Human Attributes
4 is average. 3-5 is typical for an average person.
Usually increased through narrative development.
💪
Body
Your Body lets you make physical actions such as fighting, lifting, climbing, running, jumping, etc.
📚
Mind
Your Mind helps you gather information and use technology. Research, observation, puzzle-solving, programming, engineering, repair, etc.
💬
Speech
Your Speech is used for diplomacy. You can flirt or flatter, lie or persuade, impress or insult, hold a poker face, etc.
👻
Cheat
Your Cheat allows you to break the rules and avoid getting caught. Sneaking, hiding, evading pursuit, stealing, sabotage, lockpicking, disarming traps, etc.
You also have a Primary Attribute, which is highlighted on your character sheet. Rolling a check against your Primary Attribute is always Easy.
To make a check, roll some d12s, represented as ●.
Success : ● ≤ your attribute score.
You only need one success to pass the check.
Checks can be Easy ●●●, Fair ●●, or Hard ●.
Sometimes, advantage ● or disadvantage ○ will apply.
In either case, roll an extra d12, but disadvantage also turns your highest success into a failure.
Father has been the clan patriarch for the past 30 years. Even since your mother was still pregnant with your sister, he had already started leading the Koga Clan, and with it, the rest of the Fuchsia Stronghold.
Well. Fuchsia City, now.
The world has changed, and the people too have changed. Once reassured by the fortress's defences, they now grow restless by the reminder of the Wilderness and its dangers. The old walls still stand, as surely as history, but nobody mans the parapets (except perhaps a pair of patrolling scouts), and now the gates remain perpetually open. As a matter of fact, the city has begun to spill out beyond the old borders, and now sprawl in all directions outside of the walls. Except for the North, of course.
Your elder sister, Anzu, has been groomed to be Father's heir since birth. (She was even named after Father, you know? Their names both share the same Amatsun Kanji.) And now that your sister approaches thirty years of age, you anticipate her to imminently inherit the city -- within the next year, if you have to be honest.
Meanwhile, you are nothing but a fresh graduate of the Academy, and just one amongst many. The city commissions almost a hundred new Trainers every year, and despite your prestigious background, every single one of them is arguably as privileged as you are.
Even more so, perhaps, all things considered.
Father himself has always been a distant man towards both of his daughters, especially since your mother left for the Eastern Continent. Over the past few years, you remember him treating your sister as more like a disciple than a daughter, but even that is something that you covet.
Especially yesterday. And especially today.
Yesterday, you have received your Starter Pokémon, and awoken your Affinity.
Today, you were supposed to become Father's next disciple, like your sister before you.
Or even if not, you were supposed to perhaps be like another Trainer in service to the city, and been drafted into a squad of Poison-Typed Trainers. If you were lucky, perhaps the leader would have even been one of Father's trusted lieutenants.
Instead, here you are.
A ragtag collection of rookie Trainers with a random assortment of Affinities, pretending to be a squad, reporting to some unknown Trainer you've never heard of in your entire life.
Who would teach you to use your Affinity?
How could you be in service to your family, and your city?
And in the future, who would you become? Who could you become?
You don't know.
The early dawn finds the three of you on the southern edge of the city, barely within the confines of the Southern Gate, and perched on the lonely bridge that hangs over the main canal.
It's a particularly cold morning, with clouds blanketing the sky, and a pervasive silver mist that obscures much of the city. From the scant few households and businesses already awake, artificial manalights give off their signature warm glow, penetrating just briefly into the fog.
On a morning like this one, it's impossible to see the sunrise that would typically paint Fuchsia City and give it its namesake.
"I still don't get it," you murmur. You try not to feel the words as you say them, but they come out sullen, bitter.
"What's there not to get?" Pablo says from next to you. You grimace at the jaded amusement underlying his voice. "We're all rejects. They don't want us in the system."
You take your eyes off your city long enough to confirm the genuine optimism in every single bit of his body language. Joshua's smile is wide enough his eyes have disappeared into slits, and it carries with it a hint of confident mischief. Does he really believe that, or is he just mocking you in an ironic way?
"It's what makes the most sense." Pablo shrugs. He gestures at himself. "Look at us, dude."
Yeah. Now that the first daughter is ready, perhaps the spare has become useless. You hate to think it, but maybe even a liability? You stare down into the rippling waters of the canal, and the way your faint shadow and murky reflection blur against each other.
"No, no." Joshua refuses to play along. "If the city wanted to get us out of the way, they wouldn't have instated us as Trainers in the first place."
You sigh. "The city? My father is the city, Joshua."
"Exactly. There's no way they'd do something that heavy handed. Gotta keep pretences up, you know. And a squad made entirely of mismatched rookies? It's a stupid idea. It's never been done before, and for obvious reasons. So it's stupid and unprecedented."
"I'm pretty sure Master Koga has his reasons," the pink-haired boy insists. You glance at him again, catching the gleam in his eye. He's tapping a finger theatrically against his bottom lip. "We all do have something in common, you know."
Pablo barks a short sound of self-deprecating laughter, and you wilt a little bit.
What? That none of you fit in like you're supposed to?
Joshua glances at you, then shakes his head. He lets out a huff in exasperated amusement. "You guys are idiots. Let me give you a clue. All of our Starters share something in common, too."
Your Starters..? Pablo has Murkrow, Joshua has Mr. Mime, and you...
Pablo's gaze sharpened. "They're all dual-Typed, you mean."
"Bingo!"
"You mean we all have double Affinities?" You grimace. "That's not exactly uncommon, and not necessarily a good thing. That narrows down our pool of usable Pokémon, actually."
Have two Affinities means that you can only use Pokémon that matches both Types, so having an extra Affinity actually reduces your versatility. Especially in the case of Murkrow and Mr. Mime, because you're sure that Dark/Flying and Fairy/Psychic are unique combinations.
Man, in terms of versatility and various options, Grasss (5 options) and Bug (5~6 Options depending on the Skorupi ruling) vastly outshadow Ghost and Flying (Each being a unique typing). It's kind of not even funny. Luckily, I'm quite fond of the buttface spider, so I can go with the number superiority. Gengar is pretty cool though...
Okay, so Pablo actually got pretty lucky, Murkrow's are cute, bring you gifts and are suprisingly good in competetive thanks to Prankster making for good support. Joshua though... like I'm not sure if Mr. Mime would have gotten a lot of votes given its general reputations, but if Psychic/Fairy is a unique typing now, he's really done dirty by the Ralts genocide... or maybe there's just a reason Koga things Aya wouldn't make a great successor.
Actually, wasn't vullaby/mandibuzz part of gen 5? It's some options at least.
Don't forget that some of you have correctly guessed that it will likely be a very long time until you get a second Pokémon.
Also in this universe and in this era, having only 1-2 strong Pokémon is a very common thing. "A full team of 6" is a concept that doesn't exist, but nothing also stops you from having more than 6 if they're weaker Pokémon that's easy to macromanage.
Catching Pokémon isn't something that has been rediscovered yet, so you mostly are betting on acquiring a Pokéball that already contains a Pokémon of the correct Type Combination to expand your team.
Bulbasaur is a very decent pokemon in its own right, but for dual typings we could do a lot worse as it gives us a few options, especially in Kanto. I think this choice is well worth the fate points.
