The Campaign Builder's Guild

That's right. I'm bringing those cute/annoying magical critters to table top gaming. Hate/love me as befits your PkMn orientation.

This is version 3, pulled off Marriland
The rules are done. The charts have been drawn.
Get some paper. Grab some dice. Sharpen your pencils.
Inspired by Frank's four stat system.

Pokemon SAME

Introduction
Pokemon are incredibly diverse, a total of 498 different types, including multi-forms. Playing a dice game reflecting the power of Pokemon accurately requires a little more than just rolling dice. This system of rules is was created to emulate both the powerful nature of Pokemon, and the randomness inherent within battles.
This system isn't all encompassing, and certain elements are specifically left without rules. It's just here to help players figure out battles faster without "I win" syndrome or "god_mode" effects.

The SAME System

Built from the ground up with the concept that no matter what choices you make, you are equally powerful to any other entity of the same level. The concept is very important to gaming, especially strategy and roleplaying, but is often a lost cause.

Pokemon SAME's balance toppled when species modifiers to stats was introduced. The lesson is that not all Pokemon are created equal, and this is actually a wanted feature of the game. If you're playing as an Arbok, Mr.Charizard will put milk and you in cheerios and then eat you. Whole.
Good news is that the game balance found in the video games is emulated by this dice system.

Accuracy Roll: 1d20 - move's penalty + buffs + special abilities
Evasion Score: 8 + buffs
Base Damage: This number is based entirely on the move being use.
Total Damage: Move's Base Damage + Physical/Special Attack + Accuracy Roll Bonus
Soak Roll: 1d20 + Physical/Special Defence
Lost HP: (Total Damage - Soak Roll) divide by 2


Pokemon's Stats
"...the power that's inside!"

Although these numbers primarily important for battles, they are also used for determining obedience from Pokemon to trainers.
There are 6 stats, that start at 0, except for HP which starts at 10, and an evolution bonus.

Health Points (HP), Physical Attack (Atk), Physical Defence (Def), Speed (Spd), Special Attack (SAt), and Special Defence (SDf).

I highly doubt you can't figure out what these numbers mean on your own.
Now, it is important that when recording a pokemon's stats, you have to record the stats with the bonus points you get from leveling up separately from and before the total stats, which you get by applying the pokemon's species modifiers.

So, a pokemon's stat sheet may look like this:

[blockquote="Bulbasaur"]
Plant / Poison
Evolution 0
Lvl 3
     Base + Spec = Total
(HP)   3  +  -4  =   9
(Atk)  3  +  -4  =  -1
(Def)  0  +  -4  =  -4
(Spd)  0  +  -4  =  -4
(SAt)  3  +  -2  =  +1
(SDf)  0  +  -2  =  -2[/blockquote]

This separation and extra book keeping is for determining a PkMn's obediance. Which leads to the next section...

Trainers and Pokemon Obedience
"Just say the line, or you'll get the gas."

Why do Pokemon obey their trainers?
Machop is way stronger than any human body builder, yet it will punch other Machops on command. A little kid's order no less. Why would it do that?

There are a few reasons, which add up to humans being able to control most pokemon.

One, is that pokeballs form an empathic link between the owner and the contained pokemon. This isn't actually enough on it's own. But generally a pokemon is more inclined to obey a trainer that has a similar personality. Which is why bikers have weezings and muks while Officer Jenny is followed by a myriad of noble pokemon like Arcanine.

Another is the trainers skills and abilities. A powerful gyarados is not likely to obey a human unless that human is very strong willed and has enough understanding of the pokemon's abilties.

Rules: Humans (Trainers) have stats, similar to a pokemons, minus the evolution bonus. They also have up to two types, like pokemon. Humans have an Accuracy (Acc) stat and an Evasion (Eva) stat. These add together to determine a human's Spd, and are used to figure out his ability to throw Pokeballs, or help his pokemon avoid thief balls.

