Pokemon - Stat Cards & Leveling Up

Today, we'll start talking about the stars of our show; the Pokemon, by checking out how their stats work.

Currently, I'm in the (enormous) process of creating a stat card for every single Pokemon. I will stress that the game can be played without them, but I liked the idea of the players being able to actually have something they can hold and look at when they capture a new Pokemon, instead of just writing numbers on paper. I think it makes things just that little bit more exciting and rewarding.

So here's how the stat cards look, front and back:

On the front, there's a nice big picture of your Pokemon, along with it's name and number, colour coded to match the primary type.

On the back, you've got that info again, along with it's base stats, evolution chain and Pokedex info. The backs are also all colour coded to match the type.

When players are battling, they'll place their currently active Pokemon's card out in front of them, so everyone at the table knows who is using what (as there can be large team battles, I thought this would be a good idea). 

Base Stats
The base stats are derived by dividing the base stats of the Pokemon in-game by 10, and rounding up. I've been getting all my base stats and other info for the cards from the Pokemon Database, but the Pokemon Tabletop Adventures game also has them using the same system.

In addition to Stat Cards, players will also have a "Pokedex"; a sheet they use to record all their captured Pokemon's stats, exp, moves etc. I plan on creating a small, printable card Pokedex to use as a folder for all this information.

Leveling Up & Evolution
As players level up their Pokemon by battling or training and gaining experience, they'll get 1 point to spend on any of the Base Stats each level. This is recorded in their Pokedex in a separate column, and those points stay with the Pokemon for the course of the journey.

When a player's Pokemon evolves, they hand back their Stat Card and are given a new Stat Card for the evolution, with new Base Stats. The player updates their Pokedex info, and adds their point additions for the levels gained thus far.

Let's use our Squirtle as an example, who evolves into Wartortle at level 16:

Squirtle Lvl 15 (Base stats / Additions / Current Total)
HP: 4 / 3 / 7
Atk: 5 / 3 / 8
Def: 7 / 2 / 9
SpAtk: 5 / 2 / 7
SpDef: 6 / 2 / 8
Spd: 4 / 3 / 7

Now, as the player hits level 16 and Squirtle evolves, they gain 1 point to spend as normal (we'll spend it on Atk), but Squirtle's Base Stats change. The additions made so far, however, remain. Our level 16 Wartortle looks like this:

HP: 6 / 3 / 9
Atk: 6 / 4 / 10
Def: 8 / 2 / 10
SpAtk: 7 / 2 / 9
SpDef: 8 / 2 / 10
Spd: 6 / 3 / 9

As you can see, the boost to the base stats has left us with a much more powerful Pokemon. Easy, right?


Currently, the card set for the first 151 Pokemon is complete and ready to use, and I'm in the midst of the Johto pokedex. Still a long way to go, but I'm aiming to try and have the full series completed somewhere around Christmas.

Next time, we'll take a look at what the Stats actually mean mechanically, and how the all important battles work.

Until then,

-Jamie

Edit: In regards to Pokemon that evolve via trade, that system of evolution will be removed for Pokemon Journeys. It's a good system that encourages players to connect with one another in the video game, but for a tabletop game, as you can imagine, two players simply swapping Pokemon and swapping back is hardly exciting or rewarding.

Instead, Pokemon that evolve via trade will be given a traditional level value upon which they will evolve. Pokemon that level while holding a particular item while being traded will instead need to hold the same item when they reach a certain level.