From Pca Central

Revision as of 00:55, 10 August 2009

The Official PCA Character Guidelines

Preamble

It cannot be stated enough that, save for The Commandments below, the entirety of this guideline is exactly that -- a guideline. It exists to lay down a baseline that allows characters to have as much common ground as possible to make interactions between creations and players easy to work out. While players creating characters are asked to adhere to them, one cannot attempt to enforce total adherence to "The Rules" in so expansive an art project without causing, to put it mildly, drama.

Ultimately, this project is about having fun and exercising the creative parts of the mind. There is no point in ignoring that it will be impossible to please all members with the given guidelines, and that some may form their own circles of players who have similar tastes that vary from the given standard. So long as said groups can enjoy the alterations and spins taken on the baseline presented below (either by relaxing restrictions or making them more stringent) without causing problems for the project as a whole, this is acceptable.

Never forget that this is everyone's PCA -- please try to create, act and interact in the best interests of the project first and foremost.

The OOC Purpose of the PCA

The PCA, as it was originally intended, was meant to be a literary and artistic project with a central high school (not that it FEELS like one sometimes) theme to work around. It has, obviously, grown in size and perhaps the original vision was lost along the way. The present movement is to return the PCA to those roots, giving it only the bare minimum of management and guidance in order to let creativity flow freely. While roleplay happens often, and is rather popular, it is not meant to be what the PCA is primarily about, and should take an enjoyable and comfy (but distant) seat behind the project's original purpose.

The IC Purpose of the PCA (in Cheesy Ad Brochure Form)

The Poke Combat Academy is perhaps the premier private school in the known world. It may be most notorious for creating numerous champions in Leagues all around, but it's also produced as many, if not more, scholars and artists in countless fields. The very school itself seems to have a way of bringing out the best in even, seemingly, the worst -- no one who attends ever comes out the same, even if they don't graduate. While as of recent, the faculty and leadership have undergone some intriguing twists and turns, the school remains strong.

The PCA's primary draw is, of course, battling. Being as much of a primal part of a pokemorph's nature as breathing, even those not partial to battle can find themselves growing in strength physically even as they advance mentally and socially. However, the school doesn't just teach mons how to hurt one another -- there are in-depth classes on the basics of type matching, attack combining, exercise and dieting, and even a specific curriculum for coaches that has produced some of the best corner men and gym leaders in the world.

No slouch in academics either, the PCA hosts world-renowned facilities for every facet of the arts, sciences and the monities that can range from the basics to college-level courses. As the students are expected to be warriors as well as scholars, class schedules can be as rigorous for the mind as the toughest gym training is for the body.

As fitting for any high school, the PCA also houses a number of sports teams that compete against the various schools spanning Kanto and the rest of the world. The Fighting Primeapes are notorious for having one of the scariest pokeball teams around, and field capable teams for other sports as well.

Finally, the PCA supports and often facilitates ways for students to connect, either by allowing for numerous extra-curricular clubs as well as the occasional dance, social gathering and special event. As the body is strengthened by battle and the mind by tutelage, the heart and soul are also tended by good old-fashioned fun and camraderie with others.

This is the PCA, in its entirety. This is what kids yearn to be a part of, and parents hope their children can be accepted to. This is the first big step into adulthood and an uncertain, but exciting future.

Are you ready for your great pokemorph adventure?

The Commandments

While this may seem to be a contradiction to the Preamble, there are a few matters that simply are not compatible with the project, and are not acceptable aspects to include in a character because run counter to the PCA's overall themes and foundations.

• No true hybrids. A character can be one species with even some rather obvious traits from their other parent or another species, but not a functional mixture of the two. Appearances, even slightly extreme ones, really should have little if any bearing on how and if the character can function in the PCA setting, so giving the character some inherited aspect (be it colors or vestigial parts) that makes them unique is acceptable. A pure mash-up with both species' capabilities, however, is not. Please use your better judgment should you decide to create a character with blatant aspects from another species, and make the reasons plausible.

• No Glitch Pokemon or Pokemorphs. It's that simple. The very concept of glitches is something that does not need to be introduced into the core setting. It's very possible (and frankly a possible angle for good stories and art!) for it to show in PCA-related side projects, but the concept must remain there.

• No original Pokemon or Pokemorph types. Stick to what Nintendo has created. Ironclad. No ifs, ands, or buts about this.

• No gender-switching. When your character has a set gender, they should remain said gender at all times. The only species capable of flipping gender (actively; see 'genderless' pokemorphs further down) is the Ditto via Transform, and no other species can learn this move. Even having a Ditto as a parent does not allow for this -- while they may have superficial traits from the Ditto parent, if they themselves were not born as a Ditto, they cannot somehow learn Transform.

