Pokémon: Tabletop Version✲

Pokémon: Tabletop Version

Intentional differences from the video games

• Pokémon get a second Ability at level 5.
• Each Pokémon can have a Bonus Move: a 5th move slot filled by their Trainer’s Class(es).
• AP works differently from PP; as a result, so do PP-related things like Spite, PP Ups, Pressure, etc.
• Infatuation isn’t as annoying.
• Move changes:
  • All once-canon Moves are still supported, since keeping them in an imagination-powered tabletop requires way less effort than programming and animating them.
  • Power Swap swaps Physical and Special stats, like it originally did in Legends: Arceus.
  • Celebrate/Hold Hands tweaked to have at least a niche use.
  • Moves that fail unless used by their signature user (like Dark Void) no longer do, at GM discretion.
  • Mirror Move (“Parrot Mimicry” in Japanese) gained the Sonic tag, mostly to combo with Punk Rock and other things that care about that.
  • New Moves added (not many).
• Ability changes:
  • Lackluster Abilities get “Bonus Stats” to make them more worth choosing, which increase the user’s Stats just by having those Abilities.
  • Abilities that care about certain Moves (like Strong Jaw) sometimes affect more Moves:
    • Wind Rider/Wind Power also trigger for Razor Wind, Leaf Tornado, Leaf Storm, and Mysterious Air Currents. (Also Storm Throw due to a wording quirk, but that almost never matters.)
    • Sharpness also buffs Cut, Dual Chop, Razor Wind, Secret Sword, and Precipice Blades.
    • Some additions only make sense in English; sorry EN/JP-bilingual players, but Iron Fist+Sucker Punch is a mistake every single playtester made. Also, Iron Fist buffs “Hammer” Moves, which oversteps only buffing Hammer Arm and Ice Hammer, but it was cool so we let it buff others like Dragon Hammer.
  • The Run Away Ability also now buffs switching in Trainer Battles. (Every playtester who didn’t battle Pokémon competitively assumed it did.)
  • Toxic Boost now works subtly differently than Guts, to emphasize Zangoose’s “thing” and to avoid a nonbo with its base Immunity Ability.
  • Zen Mode now lets you choose a second moveset when switching modes.
  • New Abilities added (many).
• Annoying evolution methods gained alternatives:
  • All Eeveelutions can also evolve from an evolutionary stone.
  • Evolutions from strong magnetic fields can also use Thunder Stones.
  • Trade evolutions can also evolve by level or using up their trade items.
• Evolution items gained held-item effects.
• Stone evolutions still learn moves by level-up.
• Levels compressed to 1–20 instead of 1–100.
• Sleep/Poison/Burn/Paralysis/Frozen aren’t mutually exclusive; combatants can suffer from more than one simultaneously.
• No Breeding rules (we don’t know how to make them fun, but you can try if you want). Eggs also no longer take up space in the party.
• Trainers can be attacked, and some Trainers can fight back.
• Level-up movesets overhauled:
  • No in-between dead levels without new Moves.
  • Makes some Pokémon usable without guaranteed TM/TR support.
  • Added strong Moves to weaker Pokémon to power them up.
  • Adds fun/interesting/fitting Moves to more Pokémon.
  • Jokes and references to Pokémon design origins.
• By default, Pokemon level up with their Trainers; no tracking EXP for each.
• Egg Groups with odd names or names confusable with Types got renamed to disambiguate: Water 1 → Aquatic, Water 3 → Crustacean (Yeah, we know about Archen. Better name suggestions welcome), Grass → Plant, Bug → Insect, Fairy → Pixie, etc.

Fundamental Rules

(If you are unfamiliar with tabletop role-playing games in general, Wikipedia has a good introduction.)

1. The Game Master (GM)’s word is final. Settle disagreements after games to keep play flowing.
2. Round fractions and decimals to the nearest whole number.
3. Specific rules override general rules.

To play, narrate your character’s actions, then the GM narrates how the world reacts.

Your character takes most actions when you say so. If there’s a chance of failure with interesting consequences, the GM may ask you to decide your success with a Check. (You can also propose a check yourself if you’d like.)

Checks

To make a Check:

1. Roll a d20.
2. Combine the result with bonuses and penalties from Skills, items, and other effects.
3. If the total equals or exceeds the check’s Difficulty (DC), the Check succeeds.

Success and failure vary by the result and GM interpretation:

• Rolls of 20 (“natural 20”) always succeed, if only by sheer luck. (If something is meant to be impossible, don’t ask for a Check.)
• Results high above the DC may have outstanding effects, or look spectacular.
• Results just below the DC may succeed with complications.
• Results far below the DC probably fail in obvious ways, or succeed with drastic consequences.
• Rolls of 1 (“natural 1”) don’t always fail, but you don’t look very cool if you pull them off.

Advantage and Disadvantage

An Advantage or Disadvantage to a Check represents unusual circumstances — like improvisation, using circumstances or surroundings smartly, or thorough preparation.

• If a check has Advantage, roll twice and use the higher result.
• If a check has Disadvantage, roll twice and use the lower result.
• If a check has both, they cancel out, even if multiple sources of one outnumber the other.
• When you have either and something in the game lets you reroll, you can reroll only one of the dice. You choose which one.

Some rules state when they grant Advantage or Disadvantage. The GM may also grant them to any roll to adapt to circumstances, and players may suggest them for their own or other characters’ actions. If the table agrees it’s fitting/cool/fun, go ahead and grant Advantage or Disadvantage to a roll.

Examples:

• Cheerleader’s Combo feature gives Advantage to allied characters’ Attack Rolls when using the same Move in the current Round.
• The GM rules that a slippery floor gives Disadvantage to all Acrobatics checks by characters standing on it.
• A table agrees that Seviper and Zangoose get Advantage on any checks made to attack, thwart, or annoy the other species.

Skill Checks

Most Checks can be affected by the 10 Skills every character has. These Skills represent a character’s physical or social prowess, changing the chances of success for specific actions.

If a Skill applies to a Check, the roller adds their Skill’s modifier to the result. If your GM agrees, you can make Skill Checks with different Skills than called for.

Examples:

• A short sprint is Acrobatics, a long run is Athletics, and a marathon is Endurance.
• Posing to impress could use Bluster to look formidable, Stealth to hold still in a tricky position, or Composure to look like you’re not even breaking a sweat.
• Intimidation can use sheer bulk (like Steelix’s Endurance), overwhelming might (like Infernape’s Athletics and/or Focus), or practice (like a particularly-evil Togepi’s Bluster).

Opposed Skill Checks

To oppose checks made by other characters, both make checks and compare results: the higher roll wins. On a tie, roll again. Usually the GM chooses what Skills characters use in opposed checks, such as:

• Sneaking past a guard (Stealth vs. Focus)
• Lying to someone (Deception vs. Insight)
• Arm-wrestling (Athletics vs. Athletics)

Extended Checks and Fair Contests

For complex or lengthy actions, the GM may call for multiple Skill Checks, possibly of different Skills.

In “fair” contests of Opposed Checks, all participants start with Advantage if they prepare. For example, a track race could be three checks: first Acrobatics, then Athletics, and finally Endurance. All checks would have Advantage from the starting blocks, the clean and level surface, and the chance to warm up. (This flattens the math out so it’s not as random; give GM Advice on when this would be desirable)

Cooperation

If you help another character with a Check, they get Advantage on it.

Specific Rules

The previous rules cover general situations outside of battle. The following rules cover foggy situations where you may want guidance on how to proceed.

Breaking Objects

‘Objects’ are anything but Pokémon or Trainers. Adventures may involve obstacles like barricaded doors, heavy machinery, or wooden bridges.

• When a player wants to destroy an object, they state their intention to the GM. The GM can resolve this in one of three ways:
  1. Either it just happens (“yes, your Scyther easily cuts the cable”),
  2. Or the character makes a Skill Check,
  3. Or the character makes an attack roll.
• If the check is resolved by an attack roll, the object takes damage as if it were a character with DEF, SDEF, and HP determined by the GM. Objects break at 0 HP or lower.
• Objects can have Types based on their element (such as a Steel-Type iron girder, a Rock-Type brick wall, or a Grass-Type briar patch.)

