"Exist Echoes" Development Update
It's been a while (again!) but I bring major news. I have finally finalized the core the site will be based on. I want to explain why exactly it took this long to get something so important done on a site that was supposed to open *checks notes* back in February 2024. I try to cut thngs down when I post here but for once, I am going to go through my whole process for...whatever good it does. It's unnnecessarily long and wordy that would make people lose interest asap. But if you want to skim or just get an idea of what I am doing - or maybe you enjoy this sort of process - read head! I will be cutting this chunky part in spoiler tags.

SPOILER: Click to show

As you may or may not remember, "Drama Cards" or a narrative-based card game was the unique feature the site was going to use to simulate progression and present challenges, which cannot be calculated easily without selective DMing. I chose this in favor of using stats or dice rolls because it discourages the whims of freeform rping. Situations considered a failure IC should not be punished, and based on my previous experiences, pitting the agendas of members against each other doesn't end well. Of course, there might be communities able to pull it off, but I certainly wouldn't know how to run it! My RPing experience has largely been from collaborative rping to create massive webs of interconnecting circumstances. So, I am trying to do what I am actually pretty good at.

But if you are new to this thread or have forgotten, you may not understand what the idea of Drama Cards is. It's similar to Storium but I do have a direct inspiration: the tabletop game Red Dragon Inn, specifically as played (or performed) by Achievement Hunter. It's less of the mechanic of the game itself, but the idea of it and how it plays out. The way the players burst into excitement playing cards that work both as a narrative and as a game mechanic is something I find very engaging and fulfilling.

But the core of what makes Red Dragon Inn and other tabletop roleplaying games is because of the design of the cards. And I don't expect players to be avid card game designers, nor am I. The focus of the site should still be on the roleplaying itself. I want to make a system that is also a tool for members.

Of course, easier said than done! But it is something I have been striving for and I happened to have tested the prototype with an old friend of mine.



The Drama Card is based on this prototype, which is like a very simplified version of Storium. The idea is to use these cards, categorized into types of Strong, Weak, Asset...and don't ask me what Bond is - I forgot. Anyway, the idea is to use these in the thread as an indication of it being completed. So basically, once you've met the requirements, like the amount of X Cards that is used, you can call the thread done. Claim its reward and all.

The inspiration behind this idea is from the mission system in Predormitum, a Pokemon war RP that lasted ages with a huge memberbase. Although its main system revolved around the battles and the currency of "War Effort", I found the missions to be the most riveting part. The fun part is there was no specific system about missions. Staff made missions that required certain number of its faction members. It was fascinating to have people who's never talked to each other before (cbox era lol) just grab a mission and make stories about what premise is provided for them. It evolved to members creating their missions, and expanding on the possibilities of including enemy factions and leading to origins of certain historical moments. It was lowkey the tool members used to involve their story in the bigger picture.

The Drama Card inspired by the vibes of the Red Dragon Inn. Predormitum's member-heavy plots through its mission system. For me, these two are exactly the same and also the missing half of the other.

The Drama Cards provide a format for the misions as an incentive for members to get involved. For example, if you're wondering how the picture above ended in RP form with my friend and I, Warly and Zero encountered zombies in the cave. They did find the light bulbs they needed for the missions, but because Warly is such a hoarder, they weren't able to collect them in time before Zero had to drag Warly out and get pissed off for the rest of the day. In Drama Card format, on top of the personal cards they have to use (that is, cards based on their characters), they would also have narrative cards provided to them through the mission. They would have to play these narrative cards in however they want. The narrative card could have been specific like "a horde of zombies", something vague like "hostile enemies", or something in-between like "terrors who enjoy the darkness." It can even be a blank card - members can come up with whatever element they want toward the mission.

With a little polishing, it already sounds like a done system ready to be added to a brand new site with its own custom skin. So, what happened?

