So /vg/
I want to run a Pokemon RPG, where certain Pokemon have become intelligent and civilized, and built societies, have weapons like swords, are knights and archers, etc. Imagine a Pikachu Paladin or something along those lines.
What would be some traits that define some of the civilized Pokemon? Which Pokemon should become civilized and human-like, and which ones would remain wild and animal-like?
More reading here
http://www.4archive.org/tg/thread/34513132
and here
>>>/tg/34536191
and here
>>260977553
>>20788266
Whoops that last one should have been
>>>/v/260977553
>Pikachu Paladin
Dropped.
There are other Pokemon better suited for that.
>>20788266
>Which Pokemon should become civilized and human-like,
Gallade/Gardevoir for sure.
>>20788286
Are you the same person from /v/?
>>20788286
pokemon have veria personalities,
and just because it isn't the optimal race/class doesn't mean it won't be fun to rp.
ever tried an half-orc wizard?
>>20788266
Pokemon Tabletop United. Merge Pokemon and Player Stats. Go nuts.
>>20788266
Reminds me of Brave New World, just with less tech.Couldn't be worse
>>20788266
Pikachu is a glass cannon wizard obviously.
Well, that would be like to translate the roles pokemon play into more traditional RPG classes. It would become complicated from the matter that pokemon are not limited to only melee or special attacks, but a mix of both. A lot of it would have to come from stat distributions common to those classes. To use Pika as a reference, it is a lightning bruiser of the special variety, but it is also frail. If there is a fast form of Mage, it would be it.
>>20788317
Yes.
>>20788319
But I don't want to play as a shitty Pikachu.
>>20788594
Not op, but I'm trying to create the same thing of sorts, what I'm thinking is having players create the class they want to play as, based on what stats they want to focus on building, rather what pokemon they want to play as
>>20788266
I don't see the point of them having weapons, Pokémon are kinda weapons themselves.
Apart from that, Pokémon like Ponyta, Gogoat, etc. should stay wild while human-like ones should be civilised. Cute Pokémon like Pikachu would be best suited as being like the Nopon in Xenoblade, by looking cute but still being full members of society.
Thank you OP. I've needed to get that autism out for a long time.
>>20788594
I agree it's a little challenging balance wise, but everyone would essentially be able to become a battle mage, but certain pokemon could also choose to specialize, forsaking most of their lightning ability in favor of the sword, or the opposite, giving up the sword and focusing on their lightning ability, becoming essentially lightning mages.
Additionally, humans are frail, but that's what armor is for. Imagine at the base level, Metapod shields and the like, going up the tech tree to actually smithing iron and steel.
>>20788630
I have not yet played games of that nature, but I soon will. From what I saw, I would need a cultural standpoint to go off of. It would take me hours of musing to make a convincing background culture to justify the reason this can only be this set of classes. Not everyone would agree on what said culture would be, either. Just on the bare bones of being a creature with Electric affinity, it would take the entire gamut of special based classes. It sort of has the justification for being a mixed attacker like you suggest, but so do a lot of pokemon. It would be less justifed for anything that solely uses melee, and it is not a healer. Speed is often the mark of the stealth character, but it's sort of iffy. That is all I can say of Pikachu or it's evo
>>20788776
Them having weapons because it's cool, really nothing more. As I've described in the linked threads, the idea comes from Mouse Guard, whereby mice are knights and the like.
>>20788804
Why naught just knights as knights then? Chesnaught or Gallade would make more sense filling the main role then Pikachu imo.
These 3, plus Gardevior and slowking
>>20788776
Lore wise, the idea I was coming up with was that these pokemon that have the weapons are going to be once human turned pokemon, and they retained some of their knowledge of crafting them. Mechanic wise, it allows players to have a broader range of normal attacks without dipping into PP or Spell points, such as the struggle you get in Mystery dungeon, but doesn't do some base damage
>>20788830
Shit pokemon/10
>>20788619
thats up to you.
>>20788820
I want to start in Kanto, since my group is most familiar with Gen 1 and 2. Additionally, maybe those Pokemon races would be predominantly warriors and knights, and others less so. I don't imagine the cultures mixing and mingling all that that much, since I was imagining each race's "kingdom" being centered around where they are found in the games, more or less, so Pikachu and the like would have territories around the Viridian forest. The more I think about this, the more I think of Pikachu like wood elves, and a little more Japanese themed/ flavored as opposed to European flavored
>>20788835
You should probably put some kind of limit on the items then, such as having a limited number of uses like in Fire Emblem, otherwise people might be over reliant on them. I mean, I almost never used a move other than the struggle when I played Mystery Dungeon.
>>20788906
Well, sure, but table top is a bit different, and depending on the skill of the GM, you can probably won't just rely on just weapons, even during combat
>>20788835
What kind of tools and weapons would they craft? Just the occasional knife or sword? Or full on armor and such?
>>20789108
Most tools, weapons and armor that humans can craft, just modified so that pokemon can use it.
