The Caligo Handbook

[Cai]

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THE HANDBOOK - [ ONGOING ]

Welcome to your comprehensive guide for everything Caligo related! The following contains information on aspects of RPing that are specific to our site and will at some point be needed. This is more a reference tool than something you have to read all in one go, so if you're not sure of something press Ctrl F and search for it here.

A B O U T   P O K É M O N

You might not be a veteran of Pokémon, or you might even be a total beginner, but if you're a good RPer too you're still perfectly welcome here! A few tips to help you on your way:

• Six Pokémon on a team at any given time; any extras are stored in the Storage System which is accessed via Pokécentres.
  
• Not all people with Pokémon battle, and everyday lives are perfectly acceptable on here.
  
• This site doesn't use a level system - it is entirely freeplay. 

S T A R T I N G   O U T:

You don't actually need a Pokémon to RP here, I guess, but then you might get beaten up by raging Wobuffet the second you leave home if you don't have any, so obtaining a starter is recommended. If your character doesn't have any Pokémon when you make them - i.e: no pre-made team - then you're eligible to pick one up from the nearest Pokémon professor. There are two in Caligo: Professor Laurel in Lacewing Town and Professor Labernum in Corsair Cove.

So these will be the starting points for new trainers. Just make a thread in the labs and you will receive a starter. What you get will be dependant on what you specify about your character - type preference, that sort of thing. The starters will typically be rarer Pokémon, so not necessarily ones you find anywhere else in the wild. You'll get a choice of three, so pick whichever you like and you can be on your way.

H O W   T O   B A T T L E:

If you want to battle, go right ahead and write a battle scenario! This site is about free roleplaying without a lot of constraints because of levels or stats. We would prefer you to be sensible about it - so don't go nuts with your novice trainer beating champions right away - but we trust you to have fun playing your own way :3

M O V E S

Pokémon can know moves they would reasonably know in their state of being. So if they are a young Pokémon, they should be written as not knowing much, while a veteran's Pokémon would probably be pretty nifty with moves. Don't go wild with rare TM and egg moves, though, or it will get silly quickly.

E V O L V I N G

You can write out your Pokémon's evolution at a reasonable point, which we leave to your discretion. 

I N T R O D U C I N G  W I L D   P O K É M O N

Introduce Pokémon you think would be relevant to a specific habitat. Obviously don't be silly; no stray Rayquazas in the woods please. If you want to catch a wild Pokémon, you can do so, though it would be nice if you kept some realism by not always succeeding in these endeavours - I would rather not have to actually legislate against constant success. Your character can only carry six Pokémon at one time, and if more are caught then they will be transferred to the PC. But if you want to change it up just write something about going to a Pokémon Centre PC, it doesn't have to be a whole new thread or anything. 

M O N E Y

Caligo has a currency system whereby members each earn ₱4 per post. Don't earn a punishment by making useless cheap posts for money as these are easy to spot anyway. The bulk of your income should come from RP posts and we do have a special person keeping track of player balances, so we'll notice if funny business occurs. Additionally, some boards do not count towards your earnings. The Pokécredits you earn may be used to buy some items or Pokémon, IC special abilities, OOC or IC competition entry and anything else we come up with.

Things that will result in cash transactions will be obvious as there will be a price attached to the item, for instance in shops such as this one. Most things don't need actual money though, so you can just pretend. An example of this is buying food in a restaurant or staying the night in a hotel. Just RP it as you see fit - if your character is broke, then probably don't RP them splashing out in restaurants unless they plan on stealing, in which case there may be Officer Jenny-related consequences for them.

Our lovely helper, Kitty, will note down cash exchanges, adding it up into end-of-month receipts which admins will then use to make appropriate changes to members' balances. Anyone who spends more in a month than they actually have will be in debt and therefore cannot purchase anything else until that debt is paid off, while people who constantly fail to pay off debts will end up owing interest too. Greedy bank managers, and all that.

I N - C H A R A C T E R   C R I M E

Your character can be a total jailbird if that's what you want; they can commit as many crimes as they want, as long as it is in line with Proboards' TOS. HOWEVER, if this be the case and your character is forever pickpocketing, Pokémon-rustling and stealing from shops and restaurants, then there may well be amusing IC consequences. Caligo does have a police force and a very tidy jail!

R A I S I N G   E G G S

If your character obtains an egg, you must wait for it to hatch, but for how long you wander around carrying it can be at your own discretion. 

R A N D O M   E V E N T S

Sometimes, in some threads, random events will be introduced. Mark the thread as explained below if you don't want random events. These will entail weather changes, NPC challengers, wild Pokémon attacks, natural disasters and rare Pokémon sightings. Though there's a good chance events will be completely benign, occasionally they may bring negative consequences for your character.

T H R E A D S

Anyone may start RP threads. You shouldn't need staff and NPC input too often, as they are only properly necessary in specific locations like starter laboratories  - the majority of posts will be with other members. Don't expect staff to always RP with you as an NPC. Average threads are your own playthings, and you can RP with whoever you like.

Tag the thread "MOD" if you do need an NPC played, but try to keep these minimal as staff will get swamped. The title of the thread should be marked "OPEN" if you would like any other characters to be able to join freely. It should be marked "PRIVATE" or should tag the names of the roleplayers you want to join if you don't wish for other characters to enter. Random events (eg. unusual weather, rare Pokémon appearances, wild Pokémon attacks) may occur in any thread, public or private, unless that thread's title is specifically marked "NO RE". So if you want a completely closed thread with say, one specific person, the title might look something like this: "Catching Pokémon [Spike, NO RE]"

T R A I N E R   F I G H T S

Many areas will contain trainers with whom your characters may battle, but you can come up with your own if you like since the fight is entirely your own creation anyway. Try to veer away from isolated RP with NPCs too much - involve other players as much as you can!

S U B - B O A R D S

The RP categories (Caligo East, Islands and Caligo West) will have boards denoting the main RP areas. Within these are sub-boards that indicate locations with a specific function (eg. shops, catching areas) and/or relation to quests or plots. If you wish to use that specific service, make threads in the relevant sub-boards. If your thread is just general to a main RP area (eg. the streets of Ithiel City, a non-specific house/shop in Kepa City), then the thread should be made in the area board rather than a sub-board of any kind. The sub-boards are non-restrictive; you can get a bit creative with locations within cities since it can be realistically assumed that each city will have a load of places (police station, Pokécentre, shops, cinemas and restaurants) though they won't all have their own sub-boards.

W H A T   Y O U   S H O U L D   B E   D O I N G

Whatever you like! Caligo is completely open to any kind of storyline. Some people may like to make a trainer starting out on their Pokémon journey and battling each of the gyms, while others may like to portray people who have settled in any of the areas and do not frequently travel or battle. The emphasis might be totally on a person's romance, life story and career rather than their Pokémon, or vice versa. Pokémon may be the dominant part of your RPing or may be more of a sideline element for your characters. Caligo is essentially a free and open RP where you can create worlds as you please, though the possibility for a structured story with global plot progression is also present. Important thing is - have freeplay fun!

O C C U P A T I O N S

Your characters can have jobs. They can live normal lives. They can be trainers on the way to Pokémon Master-hood. They can travel, or they can stay in one place their whole life. They can be kids in school. They can be grandparents or babies, scumbags or saints. It's up to you - just play out their lives as you see fit. Maybe one day they'll run a gym, or get married, or own their own business and get their own sub-board. The sky's the limit!