INTEREST CHECK: Would you be interested in joining a new reboot of Stalkers RPG?

[Neo Emolga]

So I’m trying to get an idea of how many people are both willing and interested in participating in a new reboot of Stalkers RPG. I did run a poll to see if people wanted to see the genre take a different spin on things, but I didn’t get too much feedback from it and generally it seemed as though people wanted to keep it traditional horror. So that’s what I’d be doing.

Note that there is no storyline continuity from the first five seasons of Stalkers to this one. This, if it does get launched, will be its own story and universe totally detached from anything that’s happened in editions before (since those wrapped up and got a full ending).

Note that the number of responses I get from this is CRITICAL when it comes to actually going ahead with the decision to develop a campaign or not. If you’re new and even just slightly interested in checking it out or you’re a Stalker RPG veteran, either way, I need to know if you’d be game for joining. It’s a speak now or forever hold your peace on this, because if this hits the deadline and I don’t see there’s really enough people interested to make it worth the time and energy it takes to put a campaign together, sorry to say, but I’m going to pass on it.

All you need to do is just simply post something along the lines of “hey, I think I would be interested” and that’s plenty. Don’t even need to go into detail.

As for the details, the hard deadline for this interest check is MARCH 19, 2022 and I need to see at least 6 people interested in joining (not asking to be joining in development because I need more participants than development support) before I give this the green light and start piecing something together. But if that goal isn’t met by the deadline, sorry to say, but I would have to close the book on this for good.

So there you have it, let me know if you want to see this happen by posting below.

Thanks!

[C0L0R3D]

I think somebody called for me? But anyways, you can count my rear end in if we can get this beauty greenlit!

[EmeraldSky]

I loved all the iterations, so I would happily join in for the reboot

[C0L0R3D]

By the way Neo, little idea I just sketched up. Maybe you could try pinging some of the Season 5/4 peeps to see if they'd be game? That, and it would let 'em know this thread's actually a thing just in case they never happened to see it.

[Chakramaster]

I'd totally be good for some more Stalkers! Seeing some more dark and creative stories would be awesome!

[Neo Emolga]

Just passing these mentions across in case there's been people on but haven't noticed this thread.

Noblejanobii
Scytherwolf
AD
Shruikan

Just let me know if you'd be up for joining Stalkers RPG again.

Cheers!

[Scytherwolf]

I definitely would. Those were a lot of fun! O:

[Noblejanobii]

Yeah sure I’d be interested!

[C0L0R3D]

Also, tiny thing I’d like to suggest if worldbuilding hasn’t really began yet. Maybe try to… cut down on Technical things after the big flop we accidentally had in Exacta? Not rude at all when I suggest this.

EDIT: Also, AD's ping didn't work. So I'll try to sort that for you, since I'm feeling in a chill mood.

[Neo Emolga]

Also, tiny thing I’d like to suggest if worldbuilding hasn’t really began yet. Maybe try to… cut down on Technical things after the big flop we accidentally had in Exacta? Not rude at all when I suggest this.

EDIT: Also, AD's ping didn't work. So I'll try to sort that for you, since I'm feeling in a chill mood.

Nah, not rude at all! I agree on the tech stuff, though, I'm going to cut down on that and not have too much in the ways of geeky supercomputer gizmos and stuff. There was a bit too much in that for Season 5 (a bit too much of everything, really!) But yeah, this new reboot will definitely be a nicer, easier to grasp and more simplified package that focuses more on the good quality stuff and less on the extra filler and baggage

And thanks, I can reach out to him via VM.

[C0L0R3D]

Nah, not rude at all! I agree on the tech stuff, though, I'm going to cut down on that and not have too much in the ways of geeky supercomputer gizmos and stuff. There was a bit too much in that for Season 5 (a bit too much of everything, really!) But yeah, this new reboot will definitely be a nicer, easier to grasp and more simplified package that focuses more on the good quality stuff and less on the extra filler and baggage

And thanks, I can reach out to him via VM.

Good to know! Also, I may have messaged the fellow myself already out of goodwill. That, and I've already got a plan planned out for what I wanna be and stuff! Especially since this is more likely than not going ahead. But it's obviously not impossible we don't get that final, 6th interested participant.

[Shruikan]

Hey, I think I would be interested

[C0L0R3D]

Hey, we got to the six we need! Even though it may be subject to change, heh. I’m honestly super excited about this, but I guess time will tell when it comes to what Neo may be able to cook up for us. And I’m excited to leap back into the fray regardless!

