Pokemon United

Training Pokemon



Status Effects? Take a Breather!

Trainers and Pokémon can Take a Breather and temporarily remove themselves from the heat of combat to recover from Confusion and other Volatile Status Afflictions, though they still must pass any Save Checks to be able to take this action and do so. Taking a Breather is a Full Action and requires a Pokémon or Trainer to use their Shift Action to move as far away from enemies as possible, using their highest available Movement Capability. They then become Tripped and are Vulnerable until the end of their next turn.

When a Trainer or Pokémon Takes a Breather, they set their Combat Stages back to their default level, lose all Temporary Hit Points, and are cured of all Volatile Status effects and the Slow and Stuck conditions. To be cured of Cursed in this way, the source of the Curse must either be Knocked Out or no longer within 12 meters at the end of the Shift triggered by Take a Breather.

When a Trainer or Pokémon is unable to choose to Take a Breather themselves, such as when they are inflicted with the Rage Status Affliction or when someone doesn’t want to take a chance on passing a Confusion Save Check, they may be calmed and assisted by a Trainer to attempt to Take a Breather.

This is a Full Action by both the assisting Trainer and their target (as an Interrupt for the target), and the assisting Trainer must be able to Shift to the target they intend to help. They then make a Command Check with a DC of 12. Upon success, both the assisting Trainer and their target must Shift as far away from enemies as possible, using the lower of the two’s maximum movement for a single Shift.

They then both become Tripped and are treated as having 0 Evasion until the end of their next turn. The Trainer that has been assisted then gains all the effects of Taking a Breather. Upon a failure, nothing happens, and the assisted Trainer is not cured of their Status Afflictions.

How to Deal with Status Effects?

Burned: The target’s Defense Stat is lowered by 2 Combat Stages for the duration of the Burn. Fire-Type Pokémon are immune to becoming Burned. If a Burned Target takes a Standard Action or is prevented from taking a Standard Action by an effect such as Sleep, Flinch, or Paralysis, they lose a Tick of Hit Points at the end of that turn

Frozen: The target may not act on their turn and receives no bonuses from Evasion. At the end of each turn, the target may make a DC 16 Save Check to become cured. This DC is lowered to 11 for Fire-Type Pokémon, and Ice-Type Pokémon are immune to becoming Frozen. If a Frozen Target is hit by a Damaging Fire, Fighting, Rock, or Steel Attack, they are cured of the Frozen Condition. Save Checks to cure this condition receive a +4 Bonus in Sunny Weather, and a -2 Penalty in Hail.

Paralysis: The Target’s Speed Stat is lowered by 4 Combat Stages. At the beginning of each turn the target is paralyzed, they must roll a DC 5 Save Check. If they succeed, they may act normally; if they do not, they cannot take any Standard, Shift, or Swift Actions. Electric Type Pokémon are immune to Paralysis.

Poisoned: The target’s Special Defense Value is lowered by 2 Combat Stages for the duration of the poison. Poison and Steel-Type Pokémon are immune to becoming Poisoned. If a Poisoned Target takes a Standard Action or is prevented from taking a Standard Action by an effect such as Sleep, Flinch, or Paralysis, they lose a Tick of Hit Points at the end of that turn. When Badly Poisoned, the afflicted instead loses 5 Hit Points; this amount is doubled each consecutive round (10, 20, 40, etc).

How to Deal with Volatile Effects?

Volatile Afflictions are cured completely at the end of the encounter, and from Pokémon by recalling them into their Poké Balls. When Pokémon are Fainted, they are automatically cured of all Volatile Status Afflictions.

Bad Sleep: Whenever the user makes a Save Check to save against Sleep, they lose two ticks of Hit Points. Bad Sleep may only afflict Sleeping targets; if the target is cured of Sleep, they are also cured of Bad Sleep.

Confused: At the beginning of their turn, a confused target must roll a Save Check.

» On a roll of 1-8, the confused target hits itself using a Typeless Physical Struggle Attack as a Standard Action and may take no other actions this turn. This attack automatically hits, and deals damage as if it’s resisted 1 Step.

» On a roll of 9-15, the target may act normally.

» On a roll of 16 or higher, the target is cured of confusion.

Cursed: If a Cursed Target takes a Standard Action, they lose two ticks of Hit Points at the end of that turn. Disabled: When the user gains the Disabled Affliction, a specific Move is specified. The user cannot use that Move as long as they remain Disabled. Pokémon or Trainers may have multiple instances of the Disabled Condition, each specifying a different Move.

Rage: While enraged, the target must use a Damaging Physical or Special Move or Struggle Attack. At the end of each turn, roll a DC15 Save Check; if they succeed, they are cured of Rage.

