The Stalkers RPG: Dustwoken Season 1 - General Chat Thread (Savant Hideout - Beachwood Farmstead)

**Noblejanobii** · 05-13-2022, 03:43 PM

Same here. I had planned to search the other remaining part of the Kako Industries but depending on how I and the others are feeling, I can use security on a few items.

**Chakramaster** · 05-14-2022, 01:10 AM

I'm honestly not too sure where I want to go next. At least not yet...should I use my Security perk on anything?

**DayBreak** · 05-14-2022, 01:59 AM

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Arriving late, as they had many times in lives previous, was a Nidorina wearing a worn out jacket with holes punched in the back for their spikes and a bag that blew behind them. Sprinting full speed towards the farmstead, as they approached they just tripped and skid along the ground for a few meters, slowly grinding to a stop. Quickly getting up and brushing the dirt off of themself, they looked at those that had arrived, noting the presence of two Mythicals and a Legendary Pokémon. Not the most outlandish thing they'd seen across their lifetimes, but it still gave them pause.

"Ah, sorry I'm late everyone. I've never been the best with geography. Blindly wandered around and made it here by chance. Anyway, I'm Lyric Winterheart!"

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I literally just got here, my brain is in cooldown mode from drawing all of Lyric's icons and I don't really know what my character should really do. Can someone give me a quick sparknotes version of what's happened up to now and what the general plan / to-do list is? All I understand from the last few posts is that we're picking up cursed items like crazy and need to de-curse them.

EDIT: Alright, just read up on the latest thing and I decided to stitch the two sides of the Sarkkan Note together so it's easier to see the whole thing at once. I'll try to skim through everything else that's happened in the Main Action thread to get myself up to speed.

Spoiler:

**ARandomTool** · 05-14-2022, 04:24 AM

"You know, I'm literally never above theft, even if I know the sucker, and I'm still in perfect health. Obviously SOMEONE needs to go and be A Terrible Person^[TM] and acquire the implied goodies. We have Jewelry slots for SOMETHING after all~"

**Neo Emolga** · 05-14-2022, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by DayBreak

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I literally just got here, my brain is in cooldown mode from drawing all of Lyric's icons and I don't really know what my character should really do. Can someone give me a quick sparknotes version of what's happened up to now and what the general plan / to-do list is? All I understand from the last few posts is that we're picking up cursed items like crazy and need to de-curse them.

EDIT: Alright, just read up on the latest thing and I decided to stitch the two sides of the Sarkkan Note together so it's easier to see the whole thing at once. I'll try to skim through everything else that's happened in the Main Action thread to get myself up to speed.

Spoiler:

DAAAANG, you’re already off to a great start with that!

Piecing the parts of the note together, you get the full message.

“Hey Sarkkan,

Vocco keeps stealing my cash and I remember you told me you think she swiped your watch. I found an old safe in that abandoned hitchhiker café no one is using anymore. We can keep our more valuable stuff in there so she stops stealing it. The combination to is 17, 8, 42, 32. I’ll take the top row, you can have the bottom.”

[4-Number Combination] has been added to the Team Inventory

You're not quite sure why this note was ripped in half and seemingly discarded, but you wonder what you might find in that old safe now...

(What I was going to post earlier, but you might still find this helpful!)

Hey there! Always awesome to see new people joining us!

So if you’ve ever played games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill (or ever did one of those real-life escape room things), those were a HUGE inspiration for Stalkers RPG. Horror themes, some puzzle work, you name it, you got it, and this crazy sky squirrel thought hey, wouldn’t it be cool to do it with Pokémon with a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon feel? Voila!

So, as a spoiler-free kind of overview as to how Stalkers RPG works (and all this could be learned through going through the previous Seasons), there are multiple Stalkers hidden among the list of civilians. Each of them has a hidden “route” (most of the time, *wink* *wink*) which comprises of things that need to be done before you see the big reveal as to who the Stalker is. All throughout that, there are heaps of tricks and traps that you need to be on the watchout for. Sometimes you can be prepared for them (assume entering a dark and creepy place will be dangerous), but NOT always!

Not only that, but you also need to uncover the means to eliminate them since just knowing which Pokémon are Stalkers is a great start, but they’re demonically possessed and need unconventional means to be fully eliminated (it used to be a holy/heavenly themed “Sin Purge” ritual in previous Seasons, it’s something entirely different here). It’s a bit like gathering pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together. The extra challenge is now it’s like you’ve got the pieces of multiple jigsaw puzzles in the same pile. In time, things get sorted out and you find out what’s related to what. Yeah, there’s a whole methodology that goes on behind the scenes when I create these.

So now that you’re here (and thank you for joining us!), things are still in the very early stages. Right now things are in the “gathering phase” where it’s the proverbial gathering of the jigsaw pieces before you can start putting things together. Best way to do that is search locations and interview Pokémon.

Searching locations will always give you something, but there are often hidden dangers (usually if you have full Health/Sanity/Purity, you should be fine, though). Not every location will need to be searched to finish the game, but most of them need to be checked out. As a guide, reading the descriptions of locations is often quite helpful. Everyday locations like a character’s house, a market, an apartment building, and so on generally aren’t too dangerous, but they main not reveal all that much. Creepy abandoned locations are generally ripe and full of danger, but they’ll often have your most critical components of Stalker routes. Again, there are plenty of exceptions!

