Arguing about Pokemon Tabletop Evolution (WIP)

The Adventurer's Almanac · Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:49 pm

Hey, I remember talking to you guys about social systems... I definitely think the Push Agreement power could use some trimming, but here we go! I'm spreading my asshole open over here!

Charm

Rank 2 (Untrained):
Smooth Disposition [Social Stance]: You act more sociable and open, making it easier to speak to others. You gain a (1 + Your Tier) bonus to checks when using Charm Skill Powers. However, others gain a similar bonus when using Guile Skill Powers on you.
Push Agreement [Social]: You may push an agreement onto one target, if you have an Extended Action (S) to speak to them. Once you have presented an agreement, spent time pressing it during the Extended Action, and they consider agreeing to it, you make a Charm check against a DC of Outcome + Target Level + Commitment + Target Intelligence + Target’s Attitude (lord have mercy on my wretched soul). This power cannot be used on creatures that are actively trying to fight you.
If you fail to live up to your part of the agreement and the target learns of your violation, they may break the agreement regardless of the time that has passed. They may also break the deal if the perceived Commitment of the task winds up being lower than the actual Commitment, typically achieved by lying to or misleading people. They may attempt to convince you to comply, depending on their temperament and the severity of your violation. In any of these cases, their Attitude towards you drops by at least 1 degree, depending on the severity of your transgression. Using this power more than once on the same creature within a 24-hour period causes their Attitude to permanently drop by 1 degree, before the request is made.
Agreements you push fall into one of four categories depending on its intended outcome: Favorable, Tolerable, Repugnant, or Suicidal. If you wish to push an agreement onto multiple targets, you must make a check for each individual. If both parties accept without pressing or falsehood, no checks are needed. If you know a target is lying about their intent to uphold the agreement, you may push them.


Critical Success: They agree to the deal and feel very positively about it. If the deal is Favorable, their Attitude towards you increases by 2 degrees; if it is Tolerable, it increases by 1. Moderate Success: They agree to the deal and feel good about it. If the deal is Favorable, their Attitude towards you increases by 1 degree. Success: They agree to the deal, and don't feel strongly about it. Failure: They don't agree to the deal, but don't have hard feelings over it. Unless the deal is Repugnant, in which case their Attitude towards you decreases by 1 step, not going beyond Hostile. Moderate Failure: They don't agree to the deal and are slightly offended. If the deal is Tolerable, their Attitude towards you decreases by 1 step; if it is Repugnant, it decreases by 2, not going beyond Hostile. Critical Failure: They don't agree to the deal and are pissed off at you. If the deal is Favorable, their Attitude towards you decreases by 1 step; if it is Tolerable, it decreases by 2; if it is Repugnant, it decreases by 3, not going beyond Hostile.


Agreement Outcome	Example	DC Modifier
Favorable	The agreement would result in a boon to the target, such as extra resources or status.	+3
Tolerable	The agreement has no significant results for the target, such as asking for directions.	+6
Repugnant	The agreement would result in harm for the target, such as asking a guard to look the other way while you sneak past.	+9
Suicidal¹	The agreement would result in serious harm or death for the target, such as asking them to hold a briefcase full of exploding Voltorbs.	+12
	^{1. You cannot Push Agreements of this Outcome unless you have the Push Suicidal Agreement power.}


Commitment¹	Example	DC Modifier
Extreme	The request is nearly impossible to achieve, or is completely against their morals/ethics.	+8
Severe	The request is very difficult to achieve, or is slightly against their morals/ethics.	+6
Moderate	The request is somewhat difficult to achieve.	+4
Minor	The request is easy to achieve.	+2
Trivial	The request can be done almost immediately with little to no effort.	+1
	^{1. Commitment is how your target perceives the request to be. If your request happens to involve more Commitment than originally perceived, then the target has cause to break the deal.}


Target Attitude	Example	DC Modifier
Murderous	Vitriolically hates you and tries to murder you on sight. If forced into conversation, will probably just scream at you. May stalk you, looking for a chance to hurt you.	+4
Hostile	Hates you and would probably beat you up if they could get away with it.	+2
Suspicious	Dislikes you and would passively frustrate your goals.	+1
Indifferent	Has no inclination to help or hinder you.	0
Comfortable	Likes you and would assist if it’s convenient.	-1
Friendly	Likes you and would assist just because you asked.	-2
Devoted	Is devoted to you and tries to assist without being asked, even if it isn’t particularly helpful. May stalk you, looking for a chance to help you.	-4

Rank 3 (Novice):
Improve Person’s Attitude [Social]: As an Extended Action (S), you speak with a creature you can verbally communicate with, or otherwise share an activity with them. If this activity is interrupted, you must start over at a later time. At the end of the action, you make a Charm check with a DC of 3 + Target Level + Target’s Negative Attitude. If you are attempting to improve your standing with multiple targets, you must spend time with and make a check against each individual’s DC. If you succeed in getting a portion of the group to like you, the rest may accept you more readily. You may not retry this check on a creature during the same 24 hour period, but you may use it on someone multiple times over multiple meetings. If you use this on someone who remembers you in a later encounter, their actual Attitude modifier is replaced by a +2 DC penalty. If you spend a lot of time with someone and get along well with them, no check is needed. If you can tell they are faking their growing rapport with you or aren’t liking you quickly enough, you may use this power. If you mistreat or disappoint someone while their attitude has been changed, they are likely to respond more negatively than before. You can never bring someone beyond Friendly with this power.


Critical Success: You positively shift their Attitude with you up to 1 step for the next month. Moderate Success: You positively shift their Attitude with you by 1 step for the next week. Success: You positively shift their Attitude with you by 1 step for the next 24 hours. Failure: Their Attitude does not change. Moderate Failure: They take it the wrong way and negatively shift their Attitude by 1 step for the next 24 hours, but no farther than Hostile. Critical Failure: You grievously offend them, negatively shifting their Attitude with you by 1 step permanently.

Flirt [Social, Charm]: As a Standard Action, you may attempt to charm a target with your wit or good looks. The Base DC for this check is 6 + Target’s Level + Target’s Negative Attitude. If this power is used as an Extended Action (S), replace ‘rounds’ with ‘hours’. If it is used as an Extended Action (L), replace ‘rounds’ with ‘days’.


Critical Success: The target is Charmed for 1 round per 2 points your check exceeded 6 over the DC. Moderate Success: The target is Mesmerized for 1 round plus your Tier. Success: The target is Infatuated for 2 rounds plus your Tier. Failure: The target is not impressed.

Rank 4 (Adept):
Delay Aggression [Social, Charm]: As a Standard Action, you may try to delay a hostile creature from attacking you and your allies. Make a Charm check with a DC of 3 + Highest Opponent Level + Leader’s Intelligence + Worst Negative Attitude Within Group. You affect members of the group based on your check result, starting with those members of the lowest level first. A creature who has been attacked by you and your allies is immune to this power for the rest of the encounter, although they still count as part of the group for determining the DC of this power.
Affected targets pause their aggression for 2 rounds and will not approach within 10 meters (or come closer if they are already within this distance) or take offensive actions on their turn, although they may take defensive or supporting actions. If you wish to delay them after that point, you must succeed on the opposed check again or give them some other reason not to attack, such that they change their mind on their own. Any obvious attempt at escape or aggressive action automatically ends this effect, leaving the group free to do as they like.


Critical Success: You affect all creatures of a Tier 1 higher than your own. Moderate Success: You affect all creatures of a level no greater than your own. Success: You affect all creatures of a level no greater than yours minus 2. Failure: You affect all creatures of a Tier below you, and only for 1 round. Moderate Failure: You affect no one and probably get attacked.

Rank 5 (Expert):
Push Group Agreement: When you use the Push Agreement power, you can try to push it onto a group instead of an individual. This functions as the Push Agreement power, except that the DC instead becomes Highest Opponent Level + Commitment + Leader’s Intelligence + Worst Negative Attitude Within Group. A successful check binds the entire group to the outcome, and will prevent any unconvinced members from trying to sabotage or obstruct the agreement.
Improve Group’s Attitude: When you attempt to Improve Person’s Attitude, you can do so with an entire group rather than an individual. This functions as the Improve Person’s Attitude power, except that the DC instead becomes 5 + Highest Opponent Level + Leader’s Intelligence + Worst Negative Attitude Within Group. A successful check adjusts your rapport with the entire group as indicated in the check results.
Rank 6 (Master):
Purge Aggression [Social, Charm]: When you successfully Delay Aggression, any creature you affect that is a Tier below you ceases any desire to fight you at all. They won’t stand aside and let you do what you like if they have reason not to, but they will resist fighting with you and may stop others on their team from fighting as well.
Push Suicidal Agreement [Social, Charm]: You may push agreements that would result in serious harm or death to a creature. These are still considered Repugnant agreements. If they are a member of a group that you are trying to push the agreement on, the bonus is added to the DC.

Rank 7 (Grandmaster):
Serene Voice: As a Standard Action, you can make a Charm check to suppress [Morale], [Rage], [Confusion], and [Charm] effects on other creatures within a radius of 2 meters per your Charm Rank. Effects that you benefit or suffer from are excluded from this, but otherwise all effects in range are targets of this power, including friendly effects. Each effect has a DC equal to 6 + (Three times the Tier of the status). You make a single check and compare it to each DC to determine if and how well the effect is suppressed.


Critical Success: You dispel the effect completely and the target may not suffer it again for 3 full rounds. Moderate Success: You suppress the effect for this round, and may suppress it for 2 more rounds without another check, provided you spend an Interrupt Action to do so. Success: You suppress the effect in your target for this round. Failure: Nothing happens, but you may try again. Moderate Failure: You cannot attempt to suppress this instance of the effect in the future.

Rank 8 (Virtuoso):
Purge Enmity [Social, Charm]: When you successfully Purge Aggression, any creature you affect that is a Tier below you has their Attitude shifted positively by one degree, to a maximum of Comfortable. They don’t necessarily become your ally, but may try to convince any remaining hostile members of the group to just let you go about your business. All [Charm] effects you inflict last ten times longer than normal.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Wed Jun 23, 2021 6:19 pm

I actually forgot how bonkers the Guile skill is. I've gotta get the other ones onto this level.

Guile

Rank 1 (Pathetic):
Lie Convincingly [Social]: You can attempt to lie to someone about something as a Free Action whenever you speak. Telling a lie does not automatically grant them a check - they must use the Discern Deceit Intuition Power, detailed below.

