Arbiter Encyclopedia

While Morphic is a majorly player-run RP, we still need Arbiters for plenty of tasks, such as approving applications, judging fights, and more.

Assessing and Approving Applications

Applications are straightforward for the most part. Below are a few things you should know and watch out for when approving applications.

We typically prefer at least a couple of sentences per required descriptive field, but bulleted lists of traits will also suffice as long as they are relevant and informative.

Lore

In regards to the lore of Mautte, there are a couple of things to keep an eye out for:

All characters arrive on Mautte by washing up, and so this shouldn’t be contradicted anywhere in their sign-up. It was considered completely uninhabited before Pokemon started to wash up, so there shouldn’t be any histories of Pokemon having ever visited or lived on the island before.
Washing up on Mautte also wipes a Pokemon’s memory; they shouldn’t be starting out with remembering their entire histories, and also shouldn’t really ever get to a point where they remember anything other than vague, confusing flashbacks.
Man-made items aren’t allowed to start with; they must be earned through the Flotsam Bluff. However, natural accessories like feathers, vines, etc. are perfectly fine. If there’s something that’s sort of in-between that you’re uncertain about, think about if that Pokemon (or another Pokemon giving it help) could reasonably make that accessory from natural materials, and without knowledge of human tech.
Unless they’re informed in the RP on their arrival, Pokemon will also not know that Pokemon can shapeshift, either. While their personality can describe how they will likely regard their forms as a way of looking forward, be sure that the player knows this fact.

Available Forms

A character starts out with a single available form. When creating their initial sign-up, they should include, for that form:

The form’s species
Whether it’s a linked or an earned form. If it’s an imported form, they need to provide a link to the Pokemon that they’re linking it to
Each of the abilities of that Pokemon and the descriptions for them

Ensure that the character has these things, and have them add it if they are missing it. Appearance is optional, so if it’s missing, you can assume that it looks like a normal Pokemon of that species, without any major variations.

Abilities

When reviewing and approving abilities, you should keep in mind everything in the Abilities section. The biggest points are:

Does this ability have some sort of limit/counterplay if its main effect is really strong?
Are it’s limits quantifiable/measurable? You will typically want them to be. An exception to this is using things like “extreme exhaustion” and similar functions as a drawback, as these are typically valid limiters.
Does it have the same number of effects as the in-game version of the ability?
Does it tie directly back into the in-game version of the ability in some easily-identifiable way?
Could this be something that is gamebreaking or godmodding in some way? For example, while Desolate Land could easily mean an intense heat and clear sky follows a Groudon, it shouldn’t, for example, instantly wither and burn plant-life in a two-mile radius.

Keep in mind that we do allow reasonable variation in ability effects, so it’s okay if some stuff deviates from the norm in a healthy and creative way.

Each ability that the linked Pokemon has should be clarified and described in this way. If they exclude an ability, they won’t be able to use it until they submit it and have it approved. Likewise, an ability they don’t own on the linked Pokemon shouldn’t be listed for approval here. Earned forms can only use non-HA abilities until they are finished and turn into imported forms.

Appearance

Pokemon’s appearances are free to deviate from the shiny and non-shiny archetypes of the game. You’ll likely see things like different fur/skin/scale colors and patterns, biome/regional variations, and body type variations (for example, a desert Torterra, or a Doberman-styled Houndoom). These are totally fine and encouraged!

As previously mentioned, keep an eye out for man-made accessories, as they are only able to be earned through the RP. They shouldn’t be included in a first sign-up. Natural accessories are acceptable and free, however.

Clan

Keep watch for declarations of Clans on a sign-up–this isn’t something that’s allowed. Clan membership has to be given and played out through the RP.

Random Events/NPCs

One of Arbiter’s jobs are Random Events. While Arbiters aren’t required to do them, they’re something that they can chip in and choose to do when they’d like.

Random Events are, well, just that for the most part–random things that “happen” on the island. While they are called Random Events (REs), this doesn’t mean that they’re completely random for the Arbiters; they’re only random for the players themselves.

These events are completely up to the Arbiter. They can be anything as mundane as a tree falling in the woods or a storm rolling in, or they can be anything as extreme as a flood or invasion of NPCs into a territory. While they should be believable scenarios, the Pokemon world is full of mysteries, and the island of Mautte even more so; some magic or mystery related to the island or its form is also a valid scenario. With this in mind, however, avoid inadvertently creating new landmarks or revealing sources of the island’s power, or other plot/lore-breaking elements. It’s recommended to keep any NPCs that you introduce fairly mundane, or at least as mostly filler, to keep Arbiters from having too much influence over the RP. If you have doubt about whether your RE is too extreme, talk it out with your fellow Arbiters and/or a Head/Elder Arbiter.