Skills

Each character has 5 Physical Skills and another 5 Social Skills. These skills act as bonuses or penalties characters can apply to rolls.

Physical Skills

Athletics

Athletics is for lifting objects, knocking down doors, holding down foes, and other feats of strength.

(Image: Cianwood City’s Chuck tosses boulders that most Pokémon can only push.)

Endurance

Endurance is for surviving impacts, resisting illness, braving extreme conditions, and other feats of fortitude.

(Image: Alola’s Professor Kukui studies Moves by taking the brunt of them himself.)

Focus

Focus is for ignoring distractions, steadying aim, paying attention, and other feats of concentration.

(Image: Mahogany Town’s Pryce hones his mind by meditating under a freezing waterfall every morning.)

Stealth

Stealth is for keeping still, avoiding notice, moving silently, and other feats of sneakiness.

(Image: Fuchsia City’s Koga is a renowned teacher of ninjutsu, especially techniques that confound and sap the opponent.)

Acrobatics

Acrobatics is for sprinting, jumping, balancing, and other feats of dexterity.

(Image: Sinnoh’s Barry runs into others so quickly that they barely have time to see him coming.)

Social Skills

Social Skills represent how characters interact with others.

Intensity

Characters with high Intensity aim to inspire or rouse others, and are fiercely passionate about ideals and convictions.

(Image: Hoenn’s Zinnia is notorious for interrupting disaster-prevention efforts because she believes their methods are morally wrong.)

Bluster

Characters with high Bluster want to awe or intimidate others, and are dedicated to self-sufficiency.

(Alola’s Guzma keeps his underlings in line by constantly threatening them, even if he’s never seen backing up his threats.)

Composure

Characters with high Composure keep cool under pressure, and are used for checks to stay calm, keep up an act, or remember a character’s lines.

(Sootopolis City’s Wallace never breaks his act even when absolutely everything’s gone wrong.)

Insight

Characters who prize Insight strive to understand and interpret others, and value experience and creativity.

(Cinnabar Island’s Blaine loves quizzing people to test their knowledge and also their reactions to success and failure.)

Deception

Characters with high Deception can hide their emotions and intents, putting on a performance without drawing attention to it.

(Goldenrod City’s Whitney acts approachable and professional, even though she’s actually emotional and ruthless.)

Battle

A large part of the Pokémon world is battle. Battling can be dangerous, but also a safe and fun way for Trainers and Pokémon to get to know each other. Society has grown around battles so much that it has special rules elaborated on in the Combat & Danger section.

Wild Pokémon love battling, especially after they evolve into stronger forms. Trainers treat battle as a sport and will casually challenge each other. When Trainers or wild Pokémon challenge each other, the GM declares a battle. Players choose which Pokémon to begin the battle with and then Combat starts.

A Trainer battle usually decides how many Pokémon to use and how much to bet beforehand. Both sides secretly choose which Pokémon to send out first, then simultaneously reveal their choices.

Building a Character

1. Concept and backstory

Create 2 Talents. Talents can be anything unrelated to combat that your character is particularly good at. You get Advantage on Skill Checks related to a Talent. (If you think a Talent may be too broad, ask your GM.)
Examples: Swimming, Flexing, Threatening, Baking

Create 2 Flaws. Flaws are any activity or trait your character struggles with. You get Disadvantage on Skill Checks related to a Flaw.
Examples: Standing up to others, Math, Balancing

(If the character ends up inclined towards new Talents or Flaws, the table can agree to grant more Talents and Flaws. These additions do not need counterbalancing Flaws or Talents.)

2. Choose a Class

Classes give characters Features that can affect your playstyle in and out of combat. In addition to a character’s other Talents, characters are always Talented at actions that involve their Class’s expertise.

• Ace Trainers bring the best out of their Pokémon through hard work.
• Athletes train themselves to best cooperate with their Pokémon.
• Caretakers groom and feed their Pokémon to bring out their natural talents.
• Hooligans buck authority and teach their Pokémon clever tricks.
• Performers make art and show off their Pokémons’ beauty.
• Researchers learn everything the world of Pokémon has to offer.
• Type Experts take Types to their utter limit, making every Pokémon unique.

(More Classes are listed in the Supernatural Classes page. These Classes can be used with GM permission.)

3. Build the Character’s Skills

Skill Ranks start at 0. When creating a character, you can lower a Skill’s Rank to raise another’s by the same amount, but each Skill can’t start lower than −5 or higher than +5.

4. Determine the Character’s Battle Stats

Characters have 5 Battle Stats that represent their fighting capabilities:

1. Attack (ATK) — physical strength, fighting spirit, and combat expertise.
2. Defense (DEF) — resilience, self-defense, and stability.
3. Special Attack (SATK) — focus, deviousness, and aim.
4. Special Defense (SDEF) — awareness of surroundings and sneakiness.
5. Speed (SPE) — quickness, reflexes, and deftness of motion.

To determine a character’s Battle Stats, start with 5, then add both corresponding Skill modifiers:

For example, if a Trainer has +3 Endurance and −1 Bluster, their Defense would be 7 (5 + 3 − 1). Most Trainers don’t intentionally enter combat, but it’s important to know just in case.

HP

HP (Hit Points) represents a character’s vitality and resolve, and determines how much punishment they can take. When characters reach 0 or less HP, they Faint.

Maximum HP is determined differently between Trainers and Pokémon:

• A Level 1 Trainer’s Max HP is 50.
• A Level 1 Pokémon’s Max HP is given by their Pokédex entry.

AP

Action Points, or AP, represent energy that characters spend to use Moves and Orders.

Characters start with 5 Max AP.

Other Stats

Your Trainer’s Weight, in pounds, is up to you. Pokémon weights vary by species. The same goes for Height, in feet and inches.

Characters also have Accuracy Rate, Evasion, Save Bonus, Critical Rate, and Effect Rate, which are normally 0, but can change during battle. They’re explained in the battling rules.

5. Choose Starter Pokémon

Every Trainer has at least 1 Pokémon partner to start a game off. We recommend Trainers begin with Pokémon that can Evolve twice. (Talk to your GM if you want something unusual.)

6. Starting Money and Items

Each Trainer starts with a Pokédex, a Trainer Bag, 3 Potions, and 5 Poké Balls. They also get 3000₽ to shop with later. (This makes character creation faster, and traditionally you don’t shop in Pokémon until the 2nd town.)

Trainer Bags use Item Ball technology to hold unlimited small items, like Berries, medicine, or TMs. Items larger than the bag must be carried the old-fashioned way.

Leveling Up

• Trainers start with 0 EXP (Experience), but earn more by solving problems, surviving encounters, and achieving objectives.
• When their EXP reaches the next Level’s “EXP Needed”, they Level Up.
• Trainers’ Pokémon level up when their Trainers do.
  • Pokémon at lower levels than their Trainer level up each Long Rest until they catch up.
  • Pokémon at higher levels don’t level up until their Trainer catches up.

When a character Levels Up, they gain certain bonuses:

1. Some Pokémon may evolve. Check this before any other changes in this list!
2. Increase Max HP by +5 and Max AP by +2.
3. Raise two different Skills by +1 each. You can’t raise a skill more than ten times through leveling (i.e. no Skill can have more than +10 Level-up points).
4. Adjust Stats appropriately with the newly-raised Skills.
5. Pokémon learn a Move, and Humans learn a Feature:
   • Pokémon learn their new Level’s Move from their Level-up Moves. (If they evolve, they usually get a new Form Move instead of a Level-up Move.)
   • Humans pick a Class to advance, and learn a Feature from that new Class Rank.
6. At Level 5, Pokémon learn an Ability of your choice from their Level 5 Abilities.

Pokémon Team

• Trainers carry up to 6 Pokémon with them.
• The others must stay somewhere else, usually in the region’s Storage System. The Storage System can be accessed during Long Rests or via Pokémon Center’s internet connections.
• Pokémon a Trainer carries are called a Team.
• Characters allied with the Trainer are called a Party.

A player is usually expected to control their own Pokemon during the game, but the GM reserves the right to temporarily take control of any Pokémon for dramatic purposes. Or inane purposes.

