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Every once and a while, there’s just something we have to tell everyone. We have to say that “THIS IS THE BEST FUCKING THING EVER.” Yes, it’s hyperbolic, but sometimes you just want to gush about how much you love something. Nerds love to talk about what they’re into. This is how I indulge that impulse. Welcome to Best Fucking Thing Ever, a regular segment where I talk about something that’s awesome, regardless of its flaws.
Today’s Topic: POKEMON TABLETOP ROLE-PLAYING GAMES.
Unlike the last Best Fucking Thing Ever, Pokemon Tabletop RPGs aren’t a product you can download or buy. Instead it’s one way to play within the tabletop RPG genre, a set of pencil and paper and imagination games made famous by Dungeons and Dragons, the oft-referenced nerd-mainstay published by Wizards of the Coast. D&D is the bread and butter for the tabletop genre, and even after four editions, it’s still played by both veteran RPer’s and novices alike. But while D&D is the Kleenex/QTip/Google of the tabletop RPG genre, it is only one of many games, including titles like Exalted, Savage Worlds, Call of Cthulhu, and Mutants and Masterminds. Some of these pen-and-paper games also use the “d20 system” employed by D&D, but others have their own rules and statistics that govern combat, social interaction, and much more. Those who wish to eschew standardized methods entirely can play “homebrew” games; homebrew being the official term for “made up by uber-nerds in their own home.” Since Pokemon is a licensed product and no Pokemon tabletop campaigns have ever been released (apparently they’re allergic to more money), any Pokemon RPG would have to be homebrew (one system for this is published online; it’s the closest thing you can get to “standard”). My Pokemon tabletop campaign is a homebrew system that my game-playing friends and I maintain.
So why would you be interested in starting your own Pokemon Tabletop campaign, especially when you would almost certainly be required to make up the system that supports it as well? LET ME TELL YOU.
Pokemon Can Be Serious: This was our motivation to start our Pokemon campaign. My friends and I are huge fans of the Pokemon franchise, particularly the incredibly addictive video games. But they are kids’ games. Certainly, a hardcore element can found within Pokemon’s gameplay (EVs and whatnot), but the central elements of the story are light-hearted, colorful, and inherently childish. This atmosphere can put a damper on the enthusiasm of older gamers who enjoyed that kiddy nature while playing the first generation of games, but are now looking for more adult themes. A Pokemon tabletop can get dark. We established early on that Pokemon are creatures to be feared and loved equally. Unlike the cute critters from the games, they could be savage and cruel, ripping apart Trainers and other Pokemon as real animals would. They are powerful and dangerous and can kill. Nor are the evils in the tabletop universe as simple and straightforward as Teams Rocket through Plasma. Our villains were the heads of an insidious and despicable corporation with an egomaniacal leader that aspired to become a god by controlling Legendaries. He and his underlings were scary because they constantly were trying to kill us or put the world in thrall. No Pokemon villains have ever been so ominous because the non-serious setting would not allow it.
Pokemon Can Finally Have a Real Story: A serious take on the universe means that, in a tabletop setting, Pokemon can have an actual story. Look, I was as impressed as anyone that Pokemon asked some serious questions in Generation V (Black and White). Things like “Why are these children allowed to go on dangerous life journeys instead of going to school?” or “Has anyone considered that we enslave these intelligent creatures?” Unfortunately, those are fairly superficial questions (in the context of Pokemon) and neither were really answered. Still, it was an impressive step in the right direction. Playing a Pokemon tabletop RPG means you can go into greater thematic depth, have more mature content, and create deeper connections. In our game, I am incredibly (read: embarrassingly) invested in the lives of my Pokemon companions. I’m so entranced by their compelling personalities that I (almost) love them like my real friends. And then there’s my party of Trainer-friends, with whom my character has varying relationships, from antagonistic to compassionate (no ‘ships though). We also confronted personal rivals throughout the story, interactions with whom were incredibly fun (occasionally chilling). Our tabletop setting allows us to explore questions about sensitive subjects of the Pokemon world, like government, religion, and corporate control. Finally, these connections and questions are explored through the plot itself: the tale of our group of Trainers combating the manic whims of a PokeGod-dominating sociopath while he attempted to enslave the planet. The ins and outs and twists and turns were brilliant and haunting, and that was only the first campaign. We’ve just started our second and our game-master is already constructing the foundations of a new epic. You just can’t get this quality of narrative within the Pokemon video games.
