Post by HKim on Mar 30, 2009 18:06:50 GMT -5
Scenarios
I have discussed this before in passing conversation, so this will be the detailed write-up of Scenarios.
Scenarios, unlike normal Park activity, will focus on a group of trainers working together in order to achieve various objectives. Most likely, the objectives will not involve capturing pokemon that the trainers will keep (however, this could vary depending on the Scenario).
The Scenarios can best be compared to the role playing already done on PE2K or a Dungeons and Dragons game. In both, a group of trainers (role players) creatively attempt to combat and defeat various encounters, slowly working their way through the Scenario in order to finish their mission. In this sense, it is the aspect of the Park that PE2K members will be most familiar with and hopefully a good launching point for the Park.
Scenarios occur at random or scheduled intervals as determined by the Park Leaders. Each Scenario has four phases: Planning Phase, Launching Phase, Mission Phase, Debriefing Phase.
Planning Phase
The Planning Phase is non-public time frame in which the major events of a Scenario are planned out. This includes the plot of the Scenario, the objectives within the Scenario, and the results of succeeding and/or failing for each objective. In addition, the possible results of an overall success/failure of the mission should be planned here as well.
When the Park Supervisor approves, the Scenario moves into the Launching Phase at a pre-determined time.
Launching Phase
The Launching Phase is primarily used to organize the teams and rangers before the actual plot of the Scenario begins.
A Park Leader posts the background information and plot of the Scenario. This gives the trainers a sense of what is currently the situation and what needs to be done. The background should contain only a hint of what may come within the Scenario as well as the initial objectives of the mission. This is similar to the initial post of someone hosting a role play. Initial Objectives could include scouting out a secret Team Rocket base, stopping whatever plan Team Rocket has, and capturing Team Rocket’s leader.
At this point, the Leader opens up the thread to sign-ups. Trainers are asked to form teams of a certain size. The size of the team depends on what kind of Scenario is being done, but the recommended size is a Minimum of 4 and a Maximum of 6. Teams that do not meet the size requirements will not be allowed to attempt the Scenario. It is recommended that teams choose a temporary name in order to add to the “coolness” of the Scenario. These teams are not permanent and new teams will be created the next time a Scenario is activated.
In addition, during this time period, Rangers will be asked to choose a team that they will “guide”. This is similar to a Dungeon Master in which the Ranger determines how effective a team’s actions are and what results they may have. Only one ranger is needed per a team. No ranger may guide more than one team unless there is a lack of rangers.
After a certain time period, likely two weeks, the Launching Phase is closed. All accepted teams and their corresponding ranger begin their adventure. The Mission Phase begins.
Mission Phase
This is the most time-consuming and most intense of the four phases. In this phase, the teams will be challenged to do what no individual trainer could do alone.
Each team will have their own thread, created by their respective Ranger. The Ranger begins by posting the start of the adventure. It some cases, it could be as simple as the Ranger himself charging the team to do their best in whatever mission that lays in store for them. Then off they go, into the wilderness that is the Park.
It should be stated that each team runs the same Scenario plot in this case. In addition, the actions of one team do not affect the actions of another team. If one team blows up Team Rocket’s base, Team Rocket’s base in any of the other threads does not blow up. It is similar to alternate universes in which every little action can literally change how events unfold. This also has the added advantage of giving both the teams and the rangers leeway in how they wish to do things. How will the team find Team Rocket’s secret base? One team might try flying pokemon to scout ahead. Another might use Houndoom to sniff out strange scents. A third could try to lure out a Rocket Member with rumors of rare pokemon. A fourth might try some bizarre Psychic Radar trick. It all depends on creativity.
In addition, the varying methods could have some interesting results. Luring out a team rocket member and capturing him would definitely help that team determine a lot more information than a scouting Pidgeot would. However, they also have to deal with the fact that they now have a prisoner? Do they go back to the Ranger Station and hand him over, wasting valuable time, or do they tie him up and come back for him later, risking him escaping and warning the base? None of the other teams have to deal with this situation and it adds to the drama of the Scenario, making it special and unique for this team.
Ultimately, the teams will find themselves approaching various objectives. These objectives are key to the success of the mission. In addition, achieving these objectives also determine what rewards the team earns at the end of the Scenario. More of this will be talked about later. The important thing to consider is that some objectives are more critical than others. And the most critical ones have time limits. For instance, if the team does not infiltrate Team Rocket’s base on time, their leader will have more time to escape, thus failing the objective to capture him. Of course, like everything else, the time limit could be modified based on the team’s actions. Secretly infiltrating the base and not letting anyone know of their presence would let the team have more time to capture the leader since he won’t know to escape until it was too late. However, if the team managed to set up security sensors before they entered the base, the leader is sure to prepare his escape route just in case.
