't take on any more than that or else they would be diversifying themselves too much and wouldn't be too good at any one thing in particular. We could even say your first form is the form you're best at, your second form is the one you're good with, but your third is a bit rusty. So our Flygon would totally rock and convince everyone as a human, but as a minotaur, he might be a little shabby at fighting and behaving like one. You've got to choose wisely! Or we could just have it where your character is quite good at being all three forms and that's cool and fine. Your forms would also reflect the kind of Pokémon type your character is. As a human, your character would still have ground and dragon powers, attacks, magic, and special abilities. You could also imbue your weapons with these type-powers, such as a bow and arrow with draconic-powered arrows or a sword/axe that flares up with earth-shattering power or draconic energy.

The best way to think of Aikons is like kitsunes in Yokai folklore where you can shape shift forms. But, you usually want to do this in secret unless the pressure is really on. It's not something you fling around in public unless it's a life and death matter.

Storyline Thoughts

I was thinking of taking a page out of Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire). Arceus, considered to be the top dog and the big cheese of this world, is dead (we'll get to the reason for that in a bit). And Arceus never announced a heir. A powerful but corrupt dictator known only as Velge has taken over. And he used to be human, but he's used a very sick and twisted form of forbidden magic called Shadow Delve. It's very dark, powerful, and eerily unpredictable magic that was supposed to be sealed away because the ancient Aikons of old just couldn't destroy it. No one knows where it came from and it's rumored that it came out of space, but it's here now and it's causing all kinds of problems.

Velge takes on many forms. Sometimes he might be taking on the form of a giant, colossal dragon, other times an imposing armored giant, other times a swarm of giant bats and insects, and what have you. The WORST part is no one really knows how to kill him either.

At the same time, the effect of Shadow Delve is causing all kinds of blights, especially the more Velge abuses it. Humans and Pokémon near the areas where heavy Shadow Delve magic is used often get turned into hideous mutants or terrible monsters. What's even worse is these mutants and abominations can be controlled by Velge as his expendable pawns.

The Crisis

Arceus is dead and the world needs a new legendary to take the throne. A real legendary. Definitely not Velge. The only ones who want Velge in power is Velge himself, his dark emissaries, and of course, his mindless, zombie-like shadow drones. It's your objective to help support and fight for your legendary patron to rise to power and change the course of fate and destiny. However, they need you as much as you need them. They can't rise to the top without your support and by helping them, you stand to gain powerful leadership and influence as an emissary of the ruling legendary Pokémon in command. The fate of the entire world is at stake and massive change is inevitable, but you know the best outcome is by helping your patron legendary take the throne and the power to replace Arceus.

As said before, Shadow Delve, what Velge controls now, is very powerful but very unpredictable magic. Most milder forms of magic, like the ones your character uses in the form of Chronicle Art, are relatively safe. But Shadow Delve, thanks to Velge's abuse, causes anomalies that will at least mutate and disfigure humans and Pokémon, if not kill them. He doesn't care about the ugly effects and even likes the kind of unintentional chaos they cause. He'll even claim it inspires him.

There's also the situation surrounding Arceus's death. What could have killed a god so quickly and quietly? How did it happen and is there a chance it could happen again? It wasn't Velge's mess with Shadow Delve. That only started to happen afterword. And that's the mystery that's currently unanswered behind this enigmatic assassination.

Also, Shadow Delve is just ONE type of "Cataclysmic Magic" that is super-powerful but has very unpredictable effects. There are others that if used by the wrong people, could end the world or drastically change it. But for ultimate power and command, would you try to seek it out? Do you think you have what it takes to control something so unruly with the potential to recreate the world as you see fit? Velge thinks so with Shadow Velge and it has turned him into a dark god. But with no other way of killing him... is it an option you're willing to explore?

