¶ Failed Playtest
After gathering feedback for a few months, we have deemed this playtest unsuccessful.
Not every idea always works out, so we'll be revisiting this to tune things that interact with this system!
This page will stay here for archival purposes in case people are using F&S in their ongoing campaigns.
Pokemon Tabletop Reunited is unique as a player and a GM, you have multiple characters to control and play with. This presents a unique opportunity and challenge, how do all these entities interact with one another? Establishing friendships with each other, building trust, bonds that last an entire adventure, can be a lot to track.
Friendship is a function of a Pokemons disposition towards a trainer. The average Pokemon in the wild will have a Friendship rating of 2 when caught, whereas Pokemon caught in extremely poor conditions will be at 1 or even 0, while Pokemon caught in situations that they would be beholden to the trainer can be 3 or even as high as 4 Friendship. This variability allows you as a GM to make each Pokemon feel more unique than just 'the 4th pokemon they caught'.
Generally, Friendship for the average Pokemon that is caught and used throughout a long running campaign should reach level 5. As trainers interact with their Pokemon, using them in battle, carrying them around, encouraging, training, all of the normal trainer things, Pokemon should become the highest level of trust as a Trainer proves its worth. Some examples of how a GM might reward players who want to raise friendship faster are as follows:
These are not all encompassing, but ideas in order for you to reward Roleplaying at the table with Pokemon and Trainers. Depending on the type of campaign you are running, each of these might be helpful.
Below you will find explanations of each of the Friendship Levels in more detail for you to better understand the flavor of friendship levels.
It is not recommended that GM’s lower Friendship level unless extenuating circumstances occur between the Pokemon and Trainer. For Trainers seeking to keep Friendship to a minimal for moves such as Frustration, GM’s may find it engaging to have Friendship locked in for Pokemon. Though friends may part for a while, or even disagree on a solution, it is not a fun nor interesting mechanic or experience for anyone to have Friendship constantly fluctuating.
¶ Summary of Gameplay Effects
- Friendship 0: This pokemon will not intercept, or aid its trainer normally out of combat.
- Friendship 1: This pokemon can intercept, but may be hesitant to provide aid to it's trainer out of combat.
- Friendship 2-5: These Friendship Levels allow all normal interactions inside & outside of combat.
This Pokemon has been caught under extraordinary circumstances that are detrimental to the relationship. The trainer may have fainted it, revived it, fainted again, and then caught it. The trainer may have captured the Pokemon after destroying all the eggs it had laid. This level of friendship is abysmally low and generally hard to come by. The Pokemon may have an intense hatred or fear of the trainer that requires extenuating circumstances to repair. It is not recommended to give many Pokemon during a campaign this level of friendship as it should be substantially harder to repair these types of relationships. It may take multiple attempts or events from above in order to raise friendship just one level.
If a Pokemon is at a Base Friendship level of 0, it will not intercept or aid its trainer normally out of combat.
This Pokemon was caught under unpleasant circumstances. It may not have wanted to be captured, it may have been previously owned and released. It could have been caught while fainted. Pokemon of this disposition will act indifferent or harshly to their trainer, potentially refusing to aid them up obstacles, scouting or other such roleplaying activities as they just feel as if they are being used. Pokemon of this disposition rarely stay here long, a caring trainer can spend a bit more time with them to move them to at least neutral, but makes for easy roleplaying opportunities or unique interactions in order to make the Pokemon feel more genuine. Pokemon at Base Friendship level of 1 can intercept, but may be hesitant to help trainers out of Combat.
This Pokemon has been caught under ordinary circumstances. This is the most common level that a Pokemon will be caught out. Typically, it was bested in battle by the trainer and was willingly caught. Pokemon of this disposition can stay here for a whole campaign if they are rarely used or interacted with. This Friendship Level is recommended for all Pokemon if a GM or PC does not want to use the Friendship System intensively. Pokemon at Base Friendship Level 2 can intercept and will help trainers outside of combat willingly.
This Pokemon has been caught under favorable circumstances. This Pokemon may have been helped out before it was caught, fed berries, traveled with the PC for a while, etc.. Pokemon with this disposition will go above the typical call of duty to help their trainers because they appreciate them and their wisdom and strength. These Pokemon are more helpful, open to discussion or interaction and generally well loved and loving to their trainer. This Pokemon begins to benefit from the Spirit Mechanic found later in this document.
