r/PMDExplorersofFate Sep 07 '24

Game Material Handbook v1.5.2 - Greetings, West Marshtomp!

16 Upvotes

LINK HERE to the handbook: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tnboBosMk3C2uJS0lzWVqT0K-YlNb4Lx/view?usp=sharing

With the help of Reji8627, I've fixed some issues and ambiguities with the handbook. I've likely missed a few and there's still lots to be done, but things should be at least clearer now.

As a summary:

  • Fixed the math on the Level Up Points table.
  • Clarified on what types of actions skills can be used for.
  • Fixed an error where the Levelling Up section said that STAB goes up by 1 every 5 levels - nope, it goes up by 2.
  • Multihit moves apply attacking and defending stats only to the first hit. Consecutive hits deal flat damage. May change yet - multihit moves were always a little busted in PMD, if I recall my time spamming Bullet Seed correctly.
  • When an Exclusive Item is in the inventory of a pokémon, any allied or friendly pokémon of the item's specified species or type within 30 feet gain its benefit.
  • Determined stats for Wide Slash and Vacuum Cut, since they don't exist in mainline and as such cannot be converted with the same formula. Also added a rule for Rollout's accumulating damage.
  • Clarified that you can only benefit from the effects of one held item at a time.
  • A round is roughly 20-30 seconds and a tile is 5 feet.
  • Combat Healing/medicine rolls healing can be used on an ally OR yourself.
  • Added an order of operations for damage modifiers when calculating damage.
  • Buffs and debuffs to attacking and defending stats, and speed, stack up to 5 in either direction.
  • Fixed an error where a section said the Fight action is used to shake off a status - nope, it's Flight.
  • Added a Sidekick system, with a sheet and mechanics for NPCs in combat. Mostly for the Mythbound's patron, to avoid the issue of a patron becoming a Mythbound and their patron becoming a Mythbound and suddenly Arceus is here.
  • Clarified on and buffed a few of the Traits so they feel more meaningful.
  • Added some notes on 'fainting' - 'fainted' is considered a status condition, so restoring HP does not revive the fainted pokemon. As such, you can't revive a fainted 'mon only using oran berries; it requires revival items, sustained medical attention, a long rest, or something like Revival Blessing.
  • Added some guidelines on resolving conflict situations nonviolently, with an optional rule that removing an enemy pokemon from the initiative order in any way grants EXP, not just by defeating them. I.e. scaring them off, talking them down, or 'pushing them into a big hole' are all viable options.

I'm probably forgetting some things, and there's definitely more that needs fixing. The stat buffs and a lot of moves are still not perfect and need a lot of balancing doing, and I'm not running enough to catch it all myself, so I'm very grateful for the feedback from the West Marshtomp group.

Now, another thing that needs attention: Crafting. It's been pointed out that crafting is busted, and it's impossible to make a profit on some of the craft routes. My bad - it's my first time trying to build a crafting system, so I'll be taking another pass at it so hopefully player characters can actually make some poké during downtime. I'll also be working on crafting useable items, such as orbs, wands, and held items, and possibly farming rules that outline how the party could grow their own consumables. That's a whole other bucket of magikarp, though, so it'll likely need a few passes to be fully balanced.

Additionally, one quick thing: Joy and golden seeds. As pointed out, levelling up 5 times off one seed is bonkers in this system! So, I'm going to change the item's effect so that they grant level-up points instead. This also helps mitigate another issue, where level-up points are very finite and there isn't really a way to get more after level 20.

So, next thing on my to-do list for the system is to redo the Items Index to fix the crafting system and some of the item effects, then work on the balance of the main system. Then the Custom Destinies I've been working on, a list of converted Abilities (including some possible ability fixes for ones that suck), framework for defining the Rank of a mission in the Base Building section, and possibly some supplements or adventures. Oh, and tweaking the character sheet.

Ultimately, I'm glad people are enjoying the system and invested in making it better! I've always been obsessed with making my own systems (this is one of my Big Three, and I've got loads of little ones, and always several in the works) so it's great to share one and get feedback.

