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

[Iron]

Hello tabletop RPG fans, and those curious about tabletop roleplaying! Noob or veteran, this post is for you.

It's been about a month since we started talking about a tabletop session on these forums, so I thought I'd also throw my hat into the ring as GM.

(Dies Irae, you are absolutely welcome to continue your hosting plans. The worlds of Pathfinder and Pokemon are very different, and I suspect we'll even have enough people interested for both.)

This will be a play-by-post PokeRole campaign...sort of. Their rules would not work well on a forum, and need polishing, so I've changed them quite a bit. I've built an online character sheet template and done some experimenting.



You should plan to visit the campaign once a day. If you can't commit to at least every other day most of the time, this probably won't work out for you (you could play as a noncombatant if you want). Obviously, missing days here and there are fine, and I will do the same myself.

If I can get three or more interested people, the campaign will start on April 9th.
1. Phantom
2. Lord Windos
3. Dragonstrike
4. Larry
5. Dies Irae

[Iron]

Rules

I've changed a lot of rules to make the game faster, simpler to learn, better for forums, and better for a group of people.

I want it to be where you can just post an action and as GM I will decide how to go about it, taking any suggestions into account.

This rules post details my Summary of each section, so you can learn the basics of play from this post alone. Then I detail my Forum Adaptations, which differ from the rulebook.

You may wish to read pages 5 to 83 in the PokeRole doc, making note of houserule changes. You can skip the fluff, since you are all already familiar with the world of Pokemon.

I've tried to write these rules in priority order. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it, and I will be around to help.

Dice (page 22)

Please read this section in the rules doc.

Dice pools
PokeRole uses "dice pools". All dice are six sided dice (d6).
The theory behind dice pools is that you roll a lot of dice (a big pool) when you are good at something, and a small pool when you are bad at it.

Your goal is to roll your entire pool and get at least 1 success.
A 4, 5, or 6 counts as a success. Two 1's will remove a success.
More successes increase the beneficial consequences.

Your dice pool is usually an Attribute + a Skill + a Specialty (all from your character sheet) + anything else that applies.



Forum Adaptations
The GM will roll all dice. I'll use physical dice if I'm near some and virtual dice if I'm not. I won't be bothering to post proof of rolls.
Instead I'll post something like this:
(1)(2)(4)(6)(6) = 3 successes

Misc
You have Will Points which you can spend to auto succeed at a round, or to have your Pokemon do so. You have to declare these before I show your roll.

If your dice pool is 0, you can roll a Luck Dice, which you need a 6 on.

Attributes (page 18) and Skills

The Four Attributes
Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, and Insight.
One of these will be used for just about every roll in the game.

Forum Adaptations

Pokemon Attributes are now for the GM's use only, or for discussing a Pokemon species.
When a roll calls for a Pokemon to use its Attribute in battle, use the trainer's Attribute instead. This includes Vitality when calculating Hit Points, Dexterity for Accuracy, and Strength for damage. 

The theory behind this: It is a trainer's characteristics which determine a Pokemon's battle power, more than the Pokemon's. 
A different trainer will see different results from the same Pokemon.
Your Strength Attribute is a combination of your physical strength and your prowess at offensive battle tactics. This is a theme I plan to explore.
It will also make the game simpler and faster.

Replace the Special Attribute with Strength when called for (such as damage rolls).
Replace Defense/Special Defense with Vitality when called for (such as when taking an attack).
I've eliminated Social Attributes because they are redundant.
I've eliminated the Physical/Special distinction.

See how to replace Contest stats here



Skills (page 20)
I've eliminated the Contest skill. Use the Perform specialty instead.
I've eliminated some of the Contest specialties as well. 
You can always add these specialties back if they are central to your character.

Creating a Character (page 26) and How Do I Join?

Not currently accepting new members.

1. Choose a starter pokemon (page 16, page 83). Professor Mallorn can get you most valid starters from anywhere in the world.
   
