[Interest Check] Epic Fantasy Ultra-Space Pokemon Adventure

Hi! I had this idea pop into my head for a roleplay and I just had to share it with someone. Sooo, y'know how in Pokemon USUM a bunch of Rainbow Rocket versions of the various Evil Team Leaders are called in from Alternate Universes where the protagonists of those universes failed to defeat them? I thought that was very bold of the games to present to us, even if they didn't really elaborate much. And that got me thinking that it might be fun to do a roleplay exploring some of those universes. Why did the protagonists of those universes lose? What became of those worlds? How else might those worlds be different? What other worlds we've never even heard about might exist? How will players characters deal with having their paradigms challenged? I feel like there's a lot of potential for something juicy there. I'm a big fan of roleplays that get philosophical and challenge characters psychologically, rather than just physically.

Perhaps something wacky is happening with space-time and it has started to become a lot easier to cross into other worlds, likely using Ultra Space as a framework. Maybe it's so disruptive that sometimes routes just vanish and if you want to go that way, all that awaits is Ultra Space. And perhaps the motivation of the party could be to put a stop to the transdimensional chaos before the disruptions become a much bigger problem. (Man I sure hope that tear in space-time goes away soon. I was supposed to deliver food to the neighboring town today!) Maybe there's also some speculation on what happens if two worlds fully overlap and while it's not clear what'll happen it's probably not good for anyone.

The RP would prominently feature canon characters. I'd probably allow people to play them too, with the stipulation that we'd need to find an excuse to bring them in line with the beginner cast, but that's an easily solved problem. (Starting anew, lost pokemon, stolen pokemon, AU version of the character from one of those other worlds that's a beginner)

In my head I'm thinking it might make the most sense to make exploring a given world its own roleplay. Just because that's a LOT of material to work with, entire stories can be told through that, and if I don't do that we get a neverending RP. So each RP would be a standalone story in a shared universe with definite crossover potential. For the worlds mentioned in USUM where a specific protagonist lost, I'd probably narrow it to that protagonist's region. (So the world where Red lost would focus on the Kanto Region) Other worlds might also focus on an AU version of a region, or they might be flat out unrecognizable, an original world essentially. I'd also open the door to worlds based upon Pokemon games which weren't released by the time of USUM. So an AU Hisui where the protagonist failed would exist, and an AU Galar as well. Probably the new upcoming region too! I'd be curious if anyone would find specific regions interesting to explore, else I'll probably just drift to whatever region's story comes to me most readily at the time.

I'm also thinking of unchaining trainers and encouraging players to be more liberal in giving them powers to help give them an edge in or stand alongside their pokemon during battles. New worlds may not even recognize traditional battling norms, and may demand more from their trainers to get by. Perhaps I'll offer to let people tell me their powers in private so that people can play with that reveal on their own.

I've wanted to try running a Pokemon Tabletop United game for a while now, but am not yet sure whether this would be that game. I'm leaning away from it, since the learning process would be bumpy and I'm insecure about running a game I'm only familiar with the basics for, but would be willing to reconsider if there's strong interest in spite of my newness. >w<

Also, do most people play IC on Discord? I noticed most RPs on the forums seem to have gone a while without posts for a hot minute. '3' I know this isn't a workshop thread, but I appreciate any feedback given.

I'm probably not going to be able to participate myself but this legitimately feels like a great idea. I hope people bite.

yooo i love big epic sagas and this one looks super cool! also love that youre already looking ahead and seeing the struggle of the long saga: the never-endingness. splitting it up into contained stories is absolutely the right move haha.

i don't know much about PTU honestly. are you aiming to have a significant amount of like... mechanics and stuff that you'll have to roll with? are you aiming for this to be more of a written story, or done as sessions in a voice chat? whatever you wanna do is cool but i have different advice based on how you want to explore these ideas!

as for roleplays on pc.... it's in a difficult postion. we do rp here- all ic posts are posted to RP Stage, though we write together in google docs and talk primarily in discord servers (and let our OOCs die lmao). my rps def went on break over GT but don't let it fool you: Trainers and Hoenn: Square One are the current consistently active ones. unfortunately they are populated by pretty much the same people, most of whom are unlikely to take on another rp at the moment. Hisui is open but not being taken advantage of, and allegedly Atria, Long Drive, and Spear have content that will eventually see the light of day. we do rp here. i promise.

