DRESSING ROOM FAQ

[ulternnpc]

Updated as of: 02/05/2023

1. Just what is a “Dressing Room” anyway?

According to one of the mods of netherworld_rpg : A dressing room is a roleplay that has minimal rules, minimal moderator involvement, and never require applications – you make a journal and can post immediately.

Back in ye olden days of Livejournal Roleplaying, they were pretty popular back in the late 2000s so they were hard to miss if you were ever browsing for games. Many of these dressing room games are usually series specific (examples: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Sonic the Hedgehog, Ace Attorney, Shin Megami Tensei, etc.), and they do not require an application process unlike the more traditional fair of games. They can be considered similar to a sandbox game which are also very relaxed in terms of activity checks a regular game may require of other players.

Nowadays dressing rooms are more of an ancient relic of the past, but we at Faraway Place are hoping to keep the spirit of it alive!

2. Do I need to write an application to join?

There is no need for that! Simply just join both the IC and OOC communities and post away!

3. What the heck is an Ultern?

A completely brand new region, full of mysteries to be solved! …or not at all! You can read more about Ultern in the Settings Post!

4. What if someone is already playing the character I want?

That is a-ok! Because this is a dressing room, people have different interpretations or versions of the characters they play. So we really don’t mind if there are two or three Pokemon Trainer Reds running around.

5. What kind of characters are allowed in the dressing room?

• From all mediums – It can be characters from the core series games, spin-off games, manga & comics, or even the anime. (eg. Ash Ketchum, Todd Snap from Pokemon Snap, X from Pokemon Adventures, Bidoof from PMD: Explorers series)
• AU (Alternate Universe) – These are characters from more altered versions of the Pokemon world that slightly diverge from its original canon. An example of this would be the following:
  • A protagonist who is a genuine Team Rocket member.
  • A character from a medieval themed version of the Pokemon world.
  • A character from a post-apocalyptic Pokemon world where the human population has halved due to some unexplained event.
• CRAU Characters – Pokemon characters who are or were originally played from past or existing RP games (ex. Ryslig, Luceti, etc.) and are imported into the dressing room carrying their current physical appearance, their memories, experiences and even their powers with them.
• Original Characters – Your very own original character with their set of goals and experiences with the Pokemon world and are not limited by the video game’s mechanics!
• ROM Hacks, Nuzlockes, Fan Games, Fan Comics – Characters with unique Pokemon fusions, coming from Pokemon fan regions, as long as they’re fan content created for the Pokemon series they count!

6. Do I have a limit on how many Pokemon to bring?

Your character will arrive on the region with whatever Pokemon they currently have on hand. But much like in the games, characters can only carry up to six Pokemon. However the PCs in the Pokemon Center will enable players to transfer their Pokemon somehow despite being cut off from the rest of the world. We don’t know the mechanics of how this works yet, but maybe whoever worked on the system did…?

7. What kind of Pokemon can I catch?

Your character can encounter and catch all kinds of Pokemon, with a few exceptions. Legendaries and rare Pokemon will be difficult to catch, and less likely to be encountered much like in the games. Shiny Pokemon also happen to be extremely rare to encounter, so we highly encourage that their rarity should be reflected in your tags.

8. Does my character need to have a Pokemon on hand upon joining?

Nope! If your character has no Pokemon with them, then it’s completely fine and there are no consequences to it. Luckily the Wild Pokemon there in Ultern are generally harmless and don’t attack people on sight, unless you intend to? But why would you do that?

9. What’s this about upgrading the Pokedex?

There’s a lot of Pokemon that aren’t listed in any region outside of Ultern! Professor Banyan, the region's Pokemon Professor, will be more than happy to give upgrades to any character that just so happen to own a Pokedex, or a device that has a Pokedex feature, of their own.

