whitekeys

Your special effect is not defined in your original post, but it sounds like some kind of psionic/mind control ability, or something fear based. Having a mental/psychological aspect to this power can be a special effect of PRE. I would suggest purchasing high PRE, possibly with some limitations, and have the vampire PRE Attack people into not wanting to attack her. You can apply any special effect you desire to this. It covers Constant and AoE without any extra rules or advantages. Then you can combine this with Striking Appearance and other Defensive powers with the same special effect to bolster the power. 

However, it should be noted that PRE Attacks and other PRE-based skills should not be used on PCs, as per the suggestion in the rules. If this character is supposed to be a nemesis to the PCs, it might be frustrating for them. If this is a character you're playing, keep going! It's totally awesome.

Cantriped is correct in that I'm referencing many sources to create a HERO conversion of Pokemon.

But that being said, the idea that Ditto can only transform into the enemy it's battling is a too-restrictive version of Ditto's transform ability. It's known in the anime, and from other sources as well, that Ditto can transform into any form. It has the ability to transform from memory, though this process is "inaccurate". I read somewhere on Bulbapedia that Ditto transforms into a rock while sleeping for protection. After all, there may very well be a circumstance in a RPG campaign where a Ditto is battling more than one opponent. Which one to transform into?

That was the trouble with buying the number of forms, or some kind of "floating" multiform. Or maybe a Linked Shapeshift? And also the idea behind utilizing "requires a roll" in some circumstances, at least. Or basing the transform on some kind of other Roll, like Perception, or Analyze. 

Whitekeys, sorry about the wall of text, I'm in China and most of my days are spent speaking Chinese. I sometimes forget that just because I have the chance to use my mother tongue, doesn't mean I have to keep doing so ad infinitum!

It's cool, theDarkness! I just went to bed because it's late here and I'm tired, yo. But now it is morning!

It's a special effect, to me. For example, perhaps your incantation is a whispered phrase of an ancient language. Despite being whispered, though, it still carries on the wind to the ears of [who ever the GM decides needs to hear it], like the target or the surrounding folk. If what I say here is true, then it's a poorly worded rule in the book, to describe it as loud and therefore audible at a distance. You make excellent points about the cost relative to the special effect.

I'm not saying it is, I'm saying I have a hard time believing Steve is forcing that kind of a special effect onto the limitation.

Is it true that Gestures and Incantations were, in large part, put into the book on the influence of wizardry from other genres? If so, perhaps it needs to be updated in future editions to be more clearly defined for other genres. 

I agree, in many cases, the power shouldn't be rendered useless. BUT, unless one is in a game where memorization of spells has a substantial role, and even then, once they are memorized, this has no limiting effect, whereas being heard and seen as conspicuous and a potential unknown threat in combat will always be a big deal that should be worth points.

 

So, if the limitation in that sense is bypassed, it is not my argument that this should not be allowed, but that the limitation should be worth less in that case, just as any limitation that will often not apply to the power should be worth less.

 

For example, if two spell casters have a similar spell, one in which the spell must be audible, one in which it merely must be spoken, and both have a silence field, the first character should get a greater cost benefit from the incantation limitation. The question is, does the limitation's benefit in RAW represent the first spellcaster, or the second. If the first, then the second should not get the full value of the limitation, if the second, then he or she should get more than the RAW value.

Memorization may not be an issue in most campaigns, but it provides something to be attacked, just like a Focus or a power that is Restrainable provides a target for enemies attacks. Gagging, Draining someone's INT, or using mental attacks to slur someone's speech, and the list goes on. Or is it just a special effect? Fire powers don't work underwater, but there's no limitation value for that. Hmm....

The context is important. If you were in a campaign setting where everyone was deaf, or where ubiquitous aliens didn't have a sense of hearing, then it probably wouldn't be worth a limitation. But generally, with Darkness, sound-proof rooms, etc., we're talking about certain circumstances. The GM would have to decide how unbalancing any of these combinations of powers and limitations would be. If your main superpower is invisibility, it might not work to have Gestures put on all your other powers, regardless of how you define Gestures. But maybe you're only invisible once in a while when you happen upon a potion. Then I wouldn't see any reason to render other Gestures powers useless... it would have the reverse effect of nullifying any benefit of Invisibility for your character.

But I think the topic from earlier was whether or not people, or the target specifically, or anything at all, needed to hear you, or be cognizant of your speech, in order for Incantation powers to WORK (not be worth a limitation).

Interesting point re Gestures & Incantations. I've always played it that silence blocks Incantations but Darkness/Invisibility doesn't block Gestures. But to be honest I'm not sure I ever thought about it too deeply. Partly that's based on how those tropes are usually played in genre. To me, the key point for Gestures is that you have to use your hands, which means you can't use them for something else. While the rules do specify "clearly visible at a distance" I always interpreted that as referring to the size & nature of the Gestures, rather than referring to the target's perception of them.

