Post by Regulus on Mar 3, 2011 15:10:01 GMT -6
====================
= PokeWars! Revival FAQ =
====================
= I: What is PW!R? - [wtf]
= II: Post Marking - [tag]
= III: Writer's Guides - [wgs]
= IV: Interaction - [wwo]
= V: Content Guidelines - [con]
= VI: Banned Pokemon - [ban]
= VII: Special Powers - [pwr]
= VIII: Rulebreakers - [abn]
====================
==================
I: What is PW!R? - [wtf]
==================
PW!R is a continuation (of sorts) to the original PW!, started in January 2000 by Regulus and Dreadite
on alt.games.nintendo.pokemon. Y'know, back when usenet was a thing. It held on, somehow, for 10 or
11 years before fizzling down to almost nothing. Newsgroups weren't the thing anymore, and people just
weren't showing up. A few players still lingered, but it was a mostly contained story at that point,
as opposed to the behemoth it was in its prime.
PW! itself was ripped off directly from OW! - OtakuWars! - which was in its 'R' phase by the time Reg
and Dread got into it. The same basic concept carried over from the Sailor Moon newsgroup to the
Pokemon one. A group of people would write open stories detailing a character's travels through the
Pokemon universe. Anyone could continue on from that point, having characters join up or pass by one
another, battle, or band together to stop whatever rampaging menace was on the loose at the time. Both
were fairly popular in their lifespans, each garnering a fair number of people to join in the hilarity.
At the height of PW!, art was done of each character with an accompanying Pokemon, merged into one
giant cast portrait.
So how does one transition a newsgroup-based idea to forums? The same general premise seems to stand.
One person starts a thread, writes a bit of story, and goes off to see a movie or something. In the
dead space between when that person leaves and comes back, a handful of other people could cross paths
with his character(s), battle them, and all sorts of other nonsense.
So how does one know how to write someone else's character? That would be where Writer's Guides come
into play [see: Section III for details]. In addition, due to several characters within the Pokemon
multiverse having strange powers, leeway is given at times for characters being written to also have
such powers. Are you a psychic that can lift things? Fine. But have a 'sensible' limit to your
marvelous and ridiculous superpower. You can't lift anything bigger than a doghouse, let's say. Just
an example, and more on that is talked about in sections VII and VIII. PW! once had a guy who tried
to give his character the Soul Edge. Yeah, no.
The first thing you'll really need to know if you want to get started... is what the hell those weird
tags in the brackets stand for!
===================
II: Post Marking - [tag]
===================
[PW!R] - Story post. Notes that you're writing something to go in the PW! universe.
[NS] - No Story. Used for storyline discussions, complaints, talking, etc. If you want to quote a
part of a story to discuss it, this is the way to do it.
[NC] - Non-Continuity. What takes place is out of continuity with the rest of the story. Want to
turn into a mad scientist and have a mutant Donphan rampage through Castelia City? Here's how
to do it. As a general rule, don't abuse this, and don't ONLY write NC stories. If you're
writing something with an [NC] tag, it doesn't take place in the same universe as a [PW!R]
tagged story.
[WG] - Writer's Guide. Signifies a Writer's Guide, strangely enough!
[DV] - You should rarely see this, as it's mostly a mod thing. Stands for Declared Void, and is meant
to be used on posts that break the rules or otherwise merit going after. If you wrote about a
mutant Donphan rampaging through Castelia City and didn't make it [NC] then your story's
getting slapped with a [DV] tag and, most likely, locked. Appeals can be made through PMs to
the mods in charge.
[FAQ] - Signifies this document! FAQ posts will be in their own section or, when relevent, stickied
at the top of a subforum.
[META] - This is used for the serious discussion of rules. Unless something is important and regards
the rules themselves, don't use this.
