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    Stalkers RPG Season 4: Rules and Gameplay [WARNING: HORROR THEMES]


    Thanks to Neo Emolga for the banner

    WARNING: The Stalkers RPG contains mature, horror-themed content, coarse language, and imagery that some people may find disturbing. PG13+ recommended, possibly M.

    Table of Contents



    Introduction

    Welcome to the Stalkers RPG. Stalkers, essentially, is a Pokémon-oriented horror/murder mystery game where you, the player, play as a pokémon "Emissary" and work together with your fellow teammates to get to the bottom of mysterious, nefarious deeds committed by "Stalkers," demon-possessed pokémon whose plans involve murdering civilians before unleashing an apocalypse. By finding clues, solving puzzles, interviewing the locals, and relying on one another, you will aim to rid the world of the unspeakable evils and save the world. Teamwork, ingenuity, and sharp decision making are the key to prevailing!

    This originally started as a 2016 Halloween event hosted by Neo Emolga and was an instant hit with the community. This is the fourth main season, but technically the fifth installment, and will be run solely by Suicune's Fire.

    You do not need to have played previous rounds to participate in Season 4. There are some minor references and a simple ongoing storyline throughout the series, but new players are always welcome to join in at any time. If you read the Background Storyline below, you'll be perfectly caught up.

    Background Storyline
    Past:
    In times past, legendaries have sent humans disguised as pokémon to other pokémon worlds in order to do what nobody else could. These formerly human pokémon are known as Emissaries managed to prevent apocalyptic disasters multiple times, and millions of lives have been saved.

    Some time ago, there was an incident upon the pokémon world of Aryia in a small farming community known as Serenity Town. It was a much darker and twisted case than incidents in the past where pokémon were the victims of horrific, macabre murders. It marked the first time an entire group of Emissaries were sent by Mew to work as a team to coordinate efforts to get to the bottom of the incident. Despite their success, what they found was a much darker truth.

    Dark, malicious spirits known as Enthrallers were the reason for the incident, rendering the wildest dreams and darkest desires of pokémon dark and twisted perversions that were used to kill innocent victims. By taking over the bodies and minds of these pokémon, they became infiltrator murderers known as Stalkers. It was later uncovered that Abyss, the hellish underworld afterlife of pokémon, has been "seeding" worlds of the living with these dark spirits. It is unknown how they are so readily able to infiltrate the material plane, but they persist nonetheless.

    Despite these dark presences, the Emissaries found the necessary materials left behind by Adis, the town priest of Serenity Town, to complete the Sin Purge ritual using relics and artifacts from Utopia, the heavenly afterlife realm of pokémon that continues to wage a secret war with Abyss. By completing the Sin Purge ritual, the Stalkers were eliminated and the Enthrallers were destroyed, but the pokémon they inhabited were killed in the process.

    Since that first incident, the world of Valdyne was targeted, and inhabitants of Silvercoal City were transformed into Stalkers. Although the Emissaries sent were capable and diligent, the forces of Abyss were too strong, and Utopia's efforts to stop the Enthrallers failed. The world was consumed by agents of the Abyss, and Utopia took a heavy loss as four of its powerful Angels were lost in the process. The world of Barendal was the next subject of the Abyss' evil plans, but like the first time, the Emissaries sent in to stop the dark forces of the Abyss prevailed, and all the Enthrallers were destroyed. The dark war rages on, and Abyss is out to uncover why their first and third attempts failed. Their resolve remains strong, and they will stop at nothing to once again claim a world in their name.

    Present:
    The sparse world of Yaru, which was devastated during the globe's near-demise over a century ago, is Abyss' new target. Agents of the Abyss have begun to seep into the small civilisation tucked in the western end of a vast valley known as Salvage Keep. The Pokémon residing there have been trying to rebuild after decades of trials and hardship, and during their struggle to survive and restore life to Yaru, Abyss seized the opportunity to send Enthrallers in to possess multiple pokémon. With Stalkers now roaming the developing town, Mew has acted as quickly as possible and once again called the human-turned-pokémon Emissaries who have prevailed before.

    It's up to you, Utopia's new Emissaries, to exercise your mission to destroy the evil spirits infesting this land while keeping your identities sealed away from prying, evil eyes.

    Signing Up

    Everyone is on the same team and you're all working together. You either all win together, or you all lose together. When you join Stalkers RPG, think of yourself and what pokémon best resembles you. There are also a few other things that you get to decide on as well, but overall, the sign up includes these components:

    Pokémon: Any type, any evolution stage, any form, and even legendary Pokémon are permissible. You are free to pick whichever one you think suits you. The pokémon you choose will determine a few things:
    Type and Evolutionary Stage
    Interview: Firstly, your type and evolutionary stage will affect rapport score when interviewing citizens. If you have a type advantage over the pokémon you're interviewing, you will appear intimidating to them. If they have a type advantage over you, you will appear modest, or possibly brave. If you share one or more of the same types as the interviewee, you will gain a +1 to your overall rapport score, which basically means that your interview will be more successful than if you had a negative score. Your evolutionary stage will also bring either a negative score if there is a large differences in stages, a neutral score if the stages are not the same but aren't too far apart, or a positive score if you and your interviewee are the same evolution stage. A mega-evolved pokémon will count as a third-stage.
    Additionally, if you are the same species as the citizen you interview, you will automatically gain a positive rapport (provided you have not upset them prior).
    Puzzles: Secondly, some puzzles or interactive objects on the map require a certain type to proceed. Instances of this will be clearly outlined so it is clear what type is needed.
    Damage taken/given: Thirdly, your type will come into play when taking or dealing damage from traps or attacks. Types work the same as in-game. If you are unsure on how types interact with one another, refer to this chart.

    Size
    There are three size categories, being small (S), medium (M) and large (L). A small pokémon might be able to fit through a tight space, whereas a large pokémon might be able to reach something up high. A medium pokémon could do either. In addition to this, each size category has different Health and Purity scores. All have the same Sanity score, however.
    S (Small) = 2' and under
    8 max Health, 8 max Sanity, 12 max Purity
    M (Medium) = 2'1" to 4'11"
    10 max Health, 8 max Sanity, 10 max Purity
    L (Large) = 5' and over
    12 max Health, 8 max Sanity, 8 max Purity

    Size will also affect your stats in battle. Basically, Large pokémon deal more damage and have more health, but have a higher chance of being hit. Small pokémon have less health and deal less damage, but are twice as hard to hit as Large pokémon. Medium pokémon are in the middle of Small and Large with regards to damage output, health, and hit chance. Health corresponds with the stats listed here.

    See Battling for more information.

    Perk: Perks enable you to perform certain tasks, such as unlock a tricky door or convince an NPC to hand over an item. Be sure to read all the details for each perk before deciding what you want to go with! And it's also important to see what other players have chosen, because you'll do much better if you diversify with your team. Information on perks can be found here.
    Abilities: Abilities are certain actions that you can choose to learn. Abilities, unlike regular actions, are not available to everyone, and you get a choice of two out of the five available. In the past, Emissaries have been granted Abilities, also known as Learned Actions, upon sign-up. In Stalkers Season 4, all Abilities will all have to be learned by discovering Ability Teachers, which are certain NPCs in the civilian list.
    Traits: Brand new to Season 4, Traits are extra attributes that will affect certain parts of the game. Like Abilities, they must be unlocked. In total, there are five Traits. Choosing the right Trait could enhance your chosen perk or ability, so ensure that you choose carefully when the time comes!
    Battle Stance: Flee / Fight. This determines whether you try to flee a hostile battle or stay and fight. More on this down at Battling.