An Arbiter can start an RE by either posting a new thread or posting in an existing thread. New RE threads are automatically considered Open, for anyone to post in. REs can only be posted in a thread that’s Open if they’re being started in an existing one. REs cannot be started in Clan territories unless under special circumstances, such as a leader requesting one for their Clan disbanding.

These REs don’t have to be completely random; if you’d like to roll a random board or thread that they’re in, you can, but otherwise you have freedom to choose. Try to be considerate with how you choose threads, and try to avoid anything you in particular you might have a conflict of interest in (for example, starting a forest fire in a thread that has your main character’s sworn enemy in it). These should always be fun and a way to shake things up for everyone.

Arbiters are limited to starting up to three random events each month. These REs can last as long or short as an Arbiter would like. They don’t need a minimum number of participants, but it’s typically polite for an Arbiter to wait 24-48 hours between their posts when starting an RE thread, in order to give people chances to join in. If you join in on an existing thread, it’s polite to wait for at least most of the participants to respond.

Flotsam Bluff

Flotsam Bluff is the only place where characters can obtain man-made items, and also one of the only other ways that players can RP with Arbiters. Lore-wise, Flotsam Bluff is a sort of dumping grounds for what would be considered the Pokemon world’s Bermuda Triangle; all sorts of random things wash up here. For this reason, players can find the man-made accessories they’d like to equip their characters with here.

The accessories that wash up on Flotsam Bluff are sorted OOCly into two categories, each requiring a certain number of posts in an Arbiter-guided thread to obtain:

Minor Accessory – 5 posts: Things like metal bands/bracelets, earrings, a necklace, bandanas, scarves etc.
Major Accessory – 15 posts: Larger items, or things that can be overtly used as a weapon. Armor pieces, shields, weapons (swords, daggers, metal claw tips), etc.

Remember that Mautte is set in the Pokemon world, but in an era where the technology is medieval at best. Because of this, characters will never be able to find things such as guns or potions or Pokeballs, or any similar tech along those lines. Z-crystals, rings, etc. and Mega Stones are also not allowed as of now.

When a player posts a thread in the Bluff, any Arbiter can choose to reply to it with an RP post, and it becomes their thread to guide–no other Arbiter can post in it unless that Arbiter gives them permission or transfers their claim on the thread. These threads are first-come, first-serve, but it’s polite to let someone know you want a thread in the Arbiter chat to prevent others from taking it if you’re so inclined. Otherwise, it’s fair game.

A player will always post which item they’re searching for in the OOC portion of their post. It’s the Arbiter’s job to decide if that accessory is major or minor (according to the categories outlined above), and then to guide them through a small journey to get that item. They can use whatever tools they’d like at their disposal, whether it be piloting an NPC that helps them find that item, or simply using the powerful forces of nature and the volatility of the bluff to make it a challenge for them to find it. Arbiters, for the most part, have full creative license with these threads.

When the player makes the required number of posts for that level of accessory (5 or 15), the player and Arbiter can close out the thread with them obtaining the item, and it can be considered done!

Clans

Clan Leadership Transitions

When a new clan is won/founded/disbanded, or clan ownership is transferred, it is up to an Elder or Head Arbiter to change roles. Here are the steps that you should take if this duty falls to you:

Remove the clan leader as the moderator of their clan board, and if applicable, make the new one the appropriate moderator of the board
Contact K’sariya so that the clan board color and marker can be added or taken away from the territory board (if applicable)
Contact K’sariya, or any other Moderator or Official, so that the Infohub can be updated to reflect the opened/closed clan slot (if applicable)
Move the clan page to the Clan Archive board (if applicable)

If you have the power to do so, post a small message in #announcements to announce the opening of a clan slot. If not, get an official or other valid member to do so.

When there is a new leader, you should make them the moderator of that board and contact K’sariya to have the rest updated.

Activity Checks

At the end of each month, Elder and Head Arbiters will do an activity check on the leaders of existing clans. Each clan leader is required to make two posts per month. Clan leaders who fail to do so will have their clan disbanded, and a slot will open up for another clan to be founded.

When a clan disbands, take the steps noted above in Clan Leadership Transitions. Additionally, post an announcement in the #announcements channel notifying RPers of the disbandment, or have someone who has the power to do it for you.