If you see a tag that isn't listed above, then it's likely due to an Event taking place. These help
authors participating in long story events coordinate better. For example, [LEAGUE] was used when
people were writing a part of their stories while going through the Indigo League. [WC] for the Whirl
Cup Competition. [SC] for the Silver Conference. Things like that. If there's a large gathering of
people, and your group is going to be participating in an event, use an [NS] post to coordinate and
ask about what tag to use and how often you might be posting within the event itself.
====================
III: Writer's Guides - [wgs]
====================
In PW!'s original incarnation, the rule settled upon was that one person could have up to four WGs
at a time. These can be split between characters and locations. For example, if your character is
Bob Beefburger and he hails from the Beefburger Ranch and Gambling Hall, and you wanted that place to
be a thing other people could gather in, then make a Writer's Guide for it. Detail how big it is, how
many people are there (if applicable) at any given time, who owns it, what it looks like, what you can
do there, and other such things. For characters, it's a bit simpler.
Your character's Pokemon are detailed in his Writer's Guide. If you pick up more along the way, you
might want to update/edit your WG to detail this. Use version numbers. For example, you start your
journey as Bob Beefburger with a Bulbasaur, Bertha. This is version 1.0 of your WG. If, a few months
down the road, Bob Beefburger has a Bulbasaur named Bertha, a Beldum named Boomer, a Butterfree named
Big Biff, and a Barboach named Barbossa, you might be up to incarnation 1.5 of your WG. Basically,
any time something significant happens to your character or his Pokemon, you might want to think of
updating your WG. Chances are, there'll be a WG subforum to keep things clean in the other forums.
Maybe add a link to your latest version in your sig. Things like that.
Now, on to the Pokemon themselves. The 10-character name limit from the games isn't strictly enforced,
but it's nice if you keep it in that range. No one wants to write about Great Awphulstrous Brainbasher
Calhoun McGillicuddy the Rotom. McNugget the Farfetch'd a bit less silly. As for moves, your Pokemon
ARE limited to the four-move pool from the games. No having Pokemon with an encyclopedic knowledge of
every move they can ever have. That's just not proper cricket, ya dig? The choices you make should be
as important as they are in your game. How will a move change affect your battling? Would going for a
weaker move with a secondary effect be better than a move that's just high power? And more importantly,
will other people be able to write this well.
Because that's what this is about. People writing with their own characters and other peoples'. If you
think your character is being used incorrectly, or have a question as to why someone had your guy say
or do something you don't think he would, then tag it [NS] and ask a question about it. Reach an
agreement with the other author. If he's going in for a gym challenge and you want to write your own
trip their separately, but he had you tag along for the ride, he may need to go back and edit that
part around after a discussion occurs.
And that brings us to our final point: Gym leaders and other important characters.
You cannot be a gym leader unless it is an unofficial gym. You cannot have a WG to be Giovanni, for
example. These characters, like the banned Pokemon listed further into this FAQ, are there to populate
the world with familiar faces. You can go and fight Red on Mt. Silver, but you cannot BE Red. If you
want to be a gym leader, that's fine, it just has to be an original gym in an original location. You
will need to use a WG on your gym, detailing how it's run, what pokemon your characters and the other
trainers in the gym (if any) have, and so on. You can distribute badges, but again, they can't be
official and can't bestow special powers like official ones can. And most people even ignore that, as
it's a strange mechanic to try to get across in a story.
Regarding character names: Though we may not all like the voices or characterizations used in the
English versions of the games, anime, and manga, those are what we go by. Ash is out there somewhere,
presumably, hanging around Cilan and Iris. Misty is in her gym in Cerulean. May and Max are riding
Groudon around Sinnoh. Things like that. There will, most likely, be a guide up specifically to detail
where certain characters and Pokemon are at any given time. This way, in an Event situation (let's say
that Team Plasma uses Genesect to attack a town) some characters and Pokemon can be mobilized and
make guest appearances. These are the types of things to discuss in [NS] posts. Who's going to appear
in your event, what Pokemon they have (if applicable), and so on.
