Let's Play Exile I - Poke'mon Edition! (AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION NEEDED!)

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Let's Play Exile I - Poke'mon Edition!

Episode 001 - Let's Make Us a Poke'mon Team!



Escape from the pit! Shows us our objective already, and it's only the title screen. This game doesn't screw around, people!



I think I went a little overboard image-hacking this screen. It's just so much fun. The bottom-right image is actually a little movie that plays out, showing a generic 4-party team fighting some crap and stepping on obvious traps and stuff like that. Turns out I could hack the characters in that too, so I made a valiant team of Slowpoke, Psyduck, Wobuffet, and Zigzagoon. Here, Wobuffet is about to release a cap of whoop-ASS on those Hounds!

So we hit Make New Party....a two-page description that I didn't feel like screenshotting comes up. Basically, a king throws our characters into a portal, which puts us in a big prison-cave from which there is no way out. The story says we got lucky to be thrown in there, I guess since most people who do serious crimes get killed. The writings go on to say we did a "soft crime"...whatever that is. Maybe we invented some sort of fabric softener that put the king's brother-in-law, Jerry the clothes-washer, out of business. Or maybe the king wanted a hard boiled egg, but we accidentally made his breakfast soft-boiled. Kings punish people for those sorts of things all the time. ('Cause they're bastards like that. )



Alright, now we're onto the part where you guys come in to help me! :3

We're at the character creation screen. It pretty much works like DnD...we got 60 points, and we can spend them however we want on the abilities listed. The first number after an ability's name (aka, the '2' in 2/40. Don't ask me what the '40' means. ) tells us how many Skill Pts it costs to get one point in that skill. Obviously, we want to spend all 60 points for each character, if possible. We also get a nice big team of 6 people to do this with, so we can have a lot of variety!

You guys will be making my characters! Each of ya can submit the design for one character. Spend the 60 points however ya like in the available skills! Also, give your character a name (24-digit limit), and also choose what Poke'mon he (or she!) is gonna be! (The Poke'mon choices are pictured further down.)

But you guys still need to know what each ability is used for, so I'll give a quick description of everything...

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Health: Keeps you from dying. Note that, like in DnD, no enemy can kill you in one hit (I think). If a character has 12 HP and a monster hits them for 30 damage, they'll be put at zero hp but not die (critical condition). The next hit will likely kill them, unless they Luck out, but if you heal them at least 1 HP, they can survive another hit. Thus, a low-HP character can still survive fine if used correctly.

Spell Points: For Priest and Mage Spells to work, ya need these. Good to stock up for a magic type, as they're really cheap.

Strength: Lets characters whack enemies around better with weapons. Also influences whether or not we can bash open locked doors easily. Not advised to be below 4 for a melee character (unless you LIKE attacking air, that is... ).

Dexterity: Makes ya nimble! Melee characters miss less with higher Dex. Projectile attackers like Archers pretty much DEMAND this stat. Lockpicking and disarming traps also benefits from this stat. Lastly, it helps a character avoid an enemy's attack.

Intelligence: Mages this stuff. Makes spells MUCH more effective all-around. Also increases mental fortitude, meaning enemies using abilities to affect the mind (mind control for example) are less likely to succeed. Int is pretty much only useful for mages though.

Edged Weapons: Ah, weapon proficiencies! This permits a character to use edged weapons (swords, axes, knives) very well. Edged weapons are the most common weapon to find, so this is a pretty useful proficiency.

Bashing Weapons: Bashing weapons are clubs, maces, hammers, flails, etc. While generally not quite as powerful as edged weapons, they're common and cheaper too. Bashing weapons also have neat effects like stunning the enemy whose skull you just crushed in.

Pole Weapons: Such as spears, and...I'm not sure what else. These weapons are rare and expensive, so even I haven't seen much of them. They ARE powerful suckers, though!

Thrown Missiles: Ups your projectile skill. Darts, javelins, throwing axes. Pretty fun to use, but they miss a lot unless you invest in a good deal of Dexterity.

Archery: Basically the same as Thrown Missiles, except with bows and arrows. Major benefit of arrows is that, unlike missiles, arrows can be POISONED!

Defense: A character with this has a higher change to block/parry an attack, decreases the penalties associated with wearing bulky armor, and sometime decreases damage taken from melee attacks. Obviously, give this to a character you expect to get whacked around a lot.