2. Fill out a copy of the character sheet, or ask me to do it based on your description of your character. Be sure to click on all the tabs. Please ask for help if you need it.
   Each cell has a note about how to fill it out, or you can read page 26+.
   I've changed the Skill Distribution (page 29) to 0, 1, and 3.
   
3. Please link me to a copy of the character sheet when you introduce your character.
   
4. You can jump into the game as soon as I have your sheet. Just make a post introducing yourself and asking to travel with us.
   

Encounters (must read)

Encounters are the biggest weakness of PokeRole. You are traveling as a party, yet only one trainer can catch each Pokemon, and only one or two trainers can battle each foe.
Who gets dibs?
I've devised an ingenious meat-and-potatoes system to solve this crucial flaw:

Encounter slots.
After roleplaying and exploring has been wrapped up, the GM will post a list of Encounters. This will mostly be trainer battles and wild Pokemon. 
Either can be marked with a "*", which denotes an unusual encounter, whether good or bad.
Some encounters, in bold, require that at least one party member encounter it before any other encounters of the cycle can occur. (you can still try to run)
There are always enough Encounters for everyone, but they aren't always desirable.

The Encounter List will tell you how many trainers may attempt the encounter, the relative challenge level of the encounter, and any notes. 

It will also list something called "Starting Bid", which is measured in minimum trainer XP. 



First, the party gets a chance to decide who will fight what Encounter. If each person has a specific, different encounter in mind, or if someone is willing to compromise for the sake of the team, that's fine. The Encounters will begin.

However, if there is disagreement, trainers may bid XP for the privilege. If two trainers are willing to pay the starting bid, they sound off until someone taps out. 
The winning trainer spends his or her trainer XP and stumbles upon the Encounter. 

It's a bit like Galaxy Truckers or Agricola if you have ever played those games.

Example

1. Name: Scizor Habitat*

Cap: 1 (2)
Bid start: 10 (5)
Challenge: 4
Filled by:
Notes: This could be a surprising pokemon of some kind. Maybe even shiny!


2. Name: Cooltrainer Mark*
Cap: 2
Bid start: 2(1)
Challenge: 3
Filled by: Iron, Cody
Bet: $200
Notes: A surprising trainer either offers a rare prize, has a rare pokemon, or knows rare information

I plan to color-code each Encounter to make it easier to separate them, because all these Encounters are happening simultaneously! 
You never know if an Encounter will still be around next Cycle.

Training sessions (page 64)

Since everyone can do these, they may not be on the Encounters list. But they are an implicit third option for every Encounter list.

You are also welcome to go "off the rails" and do things that aren't on the list.

Calendar and Game Time

Calendar
Simultaneous Encounters take about 4 Hours, called a Cycle. There are two Cycles in a game Day.

Phase 1: Assign people to encounters. Lasts 1 real days. Gametime 1 Hour.
This phase will involve most of the roleplaying! Where do you explore, where do you go next, what do you say and to whom.

Phase 2: Resolve encounters round by round. Lasts 2 real days. Gametime 4 hours.
The GM will put your Pokemon on autopilot if you have not finished an encounter in 2 real days. 
Also, in a double battle, the second partner is on autopilot 16 hours after their partner posts in a round.
A pokemon on autopilot takes few risks and always withdraws at 25% HP, but you can leave instructions to the contrary.
Make all your clever moves right away!

Phase 3: GM describes new Cycle. The old Cycle doesn't officially end until a new Phase 2 begins.
There may be a poll involved so everyone can vote on what objective to pursue next.

I'll check in at minimum every 10 hours.

Pokemon Battles (page 40)

General
Please read this whole section in the rulebook.

Battles work as they always have, with the trainer giving commands and the Pokemon doing its best to obey them, in turn-based combat.
The battle starts with an Initiative roll to see who goes first.
Generally, your move will roll Dexterity+Accuracy to see if it hits, then Strength+movepower for damage.
Each success is one damage.

Super effective/not very effective applies a +1, +2, -1, or -2 dice penalty.
STAB is +1 damage dice.
You can crit by rolling 5 successes during your accuracy phase.