Red isn't going to drag his ass down from Mt. Silver for anything but the most dire of emergencies. He
isn't going to be chilling in Unova, having a pizza. How these NPCs act and what Pokemon they have will
also be outlined in a character FAQ of some sort.
And yes, the game characters occupy the same world as the anime characters. Ash and Red are two
different people. Mostly because Red is a competent battler and Ash is a dipstick who can't tell a
human from a Pokemon half the time!
==================
IV: Interaction - [wwo]
==================
As stated, people need to know how to write your character just as well as you do. This is what your
Writer's Guide will detail. Is your character antisocial? Does he hear voices in his head? Is he
allergic to Gloom spores? Does he fondly remember watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles on TV as a
kid? Throw that stuff into your WG so other people will be able to get a good grasp of how to write
your character! Treat other authors with the same respect you and your own characters want to be
treated with and everyone will play nicely.
Mentioned above, with one character bringing another to a gym fight when that second character wanted
to go it alone, is a prime example. Sometimes an author will write someone the wrong way or do
something you might not like. You can bring this up in an [NS] post, talking with the author who you
don't agree with, or you can simply roll with the punches. If he has a cliffhanger ending where his
character is just about to start the gym leader fight, start your next post with your character bowing
out, saying that he wants to go into the fight blind. Adapting and going with the flow is a good way to
get into writing these characters. Don't get mad if someone snubs you or if you get in a Pokemon battle
with someone and lose to them. Things like that might best be discussed via PM. Talk about winning and
losing and who would likely be the winner. Hell, battle online with your DSes if you have your actual
teams in-game. See who'd win the match and write the story accordingly. There's many ways to go about
doing outcomes like that.
Unofficial gym leaders could also use the wifi method. Go and battle someone, make notes of what
happens, talk with the person who challenged you, and put all of that into your story.
Above all, the point is to have fun and enjoy yourselves.
=======================
V: Content Guidelines - [con]
=======================
As a general rule, we liked to keep the content of stories in the PG-13 realm at most. Why? Because,
though it does appeal to all ages, Pokemon is targeted towards children primarily. As there's likely
to be young'uns reading through these stories (as there were the first time around) try to reign in
any 'mature' content.
========================
# VI: Banned Pokemon - [ban]
========================
So what constitutes a banned Pokemon? Bans are usually put in place on the rare or unique Pokemon who
exist in the world. Things like Mew or Rayquaza, for example. You can have such characters in your
story, but you cannot capture them. The following is a list of banned Pokemon, listed by generation.
The reason they're on here should be obvious, but if you have questions, feel free to ask.
+-------+
| Gen I |
+-------+
Articuno
Zapdos
Moltes
Mewtwo
Mew
+--------+
| Gen II |
+--------+
Raikou
Entei
Suicune
Lugia
Ho-oh
Celebi
+---------+
| Gen III |
+---------+
Regirock
Regice
Registeel
Latias
Latios
Kyogre
Groudon
Rayquaza
Jirachi
Deoxys
+--------+
| Gen IV |
+--------+
Uxie
Mesprit
Azelf
Dialga
Palkia
Regigigas
Giratina
Cresselia
Phione
Manaphy
Darkrai
Shaymin
Arceus
+-------+
| Gen V |
+-------+
Cobalion
Terrakion
Verizion
Tornadus
Thundurus
Reshiram
Zekrom
Landorus
Kyurem
Keldeo
Meloetta
Genosect
======================
VII: Special Powers - [pwr]
======================
As stated earlier in the FAQ, people in the canonical Pokemon multiverse can have supernatural
abilities now and then. Sabrina's psychic powers are a prime example. But, as also stated earlier in
the FAQ, we don't want everyone to go around hurling cars at people or being able to fly. If your WG
includes a note on special powers, it's likely to go into [NS] or [META] territory, depending on how
the author reacts. In extreme cases, WG posts can be slapped with a [DV] tag and the author will be
asked to redo it without the superpowers. You cannot have Soul Edge. You cannot be the last of a race
of ancient dragons disguised as a human. You cannot be an elf with a big, bouncing bosom. Use your
common sense here and you'll be fine. If you train Psychic Pokemon and have created a strong enough
bond that your own latent abilities have awakened, then keep it 'realistic' within the Pokemon
multiverse. You can lift things with your mind... but it's got the distinct problem of being unable
to float you anything bigger than a breadbox, for example. If your character is blind and has a
seeing-eye Pokemon, that's fine. If you want to be a nudist, expect a few visits from the local law
enforcement and bring some underpants. If you're a Ditto masquerading as a human, you're out of bounds
and have to repeat first down. Got it?