Judging Fights

Fights are pivotal to Morphic’s progression. One of the main jobs of an Arbiter is to judge fights and determine the winner.

Once a fight finished, players will post it in the judging request thread here. Quote or reply to the post to claim it. Once you claim a fight to judge, you have one week to finish judging it. If you fail to do so, the fight will be put back up for claiming and judging by another Arbiter, unless you request special circumstances from an Elder or Head Arbiter.

Judges should not claim fights that they are in themselves. In the case that both available Arbiters are engaged in a fight or both have conflicts of interest, the Arbiter’s judging will be reviewed by another Arbiter. Arbiters are trusted to be as objective as possible when judging fights.

Judging Formats

When judging fights, you should break out each character’s round and list their mistakes and deductions for that round, and their current total for each category. Use quotes where possible to show what caused them to receive a deduction, and in which area. Here’s an example:

Round 1
Mallory the Mightyena
RP Etiquette – 10/10
No mistakes here.

Plausibility – 9/10
-1: Taking a direct hit from a Mamoswine tusk would have done more damage than just a puncture.

Clarity – 8/10
-1: “Mightyena lashed out at Mamoswine with its claws.” Which limb did Mightyena slash with?
-1: “Mightyena lashed out at Mamoswine with its claws.” Where was Mightyena aiming to slash?

End-of-Round Total: 27

Argor the Mamoswine
RP Etiquette – 7/10
-3: You didn’t acknowledge or mention Mightyena’s slash attack in your post

Plausibility – 10/10
No mistakes here.

Clarity – 10/10
No mistakes here.

Creativity – +1/5
+1 – Using the wet ground to throw mud with Mamoswine’s tusks was really clever

End-of-Round Total: 28

And so on. These deductions are cumulative, so any mistakes afterward would deduct from the totals. For example, if Argor the Mamoswine earns a minor deduction for RP Etiquette in Round 2, their RP Etiquette would be down to 6/10. It is not thirty points per round. This means that the final score of the fight should be out of 30, not out of, for example, 150 for a five-round fight.

Points can only go down to 0. If both players are tied in any way numerically at the end of a fight, the fight is extended another two rounds, with points resetting to the total 30. The player with the most points at the end of those two rounds wins.

When an Arbiter has finished judging and detailing all rounds, they post the analysis and the outcome publicly in the thread.

Determining Scores

For the fight criteria, review the Judged Fight Criteria section and its accompanying Deductions section. Below are some more expanded explanations on why certain actions are penalized. You should deduct for each instance of a mistake in the appropriate category. If you have any questions about deductions, feel free to ask in Arbiter chat or ask an Elder or Head Arbiter. If an Arbiter is a member of the fight being discussed, feel free to message an Elder or Head Arbiter (or, if there are none not in that fight available, another Arbiter) privately about it.

Note that this may seem like a lot, but these are just common examples of where these deductions are made. Morphic’s scoring for fights starts with giving a player full points and deducting for mistakes, so the mistakes are the important part when deciding fights.

RP Etiquette

The RP Etiquette category deals with how well a player not only followed the rules of an RP, like powerplaying, but also how attentive they were to the other player’s post. Some common deductions/mistakes in this category are:

Saying an attack landed on the other player – Most of the player’s attacks should be phrased as attempts, without assuming that it will hit. For example, one should say “A aimed to slash the shoulder of B” rather than “A slashed the shoulder of B.” Doing the second one is considered powerplaying, because you’re assuming that the other character won’t have some sort of reaction to that attack–essentially, controlling them to not have any sort of response.Miswording these kinds of attacks should be considered minor deductions if they are similar to the example given. However, if they deliberately go into more detail on how their attack landed in that same post while assuming a newly-launched attack will hit (for example, “A then slashed at the shoulder of B, razor-sharp claws ripping deeply all the way down B’s leg”), it should be considered a major deduction.
Creating conditional statements – Statements such as “but if B did this, A would do this” are also considered powerplaying. This is because it assumes that there are no other variables affecting the situation, and that B would do that action in that exact same way. It gives the player on the receiving end no option for counterplay. These are typically minor deductions.
Ignoring attacks – If A slashes at B’s shoulder, and B doesn’t even acknowledge the attack at all in their next post, then they receive a deduction. These are typically major deductions–ignoring an attack completely puts the other player in a very awkward position, and of course, means that damage wasn’t dictated to B’s character. This is only for a complete lack of acknowledgement of an attack–briefly mentioning a dodge or counter of that attack in passing should be addressed in Clarity or Plausibility, depending on the nature of the incident.
OOC Rudeness – IC grudges are to be kept IC–fights are meant to be fun, friendly RP competition. Your characters can be bitter to each other all they want within the RP, but two players should not be rude about fights outside of it. This includes mocking someone for their choice of moves, for breaking the rules, etc. If a player breaks a rule in the RP, it’s up to the other opponent to roll with it in-time, and to let the judge punish accordingly with deductions at the end of the fight. Depending on the severity of the rudeness, this could be either a minor or a major deduction. These deductions are typically pretty rare, so if you’re uncertain, ask an Elder or Head Arbiter.
Other rule-breaking – This includes breaking the defined limits of their own abilities, using the wrong abilities in a form, or changing forms more than once in a post. These are typically minor deductions.

