Intro to the Clover Guild (F.A.Q.)
- Good lord what is happening in this thread?! Are you roleplaying?!
- Interesting... I want to learn more.
- There are so many stories! Where do I even start?
- Sounds fun! How do I join?
- But I suck at writing/drawing!
- I'm having a hard time coming up with a character!
- I want to include a character from another anon in my story. Is that okay?
- Writing Resources
- This all sounds cringe AF. I don't want to take part in this!!!
- Is there even anything left to discuss about the games?
Good lord what is happening in this thread?! Are you roleplaying?!
Aurora borealis
It's not roleplaying, but collaborative writing. The gist of it is that we imagine what would happen if a bunch of anons got transported to the PMD world and decided to form a guild (Clover Guild). Then, we create characters, write stories, and make art about them. We also discuss the setting and what kind of shenanigans these characters would be involved with. It's similar to how the SCP Foundation community started, if you're familiar with that.
Interesting... I want to learn more.
You can go here to read some of the stories written by us and get a feel of what this is all about. You can also have a look at the art booru.
There are so many stories! Where do I even start?
It's recommended to start with Gathering as it is the "origin story" of the Clover Guild and is where several of the characters meet each other.
After that there are some good options:
- Read them in the order of publication.
- Or go to the list of stories sorted by author, pick an author, read their stories, then move to another author.
- Or read them in the order of the story timeline. Very, VERY outdated, but almost all the stories not present in the timeline happen after the last one in it (Thanks for the Guild, Kind Stranger!).
Sounds fun! How do I join?
Just imagine what Pokémon you would want to be transformed into and come up with a story for them. Or, if you don't want to make a self-insert, you can create a character and come up with a personality and traits.
You also have the option of not creating any characters and just draw/write/discuss stuff involving the existing ones or the setting.
But I suck at writing/drawing!
That's fine!
We have authors/artists with varying levels of skill, including members who never wrote or drew anything before taking part in these threads. We also have people who only write and people who only draw. This is all for fun and we enjoy seeing different writing/drawing styles.
If you've never written a story before, now is a good time to give it a try!
If you've never drawn anything before, just grab a piece of paper or download a drawing program like Krita and give it a go! One anon here made a Sketching Tutorial.
Above all else, this image is how we feel about new authors/artists:
I'm having a hard time coming up with a character!
The first thing you should keep in mind is that this is 4Chan. What this means is that you don't have to feel pressured into creating super serious and deep characters. To give you some examples of how unique our cast of characters is, we have:
- A coomer Cyndaquil.
- A drunkard Totodile.
- A former McDonalds employee Numel who can't leave old habits behind.
- An autistic Togetic.
That's not to say that you have to make a meme-spewer joke character. The point is that you can make whatever kind of character you want.
Now for some tips:
- You don't have to make only one character. Some authors create multiple characters to use in their stories (usually Character + Partner).
- The characters don't have to be part of the guild. We have a Linoone and a Delibird who work in postal services, and a Noivern who is part of an independent guildless team.
- The characters don't have to be former humans. To give you some examples, one anon's character is a cook Munchlax, while another anon's is an aura specialist Combusken, both being natives to the PMD world.
- Making an OP flawless character can make it difficult to write about them in the long term. On the other hand, giving them flaws and goals can open up many story possibilities.
- There is no set rule against having your character be a legendary/mythical Pokémon, but just don't do it unless you want to be ridiculed. It takes a very skilled writer to make the character not come off as a "muh super special OC" unless we're talking about the "low tier" ones, like Shaymin or Manaphy. Also, ask yourself this: Out of the 900+ Pokémon this franchise has, does your character REALLY have to be a legendary/mythical to work?
- We have an idea bin where people put ideas that they don't feel like executing or don't feel competent enough to pull off. Reading through it might give you some inspiration!
- There's no rule against the guild having more than one character of the same Pokémon species (we have like 4 characters from the Torchic line) , so don't stress over it.
I want to include a character from another anon in my story. Is that okay?
It’s more than okay. People here love it when their characters make cameos in other people's stories, and we haven't had any problems regarding that yet.
Just avoid adding them into questionable stuff like edgy or sexual situations (unless it's Cyndaquil).
If you are worried about writing someone else's character wrong, you can ask the author for pointers like "How would X act in this situation?"
Usually, you can find several of them hanging out in the Magma drawboard.
We also have personality blurbs to help with that, and some of the artists have "homepages" with stuff that might help (the ones with green text under https://rentry.org/vpmdclover#list-of-stories-sorted-by-author).
Writing Resources
A bunch of stuff that might help you with writing.
PMD World Map: https://eddyk28.github.io/PMD%20Map
(Contains all the official locations from the games: The guild is located in Capim Town, which is in the Grass Continent)
Clover Guild Locations Map: https://rentry.org/CloverLocations
(Contains a map listing locations introduced in the guild's stories, along with descriptions of them)
Clover Guild Quick Reference: https://rentry.org/cloverlore
(Very outdated, but contains a drawing of the layout of the guild)
Guild Members Personality Blurbs: https://rentry.org/vpmdcloverpb
Idea Bin: https://rentry.org/cloverIdeabin
Main Rentry Link: https://rentry.org/vpmdclover
(Check the resources at the bottom)
This all sounds cringe AF. I don't want to take part in this!!!
That's fine. We are still a PMD general, so feel free to discuss the games or share art ~or grieve over no new PMD game again.
Is there even anything left to discuss about the games?
Yes! Several romhacks are finished, though most of them are short story hacks. One anon wrote reviews for several of them (also linked in the thread OPs).
We also have an anon in the thread (Wooperdev) who made an Explorers of Sky Quality of Life romhack nicknamed Project Orion and still updates it from time to time.
Sharing your PMD playthoughs in the thread is also welcome.