[Lychee]

I HAVE ARRIVED FROM THE VOID TO SAY I'M KEEN

But possibly I'm too late? Anyway, Stalkers is one of my all time favourite forum games and I'm totally down for whatever version of it arises this year :D

[C0L0R3D]

Nope, don’t worry! Neo only said six people had to be interested, not that six was the maximum limit! Who knows, maybe we’ll see the grand return of our comically unlucky Cinccino or Thunderbreaker Loppuny? Or maybe something even different?

[Neo Emolga]

And bingo, we have beyond the six people I was looking for, so thanks for chiming in! I had a feeling we’d have enough people interested, but I wanted to be sure before putting the time and energy into this.

So now that it’s confirmed, here’s a few early development notes:

Background lore will be quite different. While the game and its mechanics will be playing out pretty much the same way as the “Stalkers Legacy” version of Season 1 through Season 5 that everyone knows, it’s not going to be about Abyss vs Utopia since to keep the continuity going with what essentially was a completed storyline in Stalkers Legacy would make things kind of confusing. Otherwise it’s going to get funky with alternate timelines and have a Terminator Dark Fate or Matrix Resurrections effect, which I don’t think anyone wants. xD

So with that in mind, while the Stalkers will keep the same namesake, that’s the only thing that will be carrying over lore-wise. The Stalkers aren’t entities of the Abyss this time. They’re entities of… well, you’ll see. Heck, there might not even be something akin to a Sin Purge Ritual this time. A lot is still up in the air, but I have scribbled in some interesting ideas in my little black notebook. >:3

With that said, this new reboot of Stalkers will likely get a shiny new subtitle to separate it from Stalkers Legacy. Still deciding on that, though.

Size and scope will essentially be about Season 1 and Season 3. – I know I said this last time when I made Season 5 and yes, I know, it was totally not even close to those two in size (whoops!). Yeah, that was because I was trying to go for a grand finale kind of thing and I got carried away (like I do quite often). This is totally NOT going to be as insanely huge as Season 5. It will probably be half the size of that.

Health/Sanity/Purity stats will return. – These worked quite well and I’m going to keep the scaling the same as Season 5. As before, if any of these drop to 0, your character dies, but they can be reincarnated and respawned.

Day & Night Cycles will return. – I’ve never seen any issue with these, so they’ll stick around. They’re easy and fun to work with.

Skills / Perks – This I’m currently reworking, but there will be no more than three. You might notice some of the skills and perks from previous Seasons won’t return. A few of the more technological ones won’t be making a comeback. I’m only going to include really the most important and immersive ones. Right now I’m leaning more toward having Security, Repair, and Diplomacy as the only ones that show up and you choose one of those three. Instances of using Medicine won’t appear (resting will heal you in full), Technical won’t appear as this won’t be a world with heavy use of computers and technology, and Seinaru simply doesn’t exist in this new universe.

Escort/Protect might reappear, and so will Investigate. Clairvoyance… probably not, because I kept that mainly if people got stuck. Since this will be smaller in size, I don’t see that happening too often. None of the puzzles and things are going to be super complex and require like 5+ components. I look back at that stuff and I was like... geez, this was way too much work for everyone involved in this. xD

Inventories – I might bring inventories back, but they will be VERY basic. If combat makes a return, then sure, weapons can come back as well. Armor will definitely be in there if inventories return. Accessories will probably return as well with that. I don’t plan on bringing back money or consumable items, though. Those made things a little too chaotic. That and finding money laying around everywhere was kind of silly, we know this. I know I sure don’t find $150 laying around when I go to the park. xD

Combat – Combat, if it returns at all, will be VERY basic. As in determined with a single roll with some modifiers brought in from equipment and stuff will be brought in. Both sides damage each other and the one who does the most damage sends the other fleeing for their life (if they survive). In the event of a tie, the defender sends the attacker fleeing. Again, this may not happen in the final version, though.



So yeah, this will definitely be happening and it feels good to get back into the dark fun of it all with a fresh new storyline and worldbuilding to work with. >:3

[EmeraldSky]

Autumn Skwovet

Hopefully I can be a bow wielding Pikachu?

[Neo Emolga]

Autumn Skwovet

Hopefully I can be a bow wielding Pikachu?

Maybe. If combat makes a return, it's pretty likely.

