Question for the "higher ups"

[Yu Kanda]

Dane suggested i post this here instead of the move workshop. So here we go.

Making pokemon trainer work within Omniverse.

I was thinking the following would be a nice way of being able to become a pokemon trainer without having to use assist. Let me know what you guys think.

Whenever Trainer x summons a Pokémon from its Poke ball he transfers his prime powers to the summoned companion by holding on to said poke ball. The Pokémon will have access to Trainer x moves and proficiencies. This makes it possible for the Pokémon to attack, Trainer x however cannot perform any attacks, all of his prime energy is being transferred through the Poke ball to his currently chosen Pokémon. Even though he can still move out of the way and dodge, he is unable to take actions himself, fighting with his Pokémon requires too much concentration from him. He controls them by communicating with them, as long as the Pokémon can hear him, he can give commands. If for any reason Trainer x loses the poke ball from his hand the Pokémon becomes passive and returns to Trainer x like an ingame pet, he can still communicate with them, they just do not posses any power to do anything.

thoughts ?

[Sasuke Uchiha]

Seems a bit restrictive, meaning in your example pokemon trainer type players would have a disadvantage or a negative handicap if you will, just from choosing to play a trainer. Having to focus/unable to defend just to perform simple moves because they aren't the caster, their pokemon is, seems unnecessary to me. Personally, I always considered a pokemon trainer character, and the way I always thought I would do it was like this:

Create NPC for my pokemon. (This way they don't have to 'disappear' after a move is performed.)

Create single use moves for my pokemon, example: Flamethrower- Charmander exhausts a cone of fire for a range of bla bla bla.

Create assists to allow for more fluid fighting instead of single use moves.

Other than that, I don't see the point in trying to rework some new mechanic to it. Players would still attack you, not your pokemon(Players don't attack weapons, but the players), and you shouldn't not be able to act, simply because you're firing a fireball (Someone with a gun move wouldn't be restricted, so why should you?)

Just my thoughts. Try not to make it more painful on yourself than it has to be, no? I could do this now, with Sasuke. Nothing is stoping me from catching a Squirtle as Sasuke(Except maybe Alex, haha) and doing this exact thing.

[Handsome Jack]

If Deadpool shows up, ask him how he handles it with Red.

[Yu Kanda]

If Deadpool shows up, ask him how he handles it with Red.

I know how he does it on Red, the pokemon appears, attacks and then dissapears. This is something i want to avoid, seeing as this doesn't really give you the oppertunity for a normal trainer/pokemon bond to grow during a battle. They come across as mere tools instead of allies.

@Sasuke
I agree its restrictive though it does offer you a chance to play as a trainer as we've seen on tv / in videogames. I do agree that making them NPC's is a solid move, so kudos on that idea! I very much would like to avoid using assist as that will limit my use of pokemon greatly.

I would like to thank you both for putching in and sharing your thoughts on this

[Leonardo Watch]

Why not make the pokemons the prime, with the trainer as an NPC? Each different pokemon could be an alt form, although i'm not sure if it'll need shapeshifting. Yes, you would need to be reeaaaaally careful to not get your trainer killed, but otherwise i can't see any downside to this

[Sasuke Uchiha]

The downside to this is narrative. Doing it this way means you would be writing from the perspective of your pokemon a lot. You could still write from the trainer's perspective, but you would also have to write from you pokemon's perspective. If you never wanted to write from their perspective, then this route isn't for you.

[Crocodile]

Why would you need to do that? So long as you don't join events that would exclude your trainer, it'd be a perfectly viable literary device to write from the trainer's perspective exclusively. We have people write as Secondaries all the time.

[Sasuke Uchiha]

Why would you need to do that? So long as you don't join events that would exclude your trainer, it'd be a perfectly viable literary device to write from the trainer's perspective exclusively. We have people write as Secondaries all the time.

Sure, you can write as secondaries, but you can't just NEVER write as your character...?

I hadn't even thought about Sagas and tournaments. Ouch. Yea, so this route you wouldn't be able to compete in tons of the site competitions. -That sucks. -_-

Not without leaving your trainer behind, and I think the whole idea of this thread is how to make writing as a trainer work, so that's no good.

[Hecate Rothchild]

the inside of the pokeball was cramped.." why didnt trainer red take me out for anything other than to fight others of my kind. "

[Crocodile]

Nah. The point of the thread was to make using Pokemon more like the games and show. I think Leo's idea is probably the closest way to emulate that actual feel without needing to buy an Assist with Shapeshifting (so you don't hafta buy an individual Assist for every Poke you got).

Also, I don't see why you couldn't just not write as your Prime. I had an idea to run a character whose story would be told entirely via the accounts of people watching him. We don't really regulate HOW you tell your story here, as long as you follow the mechanical rules.

