Discuss Pokemon and Order

[Justin]

You may be semi-aware of what this thread is about already. If you're not, I'll brief you:

Shy, James and I have been deliberating on a new kind of Pokemon RP. One set in a more realistic world, with very 'true life' events occurring around that world and one particular set of adventurers in it.

The setting will be New York City, or any major city, for that matter. Those playing will be involved in a special investigations unit to deal with crimes committed by or against Pokemon. Think Law and Order, except with Pokemon.

The Pokemon of this world aren't the cutesy little cartoon we know them to be in the actual Pokemon world. I wish we had time to somehow redraw them into a more realistic style, but I personally don't. But imagine them, and describe them in your posts as more like real animals, or people. Make their personalities real. Make their situations real.

The way I would set it up would be in episodes. Just like Law and Order, each episode would begin with a date and time, and perhaps a location. You would be provided with a cut-scene-styled post of the crime, or some related event. Then, the characters would begin solve these crimes by detective work; following trails implanted in the story via my posts, Shy's posts, or James's post--if they are willing.

The way I see it, if they're willing, we would rotate. I'd do an episode, Shy would do one, then James. I/we may be willing to open this up to others, as well. This depends on Shy and James' willingness to participate, as well as general consensus.

The main point of this underground is to see how many of you are interested in this plot. If I get a reasonable turn-out, we'll do it.

Read, and discuss.

-Justin

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]Wow, the old "realistic Pokémon RPG", I'd thought it had been mostly forgotten about at this stage. I can't even remember off the top of my head how many times we tried to get something like this to work in the Theatre only for other stuff to get in the way.

Anyway, if you can get it to work Justin, I'll join no questions asked. Just OOC, do we get to do those courtroom scenes as well ? [/SIZE]

[Justin]

I'm going to attempt to incorporate all the elements of a classic detective show into this thing. So yes, there will be courtroom scenes. If that means I have to go buy a season of Law and Order on DVD and study it, then so be it.

This thread also exists for suggestions. I want input, as well as votes of confidence. But I appreciate any kind of participation very much.

-Justin

[Ellerby]

[FONT="Tahoma"][COLOR="DimGray"]Awesome. This sounds really cool. I've got to say as soon as you mentioned Law and Order I couldn't help but imagine a Charmander in a suit. Baha.

But anyway, this sounds fun. I'll definitely sign up if it's made.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

This could be fun, but I do have a question. Would we be required to do both the investigation and courtroom portions? Because I think I might enjoy the investigation portions, but I'm not so sure about the courtroom portions. I'd suggest having things divided up, so that some characters are the investigators and others are the lawyers and all that stuff. They'd have their own seperate roles, although they would certainly interact (the lawyers do need the evidence, after all), and I imagine investigators might be called upon to testify. Anyways, how are you planning to handle that?

[Justin]

You basically just covered exactly my next point. Each character will play a single part in the legal system. Some will be investigators, others lawyers, others medical personnel, others forensics specialists, others judges, and so on.

Each will play their own part in the proceedings.

-Justin

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]So progress has finally been made.

I'm glad to see that this is finally going somewhere. Though I am worried a bit about the courtroom scenes, in that I'm wondering how they would work. I mean, I know that the prosecution would likely write out the whole sequence of events with examinations and such, but will the "overseers," for lack of better term, be handling the defense, or will that be up to the players? Seems a bit dodgy at the moment, at least in my head.

The thought of awakened Pokémon also comes to mind (think Rocket-Dan's Meowth here). Will all Pokémon be that way? If so, are they allowed on the police force (and by association, available to play)?

Those are the only things that spring to mind right now, but I would definitely love to be involved with something like this, either playing or helping to formulate things. I wasn't a PokéMod for nothing back in the day, lol. ;p[/color][/size]

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]Great, I was looking forward to playing a DA as opposed to a detective. On that note Justin, will our choice of Pokémon have to reflect our position in the RPG, say psychic types used by members of the judiciary ?[/SIZE]

[Andrew]

[SIZE=1]I'm well up for this. Anything related to the crack-like Pokémon comes as a welcome change for me.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Although, like GuyYouMetOnline, I'd much rather be involved with the investigation rather than the whole court-room appearance stuff. Unless there was a more comedic throw on the court room. Then I probably wouldn't mind so much.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]And like Gavin said, would our choice of Poké-Pal have to be related to our position?[/SIZE]

[Justin]

Like I said, imagine this as a 'real world' scenario. You can have any Pokemon you want, so long as it is within reason that you could've acquired it. But you'd probably want one that could help you somehow.