What happened is that I began to doubt it in how it would play out in the long run. It's meant to be an easy tool. But what if it's so easy that people find it completely unnecessary? The narrative cards have its purpose but what about the personal cards? What are they for besides trying to meet the quota? Isn't it as bad as making people have a word count? I know it's jumping ahead and it's natural for sites to figure things out along the way. But I want to play it safe. I had to think on how I can fix it. And I did this by playing games.

Games give me inspiration on how to model the system and I realized something obvious: mechanics often play into the story. The weapon triangle in Fire Emblem involved actual weapons used in the story. Sometimes, they're even story-important weapons. The runes in Suikoden used to defeat enemies are another element the story is centered on. So the solution is this: make these cards part of the story.

I didn't have to overhaul the prototype but I had to connect this piece of the puzzle into all other puzzles. I had to make them related somehow. I was pretty much trying to build lore based around it.

And I succeeded, quite happily!

✧ Updated Terminologies

Several terminologies have been changed, and some others have been made for easier understanding.

THE OPUSCULA (new): The origin of one’s lore. There are three versions of the opuscula: Legends opuscula (origin of Fables), Extra opuscula (origin of Dreamers), and Living opuscula (the setting of the site).

MOTIF (updated): Formerly "character classes".

RESCUE-TYPE (updated): Formerly "healer-type".

PARTNER POKEMON (new): The Pokemon brought into the Living opuscula along with the Fable and Dreamer. A Fable or Dreamer can only have one partner Pokemon.

COMPANION POKEMON (updated): Pokemon who aren’t partner Pokemons that accompany Fables and Dreamers. They are usually Pokemon from the Living opuscula.

SYSTEM (new): Refers to a theme-bounded system of motifs. For instance, the current seven motifs (Trainer, Coordinator... Photographer) are from the Legends System. Additional systems will appear as the story progresses such as the titular Terrors System, introducing more motifs.

KEYWORDS (new): See below.

AESFORM (new): Short for aesthetic + uniform. Refers to the alt forms or "costumed" forms mentioned before.

REVERBERATION (new): Refers to the combination of blas energies, which result to evolutions and mechanics as seen in the game. There are two types of Reverberation: Anima (Max Factor, EX Evolution... Zenith Aura), and Spiritus (Titan form, Master move...Unite move).

FLOREGNOSIS (new): Refers to setting's magic, previously referred to as runes. This is the counterpart to Chrysoboros (the use of blas energies).

SKILL (new): Refers to Pokemon moves. This is primarily to avoid confusion from terms that use the word "type" (Attack-type, Bruiser-type...Rescue-type). So instead of "Fire Blast" being a fire type move, it is simply a fire skill. This is exclusively for moves, not for Pokemon (eg. Fire-type Pokemon, Ice-type Pokemon).

ABILITY FLOW (new): Popularly known as Ability Forms started by n0rtist. The observable characterstics of Pokemon change depending on their current ability. In Terrors, Pokemon have multiple abilities that activate one at a time. For example, Tropius has Chlorophyll, Solar Power, and Harvest. It can also have other non-official abilities as long as It Makes Sense (by its species or the context of the story), such as Tropius having Stench if its fruits are extremely rotten.

✧ Keywords

If cells are the building blocks of living beings, then keywords are the cells of reality. Keywords are words or short phrases identified in posts and Drama Cards by being enclosed in brackets. They can be observed and manifested with the Gate Crest. In the Living opuscula


✧ Story So Far...

Pokemon Evolution: Terror S is an experience of reconcillation and discovery amidst the impact of a multiverse cataclysm conducted by the Legends of Youth and the Destroyers in the name of assuring humanity's continued survival. Dreamers, beings from the destroyed worlds of echoes, and Fables, beings from the source where the Destroyers came from, are brought together to face the mysteries of Paradox Paldea and the Pokemon world. The former being the refuge of Dreamers, and the other the home of the Legends of Youth. An uncertain partnership between people and Pokemon begins anew as the presence of Shadow Pokemon, the very tools they used to destroy worlds, encroaches upon their story.