    A completed sign-up will result in Stats that look like this:

    Xanthe the Flareon (M: Fire)
    Health: 10/10 | Sanity: 8/8 | Purity: 10/10
    Battle Stance: Fight
    Perk: Diplomacy | Abilities: (None yet)
    Trait: (None yet)
    Equipment: (None yet)

    Objectives

    The main, overall core objective is to eliminate all of the Stalkers before they kill too many additional innocent civilians (as the storyline goes, there are quite a few that are already dead).

    How to WIN

    There are a few different ways to win the game. Depending on what you and your team does and how they deal with certain situations, there are various different ways the ending will be determined for better or for worse.

    METHOD 1: ASSASSINATE ALL OF THE STALKERS - This involves manually discerning who the Stalkers are out of the list of civilians and killing all of them successfully with the Assassinate skill (which every player has to start with). Assassinating an NPC who is not actually a Stalker will essentially be you doing the Enthrallers a favour by providing one extra kill for their Kill Counter. Also, if you assassinate an NPC who is a Stalker, they will be killed, but their souls will not be saved. However, desperate times might call for desperate measures, and you might feel like it's safer for the currently safe and living civilians if you eliminate someone you know is a Stalker, regardless of consequence.

    METHOD 2: COMPLETE THE RITUAL - As before, there is a way to complete a Sin Purge Ritual within Salvage Keep, which will have to be discovered by the Emissaries throughout the course of the game. You will have to uncover the specific method, as well as find items and clues in order to complete the ritual successfully.

    Losing

    Unfortunately, there's ways your team can lose, also.

    DARK EVENT 1: STALKERS KILL TOO MANY CIVILIANS: It is estimated that the Stalkers only need 25 more kills before some infernal ritual is accomplished by the Enthrallers. You must avoid this outcome before it happens in this race against time.

    DARK EVENT 2: THE ENTHRALLERS COMPROMISE THE MISSION: Mew, the legendaries, and other allied mysterious forces involved cannot afford to allow whoever is behind the Enthraller incursion to learn about the Emissary mission. The way to avoid this from happening is to avoid being caught and interrogated by Stalkers. This can happen when your Health, Sanity, or Purity drops to dangerously low levels and you become vulnerable to a Stalker kidnapping, but it can also happen if you openly provoke Stalkers or begin to discover their secrets. Remember, the Enthrallers are trying to figure out who the Emissaries are and how these undercover operations have been working. Don't let them learn too much or the mission will be over.

    Ending variances

    The ending is very dynamic, which means certain events, outcomes, and decisions will affect exactly how the story ends. It's best to make your choices wisely and talk things out with your team if you want to shoot for the most ideal ending. Specific things that can affect the ending include how you choose to deal with the Stalkers, how many civilians are killed, and whether or not Side Missions are completed.

    How to Play

    You know how to win, so now you just have to get started. You can progress through the game by taking Actions available to you, namely interviewing NPC Pokémon and searching places on the map. There are also other means to get the information you need and to protect your team and innocent Pokémon during the course of the game.

    The flow of the game is divided into Day and Night cycles, and certain events happen during each. Depending on the current cycle, certain actions are available. You get to choose one action during the Day cycle and one during the Night cycle. Note that you will only have a limited amount of time to submit your action before the outcomes of each player's action are resolved by game master(s), or GM. Once you've made your move, simply wait until the action submission time is done and then wait for a GM to resolve the outcome. In the meantime, you can still talk things out with your teammates in the separate discussion thread. If you don't make a choice during the action submission period, your action will be defaulted to the Rest action. While Resting is beneficial in certain circumstances, it's not the kind of thing you want to be doing all game!

    Communication is key: talk things out with your teammates and diversify how you will go about your cycle actions to make best use of what you have.

    Main Action and Team Status Thread

    The Main Action and Team Status Thread will be where most of the action will happen. It is where actions are submitted and narration posts tell you the outcome of your actions. Here's how it will be laid out so when you see it in the first post, you know where everything is and what they mean. I'll chuck it in spoiler tags so it takes up less room.

    Spoiler:

    CURRENT CYCLE

    Stalkers RPG works off cycles; one day cycle and one night cycle. Once both cycles have completed, one day has passed. This section will show what the current cycle is, and what day it is. It will also contain a timer stating how long you have left to submit an action in the current cycle, if any time at all. Each timer starts at 48 hours.

    PLAYERS
    The Players area is a list of all the Emissaries that are in the game. These will be your teammates for the duration of the game. Each player's name, what Pokémon they are, what Abilities, Perk and Trait they have, what their Health, Purity and Sanity levels are, and what they have equipped. All this will be displayed in this format for each player:

    Xanthe the Flareon (M: Fire)
    Health: 10/10 | Sanity: 8/8 | Purity: 10/10
    Battle Stance: Fight
    Trait: Nimble
    Perk: Diplomacy | Abilities: Investigate
    Equipped: Iron Dagger

    Don't worry about all these details for now; they all get explained later. As long as you're familiar with the format for now, it's all good.

    DOOM TRACKER

    The Doom Tracker counts down two different things:

    Dark Event #1: Kill Counter
    Dark Event #2: Mission Disclosure

    You definitely don't want either of these to fill up. Very bad things happen if either of these events happen. It's Game Over for everyone.

    "Dark Event #1: Kill Counter" is related to the number of kills left on the Stalkers' list. Once they hit 25 more kills, they will have enough power to unleash doomsday. There will be an "X/25" tally, where "X" is the current total of civilians the Stalkers have killed since the beginning of the game. If the Kill Counter hits 25/25 kills, doomsday will begin and the world will be plunged into a living nightmare.

    "Dark Event #2: Mission Disclosure" refers to information that the Enthrallers seek to gain from the Emissaries about their sacred mission. There will be an "X%/100%", where "X" resembles how much the Enthrallers have learned about the Emissary mission. If the known percentages hits 100%, the Enthrallers will learn the full extent of the Emissaries' mission and use this information to end everyone.

    STALKERS ELIMINATED

    This is a record of how many Stalkers have been successfully eliminated. Both their Enthraller's name and their host pokémon's name will be displayed.

    TEAM INVENTORY

    As well as individual inventories, players have one shared inventory. Found items that are related to a Stalker's plans, the Sin Purge Ritual, or anything else narrative-based will automatically be added to the team inventory. This inventory can be accessed by everyone. Consumable and equippable items found or bought will go to the individual Emissary's inventory, however. You can place any item you personally find or buy into the team inventory at the start of your turn as a free action, such as an oran berry, so that anyone may access it.

    For details about ITEMS, please refer to this thread: Item Directory.

    EMISSARY INVENTORIES

    This section will have each player's name and pokémon icon with their individual inventory. Inventory contents will be kept inside [SPOILER] tags, and the inventories are kept separate from the Emissary list to avoid clutter.

    Salvage Keep's currency, known as silver splinters, splinters, or $SP$, will be distributed to the individual Emissary who acquires them. You can gift items and splinters to other players or to the Team Inventory as a free action at the start of your action.

    TEAM RECORDS

    Team Records is usually filled with records of things found that you can not take with you, such as a message on a brick wall written in blood. Mostly, this section is filled with == markings. Each object on the list will have an accompanying link to remind you what it is you found.

    SALVAGE KEEP MAP

    In this section, the map of Salvage Keep will appear, as well as a list of all its locations. It will log what locations have been searched, what was found there (if anything at all), and links to the post where the Search happened will be provided for reference.