Jurors would not be playable characters, but they would not be allowed to have Pokemon aid them, anyway. Likewise, judges(though playable) won't have the aid of a Pokemon in the courtroom.

The courtroom proceedings will be cut and dry. Only one side is playable, except in special cases...just like Law and Order. A prosecutor or DA would present their case with all the evidence the investigation has or has failed to turn up, and the judge would essentially make the decision as to whether or not it was a winnable case.

Also, I don't much like the idea of 'awakened' Pokemon. I suppose in some cases, as with exceptionally intelligent Pokemon like Alakazam, that would be acceptable. But not Meowths, or the like. However, a Pokemon aiding you in anyway that does not directly result in a verdict is fine.

-Justin

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]So would the judges be other players ? Who in the end decides whether or not a case has been successfully argued ? If we have a set DA, then we could probably have a set defence attorney as well, make arguing the case a bit more interesting than just going through evidence we've all read about.[/SIZE]

[Shy]

[size=1]I'd like to keep the actual Pokemon interaction to a minimum. Pokemon will definitely be the focus of the RPG, but I'd rather this not be one of those RPGs where the Pokemon are in every scene doing cute and adorable things. There will probably be more Poke-corpses than anything else, actually.

The courtroom stuff sounds like it might be a little complicated. When I don't have a pounding headache I will try to wrap my head around it.

Since interest in the project might be low I think breaking things down into smaller 'Episodes' would be for the best. Justin and myself are obviously interested in posting, so we'd only need a couple of more. Perhaps the two of us could do a test run in Anthology which might also generate some interest.

Pokemon... our way?

-Shy[/size]

[Ellerby]

[FONT="Tahoma"][COLOR="DimGray"]Even if they (Pokemon) aren't in every scene doing cutesy things, I would still think that Pokemon is a big thing in the world. I mean if they were just pets that people had and could find in the wild would we really go to all the trouble of having a special unit to find killers and whatnot? We certainly don't do that for animals. :P

I'm still a [i]bit[/i] hazy on how you guys are merging Pokemon in with this whole thing. Also, I know most of the Pokemon won't be "awakened" but can the Pokemon [i]understand[/i] humans? Even if they can only respond with their name. [/COLOR][/FONT]

[Shy]

[quote name='8bit'][FONT="Tahoma"][COLOR="DimGray"]Even if they (Pokemon) aren't in every scene doing cutesy things, I would still think that Pokemon is a big thing in the world. I mean if they were just pets that people had and could find in the wild would we really go to all the trouble of having a special unit to find killers and whatnot? We certainly don't do that for animals. :P

I'm still a [i]bit[/i] hazy on how you guys are merging Pokemon in with this whole thing. Also, I know most of the Pokemon won't be "awakened" but can the Pokemon [i]understand[/i] humans? Even if they can only respond with their name. [/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE][size=1]I mean, Pokemon are a huge part of the world, but I meant to say that I'd like there to only be a few Pokemon involved in the investigation and judicial proccess. The more sparingly they are used in the story, the larger impact their appearances will have..?

And yes, I would expect that most Pokemon have some ability to understand and interact with humans. There are obviously different degrees of intelligence; a Ratata isn't going to be as smart as an Alakazam, and that Pokemon's relationship with their owner will reflect that.

Under no circumstances would a Pokemon's testimony be admissible as evidence in court. I imagine there are certain people who have grown to resent Pokemon in general, so in most cases the Poke-cops would have to rely on good ol' fashioned detective work to solve these crimes.

-Shy[/size]

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]When Shy and I talked about this idea ages ago (I forget how many conversations we've had over the years), I didn't really imagine it playing out like this.