But if not, well, you could have the bow as aesthetic, of course!

[C0L0R3D]

The only thing in my head right now is that I'm gonna give my character a cape for aesthetic purposes. More or less akin to Old Lace's cowboy hat back in S4! Because darn do Buzzwoles have a great fashion sense.

[Noblejanobii]

I think I'll retire Madder from this as well and go for a whole new character for this should it revive. Heck, I might even roll some of my D&D dice to randomly make a character from scratch to play! That might make it more fun for me heheh!

[Chakramaster]

Yeah I already plan to actually go with Jirachi instead of Pikachu this time myself. Should be a nice change! =D

[C0L0R3D]

I’m personally swapping from Palpitoad to something else that I love. But with Madder most likely not being around this time, I’ve already planned to make myself the resident duo! Who’ll be my partner, you may want to ask? It’s gonna be… complicated.

[Lychee]

Oooo, I like all the gameplay aspects that are being changed- should make it kinda streamlined and probably way less work than season five where we had like... So many things going on ahahahaaaa
I've got no idea what kind of Pokémon I'll put in! Probably not a wailord :P

[Suicune's Fire]

YEAH BOOIIIII SIGN ME UP!

[C0L0R3D]

Man, this is gonna be wild if this goes ahead. I don't think we've seen Xanthe get in on the action and not just narrate (as far as my memory serves anyway), so I got a crazy good feeling about this.

[Neo Emolga]

And… some progress notes! I’d say I’m about… 20% done overall, trying to target the end of the month as a release date. Don’t worry, I promise I won’t April Fools anything on you guys!

DON’T OPEN THE SPOILER IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS! But note that the only things that are getting spoiled are things you’re going to see in the main sign up thread on Day 1 anyway, definitely none of the truly dark and dirty secrets are getting revealed. But I figured I’d drop delicious breadcrumbs about how things are going while you peeps are waiting. Hopefully you’re all patient!

The official title of the new Stalkers RPG series is Stalkers: Duskwoken. And while it bears many traits and features from previous Stalkers RPG entries, there’s no storyline connection. It’s a whole new slate and different forces of darkness are around!

So far…

The map itself is 100% done
Background lore is done. Definitely different from the cliché Utopia (Heaven) vs Abyss (Hell) kind of scenario.
35 out of 60 civilians created (so more than half) - Expected completion date 3/19
33 out of 61 locations created (little more than half) - Expected completion date 3/19

To Dos
Stalker stuff (aiming to do more graphics than usual)
“Sin Purge” stuff (this is not your traditional Sin Purge thing!)
Rules thread - Target completion date is at least by 3/26
The polish and other fun bells and whistles

I decided to go for something a little new this time and feature a small fishing town that has a bit of farm area to it, too. If you were around for Season 1, you might get a few vibes from that here, but there’s still a fresh new take on it. Meanwhile, there’s a few fun inner tensions going on. But more on that later!

I’m STILL debating on whether to add combat or not. I tried to change things and I think it’s still a bit too much on the complicated side, but I’m still looking into it. The other thing is I honestly don’t think combat occurrences are going to happen all that often (definitely NOT like Season 5, yikes!), so it may not even be worth it to go too deep into this, but I’m still not totally dumping it as a possibility. So there may not be weapons, but I think protective armor and accessories can still have plenty of use in this.

Stay tuned for more updates! I’ll keep you guys in the know on how things are moving along and when you can expect to dive right this again.

[C0L0R3D]

Ooh, all looks good so far! Love me some breadcrumbs. And that title... Duskwoken. That's like if you buttered those breadcrumbs, and 9 times out of 10 buttering bread makes it even better!

Still, I'll still be chill if this doesn't get finished by the end of March. The only thing I'm hoping for right now is some favourite 'mons of mine to be part of this cool fishing farm place. But you're the Beautifly in charge, so not like I can do much about that.

[Neo Emolga]

Ooh, all looks good so far! Love me some breadcrumbs. And that title... Duskwoken. That's like if you buttered those breadcrumbs, and 9 times out of 10 buttering bread makes it even better!

Still, I'll still be chill if this doesn't get finished by the end of March. The only thing I'm hoping for right now is some favourite 'mons of mine to be part of this cool fishing farm place. But you're the Beautifly in charge, so not like I can do much about that.