Rank 2 (Untrained):
Sly Disposition [Social Stance]: You act evasive and flippant, making you harder to pin down. You gain a (1 + Your Tier) bonus to checks when using Guile Skill Powers, and your DC for Lie Convincingly is similarly raised. However, others gain a similar bonus when using Intimidate Skill Powers on you.
Innuendo [Social]: You may pass secret messages to others during public conversations. The DC for this check depends on your relationship with the target: 6 for close friends, 8 for those you are familiar with, 10 for casual acquaintances, and 12 for complete strangers. Using this power is a Free Action; it takes as long as your gesture or speech is, then you roll once at the end to see if the ideas were passed successfully.


Critical Success: You pass on the exact idea you intended, regardless of complexity. Moderate Success: You pass on somewhat complex ideas that could be conveyed in a single paragraph. Success: You pass on only simple ideas that could be conveyed in a single sentence. Failure: You pass along nothing but what you actually said. Moderate Failure: You pass along a meaning you did not intend, and are encouraged to suggest an alternate message to your DM, though they have the final decision. Critical Failure: Not only do you fail to pass on your message, but everyone around you knows that you just failed to do it, too.

Rank 3 (Novice):
Combat Distraction [Social]: As a Swift Action, you can attempt to distract your target long enough to try and escape. The DC for this check is Target’s Level or (4 x Target’s Intelligence), whichever is higher. This distraction causes your opponent to briefly turn away from you and everything on your side of them, allowing you to take advantage of your distraction. Your target’s inattention lasts until your next Start Phase. If you are facing multiple attackers, you only roll once against all of their DCs. Anyone you distract with this power does not threaten you during your action.
Alternately, you may use this power to distract an enemy long enough for your allies to do something. This is resolved in a similar manner, except this distraction causes your opponent to turn towards you and everything on your side of them, allowing your allies to do something. If used in this manner, anyone you distract with this power does not threaten your allies during their action.


Moderate Success: You or your allies are able to take a Standard Action and a Shift Action without being noticed. Success: You or your allies can take a Shift Action without being noticed. Failure: You do not distract anyone. Moderate Failure: Your target acts as if they fell for your ruse, but they see your or your allies’ action and continue threatening any spaces around them.

Streetwise [Tracking]: As a Downtime Action, when you are within a town (or your habitat, if you are a Pokemon) you can attempt to locate specific kinds of creatures who live there. When doing so, you may select one option below:
- Choose one of the Social stats, and then High or Low; if you selected High, then you look out for creatures that are Adept Skill Rank or higher, if you selected Low, then you look out for creatures that are Untrained Skill Rank or lower.
- Choose a Lifestyle, from Homeless to Rich. You look out for creatures of that Lifestyle.
- Choose a Crafting Category, Profession, or a Field of Knowledge, and then a Grade Rank, from Novice to Grandmaster. You cannot select a Grade Rank that is higher than your Tier + 1; for example, a Tier 2 creature could try to locate a Novice, Adept, or Expert Rank practitioner. You look out for creatures of that Grade Rank.
At the end of your action, you locate at least one creature that meets your specifications.
Cunning Disguise [Social]: You may disguise yourself or otherwise alter your appearance such that you do not appear to be yourself, even imitating the appearance of another person (or Pokemon, if you are one). If the disguise includes an outfit, you can alter either your height and weight by 1 category in either direction, but you cannot alter both. It takes at least 2d6 rounds to craft and apply a full facial disguise, and any height or weight adjustment or particularly complicated facial disguises (including specific people) take up to an Extended Action (S). You must have a disguise kit and whatever clothing is required to even attempt this creation. You can prepare disguises ahead of time, and these only take 1d4 rounds to apply, or 2d6 rounds for complex ones. If someone is assisting you in wearing your disguise and they also have this power, the listed time is reduced by half. Disguises are generally made for a specific individual to wear, and if you are applying a disguise not made for you, it takes an additional 1d4 rounds.
Your Guile check is made when you put the disguise on. The result, subject to modifiers in the table below, determines how good your disguise is and thus how difficult it is for others to see through it. Anyone who becomes suspicious of you may use the Discern Fraud Perception power or Discern Deceit Intuition power to try and find a flaw. If their check exceeds yours, they realize you are disguised and may act appropriately.


Condition	Example	Check Modifier
Disguise Skin Tone	A white person wearing blackface.	-1¹
Disguise Gender	Female attempting to appear male.	-1¹
Disguise Species²	Human attempting to appear as a Machoke	-2¹
Disguise Type²	Magmar attempting to appear Water-type	-3
Disguise Size/Weight²	Steelix attempting to appear Huge size or as WC 5	-2 per size and weight category difference³
	^{1. These penalties do not stack. Apply only the most severe at any one time. 2. If you are applying these Conditions, your disguise becomes complex and takes more time to apply. 3. A Rank prerequisite must be met before attempting to disguise yourself in this fashion. Use only the larger penalty of both rather than adding them together. You cannot shift a number of categories higher than your Tier.}

Rank 4 (Adept):
Mock and Deride [Social]: You can counter the Improve Person’s Attitude power of the Charm skill, twisting their words and causing them to err. The DC for this check is the check result that you are attempting to counter. If you can engage them directly, the effect of your derision applies to everyone your opponent was using their power on. Otherwise, this lowered result only counts within earshot of yourself (generally a 6 meter radius for a massive address). Using this power takes as long as the speech you are countering does. The DC for this check is increased by +2 for each ¼ of the speech you were not present for.
By every point you succeed on your check, your opponent treats their check result as one point lower. If you failed, then you do not change anyone’s opinion.
Masterful Disguise: When crafting a disguise, you may radically change your size and weight, exceeding the general alteration limits. You suffer a penalty to your check result as indicated in the table above. These disguises require a costume to function.
Rank 5 (Expert):
False Nature: When you are subject to the Size Up power, the creature identifying you must succeed on a Skill Check (depending on which Size Up they are using) against a DC of (4 x Your Tier) + Your Guile Ranks. If they fail this check, they gain no information about you whatsoever. You may suppress this power (in full or in part) as a non-action, but is assumed active unless you state otherwise.
You may actively fool your enemies with this power by passing a DC 12 Guile check after 1 minute of concentration, allowing you to present yourself as a different Tier and with different Abilities, Capabilities, and Moves. If you are successful, you are treated as having that information until a creature succeeds on the required check as indicated above. This false nature persists until you cancel it as a Free Action or you begin concentrating to select new information.
Elemental Paints: You can craft colored ointments that give you a single Type or change your Secondary Type if you have one. These ointments require 1 minute to apply, in addition to the regular disguise application period, but last for 24 hours once put on. Multiple applications do not stack - only the most recent application provides any bonus. Aside from this changed Type, you use the regular rules to disguise yourself as another creature, but no longer suffer a penalty for a substantially different skin color.
These ointments are made in batches of 5 uses, and require either a complete day of work or 5 days of 1 hour adjustments to complete. A sealed batch will only keep for 10 days.

Rank 6 (Master):
False Thoughts: When you are subject to Telepathy, Aura Reading, or anything with the [Mind-Affecting] tag, any effect that would reveal information about your actual capabilities (not Capabilities) or any effect that would determine whether or not you were lying results in the creature using it on you making an Intuition check against a DC of (6 x Your Tier) + Your Guile Ranks to gain information about you. If the creature fails this check, they believe their powers are working, but gain no information about your mind, capabilities, or truthfulness. You may suppress this power (in full or in part) as a non-action, but is assumed active unless you state otherwise.
You can also craft a set of false thoughts and history to present to these effects. This requires 5 minutes of concentration and a DC 13 Guile check. If you successfully craft a set of false thoughts, these thoughts and memories are accessed if the creature fails the required check. You retain access to all your memories and abilities while this is active. You may cancel a false mind as Free Action, and is automatically cancelled if you begin concentrating to set a different false mind.
Additionally, while you have an active set of false thoughts, you gain the benefits of the above power when subject to a [Charm] effect. If the creature fails the check, the effect is only applied to your false thoughts, so you may not be charmed into revealing yourself, compelled into cancelling your false mind, nor use powers not possessed by your false mind against allies. You may not act as yourself while your false mind is under a [Charm] effect, and are somewhat trapped by your own falsehood. You may still cancel the false mind as a Free Action, but any active [Charm] effects are transferred to your normal self when this occurs.
Transfiguration [Magic]: Sometimes you need to pretend to be something that is drastically different from you. You can create and apply special compounds and objects that allow you to survive and fit in where you probably wouldn’t otherwise. Transfigurations do not require clothing or coverings of some kind to build upon, as they are actual physical transformations. Any gear that cannot be used by your new form is left behind on the ground when the transfiguration is complete.
When you take on a transfiguration, you make a Guile check against DC 8, but suffer a -2 penalty to your check per selection made below. Your result determines how long your transfiguration holds before another check is required, as well as the DC to recognize you are not what you appear to be. This power is a Tier 3 [Magic] effect and is opposed by the Discern Magic power of Perception and Intuit Magic power of Intuition. Some creatures may lack the skill to see through your Transfiguration at all, but those who do may be able to find the points of failure in it.
Applying a Transfiguration requires 1 minute, or 3 rounds if you have assistance from someone trained in their use. Each Transfiguration carries its own physical pieces that bind the changes on the wearer. If a piece is lost, damaged, or removed, some or all of the Transfiguration will fail and you revert to your normal form. You may ready and maintain a number of Transfiguration selections equal to your Guile Rank. These selections may be combined to 1 Transfiguration with a large number of selections, to a large number of Transfigurations with a single selection, or some distribution in-between. If some or all of these are lost or used up, they can be restored with an hour of work. There is no cost associated with this, in money or declared time, and generally happens during nightly Downtime Actions. If time cannot be spared to maintain a Transfiguration, it will remain viable for up to 10 days.

Specify an appearance, either your own or a specific type of creature. Skin tone, hair color, body shape, and more may be determined, although extreme changes may require selections of height/weight changes to complete. This may be selected twice to allow you to specify a specific creature other than yourself.
Size or weight change of 1 category. This may be selected twice to achieve a size or weight change of 2 categories. You gain all appropriate bonuses and penalties when changing size categories.
You may gain a single Type. This may be selected twice to gain a Secondary Type or to replace your Primary Type if you have one. This bonus does not stack with Elemental Paints - using one overrides the other.
You may gain a Movement type if you do not already have it (except Burrow), equal to half your Overland movement. This may be selected twice to gain your full Overland movement. If you already have it, you may select this once to add half your Overland movement to it.
The Gilled or Breathless Capability.
The Darkvision Capability.
Gain partially functional appendages, such as an additional set of arms or a tail. This may be selected multiple times to gain further sets of appendages. These appendages may not activate items, exert strong forces, or attack, but they can grasp and hold objects.