This Pokemon has been caught under extraordinary circumstances or been raised to this level. Pokemon of this disposition are starting to show signs of unwavering loyalty to their trainer. Pokemon at this friendship level may pop out of their Pokeball to help the trainer, helping them to navigate a difficult obstacle or puzzle. This Pokemon is greatly benefitted by the time it's spent with its trainer or its interactions to the point that the Pokemon does extensive feats at its trainers request.
This Pokemon has an unbreakable relationship with its trainer. Pokemon of the highest Friendship are known for going above and beyond for trainers. Pushing the limits of themselves to help in times of need. These Pokemon would not abandon their trainer, putting themselves in harm's way to save them. These Pokemon have extreme benefits from the Spirit Mechanic and are extremely loyal to their trainers.
Spirit is a numerical scale ranging from -3 to 3, and represents your pokemon's mentality in battle or other hard circumstances.
At the beginning of the day (where 'day' is referring to the same day as daily frequency mechanics), Spirit is set to (your Friendship Level - 2). Over the course of the day, spirit can be expended down to 0. Spirit is spent to allow your pokemon to enhance their abilities in a critical moment, or perform a daring maneuver when stakes are high.
Pokemon who have negative spirit are considered Weary, and may act out, stumble, or act contrary to a command due to their exhausted state at the GM Discretion. This however restores Spirit, allowing the PC to have access once again to the bonuses of Spirit.
At the end of each day, your remaining Spirit or Weariness will impact your ability to rest, after which your Spirit is restored to your Pokemon’s base Spirit.
As a player, you can spend a Pokemon's Spirit to help it to accomplish something that it otherwise might have blundered. This will reduce its Spirit for the remainder of the day or until the GM spends Weariness (negative spirit) in order to cause something detrimental. Be wise with your use of Spirit in order to have it when necessary, as some GM’s may not spend Weary. Spirit should be understood as the Pokemons strength of will throughout the day. Pushing a Pokemon beyond its limits reduces its ability to continue to do that. When using Spirit, we encourage the player and GM to work together to explain or justify how the Spirit is spent to make the situation better.
¶ Narrative Example
Cole is a well trained fighter, having spent years working on his core, running up mountains, and training to be the very best amongst his peers in speed and dexterity. He loves to spend extra time with his Pokemon, passing on this muscle memory. When a strike comes in, his Hariyama is always mentally prepared to react to where it is coming in. When the Meteor Mash from the Metagross strikes for a 7 against his evasion of 7, his instincts kick in, remembering how crab-like the Metagross is, pivoting around the attack, avoiding the strike (gaining 2 EVA by spending a Spirit). Just like Cole taught him.
¶ Homebrew Spirit Consumption
The idea of this framework heavily aligns with the idea of "The Rule of Cool" and empowring cooperative storytelling within the party.
If you wish to make your own homebrew spirit effects, you can keep the following design philosophies in mind that we used:¶ Spending Spirit
3 Spirit (Once per Day benefits)
2 Spirit (Scene or Potentially Daily Bonuses)
1 Spirit (EOT/Scene bonuses)¶ Spending Weariness
1 Weariness (EOT/Scene detriments)
2 Weariness (Scene or Potentially Daily Detriments)
3 Weariness (Daily only as this is not achievable without extenuating circumstances)
The following Actions are grouped as in-combat actions and out-of-combat action. It does not mean that these can exclusively be used in these situations, but simply for reference purposes. All Spirit Actions are considered Free Action - Interrupts for the sake of use unless otherwise noted.
These actions are considered Extended Actions. These are used just before Resting for the next Adventuring Day. All bonuses are bestowed upon the Pokemon at the beginning of the next Adventuring Day. All bonuses end at the end of that Adventuring Day.
Use the above Spirit Actions as inspiration and discuss with your GM to create more available options! Don't be afraid to ask your GM mid-session for a extreme feat of endurance or strength to be allowed using a harsh spirit cost.