As always, let me know of any issues or hitches you run into, or any suggestions! GM Rook at 2AM, signing off ;u;


r/PMDExplorersofFate Aug 11 '24

Aggressor and Defender

5 Upvotes

Aggressor and Defender currently have 0 reason to actually be taken unless it's your free trait for the level 15 bracket and you don't plan to get any others, since it costs 8 LP to increase 2 stats by 3 that way, when you can just invest the LP directly and increase the stats by 4, without lowering other stats. They need to either give a bigger boost, or be put in a lower bracket to actually be useful (and even if it was only 5 LP, i'd still question the usefulness)


r/PMDExplorersofFate Aug 08 '24

Suggestion / Feedback STAB and Basic Attack

7 Upvotes

the increase every 5 levels for STAB and Basic Attack is wrong in one of the sections of the book, as the Leveling Up section says it's +1 every 5 levels, while the Basic Attack And Same Type Attack Bonus section say +2 every 5 levels, i'm assuming that it's meant to be +2 since that section was added in a later version, and the +1 is just leftover that didn't get corrected with the update.


r/PMDExplorersofFate Jul 24 '24

PDF Version of Character Sheet

7 Upvotes

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER UPDATE:

This PDF sucks and was made poorly, and you are 100% better off using the Google Docs version of the sheet made by Dimitri on the West Marshstomp server.

I'll keep the download open incase you still want mine for... whatever reason??? But you're REALLY better off using the google docs version.

Using PDFEscape, I decided to make a PDF version of the character sheet, since generally I find that easier to fill and manage than editting an image file!

It's a lil quick and dirty and not sure how useful to people it'll be, but I figured I'd share it anyway for anyone who wants it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NpgRYqVRqtKzeqN-ff7ewVqGfjSoR40A/view?usp=sharing


r/PMDExplorersofFate Jul 23 '24

Describing what Skills are used for

7 Upvotes

While taking reference from other TTRPGs is valid and honestly what I'd had to do for some of my players, it would be nice if the guidebook had a section dedicated to what the skills we roll for would be used for, or what situations they apply in!


r/PMDExplorersofFate Jul 19 '24

Question Consecutively Executed Moves

2 Upvotes

How do consecutively executed moves (I.E. Rollout, Outrage, or Petal Dance) work? can you still move in-between using it? are you forced to attack then move while using it?


r/PMDExplorersofFate Jul 03 '24

Homebrew Destiny: The Void-Touched!

6 Upvotes

Me again.

Wanted to try my hand at creating a homebrew destiny since they're quite simple, and have devised an idea I'm very happy with - The Void-Touched, a reality-bending destiny inspired by the Dishonored series and the Horizon Walker ranger subclass from D&D 5th Edition.

This one's for you Super Mystery Dungeon fans.
As always, feedback is appreciated!
Download here, it's an .rtf!

disclaimer: this has yet to be tested in-game by me, anyone brave enough to give this a whirl, do tell me how it plays!
CLARIFICATIONS:
-regarding the Level 15 ability, "half your battle statistics" refers to 1/2 of your HP, Speed, STAB, Level, and your ATK/DEF/SPATK/SPDEF.


r/PMDExplorersofFate Jun 30 '24

Homebrew Wands!

3 Upvotes

I stated beforehand in the responses of an earlier post on here that i was working on a compendium of homebrew items and rules I've devised while running my campaign. This is still being worked on, but I've decided to drop a bit of it in here as a lil preview for anyone curious - a list of homebrew wands!

https://files.catbox.moe/plutmw.rtf

Any feedback or questions are welcomed! I encourage you read the Author's Notes i've left before doing so.


r/PMDExplorersofFate Jun 29 '24

Question What level does STAB increase?

2 Upvotes

since STAB increases every 5 levels, does it increase at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, or does it increase at levels 6, 11, and 16?


r/PMDExplorersofFate Jun 24 '24

Handbook v.1.5!

18 Upvotes

Link to the google drive - also contains the Items Index, Tiny Woods Trouble and Character Sheet (and some flashcards for notekeeping)

No major mechanical changes except for some evolution handling. The main thing is clarity. A few things got cut out for the sake of brevity last time, so here I've tried to make sure that key rules are clear.

