Building a Character - Traits

Ok, lets talk character building.

As we all know, the focus of any Pokemon game is firmly on the critters themselves - the trainer mostly acts as a vessel to transport the action from one place to the next.

Other systems, such as Pokemon Tabletop Adventures, have really gone to the extreme to make the trainer a more integral part of the experience; with classes, their own stats and a full blown character sheet and progression system. With their rules, the trainers themselves can even get in on the action and punch or kick Pokemon right alongside their battling companions, taking their own actions amongst a traditional Pokemon battle.

That might sound awesome to some people, but for me.... ehhhhh...

I'm going for a more traditional approach, but I'd like to make the trainer more than a faceless, nameless carrier. There'll be the standard RPG fair like name, age etc. but I'd like them to be able to do things outside of battle if they want, and have some individuality above simply being a boy or a girl, without getting too in-depth and complicated. 

To this end, I've given player characters a set of 3 basic stats, called "Traits" with a possible fourth I'm considering. These stats will be used much like Skills in D&D, where if a player would like to do something, they would need to roll a check against the matching trait. They are:

- Physical
- Knowledge
- Social

- Luck/Tactics?

Physical determines how athletic a character is, and is used for things like jumping, running, climbing - much like the Athletics, Acrobatics and Endurance skills in D&D, all rolled into 1. Any sort of above-normal physical activity the player wants to try will use this trait. (Eg: Climbing up over a high wall to escape).

Knowledge determines, surprise surprise, how knowledgeable the character is. This trait will be used whenever the character wants to know something, or determine some information. Similar in D&D to Arcana, History & Religion. (EG: A character is trying to determine how old an artifact is, or why a Pokemon is acting in a certain way).

Social is used for interacting with NPC's. The D&D equivalents would be Diplomacy, Insight, Intimidate, Bluff - all of these sorts of activities will use the Social skill. (EG: Bartering with shop keepers, or convincing an NPC to give them some information).

The last trait I'm considering is Luck or Tactics. Unlike the other traits, Luck would be used in a battle to try and perform some sort of creative, 'outside the box' maneuver. The attempt would require a Luck/Tactics check to see if it succeeds. This would be used to encourage and enable some of the more creative tactics seen in the show, rather than simply attacking back and forth (EG: Having your Dewgong use Ice Beam on a pond in which your opponent's Goldeen is swimming, or having Weezing use Smokescreen to block out the sun to weaken your opponent Venusaur's Solar Beam). The effects of these sorts of tactics would be left to the GM to govern, though as a rule I would say that any attempt to use Luck/Tactics could not result in direct damage, but merely change the conditions or environment of a battle. I'd have to play test this one before deciding on whether or not to include it though.

Here's a quick example of the primary 3 traits being used in-game:

GM: 'So all of your Pokemon have fainted, and this Houndour is now glaring at you with all the hate in the world.'

Chris: 'Well, I'm making a run for it! Back to that tree everyone's hiding in!'


GM: 'Okay. You can hear the Houndour nipping at your heels as you go, and can feel the air getting hotter as it prepares to attack just as you reach the tree. Let's have a Physical check to see if you manage to get up there - not a hard one, climbing a tree isn't too difficult.' *GM quietly sets the check at 10*

Chris: *rolls a d20 and adds his Physical trait* 'I got a 12 total. Is that enough?'

GM: 'Alright, you scurry on up that tree as a wash of flames misses you by inches.'

Chris: 'Thank god.'

Louise: 'Well, I told you not to go down there! Am I able to try and figure out why the Houndour is so stirred up?'

GM: 'Sure, let's have a Knowledge check.'

Louise: *rolls a d20 and adds her Knowledge trait* 'Bummer, an 8.'

GM: 'Yeah, you're not too sure what it's problem is. But luckily you don't have to wait in the tree long before you hear a young girl's voice, shouting "Houndour! Houndour!" It sounds like she's looking for it.'

Louise: "It's over here! Come and call this thing off us!"

GM: 'A girl with dark hair in a beanie comes into view through the branches, glancing between you and the furious Houndour. She seems disturbed, and asks "What's going on? What have you done to Houndour?" '

Chris: 'We didn't do anything you nut case! We were trying to get to a Pokemon Centre and this thing ran up the road and attacked us! Call it off!'

GM: 'Well then, let's have a Social check.'

Chris: *rolls a d20 and adds his Social trait* 'Bam, 18!'

GM: ' "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" the girls says, before producing a pokeball and returning her Houndour. "It's ok, you can come down now" she calls. "I'm sorry, a strange man bumped into me at the park and knocked me over, and Houndour just took off after him. I've been looking for my Pokemon ever since and I thought you might have been the stranger" What would the two of you like to do?'

Hopefully that's given you a good indication of how Traits work. If you've ever played D&D, it'll be very familiar, though still simple and easy enough for newcomers to pick up.

Next time, we'll take a look at the class system. Until then!

- Jamie