You can determine the outward physical changes of your Transfiguration when you create it, and can make your disguise look like yourself or anything you feel like hiding your abilities behind. If you don’t try to make it look like yourself or something specific, you will look like “something else”. Other humans and Pokemon probably find you unsettling and weird-looking.


Critical Success: You can maintain your Transfiguration for 8 hours without making more checks. Moderate Success: You may maintain it for 2 hours without further checks. Success: You may maintain it for the next 30 minutes without further checks. Failure: It will only last normally for the next 10 minutes, then a random selection fails (possibly causing other selections to fail if they are dependent upon it), and you must fully reapply your Transfiguration before you can make further checks. Moderate Failure: 1d4 random selections immediately fail and you will revert back to normal in 5 minutes. Better hurry!

Rank 7 (Grandmaster):
False Self [Magic]: When you are subject to any effects with the [Tracking] tag that would try to find your location, the creature using it on you makes an Intuition check against a DC of (4 x Your Tier) + Your Guile Ranks to learn where you are. If they do not succeed on this check, their effect fails.
If you spend 10 minutes in concentration and succeed on a DC 14 Guile check, you may set up a redirect for any [Tracking] effects against you. You must touch a creature of your same Type within 1 minute of successfully making this check, or you must repeat the preparation time and check. After a successful check and touch, whenever you are targeted with a [Tracking] effect and the creature does not succeed on the required check, the effect instead targets the touched individual. You may cancel this redirection as a Free Action, and it is automatically cancelled if you begin concentrating to select a new target.
Fantastic Transfiguration: You gain additional Transfiguration power selections, shown below, and may ignore the first 2 selections when determining your check penalty. Additionally, you may create and maintain up to twice your Guile Ranks in Transfiguration selections, grouped as you like.
- You may change up to 4 size or weight categories.
- Any Capability without the [Legendary] tag.
- You may gain a Burrow speed equal to one quarter your Overland movement. This may be selected twice to bring your Burrow speed up to half your Overland movement, but may not be advanced further than that.
- Additional reach of 1 meter with your primary appendages. This may be selected again to increase your reach by 2 meters.
Rank 8 (Virtuoso):
Mythic Transfiguration: You gain additional Transfiguration power selections, shown below, and may ignore the first 6 selections when determining your check penalty. Additionally, you may create and maintain up to three times your Guile Ranks in Transfiguration selections, grouped as you like.
- Type Immunity. This counts as 2 selections of a Type.
- You may change up to 8 size or weight categories.
- A Capability with the [Legendary] tag. This counts as 2 selections of a Capability.
- Full function from one set of added appendages. This may be selected again for each set of appendages you have added.
- Your movement limits are equal to twice your Overland movement (or equal to it, in the case of Burrow), but you must still pay for these speeds appropriately.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Wed Jun 23, 2021 8:26 pm

Intimidate

Rank 2 (Untrained):
Fierce Disposition [Social Stance]: You act aggressive and forceful, throwing people off guard. You gain a (1 + Your Tier) bonus to checks when using Intimidate Skill Powers. However, others gain a similar bonus when using Charm Skill Powers on you.
Coerce Assistance [Social, Fear]: As an Extended Action (S), you may temporarily make a creature more “helpful”. The Base DC for this check is 6 + Target’s Level + the higher of their Athletics or Intimidate ranks. Each Intimidation attempt lowers the target’s actual Attitude towards you by 1, even if it fails. If you beat your target’s check result, the target is intimidated and will chat, advise, offer limited help, or advocate on your behalf for its duration. As long as your attempt is successful and you are still present when it expires, you can extend the effect by making another Intimidate check as a Standard Action. When you successfully intimidate someone, they are intimidated for the below duration, or until their Level increases, or they witness you being defeated.


Critical Success: The target is Frightened by you and is ‘Friendly’ towards you for 1d6 weeks, but they will not directly flee from or fight you. They are so scared of you they will probably try to avoid you by any means they can. Moderate Success: They are Shaken by you and are ‘Friendly’ towards you for 1d6 days. Success: They are Shaken by you and are ‘Friendly’ towards you for 1d6 hours. Failure: They remain uncooperative and you suffer a -4 penalty to further intimidation attempts against them until your Level increases. Moderate Failure: They find you more annoying or amusing than scary and openly mock you, provide you with wrong information, or otherwise frustrate your efforts. You also suffer a -6 penalty to further intimidation attempts against them until your Level increases. Critical Failure: The effects of Moderate Failure, except you bungle your attempt so poorly that their Attitude towards you is lowered by a further +1.


Condition	Check Modifier	Example
Took offensive action	+1	You just wounded or fainted someone in front of your target.
Took disconcerting action	+3	You just killed or tortured someone in front of your target.
Target is vulnerable or unable to escape	+3	Your target is Vulnerable, tied up, chained to a wall, or similarly restrained.
Second attempt	-4	Target has already been intimidated by you within the past hour or been given new orders within the past day.
Rushing an Extended Action (S) to a Full Action	-3
Rushing a Full Action to a Standard Action	-2
Rushing a Standard Action to a Shift Action	-1
Rushing a Standard or Shift Action to a Swift Action	-3

Rank 3 (Novice):
Shake Resolve [Social, Fear]: As a Standard Action, you may attempt to shake the resolve of one target who is within your threatened area. The Base DC for this check is 6 + Target’s Level + the higher of their Athletics or Intimidate ranks, and is further modified by the difference between your target’s level and your level.
If this power is used as an Extended Action (S), replace ‘rounds’ with ‘hours’. If it is used as an Extended Action (L), replace ‘rounds’ with ‘days. You gain a bonus or penalty to your check as indicated in the table above.


Critical Success: The target is Panicked for 1 round per 2 points your check exceeded 6 over the DC. Moderate Success: The target is Frightened for 1 round plus your Tier. Success: The target is Shaken for 2 rounds plus your Tier. Failure: The target is not impressed.

Angry Glare [Social, Fear]: Whenever you detect that someone is using a Guile Skill Power, you may make an Intimidate check as a Free Action. The DC for this check is the check result that you are attempting to counter. You gain a bonus or penalty to your check as indicated in the table above. You must have line of sight to a target to affect them.


Critical Success: The target is Paralyzed for 5 minutes. Moderate Success: The target is Stunned for 1 minute. Success: The target is Stunned for 1 round. Failure: The target is unaffected by your glare. Moderate Failure: You appear foolish and actually increase the check result you are trying to counter by 3. Critical Failure: You bungle it completely and increase the check result you are trying to counter by 6.

Rank 4 (Adept):
Break Ranks: When using Shake Resolve, you may target all individuals in your threatened area by accepting a -3 penalty to your check. For the purposes of this power, your threatened area is considered to reach an additional meter for every rank in Intimidation you have above Untrained. You may exclude any targets within this area that you like from the effect. You must have line of sight to a target to affect them.
Make Example Of [Social]: As a Full Action, you may target a single person who is suffering from a Fear status and make a Struggle Attack against them. If it hits, then you gain a non-stacking bonus to your Intimidate skill equal to 1/10th the damage you inflicted against everyone who witnessed you. The target and anyone you affected have their Attitudes towards you decrease by 1 step per Your Tier.
This bonus lasts 1 day at Tier 1, 1 week at Tier 2, 1 month at Tier 3, and 1 year at Tier 4.
Come At Me! [Social]: As a Full Action, you may attempt to provoke one target into attacking you. The Base DC for this check is 6 + Target’s Level + the higher of their Athletics, Command, or Intimidate ranks, and is further modified by the difference between your level and your target’s level. If this power is used as an Extended Action (S), replace ‘rounds’ with ‘minutes’. If it is used as an Extended Action (L), replace ‘rounds’ with ‘hours’.

Success: The target is Enraged for 1 round, plus 1 more round per 2 points your check exceeded the DC.
Failure: The target doesn’t consider you especially worth its time.

Rank 5 (Expert):
Coerce Group: When you use the Coerce Assistance power, you can try to push it onto a group instead of an individual. This functions as the Coerce Assistance power, except that the DC instead becomes 9 + Highest Target’s Level + the highest of their Athletics or Intimidate ranks + Leader’s Intelligence.
Pick Fight [Social]: When using Come At Me!, you may target groups instead of individuals by accepting a -3 penalty to your check. In this case, the Base DC is further modified by the difference between your level and the highest level within the group you are provoking. You gain (Your Tier x 2) in Temporary HP per enemy you successfully affect with this power.
New Orders [Social, Fear, Order]: As a Standard Action, you can make a demand of a target that they must follow without question. Targets must be able to see and hear you clearly to be affected by this power, and may not be currently engaged in combat with you. The Base DC for this check is 6 + Target’s Level + the higher of their Athletics, Command, or Intimidate ranks, and is further modified by the difference between your target’s level and your level. You gain a bonus or penalty to your check as indicated in the table above. Targets also become resistant to your control, and you suffer a -6 penalty to your checks for each additional attempt you make on a target until you level up. If you succeed, they follow brief (20 words or less) instructions from you to the best of their ability. The instructions may not be suicidal or result in obvious harm to the target.
Using this power on someone sets their Attitude towards you to Hostile. If they are already Hostile, they become Murderous.


Critical Success: The target follows your orders for up to 12 hours. They receive a Command save every 10 minutes they remain away from you (DC 6 + your Intimidate Ranks) to end the effect immediately. Moderate Success: The target follows your orders for up to 20 minutes, receiving a save every 1 minute they remain away from you. Success: The target follows your orders for up to 1 minute, receiving a save every round they remain away from you. Failure: You do not order them around and they react appropriately to your failure.