Pokémon Starting Stats

Check the Pokédex for a Pokémon species’s Base Skills and Max HP.
For example: Charmander’s Max HP is 25, and its Base Skills are -1 Athletics, -2 Endurance, 2 Focus, -1 Stealth, and 1 Acrobatics.

Next, apply the Pokémon’s Nature. Natures raise one Social Skill by 3 points, and lower another by 3 points. (Some Natures raise and lower the same Skill with no net change.) Players choose the Natures of their Starter Pokemon, and the GM chooses Natures for Pokemon encountered elsewhere.

• Add their Physical and Social Skills together plus 5 to find a Pokémon’s Battle Stats.
• Max AP is determined the same way as Trainers.
• Average weight and height for the species is listed in their Pokédex entry.

Pokémon Talents

Pokémon have mysterious powers that we are always discovering. Pokémon are considered Talented at anything their species is known for doing: Pikachu is talented at Pikachuing, and Machamp is talented at Machamping.

Types

Each Pokémon has one or two Types that reflect its elemental affinities: each Type is weak to certain Types and strong against others. When a Pokémon is damaged, the amount of HP lost is modified by Type effectiveness. Some Types also have special traits.

• Bug
  • Weak to Fire, Flying, and Rock
  • Resists Fighting, Grass, and Ground
• Dark
  • Weak to Bug, Fairy, and Fighting
  • Resists Ghost and Dark
  • Immune to Psychic and Status Moves boosted by Prankster
• Dragon
  • Weak to Fairy, Ice, and Dragon
  • Resists Electric, Fire, Grass and Water
• Electric
  • Weak to Ground
  • Resists Flying, Steel, and Electric
  • Immune to the Paralyzed status
• Fairy
  • Weak to Poison and Steel
  • Resists Bug, Dark, and Fighting
  • Immune to Dragon
• Fighting
  • Weak to Flying, Psychic, and Fairy
  • Resists Rock, Bug, and Dark
• Fire
  • Weak to Ground, Rock, and Water
  • Resists Bug, Fairy, Steel, Grass, Ice, and Fire
  • Immune to the Burned status
• Flying
  • Weak to Rock, Electric, and Ice
  • Resists Fighting, Bug, and Grass
  • Immune to Ground and unaffected by Terrain and most Hazards
• Ghost
  • Weak to Ghost and Dark
  • Resists Bug and Poison
  • Immune to Normal and Fighting
  • Can’t be Trapped and their Flee checks can’t be contested
• Grass
  • Weak to Bug, Fire, Flying, Ice, and Poison
  • Resists Electric, Ground, Water, and Grass
  • Immune to Leech Seed and Moves with the words “Powder” or ”Spore” in the name
• Ground
  • Weak to Grass, Water, and Ice
  • Resists Poison and Rock.
  • Immune to Electric and take no damage from Sandstorms
• Ice
  • Weak to Fighting, Fire, Rock, and Steel
  • Resists Ice
  • Immune to the Frozen status and takes no damage from Hail.
• Normal
  • Weak to Fighting
  • Immune to Ghost
• Poison
  • Weak to Ground and Psychic
  • Resists Fighting, Grass, and Poison
  • Immune to the Poisoned status
• Psychic
  • Weak to Bug, Ghost, and Dark
  • Resists Fighting and Psychic
• Rock
  • Weak to Fighting, Grass, Ground, Steel, and Water
  • Resists Normal, Fire, Flying, and Poison
  • Gets +10 SDEF during Sandstorms and takes no damage from them
• Steel
  • Weak to Fire, Fighting, and Ground
  • Resists Normal, Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Grass, Ice, Psychic, Rock, and Steel
  • Immune to Poison and the Poisoned status. Takes no damage in Sandstorms.
• Water
  • Weak to Electric and Grass
  • Resists Fire, Ice, Steel, and Water

Effectiveness

Each Type a Pokémon has that is weak to a type of incoming damage increases the damage’s Effectiveness by +1 after Stats. Each Type they have that Resists the damage decreases the Effectiveness by -1 after Stats.

If a Pokémon is Immune to a Type, they take no damage from Moves of that Type and ignore its additional effects. Most Status Moves ignore Immunity.

Abilities

Pokémon start with one Ability. Abilities are effects a Pokémon always has that change how they battle. Either the GM or the player chooses from the Pokémon’s starting Abilities.

Pokémon learn a second Ability at Level 5, chosen from its Level 5 Abilities.

Some Abilities trigger on entering battle. If multiple Abilities trigger this way at once, the GM decides the order if necessary.

Moves

Pokémon have 4 slots for Moves, with 1 Bonus Move slot. Pokémon naturally learn new Moves through leveling and evolution. Pokémon also have a list of Tutor Moves, which can be learned through special methods. (Note: These methods can also teach Level-Up Moves early!)

• GM-controlled characters called Move Tutors can teach a Pokémon Tutor Moves.
• Technical Devices can also teach Tutor Moves. Technical Machines can be used over and over, but Technical Records can only be used once.
• Pokémon in the same Trainer’s team can Tutor the Moves to each other during a Long Rest.

These are the most common methods. If players want a Tutor Move through special circumstances or training, ask the GM.

Each Trainer Class has Bonus Moves that they can teach to their Pokémon in the Bonus Move slot. If a Pokémon could learn a Bonus Move through their Level-up or Tutor Moves, they can put the Bonus Move in their regular Move slots.

Each Move has the following attributes:

• Type determines Moves’ Effectiveness and the Same-Type Attack Bonus (STAB).
• Range defines what a Move can target. Close-quarters Moves that touch their target make Contact as part of their Range. (Some Abilities, Items, or Features trigger on Contact.) Foes in Zone Moves only target enemies, but Others in Zone Moves target allies as well.
• AP Cost is how much AP the user must spend to use the Move.
• Category defines which attacking Stat a Move uses:
  • Physical Moves add the user’s Attack to their damage.
  • Special Moves add the user’s Special Attack to their damage.
  • Status Moves don’t deal damage and ignore Type Immunities.
• Accuracy affects how often a Move misses during its Attack Roll.
• Power determines how much damage a Move inflicts after a successful Attack Roll.
• The Description contains any additional effects the Move may have.
• The Z-Effect describes what happens when the Move becomes a Z-Move.

Evolution

Most Pokémon evolve by leveling up, but some evolve when exposed to certain items or conditions. Each species’ Pokédex entry details how it evolves.

After a Pokémon evolves:

• Check its new stage’s Pokédex entry to see what Move it learned by evolving.
• You may redistribute its Level-up points.
• Change its Abilities to match the same position in their new form’s Ability List.

The Pokémon or its owner can choose not to Evolve. That Pokémon can still evolve the next time it Levels Up or otherwise meets the evolution criteria.

Regional Variant

Pokemon differ around the world, even within species. Some regions have different versions of Pokemon, with new Types, Moves, Abilities, and even evolutions! Ask your GM if a regional variant or evolution applies to your setting.

Underdog Pokémon

When a Pokémon is about to evolve, you may choose to cancel the evolution instead, turning it into an Underdog Pokémon:

• Add up the original Pokémon’s Physical Skills before modifiers from Natures, Abilities, Features, Levels, etc. This is the Pokémon’s Base Skill Total.
• Add up the Pokémon’s final evolved form’s Physical Skills the same way.
• If the Underdog’s Base Skill Total is at least 5 points lower than its final Evolution’s, add +1 to each Physical Skill. Repeat this process until you can’t anymore.
• When Underdog Pokémon learn a Move by Leveling Up, they may instead learn a Move from their Tutor List with the same AP Cost or lower.

If an Underdog Pokémon evolves, it loses these Stat bonuses and Moves.

Pokéfeatures

Some Pokémon have special rules outside of their Abilities, Moves and Type. These rules are included in their Pokédex entry as Pokéfeatures.

Combat & Danger

Pokémon Trainers often find themselves in conflict with other Pokémon. Combat has special rules for when and how characters act. Time during battle is counted in Rounds, and characters keep their decisions secret until the last second.