 

Incantations seem to be more about not just being able to speak, but about others being able to hear you, but I don't know if I can defend that position mechanically. It can depend on sfx tho: in some works (Dresden Files comes to mind) the spoken component is more about helping to focus the caster's thoughts, which implies it doesn't matter if anyone else can hear it or not. But in other works, the words are actually invoking supernatural powers, calling on demons and so forth, which would imply that if the demons can't hear you, they can't respond. And of course some sfx require/imply that the words are spoken for the target's ears, like non-telepathic Mind Control, which would obviously be blocked by silence, or even Flashed Hearing.

That interpretation (of Gestures), while I see your point, feels to me like Steve is forcing a kind of special effect onto us. I mean... are the only Gestures available to me waving my arms in large motions? Harry Potter's wand flicks are pretty small... And any of those powers (actual examples are escaping me now) where you gather a ball of energy in front of your chest, and then direct it... seems like a reasonable Gesture. And like you said... you need to have use of your hands and arms, so if you can't encircle your hands around that ball of power, you don't get to use the power. I feel like Steve just wanted to encourage us to make a specific movement that related the use of the power, so that we didn't think any ol' motion would do - like pulling the trigger on a gun. And SPECIFIC motion, too, to keep it a separate limitation from Restrainable.

Good points about Incantations. ...Always with the special effects...

EDIT: And speaking of Restainable, it's even more so an argument for my position, being that there are no similar Limitations to Incantations that you could suggest someone take instead if they didn't want to shout. I could see someone about to say "..all those examples should be Restainable" but what are you going to say about Incantations? It's the only speaking related limitation.

Actually, I will say, for incantations, the value for the disadvantage is that people will hear you and it will take time. But the fact that people will hear you is the larger value, even if(possibly especially if) the duration of the incantation is long.

I think I might be saying that the essence of the Incantations limitation is that you need to have the use of your voice and the ability to form words, the capability of remembering the specific incantation of the power, and other things required for that process. Additionally, people will hear you, the power will become more obvious, etc., as a result of using a power with Incantations. However, just because those latter two are negated for whatever reason, does not render the power useless or not able to be activated. Only negating the former requirements would render the power useless or not able to be activated.

Actually, come to think of it, the science of sound here might give us some clues. Sound can be described as "pressure variations", or waves, travelling through a substance, usually gas or liquid, which are interpreted by the nerves in the cochlea. How do we envision 

It would depend on the special effect of the Invisibility power. Are you in a person-sized sound-dampening field? Or does your body gel and mold over each surfaces it touches, ensuring no pressure changes are produced? Do you emanate some kind of pressure-stabilizing force, somewhat like how a black hole sucks back light? Or do you mentally suppress the ability to hear certain frequencies and oscillations in the ears of people around you? Then it would be up to the GM to decide, based on common sense, dramatic sense, and game balance, whether that falling wrench made a noise or not. 

Correct. 6e1, 381

I have to disagree. The write up on Gestures says something similar, that characters must make "out of the ordinary" movements. I felt that Steve wanted people to know that the Gestures had to be something specific and relevant to the power, portraying that the power is being used. For example, pulling the trigger on a gun does not warrant the Gestures limitation, but if it was a large Steampunk electro-shocker that required continual cranking, it would have Focus and Gestures (requires both hands, gestures throughout.) If you were prevented from making cranking motions, it would render the power useless. If you roll really good on Stealth, and no one can see you, can you use Gestures to activate powers?

Similarly for Incantations. It's not necessarily about the loudness or the audibility of the Incantations, it's simply that you have to say something specific and obvious for the power to work. Gandalf whispers to butterfly to Summon the Eagles. If we was prevented from speaking that specific thing, through a gag, or my magical muting, the power would not have worked. If you're Invisible to Hearing, you still get to say things, loudly or not, it's just that other people can't hear them. If you're in a soundproof room and no one can hear you, can you not use Incantations to activate powers? 

IT's the same effect, is it not? It's not whether or not you are being heard, but that you are making the sounds.

EDIT: I mean, I don't disagree with Steve's rules, I'm just giving another interpretation, despite how clear it might seem to others. It's the "spirit" of the rules.

I have been having trouble, lately, deciding whether to use Linked or Unified for certain powers - ones which require, as a result of their special effect, two power effects simultaneously. Can you clarify how they should be used? Examples below:

1. An attack power that does damage upfront (like a Blast 5d6) and has a percent chance to inflict a 'status condition' (like Flinched, say, as a Drain DCV). Is the Drain Linked to the Blast, because the effect of the Drain can only occur at the point of successful Blast attack (regardless of how you determine the "percent chance")?