======================
VIII: Rulebreakers - [abn]
======================
So what happens if you break the rules?
Well, that depends on what rule is broken.
If you catch a banned Pokemon, your post will immediately be hit with a [DV] tag and you'll have to
either redo it (without catching said Pokemon) or just write something else entirely.
If your character is so powerful a psychic that he can make buildings crumble with but a mere thought,
you're going to see the [DV] tag and get told to tone it down.
If your character swears more than Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas," you'll also be tagged and asked to tone
it down - remember: PG-13 rating here, kids. And yes, I know you get one free 'fuck' utterance in a
PG-13 film [See: Tremors] but that doesn't mean you get one per post. Again, common sense will take you
far.
If your Pokemon is 'special' and knows every single move available to it, you'll get tagged and told
to drug that puppy until it's as dumb as everyone else's Pokemon are.
Simple enough, right? You'd be surprised. In the 6 or so years I personally kept up with PW!, I saw a
lot of wacky crap go on, some of which probably shouldn't have been allowed. It's been long enough
that I don't remember names, but there's some stuff in that cast portrait that I look at and go "Huh?"
at. A flying, masked superhero fighting a flying, winged creature. An all-Pokemon rock band. Power
Armor. Weird little robots. I have no idea what's going on with any of it. But that's part of the
charm, I suppose. You build your world and you let others populate it and you see when and where
entropy kicks in.
= PokeWars! Revival FAQ =
====================
= I: What is PW!R? - [wtf]
= II: Post Marking - [tag]
= III: Writer's Guides - [wgs]
= IV: Interaction - [wwo]
= V: Content Guidelines - [con]
= VI: Banned Pokemon - [ban]
= VII: Special Powers - [pwr]
= VIII: Rulebreakers - [abn]
====================
==================
I: What is PW!R? - [wtf]
==================
PW!R is a continuation (of sorts) to the original PW!, started in January 2000 by Regulus and Dreadite
on alt.games.nintendo.pokemon. Y'know, back when usenet was a thing. It held on, somehow, for 10 or
11 years before fizzling down to almost nothing. Newsgroups weren't the thing anymore, and people just
weren't showing up. A few players still lingered, but it was a mostly contained story at that point,
as opposed to the behemoth it was in its prime.
PW! itself was ripped off directly from OW! - OtakuWars! - which was in its 'R' phase by the time Reg
and Dread got into it. The same basic concept carried over from the Sailor Moon newsgroup to the
Pokemon one. A group of people would write open stories detailing a character's travels through the
Pokemon universe. Anyone could continue on from that point, having characters join up or pass by one
another, battle, or band together to stop whatever rampaging menace was on the loose at the time. Both
were fairly popular in their lifespans, each garnering a fair number of people to join in the hilarity.
At the height of PW!, art was done of each character with an accompanying Pokemon, merged into one
giant cast portrait.
So how does one transition a newsgroup-based idea to forums? The same general premise seems to stand.
One person starts a thread, writes a bit of story, and goes off to see a movie or something. In the
dead space between when that person leaves and comes back, a handful of other people could cross paths
with his character(s), battle them, and all sorts of other nonsense.
