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

[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!

Spoiler:

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