Character Creation

This guide will provide you with some great advice, tips and tricks, and anexplanation of how to go about creating a team!

You'll be in the guild and moving up the ranks in no time!

Good luck with joining and have fun!

1. Roll for Your Pokemon

Firstly, you must join the Discord. Doing this will be required to participate in group activities, so this is crucial! Once you've posted your introduction, you may then ask for a set of rolls in the #pokemon-rolls channel.

A mod will get back to you with two completely random lists of six Pokemon (twelve in total). These Pokemon can only be of the lowest possible evolutionary stage; cannot be Legendary, Sub-Legendary, Paradox, or Mythical; and can be from any generation.

You do not have to pick which Pokemon you would like to use right away, and you do not need to tell the mods which ones you want to use.

2. Choose a Team Type

There are 3 options available when choosing how your team will be first set up.

Option 1 | Solo Leader Team

Your leader works alone without the aid of a partner leader. Whether you prefer working alone or partnering up with different people during missions is up to you!

You will be able to choose from all 12 of your rolled Pokemon for your leader.

Option 2 | Two-Leader Team

You can create two leaders that will work together through thick and thin! These characters both belong to you! They can do missions alone or partner up with other teams!

One of the team leaders must be from the first list of six Pokemon and the other leader must be selected from the second list of six.

Option 3 | Team with a Friend

Come together with a friend and collaborate on building a team together! You each have one leader and are still always free to work with others on missions as well!

Both people who choose this option each get 12 Pokemon to choose from!

The GCSF doesn't allow for multiple teams with the same name, so your team's name has to be unique!

(Something about it making things harder in terms of paperwork...)

See the Members & Teams List for all of the taken team names!

3. Written Application

The following information needs to be directly in your application description or linked in the description. You're free to rearrange or add onto it as you please as long as the required information is filled in!

Refer to the sections below for explanations on how to fill out certain parts of the application.

Partner's Team Leader: [ Link to your co-leader, only if your team is a Team with a Friend! Delete this otherwise. ]

Name: [ First name is required, middle and surnames are optional. ]

Age: [ Leaders must be 18+ and recruits at least 16. Age ranges are allowed if you don't want to use exact ages. Ageless/older characters are allowed.]

Gender: [ Gender is a spectrum! Pokemon gender rules do not apply in the group, so be who you want to be! ]

Height: [ Generally speaking, you need to be a reasonable human height. Characters can be especially short or tall up to around 4-to-8 feet tall; but be mindful of health and other conditions that may come with being exceedingly tall or short. ]

Species: [ Your character's Pokemon species. You may decide to include some of the Variants they are here as well, for example "Ethereal Pikachu" or similar. ]

Team: [ The team's name. The GCSF does not allow for teams to have the same name, so it must not be a name that is already in use! ]

Position: [ Leader or Recruit ]

Branch: [ Wayfarers, Bounty Hunters, or Rescuers ]

Team Type: [ Solo Leader, Two-Leader, or Team with a Friend ]

Ability: [ You may choose any Ability that the Pokemon can learn, including Hidden Abilities. ]

Moveset: [ Your starting moveset. It must be from the most recent Mainline game that the Pokemon appears in! ]

Nature: [ Chosen from official Natures, which you can find here. Be sure it matches your character's personality! Does not impact stats or abilities. ]

Characteristic (Optional): [ Chosen from official Characteristics, which you can find here. Be sure it matches your character! Does not impact stats or abilities. ]

Personality: [ Mininum requirement of 3 positive traits, 2 neutral traits, and 3 negative traits. Leaders must have a detailed personality section while recruits only require the list of traits at minimum. ]

Place of Origin: [ Where the character was born and/or grew up. They can be nomadic, but their birthplace should still be here.Towns and Cities can be used as well as dungeons or "outskirts" of dungeons and towns. ]

Content Warnings: [ Delete if there are no warnings needed for the backstory. See the Mature Content Rules for what content is and is not allowed and what requires a warning. ]

Summary (Optional): [ It is highly recommended if you have a backstory on the longer side to include a TLDR. At most, mods will give a slight nudge towards using one.]

History: [ Recommended 2-3 paragraphs describing a few key points in the life of your character. Leaders must have a somewhat detailed history section while recruits may have shorter backstories. Must include how they found the GCSF and reason for joining the GCSF. Leaders should at least mention the team name, but recruits will be a case-by-case scenario.]