So how does one know how to write someone else's character? That would be where Writer's Guides come
into play [see: Section III for details]. In addition, due to several characters within the Pokemon
multiverse having strange powers, leeway is given at times for characters being written to also have
such powers. Are you a psychic that can lift things? Fine. But have a 'sensible' limit to your
marvelous and ridiculous superpower. You can't lift anything bigger than a doghouse, let's say. Just
an example, and more on that is talked about in sections VII and VIII. PW! once had a guy who tried
to give his character the Soul Edge. Yeah, no.
The first thing you'll really need to know if you want to get started... is what the hell those weird
tags in the brackets stand for!
===================
II: Post Marking - [tag]
===================
[PW!R] - Story post. Notes that you're writing something to go in the PW! universe.
[NS] - No Story. Used for storyline discussions, complaints, talking, etc. If you want to quote a
part of a story to discuss it, this is the way to do it.
[NC] - Non-Continuity. What takes place is out of continuity with the rest of the story. Want to
turn into a mad scientist and have a mutant Donphan rampage through Castelia City? Here's how
to do it. As a general rule, don't abuse this, and don't ONLY write NC stories. If you're
writing something with an [NC] tag, it doesn't take place in the same universe as a [PW!R]
tagged story.
[WG] - Writer's Guide. Signifies a Writer's Guide, strangely enough!
[DV] - You should rarely see this, as it's mostly a mod thing. Stands for Declared Void, and is meant
to be used on posts that break the rules or otherwise merit going after. If you wrote about a
mutant Donphan rampaging through Castelia City and didn't make it [NC] then your story's
getting slapped with a [DV] tag and, most likely, locked. Appeals can be made through PMs to
the mods in charge.
[FAQ] - Signifies this document! FAQ posts will be in their own section or, when relevent, stickied
at the top of a subforum.
[META] - This is used for the serious discussion of rules. Unless something is important and regards
the rules themselves, don't use this.
If you see a tag that isn't listed above, then it's likely due to an Event taking place. These help
authors participating in long story events coordinate better. For example, [LEAGUE] was used when
people were writing a part of their stories while going through the Indigo League. [WC] for the Whirl
Cup Competition. [SC] for the Silver Conference. Things like that. If there's a large gathering of
people, and your group is going to be participating in an event, use an [NS] post to coordinate and
ask about what tag to use and how often you might be posting within the event itself.
====================
III: Writer's Guides - [wgs]
====================
In PW!'s original incarnation, the rule settled upon was that one person could have up to four WGs
at a time. These can be split between characters and locations. For example, if your character is
Bob Beefburger and he hails from the Beefburger Ranch and Gambling Hall, and you wanted that place to
be a thing other people could gather in, then make a Writer's Guide for it. Detail how big it is, how
many people are there (if applicable) at any given time, who owns it, what it looks like, what you can
do there, and other such things. For characters, it's a bit simpler.
Your character's Pokemon are detailed in his Writer's Guide. If you pick up more along the way, you
might want to update/edit your WG to detail this. Use version numbers. For example, you start your
journey as Bob Beefburger with a Bulbasaur, Bertha. This is version 1.0 of your WG. If, a few months
down the road, Bob Beefburger has a Bulbasaur named Bertha, a Beldum named Boomer, a Butterfree named
Big Biff, and a Barboach named Barbossa, you might be up to incarnation 1.5 of your WG. Basically,
any time something significant happens to your character or his Pokemon, you might want to think of
updating your WG. Chances are, there'll be a WG subforum to keep things clean in the other forums.
Maybe add a link to your latest version in your sig. Things like that.
Now, on to the Pokemon themselves. The 10-character name limit from the games isn't strictly enforced,
but it's nice if you keep it in that range. No one wants to write about Great Awphulstrous Brainbasher
Calhoun McGillicuddy the Rotom. McNugget the Farfetch'd a bit less silly. As for moves, your Pokemon
ARE limited to the four-move pool from the games. No having Pokemon with an encyclopedic knowledge of
every move they can ever have. That's just not proper cricket, ya dig? The choices you make should be
as important as they are in your game. How will a move change affect your battling? Would going for a
weaker move with a secondary effect be better than a move that's just high power? And more importantly,
will other people be able to write this well.