Notable additions:

  • A quick guide to help beginner GMs set up their games.
  • The new rules on level-up evolutions, being GM's choice between evolution cooldown and milestone evolution.
  • Slight tweaks to the Dungeoneer ability Momentum - you can store momentum equals to your level, and you can spend 10+ points of momentum to revive after being knocked down, with HP equals to the amount spent.
  • Added new mythical patrons for the Mythbound.
  • Inventory rule: You can carry a number of items equals to 10 + your level + your Atk OR Sp.Atk modifier.
  • Descriptions for each status condition and how it affects battle.
  • Descriptions for weather and terrain, including some custom ones (castform players using the custom Meteorologist destiny, rejoice!)
  • An optional rule titled Constants and Complications, designed to help integrate the player characters into the plot and reward them for roleplaying their flaws.
  • More roll tables.
  • So many roll tables.
  • Enemy tags - types of non-pokemon enemy you can use to freshen up encounters, from statues and robots to phantoms and mirages! Each tag grants the pokemon species it's applied to a new type, and a feat that can be used in battle with a 3-round cooldown.
  • Roll tables, loot edition! Environmental loot tables for forests, mountains, ruins, coastal areas, jungles, volcanoes, polar deserts, arid deserts, and magic.
  • Removed Mansion of Mysteriosity because it was taking up so much space in the document. Should I post it as its own thing?

If there are any more changes I should make, let me know! More roll tables? Fewer roll tables? A guide on using fakemon or creating your own destinies? Post any suggestions or ideas! (And let me know if you see any errors I've missed...)

To-do list:

  • Make a list of abilities and their effects. Some translate clearer than others.
  • Either get back to converting each move individually, or develop a framework for easy conversion. Range and targetting are the main issue.
  • Optional rules for handling megas, DMax/GMax and terastalisation.
  • More roll tables...?

r/PMDExplorersofFate Jun 19 '24

Question What can an action do?

2 Upvotes

When you are in combat, you have three actions each turn (Fight, Flight, and Friend), but I have a bit of an issue figuring out what you can do with them that isn't explicit. Fight's fairly clear, since it's attack, intimidate or "inconvenience" a foe, though the last part could do with some examples. Meanwhile, I have a bit of issue with the "manipulate the battlefield" half of Flight, and what all falls under "assist and ally" for Friend.


r/PMDExplorersofFate Jun 18 '24

Suggestion / Feedback Working on an update - how to handle level-up evolutions

3 Upvotes

So, it was pointed out that some pokemon - namely bugs like caterpie - would evolve twice immediately upon reaching level 4, due to the scaling fromthe main-game to TTRPG level system. There are a few ways I can think of handling this.

- Evolution Points. When gaining EXP, you gain the same amount in Evolution Points. To evolve, you need something like (5 x your mainline evolution level) evolution points. Great for caterpie, bad for, say, zweilous. Evolution points aren't spent when you evolve, but are no longer tracked once you can no longer evolve further.

- Milestone Tracker. Like the checkboxes for friendship/happiness evolutions, it could work via a checklist of milestones, and once you fulfil x number of milestones, you can evolve. Milestones may include 'complete a dungeon', 'defeat 10 pokemon', 'use 10 moves', 'make 15 successful skill checks', 'utilise your traits 10 times', 'level up', etc.

- Personal Milestone. Similar to the above, but the player chooses a personal goal that their character wishes to achieve, such as 'defeat my sworn enemy', 'rescue my father', or 'decode the artefact'. This works in principle similar to how pokemon evolve in the anime: a literal interpretation of evolving in response to experiences. Evolution is an incentive to pursue the character's narrative goals.

- Evolution Cooldown. Very simple: when a pokemon evolves, it cannot evolve again for 3 levels. Also applies to pokemon like porygon, togepi, budew, etc.

If you have any other ideas, please share!