Example: An Abra uses their telekinetic power to save the bus full of children from falling into a ravine long enough so everyone can evacuate before the bus plummets
This causes the Abra to lose 3 spirit dispite only having 1, putting it at -2 or 2 Weary
Pokemon with positive Spirit will always outperform their counterparts. A Pokemon that has more energy, more attentiveness, a brighter attitude, will have some basic benefits. The same is said for those Pokemon that are tired out, fearful, or overpushed. Pokemon gain the following benefits (or downsides) from having positive spirit and Weariness.
| Spirit | Effect |
|---|---|
| 3 Spirit | +1 Bonus to Accuracy, Evasion and Critical Rate, +2 to Save Checks and Skill checks. |
| 2 Spirit | +2 to Save Checks and Skill Checks. |
| 1 Spirit | +2 to Skill Checks |
| 0 Spirit | -- |
| -1 Spirit | -2 to Skill Checks |
| -2 Spirit | -2 to Save Checks and Skill Checks. |
| -3 Spirit | -1 to Accuracy, Evasion and Critical Rate, -2 to Save Checks and Skill checks. |
If a Pokemon is Wearied before an Extended Rest, this will put a drain on them for the next day. The more wearied, the more this drain could be a damper on that Pokemons Spirit. The following effects happen when taking Extended Rest:
| Weary | Effect |
|---|---|
| 3 | This Pokemon starts with 1 less Spirit on the next Adventuring Day. |
| 2 | Starts the Adventuring Day with 1 missing Tick of Hit Points. |
| 1 | -5 Initiative during the first Combat of the next Adventuring Day. |
It is not necessarily recommended to run NPC’s as having Spirit, unless they're specifically making use of Spirit based classes. Spending Weariness on PC’s Pokemon should be sufficient in and of itself. (and if you do decide to use Spirit with NPCs, consider allowing your players to spend YOUR weary!)
You could use the previous list of PC’s Spirit spending as a template, using the reverse in order to use it as a GM (-3 Spirit can be spent as if it was Positive Spirit for your NPC as an example).
But possibly more interestingly, you can also use it to make your player's mons act out in some way shape or form. Maybe the -2 spirit Abra from the last example has to take a turn 'loafing around' because it's completely exhausted or after performing such an amazing feat it's full of itself, ignoring it's better judgement and attacks the clearly stronger opponent.
Please keep in mind that spending Spirit & Weariness is meant to be a enhancement to the collaborative story telling you're doing with your players. If your spending of Weariness would result in an overall degrading experience with your table, do. not. do. it.
The following Featuers, Items, etc. have all been created or altered to now work with the Spirit system. These area also available in Foundry.
| Item | Effect |
|---|---|
| Simple Cologne | As an Extended Action, you can massage your Pokemon. Roll a d20, on a 10+, your Pokemons Friendship raises by 1 to a max of 2. |
| Fancy Cologne | As an Extended Action, you can massage your Pokemon. Roll a d20, on a 12+, your Pokemons Friendship raises by 1 to a max of 3. |
| Extravagant Cologne | As an Extended Action, you can massage your Pokemon. Roll a d20, on a 14+, your Pokemons Friendship raises by 1 to a max of 4. |
| Friendship Bracelet (Pokemon Name) | Held Item: While a Pokemon and Trainer both wear a matching Friendship Bracelet, the Friendship level of that Pokemon is considered 1 higher to a max of 4. |
| Stand United | Held Item: While at Friendship level 5, this Pokemon gains +1 to all Base Stats. If this Pokemon faints, its friendship drops to level 4 and loses this bonus. This bonus is also lost if this item is removed in any way. |
| Friend Ball | Pokemon caught in a Friend Ball gain 1 Friendship on capture. (max 4) |
| Friend of a Friend | Held Item: After each Extended Rest, if this Pokemons Friendship level is 4 or higher, it gains 1 Temporary Spirit that is lost if not used by the next Extended Rest. This effect is lost if this held item is removed in anyway. |
