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. 

Playing The Game: Travel Deck & Weather

Today I'll give you a quick look at how the Travel Deck works, as well has how weather affects the game.

Travel Deck
The Travel Deck is a deck of cards the GM builds to suit their campaign, and may rebuild several times to suit different areas of the region being explored if they so wish. The Travel Deck contains cards that determine what happens during the group's traveling.

The Travel Deck is where most of the action in the game comes from. Each turn, after the group moves a square outside a town or Story Point, the group draws a card from the Travel Deck to see what happens. I still have to playtest this mechanic, but GM's should feel free to impose their own rules on how cards are drawn (one per person in the group, one per group, players take turns drawing a card etc.), depending on what they want out of their Pokemon Journeys campaign.

Currently, these are the cards that can be found in the Travel Deck, with more still being developed:

- Wild Pokemon (Common)
- Wild Pokemon (Uncommon)
- Wild Pokemon (Rare)
- Trainer Battle (1v1)
- Trainer Battle (2v2)
- Team Battle (2v2)
- Team Battle (3v3)
- Team Battle (4v4)
- Find Item (Common)
- Find Item (Rare)
- Clear Run (Nothing happens)
- Pokemon Training (All current pokemon gain 10 x Lvl exp)
- Weather Cards (more on those in a moment)

I'd like to include a few more that either delay or speed up movement on the board, and possibly a card that allows the player to choose what sort of event occurs. Let me know if you have any other ideas that you think would work.

There is no set number of cards to include in the Travel Deck, nor specific numbers of each card type. The GM should decide on the size of the deck and the types of cards it contains, based around what sort of campaign they want to run.

As an example, I want wild Pokemon to be fairly rare in my campaign, as I want catching them to be a big, exciting moment rather than tripping over them whenever you walk through some grass. To that end, my Travel Deck will contain fewer wild Pokemon cards. As there won't be many wild Pokemon, I run the risk of my players being under-leveled, and so I'll need to include more Pokemon Training and Battle cards to make up for that. You may want plenty of wild Pokemon in your game, but few other Trainers, or any number of combinations - in Journeys, you'll have the freedom to customize the deck for your own needs.

Weather Cards
When I'm playing a video game or tabletop RPG, I love it when the weather changes - it just turns my crank. I find it makes the whole experience so much more immersive, and so I wanted to try and incorporate changing weather into Pokemon Journeys; both to aid in roleplay immersion but also to add some interesting mechanics like the video games do.

For the moment prior to playtesting, weather cards are incorporated into the Travel Deck, and may be drawn as normal. A weather card, however, does not simply get resolved and discarded, but stays in play until it is replaced or removed by another weather card, to show the changing weather.

Currently, the weather cards that have been decided on are:

- Clear Weather (Normal conditions)
- Sunny Weather (Grass type Pokemon may reroll their damage rolls)
- Rainy Weather (Water type Pokemon may reroll their damage rolls)
- Dry Weather (Fire type Pokemon may reroll their damage rolls)
- Bad Weather (Make camp for the night and discard current weather card)

Note that players may reroll their damage rolls - they are not forced to. However, if they do, they must take the second result, even if it's lower. The weather does not provide a straight boost to damage, but rather a gamble option for affected players.

The Bad Weather card takes effect when it is drawn, regardless of the time of day; the players are forced to make camp for the remainder of the day until the weather blows over, waking to a clear sky the next morning. It essentially acts as a reset for the weather.

I don't want to include weather benefits for every Pokemon type, nor do I want to make cards for every kind of weather condition imaginable, but just enough to offer some variation and a bit of immersion.

Others I'm considering are:

- Stormy Weather (Electric type Pokemon may reroll their damage rolls)
- Windy Weather (Flying type Pokemon may reroll their damage rolls)
- Cold/Snowy Weather (Ice type Pokemon may reroll their damage rolls)

Once again, the GM should feel free to include as few or as many different weather conditions in the Travel Deck as they like, to suit their own game.

Rebuilding the Travel Deck
GM's also have the option to rebuild the deck to suit different parts of the game. They may want to include more wild Pokemon in a certain area, and more Trainer Battles in another. Likewise, they may want to add and remove different weather conditions depending on where the players are in the region.

Along with Story Points, the Travel Deck will be the key to setting the theme and tone of your journey. It's your journey after all, I'm simply providing the tools for you to embark upon it.

Next time, we'll get to the stars of the show, the Pokemon, and I'll give you a look at the cards and how they work in the game.

Until then,

- Jamie