Heh heh, I'll admit I got inspiration from Divinity 2's "godwoken" which has a nifty ring to it, so I played with a few options and this works perfectly. :)

When populating the town, most of the time I randomize a batch of six using this random Pokemon generator (https://randompokemon.com/) and pick the ones that I think fit best, occasionally adding a few off the top of my head that I'd like to see in there and haven't gotten too much chance to shine in previous seasons. Once the full list of civilians is completed, only then do I randomize which ones are Stalkers (although I didn't do this for the first few Seasons). Those that get chosen have a bit of re-adaptation work done to fit their new evil role. I do this because if I just designed the Stalkers right from the start, I have a feeling they'd probably fall victim to tropes and cliches and would be too easy to pinpoint given the personalities and species I'd pick. By doing it like this, it cloaks it much more and makes it harder to guess. Plus civilians I designed to have relatively normal personalities getting chosen to be Stalkers is a fun experience because it always ends up resulting in a few unexpected results. Like a kindly Jigglypuff that likes to garden getting chosen to be a Stalker or a child Oshawott that hates homework and gym class getting chosen to be a Stalker. Adapting them to their new evil roles is actually quite a bit of interesting fun in itself. I often get a "wow, I'm not sure if that's going to work... but... oh wait a minute now..." kind of reaction and then I go to town with it. xD

[C0L0R3D]

Yep, being able to go wild is a wonderful thing. You want a green-clothed Mimikyu? Sure! Want that Flareon to be an amputee? What's stopping ya? Does that Pikipek have one too many eyes and toes for your liking? Then... okay, that's too out of hand.

But really, what makes Stalkers Stalkers is really interesting. Gardener, aspiring artist, even a guy rejected from cafés or as you just said, a kid who hates homework and gym class. Anybody can become a Stalker, and the ways they kill are really interesting! Terrifying, but BOY. Makes me wonder if we should purposely not know how these Duskwoken Stalkers kill until after one strikes, so we can get the full fear factor.

Kinda like 'You didn't expect a Pokémon to die by, I dunno, something scrambling up all their organs like a bowl of Cheerios, did ya?!'

[Voltaire Magneton]

I'd like to say I'm interested too! Idk about anything Stalkers RPG, but I'll be waiting for finalized details.

[Neo Emolga]

Yep, being able to go wild is a wonderful thing. You want a green-clothed Mimikyu? Sure! Want that Flareon to be an amputee? What's stopping ya? Does that Pikipek have one too many eyes and toes for your liking? Then... okay, that's too out of hand.

But really, what makes Stalkers Stalkers is really interesting. Gardener, aspiring artist, even a guy rejected from cafés or as you just said, a kid who hates homework and gym class. Anybody can become a Stalker, and the ways they kill are really interesting! Terrifying, but BOY. Makes me wonder if we should purposely not know how these Duskwoken Stalkers kill until after one strikes, so we can get the full fear factor.

Kinda like 'You didn't expect a Pokémon to die by, I dunno, something scrambling up all their organs like a bowl of Cheerios, did ya?!'

You'll see, the next Stalker is going to go for dumping all those organs into a bowl of Cocoa Puffs instead! ;P


I'd like to say I'm interested too! Idk about anything Stalkers RPG, but I'll be waiting for finalized details.

Hey, no worries, you picked a good time to get into it and it's awesome to see you hopping on board!

[C0L0R3D]

On a related note though, I'm really happy we're getting the gang back together for the most part. Even with some new faces like Voli who we can show the ropes and returning stars like Xanthe and Lychee. plus a Season 1/3-esque size, I'm dead confident this is gonna be great.

[DayBreak]

I'm still pretty new around here, but I'd be down for joining.

[Neo Emolga]

On a related note though, I'm really happy we're getting the gang back together for the most part. Even with some new faces like Voli who we can show the ropes and returning stars like Xanthe and Lychee. plus a Season 1/3-esque size, I'm dead confident this is gonna be great.

Yeah, it’s good to see some of the stars from previous Stalkers RPG entries coming back! It’s like a cool, fun, family reunion. :3


I'm still pretty new around here, but I'd be down for joining.

Yes! Always awesome to see more interest in this! :3

So… progress report!

52 out of 60 civilians created - Expected completion date now 3/17 (tomorrow!)
56 out of 61 locations created - Expected completion date now 3/17 (tomorrow!)

