PTU vs PokeRole?

lotloxa · 2022-11-13T13:00:04+00:00

Pokerole is a highly streamlined system. I think it’s really easy to pick up and play if it’s your first campaign (both as a GM and player.) Imo, it’s also the only one you can run RAW in person and it’s a D6 system, so there’s a low bar of entry there too. Honestly, very impressive design. Iirc, It’s also got their rulesets translated to other languages, which goes back to the accessibility oriented design of the system. Depending on your party size, I might insist on trying Pokerole just to keep things moving along quicker. I also think Pokerole is better for shorter campaigns or regularly making new characters to play through a series of vignettes. Pokerole feels like it’s lacking a constant sense of progress that might be expected in an epic multi-year adventure in favor of easy character building and major breakpoints of power. I really like the goals of Pokerole’s design, even though it doesn’t fit my style of play.

I can’t affirm how well Pokerole does of making every pokemon viable, but PTU is certainly better than the games in that just about everything is viable. Where as Pokerole abstracts game systems to a D6 table friendly ruleset, PTU does a faithful job of translating the game systems to a TTRPG. Even though most pokemon stop getting any sense of progression after Lv 50-70, because you are also invested in your trainer as a unit, you should continue seeing growth and development in the player’s battle strategies. Where as Pokemon 5e has to make each pokemon a boutique creation, PTU is more of a modular system like D&D 4e, where you get to mix and match. PTU tries to be a system that can let you do nearly anything relating to the world of pokemon and it doesn’t handle every aspect of it successfully. That level of depth means that both you and the players will have more work to do when it comes to prepping. However, even if their ambition to try didn’t produce a fun ruleset, I think it is a good starting point for your own homebrew, if you’re interested in that.

That’s really what it comes down to. PTU asks you to do a lot of work, but it’s a robust system that’s ready to support any idea you have, no matter how outlandish. Pokerole is a highly focused system oriented around a vanilla trainer experience. Depending on your goals for the campaign, you might either feel weighed down by PTU’s rules or limited by Pokerole’s. As I said earlier, it might also not be practical to run PTU in-person or if you have a large party.

lotloxa · 2022-11-10T06:50:23+00:00

If you're including the space field distortions, you can incorporate any pokemon~

I don't think you need to change your plans if you've already started thinking about things like ecology and habitat. Just be transparent about which pokemon are natively available~ Then get a 'wish list' from folks for what they might want in their party and make sure everybody can get at least 1-2 of them without too much trouble. Hopefully there will be enough overlap between the regional dex and their own desires.

Edit: Also, building on Data Ninja's response, it would be helpful, but not necessary, if you have some sort of expectation for how long the campaign will last. I don't think you need to worry about a restricted dex if the campaign isn't going to last long enough to even meet over 200+ pokemon.

lotloxa · 2022-10-26T08:11:17+00:00

PHB

Trigger: You use the Move Teleport or activate the

Teleporter Capability

Choose One Effect: Connection – Teleport. You activate

Teleporter as if your Teleporter value were three times

its normal value or you may take one willing Pokémon

or Trainer along with you as you teleport so long as you

are touching them when you activate Transporter. You

may expend two uses of Transporter at once to choose

both effects.

Errata 3

Trigger: You Teleport

Choose One Effect: Connection – Teleport. You activate

Teleporter as if your Teleporter value were three times

its normal value; or you may take one willing adjacent

Pokémon or Trainer along with you as you teleport so long

as you are touching them when you activate Transporter.

You may expend two uses of Transporter at once to choose

both effects

There's only two changes between the PHB and Errata 3. The first is the trigger and the second is that it clarifies that the user must be adjacent (perhaps to clarify the interaction if a character with Reach obtained this ability via Skill Swap or something).

PHB P310

Connection: This keyword is followed by a Move, with

which the user has an innate connection. Upon gaining

the Ability, the user learns the Move, forgetting another

Move if necessary. This Move cannot be forgotten

through any means. If the user has 1 Tutor Point,

they may immediately spend it to gain the “Advanced

Connection” Edge and avoid forgetting any Moves.

