Pokexalted/Life

Instant Pokémon

Background: Pokémon. The easiest way to get a Pokémon is to start the game with one by taking points in this. 0 dots - you have no Pokémon. You suck. 1 dots - one common child, or one uncommon infant. 2 dots - one common juvenile, or one uncommon child, or one unusual infant. 3 dots - ...you get the idea.

One dot is good for a Growth 1, Rarity 1 Pokémon. You can subtract from Growth and add to Rarity, or vice versa, so long as it balances out in the end. Each additional dot in the Background adds one to the pool, but the usual rules about bonus points and backgrounds above 3 do apply. You can also take the Background multiple times for multiple Pokémon.

Growth...

0: infant (none) Rarity... 1: child 1: common 2: juvenile 2: uncommon 3: adolescent (evolutionary stage) 3: unusual 4: adult 4: rare 5: dominant 5: legendary

Rarity: matches up with entries in the Pokédex, it's one of the first things you see. Remember: common Pokémon are just that, common. Uncommon Pokémon, maybe there aren't that many around, but it's not something to write home about. Unusual Pokémon will be memorable and people may ask you what you did to obtain one. Rare Pokémon will be recognized by experts as being exceptional, and may not be recognized by hobbyists or everymans - there should be a good IC reason for having one. Legendary Pokémon, in the games, require doing stuff like solving puzzles, retracing steps, travelling to ungodly parts of the world, capturing 100 Pokémon first, that sort of thing. Players should have an extremely good reason for even thinking about having one!

Growth: Once you've chosen a Pokémon and its Growth level (according to the Background), scribble down its base stats and apply Growth. Growth emulates levels and the like. It's easily comparable to Essence, and is added to many attacks and defenses; it just doesn't hold the same metaphysical elements as Essence would. Each level of Growth adds new Techniques (remember, you have a maximum of four - you can choose which ones to keep and which to discard), and two points to be distributed between Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Willpower, and HLs. At each level, you can only add one point to one category - no bulking two points on Dexterity!

Defaults: Some stuff are pretty generic. Virtues - Compassion 2. Attributes - Wits 2, Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 2, Perception 3. Intelligence is equal to Rarity. Write down your Pokémon type as well, it figures significantly in battle.

Motes: The mote pool of any given Pokémon is 10*Growth + Willpower + sum of Virtues. Motes are recovered at 2/hr while active, or 4/hr while inactive; while kept in a Pokéball, they recover at 8/hr.

Capturing Pokémon

The other way to get your hands on a Pokémon is to capture one in the wild. Wild Pokémon are usually pretty aggressive, and will attack if approached. A prospective trainer trying to lay hands on a Pokémon should make a Perception+Survival roll to track them down; the terrain you're in will help to determine just what sort of Pokémon you run across. Difficulty of twice the rarity is not unreasonable. If you're trying to find a Pokémon that doesn't want to be found, for whatever reason, they get to oppose with a Wits+Survival check.

Pokéballs: Tagging a wild Pokémon with a Pokéball is a fairly simple matter - just make a thrown weapon attack (Dex+Athletics). Problem is, if they have a spare dodge or parry handy, they can get it out of the way. If they fail at this, they still get to roll Willpower to resist - one success is enough to prevent capture. The good news is, HL penalties apply to this check, so it's a good idea to soften 'em up a bit... and, if possible, use up their defenses or get them in a clinch first. More expensive Pokéballs can increase the difficulty of this check, but a Pokeball is lost once it strikes home - whether or not it succeeds.

In trainer battles, the opposing trainer also has a chance to parry for the Pokémon. Regardless of this, using a Pokéball on someone else's Pokémon is considered extremely bad form and is generally Not Done. Regardless of success, in civilized areas it can get you arrested for attempted larceny; in uncivilized areas, it can get you stabbed in the throat.

