Marsh's GM Sanctum 2


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Secret Styles

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A Secret Style is a style that is only partially playtested and may be unbalanced or kinda wonky. A player may use one of these for one of their Pokemon's Moves by 1.) finding this page and 2.) receiving GM permission.

 

Cowering

The User chooses an Ally in the same Arena. All attacks that would Target the User instead attack that Ally until the end of their next turn.

[Status] - All attacks that would Target the User instead attack the chosen Ally until they are no longer in the same Arena.

Punishing

Deals 1 extra point of Stamina Damage for each Boosted point in the Target's Stats.

Pilfering

The User may grab an item the Target is holding as a part of this Move.

Focus

The next Move the User uses is treated as if the attacking Stat was at +2.

[Status] -The next Move the User uses is treated as if the attacking Stat was at +4. 

Random

The User chooses one aspect of this Move (Category,Type, or Style). The other two are randomly rolled.

Ex. The User uses a Random Move and Chooses it to be the Fire Type. The Category is rolled as Special and the Style is rolled as Trapping. The User uses "Fire Spin".

Hazardous

 The User's current Arena becomes Hazardous until the end of their next turn, dealing 1 point of Stamina Damage to Pokemon that enter it. The Move may also have a Type selected when this Style is chosen. Pokemon of that Type, or who Resist Damage of that Type, take no damage. Pokemon who are Weak to that Type take 2 Damage.

[Status] - The Arena remains Hazardous until the User leaves that Arena. 

Sapping

The Target is considered Sapped, and takes 1 Stamina Damage at the start of their turn for their next three turns. A Pokemon may only be affected by one Sapping Move at a time, additional uses will only reset the length of time the status persists on the Target.

[Status] - The Target is instead Badly Sapped (which supercedes, and does not stack with, the Sapped status), and takes 2 Stamina Damage at the start of their turn for their next three turns.

Regenerating

The User is considered Regenerating, and recovers 1 Stamina at the the start of their turn for their next three turns. A Pokemon may only be affected by one Regenerating Move at a time, additional uses will only resent the length of time the Status persists on the User.

[Status] - The User is instead Strongly Regenerating (which supercedes, and does not stack with, the Regenerating status), and recovers 2 Stamina Damage at the start of their turn for their next three turns.

Copying Style

Adds the last Move used by the target to the user's Movelist for the duration of the battle.

[Status] - Adds the Moves in the target's current Movelist to the User's for the duration of the battle.

 

 

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Secret Abilities

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These abilities are probably not balanced at all. Oh well!

 

Ancient Power - This Pokemon knows all possible Rock and Psychic Moves.

Contrary - When this Pokemon has damaged stats, calculate the effect as though they were instead boosted an equal amount. ie. If their Defense is at -2, calculate Physical damage as though it was at +2. If their HP is at -1, give them +2 Max Stamina as though their HP was at +1.

Lone Wolf - When this Pokemon has no allies in the same Arena, decrease all Stamina Damage they take by 1.

Oddball - When this Pokemon would take an even amount of Stamina Damage, decrease it by 1. When this Pokemon would deal an even amount of Stamina Damage, increase it by 1.

Retaliation - When an ally of this Pokemon faints, this Pokemon immediately benefits from the Focus Style on their next turn (Their next attack is performed as though the primary stat was +4). This Pokemon does not need to be active to gain this benefit.

UncontrollableAny time this Pokemon is given orders, the Trainer must spend 1 Voltage or Network Token, or their instructions are ignored/creatively interpreted. Trainer Exp cannot be spent on this Pokemon.

 

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Signature Moves

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A Signature Move is a special, powerful Move that is roughly on par with a Pokemon Ability (in that it grants something similar to the effect of two turns in only one turn). This rule is highly experimental and should be approached with caution until further notice.

 

A Pokemon may learn a Signature Move for 5 Exp. In its most basic form, a Signature Move is a rare Move that combines a Category and Type with two different Styles. A GM intending to use these should strongly consider a limiting factor like requiring a trainer to spend a Voltage token in order to activate the Move, as well as perhaps only allowing a Pokemon to have learned a single Signature Move at one time.

