Catching pokemon in a pen and paper game

Related to this and this. If I am using tamed monsters as a magic system, there has to be a way to catch them. Or not? I am very confused about how to do it. 

On one hand I have the analogic ways:

Getting into the wilderness (aka the tall grass)  until a monster pops up, then catching them with a pokeball equivalent. This works perfectly on the videogames, but I see how it can become tedious on a tabletop. Grinding a place to find one pokemon that one player happens to want makes all the other players who dont have anything to do at that place just stop and watch the show. If I do it too easy so the pokemon is catched fast, its almost the same as giving the player the monster straight. 

An even more analogic version of this is if the monsters are not catch with pokeballs, but convinced to follow a leader by actually roleplaying and discovering the monster's motivations or personality. This is great to have sometimes, but having it as the main point of the game for sorcerers and not for the rest of the classes might make them absorb a lot of game time that is not spent doing teamwork. It is also difficult, as it might seem easy to bond with a pikachu in game, but other monsters can be a challenge for the GM to roleplay in this manner.

A middle option is to make the player roll their pokeball or do their talk no jutsu once per downtime or so, allowing retrys once some time has passed.

The more boring option is just to give the players pokemon on level ups just as if they were magician spells. They can select from a random heap of them (whatever invocation scrolls are available on the local library, or whatever local pokemon are on the nearby grass), maybe adding any monster they met on their adventures to the list of possibles. This removes the need of doing all the work in character, though still the first options can be used for legendary or special pokemon. But something feels bad about taking from players the experience of catching their rattattas.

This opens the problem of that players catching their pokemon diegetically advance more than those spending their level ups on them. Its easy to fix, though, by making those diegetical ones "temporal" until the next level up, and then requiring the player to spend the level up "keeping" them just as if they were their downtime catch. This can apply from cosmic monsters who manifest as spells to a plain dog who is an animal companion. 

As an addendum, there is something I don't like about Naruto's summoning: Servant animals are supposed to be someplace when you just "teleport" them into battle or whatever. This is ridiculously easy to break by PCs in order, for example, to send real-time messages through them as they dispell the summoning; and you run into the risk of summoning a sleeping dog at night or summon a giant toad at the moment he was sitting on the toilet taking a shit,

 

 

 

 

 

rpg design tips I heard somewhere.

 

 

1. Have a setting, as to write the rules around it. Do not be as lame as to make a generic ruleset and then put a setting over it. 

2. Evoke the setting. Make it as tangible as possible through description, implied descriptions, tables, clichés. Tangible is better than sensible. 

3. Do not write optional rules; make the effort to choose the best option yourself, you are the designer. GMs do not like having to decide that shit. Players in general are not dumb and will homebrew their own rules eventually if they don't like the established ones.

4. Make it so the players have either a long or short term goal right at the start. A good long term goal will make the players decide a first step towards it. A good short term goal will unlock new goals by its pursue and/or its resolution.   

just some album i made at home

in spanish :/ 

What binds the party together?

Over time, I've realized that there is a great advantage for everybody implicated on a campaign when the PCs party belong to an established group in-game, with an implied goals and sometimes, even a roster for backup PCs.

On our cyberpunk campaigns, it was the gang. Everybody starting as gang members gave you a drive and an identity instantaneously, leaving your character background story for whenever you wanted (or never). You never had to think about why your character was adventuring with the rest of the party (even though you could if you wanted). Blades in the Dark is built on that, too. On the game I wrote some days ago, PCs are assumed to form a group of Vampire Hunters.

They are not as evident, but Shadowrun and OSR D&D work nice for that, too: Your character starts as a gold seeker first, background second. It is very easy to work a game with no preemptive thinking as long as you start the game in the door of the dungeon (One of the best advice I've ever heard). By the time the party has reached town/downtime, the characters and the dynamics amongst them will be fleshed out organically. The world is designed so shadowrunners/adventurers are a thing running around the setting, so restoring a lost member is an easy task for the players.

Now that I think about it, on our Naruto campaign, we started as a team of three under the tutelage of a Jonin NPC, and our master started the game during a ninja exam. It was one of my first games and I roleplayed my ninja girl trying to go home until the teacher set a trap on her hahaha. 