So in terms of the townsfolk and locations, things are looking pretty good and I should be able to wrap this part of development up tomorrow and move along to some of the more... nefarious things in Stalkers. Some of these town locations… oooh, I had some fun with them. It’s got me wondering if I should try writing a full-fledged horror novel with backstories like this.

To Dos

Stalker stuff (aiming to do more graphics than usual) – Note drafts for about half of the Stalkers are done.
“Sin Purge” stuff (this is not your traditional Sin Purge thing!) – Currently a WIP, not dropping any spoilers on what this is about!
Rules thread - Target completion date is at least by 3/26
The polish and other fun bells and whistles

Setting: So the setting is a small costal harbor town with technology roughly in the 1940s-1950s. Really no fancy personal computers, but there’s things like radios and basic TVs. Most of this is for flavor, really, you won’t find yourself having to muddle with technological stuff that often like [WTF420 Keycard] and [Password Boogelyboo19948]. But things like electrical wiring and electric lighting may be things you interact with.

After really thinking it over… I’ve decided NOT to have a combat system, simply because I just don’t see it being used too often to merit making a new crazy system and having you guys try to learn how it works. Season 5 had, let’s face it, a TON of fighting zombie baddies and stuff and a lot of that made it a big, slow-moving slog of a Season. Plus, it made it a lot more work and I still couldn’t settle on a combat system that made it feel really worth it. With the kind of setting we’re working with this time, there’s just not going to be much fighting and lets face it, with the kinds of attacks Pokémon have, you’d be fine without weapons most of the time.

Now, that’s not to say there won’t be any fighting at all, BUT instead of rolling dice, it’ll go back to being narrated instead, and/or it will involve evasion rolls instead (like with traps). In essence, it will feel more story-like as opposed to D&D combat rolls, which works since this doesn’t have EXP, leveling, or anything like that. But yeah, I feel the number of fights just won’t be high enough to merit implementing combat. You can, however, equip protective armor and accessories, which will protect you from traps and... other things to prevent damage to your Health, Sanity, and Purity. The only catch is some of the better armor comes in sizes now (small, medium, and large), so if you’re a Pokémon of a different size type, you’ll probably want to trade with a friend that can use it. Accessories won’t have sizes, though, anyone can wear those. They’re adjustable for all!

Things coming back:

Your character CAN still be murdered by the Stalkers after the Night Cycle concludes. But reincarnation is back, so you’ll just become one of your alternate forms that you pick when you sign up. It’s a slim chance, though! But still… a chance… to keep things fun and spooky, ooooh!
Instead of skill teachers, you’ll start with Escort/Protect and Investigate as standard skill choices. So no need to look for these teachers or worry they'll be axed at night and you'll forever lose the ability to learn the skill. Not to mention it didn’t make too much sense to learn a skill in only literally half a day. xD
Puzzles and stuff will make a comeback, and some of them will be perk-oriented. Use of Security will be handled with a maze to simulate poking at lock pins and mechanisms with picks, tools, and tension wrenches to find the right way to unlock it (disarming traps won’t involve mazes, though). Use of Diplomacy (when it HAS to be used for an NPC) will be handled with a word search to simulate thinking over and using the right words to convince the NPC to be compliant and fork over whatever mission-critical things they might have. And Repair will be handled via a jigsaw puzzle to simulate piecing something back together. Note that you can have the perk and use it, but then hand the actual puzzle over to someone else to do to submit it if you really don’t want to do it. And of course there may be other puzzles involved that won’t be perk-based. There’s not going to be a CRAZY amount of them since this will be a smaller than usual Season for good reason, but there will be a couple in there for ya’ll to enjoy.

So that’s the update! Again, I still feel pretty good about being able to reach the end of March goal, but I’ll let you guys know if things change and it looks like more time will be needed or if I think we can start early and I’m confident this delicious cake of horror has had enough time in the oven. >:3

[EmeraldSky]

Neo Beautifly

So could a bow still be used to hit far off switches, make impromptu ziplines, and knock down Beedrill hives?

[Neo Emolga]

Neo Beautifly

So could a bow still be used to hit far off switches, make impromptu ziplines, and knock down Beedrill hives?

Ehhh, I can't really say the opportunity to do those three things with a bow will present itself in this Season. Sorry to burst your bubble.

[KitRougard]

Lo and behold, I check to see how the place is doing, and wham I'm right on time for Stalkers Remastered.

...Shame I can't remember my old username and password, but hey, it's your local friendly Lucario/Umbreon/Mr. Mime again!

so up next was... a deduceye?