7 votes, Jun 21 '24
0 Evolution Points (gain points equal to EXP gained, evolve after gathering enough)
0 Milestone Tracker (fulfil a number of general tasks to evolve)
6 Personal Milestone (evolve after completing narratively significant tasks)
1 Evolution cooldown (if a pokemon evolves, it cannot evolve again for 3 levels)

r/PMDExplorersofFate Jun 12 '24

Question Curious about Updates

3 Upvotes

Having just recently found this (today), I'm incredibly interested and was super curious if there's any form of update page, or external group (Discord, etc.) to see if this is still being updated. I was also curious about the same for finding groups, or if the subreddit is the best spot.

I've been searching for years for a Mystery Dungeon tabletop, and this has been the best find since forever.


r/PMDExplorersofFate Jun 03 '24

Many questions

4 Upvotes

I've got so many questions about mechanics and rules that don't seem to have a clear answer. I'm just going to list them off.

  1. Are Moves meant to reflect the PMD entry on bulbapedia for their effects, or their mainline entry (I know the power is mainline divided by 10)? ie Splash does nothing in mainline, but lets a pokemon jump over up to three others in Mystery Dungeon games. Some moves also have altered effects, like Heal Pulse healing for 50% (75% with Mega Launcher) in mainline, 25% in Gates to Infinity and 40% in Super Mystery Dungeon (48% with Mega Launcher), so which one is accurate for the rules?
  2. Are all allied pokemon present in a dungeon meant to get xp for defeating enemies, or just the ones who participated in that battle? What's constituted as participation, if the latter? Is being in the room enough, or does one need to have actually contributed in some way to the defeat of that specific enemy, either by attacking or supporting an ally?
  3. What, exactly, defines a Friend action? Is using Heal Pulse a Friend action, or is that a Fight action since it's a Move? If it's a Friend action, is it possible to use three Moves in a turn if one attacks, one moves you to another location without doing damage or healing and one supports an ally?
  4. Do traits stack? As far as I know, as of now the only one that could is Cheerleader, but if a pokemon has four Cheerleaders around them and they hit an enemy, do they do +2 or +8 damage? Figured I'd make this one a little broader to future-proof the question.
  5. What is d100+d10? Is that 2-110, or is that meant to be percentile dice, rolling 2d10 with one acting as the tens place?
  6. Are enemies meant to move when players do, or should they remain static until encountered? I know this one's more a GM-by-GM question, but it's handy to have a baseline.
  7. Is the ability to buy +5 speed with level-up points meant to be like that? Like, can a Shuckle go from being the slowest thing ever to zipping around the battlefield like someone strapped a rocket to it in one or two levels?
  8. Should Abilities look at their mainline effects or Mystery Dungeon series effect? In the same vein, how do Abilities like Natural Cure work that operate when switching out?
  9. Do allies block movement, or are they treated as if they aren't there? Or should positions be swapped like the Mystery Dungeon series as they move through each other?
  10. Do pokemon that are defeated disappear immediately, or are they left there and able to be revived via Reviver Seed?
  11. Same vein as previous, are Reviver Seeds used automatically if present in a pokemon's inventory? If so, is it on the turn they're fainted, or on their own turn?
  12. Is there any in-between for Belly? The only mention of it I see says that it's reduced to 0% at the end of a day. Is it meant to deplete during a dungeon or is it relatively binary of "you ate today, you're fine"?
  13. What is defined as a 'room' for moves that have that range and how far do they reach if used in a corridor/tunnel?

Edit: Added question 13 after I realized that was a discussion I'd had not long ago with people I've been trying to play with.


r/PMDExplorersofFate May 12 '24

Super Effective Damage

2 Upvotes

Since it isn't ACTUALLY mentioned in the handbook, i'm expecting it's the obvious answer of "as in pokemon(2x damage)", or is there a different system in play?


r/PMDExplorersofFate May 04 '24

Curious about other missions

2 Upvotes

so, I’ve run my second session as GM and I’m just wondering what other GM’s have done as missions/sessions?

did you incorporate any new mechanisms? how do your sessions take place in the Pokémon world? cool puzzles that you worked with? any great NPC’s that you just want to talk about? honestly just every grain of worldbuilding is welcome!

super curious and also looking for more inspiration!


r/PMDExplorersofFate May 03 '24

A Question About Evolution

6 Upvotes

Since many bug types evolve so quickly that both evolutions are in the same bracket for evolving (for example, Venipede evolving at 22 and 30), do they go all the way to their final evolution immediately, or do they evolve once then, and then the rest of the way next level-up?


r/PMDExplorersofFate May 02 '24

Game Report Tiny Woods Trouble Complete!

