[Meta thread] Lord Windos' PokeRole Adventure : Celadon City Vandels

[Lord Windos]

The Setting/Plot

Silly me, I forgot to include this in the flagship post for the thread, so let me do it here!

The Annual Flower Festival , sponsored and endorsed by Gym Leader Erika, has finally arrived at Celadon City! The streets are filled with merriment as both Cerulians and tourists enjoy the attractions present, with vendors and merchants plying their trade and making a hefty profit! But all is not well in the city. Team Rocket has decided to 'participate' in the Festival this year, stealing Pokémon , scamming unsuspecting innocents, and just conducting all sorts of shady business!

Which is perfect, since YOU are a proud member of this crime organization! Your goal is to further your crime organization's cause of total domination, either by stealing enough Pokémon to please the boss, using trickery or brute force to make lots of money, quash those that dare appose Team Rocket, and more! Do whatever it takes to please Giovanni, and earn your place as a Executive!

It is not going to be easy, however. The police are on high alert for suspicious activity, and don't appreciate your Team's party crashing efforts at all. What's worse, the Gym Leader and her cohorts are overseeing the event, and they don't see eye to eye with your Boss' visions for Kanto-Johto. The stakes are high, the reward beyond peer, but failure is just as severe.

Do you have what it take to be a Team Rocket Executive?

Rules

The rules of this campaign are mostly just lifted from Iron's version of the game, so for those unaware here they are for your convenience.

However, as I have said earlier, I have made changes based on how I want my game to work, so I will have them laid out in a section of there own.

In addition, I have modified character creation some to accommodate the nature of the type of game I want to be played, and that will be outlined as well.

There is also a whole brand new mechanic that I tailor made for this game, due to its very nature being villainous and crime heavy. There are also 'Win' objectives that are needed in order to properly declare victory , but even these are not set in stone, depending on your actions....

I'm also using the latest version of the PokeRole core rule book (1.2 as of now), so I will make all my rulings based on that version alone.

Changes to Iron's Rules

Spoiler

Single actions per round are more accurate (+2 to Accu. Pool of move/action) , as per the original rules in the book

You can stack the negative effects of a move, ability, and a status together now. In addition, you are able to reduce a stat past 0 if you are capable of doing so. EX: You can stack Petrify, Sticky Web, and Paralysis for a grand total of - 4 DEX to your opponent . Beware, though, that if you can do it, so can my NPC's ! You can't multi stack a move or ability's effects, though ; just one layer each.

You can no longer stack multiple status on a Pokémon or person, as per in the original video games.

Burn now reduces STR, like in the base games, but by how much depends on the severity of the burn. Burn 1 reduces STR by 1, Burn 2 by 2, and so on.

Certain Abilities of Pokémon have been altered to either improve upon them in comparision to the base game, or just because I think it would make logical sense for that ability to have an addition affect/bonus. I'll inform you about those changes when and if they happen in the campaign, as well as when you present your Pokémon choices.

Non-Lethal moves can now be made lethal depending on how and where you use them, and as a result already lethal moves have just become a lot deadlier! However, doing this imposes a accuracy penalty on the attack, as you either modifying the move outside its natural use, or using it in an unintuitive way for the Pokémon in question.

No magic or supranatural powers are present in this setting, besides the ones exhibited by Pokémon . Wizards be gone. Psychics, Meduims, and other strange Trainers exist , but your character can't be one.

Days and Time will be Event Based , rather than follow an actual in game clock or time . This is both for your and mine shake, so be glad its not by the hour or something. There will be three Encounter slots for Daytime (One each for Morning, Afternoon, and Evening) , and three for Night Time (One each for Dusk, Night, and Late Night). Time in between encounters is 'off the clock' , and you can really just mill around the city until you decide to dedicate you time to one specific activity, or until something happens that necessitates your character's attension. Once all encounter slots have been filled, though, the new in game days starts.

Character Creation Changes

Spoiler

As a member of Team Rocket, your initial stat distribution has been inflated somewhat, in order to prepare your characters for the life of crime you are putting them through!