[Sasuke Uchiha]

Nah. The point of the thread was to make using Pokemon more like the games and show. I think Leo's idea is probably the closest way to emulate that actual feel without needing to buy an Assist with Shapeshifting (so you don't hafta buy an individual Assist for every Poke you got).

Also, I don't see why you couldn't just not write as your Prime. I had an idea to run a character whose story would be told entirely via the accounts of people watching him. We don't really regulate HOW you tell your story here, as long as you follow the mechanical rules.

I don't think you can just never write as your main character. The rules say:

You can also gain the OM for this writing by using your normal character account. As long as you plan to come back to your actual character, we're fairly lenient with this. 

So, you could do it MOST of the time, but at some point you would have to come back to the actual character (The pokemon) and write as their perspective. This may behoove them, as they may not mind writing as the pokemon every once in a while, but if they would rather not, then this route isn't for them. I personally wouldn't take this route. 

If the trainer died, they would most certainly have to write as their pokemon. Etc, etc, etc.

[Crocodile]

Nothing in that states you need to write from the perspective of the character. In fact, the rules state:

While some sites have a set format to posts, we do not. There is no minimum word count, and you can choose to write first-person, third person, past tense, present tense. We do feel that some methods suit different situations better, but we're loose about this. The only thing we do not allow is 'chat' style roleplaying. It has to be written prose.

Meaning your character could be the Pokemon and you could literally always write it from the second-person/limited perspective of the Trainer. It's no different, in theory, than the third person/omniscient style we use, just shifting the point of view from the all-powerful god to a 10 year old boy. As long as your posts include your Prime, then you're still writing as your character.

[Omni]

I see the best way as doing a kind of "soul link". Digimon did something similar I think? But basically you can roleplay it as you disappearing into the body of the Pokemon, to imbue them with your strength - you share all damage taken by them. Different alt forms, different Pokemon. This would get around the 'vulnerable trainer' thing and give a cool way to roleplay - you and the Pokemon are basically one.

This way while you're walking around you can still chat with your Pokemon and stuff as NPCs, but when you want them to go into battle mode or go save those kids from that burning building, you're like "ALRIGHT CHARMANDER TIME TO LINK UP!!!!!" and do a fancy animation. Some Kamen Rider shit.

[Reece]

Another suggestion would be to just get Assists for them all, as you originally said you didn't want to (yeah, I know it's not ideal)... or maybe even just one Assist with Shapeshifting, like Jeff said... if you don't mind your Pokemon all having the same Stat line.

And then you could have "backup Pokemon" as individual moves... these would be Pokemon so awful that you'd never want to actually use them if you had a choice... but could still give your character a way of fighting if they ran out of SP. I'm talking things like Magikarp, Metapod and Kakuna... maybe some others that aren't quite as terribad...

Also, I think it'd be funny to watch you trying to fight another Prime by clubbing them to death with a Metapod.  :zany:

[Yu Kanda]

I see the best way as doing a kind of "soul link". Digimon did something similar I think? But basically you can roleplay it as you disappearing into the body of the Pokemon, to imbue them with your strength - you share all damage taken by them. Different alt forms, different Pokemon. This would get around the 'vulnerable trainer' thing and give a cool way to roleplay - you and the Pokemon are basically one.

This way while you're walking around you can still chat with your Pokemon and stuff as NPCs, but when you want them to go into battle mode or go save those kids from that burning building, you're like "ALRIGHT CHARMANDER TIME TO LINK UP!!!!!" and do a fancy animation. Some Kamen Rider shit.

That soul link is not a bad idea. Would something like this be possible without having to merge together? Like...the damage the pokemon recieves gets transferred to the trainer.

As stated above i was looking for a way to create a trainer as we all know and love from the show and games.

[Omni]

I see the best way as doing a kind of "soul link". Digimon did something similar I think? But basically you can roleplay it as you disappearing into the body of the Pokemon, to imbue them with your strength - you share all damage taken by them. Different alt forms, different Pokemon. This would get around the 'vulnerable trainer' thing and give a cool way to roleplay - you and the Pokemon are basically one.

This way while you're walking around you can still chat with your Pokemon and stuff as NPCs, but when you want them to go into battle mode or go save those kids from that burning building, you're like "ALRIGHT CHARMANDER TIME TO LINK UP!!!!!" and do a fancy animation. Some Kamen Rider shit.

That soul link is not a bad idea. Would something like this be possible without having to merge together? Like...the damage the pokemon recieves gets transferred to the trainer.

As stated above i was looking for a way to create a trainer as we all know and love from the show and games.

Your original idea, with the damage link added, seems like an okay way of handling it too, bear in mind the trainer wouldn't be able to defend themselves (as you stated).

[Yu Kanda]

Obviously, that only seems fair. He would have to use the pokemon to defend himself and attempt to soak damage that way. Thank you all for the input and thoughts on this. It's been a creative idea that i've been messing around with ever since i joined. I'm happy that it finally happened.