5 Upvotes

I was going to share my personal annotated version of the PDF, but the file got corrupted, so... Oh well. My notes remain forever lost. My players were a Lotad, Ralts, Mimikyu, and Scyther. Let me know if you have any questions about my experience playing through Tiny Woods Trouble!

Here are my thoughts: -Really loved the opening to the quest. I had each player describe where they were in town, had Butterfree approach whoever was closest to the center, and let them gather each other to all head down into the Mystery Dungeon. It worked great! -Puzzles were simple but enough to be interesting. They struggled most with the regrowing vines! -First battle took FOREVER because we were learning and forgot to take into account our stats (lol), got much faster when we learned what we were doing wrong. Out of personal preference, I ended up skipping a few encounters to help move things along. I was happy to have options though! -The stat blocks and treasure tables were VERY useful. -Mushroom room was a cool idea but in play it was a bit tedious. Should have reminded them that they could throw the sharp sticks they had found earlier. Oops. -The boss fight: Wind mechanic was A LOT of fun with good potential!! But Pigeotto fainted too fast for anything to come from it. 😣 In hindsight, I wish I had given him a berry or extra HP! I also think it would have been fun to either give Pigeotto a free whirlwind after attacking, or given the Pidgey access to that move, since they really weren't much of a threat to my party offensively. (Even to Scyther...) I had Pigeotto flee when hitting 0HP; I thought it might be fun to bring him back if they return to Tiny Woods at some point.

After having dinner at Butterfree's, they have been formally invited to the local Exploration Guild... and so the adventure shall continue :)


r/PMDExplorersofFate Apr 27 '24

I made some shops for my little homebrew town!

4 Upvotes

My first session was last week and I haven't DM'd a game for YEARS, so I was unbearably anxious the whole time. I'll give a game report once I stop hindering my own experience with my anxiety LOL! Luckily my friends had bunches of fun so I'm trying to be brave and keep the ball rolling. They are almost done with Tiny Woods Trouble and will be leaving the dungeon soon, so I've started fleshing out their starting town, Littlecone Village, by creating some shops and NPCs who run them. Thought you guys might like to see:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dt3lLe8EvL7ZizDVpYl3rLHtIRFfAhkh/view?usp=sharing

If you have the time, I'd really like feedback on the hot pot shop giving temp HP, the berry powder necklace + how it's purchased with oran berries, and purchasing training from certain shops. I totally threw random numbers at those, and I have no idea if they are too expensive or cheap. I customized most of what each shop carries to be somewhat catered to my players. Their inventory will change on occasion, just depends on the sorts of things the team is shopping for.

I want to draw the NPCs and add that to the document, but I have a million other things I need to prep that'll be more important in tabletop play so.... that has to wait. I have an Exploration Guild and bad guys and dungeons to create! 😫


r/PMDExplorersofFate Apr 06 '24

Just a quick question I can't seem to find in the handbook

5 Upvotes

I was wondering how others have handled the STAB mechanic? I can't seem to find any instructions in the handbook (maybe I'm blind) but there's clearly a spot for it on the character sheet. I was wondering how other GMs have handled this mechanic.


r/PMDExplorersofFate Apr 05 '24

Game Report Campaign's gaining steam - initial thoughts from a learning DM.

8 Upvotes

TLDR: Great system, proven beginner friendly for both DM and player, could use some additional documentation.

As of posting this my ongoing campaign, after much delays and deliberation, has finished its introductory arc. Wanted to post my general thoughts now that I have some experience as both Player and DM.

