[Meta Thread] Pokerole Mystery Dungeon: Primal Shadows

[Spiritmon]

And speaking of RPG...Here the character I playing on a Pathfinder tabletop:

Iva, the Fleshwarp Monk

[Dragonstrike]

Will get a quick post up this evening, and then things might slow down a little for a few days because the second part of Scarlet and Violet's DLC is coming out in a few hours!  Definitely going to be running around Blueberry Academy trying to find all the secrets it has to offer.

[Spiritmon]

So people. Should we tell Delphox about everything, or we can omit some parts? Like Platina kinda shadowed form, or the way we recover the Sky Plate? I think those two we should omit but the rest is okay to me.

[Mikaruge108]

So people. Should we tell Delphox about everything, or we can omit some parts? Like Platina kinda shadowed form, or the way we recover the Sky Plate? I think those two we should omit but the rest is okay to me.

If Platina's shadowing comes up, imo, it should come from Platina.
Aside from that, agreed.

[no one]

I'd like to not let the Delphox know that we know what's up with Braixen. Depending on how it's told it could end up being something that the Delphox could see as extortion with regards to that information. And definitely not tell Delphox that humans seem to be able to do damage to PDs. If the PMD games taught me anything, it's that all of those Pokemon HATE it when humans are amongst them.

[Lord Windos]

Omit any details about Platina that has been revealed through the Djin Fights (like the Dragon Rage, Lando's line about her), don't mention the Sky Plate or anything related thereof, don't talk about Braixen or raise any suspensions thereof (Platina would not like it if they were pressured, since she has a vague idea of what's up with her based on The Fights and her own interactions with them), don't mention any of the Party has Shadowing (that is just asking for us to get jailed or heavily monitored/controlled), and we should probably link up to Haxorous' group and see how much they want us to tell about their Friend's troubles and current Quest (they may not want a competing Guild mucking around in it). Anything else I could think of that should be omitted or heavily doctored would require me to literally trawl this thread to the very beginning of both Questlines concerning the Djin and re-read everything that was discussed/happened, which I frankly don't want to do.

If Delphox happens to catch anything we don't want told it's probably going to be because of DM fiat or some great Lie/Investigation Checks on the boss' part while everyone shares their version of the story, which will be aided based on Dragonstrike's own notes and recollections of what the group has said/done as he uses THAT if we Auto the Explanation. Which is why I propose the following course of action:
1. EVERYONE in character gets together to share all the details of their respective quests, leaving out personal and private information that any individual doesn't want to share that isn't crucial to the overall narrative of events/understanding of things (like Braixen's personal feelings, or what is up with Platina and Kogeki).
2. The group, in and out of character, would then discuss what they DONT want to share with The Fox or others that are not trusted, and from there they are implied to have to brainstorm a heavily edited version of the story that is mostly true but leaves out any incriminating details or awkward subject matters.
3. Dragonstrike's role at this point would then to, based on what we have said in the Meta Thread that we DON'T want to get out that would wig out Delphox something FIERCE, create a Cover Story based on his own Notes and Understanding of The Events - What We Don't Want Shared that can be Auto Told, which should not be too intensive considering nothing should have to be written or overly brainstormed. If they want to create a Summary of That Version of the Story for us/themselves to refer to later, that is something they can do on their own violition.
4. It is then agreed that the Party that will be explaining things to Delphox/Others will ONLY share that version of They Story - if each member of the group is required to give their own version of the telling then they stick to That Version and only differ based on how they tell it ('In Their Own Voice') and trying to give as little personal takes on it as possible.
5. Anytime anyone of the group shares That Version of The Story to someone, they will immediately inform the rest of the groups about it so that what they said can be taken into account if/when they have to share/comment on That Version with that someone or others to 'keep things straight'. This part/process can also be pretty much be Autoed unless that Party member is stuck in an Encounter that prevents a 'Cut To Black/Now everyone Knows' style implied info dump or they know they are being spied on, in which case we have to handle things a bit more carefully IC.

Now the above seems overly detailed and a bit overboard in terms of SpecOps, but keep in mind the following: The Group has several Humans who are on a literal Quest from GOD OF CREATION ITSELF against a Force of Evil that turns Pokemon into Turbo Evil/Feral versions of themselves, and involved are Plot Device of Divine Power AND Legends of great power and dubious alignment. This is some SERIOUSLY sensitive info that could get the group hamstringed and/or mired in politics at best if someone(s) gets the deets and spreads it around, and at worse we could get blackmailed, blacklisted, hunted down and killed/enslaved/corrupted, and any other number of terrible fates. Anytime something happens that even tangentially relates to The Mission and Shadow Forces should be shared with The Group and Trusted Allies ASAP so that they can be in the know and create Cover/Edited Stories that can both be helpful while protecting everyone involved. Personal Details, on the other hand, should be left to an Individual PC or NPC to permit being Revealed UNLESS they tie into the prior caterogy of things so heavily that they can't be reasonably divorce without context from them. While I doubt Dragonstrike would hold us TOO closely to what we have said/done in the past when telling things to other NPCs (if only because that would require even MORE notetaking on their part to do so and this isn't THAT sort of campaign when Details Super Matter), having ground rules, general guidelines, and contengicies in place to prevent ourselves and our PCs from shooting themselves in the foot due to mere abscentmindedness or obliviousness is just common sense in my opinion.