i would love forever to bring fresh faces and new motivation into this forum because it is desperately needed; rpers here are notorious for being both long-winded and slow and we need a change of pace imo. i would say that it's often difficult to come in and post an OOC thread and expect people to come of their own accord; active recruitment is needed right now, and looking outside who i'd call the RP regulars is probably your best bet. i know quite a few people who are frequently interested in rp but are stymied mostly by nothing coming out- if i could send them to this cool-ass thing of yours i would love that!!

Thank you so much for the encouragement. ^^ I think I'm gonna go nose around the Hisui RP as well~

Aquacorde said:

i don't know much about PTU honestly. are you aiming to have a significant amount of like... mechanics and stuff that you'll have to roll with? are you aiming for this to be more of a written story, or done as sessions in a voice chat? whatever you wanna do is cool but i have different advice based on how you want to explore these ideas!

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Honestly I could go either way on that. Though as I think about it, PTU might not have all the mechanics I'd need. For example if I told a story about a world where Team Magma won, it might take place on a world where heat exposure is an omni-present threat outdoors. And if I told a story about a world where Team Aqua won, there might be a lot of scuba diving involved. And I have no idea if PTU has any mechanics for that or if it would be all that easy to homebrew them, y'know? It'd be very bumpy simultaneously learning PTU and figuring out how to get it to do the things I need. xD I guess I'd have to do voice chat if I did though, since it's expected with tabletop.

If I wanted to have some basic mechanics that are easy to pick up and use for anything, I could just make my own set of stats up and have players assign a handful of stat points to their characters and let those influence dice rolls I call for. And maybe I could give them bonuses to certain types of rolls representing the growth of their character. Maybe a lighter system like that would actually work better for something that focuses more on writing.

Overall though I'd say I'm inclined to do this as more of a written story. That would be easier.

Though I'm a big fan of tabletop RPs, I agree with making this a written RP. Being able to add at your own pace and interact without needing to schedule a time are definite advantages. This looks really cool, and multiverses are super popular right now. I'll definitely give this one a read, and might even try to join if there's space and time.

Not going to lie, but I really like this idea.

I like this idea too!
I wonder how my character could fit in there... Maybe an accidental fall in a wormhole while she was busy investigating it!

This idea of a multiverse adds so many possibilities! Imagine a world where Pokémon overthrew humans and rule other them, or another without pokéballs, official battles, tournaments, ... where pokémon and humans are all equals and go to school, get jobs, ...

As for a RP, I would be fine with a shorter posts one, as lengthy RP posts have never been my thing...

Fact Checking Gardevoir said:

I like this idea too!
I wonder how my character could fit in there... Maybe an accidental fall in a wormhole while she was busy investigating it!

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I'd welcome that eagerly! Normally I'd have concerns about the language barrier with pokemon PCs, buuut the telepathy ability already kinda implies a Gardevoir should be capable of talking even if they aren't from an alternate universe where that's standard affair, so why not right? Could be a fun mix-up! ^^

Fact Checking Gardevoir said:

This idea of a multiverse adds so many possibilities! Imagine a world where Pokémon overthrew humans and rule other them, or another without pokéballs, official battles, tournaments, ... where pokémon and humans are all equals and go to school, get jobs, ...

Click to expand...

Y'know, one of the places I was thinking of taking inspiration from for one of the worlds was the feywild, which would lend itself quite well to a bit of insidious role reversal. We might be on the same wavelength there.

Fact Checking Gardevoir said:

As for a RP, I would be fine with a shorter posts one, as lengthy RP posts have never been my thing...

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I could vibe with that. Sometimes when I get caught up in a rut I find out it's because I'm trying to live up to some standards or habits that I'm just not in the mood for. And relaxing and finding a more comfortable way to approach the post can be really helpful! Had to teach myself that most people are typically still plenty happy with the result before I was able to embrace the tactic though. :P