Rank 6 (Master):
Terrifying Presence: When you use the Break Ranks power, you may reduce your effective reach by 1 meter to eliminate the line of sight requirement, but the target must still be able to hear you or otherwise recognize your presence. This power otherwise functions like the Break Ranks power. You also no longer need line of sight to use Angry Glare.
Furious Rebuke: You may use attacks or powers with the [Social] tag when you are Enraged and deny any bonuses from status effects that others have when making Social checks against you. When you are suffering from Stunned, Paralyzed, Shocked, any Charm status, Confusion, or any Fear status, you may use a Standard Action to become Enraged as well. For every status effect you are suffering from while Enraged (including Enraged), you gain +1 to Intimidate checks.
Rank 7 (Grandmaster):
Domination [Magic, Mind-Affecting]: When you issue a demand to a creature with the New Orders power, you may ask them to perform suicidal or obviously harmful actions, suffering a -6 penalty to your check when doing so. This always makes your target Murderous towards you, as well as any of their allies who witnessed you Dominate them or learned about it.
Additionally, you may now affect all targets within a 3 meter radius with your New Orders power, or any 2 targets no farther than 10 meters apart, if you accept a -3 penalty to your check.
Stupefying Blow: When using Make Example Of, if you strike your target’s Weak Point then their Intelligence is lowered by 1 for the duration of your bonus and you may use Coerce Group or New Orders as a Free Action on everyone who saw your act.
Rank 8 (Virtuoso):
Malicious Aura: Shake Resolve automatically succeeds against lower Tier targets with the highest degree of success. All [Fear] effects you inflict last ten times longer than normal. If you succeed on a Coerce Assistance attempt with the maximum success on someone of a lower Tier than you, they are so terrified of you that their Attitude shifts to Devoted and they would never even dream of fleeing from you.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:20 am

Intuition

Rank 2 (Untrained):
Curious Disposition [Social Stance]: You act inquisitive and observant, carefully observing others. You gain a (1 + Your Tier) bonus to checks when using Intuition Skill Powers. However, others gain a similar bonus when using Command Skill Powers on you.
Discern Deceit [Social]: As an Interrupt Action you can attempt to oppose the Lie Convincingly, Innuendo, Cunning Disguise, and False Nature Guile Powers. The DC of this check is equal to the DC of the power. You gain a bonus to your check based on circumstances according to the table below. You cannot retry this check for the same falsehood without new evidence. Just because someone lies to you does not automatically grant you a check - you must use this power to determine their falsehood. You do not learn what the truth is, only whether or not someone is trying to deceive you and how.
You are always assumed to be Taking 2 with this Power.


Circumstance	Check Modifier
Completely unfamiliar with potentially impersonated target or situation, never met	-1
Somewhat familiar with potentially impersonated target or situation, has previously met	+0
Familiar with potentially impersonated target or situation, may consider a friend	+2
Very familiar with potentially impersonated target or situation, a close friend	+3
The potential falsehood is well crafted and does not stretch believability	-1
The potential falsehood is poorly crafted or a bit hard to believe with no evidence¹	+0
The potential falsehood contains several inconsistencies or would be very hard to believe with no evidence¹	+2
The potential falsehood contains obvious inconsistencies, is actually impossible, or otherwise ridiculous¹	+3
Extend Interrupt Action to Full Action	+1
Extend Interrupt Action to Extended Action (S)	+2
Extend Interrupt Action to Extended Action (L)	+3
^{1. If you are provided corroborating evidence for even the most ridiculous claims, you do not gain this bonus unless the potential falsehood is also poorly crafted or contains the indicated level of inconsistencies.}


Critical Success: You know whether or not you are being lied to and automatically succeed at convincing others of the truth or falsehood of the statements or persona. They gain a +2 bonus on their [Social] checks when interacting with your target or their group for the next 24 hours. Moderate Success: You know whether or not you are being lied to and notice several “tells”. You gain a +2 bonus to [Social] checks to attempt to convince others of the truth or falsehood of the statements or persona. Success: You know whether or not you are being lied to, but gain no bonus to convincing others of the same. Failure: You aren’t sure if you’re being told the truth or not, even if you really are being told the truth. Moderate Failure: You believe what you’re being told is the truth, especially if it really isn’t. Critical Failure: Not only do you believe your target, but they gain a +2 bonus to [Social] checks against you for the next 24 hours.

Rank 3 (Novice):
Assess Situation: As a Full Action, you can read creatures or groups to get a feel for the situation, or learn that something is wrong before things fall apart. The DC for this check is 4 + Encounter’s Level or Creature’s Level. You gain a bonus to your check based on circumstances according to the table above. You gain no other information aside from a sense of foreboding; you simply believe something is out of place or not as it seems. Perhaps someone acting like your friend really isn’t, someone isn’t telling you the whole truth, the group you’re with is planning something, or something similar.


Critical Success: The GM gives you information about the situation that is immediately and obviously relevant. Moderate Success: You gain a detailed hunch about the situation, as told to you by the GM. Success: You gain a somewhat vague hunch about the situation, as told to you by the GM. Failure: You don’t feel anything weird, but you probably will soon enough. Moderate Failure: You gain a vague hunch about the situation, as told to you by the GM. It is more misleading than inaccurate. Critical Failure: You intuit something that is completely nonexistent, as told to you by the GM. It is wildly inaccurate and the target may consider the information offensive if you act upon it.

Iron Mind: You become aware of all [Mind-Affecting] attempts on you and where its source is, whether the attempt is successful or not. You do not learn what the source is.

Rank 4 (Adept):
Identify Disposition: As a Swift Action, you can attempt to identify how a creature is trying to present itself to you. You can detect its current Disposition with a DC 5 + Target’s Level check.


Critical Success: You learn its current Disposition and increase the creature’s DCs for that skill towards you by +2. You may also change your own Disposition as a Free Action. Moderate Success: You learn its current Disposition and increase the creature’s DCs for that skill towards you by +2. Success: You learn its current Disposition. Failure: You don’t learn anything. Moderate Failure: Your target learns your current Disposition, and you don’t learn anything. Oops! Critical Failure: Your target learns your current Disposition, and you don’t learn anything. They may also change their Disposition as a Free Action.

Detect Influence: As an Extended Action (S), you can interact with a creature to tell when it is acting under social or magical influence. You can detect most active [Charm] or [Fear] effects with a DC 6 x Effect’s Tier. You gain a bonus to your check based on circumstances according to the table above. If the target is under the Enthralled status, the Base DC is 20.


Critical Success: You are aware the creature is acting differently, but can almost talk them out of it, granting the target an additional save against the effect at any time within the next day. Moderate Success: You are aware the creature is acting differently, but can almost talk them out of it, granting the target an additional save against the effect at any time within the next hour. Success: You are aware if social or magical influence is making them act differently. Failure: You think they’re just acting oddly today.

Rank 5 (Expert):
Assess World [Magic]: You have an uncanny sense of when important things are happening in the world, even when you shouldn’t. “Important” is relative, but you can only get feelings about things you are at least vaguely familiar with. Perhaps you get an ill feeling soon after you leave a solitary Pokemon Center in the woods that makes you want to go back, or the stars align in a way so as to alert you that the old Venusaur guarding a magical forest has passed on.
As a Downtime Action, you may try to glean impossible insight from your surroundings. The Base DC for this check is 6 x NPC or location’s Tier. You gain a bonus to your check based on how familiar you are with the situation according to the table above. When using this power, you may ask your GM 1 question about a single NPC you have met or location you have been to.


Critical Success: The GM answers you directly and bluntly and cannot lie, and you may ask 1 follow-up question about what you have just learned. Moderate Success: The GM answers you directly and bluntly and cannot lie. Success: The GM may answer as vaguely as they like, although they must be honest with you. Failure: Your GM may answer as vaguely as they like and even be honest with you - but they don’t have to be. Moderate Failure: Your GM does not have to answer you. Critical Failure: Your GM must lie to you, although your character doesn’t know that, and maybe you don’t either.

Coax Information: As an Extended Action (S), you can interact with someone and learn their Intelligence score, helping you to determine if you are dealing with an illusion, construct, or someone pretending to be dumb; you also learn any and all Grades they have. If you interact with someone as an Extended Action (L), you may gain access to information they unintentionally reveal. This requires a successful check with a DC of Target Level + Target’s Guile Ranks. You gain a bonus to your check based on circumstances according to the table above. Against targets under the False Thoughts power, you make another check after 1 minute (or however long you spend rushing) against a DC of (6 x Target Tier) + Target’s Guile Ranks. If successful, you detect their proper Intelligence score if it is currently masked. If you fail, you detect whatever Intelligence score they have set with this power. You still make the regular check at the end of your Extended Action (L) (or time spent rushing), and that check is also against this DC. If you succeed at both checks, you gain access to the hidden mind of the target, which answers questions as indicated below. If you fail this second check, you use your initial check result to resolve the power, but you question the false mind instead of the true one. If you fail the initial roll, you use your second roll to resolve the action as determined below, and may gain access to the false mind if you roll well enough.


Critical Success: You learn if the target is faking their current demeanor, and also get truthful answers for up to 4 questions that can be answered reasonably quickly. Complex answers may use up more than 1 of your questions, at the GM’s discretion. Moderate Success: You learn if the target is faking their current demeanor, and also get truthful answers for up to 2 questions that can be answered reasonably quickly. Complex answers may use up more than 1 of your questions, at the GM’s discretion. Success: You learn if the target is faking their current demeanor, and also get truthful answers for 1 question, but you suffer a -3 penalty on additional uses against the target for 12 hours. Failure: You learn if the target is faking their current demeanor, and suffer a -3 penalty on additional uses against the target for 12 hours. Moderate Failure: You learn nothing and the target’s Attitude towards you shifts 1 step negatively (though never more than 1 step in any 24 hour period), and you suffer a -5 penalty on additional uses against the target for 12 hours. Critical Failure: You learn nothing and the target’s Attitude towards you shifts 1 step negatively (though never more than 1 step in any 24 hour period), and you cannot use this power on them until they take an Extended Rest.

Rank 6 (Master):
Intuit Magic: You can spend a Full Action to pinpoint [Magic] effects in your area and determine their locations. You can see any Residue without special items, and feel its location nearby. The DC is 6 x Effect’s Tier + conditions, and the range of this power is 10 x Level meters. If there is at least 1 [Magic] effect within this power’s range of you, you are aware that there is magic nearby, even if you aren’t using this power.
This power lets you see through the Transfiguration Guile power.


Critical Success: You know exactly how many [Magic] effects are within your range, their precise locations, and the size/shape of their dimensions. Moderate Success: You know exactly how many [Magic] effects and Residues are within your range and their precise locations. Success: You know exactly how many [Magic] effects and Residues are within your range. Failure: You know there’s magic nearby, but that’s it. Moderate Failure: You cannot locate the same [Magic] effects and Residues within your range until 1 hour has passed, and you cannot sense them passively during this time. Critical Failure: As Moderate Failure, but lasts for 1 day.