| Feature | Prereq. | Frequency | Tags | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coaching | Training Regime | 1-AP Free Action | [+HP] | Trigger - Your Pokémon makes a Combat Maneuver Effect: Your Pokémon gains a bonus based on the type of Combat maneuver they are making. This Feature may be triggered once per Scene per Pokémon. Your Pokémon gains a +1d6 bonus to Opposed Acrobatics, Athletics, Combat, or Stealth Skill Checks. If your Pokémon was Sprinting, they double their Movement Capabilities instead of increasing by 50%. If your Pokémon was making an Attack of Opportunity, they automatically hit. You may also activate this Feature to let them Intercept for any Ally regardless of Friendship, and they gain 5 DR when doing so." |
| Encouraging Spirit | Any Spirit Skill Expert, Three Friendship 4 Pokemon or One Friendship 5 Pokemon | Static | [+Def or Special Def] | Any Pokemon that has Positive Spirit at the end of the Adventuring Day may spend Spirit for Resting as if they had one more Spirit. This would allow you to spend one more Spirit than your cap. |
| Overflowing Heart | 3 Skills at Master | Bind 1 AP - Swift Action | [-] | Target: Your Pokemon with Friendship 3 or Higher. While this Pokemon is at Positive Spirit, they gain +1 Dice to all Skill Checks and +2 to all Saves. |
| Undiscourageable | Three Friendship 4 Pokemon, Any Adept Spirit Skill or Intimidate | 1 AP - Extended Action | [+HP] | Target: Your Pokemon with 4 or higher Friendship and Weary. Effect: You take your Pokemon aside to encourage them. Roll a Check with any Prerequisite skill, adding the Pokemons Friendship level to the number. Rolls greater than or equal to the target DC cause the Pokemon to gain 1 Spirit. This cannot give a Pokemon Positive Spirit higher than 1. |
| Press | Adept Intimidate | At-Will - Standard Action, 1 Weary | [-] | Target: Your Pokemon. Effect: You call out to your Pokemon to become careless. Raise any two of the target by +1 CS and it loses a Tick of Hit Points. |
| Weary | DC |
|---|---|
| 3 | 22 |
| 2 | 18 |
| 1 | 14 |
| 0 | 10 |
| Edge | Prereq. | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Beast Master | Novice Command | Increase the Spirit spending limit by 1 for your Pokemon (If your Pokemon could normally go to 0, now they can go to -1, etc.) You may also use Command on Pokemon to change their Disposition instead of Charm. |
| Grace | Novice Charm, Command, Guile, Intimidate or Intuition | Your Pokémon may consume and benefit from 2 more Poffins each. If this Pokémon is traded to a Trainer without the Grace feature, these extra dice from additional Poffins are not lost, but a Trainer without Grace may not benefit from more than 6 Dice gained from Poffins. You may always use any of the Skills that are prerequisites for Grace in the Introduction Stage of a Contest to roll for Contest Stat Dice of any kind. Pokemon you use Grace on start with an additional Spirit each day this can raise the max to 4 if you are Expert in any of these skills. |
| Quite a Charmer | Adept Charm | When capturing a Pokemon, if you used Charm to increase the disposition of the Pokemon, this Pokemon gains +1 Friendship on capture (max 4). If the Pokemon is captured in a Friend Ball and is at +4 without this bonus, it instead gains the ability Guardian Spirit. |
| Willbreaker | Expert Command or Intimidate | When interacting with a Wild Pokemon, you may use Command or Intimidate against the targets Focus Check. If you are successful, choose to either have that Pokemon Flee from battle (if able), or drop whatever it is holding (if able). If this successfuly beats the check, your Pokemon gains 1 Spirit (even if the GM determines it doesn't flee or drop its item.). This can only affect a Pokemon once. |
| Primed Mind | Expert Focus | When your Pokemon are determining Resting Benefits for your Pokemon, Roll a Focus Check (Trainer) for each Party Pokemon. On a 18+ that Pokemon loses 1 Weary. |
| Ability | Frequency | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Guardian Spirit | Daily | Trigger: Your Pokemon is intercepting an attack. Effect: This Pokemon does not have to Spend Spirit to Intercept attacks this round. |
| Burning Heart | Static | This Pokemon cannot lose Spirit due to an Foes Abiltiies/Features/Moves. Note this is not yet in game on anything, just something to consider adding. |
| Capability | Effect |
|---|---|