Forum Adaptations
Giving orders is a bit different from PokeRole. It will work more like it does in the games. 

Declare all your pokemon's move(s) for the round at the start.
The GM will do the same for the opponent, and then resolve them in initiative order. Think of this as a game of Rock Paper Scissors.

In this game, it's possible to declare multiple moves at once (page 47).
This can severely cut into your dice pool.

I've changed the rules a bit so that once per turn, if using multiple moves, you can create a conditional statement, such as

 "If my opponent attacks more than once, I Evade; otherwise, I attack."

 
You can only do this conditional thing once per round, and it must be declared as the last of your multiple moves.

Example: (please use proper formatting if it's not clear from your roleplay)
"Brighten the sky with Sunny Day, then give it everything you've got with a Flamethrower! Play it smart!"
Three moves. Spending a Will Point!
1. Use Sunny Day
2. Use Flamethrower
3A. IF he uses an offensive move, Evade!
3B. Otherwise, use Flamethrower again!



Hold Action no longer exists.
I've eliminated the restrictions on switching Pokemon. You can switch with no penalty if the opponent allows switches.

Pain Penalizations (page 45) and Healing (page 52)

Pain
Your character sheet automatically calculates a Pokemon's pain penalization.
Green: no penalty
Yellow: -1
Orange: -2
Red: -3

These are applied to all the rolls of whoever is in pain.
If the trainer is in pain, it doesn't affect his Pokemon's rolls.



Healing
You heal 1HP per 8 hours. If your Pokemon are undergoing rest and medical care, like overnight, they'll heal 5 HP.

Forum Adaptations
I've changed the way Potions work. They now work like they do in the games. Check your character sheet's Inventory.
However, applying two potions to the same Pokemon during the same day will halve the second potion's effectiveness. A third potion will be quartered, etc.
Potions heal 1 lethal damage. This doesn't diminish.

Gaining Experience (page 25) and Spending Experience (page 66)

Gaining Experience / Forum Adaptations

• You get 1 XP per game Day you post in.
  
• You get bonus XP for good roleplaying, heroism, or extra tough challenges.
  
• You and your Pokemon get full XP for every battle you win and for every Pokemon you catch. 
  
• You and each of your Pokemon have separate XP pools.
  
• Art?
  

I'll calculate XP for you.
Pokemon no longer have levels.



Spending Experience / Forum Adaptations

I changed it so a new skill costs 8XP instead of 6. More consistent that way. You also cannot buy Willpower with XP.
Levels no longer exist.
(You can learn unlimited moves) but in a League match, you may only use 4 unique moves.

There are some new things you can spend XP on.

• Bidding on encounter slots (listed in encounter description)
  
• Spend any amount of Experience of your choice on evolution, and the GM will speed up your Pokemon's evolution by a corresponding amount.
  
• You can change your Pokemon's Ability with XP; talk to the GM.
  
• You can buy a Surprise with XP. Talk to the GM about how much this should cost. If you delay your Pokemon's evolution, Surprises are cheaper. This replaces Overtraining (page 67).
  

Pokedex (page 83) and Catching Pokemon (page 32 page 60)

Pokedex
Useful mostly for deciding on your starter. Remember that Attributes are less impactful in this game.

Moves (page 270)
Make sure you are familiar with the moves your Pokemon has and all the icons its moves have. Same goes for abilities (page 338). 

Catching a Pokemon (page 32, page 60)
See "Encounters" above for more details.

Surprises (Forum Adaptation)
A Surprise represents anything that makes the Pokemon unusual.
This includes Shininess, unusual moves, ability to speak, etc.
It also replaces mechanical changes such as Overtraining (page 67), Overgrown (page 60), excellent or poor IVs, etc.
In these situations, a bonus die may be added, or a percentage change to some stat may be applied. 



This is gonna make it a lot simpler. Why keep track of exactly how average your pal is?

Miscellaneous

Life as a trainer (page 12)
You are not obliged to accept battles or to yield for 24 hours.
You are free to change names of moves or give confusing orders.
Money changing hands is not the default.
There are only 6 required badges, in the interests of time.