Plausibility

Plausibility is the realism of a character’s actions. Even in a fantasy Pokemon world, there are still defined standards for what is realistic and what isn’t. This category deals with completely unrealistic actions, including most instances of metagaming. Common deductions include, but aren’t limited to:

Unrealistic movement – Did a character move an insane amount of space within a small amount of time without something enabling them to? Did they whip around 180 degrees at practically the speed of light? Did they accidentally reach through one of their limbs with another on accident, or attack a spot where one of their limbs was supposed to be/already was? These are typically all minor deductions unless an error is particularly egregious.
Anatomical oopsies – Most Pokemon characters have defined joints that allow certain ranges of movement that should be taken into consideration when launching attacks. Only fairly glaring mistakes with this are typically deducted, and done so as minor deductions.
Insufficient damage from a hit – Did they get absolutely gored by a tusk, and only take a small puncture wound? These are typically minor deductions unless they truly ignore something egregious.
Ignoring injuries – If something is made implausible by an injury and a player ignores it, they’ll receive a minor deduction.
Not carrying injuries through forms – Injuries on one form should manifest somehow, some way, onto another. If you’re wounded on a wing and shift to a form that doesn’t have one, you might still have that wound on that form’s shoulder, for example. It should make at least relative sense, but be mostly lenient–the more important thing is that they’re there and acknowledged.
Unrealistic dodges – Fairly straightforward. Minor to major deductions may be made based on the severity of the unrealism.
Environmental factors – Did the post take into account things like how their movement might be altered by the terrain, or how their moves might affect the terrain? Did their moves affect the terrain significantly enough where applicable? These are usually minor deductions.
Move interpretation – People can be flexible and use interpretations of moves in unique and creative ways, and even combo moves to create unique effects. However, if they do something wildly implausible/unrelated, you can do minor deductions in this category for that.

Clarity

This section covers how clear a person’s post was. These are all mostly minor deductions, and they include:

Not describing an attack – Just saying that someone used Sleep Powder isn’t enough–how did they use it? What did it look like? These details are important for the other player, so they’re important to include when posting.
Not clarifying where an attack was aimed – Saying that A slashed at B isn’t descriptive–did they slash for the shoulder? The face? This is also important information for the other character to formulate their post and reactions with.
Not describing an injury – Describing the severity and location(s) of an injury is also important to both the judge and the other character.
Incorrect sides – Using the wrong lefts/rights, or the wrong directions, are also minor deductions.
Not clarifying sides where important – When it comes to injuries, lefts/rights in movements and attacks can become important. If you don’t know which side an attack landed, you or the opponent won’t be able to know if they can reach that wound to exacerbate it, or when the player attacks with a wounded limb in a way they shouldn’t be able to. These are typically always minor deductions, and should be loose; if at least one direction is mentioned, you can assume the rest that follows, but if it’s not mentioned at all when it might matter later, you should give it a small deduction.
Confusing descriptions – The goal of a fight post should be to clearly communicate what your character is doing and how. Things such as purple prose or just plain unreadable wording that just serves to confuse, should receive minor deductions.

Creativity

These are the good spots, where we get to add on points for exceptional bits. You can only add up to five of these points, and each instance should only give 1-2 points each. Here are some good examples of a player doing well enough to earn these creativity points:

Using an attack in a unique or unconventional way
Using the terrain to their advantage in an unexpected way
Countering an attack or turning an opponent’s attack against them in a clever/unexpected way
Realistically playing to their character’s fighting experience well–for example, a rookie fighter intentionally making a rookie move, like leaving themselves wide-open, or doing something that backfires on them

General Notes

One thing you’ll notice in the above is that it’s the realism and thoughtfulness of the way a player fights in Morphic that gives them an advantage, not whether their character fights flawlessly or not. The optimal way to play and win fights is to think things through and commit to making the fight fun for both parties by responsibly and realistically taking damage, and making their posts clear and easy to read.