Flinch: You may not take actions during your next turn that round. The Flinched Status does not carry over onto the next round.

Infatuation: At the beginning of each turn you are infatuated, roll a Save Check.

» On a result of 1-10, you may not target the Pokémon or Trainer that you are Infatuated towards with a Move or Attack, but may otherwise Shift and use actions normally.

» On 11-18 you may use a Move and Shift without restriction.

» On a roll of 19 or higher, you are cured of the Infatuation.

Sleep: Sleeping Trainers and Pokémon receive no bonuses from Evasion, and cannot take actions except for Free and Swift Actions that would cure Sleep (ex: activating the Shed Skin Ability). At the end of the sleeper’s turns, they may make a DC 16 Save Check to wake up.

Whenever a Sleeping Pokémon takes Damage or loses life from an Attack, they wake up. This does not include loss of life from passive sources such as Poison or Burns, but active attacks and effects that cause Hit Point loss (such as being hit by the Press Feature, or Super Fang) would wake up their target. Sleeping targets cannot make Save Checks to be cured of Rage, Infatuation, or Confusion, but they also cannot hurt themselves in Confusion.

Pokémon and Trainers may wake an adjacent ally as a Standard Action.

Suppressed: While Suppressed, Pokémon and Trainers cannot benefit from PP Ups, and have the frequency of their Moves lowered; At-Will Moves become EOT, and EOT and Scene x2 Moves become Scene.

Fainted: A Pokémon or Trainer that is at 0 Hit Points or lower is Fainted, or Knocked Out. A Fainted Pokémon or Trainer is unconscious due to injuries or other effects, and cannot use any Actions, Abilities, or Features unless the Feature or Ability specifically says otherwise.

The “Fainted” Condition is removed only by specific items such as Revive, or by being brought up to a positive Hit Point count by healing Features or Moves such as Wish or Heal Pulse. Potions and other healing items may still bring a Pokémon above 0 Hit Points, but it remains Fainted for another 10 minutes. When a Pokémon becomes Fainted, they are automatically cured of all Persistent and Volatile Status Conditions.

Blindness: Blindness represents the target’s vision becoming obscured. A Blinded Pokémon or Trainer receives a -6 penalty to Accuracy Rolls, and must make an Acrobatics Check with a DC of 10 when traveling over Rough or Slow Terrain or become Tripped. Blindness is caused by several effects. This is in perpetual effect in deep darkness, unless the target has Blindsense or Darkvision. Pokémon or Trainers with Blindsense cannot be Blinded.

Total Blindness: Total Blindness is more than just obscured vision; it’s total and complete sightlessness, such as experienced in a completely dark cave or building interior. Total Blindness has the same disadvantages as Blindness, and more. Totally Blinded Pokémon or Trainers have no awareness of the map, and must declare any shifts as distance relative to them.

Totally Blinded targets receive a -10 total Penalty to Accuracy Rolls, and cannot use Moves with Priority or as Interrupts. When making a Shift action, they must declare if they are moving Slowly or Quickly; moving Slowly restricts Movement as if Slowed. Moving Quickly has no Movement Penalty, but if the user attempts to Shift into Blocking Terrain, Rough Terrain, or Slow Terrain, they become Tripped. Pokémon or Trainers with Blindesense cannot be Totally Blinded.

Slowed: A Pokémon that is Slowed has its Movement halved (minimum 1). This condition may be removed by switching, or at the end of a Scene as an Extended Action.

Stuck: A Pokémon or Trainer that is Stuck cannot make a Shift Action to move and cannot apply their Speed Evasion to attacks. This condition may be removed by switching, or at the end of an Scene as an Extended Action. Ghost Type Pokémon are immune to the Stuck Condition.

Trapped: A Pokémon or Trainer that is Trapped cannot be recalled. Ghost Type Pokémon are immune to the Trapped Condition.

Tripped: A Pokémon or Trainer has been Tripped needs to spend a Shift Action getting up before they can take further actions.

Vulnerable: A Vulnerable Pokémon or Trainer cannot apply Evasion of any sort against attacks.

How to Use Skills?

Skills are d6 dice rolls that judge how well a character has performed the skill. The higher the number, the better that character has lied, snuck past someone, intimidated a wild pokemon, and so on. Some skill rolls are opposed, meaning that if someone were to lie and roll guile, the other character can roll intuition to see if they notice tell-tale signs of deceit.

Skills are tied to ranks. Skills start at rank 2, which means a trainer/Pokemon would roll 2d6 dice when using that skill. Pokemon have a set of natural skills and can also benefit from Backgrounds!

