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dino--draws · 1 year

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How to Play Pokemon Without Dishing Out 60 Dollars: a Guide to Pokemon as a TTRPG

I thought this would be a fun thing to do, as I’ve been a part of three ttrpg (D&D eqsue) pokemon campaigns and both use a similar set of rules for how its done (I helped co-create this specific system for how it works to begin with). So this is going to be a long post about the mechanics of running a Pokemon D&D/ttrpg-style campaign! Since this is going to be one HELL of a long post, I’m putting it below a read more!

Alrighty, let’s get into this shit!

First and Foremost

Resources that will make your life SO MUCH easier:

https://pokemondb.net/ (Literally going to be your best friend. Use it.) https://rolladie.net/ (Or any dice-roller website (or actual dice), this is my go to because you can put custom values into it) https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page or https://www.serebii.net/index2.shtml (basically any pokemon wiki that gives you access to item info, shops, areas and maps!) A calculator of some type, weather digital of physical (you will need this, trust me)

Stats

Pokemon have... a lot of stats and it involves a lot of numbers, and the aim of this is to reduce the amount of math needed to be done as much as possible. So there are 4 stats that actually matter to us when it comes to this guide, and those stats are: Health, Defense, Special Defense and Speed You can find all of these specific stats for every pokemon on the Pokemon Database (first link under Resources)

Speed will determine the turn order during a battle, just as it does in game. This stat remains static no matter the level of the pokemon, and only can change with evolution or an fed item that can increase the base stat in game.

A pokemon’s base health stat is exactly that, it will be their base health. With each level, a pokemon gains usually 2 HP. To calculate the health of a higher level pokemon you can do the following formula:

Base Health + 2(Level)

This will give you the base health of the pokemon. This stat can change with evolution so sometimes a recalculation is required.

Defense and Special Defense only truly matter if they are HIGHER then the pokemon’s base health. If a pokemon’s base health is lower then one of its defense stats, the defense stat becomes the new base health. This is so that more tanky pokemon retain this.

Leveling Up

The leveling system is also simplified. A pokemon requires only 100 XP to level up each time, making the meter look more like this:

0/100 XP

The XP yield from battles is determined by the DM, just go ham there doesn’t exactly have to be rhyme or reason to it, if you have a plan for the levels of each area/story beat, try to manipulate the XP drops to keep your party on level.

Wild Encounters and Catching Pokemon

The Wild Encounter system for this is pretty simple, pokemon have designated areas that wild pokemon spawn in, aka the tall grass. Have your players roll a varying number of d20 (depending on how big the grass patch is) and if they roll a number that is above a 10, they are given an encounter.

Utilizing one of multiple pokemon wikis, you can find the spawn rates of pokemon within specific areas, usually the pages for the Routes contains this information! From there you can create a table of sorts, and with that table your players can roll a 1d100 to see what exactly their encounter.

To catch a pokemon, one must, of course, utilize a pokeball. When a pokeball is thrown, the pokemon must do a 1d20 saving throw against the player. If the player rolls higher then the pokemon, then the catch is a success. Modifiers do apply to catch rates.

If a pokemon’s health is very low, their roll can be subtracted from by a number the DM can determine. If it’s high, their roll can be added to. Different pokeballs have different modifiers for their catch rate, a great ball can add a +2 modifier, a ultra ball a +5, for example. The DM themselves can determine the modifiers.

A pokemon’s gender is determined upon capture, for the most part you can just flip a coin for the gender.

For fun, you can also include a shiny percentile. This can be done by rolling a 1d100. If a player rolls a nat 100 after catching a pokemon, that pokemon is shiny. (The campaigns I’ve played in usually go for 95 or above as shiny)

Battling

Alright here’s where a LOT of the math comes into play. Get out your calculator y’all. As you probably know, all damaging pokemon moves have a Power Level, and this power level will determine the hit-dice (aka the amount of dice you roll for damage) that the move has. The power level functionally becomes the highest amount of damage that the move can do.

For example, tackle is a 40 power move. This means it would utilize 2d20s as the hit dice. The number from that roll would be the damage. A 100 power move like Spacial Rend would utilize 5d20s as the hit dice, as 100 damage would be the maximum.

For the moves a pokemon can learn, utilize the Moveset from the most recent pokemon game. This can also be found on the Pokemon Database.