A Pokemon will obey the commands of a trainer if at least one of the Pokemon's two highest base stats is no more than four points higher than the trainer's corresponding stat.
Pokemon add their evolution bonus to their own stats for obedience purposes.
When a trainers shares a type with a pokemon, their stats count as one higher for the purpose of controlling their Pokemon. 2 shared types means a +2 bonus as well.
However, if a Pokemon is of a type which a trainer's type is weak against, the trainer get's a -1 penalty to determine obedience.

Pokeballs
"I've got a Dragonite... In my pants."

It's not really important how the actually work. You throw them, and sometimes the pokemon you hit disappears into it. But you have to hit the pokemon, and sometimes the pokemon will break the ball.

Pokeball Rules:
Accuracy Roll: 1d20 + trainer's Acc
Has to beat 8 + the pokemon's HP, success indicating that the pokemon has been absorbed into the ball.
The pokemon then makes 3 d20 rolls to try to break out. It must beat the ball's power with one of the rolls to break free of the pokeball.
The first roll is d20 + HP + Atk or SAt
The second roll is d20 + HP + Spd
The third roll is d20 + HP + Def or Sdf

A regular pokeball has a power of 15. Different balls have different power levels and maybe special abilities.

Leveling Up

An integral part of all RPGs is becoming more powerful. Generally, in video games you get points for defeating enemies. This works well for that medium, but for pen and paper RPGs it's a potential for abuse and disaster on a monumental scale.
For this game, level ups occur at the end of quests and short adventures. Pokemon evolve into more powerful forms after a few quests, and learn new attacks whenever the Game Master and controlling player agree. Careful though, some pokemon evolve quickly, like most bug pokemon, while others will probably not reach their highest form 'till near the end of the game.
But as a general guidline, if a trainer is constantly using the same pokemon, it will level up much faster than the trainer. And reversed, if a trainer keeps using different pokemon, juggling his active team with his box, he will gain levels much faster than any of his pokemon.

A few rules to keep things from getting out of hand.
There are a total of 20 levels.
At 14 certain levels, a floating point is handed out to pokemon and trainers which are allocated to any stat. However, no stat may have more than 6 floating points added to it.
Additionally, at 6 certain levels, all of a pokemon's, or trainer's stats increase by one.

Lvl 1: +1 one stat
Lvl 2: +1 one stat
Lvl 3: +1 one stat
Lvl 4: +1 to all stats
Lvl 5: +1 one stat
Lvl 6: +1 one stat
Lvl 7: +1 one stat
Lvl 8: +1 to all stats
Lvl 9: +1 one stat
Lvl10: +1 one stat
Lvl11: +1 to all stats
Lvl12: +1 one stat
Lvl13: +1 one stat
Lvl14: +1 to all stats
Lvl15: +1 one stat
Lvl16: +1 one stat
Lvl17: +1 to all stats
Lvl18: +1 one stat
Lvl19: +1 one stat
Lvl20: +1 to all stats

[spoiler=orriginal post]This is version 2.
----------------------------

Pokemon SAME v0.9

The Base Stats: Each of the following describes the numbers that appear on a pokemon's stat sheet. The Pokemon's species, EVs and Level will modify these values.

HP: 10 before species modifiers
Physical Attack (Att): How powerful some of the PkMn's attacks are
Physical Defence (Def): Reduces the amount of damage a PkMn takes from some attacks
Speed (Spd): Which PkMn goes first?
Special Attack (SAt): How powerful some of the PkMn's attacks are
Special Defence (SDf): Reduces the amount of damage a PkMn takes from some attacks

The Combat Variables: These numbers deal with attacks. Keep track of them during a fight, as buff moves like Calm Mind can change them.
Accuracy Roll: 1d20 - move's penalty + buffs + special abilities
Evasion Score: 8 + buffs
Base Damage: This number is based entirely on the move.
Total Damage: Move's Base Damage + Physical/Special Attack + Accuracy Roll Bonus + Buffs
Soak Roll: 1d20 + Physical/Special Defence + Buffs
Final Damage: Total Damage - Soak Roll

How combat works:
A fight begins, the pokemon are out of the balls and it's time to declare attacks. This system works in the same way as the video game, with simple changes to incorporate dice instead of calculus.