Who Are You? [Mind-Affecting]: As an Extended Action (S), you can interact with someone to try and learn something about them that others might not notice. By making an Intuition check, you can simulate the Aura Reader capability against a creature. The Base DC for this check is 6 x Target’s Intelligence.


Success: You may use the Aura Reader capability on them to see their Aura and determine something about their personality, mood, and intent. Failure: You cannot determine anything at the moment.

Rank 7 (Grandmaster):
I Know Your Every Move: After observing a creature for 2 rounds, you can make an Intuition check against them as a Swift Action to read them and prepare for their next actions. The DC for this check is 6 x Target’s Intelligence. If their thoughts are shielded in any way, add either the Tier of the effect responsible or half their Guile Ranks if they have a False Mind, or similar penalty to this DC. In the case of multiple effects, add only the largest modifier.
If your check is successful, you can see their movements and plan for them, gaining a +3 Accuracy bonus to attacks made to them and to Evasion for attacks from them. Any skill powers used against them benefit from a +3 bonus, since you know when the best time to attempt them is. This bonus lasts as long as you observe your opponent and up to 1 minute after, or until you use this power to gain the bonus against another opponent.


Critical Success: You gain the bonuses indicated above, and this bonus lasts for up to 1 day after you stop observing them. Moderate Success: You gain the bonuses indicated above, and this bonus lasts for up to 1 hour after you stop observing them. Success: You gain the bonuses indicated above. Failure: You cannot glean anything, but may retry in 2 rounds. Moderate Failure: You cannot glean anything, but may retry in 6 rounds. Critical Failure: You cannot glean anything and cannot use this power on them until you take an Extended Rest.

Rank 8 (Virtuoso):
Sixth Sense: Discern Deceit automatically succeeds with the highest success against targets of a lower Tier than you. You are also always aware of the number of effects and/or creatures within 30 meters of you, though you may not be able to pinpoint their locations or sources. [Social] effects only last one-tenth as long as normal on you unless you choose otherwise; if someone used Push Agreement on you with the maximum success, it would only last two and a half hours before you could reconsider the agreement.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Fri Jun 25, 2021 6:39 pm

We're in the home stretch! I know this is a ton to take in, tl;dr and all that. We'll be moving onto non-Skill things next.

Command (Special)
This skill cannot have Skill Points allocated to raise its Rank like normal - the only Rank increases will come from your Trainer Class.

Rank 2 (Untrained):
Guarded Disposition [Social Stance]: You act reserved and distant, keeping your emotions hidden. Any Intuition or Guile Skill Powers used on you have their DC increased by (1 + Your Tier). However, the DC for all of your Charm and Intimidate checks are similarly raised.
Training Regimen [Order]: Once per day as a Free Downtime Action, you may Train a number of creatures (including yourself) equal to your Command Rank. They gain (1 x Tier) XP and become Agile/Brutal/Focused/Inspired until the end of your next Extended Rest. While Trained, they gain a bonus according to how you Train them. You may only learn one type of Training, and this is chosen at character creation. You may use this power as a Standard Action [Order] that applies to a single target to apply different effects.
- Agility Training: When Disengaging, you may move up to your full movement speed. As an Order, this makes a creature untargetable by Combat Maneuvers for a single round. You also gain a +1 bonus to all Movement Capabilities & a +2 bonus to Initiative.
- Brutal Training: When you hit with a Super-Effective attack, you Injure the target. As an Order, this makes a creature’s next attack deal 5 x Creature’s Tier extra damage. You also gain a +1 bonus to your Critical Hit Range & a +2 bonus to your Effect Range.
- Focused Training: When you hit with an At-Will attack, your next attack gains the Accurate keyword. As an Order, this allows a creature to “take 2” on its next Skill Check, even if it couldn’t normally. You also gain a +1 bonus to Accuracy Rolls & a +2 bonus to your Skill Checks.
- Inspired Training: When your attack misses all of its targets, that move is Refreshed. As an Order, this allows a creature to ignore all indirect damage for a single round. You also gain a +1 bonus to Evasion & a +2 bonus to Save & Morale checks.

Rank 3 (Novice):
Bark Command [Social, Order]: As a Standard Action, you may attempt to get a target to comply with a short command. The Base DC for this check is 6 + Target’s Level + Target’s Intelligence. If this power is used as an Extended Action (S), replace ‘rounds’ with ‘hours’. If it is used as an Extended Action (L), replace ‘rounds’ with ‘days. When giving a command, select from the following options, which it will execute on its turn:

Come: The creature moves towards you as quickly and directly as possible, provoking AoOs as normal.
Drop: The creature drops any items or creatures it is holding and cannot pick it up that turn.
Fall: The creature falls down and remains Prone for its turn.
Run: The creature moves away from you as quickly as possible, provoking AoOs as normal.
Stop: The creature does not use any actions to move for its turn.

The creature may still refuse to follow your command, but it suffers from a Slowed condition while it does so, outlined below. Its Attitude will always decrease by 1. If the creature cannot execute your command on its turn, then the power Fails. This Power does not work on creatures with 1 Intelligence.


Critical Success: The target follows your command or is Trapped for 1 round per 1 point your check exceeded 5 over the DC. Moderate Success: The target follows your command or is Stuck for 2 rounds plus your Tier. Success: The target follows your command or is Slowed for 1 round plus your Tier. Failure: The target is unaffected by your charisma and nothing happens. Moderate Failure: The Base DC for any [Social] checks you use on your target are increased by +3 until your target’s next Extended Rest. Critical Failure: The Base DC for any [Social] checks you use on your target are increased by +6 until your target’s next Extended Rest. Its Attitude decreases by a further 1.

Command Versatility: You may spend 1 PP to change your Disposition as an Interrupt Action and double its effects until your next End Phase. Additionally, when you use the Training Regimen power as an Order, all numeric bonuses from being Trained are doubled for a single round.
Confounding Mask [Social]: Whenever you are the target of an Intuition power and have a Guarded Disposition, you may make a Command check as a Free Action. The DC for this check is the check result that you are attempting to counter.


Critical Success: The target is Confused for 1 hour and has their Intuition check reduced by 6. Moderate Success: The target is Confused for 5 minutes and has their Intuition check reduced by 3. Success: The target is Confused for 1 minute. Failure: The target sees through your poker face. Moderate Failure: The target sees through your poker face and has their Intuition check increased by 3. Critical Failure: The target sees through your poker face and has their Intuition check increased by 6.

Rank 4 (Adept):
Snap Out Of It [Social, Order]: As a Standard Action, you may shake creatures free of [Charm] and [Fear] effects, plus the Stunned condition. You cannot affect yourself with this power. The DC is 6 x Status’s Tier. If you succeed on the check, you suppress the effect as indicated below, affecting up to 1 target per rank of Command.
The effect must have a remaining duration of 1 day or less at Tier 1, 1 week or less at Tier 2, 1 month or less at Tier 3, and 1 year or less at Tier 4 - otherwise, you cannot use this power on it.


Critical Success: You dispel the effect entirely. Moderate Success: You suppress the effect for this round, and may suppress it for 2 more rounds without another check, provided you spend a Swift Action to do so. Success: You suppress the effect in your target for this round. Failure: Nothing happens, but you may try again. Moderate Failure: You increase the Tier of their effect or condition and cannot affect them further with this power.

Stand Firm! [Order, Morale]: Whenever your Pokemon fails a Morale check, as a Free Action you may make a Command Check with a DC of 6 + Target’s Level. This power can only affect a Pokemon one time until it takes an Extended Rest.


Critical Success: Your Pokemon automatically succeeds on its Morale check. Moderate Success: Your Pokemon may reroll its Morale check with a +2 bonus. Success: Your Pokemon may reroll its Morale check. Failure: Your Pokemon still fails its Morale check. Moderate Failure: Your Pokemon still fails its Morale check, but has a -2 penalty to further Morale checks until it takes an Extended Rest. Critical Failure: Your Pokemon still fails its Morale check, but has a -4 penalty to further Morale checks until it takes an Extended Rest.

Force of Will: During your Start Phase, you may attempt to fight off a Status effect. While you are attempting to fight off the status, you may suffer either the standard effect or the Stunned status, whichever is less bad. The DC is to fight off a status is 6 x Status’s Tier. You may only fight one status effect per round with this power.


Critical Success: You end the status. Moderate Success: You may act as if you were not Stunned and gain a +2 cumulative bonus to further checks to resist the status. Success: You gain a +1 cumulative bonus to further checks to resist it. Failure: You suffer a -1 cumulative penalty to further checks to resist it. Moderate Failure: You cannot take any action and suffer a -2 cumulative penalty to further checks to resist it. Critical Failure: You cannot attempt to fight the status anymore, and it increases to the next Tier.

Rank 5 (Expert):
Leadership: You may use [Orders] that have targets to target any creature, even if normally the [Orders] would only let you apply the effect to yourself or your Pokemon. Any other conditions still apply.
Bark More Commands: As a Swift Action, you may issue a new command to a target under the effects of Bark Command, replacing the old one. Additionally, you gain the following command options:
- Give: The creature moves towards you as quickly and directly as possible in a manner that does not provoke AoOs. The target will give you whatever items they have equipped or held in their Hand Slots when they reach you. You may take these items from them as a Free Action.
- Have Mercy: The target’s attacks gain the Merciful keyword.
- Hesitate: The target cannot use Standard or Full Actions.
I Think Not [Social]: When you are aware that a single creature is targeted by a power with the [Social] tag and you are present, you can attempt to counteract it as a Free Action (you may not use this on yourself). Make a Command check; your result replaces the Base DC of the [Social] power, although it is still modified by circumstances and the creature’s relationship with your target.
Rank 6 (Master):
Counterorder [Social]: When you are being targeted by an [Order], you may attempt to counteract it as a Free Action. Make a Command check; your result replaces the Base DC of the [Order] power.
Focused Command [Order]: If you have at least two Pokemon out, as a Full Action you may have a second one take a turn this round, but both Pokemon can only take At-Will actions. You and both of your Pokemon must pay 1 PP to lift the Frequency restriction.
Master Training [Order]: You learn a second type of training, chosen from the list below. When you Train as a Free Downtime Action, you may apply both training bonuses at once. You may use this power as a Full Action [Order] that applies to a single target to apply different effects.
- Trickster Training: As an Order, you add your Evasion to your Movement capabilities and whenever you attack a foe or Shift through a square occupied by a foe, they suffer a -3 penalty to all rolls for one full round. You also gain a +3 bonus to Evasion and a +3 bonus to Stealth checks.
- Ravager Training: As an Order, you may make a free Struggle Attack this round, but it has -4 Accuracy. Your melee attacks deal +5 damage and your ranged attacks have their Critical Hit range increased by 3. You also gain a +3 bonus to Combat checks.
- Precision Training: As an Order, your next attack gains the Auto-Hit keyword, but is Resisted one step further. You also increase the Accuracy and Effect Range of your attacks by +2 and gain a +3 bonus to Perception checks.
- Guardian Training: As an Order, you may Intercept attacks as an Free Action for one full round and gain 10 DR when doing so. You also gain 5 DR and a +3 bonus to Athletics checks.
Rank 7 (Grandmaster):
Master and Commander: Your Standard Action [Orders] now target everyone you select within 30 meters of you. If you give a Standard Action [Order] as a Full Action, you may immediately use a different Standard Action [Order]. You may use I Think Not in response to powers that target groups and Counterorder whenever a creature in your line of sight that can hear you is targeted by an [Order].