[EmeraldSky]

Neo Beautifly

Oh well--never hurt to ask!

[Neo Emolga]

Lo and behold, I check to see how the place is doing, and wham I'm right on time for Stalkers Remastered.

...Shame I can't remember my old username and password, but hey, it's your local friendly Lucario/Umbreon/Mr. Mime again!

so up next was... a deduceye?

Hey there! Was it ARandomTool, by chance? I mean heck, if that was it and you need a password reset, I can handle that!


Neo Beautifly

Oh well--never hurt to ask!

Yeah, sorry, I know you'd probably love to see Legend of Zelda mechanics like that implemented into this, but I just think they'd be a bit out of place in something that's kind of meant to be more of a horror thing.

[EmeraldSky]

Neo Beautifly

This is fair--I'm looking forward to see what you've cooked up.

[C0L0R3D]

Holy mother of macaroni, we really ARE getting the gang back together. Right down to Adrian Aylian and his duo of companions, no less! I’m seriously getting hyped up for this now.

[Neo Emolga]

Holy mother of macaroni, we really ARE getting the gang back together. Right down to Adrian Aylian and his duo of companions, no less! I’m seriously getting hyped up for this now.

Seriously, this has a very Field of Dreams feeling to it. Or hey, let's go for something more recent, an Avengers: Endgame feeling to it. >:3

And a mini-update:

So the map and the location list is 100% done and ready to go. Also, I've completed the list of townsfolk and rolled which ones are Stalkers. No comment on the results, I don't even want to insinuate anything on those! As for the map, I'd show it, but there's a slight possibility I might make tweaks. Not major ones, but I don't want to set it in stone quite yet.

My little black notebook with the notes I've taken on Stalker routes is now done for all the Stalkers (I scribble ideas and notes during pauses and downtime at work). I took special care NOT to get too carried away with them because I've done that in the past and that's what usually results in those SUPER-LONG seasons. These should definitely be a lot nicer to work with and not feel like an endless slog. What's next on my agenda is to commit the notes into fully fleshed out backstories and finalize the routes. I've only just started the first one and I'm tweaking things a bit. In the past, I've managed to fully flesh out one Stalker a day and place all of their material, and that was back when the routes were LONG, so I might be able to get this done sooner than later. But again, I still estimate a 3/31 completion. If I have extra time, I might spend the time to enhance things (like more graphics and minor features) as opposed to start things too early.

I'm hoping to have everything done for the Stalkers themselves before the 26th. Can't see why I wouldn't be able to pull that off, but we'll see how things go. Should be fun, this is always a very enjoyable part of Stalkers development. >:3

Cheers and good times!

[ARandomTool]

What's great is all I needed was the username to remember the password, I am Very Secure<TM>

[Neo Emolga]

What's great is all I needed was the username to remember the password, I am Very Secure<TM>

Hey, it's you! Back in your true form! And here I thought you were long gone a while ago and we'd never see you again. Surprise!

Note to self, to summon everyone back to the PXR party, host Stalkers again!

[ARandomTool]

Note to self, to summon everyone back to the PXR party, host Stalkers again!

You joke, but I honestly have no clue what compelled me to check in on y'all. I just know I peeked into Stalkers for nostalgia purposes and "Wait... interest check? Another season? Recent replies?" and wham I got stuck again :P

[Neo Emolga]

You joke, but I honestly have no clue what compelled me to check in on y'all. I just know I peeked into Stalkers for nostalgia purposes and "Wait... interest check? Another season? Recent replies?" and wham I got stuck again :P

See, checking in on us paid off! I was wondering where and how you’ve been!

And some updates!

I’m about 25% done with the Stalkers. I know I said I thought I would be done around the 26th, and while I’m making some decent progress, I don’t think they’ll all be ready by then and I think I would need this coming weekend to really cover more ground on the kind of things I want to do for them to make this fun and deep (plus other things going on as well). Right now what’s done looks good, but yeah, I want it to be great and that may mean things need more time to bake.

So overall, I think I might need more time past the 31st. The stuff for the Stalkers themselves, I’m quite sure all of that will be done before the end of the month, it’s everything else that’s coming into question (can’t really say “Sin Purge” this time because things are going to be different this time around).