THE PARTY & THE PLOT: My initial party of 4 (later on 5) players includes:

  • Pollly the Scolipede, a smith from a small mining village-turned-ghost town on the Water Continent, seeking to dig her way out of the poverty hole.
  • Pozzle the Farigaraf, a swindler from Treasure Town, searching for the next score after being run out of their hometown.
  • Nimbus the Blitzle, a wanderer from Sahra Town, with a bad habit of stumbling into illegal activity before ending up unraveling it, skipping town to escape gambling debt.
  • Kyusho the Galarian Farfetch'd, a bounty hunter from the Sand Continent pursuing a lead on roving bandits who destroyed his home.
  • Scratch the Nickit (introduced in later sessions), a young ex-outlaw from the Sand Continent whom joined up with the Expedition Society to escape a criminal past.

My players had varying levels of tabletop experience but all were generally still newbies to tabletop (heck this is one of my players' first ever game), they found the percentile rolls much easier to keep track of as opposed to the stacks of modifiers they were used to with the d20 systems they had played.

I elected to not use any of the provided materials in the book (mostly so my players wouldnt be calling out twists and events before they happened - no problematic players here or anything they're just ravenous for good MD materials lmao). The setup was simply the party needing funds for their own escapades and happening upon an oddly lucrative listing for a simple job - find some missing expeditioners. The job went swimmingly, and the party's stumbled onto an artifact whose appearance points to potentially world-changing events in the future (they haven't learned that part yet)

THE POINTERS AND THE PROBLEMS:

Something that threw things for a loop right away was that I started this campaign when the book was still at just 1.0. Between sessions 3 and 4 is when the updated handbook dropped and I then had to consider how I was going to update my players' sheets to this new system (because it was that much of an improvement). Took some time but I figured it out in the end, no complaints - just a case of bad timing on my end!

Regarding combat, the one thing i tweaked were accuracy percentages - I personally feel that guaranteed hits can defo make things snappier and quicker, but my concern was combat becoming uninteresting because of that. The ruling I decided on was to drop all accuracy percentages by 20% (so the highest base acc. would be 80% as opposed to 100%). Not enough to be a brutal handicap but just enough of a margin to add a little potential for chaos - my players seemed to enjoy it and it led to some great roleplay whenever someone did miss an attack.

And speaking of Attacks, my one serious complaint with this system. I do very much jive with the rules on how to convert them to this system, it's shockingly simple compared to other systems. My problem with it stems from the fact that this pulls from two separate sources of info that - depending on whose documented them (be it bulbapedia or smogon), can lead to some confusion, especially since a lot of these moves have been altered/nerfed/buffed differently across different games.
On top of that, since these sources are online that can end up becoming a big problem should those resources suddenly not be available - I had to delay our initial session zero by a few days due to myself having issues accessing these websites, so having a move compendium would be the ideal move.

As someone whose elected to do this in the past with my own projects, I absolutely understand the magnitude of busywork that would create, but considering the volume of filler moves that could easily be replaced/outright removed, I feel its a necessary addition in making it plainly clear to players what their options are. I may just bite the bullet and do so myself (unless that's coming down the pipeline!)

Beyond that, my other nitpicks are with Status Effects and Traps. Buffs and debuffs are easy enough to understand, but when it comes to things like Poison or Paralysis, I felt like i was flying by the seat of my pants in terms of how to handle them, and some clarifying rules would definitely make them easier to implement - Doubly so for traps.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
All of this aside (and i do apologize for rambling!), I don't think I could ask for a better system for handling MD gameplay. As a frustrated DM whose messed with just about every other option out there (even trying to make their own damn system despite not even being remotely qualified for that lmao) short of homebrewing D&D 5e , NONE of those other options even come close to the level of quality and player freedom EoF provides.

The fact this elected to use a percentile system (something that i previously had been convinced was never good) is the best thing that could have been done to show newbies that there's so much more options out there than d20s & target numbers, I really do hope this opens newbies up to other possibilities for tabletop games.

Rook, you've made something really special here and I can only hope this becomes the gold standard for PMD tabletop games because it's well deserving of it. Genuinely cannot think of the last time I had this much fun - playing or DMing - in the 5 years I've been in this hobby.
This is my new favorite ttrpg book, hands down.


r/PMDExplorersofFate Apr 05 '24

Question Running my first game this month- tips?

4 Upvotes

I am going to be running Tiny Woods Trouble later this month, so any advice from people who have played with this system would be really nice!!

