#my partner in my first playthrough of explorers of sky was also a riolu! i think i was a vulpix if i remember correctly?

[zorollade]

fun fact in case i havent told this story here: riolu was one of my first shinies in a main series game! i dont think it was THE first, but how i got it was pretty fun:

my sister and i have a long-standing tradition of getting both versions of a game. i would get one, she would get the other. even through our tumultuous relationship as siblings, it was always a chance to finish the pokedex together.

when sword and shield came out, my sister, being older and with a job, bought Shield immediately. i had to wait until christmas to get my own copy of Sword. when i finally had it, my sister had beaten the game, and when i lamented to her that Lucario was a level 60 encounter (riolu and by extension lucario being one of my favorite pokemon, especially when i was younger), she bred a Riolu egg and traded it to me. nothing special, and just one, just so i could have one on my team while i played.

as you may be able to guess, a full-odds shiny hatched out of the egg. needless to say she was SO fucking mad

so thats why i love shiny riolu so much!

[pokemon-dungeon-masters]

Big announcement time!

A lot has happened and even more is about to so I’m here to catch everyone up and announce something new!

To start: Over a month ago I held the first play test in the server with Nines, Slime, Chime, and Talai. It went really well! So here’s a rough overview of what happened:

Team Twoshot was tasked with finding a missing Volbeat and disabling a minor dungeon, named the Symphonic Glen, which used to be a stage for Pokémon to share their music with each other. Loudred, with his posse of 4 Whismur, took over the stage and pokénapped the Volbeat to use as a personal spotlight with her Tailglow, which gave him a +3 to Insight making his Echoed Voice even more dangerous. Plus each Whismur had a specialty punch move; Ice, Fire, Thunder, and Mega punch. It was a tough fight but Team Twoshot managed to bring the crew down and save the Volbeat, reuniting her with her lovely partner Illumise.

Nines played Heathcliff, a scarred male Gyarados with a purple scarf, well-worn but also well-cared for. Very much willing to let loose, but surprisingly careful about his allies. Particularly the ladies.

Talai played Slasher, a female Sneasel with some piercings. She has a rough exterior and personality who secretly has a soft side.

Slime played Demeter, a somewhat dainty and matronly Roserade with a penchant for drinking tea, and a distaste for unnecessary fighting. Has unique colored roses, one red and the other purple.

Chime played Tealight, a small but fearless Litwick. He's friendly if a bit creepy, and prone to jumping straight into battle for his teammates. Totally consumed with inflicting status effects.

We found a lot of things that needed clarification thanks to the playtest, such as:

Travel Points now allow you to move up to 2 tiles per point.

Which kinds of effects still apply on partial hits, most notably Lifedrain.

Fainting has been entirely reworked, which will be addressed at a later time.

General Movement, such as you can't move diagonally through 2 hostile Pokémon.

Lots of changes to Roleplay Actions, including a new feature called the Stamina Bar.

And a lot more that we've been working on!

In other news, we've finished our Explorers of Sky playthrough and have started Gates to Infinity! Team Soy Bois, led by Boi the Riolu and Wattson the Shinx, managed to save the world (with a single punch!) and now it's time for a team; Team Gorls, staring Fraisey the Axew and Brittany B the Snivy. I've actually never played Gates (no spoilers if you join us!) so I'm excited to see what happens. We stream most every Saturday at 6pm est and we voice the characters! Anyone is welcome to join and, if you're interested, you'll have a chance to voice a character too!

Another event that is just starting is Talai's Friendlocke! We will be playing through Pokémon Insurgent as a nuzlocke where each person participating roleplays as a member of the team, choosing moves in battle and strategizing together. Can these mons parent their kidnapped orphan trainer? Join us and find out!

So, what's next? Well, simply put, more playtests! There's still a lot of mechanics that need tested before this project is finished. This time, however, I will be taking a backseat. Instead, my co-creators Nines and Slime will be DMing, each testing different parameters with very different dungeon layouts, difficulties, and more. I will still be involved, just this time I will be observing the sessions and taking notes on anything that needs worked on. Below are brief descriptions of each DMs planned playtest:

Nines' Playtest:

The Coral Cape stars a ragtag group recruited by the Cutthroats, a roving pirate band. You're tasked with scouting out the titular dungeon, reporting back with any objects of interest, and - most importantly - looting anything you can get your hands on!

This playtest places low-level characters against a variety of situations,  primarily combat as well as some social scenarios.

Slime's Playtest:

Deep within the Iron-Soul Mausoleum, something has stirred, causing Steel, Rock, and Ground type Pokémon to become rowdy and dangerous. Several Explorer teams have ventured into the ancient crumbling ruin, but none have successfully cracked the puzzle and made their way into the central chamber.

This Playtest is testing the upper levels of character creation, dungeon based weather effects, as well as the maximum size of Dungeon layout.

Once the Alpha playtests are over we will be going over the entire system and reworking/finalizing as much as we can before the next stage; Beta test Oneshots. There will be a series of oneshots with the goal of giving as many players a chance to play as possible. If you are interested in being a part of the two alpha playtests or the upcoming beta oneshots please check out the Discord server.

And that's all for now! I will do my best to keep everyone posted but if you have any questions feel free to drop them in the comments and we will do our best to answer them. Thank you all for being a part of this project and for being patient while we figure out the next steps; your support truly means a great deal to me!