The Road to Victory

Given that we were including different professions in the game, I decided then that I also wanted to have different goals for the players to strive for, beyond just the standard Gym battles and Pokemon League. I want the game to accommodate a range of play styles and interests - battling shouldn't be the only measure of determining how well you've raised your Pokemon.

Currently, we've worked out 4 additional "leagues" that players can opt to partake in; Contests, Competitions, Tournaments and Archeology. Just like collecting badges from Gyms, these other goals are long-term, journey shaping paths that will carry those players around their chosen region on the road to victory.

Let's have an early look at each of these and how they work:

The Pokemon League
The one we all know and love. The road to the Pokemon League is still much like we all remember it: you travel from town to town, collect 8 badges, and that grants you entry to compete in the League. The League itself is a mix of the league from the show and the games, where players compete in a tournament, and the winner gets to challenge the current League Champion for the title.

Contests: The Pokemon Society
I was never a fan of contests in the games; I found them confusing, boring, and a bit of a tacked-on gimmick rather than a full blown path to follow. We're looking at rectifying that in Journeys; streamlining the system, making it fun and strategic, and expanding it into it's own thing, much like the Pokemon League.

One of the ideas we're looking at is placing Contest Halls across the map with Judges that you compete against, much like Gyms and their leaders. Just as Gyms are focused on a certain Type, we're looking at making the Contest Halls focused on either a certain Stat (Attack, Speed, Defence etc.) or a mix of all stats.

You compete against a Judge in a Yahtzee-esque game, based on your Social stat and your Pokemon's Loyalty level, by rolling a number of dice equal to your Social stat, with rerolls equal to your Pokemon's Loyalty. EG: If I'm a breeder with a Social stat of 5, and my chosen Pokemon has a loyalty of 4, that gives me 5d6, with 4 rerolls. For a reroll, you can reroll as many dice as you like (IE: Using the above example, you could reroll all the dice 4 times, not reroll just 4 of the dice). You do this over a number of rounds, adding the Contest's chosen Stat to your score to determine a victor.

We're still tinkering with this, but that's the general idea. We're also talking about using Moves instead of Stats, and having the ability to sacrifice some of your rerolls to force your opponent to reroll their dice instead.

There would be 6 - 8 Contest Halls across a region, where you earn Ribbons upon victory. Collecting all the ribbons gives you access to the Pokemon Society Grand Festival; where you compete against other contestants in a tournament similar to the Pokemon League setup. Any profession can compete in Contests, though we've built it with a focus on Breeders and Groomers.

Competitions: Master Trainer Championship
Competitions are aimed at using a player's pokemon in different and unique ways, such as racing, target shooting, even capturing. Some will focus on a specific stat (like a Pokemon's Speed in a Race), whilst others will focus on a Trainer's abilities (such as capturing the biggest Water Pokemon in a fishing competition). Think of the Pokethlon events in the games and that will give you an idea on what we're looking at with Competitions.

For things that use a Pokemon's stats, such as a race, you simply roll a d20, add your pokemon's associated stat (Speed in this instance), and the order of the scores determines the placing of the Pokemon. You are then able to affect those directly in front or behind you, by dealing damage and having the damage total come off their score, potentially dropping them back a place or two. We tried this in our play test, and what resulted was a fun, frantic game of alliance making and breaking as everyone scrambled for the lead spot. It's definitely a system we want to include in the final product.

Again, we're looking at about 6-8 Competitions across a region. Competitions award Patches for a placing, and you'll need to gain a place in each one to gain access to the Master Trainer Championship; a series of competitions that will play out much like the Pokethlon to determine a champion. We've made it so that any player can compete in Competitions, regardless of profession.

Tournaments: Element Cup
Taking the path to the Element Cup involves competing in a series of type-based tournaments, and trying to gain a placing. These tournaments involve entering a single Pokemon of the Tournament type (grass, fire etc.)
in a series of one-on-one battles to gain a place.

We think about 6 tournaments is a good number for a region, and earning a place gives you Medals. Collect a medal from each tournament and you can compete in the Element Cup, a series of type-based battles played out in rounds where the victor is awarded the cup itself. Any profession can compete in the Element Cup, though Trainers and Rangers would be ideal candidates.

Archeology: The Fossil Trail
Rather unique from the other paths, following the Fossil Trail does not result in a grand competition and trophies, but instead in awarding the player with a new Pokemon.

Specific to Researchers, this profession will have the ability to 'Dig for fragments' whenever the group makes camp, using their 'Luck' or 'Knowledge' stat added to a d20 roll. Scoring above a certain modifier set by the GM (around 20 most likely) means the Researcher has discovered a fossil fragment. They make another roll to determine the fragment's frailty, and then put it away in their backpack until they reach a town with a Laboratory.

In the lab, the Researcher then uses their Pokemon to begin cleaning the fragment. Fragments will be caked with rock and stone, and will have a certain amount of HP depending on the frailty roll when it was found. The Researcher uses their Pokemon's moves to whittle away this rock, uncovering as much of the fragment as they can without breaking it. Do too much damage and reduce the HP to 0, and the fragment breaks.

When they are ready, they can then make a Knowledge check to ID the fragment. The more rock they've managed to chip away, the bigger the bonus (or smaller the negative) to their Knowledge check - much like how the system for capturing Wild Pokemon works.

Successfully identifying the fragment will let the Researcher know what fossil it belongs to, determined by a random ID roll. Collect 4 fragments from the same fossil, and the Researcher can then resurrect it to give them their reward; a new Pokemon for their team. Successfully resurrect a certain number of fossils, and the Researcher will be granted a Master's Certificate, officially granting them the title of 'Professor'. 

Failing to ID a fragment means the fragment becomes unidentified. Unidentified fragments can be traded at a Lab for a fresh fragment (probably at a ratio of 3 to 1), and the Researcher can try again, until they're all out and need to go and dig some more.

It's a fun system with a real appeal for collect-aholics, and gives Researchers their own "league" to compete in and be challenged by.

These systems are all still under development, so things may change before we're done, but the foundations are there. I think they go a long way to making the world of Pokemon Journeys much more customizable and appealing to a wide range of players, and gives GM's the tools to shape and personalize their own regions much more finely.

Until next time!

- Jamie