Once a wild Pokémon has been captured, it's ready to accept your prowess as a trainer... unless you don't have a high enough Prowess. Then it's going to ignore you or (in some cases) attack you. Remember, you need a Prowess equal to the Background you'd require to pick up that Pokemon during chargen. Pokéballs safely store Pokémon as a simple action, and reproduce them as a reflexive action, meaning you can switch out a Pokémon in a single turn. A Pokéball in use is roughly the size of an apple, while a Pokéball in its dormant state shrinks to roughly the size of a golf ball for ease of storage.

Note: A Pokéball cannot be reverse-engineered to capture fae, ghosts, spirits, demons, elementals, dragonblooded, lunars, sidereals or solars. Or can it? Enough levels of Artifact, and... well, I'll let STs handle that sort of question. For the purposes of this conversion, it can't. Pokéballs are designed solely for the capture and storage of the lifeforce that is Pokémon, and will not work on other creatures for the same reason that you can't play a DVD in a toaster.

Raising Pokémon

Training: Any attribute or ability pre-defined by the base stats cannot be enhanced by training. I'll be specific. HLs, Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, Brawl, Dodge, Wits, and Resolve cannot be enhanced by training.

What does this leave? Virtues: Compassion, Conviction, Valor, Temperance. (Raising a Virtue does not impact Willpower.) You can raise Growth, which potentially improves Strength, Stamina, Willpower, health, and Dexterity. While you can't raise Brawl or Dodge, you can take Specialties (max of three per ability, as always), and you can raise any other ability the ST lets you get away with. Defaults are not considered to be pre-defined by the base stats, and as such can also be raised: Intelligence, Presence, Manipulation, Composure.

You can also train on new Techniques so long as a trainer is available. Artifacts called Training Machines are available - that website earlier also breaks down which TMs and HMs can be learned by any given Pokémon (there are usually a few dozen).

XP costs and training times are identical to those of player characters, with the substitution of Growth for Essence and Techniques for Charms. As a suggested rule of thumb, a trainer character should get one or two extra XP each session solely for the training of their Pokémon - if they choose to burn their own XP on their Pokémon's behalf, this is also acceptable, and in a Pokémon-oriented game might end up being the norm. XP are spent in traditional fashion (Rat*3 on Virtues, 3/specialty, max 3 on specialties).

When a Technique is forgotten to make room for a new one, it's possible that a specialty may be forgotten as well. While the training time spent on it is irrecoverable, the XP is returned and the slot becomes freed up for a new specialty should the trainer decide.

Evolution: is normally unlocked after reaching Growth 3, the adolescent stage. At any time thereafter, rather than raising to the next Growth stage, you can choose to evolve to a higher form for the same cost - assuming there is a higher form available. At Growth 5, evolution is the only way to continue building physical stats. Doing so provides the Pokémon with several benefits. They add the difference between the base stats of their new form and their old one, they unlock new features and abilities, and they get the benefits of a level of Growth while remaining at their same stage (i.e. a Growth 4 Charmeleon would evolve to a Growth 4 Charizard).

There are benefits to holding off on evolution, though. If you raise your Pokémon to its full adult status, you're getting an extra two stages of benefits that someone who starts with a higher form will miss; there are always new Techniques at each stage, and you may never have the opportunity to attain them again. Finally, every time you step up the evolutionary ladder, all training costs are increased by 1 XP (which means 2 XP across the board for a three-tier Pokemon). It pays off in the long run to start with a lower evolutionary form.

The evolution of some Pokemon involves extra guidelines, and are generally noted in the Pokedex as such. Some take place early on, and are unlocked at an earlier stage. Others are catalyzed by some event, usually the introduction of a rare element such as a Moon Stone; these can take place at any stage, and only require the quest item to occur. Finally, some require the act of digitization - storage on a PC or being traded via a League computer - to take the step. Again, these can take place at any time.