A Round is the amount of time it takes for every character involved in the battle to act. A character acts by taking a Turn, which is shared between a Trainer and their Pokémon. Turns are taken in an order determined by the Pokémon’s Speed, beginning with the fastest Pokémon and ending with the slowest.

Some effects happen between rounds, and state so in their rules. When multiple effects happen between rounds, the GM decides the order if necessary.

Pokémon: Tabletop Version uses a double-blind system in combat. This means involved characters keep their Action and Order for the round secret, then reveal them for the round at the same time as all the other characters. In battles between Trainers, even the Pokémon chosen to start the battle are decided in secret. For physical play, write down your decision on a scrap of paper and reveal it at the same time as everybody else. Online games have digital tools to replicate this.

Note: Feel free to talk about your decisions when making them! Communication can help players work together to make dizzying new strategies.

A Trainer’s Turn comprises of Movement, an Action, and an Order.

• Movement is a Pokémon and Trainer’s ability to change Zones. Both the Pokémon and Trainer can move to an adjacent Zone before taking an action.
• Orders are Trainer commands that affect the battlefield, the participants, or both. Orders happen at the beginning of the round, and last for that round unless they state otherwise. Orders always use AP, so do not feel forced to make an Order every round.
• Actions are active events that your Pokémon or Trainer perform. Some actions have additional rules to determine how they resolve.

Actions

Guard

If a Trainer and their Pokémon are in the same Zone, the Trainer can become the target for anything targeting their Pokémon this round, but any received damage gets +1 Effectiveness.

Items/Switch

Items are used and Pokémon are switched before any other Actions, even Moves.

Newly-switched Pokémon can appear in the same Zone as the old Pokémon, or the Trainer’s current Zone.

Flee

To flee a battle, make an Acrobatics check. Foes can contest this Acrobatics check without using up an action. When a whole party decides to flee, only half the party needs to win the contested check.

Cheer

If all of a Trainer’s Pokemon are fainted, they can use their action to Cheer. On the Trainer’s SPE, Cheer creates one of these effects:

• Reset an ally’s Dropped Stats.
• Cure an ally’s Status Problem.
• Heal an ally 3 Ticks.
• Destroy a Boss Pokemon’s barrier.

Improvise

Any action a character takes that’s not covered by Guard, Item, Switch, Move, Flee or Cheer is considered improvising. These are generally resolved through Skill checks, and can have as many effects as the table agrees on. If an improvised action imitates a Move, use the rules for that Move. Examples:

• Pushing a tree over: Athletics check, performs Wood Hammer with an ATK related to the size of the tree and how successful the check was
• Tossing a nearby stone: performs Rock Throw, even if the character doesn’t normally know it.
• Cooperating with another character to give them Advantage on their dice rolls this round.
• Causing a distraction using Intensity, Bluster, or Deception skill rolls.

Using Moves

Range

Before anything, decide what target your Move hits. Some Moves can target multiple characters, and others don’t target characters at all.

• Self: only targets the user.
• Allies: can only target characters on the user’s side. Whether that includes the user is described individually.
• Foes in Zone: target all the foes in a Zone. When a Foes in Zone Move targets a single character, they gain a bonus to damage.
• Others in Zone: target everybody but the user in a Zone, including allies.
• Field: doesn’t target any character, but changes the battlefield somehow.

Moves can be either Contact or Ranged, which certain effects care about. Ranged Moves can also target adjacent Zones.

Attack Rolls

After targeting, make a d20 Attack Roll for each target the Move has. These rolls decide if the Move hits the target, how much damage it does, if the Move was a Critical Hit, and if the Move triggers its Secondary Effect.

• If the Move is a Status Move that targets Self, allies, or the Field, you don’t need an Attack Roll.
• If the Move is marked as Can’t Miss, you still make an Attack Roll for extra damage and possible Critical Hits.
• If the Move is normally used on foes but you’re targeting allies for some reason — like Ember on an ally with Flash Fire — you still make an Attack Roll.

⚠️ Note: it’s tempting to only make one Attack Roll for Moves with multiple targets, but that varies wildly and causes the effect to be all-or-nothing. Roll for each target to avoid swinginess.

Accuracy Check

To hit with a Move, first check the Move’s Accuracy Check. Take the Attack Roll’s result, add the attacker’s Accuracy Rate, then subtract the target’s Evasion. (Accuracy Rate and Evasion are 0 by default.) If the Accuracy Check result matches or is higher than the Move’s Accuracy, the Move hits. Otherwise, it misses.

Damage

Damaging Moves inflict damage on their targets. To calculate damage:

1. Start with the Move’s Power
2. Add the appropriate attacking Stat:

• Physical Moves add Attack
• Special Moves add Special Attack

1. Add +10 if the Pokémon shares a Type with the Move. (That’s STAB [Same-Type Attack Bonus] if you’re familiar with that term.)
2. Finally, the Attack Roll adds bonus damage: the bonus damage from an attack roll is half the attack roll’s result, rounded down.

For example, a Charmander rolls 13 to attack Bulbasaur with Ember.
Ember is a Special Fire-Type Move with a Power of 4.
Charmander has 5 SATK.
Bulbasaur is Grass/Poison-Type and has 6 SDEF.

1. Charmander adds 4 (Ember’s Power) + 5 (Charmander’s SATK) + 10 (Same-Type Attack Bonus) + 6 (Attack Roll ÷ 2) to hit Bulbasaur with 25 Fire-Type Damage.
2. Bulbasaur subtracts its SDEF of 6 from the 25 damage, making 19.
3. The damage is 2× from Grass-Type’s Fire Weakness, making 38.
4. Bulbasaur loses 38 HP.

Critical Hits

Sometimes attacks bypass a target’s guard and hit a vital point. Damaging Moves are Critical Hits on a natural 20 Attack Roll. (Some Moves, like Slash, can crit on lower rolls.)

If an attack is a Critical Hit, the bonus damage from the Attack Roll becomes +20.

The user’s Critical Rate modifies when Attack Rolls are Critical Hits. A +2 Critical Rate means the user’s Critical Hits occur on rolls of 18–20, instead of only on 20.

Effect Rates

Some Moves have additional effects on high Attack Rolls. For example, Bite Flinches its target on an Attack Roll of 17+. These secondary effects resolve after damage is applied.

Changes to the user’s Effect Rate modify this chance like Critical Rate does with Critical Hits.

Save Check

If your Pokemon has a Status Problem, they may need to pass a Save Check before their attack can trigger at all. If your Pokemon’s attack roll fails to beat or match the Save Check DC, they suffer the effects listed by the Status Problem.

Move Keywords

Moves can have special effects with their own rules. These keywords describe those special interactions.

Priority

Priority Moves change when they happen during the round. If multiple characters use a Priority Move, it follows Initiative between them.

• Priority Moves happen before all normal Moves.
• Super-Priority Moves happen even before all Priority Moves. Mechanics that refer to Priority Moves also apply to Super-Priority Moves.
• Delayed Moves happen after all normal Moves.

Double Strike

Double Strike Moves, like Bonemerang, trigger on-hit/contact twice. Add the user’s ATK/SATK twice and add the defender’s DEF/SDEF twice.

Multi-strike

Multi-strike Moves, like Fury Swipes, ‘hit’ a random number of times. They do not halve the bonus damage from the damage check to represent this mechanically. The number of times they ‘hit’ trigger effects that many times, like the Static Ability or Rocky Helmet item.

Protect

Moves that Protect the user prevent Moves from affecting the user, both their damage and effects. Characters can’t use Protecting Moves if they used a Protecting Move or Endure on their previous turn.

Hazard

Hazards remain in the Zone they were used in, and trigger against foes that enter the Zone.

Bind

Binding Moves inflict HP loss between rounds as long as the user and target are both on the field. Whenever the user or target moves between Zones, the other comes with.

Drain

Draining Moves heal the user when they hit a target by an amount specified in the Move.

Exhausting

Exhausting Moves tire the user and make them spend the next round recharging. The user isn’t Exhausted if the Move misses all targets or fails.

Disable

When a Move is Disabled, it can’t be chosen and automatically fails if used somehow.