Because that's what this is about. People writing with their own characters and other peoples'. If you
think your character is being used incorrectly, or have a question as to why someone had your guy say
or do something you don't think he would, then tag it [NS] and ask a question about it. Reach an
agreement with the other author. If he's going in for a gym challenge and you want to write your own
trip their separately, but he had you tag along for the ride, he may need to go back and edit that
part around after a discussion occurs.
And that brings us to our final point: Gym leaders and other important characters.
You cannot be a gym leader unless it is an unofficial gym. You cannot have a WG to be Giovanni, for
example. These characters, like the banned Pokemon listed further into this FAQ, are there to populate
the world with familiar faces. You can go and fight Red on Mt. Silver, but you cannot BE Red. If you
want to be a gym leader, that's fine, it just has to be an original gym in an original location. You
will need to use a WG on your gym, detailing how it's run, what pokemon your characters and the other
trainers in the gym (if any) have, and so on. You can distribute badges, but again, they can't be
official and can't bestow special powers like official ones can. And most people even ignore that, as
it's a strange mechanic to try to get across in a story.
Regarding character names: Though we may not all like the voices or characterizations used in the
English versions of the games, anime, and manga, those are what we go by. Ash is out there somewhere,
presumably, hanging around Cilan and Iris. Misty is in her gym in Cerulean. May and Max are riding
Groudon around Sinnoh. Things like that. There will, most likely, be a guide up specifically to detail
where certain characters and Pokemon are at any given time. This way, in an Event situation (let's say
that Team Plasma uses Genesect to attack a town) some characters and Pokemon can be mobilized and
make guest appearances. These are the types of things to discuss in [NS] posts. Who's going to appear
in your event, what Pokemon they have (if applicable), and so on.
Red isn't going to drag his ass down from Mt. Silver for anything but the most dire of emergencies. He
isn't going to be chilling in Unova, having a pizza. How these NPCs act and what Pokemon they have will
also be outlined in a character FAQ of some sort.
And yes, the game characters occupy the same world as the anime characters. Ash and Red are two
different people. Mostly because Red is a competent battler and Ash is a dipstick who can't tell a
human from a Pokemon half the time!
==================
IV: Interaction - [wwo]
==================
As stated, people need to know how to write your character just as well as you do. This is what your
Writer's Guide will detail. Is your character antisocial? Does he hear voices in his head? Is he
allergic to Gloom spores? Does he fondly remember watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles on TV as a
kid? Throw that stuff into your WG so other people will be able to get a good grasp of how to write
your character! Treat other authors with the same respect you and your own characters want to be
treated with and everyone will play nicely.
Mentioned above, with one character bringing another to a gym fight when that second character wanted
to go it alone, is a prime example. Sometimes an author will write someone the wrong way or do
something you might not like. You can bring this up in an [NS] post, talking with the author who you
don't agree with, or you can simply roll with the punches. If he has a cliffhanger ending where his
character is just about to start the gym leader fight, start your next post with your character bowing
out, saying that he wants to go into the fight blind. Adapting and going with the flow is a good way to
get into writing these characters. Don't get mad if someone snubs you or if you get in a Pokemon battle
with someone and lose to them. Things like that might best be discussed via PM. Talk about winning and
losing and who would likely be the winner. Hell, battle online with your DSes if you have your actual
teams in-game. See who'd win the match and write the story accordingly. There's many ways to go about
doing outcomes like that.
Unofficial gym leaders could also use the wifi method. Go and battle someone, make notes of what
happens, talk with the person who challenged you, and put all of that into your story.
Above all, the point is to have fun and enjoy yourselves.
=======================
V: Content Guidelines - [con]
=======================
As a general rule, we liked to keep the content of stories in the PG-13 realm at most. Why? Because,
though it does appeal to all ages, Pokemon is targeted towards children primarily. As there's likely
to be young'uns reading through these stories (as there were the first time around) try to reign in
any 'mature' content.