Mage Spells: This is essentially your Black Mage spell lineup, causing wanton destruction of many sorts. If you wanna make a Black Mage, it's best to spend at least 3 points in this. More will make their magic more potent, and more points will also give us access to more spells.

Priest Spells: And here's our White Mage spells. Healing abilities and helpful status effects come from a White Mage. They can kick some ass too...the holy ability Wound is extremely effective at smiting the wicked! Once again, at least 3 points in this for a White Mage.

Mage Lore: This lets us decipher strange magical readings. I guess. I've never found any magical readings myself, but I'm sure they're out there somewhere.

Alchemy: With this, we can make MAGICK POTIONS! This skill is quirky but also very useful, especially later-game.

Item Lore: Sometimes we can find items which have no description ('Axe' instead of 'Iron Axe', for instance). This skill lets us identify them, essentially unlocking whatever power they might have. (Like the power to be nothing more than a Bronze Sword, which tends to happen a lot. ) There's guys in towns that can do this same thing for a small fee, but of course I don't like spending @#(*$ money to find out it was just another friggin' Bronze Sword...

Disarm Traps: LOVE this. Thieves are good having this skill under their belt. There's a lot of traps in this game (in fact, EVERY SINGLE TREASURE CHEST IN THE GAME is trapped), and since triggering a trap tends to release all sorts of nasty status effects on your group, it's good to have this skill on someone.

Lockpicking: Opens doors, assuming the user has a Lockpick equipped. Generally more effective than Bashing a door open. Bashing can injure a character, and some doors can't be Bashed open at all, only Lockpicked.

Assassination: Squishing bugs. Easiest way to put it. This lets a physical attack sometimes do extra damage to an enemy, assuming the enemy is weaker than the party. Especially useful is said 'weak' enemy can still poison the heck outta you with every bite. (I'm looking at YOU, Rabid Bat! )

Poison: Lets you put poison on your weapons and arrows. Higher levels means a higher potency of the poison, plus lower chances of you accidentally poisoning yourself in the process!

Luck: An expensive skill, but possibly very life-saving. It's hard to say what ALL it does, but I do know it increases the chance that a 0-HP character WON'T die if hit again. (They 'luck out'! ) Good to give to a low-hp character.

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So there's a crash course in all the skills. Now, make me some player-characters, people!



And lastly, here are our choices for what our PCs look like. Make sure to choose one of these for your PC!

(...Woah, just noticed the Raichu's as big as the Charmeleon. Friggin' weird...MUTANT MOUSIES! )

Let's Play Exile I - Poke'mon Edition!

Episode 002 - The Group Forms!

You guys were awesome at creating characters! We now have a fully-manned (Poke'mon'd?) team of 6 members. They're a bit of an oddball group, but let's see how we fare with them...

Note also, that this LP will soon go into a narrative of the characters. During these times (and, when I'm not doing narrative, also during times where I don't want to interrupt something else I'm talking about), if I want to make a note about a game mechanic or something, I'll be using statements in italics to keep from breaking up the action or flow.

So let's meet our group, fresh from the starting point of the game!



We're actually in combat mode here. Any other mode only displays the main character, so combat mode is used to show off our full party.

- Stumblefoot the Spinda -

Stumblefoot is a Spinda red mage who tries very hard to be at least mildly capable at a bunch of things in hopes of finding a way to be useful. "I's just tries ta helpies...but it dutten't alwayz works too wellz..." Unfortunately, he's a bit on the incompetent side. You would be too if your attempts to cast magic looked like you just went on a drunken bender.

He just wants to be appreciated, though. All his life it's been "Stumblefoot, you blockhead!" and "Stumblefoot, you klutz!" and "Stumblefoot, you --"...yeah, you get the idea. Stumblefoot is in prison for...some reason, most likely because clumsy wobble-footed bunny pandas shouldn't have access to destructive magics.

He is technically the group leader, mostly because he's the one who brought up the idea first. (He is a friendly sort, that much can be said.)