    SALVAGE KEEP CIVILIAN REPORTS

    This will be a directory of all the potential suspects in Salvage Keep. All of these civilians will start with only having "<UNQUESTIONED>" by their name. By using Interview, Investigate, and Diplomacy on them, you'll uncover more details about them, such as if they have a Perk that the team can employ or if they handed an item to the team. Links to Interviews and Investigations will be added once these actions occur. Note that it is possible to encounter pokémon in the town who are not on this list. They cannot be questioned, as they are not potential Stalkers, and are usually only mentioned in passing.

    Some civilians on the Suspect List will have requests and side missions for the Emissaries, which will be marked with a green exclamation mark "!" by the Pokémon's name, such as this example:

    "!39. Alejandro the Yamask"

    To learn about the mission that pokémon has, you must interview them by using an action. Interviewing anyone with a ! beside their name will automatically have you interview them with regular questions in addition to asking about their side mission, unless otherwise specified. Upon interviewing the pokémon, you will learn about the mission details and what that NPC wants you to do. Once this happens, the side mission title with a link to the mission details will be posted next to the Pokémon's name, like in this example:

    "! FINDING SOME STRING - 39. Alejandro the Yamask"

    These side missions are optional and it's up to you if you want to do them or not. Once they have been completed, the side mission will be removed from beside the pokémon, and a small directory containing details about the mission will be listed below the Suspect List. These side missions will remain with the Pokémon on the Suspect List until either the side mission is completed or the Pokémon giving the side mission is killed by the Stalkers.


    Dealing With Puzzles

    There are many puzzles buried within the Stalkers RPG. Some of them take the form of word or number puzzles, decryption puzzles, and the like. Very often, completing these puzzles successfully yields key items that are necessary to progress and get to the bottom of finding out who the Stalkers are. For example, one item that might be created from a number puzzle might be something like [Code 3814] for a four digit lock, such as {Locked Footlocker: Four Digit Combination Lock}.

    When you find a puzzle, anyone on the team is allowed to solve it at any time and it doesn't take an action to submit it. You can either choose to solve it as a group or designate someone on the team to handle it. However, instead of posting the solution in the Team Discussion thread, you need to submit the results to the game moderators through PM. If you completed the puzzle successfully, a notice about the successful completion will be announced in the Team Discussion thread and the new key item will be added to the Team Inventory.



    Default Actions
    These actions can all be performed by any player.

    Actions make up most of the gameplay. In Stalkers Season 4, you can submit one action in the Day Cycle, and one action in the Night Cycle. Most actions take up one cycle, but some take up two (which means one action will need to stretch across two cycles). Each action is listed below, and details how many cycles they take up to use as well as when they can be used. Some things are done as a free action, which means that they do not take up an action to do. Rather, you can do them in addition to regular actions, but they must be done at the start of your turn.

    When a new Cycle begins, an announcement post will be made in the Main Action and Team Status thread, and a 48-hour timer will be set. During this time window, you may submit your action(s). An example is below:

    "For my Day Cycle action, I will Search (41) Old Laboratory."


    SEARCH (ANY CYCLE) - 1 Action
    This action allows you to search any location on the map. This will allow you to locate items, locked doors/containers, and objectives of interest. Because of your special power as an Emissary, you will be able to distinguish these important items from everything else. Meanwhile, your Emissary powers allow you to search most locations from the shadows, undetected by any Pokémon around you.

    While using the Search action, if you happen to come across a situation where a perk, Pokémon attack, and/or Pokémon size condition (more on these later) is needed and your character already has the necessary means to fulfill those conditions, they will be automatically fulfilled. Such as: if your character knows the Security Perk and while searching you come across a container that requires the Security skill, you will automatically use the Security perk on it. However, items in the Team Inventory do not automatically fulfill condition requirements like perks do. If you come across {Blue Door: Blue Slot} and you have a [Blue Key], you will need to come back another time to use [Blue Key], as you do not carry items like that with you all the time.

    How to use:
    When using the Search action, simply state what location you are searching, such posting "Search (32) The Boland Building" or "Search (12b) Terry Hill Apartments Floors 11-20."

    INTERVIEW (ANY CYCLE) - 1 Action
    This action allows you to question a civilian on the Suspect List and ask them anything you like. You can specify questions when you take the Interview action, or it will be assumed that you are questioning the NPC about anything suspicious they've seen with regards to the Stalkers. Asking specific questions, such as ones pertaining to clues you've found, NPCs commonly suspected, or anything else you deem relevant, will often turn up better results than simply stating "I want to Interview this NPC." Interview responses also depend on the interviewee's personality, and various other details, such as your species and your type. This is referred to as a Rapport check.

    Each civilian has a designation regarding which cycle they're awake and active. "[D]" means they're active during the Day, "[N]" means they're active during Night, and "[D/N]" means they're active during both. As such, you can only Interview a pokémon if they're active during the current cycle.

    There are three types of Interviews:
    The first is a Regular Interview that helps the Emissaries by getting information. These Interviews are subject to a rapport check, which is based on the type chart and evolution stage. Shared types generate positive reactions, not very effective relations generate a more modest reaction to the NPC, super effective relations generate a more intimidating reaction to the NPC, and having an evolution stage that's closer to the stage of the interviewee creates a more positive reaction, while having very different evolution stages generations a more negative reaction. Being the same species as part of the same evolution line (like a Raichu talking to a Pichu) automatically creates a very positive reaction. The higher your rapport, the better the results and the more information that is given to you.

    The second type of Interview is a Side Mission Interview to get details about a side mission. If a Pokémon has a side mission that they want the players to help with, there will be a green exclamation mark "! by their name. This is the only time you can use this type of Interview. Side Missions are sometimes dependent on context, so it is possible that they will not present themselves until after the game has started.

    The third type of interview is a Learn Interview that can be used to Interview a known Skill Teacher to acquire Ability Actions. Just note that once you learn an Abiilty Action, it cannot be forgotten or changed for something else. You can only have two Ability Actions, so once you have picked both to learn, you will have those for the remainder of the game. On the same turn that you learn the action, you may choose to USE it as well.

    Learn Interviews take one whole action, while both regular interviews and mission interviews can be done in the one action. Unless specified, a civilian who is interviewed regularly will also give details for their mission interview, if applicable.

    How to use:
    When using the Interview action, simply state what Pokémon from the civilian list you are interviewing and what type of interview you're going for, such as posting "Interview (Regular) #27, Dalex the Bulbasaur" or "Interview (Mission) #49, Vlye the Pikachu." During Regular Interviews, you are also allowed to take the interview a few questions further, such as "Interview (Regular) #27, Dalex the Bulbasuar about (35) The Hilltop Diner and Vlye's note that I found." Feel free to write out whole questions in a more roleplay fashion.

    CONSUME/EQUIP/BUY/TRADE ITEM (ANY CYCLE) - FREE
    Consuming, buying, equipping, or trading items with another player is a free action, and can be used in conjunction with any other action on any cycle. At the start of your turn, you can consume or equip as many items as you like, whether it's from your personal inventory or the team inventory, but only for yourself. You can trade items with other players, but you cannot equip other players with equipment or help them consume items.

    How to use:
    Simply state, "I would like to consume [Razz Berry] and [Oran Berry]. I would also like to equip the [Obsidian Dagger]," or, "I would like to buy x3 [Wood] from Disaster Defence."

    USE ITEM/PERK (ANY CYCLE) - 1 Action
    This action allows you to use any item(s) in the team inventory, and/or perks on an object or Pokémon of interest. This includes using keys on locked doors or certain perks on things they can be applied to. If you are going to the same location, you may use multiple items/perks available to you in the one action.

    How to use:
    When using this skill, simply state something like "Use [ABC Key] and [Blue Orb] on {Locked Steel Door: ABC Emblem, Circular Blue Emblem} at (32) The Boland Building" This is considered the use of the items "[ABC Key]" and "[Blue Orb]" on the locked door "{Locked Steel Door}" at the Boland Building location. If the item fits and belongs there, chances are good you'll come across something helpful that adds to the team's progress.