A Few Things to Keep in Mind For Your Written App!

Abilities

By default, only Abilities that are obtainable by the Pokemon are allowed, including Hidden Abilities.

It is possible to give your character an Ability they would otherwise not be able to gain by using an Illegal Ability Tutor item, but without it you have to use what is readily available to them.

Movesets

A character’s moveset when starting out can only contain moves that are learnable via level up from the most recent generation the Pokemon is available in.
t level 1 (or level 5 for new leaders), characters may have 2 moves learned through breeding and/or one move learned via the Move Tutor from any generation.
Be sure to include the source of each move (level up, egg move, tutor move, TM , etc.)

Characters can learn TMs/HMs/Move Tutors, but only if it’s in the team’s inventory upon submission.

Likewise, Illegal Move Tutors and Tokens can be applied and used if in the team's inventory.

Personality

The personality section requires a minimum of 3 positive traits, 2 neutral traits, and 3 negative traits that should be listed out.

You may choose to describe your character's personality in paragraph format or alternatively, you may list our each trait individually and briefly describe how your character exhibits those specific traits in separate blurbs.

For recruits, descriptions are optional and all that are required are the traits themselves.

You are free to add more traits than are required, but the minimum requirements must be followed in order for the application be accepted!

History

Your character's backstory should go over these points:

✦ What life was like for them growing up

✦ Any major events or pivotal moments that has affected them and/or turned them into who they are today

✦ How they came to know about the GCSF and why they decided to join. For recruits, mentioning the Team name may be enough!

✦ What reason, if any, did they have for choosing the branch they did

(this may be optional if the reasons are made clear in their characterization, but if your character isn't the type of person who would be suited to their current branch, explain why they chose it!)

✦ What are their current goals and / or what do they plan to do now that they have joined the GCSF

You're free to write about other points in a character's life or mention any other details you want to include to tell their story!

See the Extra Tips 'n Tricks section at the bottom of the page if you need a few extra pointers and / or ideas on creating your character's backstory!

Characters with Shared Backstories & Referencing Named Characters
If you have two characters who are deeply involved in each other's lives and who have gone through the same events together (i.e. siblings, lovers, close friends, etc), avoid copy-pasting content verbatim from one's backstory to the other.

Characters that are also from different teams should be referenced by Team Name as well. Don’t assume people know the character you’re talking about immediately!

Visual Accessibility
Written applications can be written directly in a post's description (such as on DeviantArt), or it can be linked externally from another site. On sites such as Toyhouse or Google Docs / Slides / Spreadsheet, you may have the option to customize your profile to spice it up a little and make it more visually interesting!

The only thing we ask is that if you do use a non-standard layout for your character's written application, that it is still easy to navigate and read through!

It’s recommended if your application isn’t mobile friendly that there be a “mobile friendly option”. This can either be in a separate google doc or a different tab on a toyhouse profile titled as such. Basic info that’s easily readable would be fine! If not, it may take longer to get to your application.

Extra Tips!

This section includes a few tips, tricks, and general information and clarification on specific topics that may arise when creating your character.

Check them over if any of them apply to you!

Backstory Writing Ideas & Help

If you're stuck, try considering the following questions and see what sort of answers you can come with.
This could be a good starting point for writing your character's history.

➤ Where were they born? What was their home environment like?

➤ How did they find out about the GCSF?

➤ How did they get to Kala Island/Ethovalon?

➤ Did your characters live there prior, or did they live somewhere else?

➤ What inspired them to join the branch/team they joined?

➤ What was their life like growing up?

➤ Were there any important figures in their life such as friends, family, or even enemies or rivals?

➤ What kinds of conflict have they faced over the years?

➤ What are their dreams and aspirations?

➤ How did their interests impact the choice they made when selecting a branch?

You do not have to answer or even include each of these questions but hopefully they can provide some ideas! If you'd like to ask for opinions or help from the community, you can post in the #character-discussions channel on the Discord!

Character Morality & Criminal Backgrounds

Members of the GCSF come from all walks of life and -- at times -- they may not have had the luxury of choosing the path that was laid out for them. The GCSF accepts those who share their ambitions and goals of uniting the Great Ocean, their love of adventure, and their capacity for good. That said, the members of the guild are not all consistently moral and upstanding citizens.