• No humans. You cannot play a human transformed into a morph. What little of humanity's past that remains in the PCA (if it's even Humanity to begin with!) is shrouded far too deep in speculation and mystery for it to be of any use or at all acceptable as a part of a character's backstory. The writer himself is personally iffy even about mentions of or allusions to their previous possible existence, as this game is not about human beings. It is about pokemorphs. There simply will be no budging on this.

• Pokemorphs only. End of discussion.

• Students of suitable age only. This is a high school. If there's a reason that a character would be somewhat older than his peers (perhaps being held back, or not even being able to attend high school until a later age) and said reason is suitably plausible, this is acceptable. However, at about age 20, the PCA simply will not accept your character.

The Character

Species

As of July 20, 2009, all non-trio legendary students need to be cleared by the PCA head before finalizing their creation -- this is mostly to make sure there's not an overload of legendaries simply due to rules relaxations. (Note: this is NOT retroactive.) Keep in mind that you should be building more around the character and less around the species.

The following guidelines were suggested by Intruder and wholeheartedly approved as of August 9, 2009: These are students, not gods, not the pokemon from the movies, cards, games, or anime, just students. They should have no special powers above any other student or pokemorph. Something to remember in creating a legendary, well, any character for that matter, is to think of how they would interact with others, how their existance would impact the setting the other characters and players in it.

The general intention of the above is to open all other species to members of the PCA, but this can and will be suspended if there proves to be issues down the road.

This comes with the stated understanding that merely being a legendary child does not automatically place the character head and shoulders above the rest. If a more capable Weedle faced a lesser-skilled Rayquaza, the Rayquaza will more than likely lose. Actual Game Stats are only guidelines in the PCA setting, and loose ones at that.

As with all other matters involving character creation, use common sense when deciding on a species. Choosing a specific one should be as much about matching its characteristics to that of the actual character to having something that looks cool.

Gender

Relatively simple, three points notwithstanding: male or female. Dittos can switch between the two as 'needed'.

For normally gender-neutral species, the choice isn't made at birth, but at the onset of puberty. The mon enters a state of physical flux where they can shift themselves through both genders and a neutral state (although not as rapidly and effortlessly as a Ditto), usually gaining enough experience to decide what path they wish to take. Once puberty ends, the state of gender they choose is permanent.

Secondly, it would be preferable that players avoid the additional issues, concerns and tough OOC and IC questions that come up with the inclusion of hermaphroditic characters, but the very nature and preferences of the furry fandom makes this too difficult and too contentious to simply say 'no' to and call it a day. It's nonetheless advised to strongly question whether or not such a distinction is even necessary. If this is to be included, having a compelling answer for when other players ask "Why?" would only work in your favor. If you have a hard time finding an answer, considering revisiting your decision. If you choose this route, the best way to approach the matter is to treat it as actual intersexuality and not the classic furry best-of-both-worlds state of body.

Lastly, the matter of species with only one gender. Due to the nature and backstories that can be forged by the limitations on gender certain pokemon types have, opening them up could easily ruin and break existing characters, even while facilitating others. For the sake of minimal stress (and because this is how it is in the actual game), single-gender pokemorph species will remain as such. If you nonetheless create one, consider that the vast majority of players are assuming and working with the above -- consider the decision to break gender with extreme care.

Appearance and Coloration

As noted earlier in the Commandment above, true hybrids are a no-go. However, there is and should be room to play with a mon's appearance that doesn't have to involve dramatic changes and shocking looks. Generally, it is acceptable and fine for a mon to share some level of influence from their non-species parent. This opens up ways to add little quirks and such to help differentiate pokemorphs from one another at a quick glance. Also, playing with the basic design of a pokemorph to an extent is fine as well, as artists and writers can often have vastly different mental images of what a anthropomorphic pokemon could and should look like. This can potentially lead to some friction, but it is asked to allow a person to work with their interpretation so long as it's not intentionally and drastically jarring. (Of course, some changes may need explaining in terms of how the mon functions on a day-to-day basis if they might get in the way.)

The matter of pokemorphs' colors is one that needs addressing, but can be settled quickly. While the normal and 'shiny' colors are to be considered the primary colors for the species, natural variations that do not deviate too far from those colors are acceptable (within reason!), as are artificial methods such as dye (and paint for certain species). Also, so long as the reason is plausible (or legitimately cool) enough, specific events and personal conditions can also explain unique colors that wouldn't fit a mon naturally.

Abilities and Movesets

Abilities are simple enough: choose one from what's available for your chosen species.