    The use of a Perk can be done by stating something like "Use Security Perk on {Locked Steel Door: <Security>} at (32) The Boland Building" or "Use Medicine Perk on {Wounded Marill: <Medicine>} at (35) The Hilltop Diner."

    REST (ANY CYCLE) - 1 Action
    This action allows your character to rest in bed and recuperate from Health, Sanity and Purity loss. It restores 4 points back to Health, Sanity and Purity. Make sure to take the Rest action to recover after sustaining an injury or coming across traumatizing findings, especially if you suspect that the next areas you want to head into may be dangerous.

    How to use:
    Simply state something like, "I want to take the Rest action," and your character will have 4 points restored to their Health, Sanity and Purity.

    UPGRADE:
    This Action can be upgraded, and greater benefits can be gained from Resting!

    ASSASSINATE (ANY CYCLE) - 1 Action
    Mew's power has given you the ability to deal a powerful death blow to any Pokémon the Emissaries believe is a Stalker. If they are a Stalker, the Pokémon's soul isn't saved, but it stops that Stalker from killing any more innocent Pokémon. However, if it turns out the Pokémon assassinated was completely innocent, the Pokémon died and one point gets added to the Doom Tracker. A correct assassination of a Stalker does not result in a point being added to the Doom Tracker.

    How to use:
    Simply state something like "Assassinate #54. Jeremy the Ponyta." If they really are a Stalker, you'll come across telltale signs in the outcome post to follow that there really was an Enthraller residing within the targeted resident.

    RESTRAIN: - 1 Action
    Restrain can be used by any and all Emissaries to imprison any NPC. Now that the required structures have been built, any Emissary can Restrain an NPC by using one action. However, only one NPC can be restrained at a time due to the limited space and resources you have to help you contain them. If a Stalker is restrained at night and the RNG selects that Stalker to make a kill for the night, the Stalker will be unable to make a kill. Any NPC restrained this way has a permanent -1 rapport consequence to all future rapport checks, which can only be restored with <Diplomacy>. If the NPC was already in a Compliant state, they can last two cycles (one day and one night) before the Compliant state vanishes and the -1 rapport consequence kicks in. After being released from Restrain, the NPC with a -1 rapport score can be put into the Compliant state with Diplomacy regardless of whether or not they were previously.

    How to use:
    Just say, "I would like to Restrain 36. Napkin the Meowstic."

    SCAVENGE (ANY CYCLE) - 1 Action
    This side of the abundant wastelands have mostly been picked clean, but useful materials, silver splinters, and hidden treasures can still be found by delving into the various ruins found in the Salvage Keep area. You can use an action to go exploring in one of the two available ruins. With one Scavenge action, you will always have a chance to find common, rare, and very rare items. You can also find silver splinters, the local currency. Items found in the ruins are rarely found elsewhere, and will be useful for forging weapons, armour, and useful accessories.

    Tunnel Ruins:
    These ruins contain silver splinters, materials, crafting components, and gems.

    Valley Ruins:
    These ruins contain silver splinters, materials, gem dust, and gems.

    Sunken Ruins:
    Unfortunately the Sunken Ruins have become flooded and the infrastructure is beginning to collapse. As a result, scavenging these ruins is no longer possible.

    How to use:
    State "I would like to Scavenge in Tunnel Ruins." You will spend an action scouring the ruins as best you can in search for items.

    BATTLE (ANY CYCLE) - 1 Action
    Sometimes a pokémon just wants to battle! And this may include you, in your new pokémon form. Using one action, you may challenge one civilian on the Suspect List to have a one-on-one friendly battle with. If you win the battle, you will be rewarded with a monetary prize, or a useful item. Battles can be used as an alternative to interviewing, and you may glean useful information from civilians you defeat. If you lose a battle, you will not get a reward, but you will not lose items or $Splinters$ either, unless you choose to wager. Your Health will be restored to its state before the battle regardless of the outcome.

    Wager: You can also wager $Splinters$, which will give you an extra reward. Whatever you offer up will be doubled if you win, in addition to what you would have earned without wagering. For instance, if you offered $25 SP$ and you win, you will get back $50 SP$ in addition to whatever the civilian was originally going to give you for winning. However, if you wager $Splinters$ and lose, you will have to pay the victor what you wagered. You cannot wager $SP$ that you do not have in your own personal inventory.

    Keep in mind that certain civilians might be stronger than others. It is possible that you might assume a civilian is of standard strength, but has concealed equipment or has trained extensively to be stronger than you expect. Civilians will always be welcoming of friendly battles, although some may enjoy it more than others, and some may not want to fight again after the first battle.

    Battles are a good way to test out new equipment, get information in an alternative way to interviewing, win $Splinters$ or other items, or simply to try your hand at battling.

    How to use:
    If you're itching for a battle, simply state, "I would like to Battle 13. Conrad the Venomoth." If you would like to wager, specify the $SP$ you wish to offer. If you are looking for specific information, ensure you also mention it.


    Ability Actions (Learned)
    These actions need to be taught to Emissaries by civilians in Salvage Keep. Upon learning an Ability Action by using the Learn Interview action, you can USE your learned action in the same turn. Think of this as a learn bonus, where your teacher helps you use it for the first time.

    ESCORT/PROTECT (DAY OR NIGHT CYCLE) - 1 Action
    This skill works in two ways depending on which cycle you use it for.

    Escort - During the Day Cycle:
    This will allow you to talk an NPC Pokémon into using a Perk they have or a pokémon attack corresponding with the pokémon's type(s) at a certain location. This is useful for the fact that if they have a Perk or pokémon attack type that you do not, you'll be able to use their know-how to aid in the completion of your objectives. This can be done without fail, regardless of the rapport score.

    How to use:
    Simply state "Escort #32. Nepp the Sableye and use his Security Perk on {Locked Steel Door: <Security>} at (32) The Roland Building." This will persuade NPC Nepp the Sableye to use his Security Perk on the door. As another example, "Escort #34 Nepp the Sableye. Use Shadow Ball on {Shadowy Patch: +Ghost Type+} at (32) The Roland Building."

    Protect - During the Night Cycle:
    There are several NPC pokémon that might be of value to you for various reasons, and you may want to prevent them at all costs from being killed by the Stalkers. Using this action allows you to protect them and keep them alive during the Night Cycle, which is when the Stalkers strike. However, protecting an NPC may subject you to a Stalker attack if a Stalker just so happens to target the NPC you are guarding.

    In this circumstance, you will automatically roll a Stealth check, which will determine whether or not the Stalker notices you. Upon being noticed, the Stalker will either be dissuaded from attempting a murder, or will attack you in an effort to complete its original goal. If you manage to stay hidden, you will automatically attack the Stalker with two surprise strikes. If one hits, the Stalker will be driven off. If you do not successfully remain hidden and the Stalker attacks, there is a possibility that you will take damage, but after a few exchanged blows, the Stalker will be driven off. Being equipped with a weapon or armour will help you defend yourself and perhaps inflict a wound or two.

    How to use:
    Simply state "Protect #34, Nepp the Sableye." This makes it impossible for the Stalkers to kill Nepp during that particular Night Cycle.