| Marsupial | Kangaskhan is always born with the Baby Template (see Optional Rules), subtracting 5 from each of its Base Stats. While Kangaskhan have the Baby Template, they live in their mother’s pouch and will not willingly leave it for long; their bond is so strong, that both Pokémon are able to be captured in a single Pokeball during this time. While Kangaskhan has the Baby Template, it cannot be Commanded to fight or take any action. Mother Kangaskhan with a Baby in their pouch are exceptional at protecting their babies; attacks cannot target Kangaskhan inside their mother’s pouch while she is conscious. Trainers raising a Kangaskhan may choose to have their Mother Kangaskhan gain 20% less experience from any sources and give that Experience to the baby instead. Once a Baby Kangaskhan reaches level 25 and loses the Baby Template, it exits its mother’s pouch permanently. If the Mother has Friendship of 2 or more, the Baby will allow the trainer to capture it effortlessly. |
| Fortune | Once a day, a Pokémon of at least Level 20 with this Capability may be allowed to roam freely in a City or Town for at least one hour. The user then returns with an amount of money equal to its Level multiplied by 1d10. Pokemon of Friendship 4 or higher may also roll on the Pickup table. Pokemon of Friendship 1 have a 50% chance of not returning at all. |
| Volatile Bomb | The Pokémon loses 1 less Spirit from using Self-Destruct or Explosion. |
| Trusting | This Pokemon gains +1 Friendship the first time it would gain Friendship. When at Max Friendship, this Pokemon gains +1 Temporary Spirit each Adventuring Day that is lost at the when taking an Extended Rest. |
| Move | Type | Freq. | AC | DB | Class | Range | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explosion | Normal | Daily | 2 | 25 | Physical | Burst 3 | The user’s Hit Points are set to -50% of their full Hit Point value. This Hit Point loss cannot be prevented or reduced in any way. This Pokemon loses 2 Spirit. |
| Self-Destruct | Normal | Daily | 2 | 20 | Physical | Burst 2 | The user’s Hit Points are set to -50% of their full Hit Point value. This Hit Point loss may not be prevented or reduced in any way. This Pokemon loses 1 Spirit. |
| Frustration | Normal | At-Will | 2 | X, See Effect | Physical | Melee, 1 Target | Frustration’s Damage Base is equal to 10 minus the user’s Friendship Value. |
| Return | Normal | At-Will | 2 | X, See Effect | Physical | Melee, 1 Target | Return’s Damage Base is equal to 5 plus the user’s Friendship Value. |
| Frustration+ | Normal | At-Will | 2 | X, See Effect | Physical | Melee, 1 Target | The damage base of this move is equal to 2 times the number of non-fainted Pokémon you carry with Weary (Max DB 12). Note: If you run a campaign with a reduced number of Pokémon,, this will need to be scaled accordingly. 4 mons would be 3x, 2 mons would be 6x, etc. |
| Return+ | Normal | At-Will | 2 | X, See Effect | Physical | Melee, 1 Target | The damage base of this move is equal to 2 times the number of non-fainted Pokémon you carry with Spirit (Max DB 12). Note: If you run a campaign with a reduced number of Pokémon, this will need to be scaled accordingly. 4 mons would be 3x, 2 mons would be 6x, etc. |
Maneuver: Intercept Melee
Action:
Trainers: Full Action, Interrupt
Pokemon: Full Action, Interrupt, 1 Spirit
Class: Status
Trigger: An ally within Movement range is hit by an
adjacent foe.
Effect: You move to the Ally and Push the triggering Ally 1 Meter away from you, and Shift to occupy their space, and are hit by the triggering attack.
Note: If the target that was Intercepted was hit by an Area of Effect Move, and the 1 meter push does not remove them from the Area of Effect, the Intercept has no effect since they are still in the area of the attack – it would cause the Interceptor to be hit by the Move however.
Maneuver: Intercept Ranged
Action:
Trainers: Full Action, Interrupt
Pokemon: Full Action Interrupt, 1 Spirit
Class: Status
Trigger: A Ranged X-Target attack passes within your
Movement Range.
Effect: Select a Square within your Movement Range that lies directly between the source of the attack and the target of the attack. You take the attack instead of its intended target.
Additional Rules