-You character has 6 Points to distribute to each Stat instead of the typical 4, and you can a lot a 4 and 2 respectively to your Skills instead of 3 and 1. You also start of with 4 free point for you Specialties, to do with as you choose.
- You start off with 3 Pokémon , two of which are Battlers and one a Support. A Battler can't be higher than a Stage 2 Evolution, and a Support can't be higher than a Stage 1 Evolution, unless their are extenuating circumstances. They also don't start of with any Surprises either.
-You can't have a Battler with more than 11 Base HP, and a Support with more than 6 Base HP. That means no Onyx or Wailords for you, unless you just want it to be your only Pokémon period.
-All Pokémon you start out with have Max Loyalty and Happiness. Pokémon choices are limited to Kanto, Johto, and Tandor (These are the Pokémon Uranium Forums, after all. Have to represent them somehow!)
-Battlers can have 4 moves from their Learnpool with no cost at all, while Supports only have 2. Only one each of those free moves can be a TM taught, but egg moves don't count towards that stipulation.
-Each Pokémon you own can have one item of your choice as there given held item. This include things like Mega Stones and Life Orbs/Choice Items, so keep that in mind !
-Characters start of with $1500 , but they can quickly supplement that fund with theft, robbery, assault, or just asking for a loan from the Boss. Each of these has consequence, though, but you already knew that didn't you?
-Your character also has one hidden weapon on their person (No chainsaws or REALLY obvious weapons) , and they can be Lethal or Non-Lethal. No guns are allowed at the start, though.

New Mechanic(s)

Spoiler

All those benefits your starting character has seems to be a bit too good to be true, but they are truly yours without drawbacks. However , they are given to you because of this simple fact : being a decent member of Team Rocket is really friggren hard! The Police, Gym, and wannabe heroes are all hot on your tail as soon as you begin The Crime Spree , ready to put you down at a moment's notice ! This 'scruitiny' will be represented by a metric called The Wanted Level , scaling from 0-10 , and there are specific thresholds and consequences that happen as you become public enemy number one.

0: All is calm in Celadon City, and everyone is completely happy and carefree in the Flower Festival! No one has a reason to suspect you, so (ab)use this time time wisely, for once its gone, its gone!

1-3: People are beginning to notice your nefarious deeds, even if they don't know who exactly is commiting them. They are starting to grow worried about what's going to happen next, and have grow suspicious of stranger like you. Police will start patrolling areas affected by any form of theft or burglary, and will begin searching for you.

4-7: The general population is now fully aware of your downright awful deeds (its up in the air whether the Police have distributed your identity or not, though), and they have become FAR more distrusting of strangers. Some have even begun to have their Pokémon out at all times, ready for action. Police are now actively hunting you down, and have begun to randomly search suspect persons of interest (I.E : You) .What's more, the Celadon City Gym has decided enough is enough, and they are now bearing down on you as well! Being a criminal is hard, man...

8-10: Oh boy, you are in for it now! EVERYONE is completely paranoid about you and your activities now, and almost every potential target has some form of Pokémon base security on site/person. The police are furious , and have put almost every other case on hold just to pour their resources to capture you, dead or alive. As that statement imply, they are now permited to use Lethal Force to put a stop to you, if necessary, so prepare for a world of pain. Erika herself has swore a vendetta against you, and now is patrolling the streets of Celadon along with her acolates, and they are taking no prisoners either. A Curfew is now in effect during Night Time events, so your encounters are effectively cut in half unless you really want to risk life and limb!

*11(!): Wait, what now? You got to THIS level? Things have gone from plain terrible to unmitigated brutality against your chances of success. ALL or Celadon City is aware of what action you did to get to this level, and know exactly who done it too! That means your life of crime is already borderline impossible now, but that is not all! Gym Leaders from Saffron and Fushia City have been called in to deal with the mess you made, and there is even talks of the Elite Four getting involved. The National Guard is also on the scene , bringing in there toys to 'play' with you as well. Giovanni also has kicked your characters's ass out of Team Rocket, and has set Bounty Hunters to collect you head and bring it to him for all the trouble you caused. Oh, and the Flower Festival is canceled. Great.

*This level is only reached at my discretion, so please don't make me hit it.