    RESCUE/ESCAPE (ANY CYCLE) - 1 Action
    Stalkers have been known to capture their victims and torture them before making the killing blow. This is where your Rescue skill comes in. When a kidnapping happens, an announcement will be made detailing a time limit (in cycles) in which multiple Emissaries must embark on a mission to save the kidnap victim. Each rescue mission must be led by an Emissary who possesses the Rescue/Escape skill, but Emissaries who do not possess it, although not as effective on the mission, are also able to join. NPCs with the Rescue/Escape skill may also be brought along instead of or in addition to other players. Each rescue mission has conditions that must be met in order for them to be successful. A mission can still be attempted and completed if not all conditions are met--it just might have repercussions.

    If you are kidnapped and possess the Rescue/Escape skill, the rescue mission to save you is automatically made easier.

    How to use:
    If an NPC or player gets kidnapped, simply state, "I would like to Rescue Baldy the Braviary." If taking NPCs who know Rescue/Escape with you, ensure to include them in your post.

    See Rescue Missions for more information!

    INVESTIGATE - 1 Day Cycle & 1 Night Cycle (Any Cycle)
    This action provides a highly advanced amount of intel on what a civilian does on a day to day basis as you watch and record everything they do while hidden from scrutiny. Using Investigate will allow you to fully learn where that pokémon lives, where they work, their personality traits, their likes, dislikes, friends, profession, what their hobby is, and if they have any items of interest within their possession.

    As a result of the time needed to conduct this level of work, using this ability will take two consecutive Cycles to complete. It can be started on the day cycle and carry on to the night cycle, or started on the night cycle and carry through to the day cycle. Because this means you will be tailing your target almost all day and all night, you will be required to make a stealth check (a percentage roll) to see if you remain hidden. You will need to exceed 50% or above to remain hidden, and your dodge rate is taken as your stealth rate. These checks are made automatically and do not require user input, and will be made once at the end of each Investigate. If you pass the stealth check and remain hidden for the entire investigative process, your target does not spot you and you will return back to base with all the information you were after. If you fail the stealth roll, you will still get the information you learned, but the pokémon you are tailing notices you and either confronts you or flees, based on their personality. This may result in a -1 to your rapport score with that pokémon. This negative effect does not affect any other Emissary's rapport with this pokémon.

    If the pokémon you are investigating lives at a location that you have not yet searched, you will automatically search it as part of this action and find any relevant items.

    LUCKY STRIKE: It's possible to get a "Lucky Strike" with Investigate. This will happen when you use Investigate on a pokémon and it just so happens that they're either the Stalker who makes an attack during the Night Cycle, OR they just so happen to be the victim during that particular Night Cycle. If you manage to pass your stealth check and you happen to be following either the attacking Stalker or the victim, you will witness the murder and will be 100% sure of the attacking Stalker's identity. If you fail the stealth check, the pokémon will notice you before they attack or are attacked, and you will not know if they are a Stalker or a Stalker's victim.

    How to use:
    Investigate takes 1 day action (the second day action) and 1 night action to perform. Simply state, "Investigate #27, Dalex the Bulbasaur." You won't get the outcome results until AFTER the second Cycle has passed, however. You're also free to abort the Investigation early if you feel the need to take a different action during what would have been the second Cycle, but you will only get limited information on them, such as just learning their workplace.

    FORGE (ANY CYCLE) - 1 Action
    Using this skill, you can use materials to create items or equipment. When you come across certain types of materials, you will be able to bring them to a forge and spend some time crafting special items for yourself, your teammates, or even NPCs. Blueprints for weapons, armour and accessories will become available to you throughout the course of the game through different means.

    You can forge 1 piece of equipment (E:) per Forge action. If you have materials that can be crafted into other materials, you can do this in addition to forging equipment. For instance, if you have x2 [Red Gem Dust], you can craft that into 1 [Red Gem] as part of the Forge action, as well as 1 piece of equipment.

    How to use:
    Once you know what you want to forge, simply write "I would like to craft x1 [Padded Strips], x1 [Iron Ingot], and forge one [Iron Dagger]."

    CLAIRVOYANCE (ANY CYCLE) - 1 Action
    Clairvoyance is an extremely useful skill if you want to learn the location of a particular item, or a place to use an item you already have, rather than having to search every location until you happen across it. It is somewhat of a shortcut for finding items, provided you have somewhere to start. By meditating on one single item for one action, you can use your expert abilities to hone in on the specific numbered location that the item in question needs to be used. If the place that the item is used is obstructed by a first step, your senses will let you know that something stands in the way to the item. Alternatively to an item, you can focus on a specific {Bracketed Interactive Object} that requires an item, and one of the items required will have its location revealed to you.

    Clairvoyance will still work if the wanted item is in an NPC's possession.

    How to use:
    Simply state something like: "Use Clairvoyance on [Blue Dagger]," or "Use Clairvoyance on {Locked Container: Blue Slot}."




    Perks

    Perks are like proficiencies that characters can use to accomplish objectives and gain access to areas. Using a Perk works the same way as using an item. Your character starts with one of these Perks, and this is the only one they can get during the course of the game. Using a perk to complete an object uses one action.

    SECURITY
    The Security Perk allows you two basic skills. First, it allows you to bypass certain locks without a key by picking them. Just note that this cannot be used for all locked doors and containers. Some of the more complex locks may have components that go beyond normal picking tools. Secondly, this perk allows you to disarm trapped items that are marked with ## indicators.

    How to use:
    As an example of when the Security perk can be used, something like "{Steel lock: <Security>}" would be a container where only the Security perk can get it open. Secondly, you could say "I would like to use Security on [#Cursed Ring#]," which would disarm the item and eradicate its harmful effects.

    REPAIR
    The Repair Perk is often used to fix machines and mechanisms that have been damaged. In many cases, this perk is necessary to continue making progress. This perk also allows you to repair or restore damaged equipment you find.

    How to use:
    An example where the Repair perk is needed would be something like "{Broken Door Mechanism: <Repair>}" In this case, the broken door is an object of interest, but it cannot be used until it is fixed.

    To repair damaged equipment, simply say "I would like to use Tinker to repair [Titanium Dagger (Broken)]."

    MEDICINE
    The Medicine perk is a medical ability that can be used in two ways: employing your medical knowledge for certain instances, or healing sick or injured NPCs and exhausted or injured players, including yourself. If used on a sick or injured NPC, they recover and may provide helpful assistance. If used on Emissaries (including yourself), you have 8 points to spend how you like between Health, Sanity or Purity; you can use the 8 points to restore Health, 8 points to restore Sanity, 8 points to restore Purity, or split the points between each stat. Alternatively, you can split them between multiple Emissaries (up to 8 Emissaries with 1 point each).

    How to use:
    While out searching, you may come across an NPC that needs medical attention. As an example, you might find something like "{Sick Corphish: <Medicine>}." Alternatively, you can use this perk on yourself or fellow Emissaries. As an example, you would state: "Use Medicine on Freddy the Pikachu to restore 2 points to his Sanity, 2 points to Emily the Cacnea's Purity, and the remaining 4 points to my Health."

    DIPLOMACY
    The Diplomacy perk is like a social override. It grants you the ability to persuade an NPC to cooperate and hand over items they're holding onto. It also puts them into the Compliant State, which means all future Interviews with them will be Positive to you at a minimum (potentially Very Positive if you have the right match-up), and Neutral to all players minimum, even if the regular Rapport with others would normally be lower. If the score is Positive or Very Positive, interviews will retain this score. In addition, Diplomacy can be used in conjunction with an interview at any time.


    When buying items, Emissaries with Diplomacy have a 25% chance to get a low-value item for free.

    How to use:
    Simply select what NPC Pokémon from the list you want to put into Compliant State and say something like "Use Diplomacy Perk on #24 Moxie the Espeon." In this case, Moxie will become Compliant and will be a lot more helpful for interviews regardless of her personality traits.