Having paid full price for both Cyberpunk 2077 and Battlefield 2042, both of which were rushed fiascos and painfully showed it on release day, I don’t believe in doing that and I wouldn’t do that to Stalkers RPG. I’ll still try to see if I can make it to 3/31, but it’s starting to look more on the unlikely side. Having that extra week or two into April would make quite a bit of difference.

So hang tight, I know you guys are eager to jump in, but I need some more time. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

[C0L0R3D]

Ah, I know all too well that waiting is important for stuff so you have my patience. I've had a thing you like crank out a 45 MINUTE finale in around two months, so I can wait for a temporarily turned Lopunny to finish off the deep n' juicy bits.

[Neo Emolga]

Ah, I know all too well that waiting is important for stuff so you have my patience. I've had a thing you like crank out a 45 MINUTE finale in around two months, so I can wait for a temporarily turned Lopunny to finish off the deep n' juicy bits.

Yeah, I'm still going to try. I've set mini goals and milestones here and there and I'm trying to keep a decent pace. And yeah, ah this goofy Lopunny thing. xD

One question I had for everyone that's been on my mind for a bit. How bothered would people be if Stalkers RPG had swearing in it? I know this was never a thing in previous seasons, but there's been a few occasions where it might give that extra sense of gruff nature, gritty edges, and in some cases, really add emphasis the deranged nature of certain things and give certain situations and contexts that extra bit of depth. But if people would be really bugged by that and really don't want to see it in Stalkers despite the Mature rating and parental advisory it has already, I'd still totally get that and I'd abstain from doing it.

[C0L0R3D]

Eh, I’m okay with the Stalkers pie being a bit sourer than usual. But I’ll roll with whatever the majority decides on.

[Scytherwolf]

I think swearing would be fine! I mean, if anything was going to be questionable it would be all the violence but we're all used to that. XD

[ARandomTool]

Somewhere in the background, you hear various colorful phrases.
"Mother pus bucket, what do you mean the child-born-out-of-wedlock who gets to straighten out this next mess gets to use actual bloody swears?"
Hey, chill out, Nick buddy, you had your run and-
"Yes, my run where you dropped out halfway through the game. Nickolas Foligan is making his second pass at the mess of the Stalkers, and there's little to nothing you can do to stop it, you dim-witted oxygen-thief!"
...you take too much after Algaliarept. Not sure how I feel about it.
"You love it, or else you would change how I speak, darling."

[C0L0R3D]

And like so, the Toole lore continues onward. Will Nicklefool steal his spotlight back, or will Toole take a Decidueye into the spotlight like potentially planned? Tune in next time on PXR.

[Lychee]

I'm okay with swearing! Its just an extra spice to sprinkle into description and dialogue in my opinion.

[Neo Emolga]

Thanks for the feedback! Okay, based on what I’ve read in the comments, people are okay with a little foul-mouthing going on, so I’ll leave that open as a possibility when creating content.

Also, some status updates on this!


Okay, I know I’ve fallen behind, but I’m at least glad to say the stuff for the Stalkers is 50% done and there’s a LOT of awesome content already. Originally I was hoping to have everything for the Stalkers done before the weekend, but then as I was working through the stuff, I would have had to strip a lot of the good stuff like graphics and puzzles out, which I decided NOT to do and I’ve been spending the extra time to make good things great. So it means things have been taking longer, but in exchange, things are getting better, so I think it’ll be worth it.

Offhand, I was also kind of busy this weekend cleaning up tax returns and during the week resolving outside stuff. And there were nights that I was just DRAINED after work and the creative juices were only a trickle. The remainder of the content for the Stalkers should be done soon, but I’ll keep you guys updated.

The other stuff… not quite sure how long it’ll take, but I’ll try my best. There’s some interesting never tried before things going on here, but I’m not spoiling it. I still feel confident it’ll be fun and exciting.

As always, thanks for your patience and for checking in!

[C0L0R3D]

Nice, we're more or less halfway to the good stuff! Still really excited to see what you've been cooking up this time.

Also, silly thing I thought up, I was genuinely considering making a small class or something like it to ease folks back into (or just flat out into in a few cases) the Stalkers in case they feel like they got rusty. Sounds silly and I probably wouldn't be the best teacher, but if it helped I'd have no objections to helping out in ways past the rules thread might. Not that the rules thread doesn't explain things great already!

EDIT: I've given it thought and I wanna go ahead with this! Not sure if permission would be needed to lend a helping hand to rookies and veterans alike, yet alone where in PXR it'd go... but I'm willing to try anyway!