Techniques: can be learned in several ways. With Growth or Evolution, a Pokémon will naturally pick up on new moves. They can also learn moves from tutors who already know it, or from TMs\HMs. TMs, Training Machines, are widgets that plug into a Pokéball and train the Pokémon inside to use the move; not every Pokémon can learn every Technique, and the TMs are a good barometer of whether or not they should be able to learn from a tutor.

Breeding: yes, Pokemon can be bred. Not just with matched types or species - a charizard can mate with a wartortle and produce an egg (just don't ask me how it works). http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikibooks_Pokédex:Breeding_Index is an excellent resource for this, and details breeding groups, as well as those that can only be mated with Ditto, and those not breedable at all. The infant is always at the lowest form of evolution, and matches the species of the female; some Techniques are hereditary, and are passed on by the male.

Most Pokemon have a gender, male or female; gender-neutral Pokemon normally cannot breed. Ditto, however, can take the place of male, female, or even the gendered half of a gender-neutral mating. (Don't think about it too hard.) With Ditto+Male, both Techniques and breed are inherited from the male; with Ditto+Female, only breed, with no Techniques passed along; and Ditto+Neutral, as with Ditto+Male. Ditto will not generally breed Ditto unless coupled with another Ditto.

Battling Pokémon

Pokémon combat is resolved in traditional Exalted fashion, including initiative, parry/dodge/soak, etc. I'll cover the new stuff.

STAB: In Pokétérms, STAB refers to the mechanic that checks both Pokétype and movetype and adjusts Technique damage accordingly. For Pokéxalted, STAB works on defense; when your Pokétype is strong against a Movetype, double your soak against the Technique. When weak against a Movetype, halve your soak. Non-Technique attacks are considered Normal.

STAB...

Normal (weak: fighting, strong: psychic)
Psychic (weak: normal, strong: fighting)
Fighting (weak: psychic, strong: normal)

Water (weak: electric, strong: fire and rock)
Fire and Rock (weak: water, strong: grass)
Grass (weak: fire and rock, strong: electric)
Electric (weak: grass, strong: water)

(You'll notice that the elemental STAB has both Fire and Rock occupying the same slot. This is intentional. They are not the same type, but they have the same strengths and weaknesses.)

The cost of using a Technique increases by one mote if the Movetype does not match your Pokétype. It's easier for a Water-type Pokémon to use Ice Beam than it is for a Grass-type. Now, for two motes, you can activate a Normal-type Technique and treat it as your Pokétype... in other words, that Water-type Pokémon could use Scratch (Normal, 2m) as (Water, 4m). This only works with Normal-type Techniques! You simply can't change Ice Beam away from Water-type.

Special attacks: Pokémon have physical attacks, which are resolved in normal dodge/parry/soak fashion. They also have Special attacks, which are resolved slightly differently. Where physical pools are generally Str+Brawl or Dex+Brawl to attack, and Dex+Brawl, Str+Brawl, or Dex+Dodge on defense, Special pools are Will+Wits for attack and Will+Resolve for defense, reflecting a Pokémon's indomitable mental strength.

Special attacks are otherwise resolved in a similar fashion to physical attacks. Flavor text on the defense can be any form appropriate to the nature of the attack, but the pool remains the same. Damage done on Special attacks stacks with that of physical attacks, and HL penalties apply to special and physical pools alike.

Techniques: The various attack moves are treated as Charms for all intents and purposes. The Movedex has every single Technique broken down into mote cost, accuracy, move power, and type\duration. Mote cost is self-explanatory, and does not cause anima banners; when you're out, you're out. Accuracy is added to the attack pool used. Move Power is added to the damage pool, before soak - it's just like a one-use weapon that way. Type\Duration slots it into Exalted combat in traditional fashion.

Specials: Pokémon also have certain special abilities that are always on so long as the Pokémon wills it. These have no mote cost and are simply inherent to the Pokémon's nature. Some have more than one special, so make sure you keep these in mind.