HP Loss

If an effect says a target loses HP, that HP loss does not interact with any Stats, bonus damage, or Effectiveness outside of Immune.

Recoil

A Move with Recoil inflicts HP Loss on the user based on how much damage was done to the target — the Move’s description will say how much.

Struggle

When a Pokemon has 0 AP, it can use a Move called Struggle. Struggle is a Physical Move with 4 Power, no Type, it can’t miss, and it recoils for 3 Ticks of HP.

Stats and Other Numbers

• Battle Stats are the character’s ATK, DEF, SATK, SDEF, and SPE.
• Accuracy Rate and Evasion change a character’s chances to hit. The user’s Accuracy Rate is added to their attack roll, and the target’s Evasion is subtracted.
• Save Bonus changes a character’s chance to be affected by status problems. Add the Save Bonus to save checks.
• Critical Rate and Effect Rate change an attack’s chances of adding special effects.
• STAB (Same-Type Attack Bonus) adds +10 to their damage.

Boosts and Drops

Boosts and Drops are temporary changes to a character’s Stats. They represent circumstances such as a flaring fighting spirit, an opponent’s threat display, or getting covered in feathers. Moves like Growl or Sword Dance are the most common way to Boost or Drop Stats.

A Stat can’t be Boosted by more than 20 points, or Dropped by more than 20 points. A Stat Dropped past 0 is treated as 0. A character’s Boosts and Drops wear off when they leave battle.

Entering and Leaving Battle

Abilities, Moves, and other effects may mention “enters battle” or “leaves battle”:

• A character enters battle when they are a starting combatant when a battle begins, when they’re switched in, or when they join a battle they previously were not part of.
• A character leaves battle when they switch out, successfully flee, Faint, or are present when the battle ends.
• In weird circumstances, do whatever the table agrees on, appealing to the GM as the final word.

Zones

If the battle uses a map, the GM divides the battlefield into general Zones as they see fit. Moving to an adjacent Zone is free, but moving more in one turn requires the character’s action.

Examples of Zones in a forest battle:

• Center of clearing
• Near big hollow tree
• Around burbling brook, where Water Moves can be improvised
• In a ditch, where Moves with “Mud” in the name get +1 Effectiveness
• A mushroom patch, where each character in it rolls 2d10 between rounds to roll on the Wild Mushroom table. (The mushrooms can also be harvested outside of battle for use as held items, where they are eaten when the holder enters battle.)

Terrain

Zones can be filled with special terrains with extra effects for characters standing on them. Some examples:

• Electric Terrain
  • Gives Immunity to Sleep
  • Damaging Electric Moves get +10 damage
• Misty Terrain
  • Gives Immunity to persistent Status Problems and Confusion
  • Dragon Moves get -1 Effectiveness
• Psychic Terrain
  • Gives Immunity to Priority Moves
  • Damaging Psychic Moves get +10 damage
• Grassy Terrain
  • Heals 1 Tick between rounds
  • Bulldoze, Earthquake, and Magnitude get -1 Effectiveness
  • Damaging Grass Moves get +10 damage
• A polluted landscape may permanently act like it has Toxic Spikes.
• Deep water may halve the SPE of characters that aren’t airborne or ideally-suited to swimming.

Weather

The current weather can also affect battle. Although it usually covers the entire battlefield, the world of Pokemon is strange and whimsical; some situations may have weather in a small area. The most common types of weather are:

• Hail deals 1 Tick of HP between turns to everything but Ice-Types.
• Harsh Sunlight gives damaging Fire Moves +10 damage and damaging Water Moves -10 damage.
• Rain gives damaging Water Moves +10 damage and damaging Fire Moves -10 damage.
• Sandstorms deal 1 Tick of HP between turns to everything but Ground, Rock, and Steel-Types. Rock-Types get +10 SDEF while in a sandstorm.
• Strong Winds removes the Weaknesses of Flying-Types and prevents other Weather.

Physical Dangers

Fall Damage

Colliding with the ground from heights of 10 feet or higher counts as a Physical Normal-Type Move with 8 Power.

• The Move gets +2 Power for each additional foot beyond 10.
• Terminal velocity restricts its Power to a maximum of 50.
• Soft landings, like water or leaf piles, usually reduce the damage by -10.
• A DC 10 Acrobatics Check reduces the damage by how much the check succeeds by.
• Flying and Levitating characters avoid fall damage unless their flight is restricted.

Suffocating Damage

If a character can’t breathe for more than 1 minute, they lose a Tick of Health between each Round until they can breathe again. Some Pokémon can breathe in water, earth, smoke, or don’t need to breathe at all.

Surprise & Ambushes

Although most battles between Trainers begin with introductions, characters can sometimes surprise each other in ambush.

• If a Trainer is surprised, they must reveal their first Pokémon to the opponent, instead of using the double-blind system.
• If a wild Pokémon is surprised, it must reveal its first Move instead of using the double-blind system.

Rest and Healing

Pokémon Centers restore perfect health within seconds, but you can’t always reach one. Rest is any period of time when characters aren’t busy with strenuous physical or mental activity. Usually rest means sleeping or relaxing, but what exactly counts is up to the GM.

A Long Rest takes at least 8 hours, and completely restores Health, AP, and Status Problems. Pokémon can relearn any Moves they’ve forgotten or Level-Up Moves up to their level during a long rest.

A Short Rest takes at least 30 minutes, and restores 3 Ticks of Health and 3 AP. Meals tend to count as Short Rests.

Sometimes, serious injury or illness needs extensive time and care to heal, even with Center technology. These are considered plot points, not game mechanics.

Capturing Pokémon

Trainers can take an action to throw a Pokéball at a wild Pokémon. Roll d20 and add the Ball’s modifier, if any. If you roll at least the target’s Catch DC, you capture it. A natural 20 is a “critical capture” and always succeeds. If two or more people throw a Poké Ball, the highest roll wins. The captured Pokemon keeps any HP and Status Problems when they are caught.

To find a Pokémon’s Catch DC:

1. Start with the species’ Catch DC from the Pokédex. (Or guess: Caterpie’s is 2, Mewtwo’s is 24.)
2. Lower the Catch DC by −1 for each Status Problem the target suffers from.
3. Finally, modify the Catch DC depending on the target’s Health:
   • ½ or less: −2
   • A Tick or less: Automatic success.
   • Fainted Pokémon can’t be captured: Poké Balls refuse for safety reasons.

The GM may assign a caught Pokémon’s Gender, Nature, and Abilities, or let you roll for random ones:
Roll 2d6. You choose which of the corresponding Stats are raised and lowered. A roll of 6 means you pick the Stat.

Poké Balls fail if they try to capture a Pokémon already registered to a Trainer, or a Boss Pokémon the GM isn’t ready to allow capture for.

Other Ways to get Pokémon

• Trades
• Wonder/Surprise Trade: roll 3 random Pokémon, GM selects one to trade for your offered mon
• Gifts

Z-Moves

Trainers can use a Z-Crystal to turn a Pokémon’s Move into a superpowerful Z-Move.

• The Trainer must not have activated a Z-Move already for the battle.
• Their Pokémon must hold a Z-Crystal that matches the Type of the base Move.
• The Trainer must wear a Z-Ring.

If the base Move is Physical or Special, the Move becomes the Z-Move listed in its Z-Effect, gains the Power listed in its Z-Effect, keeps its original Category and AP Cost, and can’t miss. Characters that protect against damaging Z-Moves still lose 3 Ticks of HP.

If the base Move is Status, its Z-Effect occurs before its usual effects.

Some Pokémon have a signature Z-Move that can be used with a special Z-Crystal for that species. For example, Incineroar can turn its Darkest Lariat into the Malicious Moonsault Z-Move with a held Incinium-Z crystal.

Mega Evolution

Trainers can use Mega Stones for Mega Evolution, a temporary supercharged evolution with 3 requirements:

• The Pokémon holds their species’ Mega Stone.
• Their Trainer wears a Key Stone. (Usually embedded in a Mega Ring.)
• Their Trainer hasn’t Mega Evolved a Pokémon yet for that battle.

Mega Evolution changes Base Stats, replaces the Starting Ability, and may change the Pokémon’s Types. Check the Pokédex entry for specifics.

