Getting Started

Getting Started
Fleshing out a world to play Pokémon Tabletop United can be trickier than it seems. It’s our philosophy that we should share our opinions and experiences with various types of options rather than prescribe a specific form of setting, so instead of telling you how it’s all gonna go down, we’ve readied a list of questions for you to think about when designing your setting. Thinking about the answers to all of these questions should give you a very firm grasp about your setting, and clarifying these questions early with your players makes sure both you and your players have the same sort of expectations about the campaign. So here we go!

The Type of Campaign
What’s the emphasis of the campaign? Is it a standard “To be a Master” campaign where the party travels from town to town, collecting badges? Are you going to be fighting villainous teams? Is the campaign set in a nonstandard setting? Make sure to be very clear about this with your players! Don’t be afraid to do something a bit whacky. Here’s a small sample of some of the campaign premises for PTA and PTU we’ve witnessed over the past few years:

»» Wild West Mons: a campaign following a group of travelers as they leave from Missouri and head out into the wild wild west.

»» Turf Wars: set in a post-apocalyptic region, a group of Pokémon Trainers fights against gangs for dominance of a ruined city.

»» Trainer Academy: Set in a high school for Trainers, this campaign detailed their adventures as they explored the school and battled a villainous team.

»» Rocket Game: In this game the PCs WERE the villainous team! As members of Team Rocket, they had to work together to pull off increasingly dangerous and ridiculous crimes.

»» Pokétrian Odyssey: Inspired by the Etrian Odyssey games, a Guild of Trainers explores various dungeons and natural locations while battling powerful corrupted Pokémon and attempting to find the source of an ancient evil.

»» Monster Hunters: Inspired by the Monster Hunter games, trainers would team up to take out giant monsters that became threats throughout a region.

As you can see, taking pretty much any other premise and adding Pokémon seems to be one approach. Don’t be afraid to try silly things, especially if you’re getting tired of “vanilla” games! Be sure to check out the extra sourcebooks packaged with this book if you’re looking for inspiration to run nontraditional Pokémon campaigns or if you want to add some exotic elements to spice up your campaign!

Questions To Guide Your World
Is there a Pokémon League?

If so, what’s the role of the Pokémon League in your setting? Is it at all related to the government, or completely separate? What are the duties of Gym Leaders in your setting? How are the League and championship structured? Are there “Elite Four” or similar groups? What’s their role? What about advanced content; Frontier Brains or similar? If there ISN’T a Pokémon League, is there another activity that serves to give players milestones? Trainer Academy had class exams; Pokétrian gave milestones for defeating bosses.

Whatever your setting, it’s good to have goals that can be met and rewarded appropriately periodically.

What’s the Technology Level?

What are the implications of this? What items are and aren’t readily available? If modern technology isn’t available, are Poké Balls available somehow? Are only Apricorn Balls Available? Are no balls available? How are you going to handle TMs? What about Move Tutors and other NPC services?

Combat Emphasis?

Is “Trainer Combat” a big part of your campaign; or does it focus on Pokémon-only Combat? Both? How readily available are weapons? Will carrying a sword down the street quickly get law enforcement called, or does no one bat an eye at teenagers carrying guns and swords?

Supernatural Phenomena?

Are Trainers with supernatural powers common? Are Legendary Pokémon merely rare species, or are they actual divinity? Will magic and powerful artifacts feature in the campaign, or are Pokémon the extent of the fantastical elements? You may make decisions about what Trainer Classes you’ll allow based on your answer to this question and the previous one.

Optional Rules?

Are you going to employ any optional rules in your campaign? Make sure to clarify this one with players Be sure to check out the extra sourcebooks packaged with this book if you’re looking for inspiration to run nontraditional Pokémon campaigns or if you want to add some exotic elements to spice up your campaign!