Interviewing Pokémon is a different but also helpful approach, but you get more and better answers from Pokémon you can connect with in terms of Rapport (your Diplomacy perk can override this, so you don’t need to pay too much attention to this). If you share a typing with them, that’s quite beneficial. The Timid/Intimidating modifier is based on the type chart, so keep that in mind as well. A Charmander talking to a Bulbasaur might make the Bulbasaur feel a bit on edge, but a Squirtle talking to that Bulbasaur would make the Bulbasaur feel more at ease. Your evolution stage is also taken into account. If it’s close to that of the Pokémon you’re interviewing, that’ll give more positive interviews whereas if it deviates too far from it, it will have a negative effect.

Also, each of those civilians has their own personality traits, likes, dislikes, things they like to do, and may have possible friendships and rivalries. Getting that information may be helpful. Some of the civilians also may have items that will be useful to you and the rest of the team.

If you need some examples:

Spoiler:

So hopefully that helps. :3

Things I’d recommend when just starting off:

I’d say start on the safer side of things and maybe search some of the everyday kinds of places in town first as you get a feel for the game. You’ll be gathering helpful things for the team to work with and you’ll be crossing off places that need to be search. That always helps the team get closer and closer to the end goals. HOWEVER, If you’re feeling a bit more brazen and incredibly brave (like Scytherwolf here) and you feel like plunging your Pokémon self into dark waters for dark, horror funsies, pick any location with ABANDONED on it, preferably with a creepy as all heck description and check that out. Hey, that’s taking one for the team!
Look at the list of civilians and see which ones your Nidorina form would have a good interview with. Those would be great Pokémon to have a chat with to see what their take on the Stalkers is and if they’ve seen anything strange or unusual around town. If the interview is good, they might have something to give and they might disclose information about who to talk to next or where to search. Plus it’s a fun narrative! NOTE: Since you have the Diplomacy perk, you can always use that to essentially override the Interview system and get pretty good interviews each time, so the Rapport system isn’t something you need to pay too much attention to. That usually applies to folks who have some other Perk. :3
This is a classic case of “when in Rome, do as Romans do.” So see what other players are doing and check out the results. It’s a great way to see how it all works and it gives you an idea of what kinds of results you’ll get if you do similar things.
And when possible (and you’ve already done this I see!), look at what was found and see if there’s ways to piece it together. Early on, you still have a LOT of missing pieces, but as time goes by and more things are found, you’ll start to see connections if you look back at what’s in the Team Inventory and what’s noted in the Team Records at each location. The more you uncover, the more connections you’ll be able to make, but you’ll have to occasionally go back and check these things and discuss them with your peers.

So hopefully that was helpful! As always, I won’t give away too many hints, but if you have questions or if something doesn’t quite make sense, please reach out! And again, thanks for joining and I really hope you enjoy this!

Cheers! :3

**DayBreak** · 05-14-2022, 12:28 PM

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"I don't think I'm ready to put on my charm yet, especially with so many Pokémon, and I don't think I'll be able to handle anything scary on my first day on the team. But I want to make my first turn count, so if you guys need me, I'll probably be checking out the Hitchhiker Restaurant once I get the chance. Something useful could be in the safe, and sides, if they didn't want the stuff in it to get taken, they should've just kept the combination with them. Plus there might be other useful stuff there too, and it's probably one of the least threatening abandoned places. ... hopefully."

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"... Claws crossed I don't get shanked on my way in, out, or while I'm searching."

Spoiler:

**Neo Emolga** · 05-14-2022, 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by DayBreak

Spoiler:

Good question! The general rule with that is that if the location was used at least once a month prior to the arrival of the Stalkers, then it's not considered abandoned. Miscreants that only visited the location to loot, vandalize, trespass, and so on don't count toward that designation. And of course Stalkers that have been using that location to do horrible things don't count either.

As according to Legal Match, "personal property is generally considered to be abandoned when it is found in a place where the property’s true owner intended to leave it, but is in such a condition that it is apparent that the owner has no intention of returning to claim the property." That can be applied to most of the locations here that have the ABANDONED designation, but there are a few exceptions (Slacker's Shack, which most Pokemon in Seabourne think is abandoned, when really it's often used by naughty teenagers being the most obvious example).

**DayBreak** · 05-14-2022, 09:45 PM

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"Hooolyyy crap... What planet am I on? ... What's today? My braincell destroyed."
~~10 points if you get that reference.~~

So just for the heck of it, I decided to try and do the maze puzzle that was in the Main Action thread so that I wasn't completely useless this round (though I still intend to have Lyric explore a bit once the next turn cycle comes up). And holy crap. I had to erase quite a few line attempts to keep it from becoming completely unintelligible, but like, here. Now to take a bit of a break because my brain is slightly fried.

Spoiler:

EDIT: Changed my action since it seems Nickolas has the café covered. Checking out the docks part of the Pleasant Waters Harbor.

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"The docks seem like a nice place anyway. What's the worst that could happen at a place called 'Pleasant Waters Harbor'? Creepy rumors or not, it's not like I'm gonna die, right?"
... Um.
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"... I'm not gonna die, right...?"

**EmeraldSky** · 05-14-2022, 10:31 PM

Is there anything I need to do, or can I spend a turn to deal with some of our trapped items?

Also...these guys are not playing when they get one of us from the get go. I was afraid they'd get one of the NPCs we are still doing quests for more than one of us, but still...

**Scytherwolf** · 05-15-2022, 12:33 PM

OK WHAT THE HELL. I'm just minding my own business and I get murdered??? What the hell man!! I've met some inconsiderate people before but this takes the cake. ]:<

I get revived as a heracross though, so I guess it's all good?