Team thoughts

Each Team will have a kind of mysterious "Chronicle Art" that only they know and each team can decide and work out what kind of thing they'd like, which would also tie in with their team theme. Possibilities include:

• Time Advancement/Reversal (making a non-biological object brand new or make it crumble with age)
• Change your typing (Like Delta species. So if you want to be a water-typed Pikachu or a Ice-typed Charizard, have fun! They would work exactly like Alolan forms)
• Ability to achieve extra evolutions (Kind of like Mega Evolution)
• The inclusion of a magic not based on Pokémon attacks/moves, so things like time magic, summoning magic, necromancy, healing magic, and things like that are fun extras you could add to your team's arsenal.
• Magic that allows your character to be seriously good at a particular trade or skill with instant results, such as instant weapon or artifact forging.

The storyline behind Chronicle Art is during ancient times, magic and the mystical races used to be EVERYWHERE and they lived, worked, and played together. And for that reason, technological advancement was slow and seldom because it wasn't really necessary. Back then, technology was pretty much glued around the medieval era because very often, magic was more powerful and more versatile even though there were plenty of folk that shunned its use (like some people don't want to use technology). But then the Soul War struck and with so much left in ruins after a lot of Cataclysmic Magic (such as Shadow Delve) being used, many people decided to rely on technology to rebuild rather than magic and it's destructive tendencies. Many of the fantasy creatures such as orcs, faeries, minotaurs, and so on decided to migrate toward other planes or even create celestial rifts to other worlds where magic would be safe to migrate. There are still some refugees and tiny colonies that exist, but they're very rare and hard to find, hence why it's mostly humans bustling around. Not to mention the mess with Shadow Delve makes those who decided to remain not want to poke out of the secret spots too often. This has been the way for the past five hundred years.

There were still some hidden pockets of society that practiced Chronicle Art throughout the years as the new age of technology rose up and built up what is now the steampunk stuff you see in the current RP setting. A new age of clockwork machines, weapons, devices, and elementary robotics has surfaced with things like airships, elementary firearms, and simple computers appearing. But when this new clockwork and steam-powered technology meets the magic of old... well, who knows what might be possible?

---

That's basically what I have right now. Given, ANY of this is definitely subject to change and this is really just a kind of rough draft that gives a flavor for what's possible. Let me know what you guys think and what kind of modifications you'd like to see!

[LKWayvern]

So would we all be working to get a single Legendary on the throne, or would we each select a Legendary for our character? If we're all working together, which Legendary will we be picking? If we're each picking a Legendary for our character, can multiple characters support a single Legendary and work together? And, if we're going with the hypothetical 'select a Legendary for a character' who roleplays each Legendary? The person who is trying to get that Legendary on the throne? Should we establish relationships between Legendaries beforehand?
...You can tell I have a minor obsession with worldbuilding and Legendaries and background mythology.

Also, if we are going with a steampunk/fantasy type of setting, a couple other things to consider. What kinds of inventioned would exist in this world? How much have Legendaries interfered with the progression of civilization? Have they contributed anything in science or art?

[VeloJello]

I'm curious where humans fit into this - with no innate magic (unless you're giving them magic) and no way to "tame" Pokemon, their only real advantage would be that all of them have thumbs. It's possible that through history they could have been stamped out or even oppressed somehow, seeing as they're the "weaker species", unless Pokemon are extra rare. Not a necessary thing, but sapient beings are really good at creating crappy power structures and treading down anyone they see as inferior or just plain different, so it's entirely possible that this world would have its prejudices. I'm also curious about the Aikon's "mythic" forms - for instance, fairies are really open to interpretation, so could a player decide they want to have the form of a tall, ethereal, beautiful person, or the form of a small flying humanoid with dragonfly wings, and still be considered "fairies"?

With regards to magic, some questions. Are Aikons immune or resistant to the effects of the Shadow Delve's mutation/corruption? Because monster Aikons sound like they would make really good boss battles, and having that risk would be a good way to keep players from recklessly charging in. More on Aikons - how do Aikons come to exist? Are they born randomly, is it genetic, are they chosen by Legends...? Also, about Chronicle Arts - just for my reference, their use is not limited to Aikons, right?

I really love where this is going, not gonna lie. I am just a barrel of questions. XD i'm highkey planning an obnoxious renegade who's not afraid to grab all the cataclysmic magic they can and get all the things done

[Death's Spook]

Congratulations Neo. You just gave me an RP to put Tess into.