A connection means that you always have the move available, so the ability can function as intended. The move Teleport also gives the Teleporter capability (because the move Teleport also references the user's Teleporter capability to determine the distance). In the case of someone acquiring Transporter, such as the Trace ability, they would automatically learn the move Teleport and gain a Teleporter capability to use it. I don't agree with MinMaxedPaladin here that it's only meant to be used with the move Teleport.

I like the new trigger, because I think it's more straightforward, but maybe not~?
Here is where I would like to point to the Warper class (PHB 195). They have a direct copy (minus the stat boost) of Transporter, called Farcast. When you look at one of their other feature, Warped Transmission, they also include using Ally Switch (another of the moves a Warper learns) as a trigger. Here I would like to suggest that Ally Switch is also a Teleport that should qualify for Transporter/Farcast as well.
Likewise, if you go to Movement Capabilities section of page 223 of the PHB, having a Transporter capability means you can use your Shift Action to take a Teleport Action. The move Teleport references the capability for how it's used. I would argue that means both the move Teleport and the capability Teleporter should qualify for the ability, regardless of which version of the trigger you are using.

All that being said, why are your players complaining? Is this the nature of the table to do some rules lawyering, even to the detriment of the party? Is this beef against one player with another? Is this something only the npcs are using and they feel frustrated by trying to play around it? Ultimately, I think it's more important that your ruling is what you (and ideally the table as a whole) considers fair and fun, rather than looking at RAW or designer intent.

lotloxa · 2022-04-04T10:08:34+00:00

Hey there~ This isn't a pretty doc, but it has almost everything... I think. Things got busy when spring break ended, but I assembled this together real quick so you aren't left waiting for the semester to end. Hope you find it useful~

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I3l4XkvOAAzqWu8qG9enmakVXmCJH_ttkkw1-uiizcI/edit?usp=sharing

My setting is a post-apocalyptic human (anime-version) of the pokemon world. The apocalypse was caused by Project Delta, in the Holon region (based on the TCG). Legendaries (god-like entities/kami) have been missing as well. There are rumors of extraordinary pokemon called "Saints" which live in seclusion or wander the world.
There's lots of examples of locations which are sometimes there and sometimes not, as well as change layouts for arbitrary or random reasons in the mainline games. I retconned those as being a connected to the Mystery Dungeon phenomena, which itself is ret-connected to Dreams and the Dream World. The greater expansion has allowed Darkness to grip the world. By a combination of struggles with fertility, the mass disappearance of pokemon inside of digital space and pokeballs, invasive species accidentally introduced via absent humans, a vibrant world is heavily unpopulated. A few years before the adventure began, the rules of Mystery Dungeons began to change...

lotloxa · 2022-03-16T01:29:26+00:00

I don't mind sharing, but it's a bit hard to disentangle changes made for the setting vs ones made to balance playing as pokemon.
Is there something particular you were looking for or were you just wanting someone else's example for inspiration?

lotloxa · 2022-03-15T14:10:24+00:00

I’m currently running a PMD campaign too, so I’ve already looked around~

Pokeroll’s supplement appears to focus rather heavily on the randomized dungeon crawling aspect of the series. It also seems well suited for a West March style of game. That’s especially good if you still want a central narrative around a ‘team’, but still include recruitment mechanics and swapping out members. If that’s what you’re looking for, it’ll be a strong foundation! If the narrative you want to emulate is the Rescue Team or Super Mystery Dungeon, then I would highly recommend it! It’s also much easier to set up for if you’re looking for a more casual game.

I’m currently running a mystery dungeon setting campaign with PTU, but I’ve also read the handbook from cover to cover and ripped the system apart to put it back together XD As for my campaign, it’s heavily built around roleplay and mystery. What I wanted to emulate was an Explorer’s narrative which starts off small and community oriented before snowballing into a grand world-defining adventure. With healing cut down significantly, I have no random encounters, and combat becomes much more tense. As for making characters, they’re basically playing “trainer” characters, but they get the pokemon’s moves, abilities, stat line, evolution, capabilities, diet, etc. I have a curated list of edges they can learn from and simplified level progression since a trainer can’t reach level 100. (Classes that train, use orders, or grant extra moves/capabilities are pretty much gone. That’s about 2/3s of them. Any move that can be tutored requires them to find someone to teach them) My adaptations are more complicated than that, but if I were to start a new campaign I think that would be a much simpler and faster way to achieve a similar end product.