========================
# VI: Banned Pokemon - [ban]
========================
So what constitutes a banned Pokemon? Bans are usually put in place on the rare or unique Pokemon who
exist in the world. Things like Mew or Rayquaza, for example. You can have such characters in your
story, but you cannot capture them. The following is a list of banned Pokemon, listed by generation.
The reason they're on here should be obvious, but if you have questions, feel free to ask.
+-------+
| Gen I |
+-------+
Articuno
Zapdos
Moltes
Mewtwo
Mew
+--------+
| Gen II |
+--------+
Raikou
Entei
Suicune
Lugia
Ho-oh
Celebi
+---------+
| Gen III |
+---------+
Regirock
Regice
Registeel
Latias
Latios
Kyogre
Groudon
Rayquaza
Jirachi
Deoxys
+--------+
| Gen IV |
+--------+
Uxie
Mesprit
Azelf
Dialga
Palkia
Regigigas
Giratina
Cresselia
Phione
Manaphy
Darkrai
Shaymin
Arceus
+-------+
| Gen V |
+-------+
Cobalion
Terrakion
Verizion
Tornadus
Thundurus
Reshiram
Zekrom
Landorus
Kyurem
Keldeo
Meloetta
Genosect
======================
VII: Special Powers - [pwr]
======================
As stated earlier in the FAQ, people in the canonical Pokemon multiverse can have supernatural
abilities now and then. Sabrina's psychic powers are a prime example. But, as also stated earlier in
the FAQ, we don't want everyone to go around hurling cars at people or being able to fly. If your WG
includes a note on special powers, it's likely to go into [NS] or [META] territory, depending on how
the author reacts. In extreme cases, WG posts can be slapped with a [DV] tag and the author will be
asked to redo it without the superpowers. You cannot have Soul Edge. You cannot be the last of a race
of ancient dragons disguised as a human. You cannot be an elf with a big, bouncing bosom. Use your
common sense here and you'll be fine. If you train Psychic Pokemon and have created a strong enough
bond that your own latent abilities have awakened, then keep it 'realistic' within the Pokemon
multiverse. You can lift things with your mind... but it's got the distinct problem of being unable
to float you anything bigger than a breadbox, for example. If your character is blind and has a
seeing-eye Pokemon, that's fine. If you want to be a nudist, expect a few visits from the local law
enforcement and bring some underpants. If you're a Ditto masquerading as a human, you're out of bounds
and have to repeat first down. Got it?
======================
VIII: Rulebreakers - [abn]
======================
So what happens if you break the rules?
Well, that depends on what rule is broken.
If you catch a banned Pokemon, your post will immediately be hit with a [DV] tag and you'll have to
either redo it (without catching said Pokemon) or just write something else entirely.
If your character is so powerful a psychic that he can make buildings crumble with but a mere thought,
you're going to see the [DV] tag and get told to tone it down.
If your character swears more than Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas," you'll also be tagged and asked to tone
it down - remember: PG-13 rating here, kids. And yes, I know you get one free 'fuck' utterance in a
PG-13 film [See: Tremors] but that doesn't mean you get one per post. Again, common sense will take you
far.
If your Pokemon is 'special' and knows every single move available to it, you'll get tagged and told
to drug that puppy until it's as dumb as everyone else's Pokemon are.
Simple enough, right? You'd be surprised. In the 6 or so years I personally kept up with PW!, I saw a
lot of wacky crap go on, some of which probably shouldn't have been allowed. It's been long enough
that I don't remember names, but there's some stuff in that cast portrait that I look at and go "Huh?"
at. A flying, masked superhero fighting a flying, winged creature. An all-Pokemon rock band. Power
Armor. Weird little robots. I have no idea what's going on with any of it. But that's part of the
charm, I suppose. You build your world and you let others populate it and you see when and where
entropy kicks in.