Mega Evolution lasts for an entire battle, or until the Pokémon Faints.

Dynamax

A Pokémon can Dynamax if it meets the following requirements:

• Can only be done in certain locations, called Power Spots.
• Their Trainer wears a Dynamax Band.
• Their Trainer hasn’t Dynamaxed a Pokémon yet for that battle.

Dynamaxing a Pokémon makes it look as big as a skyscraper and increases its battle prowess for its next 3 turns:

• The Pokémon doubles its current HP and its Max HP. On reverting, halve both its current and Max HP.
  • Effects that trigger on a percentage of the Pokémon’s Max HP and/or its Ticks use its doubled Max HP.
  • Effects that heal or remove an amount of HP based on Max HP use its non-Dynamaxed Max HP to calculate the amount.
• Dynamaxed Pokémon are immune to:
  • Flinching
  • Moves that vary based on Weight
  • One-hit KO Moves
  • Effects that swap its Abilities with another character’s
  • Opponents forcing them to switch out or flee
  • Having its Move choices disabled or restricted.
• The Pokémon’s known Moves turn into their corresponding Max Moves:
  • Status Moves turn into Max Guard.
  • Damaging Moves turn into the appropriate Max Move of their type, and calculate their new Power by adding half of the Move’s Z-Power. If the result exceeds 24, cap it at 24.

Gigantamax

If a Pokémon has the Gigantamax Factor, it can Gigantamax — a special kind of Dynamax with a different appearance. Only specific individuals of certain species can Gigantamax. Each Gigantamax Pokémon has an exclusive Max Move known as a G-Max Move. Other than that G-Max Move, Gigantamax is identical to Dynamax.

Max Moves

Terastallization

With the right conditions, Trainers can use Tera Orbs to Terastallize their Pokémon — a temporary Type-boosted state marked by a crystalline appearance and a jeweled crown — with 2 requirements:

• Their Trainer has a Tera Orb.
• Their Trainer hasn’t Terastallized a Pokémon already since the last Long Rest.

Each Pokémon has an assigned Tera Type; unless the GM assigned a specific Tera Type or Tera Shards were used to change it, a Pokémon’s Tera Type is their first regular Type. Terastallization lasts for an entire battle, or until the Pokémon Faints.

• Changes the Pokémon’s Typing to the Tera Type without removing STAB from their original Types. (The Pokémon gets the Weaknesses, Resistances, and Immunities of only their Tera Type, but keep the STAB from their original Type(s).)
• Terastallized Pokémon gain STAB on Moves of their Tera Type — this stacks with STAB from their original Types.
• Moves of the Tera Type with 5 or less Power become 6 Power, as long as they don’t have Multi-strike or Priority.
• Effects (such as those from Moves like Forest’s Curse or Abilities like Protean) can’t make a Terastallized Pokémon change their Type.

Status Problems

Burned
Burned characters get -15 ATK, and they lose 1 Tick of Health between rounds.
Fire-Types can’t be burned.

Frozen
Frozen characters can’t act or move. Add a DC 15 Save Check to their first attack roll in the round to thaw. Fire damage cures freezing.
Ice-Types and targets in harsh sunlight can’t be frozen.

Paralyzed
Paralyzed characters get -10 SPE. Add a DC 5 Save Check to their first attack roll in the round. If unsuccessful, they can’t act or move.
Electric-Types can’t be paralyzed.

Poisoned
Poisoned characters lose 2 Ticks of Health between rounds.
Poison and Steel-Types can’t be poisoned.

Badly Poisoned
Characters that are Badly Poisoned lose only 1 Tick of Health the first round, but the number of Ticks doubles each round afterward. Effects that refer to Poisoned also apply to Badly Poisoned.

Confused
Confused characters add a DC 6 Save Check to their first attack roll each round. If unsuccessful, they can’t act this round, and hit themselves with a typeless Physical attack with 4 Power. This attack can’t miss or crit, and has -1 Effectiveness. On 15+, the character is cured of Confusion.
If a character has stayed Confused for 3 rounds, cure them at the end of their turn. Confusion is also cured by switching out or leaving the battle.

Flinch
Flinching characters can’t act for the rest of the round.

Infatuation
Infatuated targets add a DC 11 Save Check to their attack rolls. If unsuccessful, they cannot target the character they are infatuated with. Infatuation is cured by switching or leaving the battle.

Asleep
Sleeping characters can’t move or act. Add a DC 15 Save Check to their first attack roll in the round to wake up. If a character Sleeps for 3 or more turns, they automatically awaken at the start of their next turn.
Sleeping Trainers can’t use Orders, Items, or other actions, but their Pokemon still fight normally otherwise.

Fainted
Characters with 0 or less Health Faint. Fainted characters are unconscious, can’t move or act, and are cured of all other Status Problems.
Fainted Trainers can’t use Orders, Items, or other actions, but their Pokemon still fight normally otherwise.

Trapped
Trapped characters can’t move to other Zones, flee, or switch out.
Ghost-Types can’t be Trapped.

Items

Just as there are myriad Pokémon to find and befriend, there are many items with all sorts of effects.

Berries

Berries are small fruit that grow all over the world in all sorts of varieties. Pokémon are especially invigorated when they eat a berry, to the point where each species of Berry can have an effect in battle! Pokémon will automatically eat a Berry they hold when that Berry’s listed trigger occurs.

Balls

Poké Balls capture and store Pokémon via advanced technology. The basic Ball has a chance against most targets, but special Poké Balls add bonuses to improve your odds. Trainers with a Ball Kit can make Poké Balls out of Apricorns.

Technical Devices

Technical devices combine with a Trainer’s Pokédex to teach Moves to their Pokémon. Some Moves can only be learned this way! Technical Machines (TMs) never run out, but Technical Records (TRs) are consumed after one use.

Held Items

Held Items have effects when Pokémon hold them. Pokémon can hold one item at a time. Trainers similarly can only have one “held item” affect them mechanically at a time.

Medicines

Medicines cure characters from damage, statuses, stat drops, and even fainting. A well-prepared Trainer stocks all sorts of medicines.

Crafting Kits

Crafting Kits let Trainers make their own Items when they can’t find what they need. It’s a little more expensive, but may be worth the dependability.

Field Items

Some items have no use in battle, but do in the field. Items like these often go unappreciated by Trainers, but proper gear is vital in getting through life.

Pokémon Eggs

Two Pokémon sharing an Egg Group can make a Pokémon Egg. Eggs do not have rules for how long they take to find or hatch. Unlike the games, Eggs don’t count toward the 6-party limit.

Wild Pokémon Treasure

Wild Pokémon drop items they’ve picked up, often to distract you while they flee. Their nests may contain more items they collected.

• Berries
• Apricorns
• Shards
• Type Gems
• Herbs
• Wilds’ in-game held items
• Wings
• Mushrooms

Classes

The Trainers you play as have special skills that help them stand out from others. When a player chooses a Class, they gain Features that make their Pokémon more powerful in and out of combat.

Orders

Trainers can affect their Pokémon’s actions and results with Orders. Trainers may choose to use an Order at the same time as the Pokémon’s action. Most Orders cost AP, so don’t feel pressured to use them every turn.

(Each Class learns Orders by leveling up, but also can find new Orders to learn in the world. Try exploring and see what you can find!)

Ace Trainer

Athlete

Caretaker

Hooligan

Performer

Researcher

Type Expert

Type Experts specialize to become absolute masters of a specific style. They embody their types in philosophy and combat. Every Type’s Expert has different enough features to be an entirely new class, so check a list of them here.

GM Advice

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KHjBwldxyMlyvWVJvMsy-0yU7XPH1XG6NNgFR7frBK0/edit
TODO:

• Example ways to build encounters with synergy: Own Tempo boss with Swaggering/Flattering teammates, Neutralizing Gas + drawback Abilities
• Advice for how and when players and GMs should work together to establish new Talents and Flaws (wild pokemon with a story behind them can come with them, repeated success or failure at given tasks, etc.)

The GM has many responsibilities for how a game will be played. Hard or easy encounters? Familiar content or new faces? A single-session adventure or a long-term campaign? Will challenges focus on combat, exploring new areas, and/or overcoming social obstacles?