First determine which pokemon's turn it is. This is done by comparing each pokemon's speed. Obviously, the pokemon with a higher speed goes first.

The pokemon now performs an attack routine. This could be anything from a Charizard blasting out fire from it's mouth, to a Gyarados bashing the ground to cause an earthquake. An individual routine's description can be found in chapter X.

Determine whether a routine succeeds or not. Some routines automatically work, such as buffs like Swords Dance, while other require an accuracy roll vs the target's evasion.

An attack move only hits if the accuracy roll is higher than the evasion score.

Normally, for every two additional points an accuracy roll exceeds the Evasion score a point is added to the total damage.

Determine the effects of a move. Damaging moves require the defending pokemon to make a Soak roll vs the attacking move's total damage.

The defending pokemon looses one HP if the Final damage is equal to 1, and looses 1 additional HP for every two additional points of total damage.

A pokemon passes out once it's HP is equal to or less than 0.

Type Advantages:
STAB: When a pokemon uses an attack move that it shares a type with, the Total Damage increases by 3
Weakness: When a pokemon is subject to an attack type that it is weak against, the defending pokemon's Soak Roll is penalized by 3. This penalty stacks with itself, so a pokemon with two types that are weak against the same attack penalizes the defender's Soak Roll by 6.
Strong Defence: On the flip side, when a pokemon is subject to an attack type it resists, the defender's Soak Roll in given a +3 bonus. This bonus stacks with itself as well.
Additionally, the bonuses and penalties stack, and can therefore cancel each other out.
Ineffective Attacks: Some Types grant outright immunity to certain attack Types.

Leveling up:
Unlike other RPG games, a Pokemon starts at level 0. The benefit of gaining levels appears in the following chart. EV means Effort Value, and is one point which is applied to one of the base stats.

Level - Benefit
Lvl 1   +1 EV
Lvl 2   +1 EV
Lvl 3   +1 EV
Lvl 4   +1 to all stats
Lvl 5   +1 EV
Lvl 6   +1 EV
Lvl 7   +1 EV
Lvl 8   +1 to all stats
Lvl 9   +1 EV
Lvl10   +1 EV
Lvl11   +1 to all stats
Lvl12   +1 EV
Lvl13   +1 EV
Lvl14   +1 to all stats
Lvl15   +1 EV
Lvl16   +1 EV
Lvl17   +1 to all stats
Lvl18   +1 EV
Lvl19   +1 EV
Lvl20   +1 to all stats

---------------------------

Thoughts? Opinions?[/spoiler]

Send hate mail here, please.

You know, after reading that, half of me wants to take a sharp pointy object against by eyes, and the other wants to learn more. It sounds interesting, and I would like to see more done with it.

Compromise. Only stab half of your eyes.

Or stab them all and learn Braille.

-------------------

In any case, I'm basing the species adjustments to stats off of the concept that humans have all 0s. At least in the physical department.

I've already got a poll going at my main non-Nintendo PkMn source.

http://www.marriland.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=89343

I've updated the first post with my revised rules. Closer resembles the video game now.

I'm having trouble coming up with a good system for leveling up, acquiring XP and learning attacks.

Any suggestions?

:poke:

Power Leveling With SAME:

The standard level up system for many RPG video games is really easy to understand and appreciate. The makers want you to play their game allot, and make it so that to get more powerful, you have to beat down on monsters. Allot of monsters. This works well for video games, but for pen n'paper games, what with their abstractions and free form rules, monster grinding sets up for boring game play and XP abuse. I'm sure many older gamers are aware of the Chicken Farming of AD&D, as well as the Hall of Leveling that D&D3.X generates. DM arbitration fixes these problems, so lets make that automatically part of the new game.
Leveling up in Pokemon SAME is going to be like gaining power in a good LoZ game. You gain a heart piece, or new method of stabbing by completing quests and adventures. Meaning, pokemon and trainers gain levels and learn new attacks when the DM and respective player agree. This is a co-operative story-telling game, and the more co-operation between DM and player, the better.

I convinced someone to help me write flavour text for the handbook:[blockquote=GeoSetzer]Pokenomics
"All boys leave home someday. It said so on TV."