This is for several reasons. For one, it lets anyone succeed in Morphic with almost any Pokemon they want, without creating any sort of meta revolving around who has the most OP or most well-EM’d character or forms. It also keeps the battle portion of the RP from becoming a sort of glorified, RP-reffing. It also prioritizes people playing true to their character rather than, say, min-maxing with the most damage optimal moves or perfect form switches. This is also something that allows legends to be played freely and fairly, without having to gate them behind special requirements.

Moves, abilities, and forms in Morphic aren’t a sign of power OOCly–they are merely problem solving tools. In fights, having a fully-EM’d Pokemon is nice, but not required, because it only gives you more solutions to a problem. A Pokemon without EMs can still win a fight against a Pokemon with them by being creative with the way they use their forms and existing moves in a fight. This is why adding moves, abilities, or forms during a fight don’t particularly matter, since they’re convenient solutions, but that’s about it.

That being said, type weaknesses and resistances as well as the Pokemon themselves should be kept in consideration. In Pokemon games, it might not make sense for a Vine Whip to do much to a Charizard due to the 4x resistance, but it should be taken much more literally and logically in fights–a Vine Whip will still hurt, leave marks, and maybe cut when it hits the right spots of flesh hard enough despite the Charizard’s in-game resistances.

Other in-game immunities should be looked at situationally and logically on a case-by-case basis. Here are some common ways that they might and might not work:

Dragon/Fairy: Attacks on Fairy types with Dragon-type wounds seem to barely affect the Fairy type. Things like Dragon Breath, Dragon Pulse, and Twister seem to simply roll around them without affecting them. However, more direct contact/physical moves like Dragon Claw, Outrage, etc. will affect them, but only slightly. For example, where a Dragon Claw would normally gouge deep gashes into another Pokemon, against a fairy type, they leave only slight scratches.
Ground/Electric: For the most part, a grounded Ground-type Pokemon (not all grounded Pokemon, only Ground types; grounded Ground-types are the only ones with the connection/affinity that allows them to fully ground themselves and give them the immunity) will barely feel the effect of Electric type moves. However, the Ground types lose this immunity if they are not connected to the ground in some way. “Connected” is qualified as touching something that is directly connected to earth or rock, so it would be possible to be “grounded” by being in, for example, a tree (though the tree itself would not be immune to the electricity). Exceptions to these should be looked at logically. For example, being in contact with wet/damp/muddy ground would obviously conduct electricity more than giving them resistance to it, making them much more susceptible to the effect of electric attacks.
Normal/Fighting/Ghost: Immunities here largely depend on how a character’s Ghost-type form is defined. If the Ghost-type Pokemon’s form is defined as being a ghostly, smoke-like apparition, it would make sense for Normal and Fighting type moves to pass straight through them harmlessly. If they’re possessing parts of a body or object, the moves may affect those physical parts without harming the spirit or apparition possessing them, though damage to these physical parts may inhibit the vessel’s ability to perform certain attacks. Essentially, you want to consider what the Ghost’s body type is and how their possession is linked to its physical parts, and how that might logically affect how they’ve defined their Ghost-type form or character.
Ground/Flying: Flying types are not automatically immune to all ground-based or ground-elemental moves. This one is another you apply logically. It’d make sense for a Pidgey to fly up and out of range of being shaken or damaged by an Earthquake, but that doesn’t make it immune to the falling debris or other effects the Earthquake caused. A Bulldoze would hit a grounded Flying type the same as anyone else. A rupture of Earth Power could also reach a Flying type that’s grounded or just not high enough to avoid it. This one is typically pretty easily-figured logically.
Psychic/Dark: For Psychic and Dark types, it can be assumed that Dark types are immune to most psychic trickery. They’re inherently immune to any mind-reading or mind-affecting from Psychic types or moves, and are resilient to any telekinetic powers or moves that influence their body directly. They are also immune to any similar Psychic forces.
Poison/Steel: This is another one that depends on assessing the type of attack, where it lands, etc. Poison would not erode the Steel parts of a Steel Pokemon (and perhaps, it wouldn’t logically erode Rock in some cases either), but if it would affect a Steel type if it were to land, for example, on the grass vines of a Ferrothorn. Ingesting/otherwise intaking poison would also still affect a Steel type.

