PoD/Life
ATTRIBUTES
All attributes get one dot to begin; any additional dots are added on top of that. The general scale is 1-5, 1 being weak as all hell and 5 being around the maximum of human potential. In case you're wondering, the order of these is Power/Finesse/Resistance - Intelligence, Strength, and Presence all represent raw power, and so on. Prioritize the three categories (Mental, Physical, Social) in order of importance; the most important gets six dots, the next important gets four dots, and the least important gets three dots. This distribution is above and beyond the 1-dot default, so in total the least important would end up with six dots.
Mental Intelligence Wits Resolve Physical Strength Dexterity Stamina Social Presence Manipulation Composure
ABILITIES
Unlike Attributes, Abilities start at 0 dots. You have 22 dots to distribute; while it's suggested that you keep your attribute priorities and throw on 11/7/4, this isn't a hard rule. For right now, you cannot buy any Ability above 3. Relax - you'll be able to later.
Mental Bureaucracy Computer Crafts Investigation Lore Medicine Occult Survival Physical Athletics Brawl Dodge Firearms Larceny Melee Ride* Stealth Social Animal Ken Empathy Intimidation Performance Persuasion Socialize Streetwise Subterfuge
- - In traditional Pokemon games, no one is old enough to drive yet. Ride should be replaced by Drive for an adult game.
BACKGROUNDS
Five dots to distribute. Again, starts at zero, nothing higher than three for now. Feel free to suggest your own, such as from http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=backgrounds . Allies - aides and friends who help in tasks Backing - standing and rank in an organization of power and influence Contacts - information sources and friends in useful places Items - significant artifacts in the Pokemon universe Mentor - a teacher and instructor Pokemon - starting Pokemon Resources - material goods and money Status - your pull in the world around you
VIRTUES
Back to starting with one dot defaulted in each. Distribute five points, none higher than three. You're used to this by now. Virtues are slightly exaggerated measures of driving passions and dark emotion; when you undergo an action that fits a Virtue, you can blow a point of willpower to get extra dice on the task equal to that Virtue. With rating 3 or higher in a Virtue, however, the ST may require rolling the Virtue and FAILING in order to act contrary to it (or blowing a point of WP simply to undergo the action).
Compassion: empathize with and forgive others Conviction: withstand and (if necessary) inflict hardships and atrocities Temperance: act with self-control and keep one's cool despite extraordinary provocation Valor: courage and resolve in the face of danger
FILL IT IN
Willpower = the sum of your two highest Virtues. Health = Sta+5 Prowess = base of 1, represents your skill in handling Pokmeon
A standard Health of 7 is Healthy, followed by 0, 0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -4. When you get damaged, you mark off stages; three points of damage would put you at the first -1 penalty, and cause a -1 to all dice pools. To find different Health pools, you have one Healthy and one -4 to mark opposite ends of the spectrum; after that, start with 0, -1, -2. Then add a 0, then a -1, then a -2, and if you have more left over start over with 0 again. Keep going down until you have it completed.
BONUS POINTS
Remember all those max 3 things? You get 21 bonus points to spend. Attribute: 5 Ability: 2 Background: 1 Prowess: 6 Specialty: 1 Virtue: 2 Willpower: 1
A Specialty is an adder to a skill that specializes it. You can have up to three specialties in a single skill. Yes, they can stack. Dex 2, Firearms 3 (+2 Shotgun) gives you a Shotgun pool of 7, but a Pistol pool of 5.
MERITS AND FLAWS
Merits and Flaws are like Advantages and Disadvantages, or whatever your local version is. Both have point values that (generally) range from 1 to 5, and either add to or remove bonus points in predictable fashion. There are way too many to list and most of them don't apply to this setting; here are some basics to get you started, argue it over with the GM and use http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=meritindex as a reference. Social Flaws are possible, but Social Merits are generally subsumed by Backgrounds.
Mental Merits Danger Sense (**) Eidetic Memory (**) Encyclopedic Knowledge (****) Holistic Awareness (***) Language (* to ***) Meditative Mind (*) Unseen Sense (***) Physical Merits Ambidextrous (***) Direction Sense (*) Giant (****) Natural Immunity (*) Quick Healer (****) Toxin Resistance (**) Striking Looks (** or ****)
Mental Flaws Absent-Minded (***) Amnesia (****) Deep Sleeper (*) Nightmares (*) Phobia (**) Vengeful (**) Weak-Willed (***) Physical Flaws Addiction (* to ****) Blind (******) Child (***) Disfigured (**) Lame (***) Mute (****) One Arm (***)
EXPERIENCE POINT COSTS
You'll notice that there is no Background cost. That sort of thing is accumulated in RP and generally cannot be trained up.