Pokemon Can Be As Badass As You Want: When your Pokemon and their strengths are completely under your homebrew control, the potential AWESOME-factor of Pokemon skyrockets. Yes, there’s already a structure for moves and abilities within the Pokemon framework, but the beauty of a homebrew system is that that framework can be augmented. Our tabletop variation endows Pokemon with Skills, Feats, and Signature Feats in addition to their standard capabilities (we also altered how many moves can be possessed at once; four is not enough). These additional abilities don’t just improve Pokemons’ strengths on the battlefield, but also their potency out of combat. A Psychic Pokemon can read a guard’s mind, then teleport out of his range of vision. A Ghost Pokemon can float through walls and subvert enemy strategies through possession. Grass Pokemon can grow vines and branches to restrict their foes and cross formerly impassible terrain. The list goes on and on. The true power of Pokemon is never really explored in the games and show, mostly because, again, they are geared towards children. The kind of might that is described in the game’s Pokedex is generally ignored (Gardevoir doesn’t create black holes, for example). Within your own Pokemon settings, you could have a Litwick that steals souls, an Alakazam that outsmarts a nation, an Articuno that begins its own Ice Age. IT’S SO COOL.
Pokemon Can Be Challenging: With so much herculean might and dynamic potential in your new Pokemon world, there are suddenly as many options for strife and adversity as exultation and triumph. You have so much power at your disposal, but so do your enemies. And they have far less humanity than Giovanni, Ghetesis, and their ilk. But that’s just within the confines of the plot. Your homebrew changes can make the game far more complex than the standard one-vs-one of the Pokemon series or even the turn-based strategy of the recent Pokemon Conquest. Our system introduces a Strategy-RPG-style map, stat-related combat bonuses, Trainer moves, and large team Pokemon battles. Thus, you can face overwhelming odds with myriad types and moves arrayed against you. You might be super effective against one opponent, but another nearby could destroy you in the blink of an eye. Pokemon might fight on one side of the battlefield while their Trainers engaged in hand-to-hand combat on the other. And that’s just with our system – you can create literally anything; whatever makes the experience the most rewarding and challenging for your group.
There’s So Much World to Explore: With the world of Pokemon constantly expanding, there’s no reason why your game couldn’t expand it as well. There are only five provinces in the current canon, but you can add whole continents to your universe. Perhaps you want to install governments and factions where there had been none before. Maybe you want humans who share powers with Pokemon or possess abilities unheard of in the current universe. Our group has created new Pokemon, a new Type (Light), and new attacks. The Pokemon series’ classic narrative deficit and lack of world definition simply means that your imagination can be used to fill those gaps, often with effects that can surprise their makers. Nothing is off limits; the only barrier is your creativity. At the same time, the Pokemon universe is filled with such relatable creatures, iconic locations, and compelling organizations (read: only the Pokemon League), that they too can be deeply explored. Mt. Moon’s significance can be examined or the team can focus on the time-bending talents of Dialga. Everything about the world is variable, and the variables are in your hands.
The Video Game Will Never Be the Same: If you begin to change the world of Pokemon outside the video game, it’ll change in the video game as well. Because of our campaign, I’ll always have a character name for my in-game avatar. I name all of my Pokemon now, an exercise I couldn’t be bothered with before we started our tabletop. There are even certain Pokemon I’ll try to have on my in-game team because my character in the tabletop travels and fights with them. It’s just… not them same anymore. I’m more invested in it. I really enjoy it. It’s wonderful.
There you have it. A completely different way to appreciate one of your favorite series. Give it a try sometime. I guarantee it’ll be the best fucking thing ever.
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You can read this post and many more at the N3rd Dimension.