Actual moves are a touch more complex.

• A freshman mon begins with 4 moves, although they will gradually decide on and learn four more before the year's done. Those are not officially added to the character's movelist until they move to the next grade and fully integrate them into their repertoire. Once that's done, they repeat the cycle.

• A mon can learn any move that has been or is available to them in any version of the mainline Pokemon games. They may also learn moves available only to their previous evolutions, but not from future evolutions -- they have to evolve to access those. Generally, this is the limit, and makes for a rather large pool regardless.

• A specific exception that has come up due to the characters being pokemorphs is that if the mon could normally learn one of the elemental Fangs, they may opt instead to replace it with the corresponding elemental Punch since they now have functional hands. (They may also focus the Fang attack through their body instead of just their teeth anyway!) Also, a previously-stated example in the first Character Guide is using Hidden Power to allow for a similar effect, although it can only be learned and 'set' once.

Species Exceptions

These have been discussed in the PCA Forum, and are listed here for reference. These are especially subject to change, so keep an eye on them.

Beldum

• Access to fist/punch-based moves

Deltas and Shadows

The concept of Deltas originally came from, of all things, the Pokemon CCG. There, they were pokemon altered on base levels by EM waves to act as a totally type. In the PCAverse, Deltas are an immensely rare phenomenon where species develop the capability to learn moves beyond their normal movepool. Naturally, such anomalies are the subject of scientific reports and constant study to determine the cause. So far, there are no meaningful answers to any of the questions posed.

Due to the PCA's history, deltas undeniably exist, and that will not be undone. However, it is asked -- in order to preempt potential clashes, issues and conflicts further in the PCA's future -- that anyone who is already a part of the PCA or intending to join not create a new Delta. This is not an attempt to stifle originality or creativity, but a request to avoid what could be massive headaches down the road. Regardless, it is just that -- a request, as strongly-worded as it is. Please take that into consideration.

Shadows are, in the PCAverse, mon who have locked away their emotions to the point where they reach a new 'plateau' of destructive power at the cost of their own health. This sealing away either comes about intentionally through techniques best left unlearned or by external sources forcing the mon to close the door to their heart for whatever reason. Regardless, shadows are immensely dangerous beings, and are hunted down once discovered.

They are a part of the setting, mostly as rumors. For a character to be an active Shadow is for them to not be a functional character, as they're basically a heartless monster. This sort of person wouldn't be in a high school, they'd be on the run.

While it is possible to go the 'recovered Shadow' route, consider the following: while there's nothing wrong with a troubled background, going the Shadow route has been done more than enough and could potentially be a disservice to your creation when you could possibly invent a bad past that's even more deep and compelling. A personal suggestion from the writer: if you have to do dark, make it your flavor of dark.

Making The Character Work

The First Rule

Interesting First, Awesome Second

Pretty much explains itself.

To the writer, the general difference between 'interesting' and 'awesome' usually boils down to this:

• Interesting is 'this is what makes my character tick, and how they work with the world around them'.

• Awesome is 'this is what my character can do, and how well they do it'.

The two are important, but it's often a good idea to create a character with their personality, history and behavior in mind first. Once that's set, liberal splashes of awesome will finish the job and make for a complete character.

Influence (The Expy Effect)

There is nothing wrong about having a character that's based off of a certain character from literature or anime or cartoons or whatever, but strive to make it so that you touch more on the base trope(s) the character embodies and less on their specific characteristics and mannerisms. You ultimately want people to know your character as 'that character' and not 'that character that acts like (insert inspiration's name here)'.

Interaction

Your creation needs to be able to function with other creations in a manner that doesn't cause undue stress. Having interesting quirks is alright, but overtly (and uncontrollably) sociopathic concepts and characters can and will cause problems, and bring into question how the character was even admitted to the PCA to begin with -- such a student could be a potential public relations nightmare if they needlessly cause chaos and harm. (Mea culpa: The writer himself has to walk the balance, as he'd created a character who is intensely angry at everyone almost to the point of violence, but his desire to beat mons senseless in proper, respectable and honest battles is what reins him in.)

Just remember that you're making characters for a high school, and craft accordingly.

Hooks

It is not enough for the character to just be a jumble of neat bits and large body parts that others would find appealing. The best way for others to attach to the character is to add interesting hooks to them -- aspects and little bits of potential mini-story that others literally could be snagged on and then dragged along for the ensuing wild ride. Make sure to keep enjoyment in mind when plotting out hooks, and even while they're meant to primarily showcase the character they belong to, it's good manners (and ultimately good fun) to make sure that all included at least feel like they're contributing and important to the ongoing plotlet.