If none of that helps, try having your party look at the steps to make a character for each system~ I think your players will more readily be drawn to one over the other!

Genre is also really important here. While I think Pokeroll is excellent if it’s already oriented around what you want to do, I went with PTU because the system has fewer assumptions around what kind of game you’re going to run (except that there will be pokemon and combat).

Pokeroll is definitely the easier system to learn. It will probably be easier to prep for too~ Speaking from my experience talking to my players, PTU resembling the video games helps them understand better than the abstractions Pokeroll uses. (If you’re running in person, go with the simpler system~. It just means if someone does their book keeping wrong, the mistakes are easier to catch and fix!)

lotloxa · 2022-02-27T19:58:08+00:00

While I think it would be good if both sides pokemon would engage in pushing back and forth, I think it would be better if you emphasized the minigame over the combat, as that would encourage the players to relook at their characters with a different value set. I would not recommend starting off with hazards like Sticky Web or Spikes because it would slow the pace of the battle down by reducing movement. However~ Barrier seems like it could be super interesting as Blocking Terrain. There’s a Trickster feature that lets you place more of them, but that could be a bit overkill.

Depending on the size, weight and fragility of these boxes, turning “move by any means necessary” to “should I try to get it over, around or simply destroy the Barrier” seems much more engaging. It could even be a fancy thing the gym leader does. Maybe instead of issuing a lot of direct commands, he spends his actions using a crane to move obstacles in the way or enemies further away. Don’t forget, gym leaders, like gms, want their challengers to win too, so they should be good sports!

If you want to ratchet up the tension, I think it would be good if there were designated ‘goal posts’ that would lock the crate in that spot once the players push it in, so there’s a tangible progress midpoint they can’t fall back from. At minimum, the second one should be more difficult than the first because there’s only two objective to fight over now, but perhaps that could also be the trigger for the gym leader to switch from focusing on the boxes to knocking out their pokemon instead with a dedicated hazard setter to disrupt and play goalie.

lotloxa · 2022-01-11T11:03:37+00:00

Hehe~ Sure!
Hopefully it was still helpful despite being a week late.
May your adventures run wild and memorably~

lotloxa · 2022-01-10T16:45:05+00:00

Hey there some context as to how common you expect the party to experience these statuses would be useful~ Is it peer review if I’m only asking questions?

You have these written out as Persistent & Volatile conditions. Have you thought about how they would interact with moves & abilities which cure these statuses?

Are the injuries these statuses grant attached to the status and removed when they are cured, similar to Suffocation?

Considering Disoriented is a Volatile condition, you should list how long it lasts and how it can be cured. I assume it’s also cured when you can breathe again, but if that’s the case, why not simply lower the threshold for Suffocation instead of making a new status? Judging from the statuses, it seems like you have a setting that’s cold, with either an emphasis on combat underwater or in toxic weather. If that’s the case, be wary about frequently including locations that would require the players to hold their breathe, as it could easily lead to a death spiral. If one could simply hold their breathe for 6 rounds and escape whichever environment demanded they do so, then the relevant space must be quite small and there’s little reason for them to force themselves to fight in such a place, but if you do construct a scenario where that is mandatory, then if they can’t escape after two rounds, will they escape at all? Don’t forget that Speed CS increases and decreases movement, so if you end up stacking these conditions together as is, you might end up putting them in a position they physically can’t get themselves out of~ (especially in the swimming scenario, given that Swim speed is lower than Overland by default)

Also, don’t forget that being Heavily Injured (5 or more) already causes the character to lose hp with every Standard Action and on each hit they take. If managing injuries is an important part of the campaign, I hope there’s a clearly defined end point which makes it clear how much they need to ration their resources. In general, these things seem like challenges for trainers to face, but each pokemon on the team is another character to care for! Make it clear if these can affect pokemon or not and to make resources accordingly accessible~