Characters who have commited or have been convicted of crimes in the past are allowed to become members of the GCSF. Even those who may have once killed either out of self-defense or in the defense of those in need are given some measure of grace. However, any acts of violence, stealing, or other illegal activities that may reflect poorly on the organization will not be tolerated.

While characters are allowed to be rude, disrespectful, or unpleasant individuals, the GCSF will not accept those who are outwardly discriminatory towards others, those who exhibit violent and harmful behaviours, or those who have committed past misdeeds with no sign of remorse or a willingness to change.

4. Visual Application

If you are choosing the Solo Leader or Team with a Friend option, use the single application template.

The single application template is also used for future non-Mythical recruits.

If you are choosing the Two-Leader Team option, use the duo application template.

✦ Application art must be fullbody and cannot use bases or be traced

✦ Flat color is required, but shading is optional

✦ Collaborations, commissions, and adopted designs are allowed as long as they are used with permission and credited appropriately

✦ You may change the color of the background

Things to Keep in Mind When Designing Your Character!

✦ This is a gijinka group, which means your character should be a humanoid with Pokemon attributes. As a baseline, we recommend making your gijinka roughly 70% human(oid) and 30% Pokemon. For Pokemon without ears, tails, or wings, you can get creative with the clothing and other aspects!

✦ Characters are allowed to have fantasy skintones. So long as it matches their Pokemon’s palette, it should be viable! If something is deemed too crazy (glowing, translucent, invisible, etc.) then a Potion may be needed!

✦ Ghost Pokemon only may have ghostly limbs! The exception to this is if a Potion is used for non Ghost types!

✦ Gijinkas can have up to 1 additional set of eyes (up to 4 eyes maximum) only if it makes sense with the Pokemon they are based on and only on their face!
Eyes in strange places such as on hands or stomach are not allowed.

Extra eyes cannot be grotesque or horror-inspired or otherwise deliberately meant to be disturbing to others.

✦ Attire, accessories, prosthetics/disability aids, and additional gadgets can have fantasy elements when designing them!
Anything more modern looking, futuristic, or cyberpunk-inspired may require a potion or an accessory pack depending on how advanced it is!

✦ When it comes to what is and is not allowed in terms of characters with bare chests and/or other revealing attire (or lack thereof), the group follows a loose set of guidelines regardless of gender. Designs will ultimately be checked case-by-case by moderators.

However, as a rule-of-thumb, ask yourself...

...if the character's appearance would be considered public indecency in the real world

...if the character's application art will need a warning applied or to be hidden when uploaded to your art site of choice (i.e. DeviantArt, Toyhouse, Unvale, etc)

If the answer to one or both is "yes", then the character should have an outfit that covers their skin appropriately -- at least for the visual application.

✦ Some gijinkas are also allowed to have builds like mythological creatures such as centaurs, driders, mermaids, and satyrs-- as long as it suits the Pokemon.

Creatures that are allowed to be used are: Winged, Nagas, Fish and Aquatic creatures, Satyrs, Bird-Legged or Pawed creatures, driders, and centaurs.

- Nagas can ONLY be Serpentine Pokemon
- Centaurs can ONLY be four legged Pokemon
- Mermaids can ONLY be aquatic Pokemon. Pokemon without aquatic features will need potions applied.
- Gijinkas may have paws or animal feet to match their feral counterparts

Potions and cosmetic packs are not a catch-all solution however, and there are still limits to what you can do with them if you are aiming to achieve a specific fantasy body type with a specific Pokemon. It is always best to ask the staff if you are unsure about anything!

✦ You must keep the key traits/silhouette of a feral Pokemon! We understand styles differ, but we need to be able to tell what the Pokemon is at a glance.

✦ Characters are allowed to have minor color changes, but if it's too drastic may require the use of a Potion, Splash Berry, or otherwise.

✦ Furred characters can have minor hairstyles (like bangs), but if you want to give them a crazier hairstyle, or give non-furred Pokemon hairstyles, you will need to use a Cosmetic Pack to do so!

📝 Ready to start your character application? 📝

Once you've read the Rules, FAQ, and have your written and visual app all ready to go,
head over to How to Join for your last step!

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