Let's start with the simplest possible breakdown of why ten year old children are allowed, nay, ENCOURAGED to go out into the world, unsupervised, and engage in what effectively amounts to legalized cockfighting [BTW, that IS the actual name of the illegal sport where chickens fight each other].

The reason is this very unpleasant one: Its to avoid child labour camps. Yes, this seems a little bit Farfetch'd [heh heh. I'm Punny], but in a world where ten year olds are sent out to commit acts of egregious violence and highway robbery, it becomes quite a bit more reasonable.

What highway robbery is this, you ask? Didn't you ever notice that anytime you won a trainer battle you got some money? This leads me to a simple conclusion: Those are the stakes of a Pokemon battle, the contents of your wallet. Which means that the economics of the Pokemon League are designed as a pyramid scheme, with the Master of the Elite Four being the richest person in the world, by virtue of having robbed everyone else.

The next problem to be addressed is the Pokemon Professors, who are known for giving out free Pokemon to underprivileged children. Why? Simple. They're Communists. As children they failed as trainers, spiralled into the aforementioned child labour camps, and are now socialist revolutionaries trying to undermine the system. What they don't seem to realize is that they are only perpetuating the cycle by allowing these underprivileged children to be sucked into the mafia overworld that is the Pokemon League.

And why can't Trainers be peaceful about they're business? Well, there's another easy answer. The world of Pokemon is, after all, based on Japanese customs and values. One of the most notable of historic Japanese customs is the Bushido Code, which would seem to have undergone an insane renaissance in the world of Pokemon, simply because you never even have the option of TRYING to decline a challenge.

At this point, some of the more astute among my audience may be wondering why schools don't enter the equation. There is a simple answer for this, as well. The school systems in the world of Pokemon would appear to be private schools, meaning that any child wishing to attend school must be able to afford the tuition. Therefore, in order to free themselves from a future of child labour, children must doom themselves to a future of child labour, allowing only the bourgeois who always have been, and always will be, rich to send their children to school. (As evidenced by James' backstory.)

The next issue to be addressed is food supply. Because all of those child labour camps would be sending kids out to be farmers. Why? Consider, for a moment, the kind of technology that is readily available in the Pokemon world. We'll start with Pokeballs and Bill's Pokemon Storage System. These two pieces of technology both give solid evidence that matter-energy conversion technology is readily available in the world of Pokemon. For that high level of technology to be readily available, suggests a MASSIVE high-tech industry, which is capable of ignoring several of the laws of physics. And yet, how often do you see farmers in your journeys throughout the Pokemon world? This makes one sad fact true: A widescreen plasma TV would cost less than a bowl of rice, because of the inarguable principles of supply and demand. There would be storehouses filled with hundreds of thousands of every electronic luxury you could imagine, and it would all be up for grabs because no-one would care.[/blockquote]

at last, we see the REAL world of pokemon.

Let me pull out a couple of my favorite quotes...

...I can't, the whole thing is too funny. I gotta say I think I have a favorite;

"The next problem to be addressed is the Pokemon Professors, who are known for giving out free Pokemon to underprivileged children. Why? Simple. They're Communists."

Poké-adventurer
Cut It, Move It, Burn It, Hydro Pump It

The level of technology each person has access to is ass backwards. If you`re not middle class or better all you have is running water, a telephone, a TV and a kitchen, and then everything you need to be a Pokémon Trainer. There`s probably a global tax placed apon every one that makes sure everyone has access to Pokétech. Thus, only the upper-middle class has the wealth to purchase enough power for other lower-tech or other more practical super-tech devices. And while it would be an enormous inconvenience for us to loose our gas powered cars and boats, the residents of Pokéworld have a strait forward alternative to their lack of cheap energy. Their slaves.