Defaulting Fights

Arbiters also have the job of defaulting a judged fight into a player’s favor. If a player does not respond to a fight within exactly 72 hours since the opponent’s last response, that player’s opponent automatically wins. Both players can choose to waive the default time for non-clan challenge fights, but it must be stated in the thread by both players.

The default time is to keep judged fights from causing awkward limbo, especially in the case of clan challenges and transitions. If an Arbiter notices that a fight has defaulted, they can post the default in the thread. Otherwise, the other player can notify an Arbiter here.

A fight still defaults even if the player responds after the 72 hour mark before the default is posted.

The loser cannot challenge for what they lost again in that same thread, and if they start another fight, they will have to do so while realistically reflecting their injuries from the first fight.

Arbiter Pay

Arbiters should make a post in the Arbiter log thread to track all of their Arbiting exploits. It should include sections for Arbiter RP posts (Random Event and Flotsam Bluff posts) and Judging.

RP Post Pay

Similar to Ranger pay, Arbiter RP posts scale between $1,000 and $3,000 depending on the quality of the post. A quality post typically gives the player a good amount to respond to, or options to respond with.

$1,000 if posts are of poor quality
$2,000 if posts are of fair quality
$3,000 if posts are of excellent quality

Fight Judging Pay

Arbiters earn $2,000 per each round in a judged fight. If they finish the judging within the first three days of the final round of that fight being posted, they earn an additional bonus of $2,000.

Arbiter Test

The Arbiter test is made up of four parts–character approval, ability approval, RP scenario, and fight judging. There are no additional portions after this one; if you pass, you become an Arbiter!

All information needed to complete this test should be in the Encyclopedia. You should be able to find examples of some things in the forums, as well. You can send it via forum PM or via a Google Docs link, whichever you’d like, to any available testers.

Available Test Receipients

Elder and Head Arbiters are allowed to accept tests and approve Arbiters.

K’sariya: OPEN
VeloJello: OPEN

———————————————-

Character Approval

Below are two applications. For each, read and respond as if you are an approver! For this part of the test, you can act as if both sign-ups have appropriate abilities and that the stats of linked Pokemon are valid. In all other regards, treat this as the post the user is making in order to get their character approved for the first time and assess all presented information as such.

Sign-up 1

Name: Tam
Age: Adult (~37 in human years)
Gender: Female
Personality:
+ Jovial + Protective + Reliable +
= Extraverted = Perseverant = Reserved =
– Lazy – Prickly – Arrogant –

In general, Tam is a pretty pleasant Pokemon to be around. She’s laid-back and loves to joke around, though her sense of humor might be a bit crass for some people’s tastes. Don’t expect her to get too chummy, though. Strongly independent, she prefers to keep others at arm’s length, forcibly pushing back against people who try to muscle their way into her life, no matter how nice they are about it. That said, people who she gets along with often grow on her surprisingly fast. She’s choosy about who she cares for, but she brings all of her considerable ferocity and will to bear when those people need her.

History: Tam used to be a solitary hunter on Poni Island, enforcing a broad territory in the canyons. She had a single kitten, who she looked after until a hunting trip too close to the ocean’s edge brought her into the cruel grip of a storm. When she awoke on Wayward Cove’s shore, she was relieved to be alive – but devastated to find herself so far from her home and her child. She is working her hardest to survive. Maybe someday she’ll be able to return home – but for now, she won’t just sit back and let others claim all of Mautte for themselves.

Available Forms:
Species: Incineroar
Linked Form: Tamway the Incineroar
Abilities: Blaze/Intimidate
Appearance: Tam is a melanistic Incineroar, with mottled patches of black covering her where her fur would normally be bright orange. Her eyes are a bright gold. She has a number of scars, most prominently a set of massive claw-marks along right side and a cut across the left side of her muzzle.

Clan: Rogue
Place of Residence: A little patch of grass in Blooming Savannah.
Inventory: N/A

Sign-up 2

Name: Cromslor.
Age: 300 years old.
Gender: Male.
Personality: Cranky and quiet. He doesn’t like it when weaklings disturb him!
History: Cromslor’s lived in the volcano for years. He used to spend a lot of time fighting off rivals, but once everyone learned how strong he was, they leave him alone. He doesn’t like all these new Pokemon coming into the island and thinks they’re weaklings that need to be whipped into shape.