On the opposite side, I remember the Usagi Yojimbo campaign I ran where I was fucking autistic trying to make sense of every single detail and had a session zero with all the players separatelly where we created the character, back when it wasn't called session zero yet. It was an awesome campaign that I wish I had made some kind of log. I used the old technique of putting the players on a tavern and dropping a hook and hoping they picked it. What got me in love with Pen and Paper RPGs back then was the idea of a Video Game with unbound freedom to do whatever you wanted, and if they had chose to ignore the hook and walk out the inn in the rain I was devoted to make it possible, but Im glad they didn't.

To summarize, the thesis is that the less background, and the more the characters are defined by their role instead of their personal idiosincrasy, the easier it is for the GM and players alike to start a campaing in a meaningful direction, leaving the rest for a second or third sessions where the inertia has already put the game in motion.

Crime Gangs, Esoteric Cults, Brotherhoods against a common evil and Public Officers of some kind are good examples of groups that work nicely (and D&D raiders count as crime gangs I guess). I'm set on running a fantasy game with no dungeons someday, playing into the medieval/court life part of medieval fantast, but I have trouble imagining what kind of elements for party cohesion can I make up, being that things such as a wizard doesnt fit into a group of knight retainers... IDK. Its not that its really needful: we are adults today and I can just make up missions, point my finger at the player and say: "take the hook, motherfucker" but you know, I always spend time thinking about things like that. 

 

 

 

VS THE VAMPIRE LORDS (a one page rpg)

 

Something I sent to this game jam to make me write a little. The game is here. You can see many of the last year's entries condensed in that single page, Of course, it is not tested, its written in just a couple of nights as a test, but I'm actually very happy with it. Google's AI helped me with one of the last letters, can you guess which one? Answer in the comments! 

 

EDIT: If you don't want to go through the ItchIo process, just read the game below in text format, I'm gonna copy and paste it here.  Download it if you want it optimized for one page.

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VS THE VAMPIRE LORDS,  by alchemistnocturne.blogspot.com

Roll/Choose a Background: 

1-2-3: Vampire Hunter: When the order was disbanded and your leader was captured, he managed to give 
you a 12x12 square map: it marks the secret hideout of the Vampire Lord of the East. Many allies died making that map. You start with a sword, a javelin or a bow. 

4-5: Retrieved Child: Those bird.masked doctors gave you a catatonia-induced drug and told your parents you had died from the plague. The order rescued you on their way to the vampire's lair. 

6: Skeptical peasant: You are too smart to believe in vampires, but had to flee with the party when the king's men mistook you for a member during the raid. 

Distribute 1d4, 2d6, and 1d8 between these skills. When playing, a 6 is a full success, a 4 or a 5 you succeed partially or with complications.

Combat: on a 4 or a 5, deal 1 damage. On a 6, deal the weapon's damage (usually 2 to 3). Roll your combat die at the start to find your Maximum Hit Points. If you get 0 HP or less, you are wounded. When on negative HP, roll your combat dice + your current HP and try to reach 1, on a failure you pass 
out and will die if abandoned. 

Lore: Once per session, decide something that is true in the current place, or put something you want in the map, 1d6 squares away, On a 4-5 the square is randomized. 

Item: Produce any item from your backpack. On a 4-5 this skill depletes until next downtime. You can normally carry four objects in your inventory but ignore that limit when you use this skill. 

Attitude: Choose, roll or make up your own: 1.Bossy, 2.Angry, 3.Teasing 4.Devoted 5.Meek 6.Emo 7.Pick-me 8.Empathic. If you think your attitude is beneficial to any action (any), you can roll this instead of relying in the GMs fiat. 

When you level up, you can change your attitude. Also raise the die size of any attribute, and re-roll your combat die for HP. If the amount is higher, keep the new one.

ARMOR is mostly Roman-Inspired loricas that add 1 to 3 HP. Actually, when in doubt, imagine this game with late roman and post-roman V century aesthetics. 

BLOOD is what all vampires crave. Victims do not have to be drained to death, and some vampires feed on the same person many times, but the victim becomes mentally manipulated by the vampire, gets sick and eventually dies unless the vampire gives the victim its own blood (turning them into a vampire) or the vampire attacker is killed. 