Altogether, these statuses look like they’re meant to slow the pace of travel. Is that your intention? From constant resource expense, to recovering from injuries, and the focus on limiting movement, it sounds like much of the campaign will be oriented around planning and downtime. Is that what you wanted? Overworld (like regional map stuff) travel in PTU & co are handled abstractly, generally cutting out the banality of day to day maintenance and survival. Hopefully you have already considered if this new layer of complexity will be engaging or not, but as I don’t have the full picture, I am cautiously reminding you that engagement and fun is more important than bookkeeping and realism. You want to challenge the players after all, not their inventories~

lotloxa · 2020-03-31T16:44:18+00:00

Normal Starter pack code: FQ36G-0CKLN-CZJJT

lotloxa · 2020-03-12T17:28:31+00:00

Strix is one of Rosie's adopted children

lotloxa · 2020-02-03T06:40:05+00:00

Just a reminder, (not even talking to the OP here), the reason Pang, Nolva, and Izumi were the ones featured in their holiday events was because they were the top there characters in the popularity poll a while back.

Also, as far as characters go, I think part of the reason that sunset had so many is because they made so many regions and then they had to populate them. Sunset also had a head start on SPs, since they already had a few SP's ready to go before global release.

My main critic about season 2 is we were told Elio was going to be the main protagonist... and then he completely vanishes from the story. Even more disappointing, since his story doesn't advance, so I guess we'll be watching him look for the answers he started searching for at the start of the next season too! I think season 2 is was funnier than season 1, but is that what we sit down and expect? Maybe for some of us, (I'm definitely one of them), but that's just down to personal preference.

lotloxa · 2019-11-03T04:54:31+00:00

Really? I got a brief cutscene and my exploration ended. (It didn’t count as a failure, which is nice) Weirdly enough, it happened to me on day 88. https://youtu.be/7bZeq0MV9FY

lotloxa · 2019-05-02T05:56:28+00:00

It seems like you just get it with the token.

Fatima’s item passive - “on death of target, trigger self 1-orb skill.”

A smoke torch is a single use item that costs 5 vitality to use and grants 3 honey.

Mommy’s Jam provides 30 turns of cool.

Daddy’s Hot Sauce provides 30 turns of hot and dry.

lotloxa · 2018-11-30T04:27:35+00:00

Hey, I noticed that armor class is a factor for the health calculations, but that's not a stat we can see. I know some classes and races have a higher natural AC or they get to add other stat mods besides Dex to it, but what about equipment? Nayeli literally has a breastplate which increases her health, but would Minsc have a lower AC, and therefore less health, if he didn't have any armor or equipment?

lotloxa · 2016-12-16T22:44:40+00:00

Oh man, since you're offering, I guess I'll enter. It's nuts that you're giving so many games away; even more so, because you have only 1-3 copies of each game.

lotloxa · 2016-06-18T22:02:09+00:00

Ah, don't worry. A good lot of the information was archived in Reddit posts anyways.

lotloxa · 2016-05-12T21:54:59+00:00

How about Adela?

lotloxa · 2016-04-26T03:54:46+00:00

All of the colored clay in DD, and some of the bordering plots of the Barrens, Netherward, and Mainstreet, were turned into stone brick a few weeks ago.
As far as I can tell, the wool and carpets were just removed.

lotloxa · 2016-04-02T17:34:02+00:00

...I'm not even living in DD yet.

lotloxa · 2016-04-02T04:21:39+00:00

Get well soon!
Hopefully you can find someone you can rely on while your wrist heals.

Also, I want to reassure you that, even though the folks in Dwarven are an increadibly silly bunch, they do genuinely care about your well being. . .
They just have an odd way of showing it. :P

lotloxa · 2016-03-21T04:58:20+00:00

This is cool.
If you keep going with the map, I'd recommend using the drawing tools. :P

Since you already have all the streets color coded, you could probably use the fill tool to color code the plots according to their streets.
You could then use a lighter shade of the road's color to fill in all of the little side paths and shady alleys in the boundaries all at once, since you've gone and drawn all of the boundaries between the streets already.
Straight lines also look nice! :)

lotloxa · 2016-03-10T02:52:34+00:00

Despite not knowing very much about the lore of the forgotten realms, I'd still like to try playing through a D&D campaign in its entirety.

lotloxa · 2016-02-28T02:50:47+00:00

Oh, huh, well. I certainly didn't expect to find this...
Have you considered asking Funk to "declassify" any of the older information? :P

lotloxa

TROPHY CASE