Spending Money (page 68)
I've gone ahead and made a basic inventory page in your character sheet. It includes the basics.
Remember I changed the way Potions work (heal 4, 6, or 8 HP depending on the potion).
Revives now heal half HP like in the games.

Natures no longer exist (page 79)

The +2 bonus for single actions is removed.

Move Tutoring rules
Stacking rules
Psywave/Counter rules: Psywave and similar moves now deal 1 dice of direct damage for every gym badge you have. Ignores defense, STAB, and type effectiveness (EXCEPT immunity). These moves can crit and miss as normal.
Protect nullifies chance dice, but any SE damage is still added on to any remaining damage dice after shield. http://pokemonuranium.co/forum/showthrea...2#pid28802

Feel free to ask questions!

[Dragonstrike]

Ah, so we're gonna throw in a pokerole one too? Sounds interesting. I like it. I might just join in on this one too.

[Iron]

I'd love to have you. I have lots of plans.

[Iron]

Tips for Roleplaying On A Forum

• Don't sweat the small stuff! Everything takes longer on the forums than around the gaming table. As GM, I won't make you roll for things you are extremely likely to succeed on anyway. As players, you can skip things like food management, tiny details, and quibbling.
  
  
  
• Facilitate the pacing! Another speed related issue is to pack as much content into one post as you can, instead of waiting for a predictable response. For example, if you meet an NPC, don't make a post just saying "Hello!" to the NPC. Instead, ask for his name, tell him your quest, and ask him if he's up for battle, all in one post! That way if I only log in once that day, I can still move things along!
  
  
  
• Don't godmod/quarterback! It might be tempting to speed things up by saying what all the other players do. Be careful with this, because it can suck the fun dry if one party member is always calling alllllll the shots, making it impossible for you to play with the characteristics you envisioned for yourself.
  
  
  
• Do use conditional phrasing! "I go into the tunnel" is fine, but "I go into the tunnel, search for Mewtwo, and try to TAKE HIM DOWN!" is way better!
  
  
  
• Don't be yourself! Hey, you're all great people, but feel free to play a character who is totally opposite you! One advantage of play-by-post is how much time you receive to work on your responses. Crafting that perfect witty response becomes so much easier.
  

Chime in if you have play by post experience contributing to tips like these.

[Iron]

To clarify something: The easiest way to do a character sheet is just to save a copy of the google drive character sheet to your own google drive. Then you can link me to it and I will always see the most up to date character sheet. You'll need a google account for this.

1. Log into your google account.

2. Open the google doc template, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing

3. File > Make a copy. It gives you a chance to rename it, so you can add your character name and/or forum name.

4. Now you need to make sure I have permission to see it. Click the blue "share" button in the top right corner. Then "Get Shareable Link". It will automatically set link sharing to on. You must then copy the link and send it to me or post it in your introduction post!

If anyone tries this, let me know that it works.


If you don't want to use Google Drive, that's fine, but remember that I need an up-to-date copy of your sheet always available to me. You can use Dropbox, a forum attachment, whatever, but keep it up to date.

[Dragonstrike]

Any prospective players need an example of what a decent character's story might look like?  Need some inspiration or similar for yours?  Maybe you just need to know what kind of trainer other players are before you make yours?  Well, maybe my character's backstory can help ya with that.  I'd like to introduce Nathan, a newbie trainer from the starting town of Trillium.  Here's the backstory:

A rather emotional and lonesome 16 year old from the town of Trillium who's almost never seen outside without at least a light jacket on no matter the weather and temperature, Nathan's mostly kept to himself throughout his life. He was never really all that interested in adventuring with a pokemon of his own, but all that changed the day he met Ralts. Nobody knows why a Ralts was in the area, as the species is not known to inhabit the wilds of that area, nor is it an incredibly common species to begin with. Despite that, Nathan encountered Ralts, battered and beaten, while he was out for a rare stroll on one of the trails at the base of Mt. Molten. He couldn't let the little guy stay that way, and rushed him to the nearest pokemon center for treatment, not letting the rain nor the Absol following him through the forest slow him down. Ralts has been incredibly attached to Nathan ever since, and the little guy has certainly grown on him, even if it hasn't really improved his social skills all that much. He wonders who or what left Ralts in such a state though, and is determined to find out, one way or another.