Other objectives can be discovered during the mission as well. As the team scours the Rocket computer database, looking for hints into what Team Rocket is up to, they notice that the secret project is to experiment on hyper drugs to increase Pokemon Strength at the cost of their lives! Even worse, it appears they’ve recently captured Professor Elm and are threatening to kill him if he doesn’t help them develop this drug.
Well now you have a real situation. Two new objectives now appear. The first is to destroy the drugs and all technical formulas on how to create it. This goes hand in hand with the earlier objective of stopping Team Rocket, but with the added cost that should they stop Team Rocket and not destroy the drug; it is likely that Team Rocket will come back and use it again. The second objective is that they must rescue Professor Elm. He’s a respected Pokemon Professor and Team Rocket will likely kill him since Elm would rather die than help them.
This gives the team a bit of a dilemma. Which objective do they go after first? Do they try and destroy the drugs and formula or save Professor Elm? Or should they split up and attempt both at the same time. And how would they accomplish this? Do they go to the laboratory and start wrecking everything in sight? Do they head to the Reactor and attempt to blow up the base and everything with it? Do they attempt to hack the computer mainframe and first delete all the data digitally? The teams will need to think creatively on how they want to pursue the matter and rangers should let teams be as creative as possible. Their actions, however, will affect what happens next. Blowing up the base may work, but how do they (and Professor Elm) escape an exploding building? Hacking the data would work, but it would alert Team Rocket to their location. Simply destroying everything in the lab might not work since there is also a digital storage, but luckily that is where Professor Elm was being held, so they did manage to rescue him.
In this sense, teams are guided towards their objectives, but they are not lead by hand to them. Actions have consequences and the rangers will do their best to determine what these consequences are, for better or worse. Good strategy and planning could help a team succeed where another team had failed.
Debriefing Phase
So after all is said in done, the team struggles back to Base to report their success.
In this phase, the Ranger debriefs the team, discussing the consequences of their actions. Should a team achieve all their objectives, they are praised. Should a team fail all their objectives, they are given a stern lecture and asked to do better.
The rewards for each Scenario depend on how successful each team was. The more objectives achieved, the greater the reward. Rewards can range from money to items to pokemon. A more successful team will win more than a less successful team.
In addition, once every team has reported in, the Ranger Leaders will go over the results of each Scenario. If a certain percentage of the Scenarios were a success, usually this would be a majority, than overall the teams were successful. Team Rocket has been defeated and they have left the island. Now, depending on the objectives achieved, this could mean that they left with the formula and will likely be back, but that is for another day and another Scenario to deal with.
Should the majority of the teams be successful, every team who participates will receive a Success Reward. The storyline is affected by the teams and it is a collaborative effort. Thus, everyone should be rewarded.
The storyline is modified to reflect the recent events and the Park continues as before.
Variants
The above Scenario Proposal is just that, a proposal. It can be modified to fit whatever is needed for the Park and the URPG. However, it should be one of the most interesting aspects of the Park if accepted.
A possible once-per-year Special Scenario could be one in which every trainer in the Park is a part of a single, massive effort. The trainers would split into teams as usual, but each team does affect the actions of another team. In addition, each team would be given different objectives than the other team. Success and Failure of these objectives will affect those of other teams. In this sense, the Scenario is most similar to the War Role Play. The only difference is that in the Scenario, everyone is working together.
An example of a Special Scenario could include an Invasion by Team Galactic. They have managed to capture key locations around the island: The local Pokemon Center, the Radio Tower, Ranger Headquarters, etc. Different teams must achieve different objectives in order to free the island. One team might be sent to recapture the Radio Tower in order to call for help. If they fail, there will be no reinforcements and the other teams will have a more difficult time fighting back Team Galactic. A team that manages to free the Pokemon Center will help other teams get their pokemon healed between objectives. Everything affects everything else.
The Special Scenario would have to take place during an active time period, so probably the summer. Hopefully during a time when the War is finished or not active. This is merely a suggestion, however.
Teams can also vary in numbers too. A Scenario trying to stop a Volcano might need closer to 8 to 10 people while a simply Scenario to Deliver Medicine might only need 2 to 3 people. It depends on the Scenario, the number of Trainers, and the number of Rangers.
Conclusion
The ultimate emphasis here is teamwork, creativity, and good role playing. The three are needed for a team to succeed in their missions. This is the spirit that PE2K is known for and the spirit that role players love. I hope that with this idea, URPGers will find that they do, don’t always have to fight each other. Sometimes, they can work together. United as one.