[Meta thread] Iron's PokeRole Adventure: The Skull Ruins

[Dies Irae]

Ouch. We had a bit of that yesterday too - I was breaking in some new d20s.

Shudder. Bad D20s are the worst.

There was one which rolled so abysmally, we were pretty sure it went beyond just player superstition. After it critically failed one too many times in a session, we actually tested it using a saline solution and found it was actually predisposed towards 1s. After we cracked the damn thing in half, we found a huge air pocket in the cast.

Sometimes the dice REALLY are out to get you.

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Tangent: This dates back to an older issue of Pathfinder magazine. Mention of bad D20s jogged my memory. Our D&D groups actually still play this in-game in lieu of gambling. It's actually pretty fun. Might work for your group too.

Bounder
"Bounder, bounder, bounder! No doubles, no doubles!"
What You'll Need: 3d6 for the dealer and 2d20 for each player, plus coins to track bets.
How to Play: Bounder is unique among gambling games in that both the players and dealer use dice. The dealer gets three 6-sided dice, and each player gets two 20-siders.
To start, each player bets a stake (minimum 1 sp). Each player rolls his first d20, making his "point." After all players have rolled their points, each player may double his stake if desired.
Then the dealer rolls 3d6. Anyone whose point the dealer matches loses his stake.
Then each player rolls his second d20. If the player's two dice results are on either side of the dealer's result—one greater than and one less than the dealer's number—he "bounds" the dealer and wins an amount equal to the amount he bet. Otherwise, he loses his stake.
If a player rolls a 1 and a 20 (or a 20 and a 1), he wins double his bet.
Odds: The house edge in this game is 18% without any doubling. A player over time will get about 7/17 of his money back. Extreme points (1, 2, 19 and 20) are as good as 47.5%, so doubling is wiser there (but still not wise).

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

[Lord Windos]

You have a jinxed dice? I thought I was the only person capable of making those.... I do hope you stopped using that cursed thing!

[Iron]

I have a few precision dice, but no precision d20s.

[Dies Irae]

I have a few precision dice, but no precision d20s.

Worst part was that the damn thing was supposed to be a precision 20.

Though I'll admit that probably helped a lot with Bounder.

You have a jinxed dice? I thought I was the only person capable of making those.... I do hope you stopped using that cursed thing!

We killed it for science! SCIENCE!

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Nice. In the Games, an Iron Ball only has a positive effect if combined with Fling (move). Well, let's see if some additional use can be found here!

IRON, QUESTION! I've been wondering... Can I have my three Pokemon roam in the pasture of the Daycare? They might enjoy it there, there's no reason for them to be trapped inside their balls and their caretaker (me) is nearby anyway. Maybe it even has an effect on their Happiness/Loyality. ...Oh, Plusle and Minun are also a breeding couple, practically speaking.

[Dragonstrike]

Nice. In the Games, an Iron Ball only has a positive effect if combined with Fling (move). Well, let's see if some additional use can be found here!

There is one other use for the item, though it requires your pokemon to know Switcheroo, Trick, or Bestow.  The holder is slowed down considerably, and are grounded if they're in the air.  It's a shame the rulebook uses the Gen 6 X and Y moveset tables for almsot everything before the Gen 7 pokemon.  Otherwise, Plusle would be able to learn Bestow and Minun would be able to learn Switcheroo for 13 exp since they learn it at level 13 in OR/AS and SM!  Well, I guess they still could, as long as Iron gave you the OK on doing so...

It makes me a little sad that the pokerole creators haven't fully updated the book's data to match the changes that came with OR/AS to many pokemon movepools (Ralts can learn Draining Kiss, a move it only got through leveling in OR/AS, but Kirlia can't?  And neither can get Disarming Voice?  Hmmm...).  I know it's a lot to update, but still...

[Iron]

Consider their moveset having these moves with a ? as the cost.

And of course they can roam in the pasture!

[Dies Irae]

Both our friends have lost one Pokemon! Who's next to face Ralts' tiny wrath?

[Lord Windos]

Nice. In the Games, an Iron Ball only has a positive effect if combined with Fling (move). Well, let's see if some additional use can be found here!

There is one other use for the item, though it requires your pokemon to know Switcheroo, Trick, or Bestow.  The holder is slowed down considerably, and are grounded if they're in the air.  It's a shame the rulebook uses the Gen 6 X and Y moveset tables for anything before Gen 7 pokemon.  Otherwise, Plusle would be able to learn Bestow and Minun would be able to learn Switcheroo for 13 exp since they learn it at level 13 in OR/AS and SM!  Well, I guess they still could, as long as Iron gave you the OK on doing so...

It makes me a little sad that the pokerole creators haven't fully updated the book's data to match the changes that came with OR/AS to many pokemon movepools (Ralts can learn Draining Kiss, a move it only got through leveling in OR/AS, but Kirlia can't?  And neither can get Disarming Voice?  Hmmm...).  I know it's a lot to update, but still...

They probably are just waiting until the next game comes out to update everything. I doubt they have the time and money to constantly rework the guide. I'm still impressed with the amount of work put in it, so even if its missing some detail, we can still get along just fine!
Oh, and thanks for not KOing Apsis! I'm glad that she was able to do something to that Ponyta of yours. Horses are the worse enemies of snakes, after all...

[Lord Windos]

Nice. In the Games, an Iron Ball only has a positive effect if combined with Fling (move). Well, let's see if some additional use can be found here!

If anything else, the Iron Ball can be used for weight training, or as a general all purpose weight. I'm sure if you talk to it with Iron, he might be willing to find some uses for it. After all, its his nameshake item!

I have a funny little interaction with dice: every one I touch, no matter how briefly, always rolls low for that game session. One time I accidently brushed my fingers on a friend lucky d20, and he couldn't stop rolling 5s or lower. I think he got 3 1s in a roll if I recall....