>>20789148
Ok yeah I was thinking the same thing for my setting, except limited to a feudal / middle ages tech level
>>20789187
Yep, something along the lines of medieval setting for me as well.
>>20788835
>>20788906
Also, since I have not played the Mystery Dungeon games, what's the struggle? Is it just the struggle move you use when you run out of PP in pokemon?
>>20789234
Sorta, it's just you can use it anytime, and doesn't do damage to yourself, it's sort of a base attack that does a base amount of damage when you want to save your PP.
>>20789316
Ah ok. Yeah it sounds like we have the same ideas, having melee attacks that don't drain your PP. Are you using skills for melee attack like sword skills, archery, etc.? Do your players have to decide whether to improve these skills or focus on their pokemon's powers, like thunder, water cannon, etc?
>>20789430
I'm thinking about having a bit of both, what I'm thinking is that Pokemon abilities are things that come naturally to them or via TM, while things like sword fighting and class based skills, are things that you would need to learn from a trainer.
>>20788883
>not having Pokémon from all generations
Disgusting.
>>20789559
Pokemon from all generations will be viable, when we get to their respective regions in the world. Not all Pokemon are ubiquitous everywhere. The wild ones will need to be traded for an imported, civilized races will be immigrants in Kanto. They'll be around, but not particularly common.
>>20789552
What do you think about my specialization / mage idea as described here?
>>20788786
Trying to base your setting too much off of Pokemon mechanics won't get you far, use a base more like d20, gurps, savage worlds, or white wolf and work from there (or homebrew your own). That means things like adventuring skills (tracking, lockpicking, trapfinding) and system rules that don't exactly coincide with how Pokemon tends to work.
>>20789632
As I mention in the archived threads, Savage Worlds is my base, with the super powers rules providing a framework for the Pokemon abilities.
>>20789653
Haha, shit man, I've been running a SW based PMD tabletop for awhile now. You're alright.
>>20789657
How do you handle porting over stats and pokemon powers in SW? Do you just make it up as you go? Or use the official stats (from like bulbapedia or something) as a jumping off point for each type of pokemon?
>>20788266
>pikachu mog knight
nigga pls be happen
why is there no sprite edit of FFTA filled with this fuck
>>20789670
Thanks, we do tend to play online, now you just gave me ideas for what sprites to hack together as our player tokens, wooo.
>>20789629
It could work, for me though, I like the different roles that each person plays, like I would have a claric like class, a mage, rouge, fighter, monk and so on and so forth, but it's really up to you and how you see fit
>>20789632
That's true, at the end of the day, they are video game mechanics, and don't translate very well to table top setting. I personally making a homebrew d20 system loosely based on terminology and mechanics of the games. Though I'm going to leave you guys for now, if this thread is still around when I'm back, I'll continue feedback.
>>20789669
I handle character creation exactly the same as SW does, and only modify stats based on size.
For powers, I wrote up a small "move progression" for each species that PCs are using and gave them base PP totals that increase with rank. I tried to style the moves to have two main roles they could pick from at each point to lead to a little diversity - like a Seviper gets the choices between an attacking skill or a debuff/support move when they learn a new one.
One change I made to SW's leveling system is they're allowed to raise their stats more frequently, due to not relying on things like weapons or equipment, so instead of only being able to boost a stat once per rank, they can only boost the same stat once per rank.
>>20789707
I agree liking the group dynamics created by each player having separate jobs / classes. I think I'll continue my plans of separating class skills and pokemon skills.
>>20789738
Do you think you could share a write up of the move progression? Are the moves based off the canon Pokemon abilities?
>>20789788
This was the one I used for a player's Rotom character http://pastebin.com/8FDNqsYm
It's not very formally written since it's just notes to myself on how it all works. Moves are gained at even numbered levels and PCs pick from the two available (or a previous one they didn't learn).
The level 12 move is kind of a special thing, I'm tailoring those to work for individual characters to fit their traits and fighting styles, in this case the character was all about bad luck, so he gained some bad luck manipulation.
I still need to alter Discharge too, whoops.
>>20789894
Cool, thanks a bunch. This will be a really helpful jumping off point for me to model my own abilities and get ideas
>>20789980
Lots of the existing spells in the rulebook are good to work off of too. Since characters get special attacks by default, I also found you're better off not giving them too much in the way of "gear" and working more with accessory type hold items that grant small benefits.
In the end it's your setting and you'll do what you feel works best for it, so just take what I'm saying as "it worked for me" instead of "do this".
>>20790029
Sure sure, definitely. Thanks again though, it's definitely helpful and helps focus my efforts when I read about what works, and helps me develop my own ideas.
>>20790164
I'll also say don't worry too much about things being completely balanced, as long as things run and you and your players are enjoying it, you're doing it right.
It's not like any existing PnP systems are balanced in the first place, you know?
>>20790217
Sure, that's true. That said, did you map the Pokemon leveling in the game to SW? Like does level 5 in the pokemon game correspond to something in SW? I assume not, but just checking
>>20790546
I completely ignored what levels in the base games would mean and just used SW's levels and experience system, then tailored everything around that.