You gain points on this scale based on the type of crimes you commit, as well as the severity of them. You can also remove points from the scale as well. Here are those respective ways to gain/lose them.

Gaining Points:

-1 Point is gained everytime you openly steal/rob (Pickpocket auto action doesn't count towards this) from someone, and if you act especially stupid in the public eye. You are a professional criminal, so act like one .

-2 Points are gained for openly assaulting police officers and Gym staff, directly robbing businesses and vendors, or just doing something REALLY scevy ...

-3 Points are gained for using Lethal force on ANYTHING, whether it be killing a Pokémon on trying to kill another person. Wanton and massive property destructive will also nab you 3 or 4 Points, depending on just how bad the damage is and whether or not someone got caught up in it.

-5 Points are gained for Human murders, or for doing some unspeakable act so terrible that it DESERVES 5 points. Yikes!

Losing Points:

-1 Point is automatically lost each day, and it scales up to 3 Points per day if you avoid committing any criminal or illicit activities. This is meant to represent the 'Heat' decreasing from your Crime Spree , so you will always have this to fall back on to make life easier for you.

-1 Point is lost by bribing a random Police Officer to 'look the other way' of your crimes. Some officers can't be swayed this way, though, and the amount you have to bribe them scales with the Warning Level. Minimum amount of bribe is $1000 , and it goes up by $ 500 for each Point after the 3 one.

-1 Point is lost by doing heroic acts, or just being a generous, kind person. Obviously these are rare and/or Encounter intensive, and they won't endear you to any of your fellow criminals by acting like a goody two shoe.

You can also avoid earning Points if you either:

-Intimidate/'Incapcitate' witnesses to your crimes.

-Employing clever tactics and plans to cover your trail.

-Disposing of all evidence of your cries, by most means. Arson or leveling buildings will get you in trouble if you are not REAL careful.

-Pawning of your crimes to someone else, or having an alibi that places you outside the time your crime took place.

-Faking your death, if all else fails. This will remove all the points you have currently against you, but you'll gain half of them back the moment the populous catches wind that their is a 'zombie' among them...

In addition to the Warning Level , you also get 1 'Get Out of Jail Free Card' to cash in if your character gets in a REALLY sticky mess, like getting arrested or about to be taken down in a fight. However, if your character gets killed or crippled to the point of uselessness, Game Over for you, buddy!

Win Conditions

Spoiler

These are your goals to accomplish during the Flower Festival, and the main way to earn that promotion from your Boss! Note that you only have to complete one objective by the end of the game/festival ends, and that some are easier and WAY harder than others. Each objective completed nets you one 'Favor' from the Boss, though, so they are well worth going out of your way to completing them!

1. Steal or otherwise 'aquire' 15 Pokémon during the Festival. Special or Rare Pokémon will count for 2 Pokémon on the checklist, so aim for the best!

2. Steal or 'collect' $20000 by the end of the festival, and turn it in to the boss. This can be done in the form of currency, expensive/rare items, business deals etc. Team Rocket needs money like any other organization , so get to purse snatching!

3. Kill or otherwise 'Remove' 2 Key Persons that have been a thorn in Team Rocket's side for far to long. Both of them will be revealed at the start, but they are extremely difficult to take down, so keep that in mind before shoting straight for them...

4. There have been rumors that Mew has been sighted during the Flower Festival, so its on you to find out more about it and catch it for the Boss. Mew delights in trickery, pranks, deception, and general tomfoolery , though, so it will be quite hard to get the rascal, let along find it in the first place....

5. Successfully conduct a heist on the Celadon Pokémon Center OR Kidnapped Gym Leader Erika .This task are hard , and are a quick and ready way of getting to Level 11! if you botch the job completely, so its recommended you complete some of the other objectives first and gain Favor before taking this one on. Power to you if you try it right away, though.

Each of these task individually will win you the game if you make it to the end of the festival, but you do get a great reward for each of them : Giovanni's Favor . Each Favor can be cashed in for just about anything you wish from him, as he rewards great bad behavior and doing your damn job (Unlike Jessie and James!). You are by no means obligated to try and complete each objective and earn all the Favors, but it will certainly be more fun!