Accuracy is usually not calculated for unless it is an intrinsic part of the move, such a Sheer Cold of Guillotine. These moves would require the rolling of a 1d100, and if the number lands within the percent range of the attack’s hit chance, then it lands. (However, if you wish to include accuracy, use a 1d100 and if you roll below the accuracy number, then it hits). If a pokemon is attacking out of battle, and for this example we will use attacking a trainer, they must roll a 1d20 for their aim. The one they are attacking must roll a 1d20 against this attack. If the attacking pokemon rolls higher then the target, they hit and now its time to do the damage calculations. If the target rolls above their attacker, they dodge. Human character’s HP can be determined by the DM, but 100 HP is always a good number to use.

Similarly, a moves PP (Powerpoints) are also not calculated for the most part. The only exception it the signature move of a legendary, or one that specifically has a PP level of 5 due to its power.

Super Effectives and Resistances work as normal. A normal super effective hit does double damage, while a resistance takes half the damage. A quad super effective if 4xs the damage, and a quad resistance is 1/4 the damage. If you don’t feel like memorizing a typing chart, or keeping track of multiple things, resistances can be expunged and only super effectives kept if one needs additional simplification. This is all up to personal preference of the players and DM.

Mega Evolution increases the health of a pokemon by 25%, and adds a +20 to their damage output. Undergoing mega evolution requires the player trainer to have a keystone, and a corresponding mega stone for their pokemon.

If one wishes to give their trainers an extra challenge, operate on some of the Nuzlocke rules! You can add extra tension or stakes by making pokemon killable. With these rules, if a pokemon hits 0 HP, they must roll a 1d6 saving throw. If they roll above a 3 they live but are in critical condition and fainted. If they roll below that the pokemon is dead.

Example of a Pokemon’s Information + Template

An example of how a pokemon’s information can be set up is as followed:

Eclipse Female Charizard (Shiny) Fire-Flying Type Level: 45 (20/100 XP) HP: 168/168 Moves: Flame Burst (3d20, 1d10 burn (fire)), Wing Attack (3d20, (flying)), Fire Fang (3d20, 1d4 for burn (1d6 damage) (fire)), Flamethrower (4d20 + 1d10 (fire)) Ability: Blaze (Increasing fire-type moves power by 50% when below 50% health)

And here is a blank template for your own use:

[Nickname] [Species] [Typing] Level: (0/100 XP) HP: Moves: Ability:

The World Around You (NPCs, Shops, Items, the Map)

The use of NPCs (especially trainer NPCs) will really depend on what you’re doing for the campaign’s story. If it is taking place in a pre-existing region, then you can utilize any pokemon wiki to see what trainers are in specific areas, and see their team and moves! You can utilize the multitude of NPCs that exist. If you’re doing something completely original, or in a fan-region, the DM will have to set up all of the NPCs on their own. And of course, you can use this to play around with the characterization of pre-existing pokemon characters. Have fun with em!

Shops and Items are relatively straight forward. You can utilize the prices from the most recent games for items as a way to price them for purchase. (For example, pokeballs across almost all games cost 200 pokedollars) Pokedollars can be given to players are post-battle rewards, quest rewards, or just in general found items (or stolen if you want smh).

The Map, Route, and World your players explore once again heavily relies upon what your campaign is. If its within a preexisting region, you can access the map and routes from any of the pokemon wikis and work from there. If its a fan-region, then the map and routes can be custom made. And you are always free to add or take away things! You do not have to fully adhere to everything.

Story, Plot, all that Jazz

The story and plot is all up to you as a DM! Are you running a campaign that is the same as the plot of one of the pre-existing games? Are you modifying a pre-existing game to change the story? Are you throwing it all to the wind and using your own fan-region and fakemons? Are all your players characters friends about to embark on the gym challenge, only to be swept up in the dark plot of an evil team? Is it a band of guild pokemon going on an adventure Mystery Dungeon style? The sky is the limit! Have fun with it! :D You are not constrained by much of anything plot wise! You can make it a fun and silly adventure with friends in a fantastical world, or it a dark and tragic tale full of bloodshed and perseverance through world-ending catastrophe. Or like... both. Both is good too.

And that, everyone, is how you play pokemon with friends without actually buying a pokemon game! And hey, this time its multiplayer!

If you have ANY questions, hit me up and I’ll be happy to answer you!

#pokemon #pokemon roleplay #pokemon rp #pokemon d&d #d&d #dungeons and dragons #long post #ttrpg #pokemon ttrpg #dino screams asmr #THIS HAS BEEN IN MY DRAFTS FOR TWO YEARS IM GONNA SHIT MYSELF I KEEP FORGETTING TO POST IT

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