• Acrobatics
  Acrobatics is a Body Skill that represents how well a character can jump, keep their balance, and in general conduct themselves physically with swiftness and grace. Characters with a high Acrobatics Rank tend to be highly agile and well-coordinated, and it reflects in their activities. Gymnasts, parkour practitioners, circus performers, and dancers would all have a high Acrobatics.
  
  Some situations where you might roll Acrobatics include keeping your balance as you shimmy across a perilous ledge, jumping across slippery stones in a river, and dodging out of the way of falling debris from a cave-in or an earthquake.
  
  
• Athletics
  Athletics is a Body Skill that represents physical training and endurance developed through sports and exercise. Characters with a high Athletics Rank tend to be very active and either spend time training their physique or have physically strenuous occupations.
  
  Some situations where you might make use of the Athletics Skill are when climbing a tree or the side of a cliff in the wilds and when trying to keep yourself afloat in the ocean during a storm.
  
  
• Combat
  Combat is a Body Skill that represents training in physical fighting and specialized battle techniques. Combat can represent formal schooling in unarmed martial arts, weapons training, or simply very good street fighting and brawling.
  
  That isn’t to say Combat has no use outside of battles. Opposed Combat Checks can be used for two characters grabbing at the same item or trying to push each other around without trying to seriously injure one another. One can also make use of the Combat Skill in martial arts performances or to break down obstacles with brute force.
  
  
• Intimidate
  Intimidate is a Body Skill that governs the use of scare tactics and coercion to force others to act in one’s favor. It is a Skill that is lacking in subtlety compared to the other socially oriented Skills, but it can often compel results from otherwise unwilling parties where the others would fail. Expect to burn bridges and make no friends this way, however.
  
  Common uses of Intimidate include scaring off wild Pokémon, bullying a guard into letting you through, and warding off potential muggers and pickpockets when walking through the shadier parts of town. Despite the often unsavory uses of the Skill, Intimidate is also often used to avoid violence and getting into a fight when it would be disadvantageous.
  
  
• Stealth
  Stealth is a Body Skill that represents a character’s ability to hide, sneak, and generally move and act undetected. Stealth is often associated with less than legal occupations, such as thieves and assassins, but characters with high Stealth Ranks could also easily act on the side of law enforcement or as field researchers studying reclusive or violent Pokémon.
  
  While the most common usage of Stealth is to move around unseen and unheard, the Skill also covers sleight of hand tricks and larceny, meaning it is tested when a character attempts to pickpocket someone or pick a lock. Acts of escape artistry and sleight of hand tricks also fall under the purview of Stealth; for example, characters may make use of the Skill to free themselves from bindings or slip out of a trap.
  
  
• Survival
  Survival is a Body Skill that governs all sorts of wilderness activities, from starting a fire, to building shelter, to making a trail through heavy brush and shrubbery. Characters with a high Survival Rank spend a lot of time outdoors. Pokémon Rangers and Trainers concerned with conservation efforts and Safari Zones tend to have high Survival Ranks.
  
  Survival can be used in almost any situation in the outdoors, whether it be navigating a snowstorm, foraging for food, or simply setting up camp for the night. It can be used to identify mushrooms that can be picked in the wild as well.
  
  
• General Education
  General Education is a Mind Skill that covers well rounded academic learning. The universal coursework covered through mandatory schooling along with a liberal arts education are most representative of the General Education Skill.
  
  Characters with a high General Education Rank tend to be masters of trivia and local or regional knowledge, though they often have specializations in more narrow fields such as literature, history, and philosophy. It’s a good idea to think about a field of expertise or two to give the Skill more personal flavor
  
  
• Medicine Education
  Medicine Education is a Mind Skill that covers the science of healing and mending. It covers a wide range of situations, from performing first aid in the field to growing organs and limbs in a lab. Characters with a high Medicine Education Rank usually spend a significant amount of time studying Pokémon and human biology alike in order to effectively treat patients of all different species.
  
  Beyond simply treating the wounds of battle, characters with training in Medicine Education are also useful when it comes to diagnosing diseases such as Pokérus or perhaps ailments stemming from malformed Evolutionary Stones and the dangerous radiation they might give off.
  
  
• Occult Education
  Occult Education is a Mind Skill that governs knowledge of all types of supernatural lore and phenomena. Characters with a high Occult Education Rank can have incredibly varied interests and areas of expertise, and this is often dependent on the specific campaign.
  
  Some situations where Occult Education might be tested include studying magical ancient ruins such as the Ruins of Alph, researching lore about long-forgotten Legendary Pokémon, or studying a strange Psychic phenomenon or malformed Aura in a location.
  
  
• Pokemon Education
  Pokémon Education is a Mind Skill that governs one’s knowledge about Pokémon. This ranges from simple practical knowledge such as the diets and caretaking needs of various species to more specialized scientific topics such as Pokémon Evolution and the biology of unusual Pokémon species.
  