The only other alternative if we don't want t establish an Semi-Autoed Cover Story Networking System is pretty much keeping extremely good notes from now on and going back over recent events and from there manually coming up with our own explanation of things, either in actual storytelling formatting or simply as Bullet Points/Summaries of Details we Auto our PCs to share with others. This is pretty much a good thing to do, and something I myself should admittidly do more of, but I can say at least for myself that I really don't want to sweat the details and put in THAT much work and notetaking when my memory of things + quick refreshers have done great over MULTIPLE campaigns. I might not have a choice going forward, though, given that their are often WEEKs between posts that allow for memories to grow fuzzy and SpecOps are probably going to become more of a Big Deal as the Plot goes forward.

[Dragonstrike]

A little refresher on what you know about Delphox's knowledge already since I'm at work and can't play Indigo Disk for the next 8 hours, but have some free time to kill:

She definitely knows about Darkula and their involvement in the incident with (formerly) Shadow Zoroark and Machamp.  Even if that's the only thing she was primarily informed about, she seemed troubled by the news.

I left the End of Chapter 1 report to Delphox rather open ended, so it's kinda up to you guys if you already told her about the Dread Plate and Kogeki's encounter with absorbing the Shadowy Aura or not.  OOC though, being informed about either would not have changed her general reaction to the news.

Also as a reminder, Sheena has told Daxter that Delphox knows she's human and is, in her opinion, being overprotective. (Karen can also be aware of this information IC since she was present when it was divulged)

Do with that information what you will, cuz it's really up to you guys to determine how much you want to trust Delphox.

(Platina won't know about anything relating to the End of Chapter 1 Report, of course. The purpose of this post is to be transparent OOC with known information so you guys can inform the decisions you'll be making about your IC reactions.)

[Mikaruge108]

Okay, so I just went through the new wave of Mystery Gifts and this is what I got for the Gimmighoul one

Spoiler

Either I'm really unlucky with the stat rolls or this is a troll event 'mon

[Dragonstrike]

Okay, so I just went through the new wave of Mystery Gifts and this is what I got for the Gimmighoul one

Spoiler

Either I'm really unlucky with the stat rolls or this is a troll event 'mon

Yeah, that thing is a joke on purpose

[Lord Windos]

A little refresher on what you know about Delphix's knowledge already since I'm at work and can't play Indigo Disk for the next 8 hours, but have some free time to kill:

She definitely knows about Darkula and their involvement in the incident with (formerly) Shadow Zoroark and Machamp.  Even if that's the only thing she was primarily informed about, she seemed troubled by the news.

I left the End of Chapter 1 report to Delphox rather open ended, so it's kinda up to you guys if you already told her about the Dread Plate and Kogeki's encounter with absorbing the Shadowy Aura or not.  OOC though, being informed about either would not have changed her general reaction to the news.

Also as a reminder, Sheena has told Daxter that Delphox knows she's human and is, in her opinion, being overprotective. (Karen can also be aware of this information IC since she was present when it was divulged)

Do with that information what you will, cuz it's really up to you guys to determine how much you want to trust Delphox.

(Platina won't know about anything relating to the End of Chapter 1 Report, of course.  The purpose of this post is to be transparent OOC with known information so you guys can inform the decisions you'll be making about your IC reactions.)

I don't tell you often enough how much I appreciate and admire your commitment to detail and remembering it all because the prior. You've made our lives a LOT easier in regard to handling SpecOps and the like 'cause of this, thank you very much mate!

My take on the matter, @Spiritmon , @PhantomUnderYourDes , @Mikaruge108 , and @no one - Don't Trust Delphox yet. Her management style and how she runs the guild, while fairly free when she isn't exerting her authority, leaves a lot to be desired for our Nice Guys Group. Unlike say, for example, Wigglytuff and Chatot, she's fairly strict and authoritative when she does directly act and manage her guild unless you're particularly special (but not TOO special) or high ranked, which means that she is much more willing to potentially shut down our groups with soft or hard power plays if the info we give her sets her Danger Sense off. Her attitude in general has also successful alienated her 'personal human' to the point of them making the attempt to escape the Guild (and by extension her sphere of control) without notice is also not a great look for her, since it's not such a far stretch to posit she'd probably have a similar style to handling the Human PCs ( or worse ) . Or worse, in the case of the Shadowed Members or given that our group members are perhaps the very few beings in the Pokemon Universes to legit say they have meet THE GOD and are their Agents capable of wielding ITS power for the Greater Good. I can already imagine that Delphox would probably want to put a similar overbearing protection detail of Platina if she found out the sheer magnitude of responsibility and power that being a Plate Guardian, or perhaps even tries to exploit them for said power if she is sufficiently pragmatic and/or ruthless/opportunistic to see the need/want to do so with little conniptions about it.

Of course I could be wrong about my assumptions on Delphox, and her behavior could very well be justified by her overall history and the given culture of the region and how Adventurers operate there. Plus having a Boss that actually knows the importance of Humans and is quite willing to protect and provide means for their growth/safety is quite an alluring prospect. The problem is that the groups on the whole A) Are not powerful enough Statwise, experience-wise, AND politically-wise to contest any powerplays on Delphox' part should they decide to put pressure on us in anyway without getting creamed, and B) We just don't know enough verifiable background information on the Guild's Boss and the Guild itself historically to make any GOOD judgement call on Alerting either to the Full Truth of things. Ergo, why I propose keeping the big secrets from her until we can either become enough of a force to content them/the Guild to keep them in check or they simply prove themselves worthy of trust. They still need some info on our groups' quests to prep the Guilds and their wider civilian pops for the disasters ahead and also get our groups support without excessive scrutiny, but not so much of the Big Stuff that they could try to wall us off or start micromanaging our groups into hell, hence why we need to control the narrative carefully for everyone's benefit. What do you mates think about this?