    TECHNICAL
    The Technical perk focuses mainly around the use of scientific skills such as chemistry, biology, and physics, and technology such as faulty computers. This skill can also be used on deceased residents to provide more information, such as cause and time of death as a kind of forensics analysis, which may provide more details than what a standard Search action could. In other instances, it can be used as a means of electronics hacking, or allow you to repurpose a piece of tech to behave differently.

    How to use:
    An example where the Technical perk may be used could involve something like "{Old Electronics: <Technical>}." In this case, the Technical perk would be used as means of hacking the old electronics. Another example could be "{Kecleon Corpse: <Technical>}," wherein using this perk would provide the user with an in-depth analysis.

    SEINARU
    Seinaru is the holy magic that hails from Utopia. In previous instances where Enthrallers have possessed pokémon and made them into Stalkers, Angels gifted Seinaru to the Emissaries, which allowed them to bless objects and locations for rituals. Seinaru is also capable of curing certain cases of corruption that damage Purity.

    How to use:
    Simply stat something along the lines of, "I would like to use Seinaru on {Decaying Plants: <Seinaru>}."



    Traits
    Traits are useful attributes that can give you an edge in various situations. They are always passive, and must be unlocked before they can be learned.

    NIMBLE
    Deft movements are second nature to you. You are able to leap out of the way of traps.

    Effect:
    25% chance to dodge traps entirely.




    CHARMING
    Your friendly and easy-going energy calms most who surround you. You are considered welcoming, genial, and trustworthy, which helps you make friends and allies easier than most.

    Effect:
    +1 to all rapport scores.
    ★UPGRADED!★ You can choose intimidation or modesty.




    STEALTHY
    Few are better at hiding and sneaking around than you. Your expertise in keeping hidden helps you to slip undetected past certain scenarios.

    Effect:
    +25% to every Stealth roll.




    LUCKY
    Good fortune just seems to be on your side! You've got a lucky streak that helps you reach a more positive outcome when faced with a challenge.

    Effect:
    Whenever you fail a % roll for something, it gets rerolled once. The most favourable outcome is chosen.




    RESOURCEFUL
    Scouting a useful item or material is your forte. Your keen eye combined with your honed ability for seeking out valuables makes you more successful when it comes to scavenging.

    Effect:
    You will always find at least 6 Common materials while Scavenging. +25% to find Rare items and +15% to find Very Rares.
    Upgrade: 100% chance to find at least one Rare item. +50% chance for Very Rares.



    Health, Sanity and Purity

    The Health, Sanity and Purity stats that each player has determine your overall wellness and mental state. During the course of the game, these stats can go up and down depending on things that happen. Each stat is affected by your size (small, medium or large), and will be displayed within your stats on the main page. You should always keep track of your health, sanity and purity.

    HEALTH

    Health represents how injured your character is. It can be restored in three ways: with the Rest action, the Medicine perk, or by the use of restorative consumable items. It can be reduced by booby traps, unfriendly battles, Stalker attacks, and other injury-inflicting threats.

    Small sized Pokémon have a base value of 8 Health, medium size Pokémon have a base value of 10 Health, and large size Pokémon have a base value of 12 Health.

    If Health falls to 0...

    Generally, you'll obviously want to avoid this, but if it happens, the player falls unconscious and becomes susceptible to a Stalker kidnapping. While kidnapped, the fallen Emissary can't do anything until a Rescue Mission is carried out to rescue them from the clutches of the Stalker.

    Dying: If the Rescue Mission is not completed in time, there is the potential that the unconscious, kidnapped Emissary will die. The other way you can die is if you take a hit that knocks you into negative health. If you have 3 health but take a hit from a trap that deals 4 damage, you will be at -1 health, which results in immediate death. This is why it is important to keep your health as high as you can at all times, and be safe!

    If you do die, one point will be added to the Kill Counter, and you will be reincarnated the following Cycle as one of the six preference pokémon you listed upon sign-up. The species will be randomly selected from the list.

    SANITY

    Sanity resembles how your character is faring mentally and how much stress and strain they've undergone. It can be restored by Resting, with Medicine, or using restorative consumable items. It can be reduced by coming across macabre sights, Stalker attacks, booby traps, calculus exams, and the like.

    Sanity will always be X/8. No matter what Pokémon you are, your max Sanity is 8 (before equipment).

    If Sanity falls to 0...

    Similarly to what happens when you drop to 0 health, 0 sanity will result in a feeling of absolute insanity and brain scrambling. You will be kidnapped by Stalkers, and a Rescue Mission will need to be started to rescue you. A Rescue Mission not completed in time may result in death of the kidnapped.

    Dying: Like with health depletion, dropping into the negative values will kill you. Ensure you're always as sane as you can be!

    PURITY

    Purity is the measure of innocence you have. It is a representation of how pure in spirit and soul you are, and can be damaged by the Abyssal taint of the Enthrallers' evil. It can be restored with Rest, the Medicine perk, or restorative consumable items.

    Small sized Pokémon have a base value of 12 Purity, medium size Pokémon have a base value of 10 Purity, and large size Pokémon have a base value of 8 Purity. Essentially, the inverse of Health values.

    If Purity falls to 0...

    Like the other two values, dropping to 0 Purity results in a Stalker kidnapping. A Rescue Mission will need to be started to rescue you. A Rescue Mission not completed in time may result in death of the kidnapped.

    Dying: Dropping into negative Purity will kill you, so be careful!



    Rescue Missions

    Stalkers are nefarious in many ways. They strike fear, they commit murders, and they don't shy away from kidnapping someone who's in their way. Sometimes, a Stalker will kidnap a victim instead of killing them instantly, and it is up to the Emissaries to embark on a rescue mission and save them. Occasionally, kidnappings will happen by a civilian's hand, and will have no connection to a Stalker.

    When does it happen?
    A kidnapping will occur when an Emissary's Health, Sanity, or Purity reaches 0. If it falls below 0, the Emissary will be killed. However, dropping to 0 merely makes you unconscious, which is when the Stalkers sense a weakness and seize the opportunity to take you captive. They will attempt to extract information from you in any way they can, and if they hold you for too long, you will die. This is why it is critical that when an Emissary or a civilian gets kidnapped, they must be rescued as soon as possible.

    It is also possible for kidnappings to be triggered in other ways. The specifics of the circumstances are unknown, but one thing is for certain: the Stalkers are always listening, so you must be careful to be discreet and not shout your findings to the world, or openly accuse suspects.

    Rescue Mission structure:
    When a kidnapping occurs, a public announcement will be made in the Main Action and Team Status thread, detailing who has been kidnapped, what is needed to rescue them, and the time frame in which a rescue mission must be completed. The only thing you need to do is decide whether or not you want to be on the mission.

    Rescue missions run off something called aptitude. This is a % value. Basically, more than one Emissary must embark on the mission and contribute enough aptitude that the percentage reaches 100%. An Emissary with Rescue/Escape must lead a rescue mission. Usually rescue missions only require a maximum of 3 participants, considering that rescue missions must be led by someone who has the Rescue/Escape skill, and those with Rescue/Escape contribute 50% aptitude. Emissaries without Rescue/Escape contribute 25% aptitude. NPCs with Rescue/Escape can be taken and contribute 25%, while NPCs without Rescue/Escape cannot be taken on a mission at all.
    If an Emissary who knows Rescue/Escape is captured, the mission aptitude is automatically at 25% when the mission begins.

    R/E Emissary Aptitude: 50%
    Regular Emissary Aptitude: 25%
    Captured R/E Emissary Aptitude: 25%
    If a rescue mission participants knows the Medicine Perk, the rescued pokémon will automatically have 1 point restored to their 0 stat.