10. Once you die are you dead? (Is there permadeath?)

That is completely up to you! If you plan to revive your character, they will happen to show up right in front of the Mystery Shrine. These peculiar-looking ancient shrines can be found in various parts of Ultern, but no one quite knows who or what they're made for. Even archaeologists are baffled by its origins. Affixed inside them is a small warped mirror piece if your character looks close enough. There won't be any penalties or side-effects to reviving your character. That said, we advise not to kill them off too frequently.

11. How do I go on hiatus/drop characters?

Just mention it casually at the OOC comm, and you’re good to go! Though it's completely optional if you'd like to mention about dropping a character. And if you ever change your mind, you can always bring said dropped character back into the dressing room anytime by the way!

12. Can I canon update my character?

Absolutely! The details really aren’t necessary and it’s left up your imagination. For example, maybe they just disappeared one day only to reappear the next day and now with extra experience gained from their world. Whatever works!

13. Will our activity be monitored?

Dressing Rooms don't require activity checks, so you don't have to worry about meeting a set number of replies to continue. So go tag at your own pace and have fun!

14. What are these entry tags for?

In the IC community, you might notice some tags attached onto the posts. They're mostly done for organizing and tracking. Here are some of the following tags you can use in the comm:

• voicetesting — You can use this tag to let other players know you're voicetesting this character.
• mingle post — Generally used for events either you or the mods have created. This lets characters tag back other characters who have commented on the mingle post.
• closed post — Only used for characters who are planned to interact with another specific character or two.
• location: (LOCATION NAME) — This is just to indicate where the post takes place.
• pc: Character Name (username) — Used only for the characters posting in the front page of the comm.

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For any comments, questions or concerns, feel free to address here in this post!

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Comments

[stormkingofshepherds]

Thanks for the answers! A few followup questions:

1. Is it okay to use just one journal for two OCs? Mostly because I don't really have icons for one of them and they'd mostly be sticking together anyways.

2. I don't think I got an answer to whether I have to be limited to one ability for each Pokemon at a time? I know Mystery Dungeon at least has mild precedent for Pokemon having multiple Abilities at a time, but also that's only in earlier versions. I assume that if I'm limited in that way there will also be some way to swap Abilities regularly?

4. The OC I'm thinking of is the daughter of one of my Pokemon trainer OCs and two other crossover canon characters. She does have a Pokemon team as well, I'm not sure if that would count or not?

Extra question: One of my characters has two Lampent that are bonded strongly enough that they share one Pokeball and count as one Pokemon for party size purposes. Is it okay to keep that property here?

[ulternnpc]

1.Given the nature of Faraway Place being a dressing room game (or a sandbox game if you will) it's not necessary to make multiple accounts if you don't wish to for your oc. Just make it clear within your tag who it is and it's all good!

Icons aren't required nor necessary either, just jump in and play!


2. Again, we prefer to follow the base game mechanics – therefore a Pokemon should have one ability, and can be swapped through items, even though said items are pretty rare or expensive to obtain in-game.

However, do keep in mind that we intentionally glaze over the series’ gameplay mechanics (whether they be in the main games, the spin-offs, or even the TCG) as they don’t greatly affect the setting, and we trust that you’re able to play out your character just fine as long as they don’t break the major game rules. It is a dressing room after all!


3. As Faraway Place is a single fandom game for Pokemon, like with Jared the most important thing is: are they from a Pokemon background? Is Pokemon more of the focus or the crossover aspect?

If it’s the latter, then no. They will not be able to come to Faraway Place.

While there’s many different series of Pokemon (official and fanmade) at the end of the day they all have Pokemon in common, and we want to keep it as such.

4. (The Extra Question) We really don’t mind it at all. This isn't your standard game where we make inflexible rules as we are a dressing room. In any case we leave it to your judgment on that. It's your Pokemon team! Besides, plenty of trainers have unique case Pokemon.

The recent example of this being both the protagonists of Scarlet/Violet having Koraidon/Miraidon being in their team without taking up a slot.