 

Signature Moves, instead of using two Styles, may instead incorporate a single custom Style that is particularly strong in its effect. I'll work on coming up with some of these whenever they become relevant, I guess.

 

EXAMPLES

Spore [Status/Grass/Harass (Sp) & Harass (HP)]

This Signature Move costs 1 Voltage to activate. Releasing soporative spores, the User deeply hampers an opponent's ability to keep fighting.

 

Fire Blast [Special/Fire/Powerful & Finisher]

This Signature Move costs 1 Voltage to activate. The User creates a devastating blast of flame, simultaneously blowing the target away and tearing through their crippled defenses.

 

Volt Tackle [Physical/Electric/Mobile & Boosting (At)]

This Signature Move costs 1 Voltage to activate. The User charges at, or past, its opponent at high speed, charging itself with static electricity as it delivers a painful jolt.

 

 

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Alternate Rule: Wild Pokemon Stun

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While Trained Pokemon will fight until they faint at 0 Stamina, a Wild Pokemon reduced to 0 Stamina instead enters a Stunned state at the start of its next turn.

 

While Stunned, a Wild Pokemon cannot act, but may be captured in a Pokeball by a Trainer using a Trainer action or caused to faint by being targeted by any damaging Move. If the Pokemon remains conscious and uncaptured until the start of its next turn, it then runs away (unless prevented by being Trapped, which forces the Stun status to continue).

 

The purpose of this alternate rule is to provide three possible advantages. The first is that rather than automatically being able to capture a fainted Pokemon, a player must decide to give up an action in order to capture them, which can help tone down groups or players that are too aggressive about capturing everything they meet. The second is that it allows players to anticipate and perform a cinematic, evocative finish as part of their Pokemon's Move. This is particularly good for PbPs where writing a cool action helps keep things lively. The final is that it offers an easy way to drive off Wild Pokemon you don't intend to capture: you can simply Stun them and then allow them to retreat on their next turn.

 

These rules can easily be tweaked further for the needs of the group. If you don't want to interrupt the order economy (as can be crucial in maintaining momentum in a PbP), you may allow Trainers to capture Stunned Pokemon without an action. Similarly you may let anyone perform a "Cinematic Faint" on Stunned Pokemon without having to use up an action (though perhaps whoever Stunned them deserves first dibs).

 

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Alternate Rule: Capture Resistance

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When a trainer attempts to capture a Pokemon, they bid a maximum Voltage amount they would pay in order to capture their target. If that amount is lower than the Pokemon's Capture Resistance, no Voltage is spent and that Pokemon manages to break their way out of the Pokeball (and continue fighting, escape, etc), but if it is equal or greater, that voltage is spent and they have successfully captured the Pokemon.

 

A Pokemon's Capture Resistance may be based on many variables in order to provide challenge and suspense to the act of capturing it. Here's some potential methods of calculating it that I came up with in fifteen minutes or so.

 

A Pokemon has a Base Capture Resistance equal to however difficult the GM wants to make them to catch, which can be reduced by -1 for each 20% of max Stamina damage they are currently suffering, by -1 if they are currently Trapped or Locked, and by -1 for each stat of theirs that has taken at least 2 damage, or by -2 if the stat has taken at least 4 damage.

 

From this, the easiest way to reduce a Pokemon's Capture resistance is to deal Stamina damage to get them below 20% Stamina, which removes 5 from their Capture Resistance. The next best method is lowering their Stats with Harassing Style Moves which can lower it by up to 12 (though this would take quite a while and require many different Moves to accomplish). Another method might be to acquire special Pokeballs which offer a bonus (+1-5) to Capture Bids generally, or against specific Pokemon.

 

Base Capture Resistance

 0 - 5       Easy to catch by attacking once or twice before throwing a Pokeball. Ex: Rattata, Pidgey

 5 - 10     Lowered Stamina and a few Harassing Moves should do the trick. Ex: Pikachu, Mankey

10 - 15    Requires some work and planning, or a lot of Voltage to pull off Ex: Snorlax, Aerodactyl

15 - 20    Minimum Stamina, lots of Stat Damage, probably a rare Pokeball needed too Ex: Dragonite, Zapdos

   20+      Oh hi, Mewtwo.

 

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