Pokémon System Ideas

[JNAProductions]

Not PTU. It's not for me-the makers of it do good work, but it's more crunch than I really want to handle.
Preferably looking for something a little more narrative, more freeform. Doesn't have to be a Pokémon-specific system, but something that can work well with it.

Also, if anyone has general resources and tips for running Pokémon TTRPG games, I'd appreciate those too. Obviously there's stuff like the Pokémon wiki and just plain ol' Google searches, but other stuff might work better.

Thanks in advance for everyone who contributes! :)

[Razade]

There is a Powered by the Apocalypse game in the works: https://fivepointsgames.itch.io/radiant-journey-a-monsters-tail-open-beta

The PDF is a little rough, but it's being worked on to make it easier to read. It's not just for Pokemon but I've used it to run a ton of Pokemon games. The game is crazy adaptable. It's a little crunchy-er than Masks: A New Generation or Monsterhearts but it's not even close to as crunchy as the Avatar PbtA game that's coming out. So it's got a solid balance of crunch and narrative forward gameplay.

[JNAProductions]

There is a Powered by the Apocalypse game in the works: https://fivepointsgames.itch.io/radiant-journey-a-monsters-tail-open-beta

The PDF is a little rough, but I have it on good authority that they're working to make it a little easier to read. It's not just for Pokemon but I've used it to run a ton of Pokemon games. The game is crazy adaptable. It's a little crunchy-er than Masks: A New Generation or Monsterhearts but it's not even close to as crunchy as the Avatar PbtA game that's coming out. So it's got a solid balance of crunch and narrative forward gameplay.

I'll check it out. Thank you. :)

Edit: Checking it out, it looks well-done, but not really what I'm looking for. Still on the hunt!

[Razade]

I'll check it out. Thank you. :)

Edit: Checking it out, it looks well-done, but not really what I'm looking for. Still on the hunt!

If it's not what you're looking for, what are other parameters that you're looking for?

[JNAProductions]

If it's not what you're looking for, what are other parameters that you're looking for?

That's the rub-I don't know exactly what I'm looking for.

I know I want Pokémon. I know I don't want it as crunchy as PTU. I know that Monster Tails isn't doing it for me. But I'm not really sure what criteria WILL work.

Not very helpful, sorry. But I really do appreciate you trying!

[Lord Raziere]

lets see....there is Pokerole, you can try using Fate for this in a couple ways, OVA is pretty system light, anything else I could recommend is probably too crunchy.....how detailed do the pokemon need to be? should they be fully statted or can they just be an extension of the trainer?

[Psyren]

Doesn't BESM have a not-pokemon trainer class/subsystem?

A quick google search pulls up the Cute And Fuzzy Seizure Monsters expansion. I can't vouch for the quality of either of these however.

[Alcore]

Mutants and Masterminds can do it...


Its more of a toolbox so you'll need to build each and every one. It is a rather rule heavy one but, once everything is built, becomes far more narrative than PTU.

[JNAProductions]

lets see....there is Pokerole, you can try using Fate for this in a couple ways, OVA is pretty system light, anything else I could recommend is probably too crunchy.....how detailed do the pokemon need to be? should they be fully statted or can they just be an extension of the trainer?

Pokerole, will check out.
Fate I know of, but I'm not a huge fan.
Never heard of OVA.


Doesn't BESM have a not-pokemon trainer class/subsystem?

A quick google search pulls up the Cute And Fuzzy Seizure Monsters expansion. I can't vouch for the quality of either of these however.

Never heard of BESM.


Mutants and Masterminds can do it...

Its more of a toolbox so you'll need to build each and every one. It is a rather rule heavy one but, once everything is built, becomes far more narrative than PTU.

M&M is a game I own, but wouldn't want to do for this.

[Lord Raziere]

Never heard of OVA.

Never heard of BESM.

M&M is a game I own, but wouldn't want to do for this.

OVA and BESM are both anime themed systems, BESM has like four editions so its been around a while. OVA is the more rules light one, while BESM is something similar to MnM in that its a lot of build points and options and no classes to build whatever you want, so if you don't want MnM for this, your probably not going to go for BESM either. I wasn't recommending MnM for a reason, its a lot of building blocks to put together for this if you want rules light.

[JNAProductions]

OVA and BESM are both anime themed systems, BESM has like four editions so its been around a while. OVA is the more rules light one, while BESM is something similar to MnM in that its a lot of build points and options and no classes to build whatever you want, so if you don't want MnM for this, your probably not going to go for BESM either. I wasn't recommending MnM for a reason, its a lot of building blocks to put together for this if you want rules light.

Is it just called OVA? Or does that stand for something?
It's by Wise Turtle Publishing, if google is right, right?

[Lord Raziere]

Is it just called OVA? Or does that stand for something?
It's by Wise Turtle Publishing, if google is right, right?

Yeah, thats it. though why google? do you not know about drivethrurpg?

[JNAProductions]

Yeah, thats it. though why google? do you not know about drivethrurpg?

I know about it, but I don't use it often enough to have that be my default look-see thing.

That is where I found it.

[DataNinja]

I see you're very much not looking for PTU, which, very fair (hi, though, thanks for the compliments). :smalltongue:

I know on the other side of the spectrum, I often see PokéThulu recommended as a very light tabletop - you'd just need to refluff it back into Standard(tm) Pokémon. Don't really have any more besides that, unfortunately.

[JNAProductions]

PokeRole looks like it should work for me.

Thanks all. :)

[animorte]

I appreciate this as well even though I never asked for it. Definitely something I look forward to using as well.

[Anonymouswizard]

Mutants and Masterminds can do it...

Trainers are PL5 with a Heroic Summon [X] power, ignore the note about PC's summons being limited by the PC's PL? It would work a lot better than most generic systems I know. It'll just be tedious because you know have to build every Pokémon.

Honestly, my main advice would be to limit players to 2-3 Mon until everybody's learnt the system, and allow people to stick with one Mon as long as they want.

[Quertus]

PokeRole looks like it should work for me.

Thanks all. :)

So, what made PokeRole the winner?

[JNAProductions]

So, what made PokeRole the winner?

For one, it's free.
For two, I looked it over and was excited to play or run it.

And that's all I need. I might be able to give a more in-depth reasoning once I've actually got some time with it under my belt, but for now, it's just intuition. Hopefully that's right!

[awa]

For one, it's free.
For two, I looked it over and was excited to play or run it.

And that's all I need. I might be able to give a more in-depth reasoning once I've actually got some time with it under my belt, but for now, it's just intuition. Hopefully that's right!

free is a powerful incentive that some are prone to overlooking.