    Example rescue mission could include:
    1 Rescue/Escape Emissary to lead: 50% aptitude
    2 Emissaries without Rescue/Escape: 25% each = 50%
    Total: 100% aptitute.

    How to launch a Rescue Mission:
    An Emissary with Rescue/Escape must state something like, "I wish to conduct a rescue mission." Then, in posts that follow, the Emissaries who choose to go with them also make it their action to come along. Going on a rescue mission takes an action, but will not only result in rescuing the captured player/NPC, but you will also have a chance to find splinters or useful items.

    Note: Each participant will need to roll a Stealth check (% roll). All participants will roll, and depending on how stealthy you are during the mission, you may or may not take damage to any of your stats. The damage is not extensive, however.



    Battling

    Welcome to the first iteration of battling in a main Stalkers season! This system is very simple and hopefully easy to understand. Battles are done between two participants, one of whom will be an Emissary. Sometimes, battles will happen at random and you will automatically engage in battle. Other times, you can challenge civilians on the Suspect List to a friendly battle. When this happens, you may gain rewards from winning, and you will always be healed after battle to the same amount of Health you had when you began the battle.

    All actions taken in battle are automatic. Battling requires no user input, and relies on percentage rolls, the outcomes of which are pre-determined by factors listed below.

    Types of battles:
    A friendly battle is a battle that you initiate and willingly participate in.
    A hostile battle is the result of an NPC attacking you, usually without warning.

    HP = Health:
    These are not separate stats. However, if you are in a friendly battle, dropping to 0 Health/HP or below does not result in you becoming unconscious and needing to be rescued. You will simply lose the battle, then be healed back to the same amount of Health you had before engaging in battle. If you are in a hostile battle, Health/HP is treated the same as if you took damage from a trap, and you will need to restore it yourself. If you drop to 0 Health/HP in battle, the battle will end and you will be kidnapped. Due to the nature of battles, dropping into negative health will not kill you, but you will be kidnapped.

    Battle Stance, and fleeing from battle:
    Your Battle Stance determines whether or not you engage in hostile battles. If it is set to Fight, the battle will play out as normal. If you feel as if you would prefer to flee a hostile battle instead of fight one, you may set your Battle Stance to Flee. The battle will still play out, but instead of attempting to hit your attacker, you will use your dodge rate as your flee rate and attempt to flee each time it is your turn. On a successful flee, the battle ends. You can change your battle stance whenever you like, but ensure that you let the GM know by tagging them with the @ symbol, or make it clear when you submit your action. Battle stances cannot be changed in retrospect; whatever it is set to at the time the battle occurs is unchangeable. Changing it after is perfectly fine, of course.

    Factors of battling:
    There are a few things that affect attacking and defending in battles: your size, your type, your base speed, your evolution stage, and your equipment. All factors except equipment are dependent on your species.

    Spoiler:
    Base Speed:
    At the start of the battle, both pokémon will have their base speed compared to determine who goes first. If tied, a coin will be flipped wherein the Emissary will always be heads.

    Size:
    Size plays a large role in battling. It determines Health (shown as HP), dodge rate, and damage output. They are as follows:

    Large Pokémon: 12 HP, 20% dodge rate, 1d6 attack die.
    Medium Pokémon: 10 HP, 30% dodge rate, 1d4 attack die.
    Small Pokémon: 8 HP, 40% dodge rate, 1d2 attack die.

    "Dodge rate" refers to how hard you are to hit. A participant will roll 1-100 on the RNG, and if they land within the dodge rate, they miss. 20% dodge rate means that if the attacking pokémon attempts to land an attack and rolls 1-20, they will miss. If they roll 21-100, they will hit.
    "1d#" refers to one die with a certain number of sides. 1d4 means one die with four sides. So, you have a one-in-four chance of landing on each number. 1d6 means one six-sided die, and 1d2 means a two-sided die. The number at the front refers to the number of dice used, "d" means "dice," and the second number is the number of sides the die has. You may see, for instance, 2d4, which means two four-sided dice are used.

    Evolution Stage:
    Basing damage, health and evasion rates off size alone is tricky, and perhaps does not scale too well depending on the pokémon. To combat this, if you (or an NPC) are a full-stage pokémon species in a line that evolves, or if you are a Legendary/Mythical pokémon and your size is small, your stats will be bumped up to medium for battling. Outside of battle, you will retain your actual size, but for battle stats only, you will be bumped up one size category. Similarly, a basic-stage pokémon that is large will be considered medium when battling. Single-stage pokémon's stats will always depend on their size (apart from small Legendary/Mythical pokémon), as will middle-stage pokémon.

    Type:
    Types come into play when it comes to damage. When defending, a pokémon's type will determine how effective the opposition's attack is. When attacking, a dual-type pokémon will use its types separately. The most effective type is picked automatically for attacking. For example:

    Tropius: Flying/Grass
    Pinsir: Bug

    If the tropius is attacking, they will default to only using their flying type, because it is more effective against bug-types.
    If the pinsir is attacking, they will only do standard damage because bug-type is super effective against grass, but not very effective against flying. So, they cancel out and it becomes standard damage.

    Super-effective attacks will do x2 (double) damage.
    Not very effective attacks will do 0.5x (half) damage.
    No-effect* attacks will do no damage.

    *A pokémon will not agree to go into battle, or will not randomly attack, if the type lineup results in one pokémon having no effect on the other. If an Emissary is forced into a battle scenario wherein they can do no damage due to type lineup, they will attempt to flee, regardless of Battle Stance. However, if you have equipment that allows you to inflict damage on your opponent if you hit regardless of type, whether or not you flee will depend on your Battle Stance, as normal.

    Damage is rounded down to a whole number when halved.
    The minimum damage done for a successful hit is 1HP, unless the type lineup allows attacks to have no-effect. In which case, 0 damage is done, before equipment.

    Abilities do not factor into battling.
    Movepools do not factor into battling.


    Operation of battle:
    If you are challenged to a battle or challenge someone else to a battle, the narration post will detail the factors and stats, and all percentage and dice rolling will be done by the GM. By standard terms, the pokémon with the higher speed goes first, and tries to attack. An RNG will roll a number between 1 and 100, and depending on what number it lands on, the participant either successfully hits, or misses, depending on the opposing pokémon's dodge rate. In the case of a participant trying to flee, the rolled number will instead determine whether or not fleeing is successful.
    Then, damage is rolled. Sizing affects how much damage is possible to do, and equipment also affects this.
    Turns will go back and forward until one participant wins.

    Example battle: Beartic vs. Darumaka
    Spoiler:
    Beartic: Large, Ice-type. 12HP, 20% dodge rate, 1d6 attack die. No equipment.
    Darumaka: Small, Fire-type. 8HP, 40% dodge rate, 1d2 attack die. No equipment.

    Fight!

    50 base speed vs. 50 base speed; coin flip! Tails, Beartic goes. Heads, Darumaka goes.
    Result...heads! Darumaka goes first.

    Darumaka rolls 70%! Hits! 2 Health damage, x2 = 4 damage.
    Beartic: 8HP remaining.

    Beartic rolls 80%! Hits! 1 damage, halved = 1 damage.
    Darumaka: 7HP remaining.

    Darumaka rolls 6%! Miss!

    Beartic rolls 89%, hit! 3 damage, halved = 1 damage.
    Darumaka: 6HP remaining.

    Darumaka rolls 14%. Miss!

    Beartic rolls 54%, hits! 6 damage, halved = 3 damage.
    Darumaka: 3HP remaining.

    Darumaka rolls 95%! Hits! Deals 2 damage, x2 = 4 damage.
    Beartic: 4HP remaining.