CAESARS were the governors of the world before the plague. The last caesar is defamed as a madman who spread the plague, but only a few know that he actually tried to expel the Vampire Lords and set the foundation for the Guild of Vampire Hunters. Praying on the secret grave of the last caesar will make you level up at the end of a session.

DOG ROSE can be set on any door or coffin lid to prevent a Vampire from opening it. Garlic flowers and crosses are also strong repellants.

EMPIRICS is the official name for the bird-masked doctors who treat the sick and sicken the healthy. They work directly for vampire handlers.

FOUL demons also exist and manifest as disasters and plague. Vampires have probably a demonic origin.

GUARDSMEN are most often women, due to strong, able men being constantly purged. They are mostly loyal to the king they serve, but are oblivious to the vampire existence. Their classic weapon is the sword. Most peasants will eagerly report any plaguebearer behavior to them.

HETAIRAS are often pretty young girls who were raised and brainwashed by vampire handlers. They travel from town to town singing songs interlaced with vampiric propaganda. The male equivalents are Hetairoi and use to form boy bands.

INITIATIVE is simultaneous, everyone declares their actions and then they happen. When two or more people are involved in a melee against each other, only the biggest roll happens. In case of a tie, they both happen and those involved can attack each other again.

JOURNALS written in the ancient times are now only found in forgotten, ruined enclaves or in the hand of secretive owners, for vampires sought to find and destroy them all. Recovering an old journal will get you a level up.

KINGS are puppets for the vampire lords. They have promised that he will someday become a vampire too if they obey their commands. 

LOW LEVEL VAMPIRES do exist, and work for a Vampire Lord master in some way, such as lieutenants, assistants or brides. Their powers and combat prowess are limited. Killing a vampire or thwarting any vampire's plan will make you level up after a session.

MIRRORS are an effective way to detect vampires. Dogs are also detect them very easily, but the tax for having a dog increases every year.

NIGHTFALL is when vampires can freely act and use their powers. Sunlight weakens the vampires, who become letargic and defenseless, so they normally hurry up to their coffins or any other shelter before it. They cannot cross running water either, or a portal into an inhabited place without being invited first.

ONE square travelled takes one day.  GM can make up things on the way, but they can't be changed afterwards. Generally, the party must agree an action for the day and another for the night (march, search, rest, socialize, forage...) 1d6-2 lost HP are refillled by resting. 

PLAGUE never happened. It is being used for decades as a general method for control, like keeping peasants away from hot squares, attributing rebellions and resistance to alleged “plaguebearers” and justify the acts of the empirics.

QUEEN on the eastern castle is actually an obvious transvestite man. Vampire Lords forced the king to marry him as an act of submission. Anyone pointing at this fact has been accused of plaguebearer to date.

REVELATIONS about the plague, reading old books or defying the impending narrative openly will soon mark you as a plaguebearer and be captured for punishment or execution. Waking up an NPC to these revelations will, however, make you level up at the end of the session.

SHIELDS are commonplace and can be used after you have received an attack, Simply roll your combat die over the enemy's roll. On a tie, the attack hits and the shield breaks. 

THREE more lairs exist in the world, and simply finding their placement will earn you a level after that session.

UTENSILS that can be used as weapons deal 2 damage, while proper weapons do 3 but are banned to the 
commons under the accusation of being a bandit. Real bandits are extremelly rare, and felony murders are often a discrete way to dispose of a rebel.

VAMPIRE LORDS rule the world unopposed, only rivalled by each other. After centuries of being feared and persecuted, they finally convinced the world that they don't exist. Their powers include summoning storms, vermin, wolves and all kinds of ruin, assuming the shape of enormous dogs or mist, reading the minds of their thralls and controlling them mentally. They can also know things remotelly through bats and other informants. Once you have crossed a Lord, expect them to send constant trouble until you've deceived their radar. 

WARS are programmed periodically between kingdoms as a way to purge strong men. In order to dispose of all of them (even the victors) vampires have pushed poisonous weapons into fashion. Some Vampire Lords like to witness battles with their vampiric vassals in disguise, so they can feast on the dying after the carnage.

XYPHOS are legendary two-handed sabers, forged in the times of the Caesars. On a roll of 6 or more, you can make a second attack.

YIELDING destroys the spirit progressivelly. Sometimes, the vampire law has practical benefits, other times,laws such as prima nocte exist to assert dominance and make people defend the new regime through the sunk cost fallacy.