Facts about vehicles in Pokéwolrd:

*Canoes cost more than a young Lapras, and other water Pokémon are easier to catch*A bike costs more than a Ponyta and a years worth of Poké-Food*Many easily caught Pokémon evolve into forms that can carry one or more humans and

Fly them anywhere.*Many easily caught Pokémon can use the move Dig.*Many, many, many, Pokémon can learn how to Cut foliage. Or burn foliage. Or eat foliage.*``Hitmonchan! Rock Smash!``[/list]

So many vehicles are not simply bought due to the enormous cost of energy that you`ve spent, and continue to spend on having Pokémon. The only vehicles that are continually in service are private planes for the rich, cargo vessels and ocean liners, and commercial transports that traverse distances that a Pokémon would not be able to make in a few hours. The whole point is that you can`t buy a canoe to cross the river, you have to train the Dratini you keep in your pants to Surf. Later you can teach it to Fly, but it will double as a hungry boat `till then. In other cases you may need a Pokémon to remove an obstacle that show up in the middle of the path to the next destination.
As such, in addition to being your cock for cockfights with other people`s cocks, your Pokémon often replaces a machete, canoe, jack-hammer, first-aid kit, airplane, surge protector, camp fire, arson, leaf blower, flower arranger, baby-sitter, power source, instant messenger, security system, blanket, sporting ball, light bulb, and toxic waste management system, depending apon it`s physiology and known moves.

Rules:
Objects can be subject to attacks like creatures can, and following are guidelines for determining how difficult an object is to destroy. The numbers are based apon materials and size.

[list=1]Evasion: Objects generally don`t move. As such, the attacker`s Accuracy Roll is counted as being an automatic 20.
*Hardness: Materials have hardness value. This number represents both an object`s Physical Defense and Special Defense stats.
*HP: Objects have a certain threshold where the amount of damage they take is not significant enough to compromise it`s function. As such, objects will have a number of hit points based apon it`s composing material and thickness.*Weakness: Many materials have a method of being damaged that is more effective that others. If an damaging source is of a type that the object`s material is weak against, it takes a -4 penalty to it`s Soak Roll[/list]

Material	Hardness	Base HP	Bonus HP/inch	Weakness
Dry Foliage	2	5	1	Cutting moves, Acid, Fire
Soft Wood/Vines	6	10	2	Cutting moves, Acid, Fire
Hardwood	10	15	2	Acid
Stone	14	15	3	Smashing moves, Steel and Cutting moves
Rock	18	15	3	Smashing moves, Steel and Cutting Moves
Soft Metal	18	20	4	Fire and Smashing moves, or combining the two
Hard Metal	24	20	3	Fire and Smashing moves, or combining the two
Carbon Crystal	10	4	2	Smashing moves, Acid
Glass	12	6	2	Smashing moves
Plati-Glass	26	4	2	Fire, Cutting moves, Acid*
Psy Crystal	22	10	5	Psychic moves, Dark moves
Force Field	30	20	n/a	Any special moves

*Plasti-Glass takes a total -8 penalty from acid damage, instead of the normal -4

Setting up the Setting

You like watching the Pokemon TV shows? How about the movies? Are they lame? Yes. Informative? Definitely not. But they can provide a source of inspiration for you games, even if they are inane, but that's cause the show is geared for children while the setting is a very adult world. Confused? Let me point things out.

The premise of the setting is legalized animal fights; catch a wild animal and train it to pummel another animal.
Winning a fights earns you money.
You can use drugs to augment your animals.
You have the option of putting to animals together in a friendly setting and get them to breed. One of those animals is a blob of bubblegum.
There's a move called 'Guillotine'
While traveling, you run the risk of encountering people who will mug you for you trained animals.
While trying to catch animals, you run the risk of them killing you.

The marketing department of Nintendo geared the show for children cause of a tradition of catering to the gimme-gimmees. Using the influence children have over their parents to feed an ever growing addiction to cheap material acquisition. The setting has some very deep and dark elements that have been glossed over, dressed up and chibified. Truth be told, the kids don't want to play with dice, and most adults aren't comfortable cuddling a stuffed animal with other adults. If you want to play a Pokemon RPG, you'll have to give up the 'Win with your Heart!' BS that's for kids and understand that you are playing a game about climbing a martial-social-economic ladder to success, and some very scary obstacles and side quests will show up that you will have to use wit, cunning and tactics to overcome. As such, here are some dark supplots you could have you players explore:
-

Team Rocket Knows Sylph Co.'s Darkest Secret
"To Denounce the Evils of Truth and Love!"