These questions can be overwhelming; there is no denying that GMing requires more responsibility and planning than playing. Hopefully this section helps.

The GM’s Founding Facts

Pokémon: Tabletop Version has a few principles to guide solving problems and general gameplay:

1. Players come first. The story, characters, and game system are fictional and can be changed on a whim. But the players are the reason everybody is coming together, so the GM’s first responsibility is to keep the game fun for everyone.

2. The GM is also a player. If running the game is not fun for you, then the game is not working. Consider your own needs when planning and running games.

3. Behavior changes through communication, not mechanics. If a player’s actions make someone uncomfortable or upset, it’s easy to want to punish the player in-game. This almost never solves the problem, instead usually causing more frustration for everybody. Instead, talk to the player. If an agreement can’t be reached, no rules or mechanical changes can keep the table from a bad experience.

GM Content

This section is for GMs who want to put battles in their game unrestricted by the player character template. Special rules and non-player characters help make a world bigger than players can see, and they can also provide an appropriate challenge to your players without first requiring you to be better at character-building than them.

Special NPCs

The world is filled with all sorts of people. These are examples of characters with special mechanical traits outside of battle. It can also be fun to make your own!

• Move Tutors can teach Moves to Pokemon. Most Move Tutors specialize in certain kinds of Moves: they may focus on one Type, a certain AP cost, or even one single Move! Most Move Tutors ask for pay equivalent to a Technical Record.
• Order Tutors can teach Tutor Orders to players.
• Medical staff can heal players’ teams instantly, even outside Pokemon Centers.
• Ride Rangers can rent players Poké Rides and register Pokémon to Ride Pagers.
• Vendors always have something to sell, and may purchase players’ items.

Disloyal Pokemon

If a Pokemon doesn’t respect its Trainer, it’s unreliable. There are no rules for when a Pokemon becomes loyal or disloyal; instead it’s a storytelling tool for the GM and players.

At the start of a disloyal Pokemon’s turn, roll d20 (if the Pokemon’s action already involves a d20 roll, like an attack roll or skill check, you can reuse it):

Building Encounters

There is no guaranteed formula for fairness; a battle’s difficulty relies on luck, tricks, team composition, and other factors that are difficult to objectively calculate. However, we can form a rough estimate with a Level Budget.

When building an encounter with a Level Budget, add your Players’ Levels together, then multiply that total by how many Pokemon you want them to each use. The result is how many total enemy Levels to pit against the players.

As an example, say you have three Level 2 players and you want them to use 2 Pokemon each:
$2$_{Player 1’s level} + 2_{Player 2’s level} + 2_{Player 3’s level} = 6_{total Player levels}
6_{total Player levels} × 2_{Pokémon used} = 12

With this Level Budget of 12, you can make:

• Six Level 2 enemies
• Or three Level 4 enemies
• Or one Level 6 enemy and three Level 2 enemies
• Or any other combination you think makes for an interesting battle

Special Battlefield Conditions

• Thunderstorm: Rain + Electric Terrain
• Growing Season: Sunny Day + Grassy Terrain + Water Sport
• Habūb: Sandstorm + Mud Sport + Gravity (severe dust storms ground airplanes)
• Freezing Rain: Hail + Snow + Rain + Gravity (freezing rain grounds airplanes)
• Morning Dew: Misty Terrain + Mist + Fire/Water Pledge rainbow
• Treacherous Earth: Stealth Rock + Spikes
• Typhoon: Heavy Rain + Strong Winds simultaneously
• Magnetic Distortion: Electric Terrain + Light Screen (+ Magnetic Flux/Magnet Rise?)
• Junkyard: Toxic Spikes + Steel Spikes (a la G-Max Steelspike)
• Boreal Storm: Hail + Snow + Aurora Veil
• Putrid Bog: 2 Layers of Toxic Spikes + Grass/Water Pledge terrain
• Smog Warning: Fog + all non-Poison Types are Poisoned
• Windfall: Tailwind + Lucky Chant
• Pea Soup: Misty Terrain + Fog
• Volcanic Eruption: Extremely Harsh Sunlight + Fog + Sandstorm + Toxic Spikes + Stealth Rock
• New Moon: Midnight + Fog + Shadowy Aura

Zone Actions

The world of Pokemon can be as fantastic and dangerous as the creatures inhabiting it. This can manifest in combat through Zone Actions, where something outside of characters affects the battlefield.

Zone Actions need an effect (such as damage, a Status, forced movement, etc.) and a trigger (a strong wind, entering a Zone with a hidden tile, a Foes in Zone move, end of the round, etc.)

Examples:

1. A net of logs breaks from a Foes in Zone Move, using Wood Hammer on All in Zone.
2. A weak floor cracks open if a Ground Move is used, splitting a Zone into two.
3. A flash flood rushes through a Zone at the end of the round, forcing Pokemon to switch out or be washed away.
4. A gear spins at the end of the round, flinging a Pokemon into another Zone.
5. A pipe bursts after an Ice Move, flooding caustic fluid that Poisons All in Zone.
6. A fire sprinkler system activates after a Fire Move, giving Zones inside the building the Heavy Rain weather.

If you’re having trouble coming up with Zone Actions, try looking at video games in other genres and how their environment affects the gameplay.

NPC Trainers

Anybody in the Pokémon world can call themselves a Trainer, and your players can meet a wide variety of people ready to battle. Non-player character (NPC) Trainers can use Orders and Features that player characters cannot, and are designed to be fun battles at any level.

• NPC Trainers don’t always have their own Pokemon, and can appear to help the party (or opponents) purely through their Orders.
• NPCs can show up to Cheer for their favorite team to win.

Boss Pokémon

Some Pokémon are strong enough to need special rules for them challenging an entire party. (They do this by secretly being multiple characters acting as one.) To make a Boss Pokémon, use this template.

• There should be an obvious signal if the Boss can’t be caught. You may lift this restriction later, but please telegraph the change for your players’ sake.

• TODO that thing where bosses have extra unstealable item slots to avoid the High Plains+Harker paradox. Actually, should we just let GMs pick from a pool of Traits for bosses? Something like:

  • Gigantic: the Boss’s single-target Moves become Foes in Zone and the Boss resists single-target Moves.

• A Boss has a number of turns equal to the number of opposing combatants. (Each extra turn adds the Boss’s Level to a Level Budget.)

  • The boss’s first turn happens normally based on the Boss’s SPE.
  • The Boss's next turn happens after one of its opponents takes a turn. Repeat for remaining Boss turn for each opponent’s turn.
  • If there are more leftover Boss turns than opposing turns left in the Round, the Boss takes the leftover turns in a row.

• Bosses can’t be forced to switch out or flee against the GM’s wishes.

• Bosses lose only one turn each round for each turn-denying status: Sleep, Frozen, Paralysis, Confusion, Infatuation, Flinch. (If that’s hard to imagine, say the Boss is drowsy, chilled, or otherwise partially-affected.)

• Bosses multiply their Max AP by their number of turns.

• For each turn the Boss has, it gains a Health Bar equal to its Max HP. When a Health Bar is depleted, any effects that trigger off the Boss fainting happen (like Moxie or Fell Stinger) and a special effect of your choice happens:

1. Cure the Boss of a Status Problem.
2. The Boss restores any Dropped Stats.
3. The Boss changes its Abilities. If a new Ability triggers on entering battle, trigger it now.
4. The Boss creates weather or terrain for 5 rounds.
5. The Boss unleashes an effect of your own creation, like an unlocked Move or new tactic. (Recommended for the final Health Bar.)

Variant: Alpha

Large, dominant wild Pokémon that have flown into an aggressive rage.

• Alphas’ Wild Might gives them +10 to each Stat and halves the amount of HP loss they take from indirect damage sources, like Poison or Hazards. (They lose Wild Might when captured.)
• If a Poké Ball fails to capture them, Alphas get angrier and Boost their ATK, DEF, SATK, and SDEF by +10 each.
• Alphas know a Bonus Move from their Tutor Moves.
• Alphas can use Strong/Agile styles of any of their Moves. (See Surveyor for how those work.)
• Alphas are twice as tall and twice as heavy as usual for their species.