Available Forms:
Species: Kommo-o.
Linked Form: Kommo-o.
Abilities: Bulletproof and Soundproof.
Appearance: Cromslor always carries and leans on metal cane. It looks inconspicuous, but watch out, there’s a sword concealed in the handle!

Clan: Cromslor is the founder of the proud Dragon’s Roar Clan, on top of Seething Peak. All dragons are welcome – so long as theyre strong and give Cromslor his time to sleep when he needs it
Place of Residence: Seething Peak.
Inventory: A sword cane of strong steel.

Ability Approval

Approve each of the below abilities as you would as an Arbiter. If they’re not ready to be passed, give your reasoning as to why, and give suggestions on how they can change!

Ability 1

Katsume the Greninja
Protean – Katsume has immersed herself in the way of the ninja. Once per post, she can choose to attune herself to that element to transform her body into it. If she uses a water attack, her body briefly becomes made of water; of fire if she uses a fire attack; etc. This attunement only lasts for a couple of moments as the attack is launched, but if she is hit by an attack she is elementally vulnerable to during these few moments, it almost mortally wounds her. If she uses it more than two posts in a row, her vulnerability period will stay even after she has launched the attack, leaving her vulnerable for the entirety of the third post.

Ability 2

Gishath the Tyrantrum
Strong Jaw – Gishath’s incredible jaw strength makes any bite given at full force nearly lethal–it’ll split limbs, bones, rocks, and anything else that gets caught between the upper and lower jaw.

Ability 3

Puck the Whimsicott
Chlorophyll – Like most plants, Puck thrives on sunlight. When he is in strong sunlight, his movement speed is significantly increased. In addition, he heals more quickly in the sunlight – while he can’t shed all injuries immediately, smaller scrapes will mend themselves rapidly, and larger injuries will begin healing right away.

Ability 4

Thomas the Togekiss
Serene Grace – Thomas’s Serene Grace ability gives him incredible agility. Once per three posts, he can use his ability to dodge an attack with ease.

Fight Judging

Deliver fight judging as you would as an Arbiter. Be sure to clearly mark deductions and mistakes!

Player 1:
Vincent the Scolipede, Speed Boost ability.
Bronze Crown Clan.
Affected RP’ers: K’sariya (Ani).
Used: Speed Boost activation, X-Scissor or Bug Bite.

Black, chitinous hooves scrape the stone of the Parched Crater as Vincent paces. The Scolipede turns his head to fix the Weavile across the mesa with one keen golden eye, impatience stoked to anger at last.

“You still really think you’re something special, eh? Spouting off like you’re untouchable.” Vincent speaks musingly, and the circles he traces across the stone are slow, but there’s tension beneath the languid arch of his back and tail – and he never takes his eyes off of Ani. His antennae flick with anticipation. “Someone ought to show you just how fragile you truly are!”

The scraping turns into an ear-splitting shriek as Vincent throws himself across the badlands. His Speed Boost throws every limb into instant overdrive; the ground trembles and cracks from the force of each footstep as he closes the gap fast as thought. Green lights, twin jagged blades, form around Vincent’s horns. As he nears Ani, he throws his head down, then spikes it back up in a brutal arc, aiming a vicious X-Scissor directly at his foe’s ribs. However, he knows how tricky the Weavile is – and he’s ready to nip in with a quick Bug Bite if Ani manages to get out of the way of his horns.

Player 2:
Ani sits comfortably, almost lackadaisy, beneath the severe eyes of the Scolipede, a knowing smirk curled crookedly across their features. Even as the Scolipede traces circles around him, he languidly stretches, shifting his weight almost playfully from foot to foot, not unlike in the way a boxer might for a match. A fight was what Ani had wanted to get out of the lawless mercenary all along, and so when the bug comes for him, he at least expects it.

The Speed-Boosted Scolipede comes even more quickly than Ani thought, however. He sidesteps the X-Scissor but the end of one of the horns manages to shallowly graze across Ani’s shoulder. Even as he sidesteps, his body lowers, and a white glow overtakes his leg. The Weavile kicks out his leg immediately in the Scolipede’s path, trying to Low Sweep the rampaging beast’s many legs from beneath him, trying to use his speed to his own disadvantage.

Ani vs Vincent
For
Dominance
Round 1 of 3

Player 1:
Vincent the Scolipede, Speed Boost ability -> Vincent the Infernape, Blaze ability.
Bronze Crown Clan.
Affected RP’ers: K’sariya (Ani).
Used: Stomping Tantrum, Infernape transformation, Mach Punch.