I imagined it being more literally set in Pallet Town and being well within that universe (rather than a "real city"). However, I imagined Pallet Town being much more gritty and realistic than anything you'd see in a game.

I suppose I think of it as being a bit like the Otaku City that's been referenced in a few OB-related RPGs recently. Still being quite surreal and far-out, but grounded in something we know.

I imagined that people would still train Pokemon and keep them and they'd still try to catch wild Pokemon. But the wild Pokemon would sometimes attack and kill the less cautious hunters.

In addition I imagined that Pokemon battles would be legitimate, but you'd also have underground battles (like dog fights) that were illegal. And this could relate to a broader underworld conspiracy.

So yeah. I think I'm still sort of imagining the earlier discussions about this concept. I'm not really very interested in a Law & Order style setup.[/font]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]I was originally imagining something along the same line, James (and I still very much am), but I do think that this has a lot of potential as well. Although, like Shy and others, I'm worried about how the courtroom proceedings are to play out. I suppose it would take considerable thought, but I don't know...[/color][/size]

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]What about a pokémon as a playable character? I imagine, what since their testimony is not admissible in court, that pokémon are able to give testimonies, which to me indicates a fair amount of sentience. So logically that would mean that detectives or lawyers would have to have interviewed pokémon and obtained testimony from them for the system to even have established a legal precedent for nonadmission.

Still, I would think that investigators might wish to use pokémon as in-between sources; as in, informational leads, or routes to another viable source or witness. Either way, that would require the aid of a translator in some cases, and so a pokémon who could communicate with both humans and other pokémon might be useful. (Also, though some owners might claim to be able to communicate – empathically or otherwise – with their pokémon, one could make a case for an alteration of the truth during such a "translation", especially in situations where the pokémon was an eyewitness, and not the owner. In that case, a neutral translator would be extremely beneficial.)

I think that would be the most feasible option at the moment; a freelance/consultant interpreter. Certainly a regularly-employed pokémon might be interesting, what with all the opposition it'd have to fight through to achieve the job, but I think that might be stretching things. (Although, having a case argued by a Mewtwo might be somewhat unsettling for the opposition....)[/FONT]

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I think a Law & Order type of situation could work for this, but I personally wouldn't be into it.

I think if you go down that route you have to be very careful about complexity. Even simple RPGs become very complex in the end because of all the character histories and relationships. But courtroom proceedings could become difficult to follow unless they're set out a certain way (and I have no idea how that would be done).

In any case, if this is the direction it goes in, I do think it has potential. It would be nice to finally see this concept go live in some form.[/font]

[Boo]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial](Although, having a case argued by a Mewtwo might be somewhat unsettling for the opposition....)[/FONT][/QUOTE][size=1]Mew might want to sue Mewtwo for plagiarism.[/size]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[quote name='James'][FONT=franklin gothic medium]When Shy and I talked about this idea ages ago (I forget how many conversations we've had over the years), I didn't really imagine it playing out like this.[/FONT]

[FONT=franklin gothic medium]I imagined it being more literally set in Pallet Town and being well within that universe (rather than a "real city"). However, I imagined Pallet Town being much more gritty and realistic than anything you'd see in a game.[/FONT]

[FONT=franklin gothic medium]I suppose I think of it as being a bit like the Otaku City that's been referenced in a few OB-related RPGs recently. Still being quite surreal and far-out, but grounded in something we know.[/FONT]

[FONT=franklin gothic medium]I imagined that people would still train Pokemon and keep them and they'd still try to catch wild Pokemon. But the wild Pokemon would sometimes attack and kill the less cautious hunters.[/FONT]

[FONT=franklin gothic medium]In addition I imagined that Pokemon battles would be legitimate, but you'd also have underground battles (like dog fights) that were illegal. And this could relate to a broader underworld conspiracy.[/FONT]

[FONT=franklin gothic medium]So yeah. I think I'm still sort of imagining the earlier discussions about this concept. I'm not really very interested in a Law & Order style setup.[/FONT][/quote]

I [I]definitely[/I] prefer this idea.