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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Rules for official pokemon battles?

    So I'm running a pokemon tabletop game, mostly through discord. Now, I've been putting together a basic set of rules that official gym battles draw upon (would share, but I don't have the file on my phone rn).

    But, I still think I might be missing something, so I thought I'd ask some input from people: what kind of official rulings could gym trainer/leader battles implement?

    Thanks in advance.
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    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Rules for official pokemon battles?

    What do you mean by "official rulings?" Are you looking for a system to handle the battle (ie, PTU), or variant rules for the system you're already using?
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    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Rules for official pokemon battles?

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    What do you mean by "official rulings?" Are you looking for a system to handle the battle (ie, PTU), or variant rules for the system you're already using?
    Let's take some examples from the anime, usually you only saw both trainers being allowed to use a set number of pokemon. I was also thinking of things like whether one or both trainers are allowed to switch their pokemon out freely, or if items are allowed.

    Hopefully that clarifies things.
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    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Rules for official pokemon battles?

    You're thinking too small. Add special environments, challenges apart from just hitting each other, and go nuts. Full contact soccer/football, capture the flag, some climbing race (with high winds), a strategy game like chess controlling where you can put pokemon and when they are allowed to attack...
    I suppose ask your players what they want before you go crazy.

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    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Rules for official pokemon battles?

    Quote Originally Posted by Glimbur View Post
    You're thinking too small. Add special environments, challenges apart from just hitting each other, and go nuts. Full contact soccer/football, capture the flag, some climbing race (with high winds), a strategy game like chess controlling where you can put pokemon and when they are allowed to attack...
    I suppose ask your players what they want before you go crazy.
    Those actually are angles I mostly hadn't even thought about. I was already considering the addition of environments. But I'll have to consider this, and take some of this to the players to see what they think.

    Thanks.
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    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Rules for official pokemon battles?

    I think i understand...


    In the anime the first gym battle (Brock vs Ash) the leader asks him if it was his first battle. He also decreed how many pokemon were to be used.

    It should also be noted that in every gym to date has a clear area outlined for both trainers and pokemon. Charzard once bailed on Ash by flying outside that area and taking a nap and was disqualified. It is unclear if he was disqualified for leaving the area on purpose, for obviously not participating or being outside the area.


    I figure then the gym rules are simple and the following;
    Asking for previous experience (etiquette, optional)
    Declaring number of pokemon to be used ahead of time
    Trainers and pokemon staying inside their designated area when possible (for safety)
    No coup de grace (the show never had killing as expected but this might need to be considered that it can happen in your game/world)

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    Orc in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Rules for official pokemon battles?

    Many many years ago, my little brother wanted to play Pokemon as a table top RPG, and I recommended M&M 2e for it. As luck would have it, the Atomic Think Tank had someone asking for the same, so I posted my notes there.

    Lemme see how strong my Google-fu is and I'll post a link to it.

    As for how to run a Gym event in the game proper, I'm going to ask if you have multiple players. It can get really boring for other players to wait for each player to run through the gym (And chances are, everyone is going to want to collect their 8 badges). I found it easiest to just have 4 or 5 Gym Trainers and the Gym leader to engage everyone at the same time. Otherwise, it's best for one on one sessions or have the other players doing something while the Gym contestant fights the Gym leader.

    Typical Pokemon rules are no more then 6 Pokemon on anyone's person. Pokemon fight until unconscious, and only reviving is allowed with the League battles, not standard Gyms. Gym leaders usually have Pokemon of a specific type and usually a shared move among them (though not all Gyms are like this), and the environment of the Gym is there to emphasize their type (Grounding poles for a Flying type Gym as Flying Pokemon are weak to electricity, or a subterranean Gym for Ground type Pokemon, where they can utilize their mobility.) And, of course, you can't catch your opponent's Pokemon or deliberately attack your opponent specifically (And sometimes indirectly). You shouldn't kill your opponent's Pokemon, but it's not very easy to do that anyway.

    EDIT: For link of the content

    Wa-Cha!! My post was the top result! Google-Fu for the win!

    Man... all the way back when Iron Spider was a thing and my SN was Crimsom Innocence... mispelling and all... Good times.
    Last edited by Son of A Lich!; 2019-10-18 at 10:57 PM.
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  8. - Top - End - #8
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Rules for official pokemon battles?

    Kinds of battle
    There's five kinds of battles, all have rules (even when it doesn't seem like it).

    General rule being don't attack humans ever, don't attack fainted Pokemon, and don't steal Pokemon.

    Tournaments are somewhat obvious. Equal numbers of Pokemon, fixed area. A real tournament would allow no or items, or a hard limit. The video games allow items as a conceit to allow players an advantage.

    Friendly battles: don't attack other players or use items. The video games have the conceits of items being allowed and these battles being required. You may want to think of why a player would be expected to engage in every random challenge they get, (maybe reputation?)

    Gym battles: These are tests, not contests. Don't be afraid to give the gym an unfair advantage (after all they have the major weakness that the players know what kinds of Pokemon they'll be using). Force them to demonstrate mastery of a certain aspect of the game. Don't be afraid to make them all fail the first time. After all this isn't D&D, nobody died and they can probably even ask the trainers what they're doing wrong.

    As proxy for real violence: Use of items, and as many Pokemon as can be carried are used by as many trainers as are present. (another conceit for the videogame that these are still one on one, but with the group of players no reason not to make it many versus many.) The defeated person lets that winner do whatever they want, because the alternative system is actual violence followed by the winner doing whatever they want. Everybody in the world treats breaking the rules of engagement as a war crime. Explicitly let the players know that this a thing everyone in the world is consciously aware of.

    Wild Pokemon: Yes, even this has "rules". Pokemon like fighting and most want a worthy trainer. After winning a fight they have no interest in actually hurting people/ Pokemon after winning; that said, the wild Pokemon will assume your have full health and might accidentally hurt a defenseless trainer. If you capture a Pokemon by anything other than a fair fight it acts like an actual wild animal (running away, attacking you).

    Making it multiplayer

    As for the question of what everyone is doing: The shows are pretty clear that everyone else is patiently watching the one battle going on at a time, and I'm pretty sure this is not a conservation of detail thing. The most important thing in Ash's world during Misty's battle is Misty's battle. Alot of the episodes plots would focus on them all doing something that was mainly of interest to only one character with everyone going along, because that's what Pokemon friends do. That said, this is a difficult attitude to teach.

    For the friendly battles, proxy for violence battles, and battles with trash wild Pokemon might as well make most of those many versus many.

    Also maybe a rule that each the team can only have each Pokemon once; this will force players to have different Pokemon. If you don't have this, most Pokemon can be found in certain areas, so if the party goes somewhere with wild pikachus they would logically want to stay until they all caught a pikachu.

    As for the gym/ Tournament battles. If you want to run these in a parallel have the players run some of the NPCs. Make sure to give the antagonist players some incentive to win.

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