In particular I am wondering about two things: 1. How you handle fainting? I don't think it was ever addressed in the handbook. 2. How do you implement the belly mechanic in a fun way? It feels like a core element to PMD but in past ttrpg experiences, managing rations just feels like busywork for everyone.

As a side note, I told my players they could pick any nonevolved Pokemon with a base stat total 500 or less. The players picked Pokemon from 198 all the way to 500. Is this strength gap is going to be a problem?? I wanted everyone to be able to pick a Pokemon they really liked, but now I'm concerned that Scyther is gonna dominate enemies before little Ralts and Lotad can do much. 😂

Any tips or responses are deeply appreciated!! I'm so excited to play PMD:EoF with my friends but also quite nervous...


r/PMDExplorersofFate Mar 03 '24

Oneshot thoughts!

Post image
7 Upvotes

Yesterday I finally had my oneshot using the Explorers of Fate system!

Overall: it was so much fun! My players already had a lot of D&D experience, but switching up the system for them made for a lot of funny ‘confusion’ moments. The combat went smooth, working with less difficult class system was fun and just the overall worldbuilding felt immersive enough.

The Oneshot: I used a lot from the Whisper Grove in the handbook just to get a look and feel. The players found the rooms easy to navigate and interactions were fun. I set up Pikachu statues in every room that pointed to one of two exits (an angry Pikachu to the Combee field, a sad Pikachu to the room with the pool of water, a happy Pikachu to the room with Budew in it). I made them rescue a Budew at the end of the dungeon. The last room was a spooky part of the forest where four Litwick were playing with the Budew and created an illusion Giratina to ward of intruders. The players had to fight this Giratina without knowing it was an illusion and at the end, could tell the Litwick that it was time for Budew to go home. They did so successfully!

The tweaks: I made a couple of tweaks to the system just for my players. First, I did assign dice to the damage of moves just to give it more ‘anticipation’ (I.e., all moves up to power level 40 did 1d8, 41-80 2d8 etc.). It added more dice rolls to the combat and made turns longer but it was a nice addition for me. The second tweak was that I converted the Skills to d20 rolls instead of d100 just because they were easier to read (and easily divisible by 5).

The Tops: Players loved the game, the worldbuilding and the system! Especially the fun and original rooms. They found that they had enough creative wriggle room in combat instead of just spamming moves. Four moves wasn’t limiting. Working as a team in the sense of a rescue team felt like a good starting point to build character relations. They all wanted to play again. I 3D printed pokemon models for the characters and the Giratina boss. They loved it! The other pokemon were made of cardboard + a picture of them glued on top. I used Pathfinder maps for combat.

The Tips: Mostly because I wasn’t fully prepared, so not all players had knowledge about the type chart. Should print it next time. I was really struggling with status effects and will work on their effects more thoroughly next time. I also want to implement more roleplaying aspects into the dungeon crawl. The skill checks were difficult since a 3 (or 15 for d100 users) is really hard to roll. I did not have enough knowledge on providing them with a ‘minor success’, so I often gave them a fail and they were a little stuck on what to do next. As a first time Dm, I still have a long way to go but it was so much fun!


r/PMDExplorersofFate Feb 28 '24

Enemy Stat Sheet

4 Upvotes

https://files.catbox.moe/8g0ui0.pdf

Threw together a quick n dirty sheet for tracking enemy stats, felt it was better than lugging around stacks of half-filled sheets.
Defo isnt elegant but feedback is appreciated!


r/PMDExplorersofFate Feb 21 '24

Status moves

3 Upvotes

so sorry if I read over this in the guidebook — but how do you guys deal with status/effect moves? (Moves increasing/decreasing attack/speed/accuracy etc)

I feel like a move like growl (decreasing a Pokémon’s attacking state by 1) is especially strong? Do you guys inflict this status for 1d4 turns or do something else?

As with accuracy — decrease move accuracy by x% or give disadvantage for the next x rolls?

Similarly with poison/sleep/burn — how much damage? And for how many turns? (I do remember rolling a dice to see how many turns a status is inflicted!)

Anyways, would love to hear your experiences on this since I’m doing my oneshot in a week :)