  In a world where many institutions are entirely built around the use of Pokémon, it makes sense that they are the focus of much academic research. Pokémon Education is immensely useful in the field when encountering wild Pokémon, of course, and it can be used to understand their behavior patterns, needs, and their means of attack and weaknesses. Being well-versed in Pokémon Education can mean the difference between recognizing the signs of an Ursaring’s marked territory and stumbling into the cave of an angry bear.
  
  
• Technology Education
  Technology Education is a Mind Skill that governs the creation and use of machines and technology, ranging from the ubiquitous Poké Ball to computers and vehicles. Characters with a high Technology Education Rank tend to have many gadgets and can easily find their way around a factory, engineering workshop, or chemistry lab.
  
  Some situations that call for Technology Education include repairing a vehicle or piece of machinery, cracking electronic locks or hacking into computer databases, and building a custom piece of equipment such as an octopus arm backpack. The world of Pokémon also includes specialty pieces of technology such as Snag Machines and Dream Machines which would require Technology Education to maintain.
  
  
• Guile
  Guile is a Mind Skill that governs lying, manipulation, and general deception and subterfuge. Characters with a high Guile Rank think quickly on their feet and are usually clever and witty in conversation.
  
  Aside from the obvious application, Guile also covers a range of acting skills, from faking emotions to pretending to be someone else entirely. Someone armed with a high Guile Rank and a spare Team Rocket uniform could probably bluff their way into a secret hideout or learn the secrets of the criminal organization. This application of Guile goes beyond blunt deception into subtle manipulation as well, allowing a smooth talker to use carefully worded half-truths and targeted prods at a victim’s beliefs and passions to get what they want.
  
  
• Perception
  Perception is a Mind Skill that represents a character’s awareness of their environment and attention to detail. Characters with a high Perception Rank have not only honed senses but a trained mind that knows where to look for details others would normally miss.
  
  Perception is tested whenever your character is faced with a situation where they could miss a crucial detail in their surroundings. Some examples of this include finding a carefully laid trap in Team Rocket’s hideout, spotting a Stunfisk buried in the mud, and turning up bloody Pokémon fur and feathers in the corner of a crime scene.
  
  
• Charm
  Charm is a Spirit Skill that represents how persuasive a character is and how likable they can make themselves seem to others. Characters with a high Charm Rank are charismatic and warm, always knowing what to say to draw people closer to them.
  
  Making people agree with and like you obviously has many uses. Charm can get you into places that would otherwise bar you entry, help you haggle down prices, and aid in cutting beneficial deals for you and your companions. Charm is the Skill of diplomacy and forging positive and constructive relationships.
  
  
• Command
  Command is a Spirit Skill representing a character’s ability to lead and inspire. Command is about having presence and being seen and listened to. Characters with a high Command Rank can become the center of attention in a room with a few well-chosen words.
  
  Outside of Pokémon-related applications, Command has a number of uses. Command is tested when trying to disperse a riot or when directing a panicking crowd to safety in the aftermath of a Team Rocket terrorist attack. For Pokémon Rangers and other members of law enforcement, Command may be necessary to keep subordinates in line, especially rebellious elements, similar to low Loyalty Pokémon.
  
  
• Focus
  Focus is a Spirit Skill that represents a character’s ability to concentrate on difficult or complex tasks or to work under pain and stress. It can be thought of as analogous to willpower, and characters with a high Focus Rank are often intensely driven and ambitious, or at the least unshakable once they’ve dedicated themselves to a task.
  
  The most common uses of Focus come into play when it’s rolled alongside a use of another Skill to test how well you can concentrate on the other task. For example, it may be a Stealth Check to pick a lock, but if a character was suffering from the painful venomous bite of a Seviper on their hand, they might also need to test Focus to keep steady and concentrated on the task. A complicated maneuver such as jumping into the air, throwing a knife to hit a specific target, then teleporting to a platform mid-air and pulling a lever at an exact timing when landing would also call for a Focus Check in addition to the Acrobatics Check that would be invoked.
  
  
• Intuition
  Intuition is a Spirit Skill that represents one’s reliability when making decisions from the gut or gaining insights into a situation through instinct. Intuition can often be thought of as encompassing common sense, and characters with a high Intuition Rank will often find themselves making the right decision on a hunch without necessarily understanding why.
  
  In addition, Intuition governs empathy and reading emotions, the interpretation of body language, and other unspoken social cues. Intuition is tested when attempting to discern someone’s emotional state or tell whether or not they are lying or being deceitful. This makes Intuition crucial for Trainers with aspirations of joining law enforcement or getting involved in politics.