The Katakivu Region is a land of plenty, with long stretches of fertile soil, and vast natural reserves of precious metal and oil lurking beneath the surface. It is almost natural to think of it as the future seat of power for an empire, one that could stand the test of time, and bring the surrounding nations underneath the yoke of its rulership. Unfortunately for the good people of the Katakivu Region, that’s what everyone else thought when they heard of it.
The year is 1964, and the cold spectre of war looms over the horizon once more. The people of Katakivu, seeking to free themselves from the yoke of Kalosian colonial rule after centuries of oppression, had successfully vied for their own independence a mere four years ago, and things...have not been going well since. Disappointed at the seeming lack of social change, and with centuries of racial tension still simmering beneath the surface. The newfound Democratic Region of Katakivu soon found itself facing off against large parts of its own military, and before long, its own people in a seemingly never ending civil war. A war fostered by two distant superpowers, each eager to pull the war torn region under their influence once the dust settles, and the former colonialist government, still eager to shatter the newly formed republic, and take back control over the nominally independent region.
It is a time of great danger, and great uncertainty, but to men and women like you? It is also a time of great profit. Because after all, a war that has gone on for as long as this always needs more able bodied soldiers to throw into the conflict, and when you don’t have the time to train your own countrymen up, there are always ah, certain other groups willing to lend a hand, and ‘volunteer’ to come to your cause’s aid, for the right price. It just so happens that they’ve found your’s as well.
And that is how you, and many foreign men and women have found yourselves inside of this war. Not as part of some other nation’s attempt at military aid, or part of some fancy UN peacekeeper force, but as mercenary adventurers, banding together under the command of Wiley Pete, and his merry gang of Partisans. Who are here to help prop the failing region up for just long enough to line their pockets, and leave before it all crumbles into dust, unless you know, they somehow manage to keep everything stable for another couple of years. Who knows, stranger things have happened after all.
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And before you ask, no this isn't a weird Only War Game. The system we're actually using is Pokemon Tabletop United 1.05, which is a fairly fun and easyish to use system for playing as Pokemon Trainers who sometimes whip out a gun to shoot the man or mon charging right at you. Which is pretty much the entire reason why I'm using PTU instead of literally any other setting/system.
I am currently looking for
five players for this game, which I think should be just about the right amount of players for anything expected to be at all live. I'd prefer four but that just makes things awkward when someone can't make it.
I fully intend this game to be a session based one running off of either maptools or roll20 depending on which is easier to set up. Although keep in mind that I’m in a +7 Region, so I might have to make this a PBP thing anyway if it comes down to that.
We’re going to start at Trainer Level 3, with a Starter at level 20 that’s any non legendary, non mythical Pokemon. I’m not going to ask all of you to pick up Rattatas or something, but none of y’all will be getting a Manaphy anytime soon. Also please do keep in mind that it’s basically 1964 irl technology wise, which means that Pokemon such as Porygon and its ilk would be rare or nonexistent.
Backstory wise all of you are relative newcomers who have heeded [Insert name here’s] call for able bodied youngsters willing to brave the horrors of war in search of romance, adventure, and lots and lots of loot. It’d take a bit of convincing to actually be allowed to come from the region itself.
Book wise all I’m allowing so far are the base PTU 1.05 Book, and Game of Throhs. I haven’t really read Blessed and the Damned yet, and ‘Do Porygon Dream of Mareep’ is a bit too advanced for the setting as is, at best you’d see stuff from it as weird, outliers.
Democratic Region of Katakivu
Capital: Kimalebo
The most widely recognized State inside of the civil war. The Democratic Region of Katakivu is a dictatorship led by one Jean-Pierre Kisimba, a former general in the DRK’s army that rose into power in a series of successful coups. While the years of hardship and revolutions has reduced the original independent Katakivu state into little more than a shell of its former glory, the DRK still has two things to offer to its distant allies in the west and east, near complete control over the strategically and economically valuable Nzre River and the resource rich towns along its banks, and a complete willingness to infringe on its own people’s rights and freedom to purge itself of western, and Unionist influences.
Of course the fact that the supposedly extremely democratic Unovan region is the biggest provider of foreign aid to an oppressive dictatorship is a matter of some contention, but with his biggest rivals gone, Kisimba’s DRK is the region’s last, best hope of a Katakivu free from communist influences, and open to trade with the west.
Free Region of Katakivu
Capital: Zadi City
Claiming to be the true head of the Katakivu government, the Free Region of Katakivu is indeed led by the deposed former Prime Minister of the DRC, Petro Ngombe himself, having somehow survived the assasination attempt by his usurper. Unfortunately, running an insurgency does not come cheaply, and with a lack of support from what passed as the DRC’s professional army, the FRK has had to throw themselves at the mercy of their Unionist benefactors, who are all too happy to fund and advise their little counter revolution. If they would consent to becoming a client state afterwards of course, or well, ‘willingly join the Council for mutual economic assistance’ or what have you.
Katakivu People’s Liberation Army (Young Lions)
Capital: Free Port of Kiboma
A populist uprising believing in a strange mixture of local shamanistic tribal traditions and Maoist political theory. The Young Lions are an upstart among upstarts, having recently taken control of the Free Port of Kiboma, and its surrounding villages and forts, depriving the DRK from a crucial hub of maritime trade, and taking a worrying amount of hostages in the process.
Blessed by the spirits of old, and trained by the best military minds their distant benefactors could spare, the Young Lions flaws lie in a lack of materiel, and the questionable combat value of the ragtag band of peasants that compose the bulk of their army.
Confederate States of Kaizare/L’Association Des Minerals Qualité
Capital: Coumarine City
Initially little more than a pair of mineral rich districts at the border who took advantage of the chaos of the civil war to avoid paying taxes for the near future. The districts that would form the Confederate States of Kaizare eventually banded together in mutual aid due to the influence of their common benefactor. The Kalosian based L'Association des Minerais Qualité (AMQ), who fully intend to bring the wayward former colony to heel, and impose an all too familiar order unto the land.
Of course, while the Kalosian Government can’t officially approve of the AMQ’s efforts to bring the people of Katakivu to heel, and the AMQ is officially little more than a favored business partner and owner of the region’s most profitable mines. If the CSK just so happen to fend off the forces sent by the DRK to reclaim the rebellious states, and prove themselves to be a bastion of stability inside of the war-torn region, well, the Unovans just might have to switch tack. Unless a particularly well paid group of hired killers just so happens to destabilize their regime of course.
But yeah, if you're interested in wearing a pink shirt, and engaging in morally questionable deeds for a dictator in exchange for flipping great wads of money/anything you can
justifiably discreetly loot from UN forces or whoever you were fighting at the time. Hop right into the following server, where you can also be supplied with PTU info.
Partisans 1960s Discord Server
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Topic: [OOC] [Recruitment] Partisans 1960s: A Pokemon Tabletop United Campaign (Read 898 times)