Status conditions: Pokémon can be afflicted by various conditions upon failing a stat check. Note that many Techniques can be replicated by items! Asleep: Unable to act; roll Willpower to wake up. Attracted: Roll Presence to attack source of condition; failure causes attack to automatically fail. Must be recovered by Technique or end of battle. Burned: Lose one HL/turn; roll Resistance to shake off effects. Confused: Roll Presence when attacking; success shakes off effects, failure inflicts attack on self. Cursed: Lose one HL/turn; must be recovered by Technique or end of battle. Fainted: Unconscious. Flinched: Loses any actions for remainder of turn; automatically shakes off next turn. Frozen: Unable to act; must be unfrozen by Technique. Cannot be thawed during Rain Dance, but is automatically thawed by Sunny Day. Paralyzed: Automatically moves last in initiative. Roll Resistance when attacking; success shakes off effects, failure causes attack to automatically fail. Poisoned: Lose one HL/turn; must be recovered by Technique. Lasts beyond battle. Trapped: Unable to leave the battle or be switched out.

The "per turn" timings above are for use in combat. Outside of combat, or while a Pokemon is held inside a Pokeball, these timings increase to "per scene", so that a poisoned Pokemon does not die within moments of a battle ending.

Criticals: Many Techniques will include something along the lines of "all successes count as critical successes". Some strategies and combinations will stack these effects. A critical success counts as two successes; stacking these effects adds more successes on, so a success would count three times or four times. A Technique that reverses this effect backs it down the rungs again.

Boosts: When Techniques benefit you, they can do so to a maximum of your Growth. Agility boosts your Dex by +1, but will only do so up to +3 for an adolescent Pokémon.

Splits: On a Technique that can affect multiple targets, a single attack roll is made and seperate defense checks are made for each target. On a Technique that strikes multiple times, just like any other extra attack Charm attack/defense checks are made for each attack with no penalty for recursion. Unless otherwise specified, a Technique affects a single target and makes a single attack. Dice pools can be split for multiple attacks, but multiple iterations of a Technique must then be used. Techniques providing extra actions generally have accuracy and move power - this is intentional, and should be added to each extra action undertaken.

Commitment: When an instant Technique has a scenelong effect, the motes are not committed; the effect is considered to be incidental to the actual Technique. Only scenelong Techniques remain committed. Despite this, any effects such as stat boosters/drains should be considered scenelong. Status Conditions have durations of their own - check the Status Conditions above for more information.

Combos: Combos can be coined, and follow standard combo procedures. Physical and Special Techniques may not be joined. If "normal counts as critical" stacks, as above, a normal will count as three successes, then four, et al. If checks for Status Conditions stack, roll each check seperately. If Status Conditions themselves stack, the user needs to specify what order the Techniques are used in - the final Status Condition is the one that counts. This also counts when attacking an opponent already under a Status Condition.

Healing: Some Techniques have the ability to absorb damage or recover entirely from it. An effect of "recovers any HL penalties at -2 or below" means that all -4s, -3s, and -2s would be negated, pushing the health back up to -1 penalties.

Pokémon vs. Exalted: Pokémon are highly natural creatures. In comparison, mortals and Exalts alike are fairly unnatural; they get bounced back and forth between Creation and Wyld, are always wearing clothes and wielding tools, creating new diseases to infect eachother with, so on and so forth. In game terms, non-Pokémon are not affected by status conditions or perfect knockouts; also, all damage done by Pokémon is bashing (save for the potential of being pushed off a cliff, etc). Feel free to come up with a good justification of your own.

The soak of Non-Pokémon is not affected by STAB. However, they do have their own types which can be applied against Pokémon as appropriate, namely - Mortals (Normal), Solars (Electric), Lunars (Grass), Dragon-Blooded (Fighting), Abyssal (Darkness), Sidereal (Psychic). Any given Solar using a Charm against a Darkness-type Pokémon halves their soak, while using one against a Normal-type Pokémon doubles it. Mortals do not have Charms, of course, but they can use magic...