You may notice something interesting in the Pokemon setting. In (almost) every town there's a pokemon centre. Running every of these centres is what appears to be the same person. Nurse Joy. A similar thing is happening with Officer Jenny. This isn't just some coincidence, somebody planned this, and used genetic engineering to pull it off. The Joys and Jennys are the same thing, just a different type. They are a genetic quirk like dwarfism or gigantism, though instead of affecting bone structure and growth, the Joy gene affects the person's personality and hair colour. A man that marries a Joy understands that his children are likely going to girls with pink hair with a knack for veterinary care and animal empathy, and their mother will insist on naming them all Joy.
You may also notice when you play the pokebreeding minigame that the offspring's species is usually the female's (eception Ditto, which is a different kinda dark secret and the Nidorans). This leads to the conclusion that Joy and Jenny are both a test run for pokemon engineering and the foundation for a pokemon centred society.

What would happen if the players reveal this to the populace? What if they try to engineer their own useful lady?
-

The Mind Watchers
"Those who live are destined to die. You may only have one destiny."

What kind of world is this? A world that has advanced matter-energy transformation technology and gives children living super weapons as playthings, but they don't have a moon colony or a deep space expedition, instead stopping the space exploration program at the moon walk? You can teleport creatures and objects anywhere with a proper setup, but you can't reach mars?
The only possible explanation for such imbecility is a shadow organization that's holding the world back. These zealots are probably psychic too. They live to watch the minds of the brightest scientists and do everything in their power to keep people focused on pokemon instead of the stars.

What if your players catch an inkling of this conspiracy? Will they join, or try to dissolve it? Would they care about it at all? How would the organization react to being discovered?
-

War Time Pokonomy
"This is my Raichu. There are many other like it, but this one's mine."

In world obsessed over legalized animal fights, what reasons could anyone have to got to war? The same reason Orcs go to war. There's not enough loot, not enough room, and not enough poon to go around. In world based on set piece matches, someone will inevitably decide it's time to even the odds by ganging up on the bigger guys. It starts with two dudes ganking a trainer, then the whole town is cheating in organized tourneys, an finally the Elite Four have decided this factions needs a smack down and be put into its place. The gutter.
A war in pokeworld is a series of pitched skirmishes of a few powerful trainers, like gym leaders, against a rabble of disorganized tamers and disgruntled ranchers from Scumsville. It's a messy business, but after the dust settles, the Elite Four go back to counting their bling and sifting thru unworthy challengers, while the surviving unhappy insurrectionists go back to being unhappy dirt farmers with less powerful pokemon, and less opportunities to get the conveniences of the elite.
Woe to the rebel who brings a gun to a cockfight, and pity the aspiring Pokemon Master who becomes the Elite Four's ire before he's ready.

Oh dear God it's back.

Also, what if we combine the two last ones you mentioned? The Pokemon world is not earth, instead a planet-sized creche for a larger space-faring civilization. Plucked from this planet are the best and the brightest of the pokemon trainers, who use pokemon (lets face it, they're biological war machines) as infantry. Everyone who defeats the Four (who are in fact highly trained recruitment officers) gets taken and drafted into the military.

I will be back for this thread after I go out and pre-order Platinum...or go to work. Whatever works.

PS: I am interested. I...I caught them all. All nearly 500 of them.

493, with multiple forms for several, which brings the actual total to 498. There's also 393 moves.

Yeah, 493. That's right. Obviously the Shaymin isn't truly legit but it isn't a hack, either. It was earned in the normal way, once unlocked. To my knowledge none of them are hacks but obviously to get that many I had to do a fair amount of online trading so I can't be positive. I know I've had some hacks pass through me and I may have a couple still in my boxes but I didn't simply cheat to get them all. It took a loooong time. I guess I'm a geek among geeks.

Does your first post not include your entire system? It doesn't seem to.

Your use of Effort Values don't really reflect how they work in the game unless I am missing something.