    Beartic rolls 53%, hits! 1 damage, halved = 1 damage.
    Darumaka: 2HP remaining.

    Darumaka: 84%, hits! 2 damage, doubled = 4 damage!
    Beartic: 0HP remaining.


    DARUMAKA WINS!




    Game Component Markings

    The Stalkers RPG is all about interactive components, and here is a legend that explains what all these mean:

    [] Brackets : This signify an Item such as a [Silver Key] or [Computer Parts]. When items like these are found, they're usually immediately added to the Team Inventory and can then be used by other players.
    Various items have different tags within the [] brackets, the details of which can be found here: Item Directory.

    <> Brackets : These signify when a Perk can be used, such as <Repair> or <Lockpick>. You must have the corresponding Perk to activate these when they occur.

    == Marks : This signifies detailed clues, puzzles, or visual image links that usually include important details.

    ++ Marks : These signify when a Pokémon typing comes into play, such as using +Electric Type+ or +Fire Type+ attack or needing to dive underwater in a +Water Type+ instance. Note that you must be the same type Pokémon to bypass these barriers. Even though a Flying and Fire type Charizard can use Dragon Claw, a Dragon-type attack, Charizard isn't a Dragon type, so it wouldn't be able to bypass a +Dragon Type+ condition. However, when the condition is satisfied, such as an Electric Type Pokémon such as Pikachu overcoming a +Electric Type+ condition, it doesn't matter if he uses Thunderbolt, Volt Tackle, or Volt Switch, just so as long as it's an Electric-type attack.

    ^^ Marks : These signify a condition where Pokémon size comes into play and only Pokémon of certain sizes can access these areas. Some examples include ^Large Pokémon^ to access something on a higher elevation and ^Small Pokémon^ to access something in a tight, claustrophobia-inducing area.

    Note that if your character already satisfies the size condition when searching that spot for the first time, they will automatically explore what's there.

    ## and %% and @@ Marks : These signify a booby trap, evil presences, and hazardous areas, respectively. More details on these below.

    {} Brackets : These signify something that can be interacted with, such as a locked container or an object that can have something done to it to "activate" it. More details on these below.

    $$ Marks : These symbols are indicative of the game's currency, splinters (or $SP$). They can be acquired through different means and will always go to the individual Emissary's inventory. They are used to buy items.

    Traps: ## Markings

    Generally, booby traps are hidden threats and in most cases are engineered to cause harm, but in some cases, they can be environmental hazards, such as a collapsible floor. Some traps are persistent while others are only activated once.

    Some traps have a damage type. Some examples of traps that can be found include:

    #Acid Trap: Poison#
    #Spring-blade Trap: Steel#
    #Collapsible Floor: Ground#

    When a trap is triggered, the trap's type is weighed against both the size of the Pokémon (small Pokémon are more able to avoid them due to their small and nimble sizes) and their types. A #Flame Jet Trap: Fire# would do very little, if any, damage to a Fire type Flareon, while a #Electric Discharge Trap: Electric# would do additional damage to a Flying or Water type Pokémon like Pidgey or Squirtle. Some traps have no types at all, which means they do the same amount of damage no matter what the Pokémon is.

    If a player with the Security Perk triggers a persistent trap, they will automatically disable the trap after it has been triggered, so that they will be inactive for any future encounter. Most traps are single-use, however.

    Trapped items will still be added to the Team Inventory after being triggered, and can still be used. Every time it is used, however, the wielder takes damage (dependant on type). A player with the Security Perk who discovers a trapped item will automatically disarm the trapped item before adding it to their inventory. A player with Security can spend an action disarming a trapped item that someone else added to the inventory.

    Hazardous Areas: @@ Markings / Abyssal Influence: %% Markings

    Hazardous Areas function in a very similar way as traps, but with one big difference. They cannot be disarmed, cannot be dodged, and they persist, meaning the damage they do will happen again and again for as many times as a player encounters it. These are usually areas and places that have very dangerous hazards or very grizzly and macabre environments that a player simply cannot shield themselves from, such as @Torture Chamber: 2 Damage to Sanity@. Because your character cannot shield their eyes from the horrifying sights in such a place, there is no choice but to take the hit.

    Abyssal Influence areas are similar to Hazardous Areas, but instead of affecting Sanity, they affect Purity. These are evil, soul-corrupting presences seeping with dark essence from Enthrallers and all other malevolence from the Abyss. They can also not be dodged or disarmed, and persist.

    Usually there are dark signs of Hazardous Areas or Abyssal Influence up ahead, but not always. Read narration posts carefully for signs that the container or door you're about to break open may contain something nefarious. If you think you're coming across an area that has either nefarious effect, ensure that your Health, Sanity and Purity are all sitting comfortably high.

    Interactive Elements: {} Brackets

    Objectives and elements that can be interacted with appear with {} brackets and can involve just anything that has activation conditions. In all cases, the conditions for what is needed are included in these brackets after the ":" colon. Here's how to better understand them with some examples.

    {Locked Wooden Door (Short description label of the object): X Emblem (A condition that needs to be satisfied before the object is activated.)

    Here are some examples to help you understand these:

    Single Condition Activations:

    {Locked Wooden Door: X Emblem} - In this case, to unlock this locked wooden door, something needs to address the "X Emblem" condition. The word "Emblem" refers to a corresponding key, so in this case, the [X Key] is needed here.

    Multiple Condition Activations:

    In these cases, multiple conditions need to be satisfied before the object is activated. These are grouped together with commas "," such as in this example:

    {Locked Wooden Door: Diamond Hole, Heart Hole} - In this case, you need to satisfy both the Diamond Hole AND the Heart Hole conditions. Most likely you'll need to find items that match the description labels, such as a [Diamond Stone] and [Heart Stone] that need to be placed here.

    {Broken Computer: Missing Power Unit, <Repair>} - This case signifies that you need an item such as [Power Unit] to address the "Missing Power Unit" AND you'll need to use the Repair Perk to fix this computer to make it usable. Simply having only one or the other isn't enough. Just note that if you have the item and the Repair Perk, you can use both in the same turn. But if you only have one or the other, you can address only those conditions for the time being and have someone else come back later to finish the job. Completed conditions will be struck out, like this. So if you used the Repair Perk but you didn't have the necessary [Power Unit], the end result would be "{Broken Computer: Missing Power Unit, <Repair>}.

    Multiple Option Activations:

    Whenever a forward slash "/" appears, this signifies that there are multiple methods to activating this object. As an example:

    {Steel Security Door: X Emblem / <Security>} - The forward slash serves as a separator between the methods. In this instance, there are two ways to activate and unlock this Steel Security Door. Either by satisfying the "X Emblem" condition with the [X Key], which will unlock the door, OR by having a Pokémon use the Security perk on it.

    POP QUIZ!

    How could you activate something like {Locked Steel Door: Triangle Hole, Square Hole / <Security> / ^Small Pokémon^}?

    If you said there are three possible methods, you're right!

    First method: Fill the Triangle Hole and Square Hole with two items. Something like [Crimson Triangle Stone] and [Azure Square Stone] would most likely go here.

    Second method: Use the Security Perk.

    Third method: Have a small-sized Pokémon approach the door. This will likely mean there's a small broken window or open door ventilation grate they can slip through.

    If you understood this concept, you're totally ready to go!




    Useful Links

    >> Sign-Up Thread
    >> Season 4 Rules and Gameplay (this thread)
    >> Main Action and Team Status Thread
    >> Emissary Clubhouse
    >> Questions & Answers Thread
    >> Item Directory
    Last edited by Neo Emolga; 10-17-2019 at 01:16 AM.

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