>>20790616
Got it, thanks
>>20788266
Oh look, it's Metonic!
>>20790656
What is that even supposed to be? Some Sonic abomination?
I remember I once tried a run based on a classic D&D/Baldur's Gate party.
>Paladin Gallade
>Rogue Greninja
>Fighter Chesnaught
>Ranger Sceptile
>Wizard Gardevoir
>Cleric Audino
Optional party members:
>Barbarian Ursaring
>Bard Chatot
>Monk Infernape or Charmina
?
>>20790979
This sounds amazing and just the kinda thing I want to do. What system, and how'd you implement Pokemon powers?
>>20791019
This too is amazing. Just the kind of thing I have in mind. What's this image from?
>>20791019
>>20791051
>>20791030
idk
>>20791059
>>20791073
>>20791081
This aligns with my interests because I was making a comic with a medieval fantasy setting, but with actual people taming pokemon for use either as pets or material á la monster hunter.
id probably do this
imagin like
Empoleon paladin Zoroark theif etc
but how would you dignify a pokemon to be civilized or uncivilized
like
Alakazam obvious choice for Civilized
and lets say mightyena uncivilized
or would you go by mystery dungeon rules just saying
some are bad some are good
Aegislash be a confusing in this
alakazam would rule the world by proxy.
>>20791025
That was my DM's idea. It was a mix of good ol' 3.5 edition and Baldur's Gate 2 kits.
To make it simple, you take a three-form line and every 15 levels it evolves (at lv 25 for only two forms lines)
For exemple, Forakie starts at lv 1 as a basic Rogue/thief, then at lv 15 it evolves into Frogadier and has the option to stay as a regular rogue/thief or to become an Assassin, a swashbuckler or a Bounty Hunter. Then at lv 30 it becomes a Greninja and gains access to prestige classes.
Pokémon powers were like spells (arcane or divine), competences or weapons. For exemple, Recover acts like a healing spell, most attacks count as offensive spells and Greninja's Water Shuriken was one of its weapons.
More infos coming if you're interested.
>>20790821
You could say that.
http://sonichu.com/cwcki/Metonic
>>20789234
In Mystery Dungeon you get way less PP than the mainstream games, so the game gives you a basic attack that you use by hitting the A button. It's much weaker than a real move and gives you less EXP, but it's good against wild shitmons. There is an actual Struggle move for when you do run out of PP, which works the same as the ones in the game.
>>20789582
Have you not played the main series? There is plenty of justification for pokemon to be outside the original region they were introduced in. HG/SS even made it possible for newer pokemon to appear in older regions. To me, the only limit is how much diversity you wish to have. At any rate, you can't just have pokemon limited to their old evo paths. Since the additions to their line exist, you have to include them. To do otherwise is plain ignorance to me.
So...any pokemon can become any class or what?
>>20791089
I-is this Prussian Weavile?
>>20788266
How about Druddigon as that one guy who is slow as hell but he has high attack power?
>>20792655
I'd include the new additions to their evo lines, yes, but in terms of which pokemon are located in which region, I'd mostly go with Bulbapedia. For example, if the starting region is around Pallet Town or something, only certain Pokemon are found there. Sure, there's a mix of different generations around, but the predominant species are those from Gen 1, since they're the native species of Kanto. You might find the occasional Pokemon from Gen 2+, but they won't be as common as the native species, i.e. those from Gen 1.
>>20792697
Yes, but just like races in other RPGs, some will have natural affinities that will probably make them better suited for certain classes. In the end, yes, anyone can be anything, but it may not be the optimal choice, which is fine.
>>20791975
yes more
>>20796827
OP here, seconding, give us more
Also I started a new thread over in /tg/ if folks feel like contributing or lurking there. Might get more participation there as opposed to here
>>>/tg/34560640
>>20796827
>>20797141
Well, let's see...
You roll the stats (Atk, Def, Sp Atk...) like the basic ones (STR, CON, DEX) but according to base stats at lv 1. Each level, you roll a d4 to determine what are your gains.
Fuck, I should ask my DM again, he's the one that have all written.
Hoping the few I remember will help you guys.
>>20797251
Chime in either here or /tg/ if you're able to get the info from your DM, would be really helpful.
To make an explaination for why some pokemon are highly intelligent, and why evolution isn't a PC thing: Cogninuts.
Cogninuts are a special type of seed that are released by -New Legendary Pokemon here that is grass/flying- with a sweet smell that naturally encourages pokemon to eat them.
Once eaten, it changes the pokemon's genetics and alters its brain chemistry. This change is what makes the pokemon smart on a human level.
However, a side effect is that it also messes with a pokemon's metabolism. Larger pokemon have trouble managing their hunger and either starve or go insane trying to satiate their appetites.
>>20788266
What on earth makes you think Pikachu would be a paladin?
>>20801780
not him but same reason how half-orcs can be wizards or elves can be fighters. Not brutally effective but not impossible either.
>>20801780
Because roleplay not rollplay
