I need some help with PTU. I want the tabletop game to be closer to the game in that the trainer has little to do with puzzle solving, and almost nothing to do with combat. My issue is that a lot of skills in PTU involve physical trainer attacks toward Pokemon or trainers using weapons (ugh).
I would appreciate if somebody could:
A: Explain how I can play a game of PTU without this. I would just homebrew it out, but I've never done such a thing. It seems overwhelming and I know I would ruin the balance of the classes. I'm wondering if somebody has already altered the rules in this way.
B: Convince me that PTU is fine the way it is, and I should accept it. It's just the idea of trainers weakening Pokemon/other trainers with fists, rocks, throwing stars, etc is just so fucking weird to me.
>>44270703
If you don't want to take the option off the table completely, just tell your players that in (Insert Region You're Running in Here), if they go around beating the shit out of pokemon and trainers with sticks and stones and shit, sooner or later people are going to notice and they're going to get a reputation that amounts to being a gang of animal abusing fuckheads / aggravated assault-happy thugs, with all the delicate loving police attention that deserves.
If you want to take a heavier hand, just tell your players that trainers straight up aren't allowed to make (damaging) attacks in your campaign, so they probably shouldn't invest in any Trainer Combat classes (though that does take off like, half of the class roster)
>>44270703
I'd limit my player's Trainer levels to the first few, and disallow combat/mystic classes. This should largely remove their ability and incentive to participate in combat themselves, and also mean they'll have to rely on their Pokemon's skills for lack of their own.
>tfw no premade regions
>tfw DM said yes to PTU but only if it had a premade
Life is suffering ;_;
>>44271105
>premade
uh
now, this might be radical but
what about
stay with me here
what about one of the regions from the games? They all have pre-made maps, encounter charts for each of the routes and regions... one of the few things that can't just be straight ripped from the game is gym battle design, but I've found that's by far the funnest thing to come up with since it can get so ridiculous.
>>44270703
I'd go with what >>44270939 said. Officer Jenny don't take Kindly to no Pokemon abusers.
>>44271198
I actually brought that up. But he said we would just "cheat." Since we all played the games before.
Should we take the opportunity to make this a general PTU thread? We really don't talk about it enough, imo.
>>44270703
Tell them it's a league campaign, nothing they can't use in official battles. There's an icon next to all the features that says whether it's legal or not.
PTA/U is meant to emulate the anime, with all the games math. Just keep that in mind.
>>44271950
Use Sage.
http://paradoxhaze.wikidot.com/capxdex
>>44272045
Have Zoid Style Referees Come down and Enforce that shit. Long enough for the PC's to create their builds assuming no Trainer combat, Even against not! team rocket. That way, you can show the PC's a Villain is going for blood when he destroys the Judge, or has his own Black judge appear instead, allowing him to participate in combat.
>>44272034
Seconded. PTU seems like a lot of fun, but I've never played.
>>44272420
It is pretty fun. There's a lot more balance in it than PTA (where it was trivial to make a trainer that not only had pokemon gain double EXP but the trainer was on par with their pokemon in damage output, making non-combat classes mostly useless)
PTU gives a lot more power to investigative and general non-combat roles, which makes parties and plots a lot more varied. The bookkeeping looks daunting at first but in practice it's actually not that bad.
>>44272160
>Referees come down and Enforce that shit. Even against not! team rocket.
So this guy?
>>44270703
Because, superpowers or not, they are still animals, and still get hurt when you throw knives or whatever at them. But honesty most of the combat classes seem to fit with either Martial Artist, or have weird supernatural powers that explain why they can fight. And in my experience, trainers without combat classes can't do much in fights without investment... but all that said, if they really don't want trainers to be involved in combat at all, Pokemon: Pen and Paper would probably be a better system.
Though that's a different clusterfuck.