The Adventurer's Almanac · Fri Jun 25, 2021 9:13 pm

Last chunk! Next post will be the next chapter.

Edges

Edges are small ways to define your character even further, sort of like mini-features. Unlike Features, Edges are static and relatively simple, often having little direct impact on a character’s playstyle. Edges typically offer little numerical benefit, instead providing the Trainer with new options or character quirks.

Every Trainer starts with 1 Edge for free, as long as they meet its prerequisites. Beyond this, the only ways of acquiring new Edges are either through accomplishing Tasks, or they may be bestowed upon you by your GM, usually for completing some kind of quest.

EDGE LIST:


Craftmaster [Ranked 3] (Tier 1) All Ranks Prerequisites: Novice Education Skill Effect: Each Rank, choose another Crafting Category you qualify for. You may craft items from that Category.
Professional [Ranked 2] (Tier 1) Rank 1 Prerequisites: Grade 3 Craft/Knowledge/Profession Rank 2 Prerequisites: Grade 6 Craft/Knowledge/Profession Effect: At Rank 1, you add your Grade twice when making rolls that involve them. At Rank 2, you add your Grade thrice instead.
Master Smith (Tier 2) Prerequisites: Grade 6 Armor & Weapons Crafting Effect: You may apply up to 2 Enhancements to Armor or Weapons that you craft.

Tasks

Tasks are personal projects that each individual Trainer works on in their spare time - often during Downtime. They are inherently open-ended and each player should decide what their Trainer is doing to better themselves. This can range from refining a Weapon Move into a new version with extra utility to honing one’s hunting skill to anything the player can think of (within reason).
- The intention behind this system is to allow for personalized horizontal character development, rather than simply gaining levels and having your numbers get bigger. Tasks are about widening the player’s options and especially for letting players come up with homebrew material of their own to make their character truly their own.
When starting a Task, the player and GM must come to an agreement on what Edge the Trainer is trying to learn, as well as what Skill will be used to learn it. Once this is done, the Base DC for the Trainer’s Extended Skill Check is equal to (50 x Edge’s Tier) and is multiplied by 2-5, depending on the complexity of the Task.
- The Base DC is always determined by the tier of the Edge. The multiplier for that DC is determined by how difficult the learning process is. Simple, short tasks should have a x2 multiplier, while especially rigorous and demanding tasks would deserve a x5 multiplier.
- If a Trainer wants to learn a new item recipe, they should be spending something when making a check, whether it be an in-universe resource or simply Scrap. A good guideline is (25 x Edge’s Tier) in Scrap, or a single item per check such as an Apricorn. If a Trainer is expending resources to create a new recipe, the Task should be less complex than it otherwise would be. This is especially true if the GM is asking the Trainer to expend rare items.
- Players who are working towards the same Task should definitely roleplay about it.
To work on a Task, the Trainer must make an appropriate Extended Skill Check as a Downtime Action. Once the Trainer has exceeded the DC of the Task, they learn the accompanying Edge.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Sat Jun 26, 2021 3:35 pm

Should I cool off for a bit and let everybody catch up, or barrel ahead and move onto the next chapter?

The Adventurer's Almanac · Wed Jun 30, 2021 6:43 pm

Alright, let's do something completely different.

Crafting, Knowledges, & Professions

Trainers get 4 Grade Points at level 1, and may exchange Skill Points for Grade Points. During this exchange, you get a # of Grade Points equal to your Tier.

The maximum Grade is 8, except for certain Professions.
You cannot go past Grade 2 in anything at level 1 character creation
NPCs typically have the Professional Edge, which doubles their Grade when making these rolls

Pokemon at Intelligence 3 or above may gain Grade Points and exchange them as a Trainer would.


Task Difficulty	Grade Rank	Example	DC Range
Novice	1-2	General knowledge in the field, standard item creation, task a practitioner in training might be able to complete	8-10
Adept	3-4	Specialized knowledge in the field, fine item creation, task a competent practitioner might be able to complete	11-13
Expert	5-6	Rare or obscure knowledge in the field, expert item creation, task a famous practitioner might be able to complete	14-16
Master	7	Apocrypha in the field, masterwork item creation, task a revered practitioner might be able to complete	17-19
Grandmaster	8	Lost or forbidden knowledge, legendary item creation, task one person in a generation might be able to complete	20-22

Crafting
Crafting is a great way of acquiring items without relying on a store having them available for you, and it’s often cheaper to make things than to buy them! Crafting is done through use of the Craftwork Skill Power, achieved upon reaching Novice Rank in any Education Skill (see below). When doing so, you select a single crafting category. Once chosen, you may create items from that category by spending money or Scrap as an Extended Action (L), provided you have the appropriate crafting kit.

Make items by declaring an item and its Enhancements, add any DC modifiers, then make an Education check + your Grade + other bonuses.
You can Take 2 when crafting (meaning you can almost always craft items from your Skill Rank), or Take X when in a corresponding Workshop as a Downtime Action, where X is 2 + Workshop’s Tier.
Items are Easy, Medium, or Hard to craft - for example, a Potion is a Standard Quality (E) item and is easy to make. Because it is Standard Quality, the DC Range is 8-10, and because it is Easy, its Base DC is 8. A Repel is a Standard Quality (M) item and is of medium difficulty to make. The DC Range is the same, but because it is Medium, its Base DC is 9. A Full Restore is Expert Quality (H), and therefore has a Base DC of 16.
Items can be further Enhanced based on their category, increasing the DC and cost to create them accordingly. For example, a Potion can have the Super Restorative Enhancement, allowing it to heal 15 more HP. This increases the DC to create the Potion by +3 and increases the cost by $15, resulting in a Super Potion that is DC 11 and costs $35 to create. It would be of Fine Quality.
- Some Enhancements, marked with a *, can only be applied after the base item has been created. When applying these Enhancements, you pay the cost before it is applied and make another check at the new DC.
Items that have a base Quality of Masterwork or higher require P-Crystals, not Poke-dollars, to create. Items that reach this Quality through modification are still crafted with Poke-dollars or Scrap.
Items are common at the Tier they’re at, but hard to find outside of that (tied into adventure design)

You may assign Grade Points to a single Crafting Category (ex: Cuisine)
Crafting categories are:

Food Scrap:
- Cuisine - (General Edu.)
General Scrap:
- Armor & Weapons (or Tech Scrap) - (General Edu./Tech Edu.)
- Accessories (or Poke-Scrap) - (General/Pokemon Edu.)
- General Items - (General Edu.)
Magic Scrap:
- Armor Enchantments - (Occult Edu.)
- [Magic] Items - (Occult Edu.)
- Weapon Enchantments - (Occult Edu.)
Medicine Scrap:
- Restoratives - (Medicine Edu.)
- Steroids - (Medicine Edu.)
- Toxins (or Survival Scrap) - (Medicine Edu./Survival)
Poke-Scrap:
- Evolutionary/Mega Items - (Pokemon Edu.)
- Pokeballs (or Tech Scrap) - (Pokemon/Tech Edu./Survival)
- Pokemon Equipment - (Pokemon Edu.)
Tech Scrap:
- Hi-Tech Items - (Tech Edu.)
- Robots - (Tech Edu.)
Survival Scrap:
- Horticulture - (General Edu./Survival)
- Traps (or Tech Scrap) - (Tech Edu./Survival)

Craftwork: When first achieving Novice Skill Rank in an Education Skill, choose a category from the list above. You may craft items from that Crafting Category. You can make items by declaring an item, add any DC modifiers, then make an Education check + your Grade + other bonuses.


Moderate Success: You create the item using half as much Scrap or money as you intended. Success: You create the item you intended. Failure: You fail to create the item, but only half of its creation materials are wasted. Moderate Failure: You do not create the item AND all the creation materials are wasted.

Knowledges
Knowledges are a collection of facts, procedures, or other knowledge gained in a particular topic from books or tutoring. Each Knowledge that a character takes must be specialized within the field; examples of these specializations are listed within the various fields of knowledge. Pokemon knowledge, for example, may be specialized in one of the different Pokemon Groups.

Characters are treated as 3 grades less than their speciality when recalling information about the same field as their specialization. For example, a character with Grade 4 Knowledge of Fire Pokemon would be considered to have Grade 1 Knowledge for all other Pokemon types.
A character who has studied a particular topic gains a lot of information that players might not directly know, which is represented by the Recall Factoid skill power (see below). A character with Knowledge in a topic does not need to make checks to recall information about a topic within their specialization unless the information is more advanced than their current Grade in the field. A character with Grade 3 Fire Pokemon Knowledge would automatically succeed on checks to know a specialized fact about a Fire Pokemon, but would need to make a check to know an obscure fact about one, such as where most Charizards flock to in order to lay their eggs.
Characters who fail their Recall Factoid checks either never studied the particular topic or fail to recall information about it. If the check was made for a topic up to one Grade Rank above that of the character’s, the character knows where they can go to find the information, whether it is a person or a location.

The following list only contains a number of example fields - what is available in-game depends on the setting’s culture.