Frustration rumbles in Vincent’s chest. His horns should have pierced Ani through the ribs, not –

There’s a snap as Ani’s foot cracks the outer chitin of Vincent’s left hindleg. The rumble builds to a roar of rage and pain; rage and pain give way to fear as the check to his momentum nearly brings Vincent to his knees. Fighting hard to regain control, he slams his left foreleg into the earth, then his right, his Stomping Tantrum attack carving out a vee of churned earth. The resistance brings his speed back into control, so that he’s able to stop and turn to glare at Ani instead of falling and giving the clownish Weavile another opening.

A single head-on hit would likely be enough to fell Ani, but even Vincent has to grudgingly realize he won’t be getting that hit so easily – and Ani can give him plenty of trouble before Vincent manages to land a proper blow. In a flash, Vincent’s armor disappears, replaced by a coat of coarse orange-and-white fur. He bares gleaming fangs and flares his crown of flames as he grins at Ani.

This lunge is just as sudden as the first, with nimble, hand-like paws eating up the distance instead of hooves. Blue-white light sparks from Vincent’s knuckles as he swings his left arm around and smacks a powerful Mach Punch across Ani’s jaw, sending the Weavile stumbling with a satisfying smack.

Player 2:
(( Weavile -> Marowak-Alola, Cursed Body ))

The empowered white glow of the low sweep lands mostly true, hitting his opponent. Ani rises back to his full and unassuming height quickly as he watches Vincent come to a skidding stop. A soft smirk plays at the Weavile’s features, but not for long–he’s not cocky enough to not prepare himself for another assault. He notes the flash from dark purple chitin to bright orange and yellow fur, and sees the flicker of flaring heat from the now-Infernape’s body.

Realizing the fragility of his current form, Ani flashes into another in preparation–and coincidentally, just in time. Narrow body thickens into a wider one, one that whisks into a dark purple apparition of shadow and smoke, accentuated by a hovering bone mask with deep markings on its forehead. The Mach Punch slams into the ghostly, drifting skull, sending a crack racing up its right side, but the ephemeral, ghostly shadow of a body that hoists it drifts unharmed by the Fighting type attack.

Right as the punch lands, a green-flaming bone materializes in Ani’s wispy left arm, and immediately he swings it inward. Ani aims to try to bring the bone up and into the right side of the Infernape’s skull in a quick Shadow Bone.

Ani vs Vincent
For
Dominance
Round 2 of 3

Player 1:
Vincent the Infernape, Blaze ability.
Bronze Crown Clan.
Affected RP’ers: K’sariya (Ani).
Used: Knock Off.

Green fire flares across Vincent’s field of vision, nearly blinding him as his Mach Punch hits home. The hairline fracture that Vincent puts in his opponent’s suddenly-opposed skull, but beneath it, Ani is unmoved. The word “ghost” flickers across Vincent’s mind, just in time for –

Crack! A banshee hoot of pain erupts from Vincent’s jaws as pain explodes across his temple. The bone in Ani’s hand smacks Vincent in a blow that leaves him dazed; for a second, he has to fight against the head trauma just to maintain his balance.

The pain and dizziness clear in a few seconds; in those seconds, he takes in his opponent’s new form. He doesn’t recognize Ani’s new shape at all, but based on the plasmic fire flickering along his bone weapon and the general skeletal motif, Vincent’s pretty sure his initial guess of Ani being some sort of specter was correct. And he’s pretty sure he knows what to do about it.

Red-black lightning crackles around Vincent’s hand as he clenches it into a fist. Launching off of his right leg, he closes with Ani again, but this time he takes a different aim. He punches Ari’s right hand, attempting to knock the fiery bone out of his opponent’s hand and disarm him.

Player 2:
His combatant comes in hot again, and for once, playing on the defensive comes back to bite Ani; a fist meets his bone-gripping left hand. The crimson electricity, streaked with shadow, comes alive when it touches spectred wrist, arcing like lightning up through the wispy apparition’s limb. Ani gives a cry, recoiling and wincing as the Dark energy sears ghostly flesh.

Black eyes watch the Marowak-mother’s bone fall to the ground, and though his own consciousness has no direct connection to the spiritual form, Ani feels a rage unlike anything he’s ever known bubble up from within him, shaking his usually infinitely-calm demeanor apart at the seams. Christened skull glows a glimmering steel a mere moment after the bone hits the earth, and with a powerful rage, Ani seeks to rock forward to slam the Iron Head of his skull into Vincent’s own.

Ani vs Vincent
For
Dominance
Round 3 of 3