Attribute: Current dots *4 Ability: Current dots *2 New Ability/Specialty: 3 Merit: Dot rating *3 (new Merit, or buying off old flaw) Prowess: New dots *3 Virtue: Current dots *3 (does not increase Willpower) Willpower: Current dots *2
PROWESS
Prowess is your facility in handling Pokemon. (Most WoD games have a morality stat - this one has a cockfighting stat. Anyway.) You need a Prowess equal to what the Pokemon would cost in Background before the Pokemon will obey you. Otherwise, they will ignore you and do whatever the hell they feel like - becoming an NPC who may or may not hold a grudge for being locked in a Pokeball. The skill Animal Ken can substitute for Prowess, but only for brief periods of time and only for a single encounter; in order to train a Pokemon on a long-term basis, you need Prowess. That's all there is to it.
We can remember from Background that there are two scales, Rarity and Growth, which range from 1-5 for Rarity and 0-5 for Growth. Rare Pokemon are harder to manage, as are adult Pokemon. Unless you take every flaw in the book, a beginning trainer should max out at Prowess 4 (base 1, 21 bonus points to buy it up 3 stages), which is just about what's necessary to handle Background: Pokemon 4.
Attacks are normal, but Special Attacks are now resolved by Willpower+Wits, while Special Defense is Willpower+Resolve. This makes Specials harder to train up, but more beneficial to the Pokemon in general.
HP: HL
01-40: 2 (-2\-4) 41-80: 4 (-0\-1\-2\-4) 81-120: 6 (-0\-0\-1\-1\-2\-4) 121-160: 8 (-0\-0\-0\-1\-1\-2\-2\-4) 161-200: 10 (-0\-0\-0\-1\-1\-1\-2\-2\-2\-4) 201-255: 12 (-0\-0\-0\-0\-0\-1\-1\-1\-2\-2\-2\-4)
Att: Str\Dmg (assumed B), Brawl
01-30: Str 1, Brawl 0 31-60: Str 2, Brawl 1 61-90: Str 4, Brawl 2 91-120: Str 6, Brawl 3 121-150: Str 8, Brawl 4 151-180: Str 10, Brawl 5
Def: Sta\Soak, Temperance
01-40: Sta 2 - 1L, 2B soak, Temperance 1 41-80: Sta 4 - 2L, 4B soak, Temperance 1 81-120: Sta 6 - 3L, 6B soak, Temperance 2 121-160: Sta 8 - 4L, 8B soak, Temperance 3 161-200: Sta 10 - 5L, 10B soak, Temperance 4 201-230: Sta 12 - 6L, 12B soak, Temperance 5
Spd: Dodge, Dex
01-30: Dex 1, Dodge 0 31-60: Dex 2, Dodge 1 61-90: Dex 3, Dodge 2 91-120: Dex 4, Dodge 3 121-150: Dex 4, Dodge 4 151-180: Dex 4, Dodge 5
Sp.A: Presence, Conviction
01-30: Pre 0, Conviction 1 / Wits 1, Conviction 1 31-60: Pre 1, Conviction 1 / Wits 2, Conviction 1 61-90: Pre 2, Conviction 2 / Wits 3, Conviction 2 91-120: Pre 3, Conviction 3 / Wits 4, Conviction 3 121-150: Pre 4, Conviction 4 / Wits 4, Conviction 4 151-180: Pre 5, Conviction 5 / Wits 4, Conviction 5
Sp.D: Willpower, Valor
01-40: WP 3, Valor 1 / Resolve 1, Valor 1 41-80: WP 4, Valor 1 / Resolve 2, Valor 1 81-120: WP 5, Valor 2 / Resolve 3, Valor 2 121-160: WP 6, Valor 3 / Resolve 4, Valor 3 161-200: WP 7, Valor 4 / Resolve 4, Valor 4 201-230: WP 8, Valor 5 / Resolve 4, Valor 5