Field of Knowledge	Example Specializations	Associated Skill
Architecture	Buildings, bridges, fortifications	General Edu./Tech Edu.
Cuisine	By culture, region, country, or flavor	General Edu.
Customs & Traditions	By culture, region, country	General Edu.
Engineering	Vehicles, Siege equipment, non-electronic machines	Tech Edu.
Electronics	Computers, robots, gadgets	Tech Edu.
Famous People	By culture, country, or family	General Edu.
Folklore	By culture, region, country	General/Pokemon Edu.
Geology	Caves, minerals, mountains, gems	General Edu/Survival
Geography	By continent, region, dimension	General Edu/Survival
History	By continent, region, dimension	General Edu.
Law	By culture, region, country	General Edu.
Magic	By dimension, ritual, or [Tag]	Occult Edu.
Medicine	Biology, pharmacology, psychiatry, toxicology	Medicine Edu.
Nature	By climate or region	Survival
Pokemon	By Type or Group	Pokemon Edu.
Religion	By pantheon, deity, festival, observance	General/Occult Edu.

Recall Factoid: As a Free Action at any time, you may try to remember something you have Knowledge of. Every Field of Knowledge has its own Associated Skill; when recalling information, make an Education check + your Grade + other bonuses, the list of DCs is provided above.


Success: You recall the information. Failure: You need to wait 24 hours or visit a Study before you can make a check to recall the same factoid. Moderate Failure: You have to wait until you visit a Study before making a check for the same info.

Professions
Professions are a combination of knowledge and ability in fields that don’t fall under the other types. It contains actors, carpenters, fishermen, and other skill sets that shouldn’t interfere with your capacity to adventure.

Professions go up to Grade 8. What Skills you use to roll with are denoted in the table below. For professions with multiple associated Skills, use your highest Skill Rank.
Not all professions are refined enough to have 8 Grades - there are no Grade 8 Laborers, for example.
A profession represents your ability to work over a sustained period. While someone who can craft individual food items can do so with Intuition checks, a Cooking Profession check would be how well you performed over a Downtime Action.
You make a Profession Check by rolling the Profession’s Skill + your Grade + other bonuses. DCs are set by the GM according to the table above. When two practitioners of a profession have a competition, the checks are simply opposed. Generally the higher check wins, but third parties judging the competition may have other factors swaying their judgment. You gain money equal to your check result times your Profession’s Base Income and can Take 3 on this check.
A Profession’s Base Income is related to its Lifestyle. You can determine a Profession’s associated Lifestyle by dividing its Base Income by 5, since there are 4 Lifestyle levels. Fame-based incomes increase or decrease based on the popularity of the creator’s work.

The following list only contains a number of example professions - what is available in-game depends on the setting’s culture.


Profession	Maximum Grade	Base Income	Associated Skills
Actor	8	Fame-based	Charm, Guile, Intimidate
Artist	8	Fame-based	General Edu., Intuition, Perception
Athlete	8	Fame-based	Acrobatics, Athletics, Combat
Bartender/Innkeeper	6	$10	Charm, General Edu., Intuition
Boss/Admin/Gym Leader	8	$15	Command, Intuition
Burglar/Thief	8	$5	Acrobatics, Guile, Stealth
Butler	8	$15	General Edu., Intuition, Perception
Carpenter	8	$15	Athletics, General Edu.
Cook	8	$10	General Edu., Intuition
Doctor/Nurse	8	$15	Medicine Edu.
Farmer	6	$5	Athletics, General Edu., Survival
Fisherman	6	$5	Athletics, Pokemon Edu., Survival
Guide/Navigator	8	$10	Intuition, General Edu., Survival
Laborer	4	$5	Athletics
Lumberjack	6	$10	Athletics, General Edu., Survival
Janitor/Maid/Servant	6	$10	General Edu., Intuition, Perception
Medium	8	$10	Occult Edu.
Miner	8	$5	Athletics, Tech Edu., Survival
Musician/Performer	8	Fame-based	Charm, Intimidate, Intuition
Rancher/Breeder	6	$10	Command, General Edu., Pokemon Edu.
Researcher/Sage/Teacher	8	$10	Any Education Skill
Ranger	8	$10	Intuition, Pokemon Edu, Survival
Sailor	8	$10	Athletics, Acrobatics, Survival
Socialite	8	$20	Any Social Skill

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Fri Jul 02, 2021 4:47 am

This was a discussion that was had some time in the past and I'm going to present it here assuming you had not seen it. Just something to consider.

Do you think there is value in having someone roll for knowledge? I'd also add crafting and profession to that but I can't remember if the discussion I'm thinking about involved those and I'm not going to look it up.

I do not have a roll in mind for my game where making and knowing things is concerned because part of my current design philosophy is to get rid of rolls that I can't justify. Since knowing things and making things are not actions where the player is in any danger, they are likely not competing with an opposing force, and the consequences for not knowing a thing is basically having wasted still points investing in the skill in the first place I see no need for a roll. You could say rolling for profession or crafting has a consequence but I'd argue that then you are interesting in skills that effectively just allow you to gamble for more money. I think I mentioned as much about crafting in the thread I made about just that some time ago.

I'm not bringing this up to argue about it again. I think I've seen enough from people who are pro roll to get all the arguments likely to be brought up in favor of doing it that way. I'm bringing it up as something you can chew on for a bit.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Fri Jul 02, 2021 3:11 pm

Well, the thread's called "Arguing about Pokemon Tabletop Evolution" for a reason. You can argue.

I can see where you're coming from, though. Is there value in having someone roll for knowledge? Based on my own experiences, I tend to supply information to PCs based on their skill ranks without making them roll for it. I could easily remove needing to roll for knowledge and supplant it with going off of whatever your Grade Rank is. I'd still like one techno-geek to be distinguishable from another, but you're right about removing rolls where they aren't needed.

What rolling is primarily used for is crafting and professions... and even then, it's not intended for you to actually roll for those most of the time. This is why you can always Take 2 when crafting, or always Take 3 on your profession check. You can gamble when making something or working in an attempt to save/gain more money, but I'm throwing around the Take X mechanic everywhere for a reason.
Since Knowledge only lets you Take X on rolls when you're in a Study, I can see value in removing the need to roll for it at all. Given that there are readily available options to not roll for Crafting and Profession, I see less value in removing the option to roll for it.

Please argue with me about this.

Lord Charlemagne · Post by **Lord Charlemagne** » Fri Jul 02, 2021 3:34 pm

Haven't read the thread fully yet (I intend to, but I've been busy). Quick comment to give my opinion on rolling knowledge:

From a pure mechanical perspective, I don't think people need to roll for knowledge skills outside of the occasional rare knowledge roll that may happen in an adventure path.

From an actual table play perspective, rolling for knowledge is nice as it can cue the players to begin thinking about the numbers on their character sheets while in the game (so you call a knowledge skill while on the way to the core of the adventure to get players looking at their sheets & in the mood for numbers) and it can also be used to signal a GM about how to deliver their exposition if there are multiple knowledge skills, as players may ask the GM about if they can roll for knowledge, which can prompt the GM to remember what the characters are good at & interested in.

Functionally, knowledge rolls in my opinion and experience are best used as a way to prompt the players & GM to get into the swing of the characters.

On crafting and profession, I don't see much reason to have rolls happen for them unless they are attempted at being rushed, which what that means will vary between systems.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Fri Jul 02, 2021 5:23 pm

Lord Charlemagne wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 02, 2021 3:34 pm
On crafting and profession, I don't see much reason to have rolls happen for them unless they are attempted at being rushed, which what that means will vary between systems.

Part of the reason I want to keep rolling for crafting is due to how crafting works: You can say you want to make a Potion, which has a Base DC, and then you can start slapping modifiers on it until it becomes too expensive or difficult to make.

For example, take a Level 5 Trainer. Let's assume they've specced into crafting medicine, so they have Expert rank in Medicine Education, meaning they roll 5d6 for said checks. They have chosen Toxins as the category of shit they can create, so they look at the Equipment section for that category. Toxins are among the more involved items to create, as the Base DC depends on the delivery method of the toxin. Our Trainer wants to make a Coating to put on their weapon, so we start with a DC of 6. However, it doesn't do anything yet, so they need to add a Symptom as well. They want to fuck someone up, so they select the Debilitate and Dizziness Symptoms, each of which increases the creation DC by +2, bringing us to a DC 10.

At this point, the Trainer can stop and simply make this item as an Extended Action without even needing to roll, since they Take 2 on their roll of 5d6. However, this Trainer's paranoid and likes to keep a selection of special toxins, so he applies the Increase Check Modifier 6 times, increasing the DC by +1 each time. The DC to create the toxin is now 16, which they would have to roll for or locate a Workshop to work in (some class features and items count as mobile Workshops), and the DC for their target to not get his shit fucked up goes from 8 to 20 due to Increase Check.

We can go even further beyond. A creation DC of 16 is nothing. The Trainer applies the Potency Modifier 3 times to the poison, increasing the DC by +4 each time, resulting in a creation DC of 28 for a toxin that negates PP usage, reduces accuracy, is difficult for most people to throw off, and can be used 4 times before dissipating. Our intrepid Trainer who thinks rolling dice is for children goes to their buddy, the local scientist, and asks him if he can use his equipment for an hour or so, to which he agrees. This Workshop kicks super ass and lets the trainer Take 6 on their check, so they bang out the super-toxin and spend more time figuring out what they're adding to it than they do on actually making it.

This methodology is insane, but I've also got nearly 40 pages of equipment tables and modifiers and shit written up, so clearly I'm leaning hard into the "players can make up their own shit" aspect of TTRPGs, just in a somewhat more codified manner.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Sat Jul 03, 2021 12:01 pm

So my argument is that you haven't given me a reason to roll for anything.

Let's take knowledge on both sides of the table. So something comes up that you, the GM, believe that someone knowledgeable should know about but don't think someone who isn't knowledgeable should know. What reason could you give me for someone who has opted into 'know thing' and spent character creation resources to get 'know thing' to not then know the thing? On the player side you prompted a knowledge check and if they fail it they have effectively wasted even putting points into that resource and now they do not know the thing that you believed they should know. On your end you now have risked the thing you probably want them to know going unknown.

If this thing is important for the players to know, if it is necessary, then you WILL tell them some way, somehow, even if the players sit on their hands because you are not going to stop your game dead in its tracks because the dice went a bit low. If it isn't important then you've just pissed away the chance to let your players know about something that at the very least might be interesting. Why would you want this outcome? What does it add to the game? Well possibly some further wasted table time making additional rolls at a library.