Variant: Max Raid

In a Max Raid, Dynamax Pokemon can call on even more power than before.

• Raid Bosses start the battle Dynamaxed (or Gigantamaxed) and don’t revert until defeated.
• Capture rolls before defeat automatically fail. When a Raid Boss is defeated, each player can choose to make a Capture roll with Advantage; the highest roll wins.
• Raid Bosses can choose 2 additional Health Bar effects:

1. The Boss makes a shockwave that negates all enemy Abilities until the boss’ next turn.
2. A barrier protects the Boss that halves all damage, but breaks after 3 hits. Super-Effective Moves count as 2 hits.

• Raid Bosses can only use one Max Move each round. Their other turns use normal Moves or actions.

Variant: Leader Pokemon

Leader Pokemon are especially powerful Bosses that extend their power to their minions. In Alola, they’re called Totem Pokemon.

• Leaders start the battle with +10 Boosts to 2 Stats each. (Or more: the games gave extra Boosts to weaker species or late-game fights.)
• Leaders’ allies can’t be captured.
• Leaders can choose an additional Health Bar effect:
  The Boss summons a new ally.
• Leaders can summon an ally if it ends the round with no allies on the Field.

Variant: Horde Pokemon

Sometimes Pokemon attack in swarms, like a cloud of Zubat, a school of Magikarp, or a room of Joltik.

Horde variants pretend to be an uncountable number of Pokemon:

• Hordes get +1 Resistance to single-target Moves.
• Hordes’ single-target Moves become Foes in Zone.
• Hordes have all Abilities available at their level (if two Abilities are incompatible, pick one).
• Capture attempts against Hordes always succeed in capturing a Pokémon, but don’t remove the Horde from combat.
• Moves targeting Hordes can’t miss.

Variant: Shadow Pokemon

Shadow Pokemon have had their emotions repressed and the door to their heart sealed to turn them into soulless fighting machines.

• Other than their actions and remorselessness, Shadow Pokemon don’t appear unusual; one needs aura-reading talents or equipment to identify their mental state.
• Shadow Pokemon get +15 SPE.
• Shadow Pokemon know at least 1 Shadow Move. Shadow Moves get +1 Effectiveness on normal Pokemon, but -1 Effectiveness on Shadow Pokemon.
• If captured by a player:
  • Shadow Pokemon can’t level up, evolve, or change their Moves, and are usually illegal in sanctioned battles.
  • It takes time and perseverance for Shadow Pokemon to get over their trauma and trust again. This will gradually replace their Shadow Moves with other Moves (usually a Tutor Move of your/the GM’s choice).
  • After using a Shadow Move, roll d20 to see if they enter a frenzy state of pent-up emotion:
    • Lose 1 tick between rounds
    • May disobey if ordered to do anything but use a Shadow Move
    • Can’t have items used on them, other than items to snap them out of it
  • Once purified, they level up to match the Trainer’s level and can learn Return as a Bonus Move; Return will always get its extra damage on that Pokemon.

Variant: Pokémon Fusions

An enduringly popular concept in the manga, anime, and fangames, Game Freak will probably never make fusion official because of the massive costs of asset creation, art direction, licensing, and balancing. Luckily, in an unofficial tabletop none of those things matter.

• Combine Types, movepool, Stats, and Abilities
• If used by players, probably require that each mon holds a specific item and the fusion only gets one turn to make this kind of power cost action economy. Bosses don’t need to, though

Speeding up the Rules

Use adjectives to disambiguate between similar opponents

In fights with multiple individuals of a kind, try using adjectives instead of letters or numbers to identify them. For example, if a fight with three Sawk breaks out, call them Tall Sawk, Short Sawk, and Thin Sawk. Personalities can also help; you could even reuse the names of Natures to disambiguate individuals.

Skipping double-blind decisions

The double-blind decision-making process is for fair and fun battles, but takes some time. For low-impact battles, or if the table knows what one side or the other will do (like wild Pokémon that only use one Move, or a boss with a set pattern), it’s faster to play sequentially.

Changing Resolutions

Players will try to resolve situations in ways you didn’t expect. This takes many forms, but most commonly has players attempting Skill Checks you didn’t call for. They may even roll before you have a chance to respond.

This doesn’t need to be a problem! If the resolution is sensible, fun, or moves the game forward in an interesting way, you can allow it.

If you think the resolution is inappropriate for the situation, let the player know you don’t think the resolution or roll would work. This can be awkward if the player already rolled, but acknowledge it as a mistake and not bad behavior.

Simplifying Math

Game math should be consistent so players can reasonably expect what their actions will entail. But sometimes, it’s more fun to fudge the numbers:

• Your boss hasn’t shown off its special trick yet, so it survives one more hit.
• A battle’s gone too long, so an enemy faints prematurely or flees.
• A player barely failed a check or capture attempt on something they really wanted, so everyone agrees to allow it because they all want it to happen.
• A battle has many opponents, so loosely tracking their HP keeps the fight fast and fun.

The rules are here to provide a fun game. If the math doesn’t line up with the game you and your players want, don’t hesitate to change numbers to make that game.

If players notice this and feel bad about it, talk to them about how to move forward:

• Sometimes players are just surprised, and if you explain they’re fine with it.
• Sometimes players don’t want special treatment, so assuring them they’re not the only one you’re fudging for can be enough.
• Sometimes players want to get something “fairly” for the triumph of earning it. You can offer to take it back, or let them keep it in a restricted form to fully unlock later. (For example, if they feel guilty keeping a strong Pokémon with a fudged capture roll, maybe it starts disloyal or needs them to beat it in a 1:1 fight before it trusts them.)
• Sometimes players need to feel that they can 100% trust the rules for whatever reason. Find out what they need from you to feel safe.

Reward Qualifications

Pokémon have rules for when they evolve or learn Moves, but those rules are for general expectations. You can bend those rules for special situations:

• A Pokémon could evolve mid-battle after amazing achievements or emotional growth.
• A Dragon Expert’s features could apply to their Dunsparce after it gets the Dracolize Ability.
• A Boss might evolve as a 2nd phase after a Health Bar breaks.
• Villain Pokémon could learn Moves at low Levels, or Moves they normally can’t learn.
• If a character shows special aptitude (good or bad) at something, the table could agree they’re Talented or Flawed in the area.

Such changes are encouraged as long as they make the game better for you and your players.

⚠️ Don’t make mechanical changes solely to punish players. Giving Wonder Guard to a Bronzong is only interesting once.

Homebrewing

Regional Variants

In some regions, existing Pokémon gain new traits and change their Types, Stats, Moves, and Abilities. Fresh spins on old Pokémon are exciting and fun to think up. The Regional Variant Maker sheet should make them easier to create.

New Generation Conversion

If a new video game has Pokémon or Moves not in our rules, you can convert them for PTV:

• Pokemon Starting Abilities are the same as their canon Abilities.
• Use the Pokemon’s Hidden Ability for one of their Level 5 Abilities, with up to 2 other Level 5 Ability choices if you like.
• The Pokemon’s Level 1 Moveset usually adds its first canonical Level-Up Move, to have immediate versatility.
• Plug Level-Up Moves in to learn one each level. You usually run out before Level 15, but that’s okay.
• Merge the Pokemon’s Moves from breeding, tutors, and technical devices into Tutor Moves.
• To convert Moves to PTV:
  1. Subtract 30 from the Base Power, divide by 5, then round to a whole number. Minimum of 1 for Moves that end up with 0 or less.
     • If you prefer an equation: max(1, Power - 305)
     • If you prefer spreadsheet code: =MAX(1, ($gamePower - 30)/5)
  2. The Power of generic Type Z-Moves is calculated the same way from the games’ Z-Power, but that doesn’t help for new Status Moves…
  3. TODO: How to get Accuracy from %
  4. TODO: Advice on adapting effects: find an existing similar Move, or…
  5. TODO: Advice on Z-Move Power/effects and MAX Power
• To convert Stats to PTV:
  1. Divide original Stat by 10, round to whole number
  2. Subtract 1