- Karla the Espeon -

A 'delicate flower' as she considers herself. This Espeon believes she is the most beautiful creature in existence, and thus studied nothing but White magic... "As white magic is the PRETTIEST magic of all!" She does take a surprisingly sadistic turn when using the Wound spell, which harms enemies...she is one to cast it often, and often while snarling or laughing quietly. It's quite likely this hidden sadism is part of the reason she was arrested in the first place, but she refuses to talk about it. "White magic is WONDERFUL..it remains pure and perfect, however I use it!" she says to disregard any questioning.

Otherwise, she truly acts 'delicate', refusing to so much as step in a muddy puddle. She stays with the group around 'for her defense'... "A White Mage can't survive in such a CRUEL world!".

- Scythe the Weavile -

A tough, quiet Weavile, Scythe is a thief, and a good one - though not good enough to escape imprisonment from the king for his...'collective' habits. He is very straightforward, not bothering to talk unless he has something important to say. He is clever and intelligent, and also good at keeping people from catching on to it.

Scythe is perhaps the most competent member of his group. Though his attitude was 'look out for number one' in the aboveworld, and still is now, he still has a moral side that has him wanting to help those in need. Though he certainly tries to do it in a way where he doesn't look all goody-two-shoes about it.

He's with the group because he realizes he can't go it alone in this new world. That, and he secretly dreads that a few of the members might do something horribly destructive if he doesn't keep watch on them.

- Diaperchu the Raichu -

This Raichu is...a little bit...different. As his nickname betrays, he does indeed wear a large diaper... "It's quite comfortable." he gives as an excuse, and nothing more. Thankfully he doesn't seem to use it the 'expected' way, but why he wears it at all times is a mystery. The Chu seems rather sexual, but as to what about, no one can be sure. It IS known that he tends to lick his lips at the ends of most of his (quite confusingly disturbing and emotive) statements, and hungrily eyes random animals, objects, or imaginary things. It's truly hard to say what he's thinking about at any one time, but most likely, it's best not to try to figure it out.

The Raichu does have useful skills, however. He knows how to use a pole arm, claiming, "I love how LONG they can be!". He is quite able with a bow too. Basic alchemical arts, and the ability to use poison effectively, round out the electric mouse rather nicely. ("Manipulating liquids can be so much FUN!")

He joins the group because "the others are such INTERESTING individuals!" The longer-than-usual lip-licking that resulted after his statement only made the group want to keep an eye on him that much more intently...

- God the Jigglypuff -

A Jiggypuff with an identity crisis. A SERIOUS identity crisis. She demands to be called God... "With a CAPITAL G, puny mortal!" Never mind the fact that she's not God. Or that 'Goddess' would be a more appropriate term to call herself. She does not take lightly to such insolence! Who knows what brought this pink puffball to such mental strangeities (I hope she didn't hear me say that ), but she nonetheless believes it fully herself... Oddly, the Gods almost seem to want to humor her, as she has been extremely lucky in multiple normally-fatal situations. She takes it lightly and claims that "I am God! I'm invincible, of course!"

Besides this, she is skilled at "Throwing the lighting of the skies upon the foolish mortals who oppose me!"...also known as throwing projectile weapons. How she manages to do it effectively for such a short creature (oh GOD, I think she heard me that time ) is anybody's guess, but she still does it well.

We can easily surmise that she was tossed into Exile for heretical behavior. She believes the group is with her because they worship her , and that they wish to "Help me return to where I belong and smite the fools who dared call ME a heretic!"

- Garbcheck the Zangoose -

A big Zangoose with a minuscule brain, to put this tank simply. He knows only two things for sure: 'Smash stuff' and 'Smash stuff more'. He's not an evil fella...just braindead, and apt to follow whatever direction or suggestion somebody gives him. His name is actually a nickname...which belays what he was arrested for. "garbcheck is called garbcheck because he, duhm, check under cute girlie's dress. girlie not like dat." he slowly explains, hurr-hurring all the way. It's quite obvious why he was imprisoned, though it's hard to tell if he even cared. Or...um...noticed.

Garb is with the group because...um...well, he can't very well operate alone, now can he? The extra muscle - and HP - will help this physically-not-too-strong group anyways.

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So there's the crew! The prisoners are all fresh into the world of Exile, and have already agreed to join up and try to find a way back out...though they may have numerous reservations about each other. We'll just have to see if they can manage to get along...in the NEXT episode of 'Let's Play Exile I: Poke'mon Edition!'