Instead you can have a scenario where the players know a thing and just say 'well you've invested in 'know a thing' so you know about the thing. No die rolls, no risk of wasting extra time, and player's who chose to 'know thing' now have received the benefit of choosing that option. In the prior thread where this was a big deal there was never a counter argument given that told me why you want to leave this kind of thing to chance. No kind of real, meaty, benefit was presented to me for withholding fluff or necessary information from the players who have invested in the skill. If there is a tangible, game enhancing, benefit to it I'm all ears but so far I've not seen it.

When I did the thread about crafting I mentioned similar leanings. So you want potions of different levels to exist so that higher levels. You have a method for people to just get it without rolling. You have not told me the benefit to rolling for this. It's still just gambling on spending less money to make stuff. So a craftsman does the math and knows that with X set up they can make Y potion without rolling or can gamble to create a higher level potion at half the cost still. All of this is fine but do you want the last part? If so I don't know why. Without knowing why I can't make an argument for why you should not do it.

In general I can say it makes the game harder to balance because now craftspeople have a % chance to craft items above what I assume is some kind of balance point you have in mind. And if they don't do that they'll probably just stick to the minimum or close to it, because then they don't have to worry about flushing resources down the toilet for no gain. I personally don't see why I'd be interested in wasting table time with a roll like this myself because I don't get anything out of them wasting resources and down time to get nothing from it.

I don't know why profession would even be a skill in the first place. In DnD it is a skill that pretty much just generates money in your downtime. In this it looks like you're doing the same thing. They don't even have you get that skill in most CRPGs because it is so useless. More likely you'd see it as a [Background] tag thing that may allow some unique dialogue choices. If they made a non MMO pokemon RPG I do not thing 'profession' would be one of the skills in it. Nor do I think it should be. If you think otherwise I'd be pretty comfortable saying you are objectively wrong.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Sat Jul 03, 2021 5:35 pm

I... really don't have a counterpoint to much of your post. You raise good points and I'll work on making things have less rolling. The only part I really have any response to is this:

MGuy wrote:I don't know why profession would even be a skill in the first place. In DnD it is a skill that pretty much just generates money in your downtime. In this it looks like you're doing the same thing.

That is, uh... kind of the point. A skill that generates money in your downtime. I can see removing the need to roll to randomly determine how much money you made today, but are you implying that the idea itself is unnecessary? The typical way people get money in the Pokemon games is by beating other Trainers in combat, but that seems like a weird mechanic to have as your primary means of gaining wealth in a tabletop game. I'm trying to move away from being just a combat simulator.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Sun Jul 04, 2021 2:39 am

That doesn't explain why it's a skill or why you'd want to roll for it.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Sun Jul 04, 2021 2:43 am

Hmm. Yes.
Should it perhaps just be a "thing" you choose upon character creation and can swap out whenever, that way you don't expend any character resources on it?

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Sun Jul 04, 2021 8:06 am

Pretty much. In fact if it's not a thing where you have carved out actual gameplay in the mechanics (like is there a strategic or engaging way to 'do' an occupation?) or something that players can invoke to 'do' anything outside of converting downtime into cash I don't really see how it helps change the dynamic of the game away from combat simulator.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Sun Jul 04, 2021 4:00 pm

That's starting to sound a little too close to FATE aspects for my liking, but I see where you're coming from.
Now I'm gonna have to be cynical and say "is there a strategic or engaging way to 'do' an occupation IRL"?

But I'm just being cheeky.
It sounds like you're saying something along the lines of 'if you're a doctor, then you should be able to contact other doctors or access restricted medical information or have free access to a badass Medical Workshop'.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:20 am

I'm saying that if you're going to include professions you should think about what players will be doing in game. I don't know why you'd have an aversion, necessarily, to FATE's aspects. Every kind of rule you put in a game is a tool and should serve a purpose. It could be that the FATE thing works well where professions are concerned where every so often you can invoke them for some benefit but at some cost to discourage mindless spamming.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Tue Jul 06, 2021 4:41 pm

MGuy wrote: ↑
Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:20 am
I don't know why you'd have an aversion, necessarily, to FATE's aspects.

I've just played in games before where some aspects are blatantly more usable (read: spammable) than others, and while I understand that's probably on my GM and group's fault, it's still something I'd like to avoid. I specifically recall a game where my friend and I were playing couriers trying to get goods to some place far away, so we each had the aspect "We Gotta Deliver The Mail". Turns out that this was useful for everything from running, to making overland checks, to killing vampires with an axe, and bullying people into fucking off out of our path.
It was fun, but also stupid.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Wed Jul 07, 2021 6:35 am

I always got the feeling that you're not supposed to actually fail at all in Fate so I was under the assumption that people who play it are fine with it and gentlemen's agreements take things from there. If you give people a way to avoid failure they are going to take advantage. That's absolute fine and should be expected. You just have to plan for it. You can make it so that an aspect is less spammable because it's tied to a limited resource, there's a significant drawback/risk to it's use, it has diminishing returns such as a growing chance of failure with each use. You can alternatively change what an aspect does where instead of increasing successes it allows for players to open up alternative ways to perform version tasks. So 'In a doctor' when invoked allows the character to do whatever the characters would go to a doctor for, basically just bring a way to save the players a trip that they were going to make anyway or just saving them resources if they need surgery performed in a proper environment.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Wed Jul 07, 2021 6:14 pm

Right. I wouldn't want professions to have any direct influence over the combat simulator, but if each profession had a specific Downtime-only bonus then that would help simplify things while giving players more interesting options.
Is it necessarily a bad thing that some professions make more money than others? Obviously, having more money is better, but the system isn't currently set up like D&D where you (probably) need magic items and fancy gear to keep up.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Thu Jul 08, 2021 6:48 am

Well before you start asking me if income generation differentials are good or bad I need to know

1) What you actually want professions to do. If it's not connected to your primary conflict resolution system (which combat is necessarily the primary thing because it definitely is going to have the most rules and work going into it) then I need to know what you expect it to be. In greater detail. What do you expect people to do with it if not just generate money for fight stuff.

2) if it's just for generating money, which it seems to be so far, how much that money they get means

Your answers are going to be different than mine probably, depending on what you envision.

For a Pokemon game I'd say money shouldn't matter as much as status. The rhythm of the Pokemon games typically have you start out with a limited selection of pokemon and ability to move around the map. Your involvement in fighting the themed villains in the game tend to also be limited at the beginning. As the journey goes on the more you status grows, the more Pokemon you're able to get, the more you're able to navigate the map, the more important your character is to correcting the wrongs of the day. The money similarly is limited in the beginning and grows by the end.

So since you are already using levels I would say that a good weekend would just be to tie money from a profession to level and to only offer professions recognizable to a Pokemon journey. Officers, Professors, Nurses, etc. Whatever isn't an explicit class (don't remember if you have those but most Pokemon projects I've seen have them) that you know would be a regular part of the world. By being surviving here you avoid things like 'what if janitor?' and then you give the middle finger to whoever did you about it a medical professional should be making the same as an officer because b those things are not the focus of the game.

At least that's what I think I'd do bad I did here pulling things out my ass. This is what I think I'd do if someone suddenly asked me what I'd put in a Pokemon themed game so I haven't thought that deeply about it.

The Adventurer's Almanac · Thu Dec 01, 2022 7:04 pm

For shits and giggles, I dug up all my old notes on this game and compiled them into a single PDF file. Didn't really edit anything, since I wanted to see how much I had worked on. My motivation's ground to a halt with the cessation of IRL tabletop goodness, but when I slapped it all together I realized I had 226 pages of shit assembled. In light of the embarrassing amount of work I put into it, I've started passing it around in the hopes that someone will look at it and go "WTF is wrong with you" and re-motivate me. Going over this thread again will certainly help.

So here, have at it. It's all over the place and mostly in the brainstorming stage, but I figure I can come up with shit now and start slicing away the fat later. It's probably a good sign if reading it re-inspires me.

merxa · Post by **merxa** » Mon Dec 05, 2022 11:41 pm

When you first started this project I’ve wanted to provide more substantial feedback given the effort, and well, i’m finally trying to do that. Thanks for putting together the pdf.

My first disclaimer is i’m not much of a pokemon fan, so I may lack some important context to various things.

List of challenges in the tier list is nice.

Xd6 skills. I am somewhat partial to this as i’m focusing on a 3d6 game engine, but i strongly suspect the skill DC math for xd6 skill checks will not work out smoothly, especially when say a challenge must be done by multiple characters, it’s likely some will outright be unable to succeed and others will find the DC trivial, so players may encounter many challenges where they are succeeding 90%+ of the time or failing at the same (or higher) rate, with relatively little inbetween.

Just as an example, you average 3.5 on 1d6, so every d6 gives you +3.5, so at 2d6 you’re averaging 7, which is impossible to achieve on 1d6, 4d6 you’re averaging 14, impossible to achieve at 2d6. Or say 3d6, averages 10.5, but 2d6 will only roll 10,11,12 one out 6 times. If say the expectation is PCs are running around with 3d6 and 4d6 in skills, you’re looking 10 and 14 as averages, and ranges of 3-18, 4-24, achieving dc 11 on 4d6 ~84%, and 50% at 3d6. If you move it up to say 15, you achieve that ~44% at 4d6 but merely ~9% at 3d6. As you can see, there isn’t a big ‘sweet’ spot, you very quickly accelerate down both sides of the probability hill.

If you really like the Xd6 skill system, my suggestion is use a bigger die, like a 1d10 or 1d12, that should help a tiny bit by giving a larger range where someone with 3d12 and another with 4d12 are looking at a dc 20 check and neither are feeling abject defeat or laughing off the trivial dc, even the 2d12 character can feel like they have a chance instead of no chance. My preferred solution to you is instead pick one, ie 3d6, and try to get that right, balancing it against Xd6 is i think too hard and will cause too many headaches, and Xd12 isn’t really a fix either.

Status Afflictions, I don’t really understand how they are applied and everything that determines the tier, but the step from tier 3 to tier 4 is dramatic, from damage to death in many cases. My intuition tells me you probably want a buffer tier or two between being on fire and getting vaporized. Keeping with fire, catching on fire is listed as DC 12 – returning to the Xd6, you have 0% at 1d6, ~2.7% at 2d6, ~37% at 3d6, 84% at 4d6 – exposure to catching on fire mechanically goes from being guaranteed death, certainly death, unlikely death, and i’m an action hero.

If there’s anything in particular you want feedback, a particular skill or mechanic, i’m happy to take a look. There’s a lot of material so i’m mostly looking at sections which interest me.

The Gaming Den

Arguing about Pokemon Tabletop Evolution (WIP)

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