Shadow Pokémon

Introduced in Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Shadow Pokémon were created by Cipher and Team Snagem by artificially closing the door to a Pokémon's heart, turning them into fighting machines due to their lack of compassion and feelings. A fully closed Shadow Pokémon will not show their true characteristics; they forget their normal moves and receive Shadow Moves in return. The human eye does not easily distinguish a Shadow Pokémon. With aid, the Pokémon will cast a dark purple glow.

In game terms, a number of temporary changes take place - these are reversible, with purification. The Pokétype is changed to Shadow. Temperance and Compassion drop to 0, while Conviction and Valor jump to 5. Techniques are replaced by Shadow Techniques; Shadow Blitz is always present, usually backed up by one attack with higher damage (Shadow Rush by preference), one stat drainer, and one status condition. If you expect the PCs to try purifying the Pokémon, try and match replaced Techniques with similar Shadow Techniques.

As a Pokétype, Shadow Pokémon have no given weakness, but are strong against Shadow. As a Movetype, Shadow Techniques are strong against all Pokétypes except Shadow. That means that Shadow Pokémon are best used to block Shadow Techniques, and have distinct advantages in combat. Shadow Pokémon also have a new special ability, Hyper Mode; when activated, the Pokémon can only use damaging moves, but any normal successes are counted as critical successes on damage; also, each attack inflicts 1 HL recoil damage on the user, and items cannot be used on the Pokémon.

Shadow Techniques cannot be learned by non-Shadowed Pokémon, and in fact are not "learned" at all; while Shadowed, Pokémon cannot be trained and cannot increase Growth (and, therefore, cannot Evolve). They cannot learn from TMs.

Players should not generally start with Shadow Pokémon without an awesomely good reason. Shadow Pokémon serve the same general purpose as do, say, the mind-dominated lackeys of a vampire; sure, you can fight for their sake, but for the most part you'll be fighting against them and you should not have one hanging around without very good cause.

Purification: Shadowed Pokémon can be purged of their condition and returned back to their normal happy Pokéselves. Since Shadowed Pokémon are mean bastards liable to try and kill their trainers, this is a good idea. Purification generally involves TLC, actively engaging in therapy. A week's worth of therapy is worth a Charisma+Medicine roll, opposed by the Pokémon's Conviction. Any remaining successes go towards lowering the Shadowed condition; a trainer managing three successes against a fully Shadowed Pokémon, who scores one success on its Conviction check, would drop the condition two stages in that week to Corrupted.

5: Fully Shadowed.
4: Defiled.  Recover one Technique (Shadow Rush remains until last).
3: Corrupted.  Recover one dot Temperance.  Restore Pokétype.
2: Tainted.  Recover second Technique.
1: Weakened.  Recover third Technique and one dot Compassion.
0: Fully purified.  Recover final Technique, lose Hyper Mode, put everything back where it was.  This Pokémon is clean!

This table should not be used in reverse. The process of Shadowing a Pokémon is binary - either it takes or it doesn't. It's only in recovering from the condition that partial success becomes possible.

In the games, a final step was necessary to complete the purification process; visiting the Celebi Shrine in Agate Village, or surrounding with non-Shadow Pokemon of similar nature in the Purification Chamber invented by Professor Krane. Whether you want to introduce a fetch-quest in your process is between you and your metaplot.

Example

This has been removed until the many changes I've made settle down.

Comments

Rather than just compare the Pokétype to the enemy's when figuring out damage and soak.. I'd let the movetype be used instead... it just adds more variety to the game far as I'm concerned.. if you wanted to add some function to show why fire types can use fire type moves better.. maybe make it like the DB elemental thing.. Pokémon can use normal moves or ones the same as their Pokétype fine.. but if a fire type wants to use a rock attack or something... it costs an extra mote or 2 surcharge. FluffySquirrel

• Meh... more work for me. But fine, done. It does make more sense this way, and it's easy enough to ignore if someone doesn't want to deal with it. - Veav