D&D 4E 4e Pokemon Tabletop RPG

[Camelot]

Thanks for the number estimates, I really had no idea.

I had an idea for legendaries. If you want them to be able to be caught by the trainer, then you just make them around the trainer's level, probably a tad higher, so the trainer can catch it. But you might want the Pokemon to actually be legendary; uncatchable, even by the Master Ball. You just make it higher than level 30, thus rendering it unable to be a PC, so it can't be caught, only battled.

The way my system works is that all Pokemon are equal. A level 1 Magikarp is just as good a choice in battle as a level 1 Mewtwo. Though, why the DM would let you have a level 1 Mewtwo is beyond me. It is a possiblity though.

I need to figure out a good capture mechanism. It'll use the d20, but that's pretty much how far I've gotten.

 

[malcolm_n]

A little complicated, but this is how I'd suggest doing it.

Chance to catch the pokemon =
1) one-half the target's level plus its highest ability score.
2) -10 penalty if asleep, confused (dazed), paralyzed (stunned), or at or below 1/4 hit points. These penalties stack. The pokemon also takes a -2 penalty to the save below for each such condition. A feat or trainer feature could also increase these values.
3) Trainer gets a +5 per pokeball tier (+5 pokeball, +10 great ball, +15 ultra ball). This works nicely in keeping the soft requirement of upgrading to the next pokeball type when you move forward in tier since it counters (or reduces) the maximum bonus from half level stated above at each such tier.
4) roll 1d20 against the result. On a hit, the target rolls an immediate saving throw or is captured.

[sblock=3 examples of this]1) Wurmple level 5 with 16 Wisdom. Score = 18
2)trainer uses pokeball. Score = 13

1) Sandslash Level 15 with 24 Dexterity. Score = 31
2) put to sleep. Score = 21
3) trainer uses great ball. Score = 11

1) Flygon Level 28 with 30 Dexterity. Score = 44
2) paralyzed at 1/4 hit points. score = 24
3) trainer uses ultra ball. score = 9[/sblock]

 

[malcolm_n]

Friendly bump while I work on some ways to address what we've been talking about. If I don't have something today, then I'll post after Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays.

 

[Camelot]

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'll post more stuff after the weekend.

Quickly, though, I like the ideas for the capturing. Instead of one-fourth hp, it should be half hp, at the injured value. Also, I'm going to work on a way to simplify it a bit more.

Thanks for the ideas so far! And I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks, too!

 

[Stormonu]

I have a son who loves pokemon, so I've been thinking somewhat about this idea as well.

I would probably have trainers statted up as the companion creature (Leader subtype), and the pokemon have the depth and variety of a full-blown PC. When the pokemon levels up, the trainer's stats are updated as well. Trainers would then fall into the same groups as monsters Soldier, Brute, etc. Team Rocket would probably be Soldiers or Lurkers, while Ash might be a Skirmisher, Misty a Controller and Brock a Soldier or Controller.

Also, I think you should have "base" pokemon, which would be represented by the Heroic tier, and have the evolved pokemon be prestige classes. If I remember right, most pokemon have a "basic" form (heroic tier), a first evolution (prestige class) and a second evolution (epic destiny).

Also, I think pokemon are going to need a few skills - mostly athletics or acrobatics. Since pokemon skills will be so limited, you might want to break them down to a finer grade than for normal PCs. Pikachu not being able to jump just doesn't sound right.

I suggest:

Climp, Jump, Swim, Fly, Tumble, Burrow, Bluff, Intimidate, Perception, Stealth

P.S.: I think capturing should be an attack vs. Fort, usable only once a pokemon is at 1/2 hp or less (much like the use of the intimidate skill). Different pokeballs would have different equipment bonuses, or might attack a different stat (A Quickball might be vs. Reflex, for example).

 

[inkpenavenger]

I've actually had an idea to do something like this before. You could use the system for building monsters to create your pokemon as well as the trainers. Assigning each pokemon a monster role would be much simpler than trying to use any class/race system.

 

[Cwheeler]

Just Checking:

Does each player play a trainer? or do most of the people simply play pokemon?

Personally, I would get a lot more enjoyment from playing a trainer with their own creatures than I would from waiting around in a pokeball for a battle.

 

[malcolm_n]

Currently, each player is a trainer (race) who controls their pokemon (class). The trainer side of it is for roleplay, so yes, you'd be playing the trainer until combat, when you would switch to the pokemon.

 

[Camelot]

Quick idea for capturing: you make an attack against each of the Pokemon's defenses. The attack is base d20 + one-half trainer's level. If the Pokemon is at full health, you need to hit all three defenses to capture it. If the Pokemon is injured (at half health), you need to hit two defenses. If the Pokemon is at one-fourth health, you need to hit one defense. The Pokeball used gives certain bonuses depending on its type, and you get normal bonuses from the target Pokemon being helpless (from sleep or frozen) or having combat advantage.

How does that sound?

 

[malcolm_n]

Let's do the math for it. at level 1 you can assume a level 1 pokemon you're trying to capture has a defense of 10 + half its level + relevant ability modifier (we'll assume 20, so +5).

- At full health, you'll need to roll 15 or better 3 times on a d20. so there's a 25^3% chance of success.
- At half health, it becomes a 25^2% chance
- Even at 1/4 health of the pokemon, there's still only a 25% chance of success with a maximum bonus of +10% (+2 from combat advantage).

From what I can tell, doing it that way could make it far too difficult to even capture a pokemon of the character's level, let alone one higher. It would become relevant to try and capture a pokemon about 4-6 levels lower than the player to account for a decent chance to capture it, and even then the pokemon probably would need to be bloodied or worse.

But, if the goal is to keep it where pokemon are a lower average level than players, it could work fine.