[Neo Emolga]

Yeeep, I know I’ve been a bit too quiet about this lately, sorry about that! It’s crazy how busy things have been and how much time has slipped by. With that in mind, I owe you guys an update.

Stalkers are about 95% done, all that’s left is just wrapping up a few graphics and placements for the very last one and I think I’ll be able to get that done today. The others are FANTASTIC right now and I’m looking forward to getting them out there. I got stuck on a few of them (and I didn’t want to get people worried about that) but things have gotten back on track and I’m pretty close to wrapping things up on that front.

As far as the “Sin Purge” stuff goes, I’ve been trying to rework that, because I thought about what I currently have a bit more and generally how people have handled Stalkers in the past… and I realized things were probably not going to go down too well. I don’t want to go too deep into details, but a lot of it deals with an overall “balancing act” and recognizing that in Stalkers, players are generally more on the conservative side with their choices and minimize the risk by not taking gambles on things. There was a component of the “ritual” that was optional and would make things easier, but would involve a bit of a gamble. But then knowing how people tend to play, this very likely would have been ignored and disregarded completely and… eh, I don’t want that and I think some reworking would be ideal here. I’ll figure something out, but I’ve been more focused on wrapping up the Stalkers first.

Rest assured, I know I’m WAY past the original deadline I had set, but things are still moving along and I haven’t forgotten about this. Hang tight, it’s coming.

[C0L0R3D]

Past the deadline or not, I’m just super excited to see the Stalkers come back. So even if this drags out for who knows how much longer, I’ll still devote my patience to waiting for this new masterpiece to shine through.

[Neo Emolga]

Past the deadline or not, I’m just super excited to see the Stalkers come back. So even if this drags out for who knows how much longer, I’ll still devote my patience to waiting for this new masterpiece to shine through.

Yeah, I was a bit of a goof for putting a deadline for myself, especially when I barely had anything done. Usually I don’t do that and this is a good reason why. I needed the extra month to get some of this stuff sorted out and to catch up with other things going on, but I’m making pretty good progress.

I don’t foresee it dragging out that much longer and I know normally I give updates, but the most that I have is “working on the ‘ritual’ stuff” but I don’t want to disclose exactly how that’s progressing along because it’s all going to be different this time around. That’s really all I’m going to disclose. :P

I just need to finish that and update the rules and honestly, that’s pretty much it. So thanks for your patience, it shouldn’t be long now. :)

[Neo Emolga]

UPDATE TIME!

Ok, finally, I can say with confidence that I'm at the home stretch. The Stalkers are done, the "Sin Purge" ritual stuff is done (ooh, this is going to be FUN), it's really just a matter of revising the rules thread, writing up the story with the new lore (I'm rather proud of this part especially), and cleaning up a few last remaining things before SIGN UPS GO LIVE and I know you all have been waiting for that. Patiently I must add, and I thank you for that! I know development ended up being a whole extra month tacked onto the original idea of a release date, but yeah, it would have been a bleh mess if I tried to cram out everything like that and I know it would have been sloppy. Trust me, having this extra month to work with was a major help and made all the difference.

Sign ups should be going up very soon, HOPEFULLY this week. I just want to tie up a few loose ends first and clean things up a bit more but stay on the lookout and don't drift too far away if you want to get in on this, because there's really not much more to do (and some of it I can even do while sign ups are going on).

Get ready, because it's coming!

[ARandomTool]

"Is it safe to say I haven't been this excited since I won my freedom from Bless in a ridiculously high-stakes game of Go Fish?"

"...Yes, yes it is. Why are you asking permission, though?"

"Well, you see, I'm a scholar and a gentleman, and I usually don't fall when I try to stand..."

"I should have never given you my Pandora login."

[C0L0R3D]

Now THIS I cannot wait for. Just finishing up the lore for how Colored, AKA me, brings a certain someone along for the ride this time around. Although, said individual isn’t gonna be too happy about it… but hey, what’s gonna happen? He dies?
Nah, my man’s just tagging along while I do all the hard work.

EDIT: Can also say my small Stalk School stuff is going swimmingly! Finished up the first part that sums up hints and rapport, and I'm working on some additional stuff as I speak.
EDIT 2: Everything's done! I've got what I believe to be all the important stuff jotted down and ready to share with everybody. As discussed with Neo, I'll wait for the signups page to pop up before I cram all my knowledge into a post for you guys.