He's a nimble and smart guy, but don't expect him to take a lot of punishment.  Much like his Ralts, actually.  Don't expect him to be super friendly with everyone to begin with either.  He just wants to find out what the heck happened to Ralts the day he met him.  

And boom, there ya go.  Maybe this gave you some ideas on how the party met?  Or maybe a general idea for your character as a whole?  Or maybe there's other people who are somewhat close to him that have yet to be mentioned in his backstory(if you want to go that route, you'll have to arrange that with me)?  I hope this has been helpful in some way!

[Iron]

thanks Dragon! All are welcome to arrange your backgrounds together as you please. I'll post some region info when I am on a real keyboard, hopefully in three or four hours.

[Iron]

We'll be playing in the region of Creshire.

Professor Mallorn rules a "modest" science business empire from the starting town of Trillium in the north. He rides his Rapidash down Breakneck Ridge to the twin capital cities of Cress and Stair City, bearing trade goods and Pokemon, for sale or for study.

He's agreed to provide any of you who need one with a Pokemon from any region (except Alola, I am thinking, but some exceptions could be made).
He can sell you a Pokedex for a mere $1300, an incredible bargain, starting week only.

The Creshire region is mostly home to Kanto and Johto Pokemon. More species become common as you get farther from the starting city. Tandormon exist too.

The region is mountainous to the north and levels out to the sea. Desert to the west, forest to the east, plains to the south.

Creshire hosts both an Elite Four/Pokemon League and a Championship Tournament. Anyone can compete in the tournament. To challenge the Elite Four you need 6 gym badges, but there are more than 6 gym leaders. Gym leaders are more likely to have exotic Pokemon.

Some of the notable features:
[*]Mt. Sentry, honeycombed with caverns, including a cave which connects the twin capitals.
[*]The Skull Ruins, the barrow downs of ancient royalty. Rumored to be very deep.
[*]Vapor Falls and the great river running to it.
[*]The regional sport of Shuckleball!

I've got the whole world sketched out on the back of a napkin so you can ask me any details you need for background creation.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Thanks a lot to IRON for running a session of PokeRole in the first place! You already have my sheet.


Oooooohh, @Dragonstrike, I have the feeling that Nathan and Shiva, who will be my Chara, will have little of a hard time getting along with one another... This will be interesting!  C:


I don't know how detailed a created Chara is usually, but I ended up with the following and I feel quite well how it turned out. Ehm, try to be nice to her and she will be nice to you as well...

Because I can and felt like it, I also drew her.

   

As for introduction and background...

- Female and 19 years old at the receive of Startermon.

- Her mother works at the Medal Office in Castelia City, her father is a freelance Pokemon Breeder. He teached her most mechanics in this field. They arranged an meeting with Prof. Mallord as well as a temporary place to stay in Trillium. (What a pretty name for a town!) However, she has no experience in the care of own Pokemon yet, nor battling with them, and isn't even sure whether that trainer-thing will be hers, since she actually wishes to work in a Pokemon Daycare Center. She nevertheless tries to rejoice for the opportunity to see more of the world, and hopes to encounter (maybe even catch!) rare and precious Pokemon. A little boost in self-confidence is also very welcome.

- As for personality, she is a calm and somehow mature soul who dislikes unnecessary conflicts. Someone who shares treats with those she's close to before they even asked if they can have a bite off. She will gladly share any knowledge with you if turned to or if it might be helpful in the situation. Bringing her to talk about her own thoughts/feelings/worries might be difficult though, as she often doesn't know how to express them properly in words. Yet she has a versatile world of feelings; and if something catches her interest, you may be suprised how she freaks out about it.

- She likes Pokemon of the Types Fairy and Grass most of all, and dislikes those that resemble fish „because they're boring.“"