ZEPHYRUS wind strangely blowing in the cold months means you're gonna receive a sign shortly, if you say “tell me, good Zephyrus”, or so the oldest amongst you heard as a kid. 

Into the Odd + Pokemon = Into the Oddish

Something I found out that somebody else is doing,

 

 The only page I have seen from the rules. I love everything about this. 

 

 this third party blog is recruiting people to write the whole 151 pokemon + all the moves. I'll try to contribute if I get some time

Meta-Abilities

 

 

Which is in where the players influence the world not through the actions of their character, but by writing the narrative around it. 

I've been using this kind of things more and more every year, and I love how much crap they cut, how many problems they solve and how many good ideas they inject into the sessions. 

As for now, I have "codified" them in separate skills, which must be picked up by characters alongside the combat skills and the spells. I think about them as the "rogue" moveset; solving some problems I had here.  Translated from my spanish rules, they are: 

 

)) FLASHBACK: Every character can roll 1d6 to declare having done a simple action retroactivelly (alerted an NPC, bought a item, took any specific precaution...). If you have the FLASHBACK skill, you roll 2d6 instead. If your character has a relevant backstory, this can involve specific items such as antidotes or lockpicks, but not alchemical compounds as they are too specific (see next one)

On a 1-3, it didnt work. Deplete this skill

On a 4-5, it worked, but deplete this skill until downtime

On a 6, it worked

)) ALCHEMY: You are expert making a specific alchemical product that you normally have on yourself. If you have this skill, you can roll to produce any alchemical product you have seen in the game or just describe it, and your GM will give you the closest to it as possible. Roll 1d6:

1-3 you have that amount of your alchemical compound doses. Exhaust this skill until downtime

4-5 you either have your classic compound, or get any other but exhaust this skill

6 you get any alchemical thing but exhaust this skill

Normally I rule that health-related items are not alchemical, though poisons and acids are.

 )) INVESTIGATOR: You can ask the GM any question related to a presented mystery, and as always roll 1d6. The GM will tell you the answer but you must roleplay a moment of epiphany watching whatever random shit there is at the game location.

As always, roll 1d6: 1-3 means change your question. 4-5 means you have it, 6 means you do not expend this skill. It recharges by downtime resting.

 

These skills are tied to a specific character and I like that they are tied to specific archetypes. They can be meta, but are not dissociated and you can understand how they did work in-world, or what the character did to achieve those results.

 
I also have some other examples which are more or less open to everyone at the table, which are:

)) An In-game bestiary: a book with 1d4 pages, which will answer some questions about monsters and then be depleted. It can be ported to any other topic, though. 

)) Spend downtime in the marketplace searching for a specific item and roll 1d6: On a 6, you find the item 1 tier cheaper than its normal value, you can decide why it is so cheap. On a 4-5, the GM will tell you, though maybe when it is too late and you are far from civilization.

)) I want to incorporate a new one, which now goes like this: Once per session, ONE of the characters can state something he/she did, someone he/she met or something he/she learnt at some point before the adventure started. On a 6, it is mostly true. On a 4-5 it is too, but nobody can use this move until the next session. 1-3, you cannot use this move until next session. The GM will note what you said, though, and play along if he wants. 

The once per session per party is a limit so the game doesnt devolve into making up PCs pasts every session: the first character to speak, does it. However, another player may also declare the move at the same time: the one who rolls higher, prevails. 

The statements must not contradict previous information and of course, the GM can say no i guess. The kind of things you can alter includes:

"I know one of the NPCs in the crowd, its an old friend/lover/relative"

"I know the king of this land" 

"This city has a clandestine casino somewhere" 

 "We are safe, Owlbears do not wander the forest on Christmas"

Basically anything that speaks about what the character has done or learnt on his early life. Young characters can portray this skill as carrying and reading an elder relative's diary, for example. 

With this skill, I want to give my players some agency into introducing random things they want to see in the game at any given point. They do it many times without any rules, just organically. But I like to make rules to codify their behavior because thats how autistic I am. 

No, I want to explain me better: I want those rules to be a way to invite them to inject more random things on the campaign, because I've learnt that many good things come from it: They are more interested on the things happening, and it makes the world richer because it normally pushes the game to places I would not have gone.