I need some help, folks. I’m currently working on a PbtA Pokemon game with a trainer-centric focus (the pokemon are a mix of weapon tags and GM moves). I’m trying to find a good way to do Hx/Bonds/etc., but I can’t find a satisfactory way to do it. I think part of the problem is the player dynamic: you command pokemon, having them do things using your stats. So aiding/interfering seems odd, but I feel like it’s important to have inter-player connections, ya know?
Any suggestions?
It should have something to do with being on a team. Hm. Maybe call it Loyalty, and ask what you did to help that person in a pinch? Then use that to pull similar help in the future?
I like it! So a bit like Debts in Urban Shadows or (I think) like Strings in Monsterhearts, but more positively-bent?
Both of us take +1 forward when I help ______ _________.
Both of us take +1 forward when I help Jenni find something lost.
Both of us take +1 forward when I help Roger acquire food.
Both of us take +1 forward when I help Katashi do something romantic.
What does this represent in the fiction? I think that’s the best way to approach this problem. A few times I’ve tried to shoehorn in mechanics simply because the game I was hacking had them. I’m not saying that’s what you’re doing here, but it might be worth taking a step back and examining what you want the mechanic to accomplish fictionally.
Marshall Miller that’s an interesting way to go about it. Would you couple that with a line giving some history between the two PCs?
Christopher Stone-Bush It’s mostly about making connections between characters and making the group feel like a team. It just feels a bit odd, because a huge part of the source material (the video games) focus on a single protagonist, while the other major part (the anime) has a group dynamic. I definitely would like the aid/interfere to remain, though, because it adds a neat dynamic to player interaction.
Rivalry and teamwork sound like the way to go.
Ooh, I like the idea of a dual resource, with one for interfering and one for aiding. Thanks Phillip Wessels!
Why not mash together the suggestions by Marshall Miller and Phillip Wessels? Each PC could have a few “fill-in-the-blank” statements split between Teamwork and Rivalries.
Ok, so here’s what I have:
Each trainer has two types of Bonds. One deals with Loyalty, or positive connections, while the other deals with Rivalry, or antagonistic connections.
As an example, here’s a few bonds from the Ace Trainer (the Ash Ketchum-ish one):
* ____ taught me a lot about training pokemon. Give them 2 Loyalty.
* You and ____ are constantly testing each other. You each give 1 Rivalry to each other.
* I first met ____ when I saved them from a really dangerous pokemon. Take 1 Loyalty or Rivalry from them, ask them which.
Giovanni Lanza I was thinking that, if both people got a bonus (maybe it’s XP at the session end like in DW) when one helped the other, it would become a schtick. Roger would look for opportunities to procure food so Jenni could help and they’d both benefit and the GM could incorporate food into a situation to bait Roger or get Jenni to position Roger toward the food. So yeah, character, relationship, reincorporation.
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Ah, a Pokemon hack, have to say it was one of my first thoughts when it comes to hacking Apocalypse World, as well. Never did spend much time on it, or figure it out, so I look forward to seeing where this goes.
As for your question, I imagine that a big part is playing children, and how their relationships work. Which lends itself to all sorts of concepts.
A few arbitrary things that come to mind:
There’s nothing wrong with having nothing, and instead simply having Hx questions as part of character generation, but no stat. For example, SCUP has help/interfere simply roll + the most relevant stat in the situation.
The idea of having a friendship/rivalry mechanic makes me think of Souls of Steel, which I don’t know very well, but you might want to ask Dana Fried about the concept.
Curious if this went anywhere? Saw a Necromancer class for Dungeon World and thought “I see a Pokemon trainer in this”. So my first step was seeing if it had been done before.
Any luck?