2. An attack power that does damage over time (like a Blast 1d6+1, Damage Over Time), the amount of damage inflicted then heals the attacker (Healing, Uncontrolled?; Level Dependent on Damage Done by Blast?). Is the Healing Linked to the Blast, Unified with the Blast, or could there be some other Conditional Limitation Only Works Near Target Affected By [blast, Damage Over Time] after making the base Healing power Constant? Would it still need to be Linked, in addition?

3. A piece of equipment: the PokeBall, which the forums recently agreed would be built as (a pretty probably-not-legal-and-complicated) Entangle with Backlash plus Extra Dimensional Movement, UAA*. Is it a Compound Power because it's a piece of equipment? Or are the powers Linked/Unified, regardless of the Focus limitation?

*To clarify this power, the Extra Dimensional Movement transports the target into, what is essentially, an extra dimensional Entangle. If the target can break out of the Entangle, they are freed from the Extra Dimension and placed back in their Dimension of origin. If they cannot, as a result of Backlash, they are trapped in the Extra Dimension.

Thanks

Damage Over Time is a great idea. 

I'm not attempting to replicate each aspect of how the attack works in the Pokemon video game. That's why I said "Other details are irrelevant." In fact, I should have left out 1/16 of the HP, because that's also not what I wanted to do. I have no problem buying d6's of damage for any damage the Leech Seed attack would do in a HERO Power. I simply wanted to build an attack power that healed the attacker at equal proportions to the damage dealt over time. 

One of my problems is that I'm not quite sure the difference between Unified and Linked, or what are the best ways to get two different effects to occur at the same time. I always hear about Linked. I'm not surprised it was the first suggestion. I rarely hear anything about Unified, though. 

Comin' at you with more Pokemon stuff. If it gets annoying, let me know

How would you build Leech Seed?

Leech seed, a damaging grass-type attack, is an attack that plants a seed in the opponent pokemon, and each turn drains 1/16 of the Pokemon's health. The HP drained is then absorbed by the attacking pokemon, to heal it. Other details are not necessarily relevant.

This seems to me to be a Unified Drain and Heal. However, the Drain is technically temporary, right? I had been modelling a lot of the Drain-based powers (Status moves, in the video game) with a Delayed Return Rate (Lasts until the end of battel; +1). Blast is perhaps more appropriate (STUN only campaign).

Absorption seems the most appropriate for "absorbing" things, but it requires damage to be dealt to the seeder, not damage being dealt to the seedee.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

That episode sounds familiar, but it has literally been more than a decade since I watched the show. I mostly played the games (Up through leaf green, and then later a fair bit of PokeMMO). I would avoid having pokemon be legally edible given the nature of your campaign; it's just all kinds of macabre.

lol, true. I wonder what chocolate covered Caterpie tastes like? Ryhorn, an aphrodisiac?

The way this power is built is partially dependent on how we understand the power to work in the video game, or the anime, but I wanted to get some feedback.

So, as you probably know, Ditto has the ability to Transform into other kinds of pokemon. Here are some of my questions and ideas:

1. I'm doing multiform. I think that's the best, but other votes for Transform?

2. Would you pay the 5 CP to double the number of Forms up to approximately the current number of Pokemon in the game (x512, 45 Points), or would you pay a flat rate for a "floating" form, or would you pay for some kind of Analyze/Detect upon which the Transform depended?

3. To keep the price reasonable and game balance, I restricted the CPs in the most expensive form to the Total Points in the Ditto itself, so that it's not actually able to become more powerful than it is already. It just copies the abilities and stats of the opponent, assuming they're roughly equivalent. Otherwise, you'd have to pay the upfront cost of transforming into Mewtwo, Regigas, etc. With Limitations put on the Transform, the Ditto should never "fall behind", so to speak, because otherwise every Experience Point you received would have to be put into the Transform power to keep up.

Here's the current power: 

14 Transform: Multiform (75 Character Points in the most expensive form) (x512 Number Of Forms), Reversion (+0), Must Be Used At Full Power (-0) (59 Active Points); 4 Recoverable Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances; Healing at PokeCenter required for Recovery; -1 1/4), Costs Endurance (To Stay In Form; -1), Lockout (-1/2), Requires A Power Skill Roll (Analyze: Pokemon Skill roll; -1/2) 6

4. Limitation:

(a) Not sure if Must Be Used at Full Power is a legit Limitation, but it seems to make sense, since I envision it only fully transforming into another pokemon, and not doing half and half.

( 4 Charges was just a guess at the PP of the ability (or representing Ditto's fatigue before needing rest at the PokeCenter).

© Costs endurance to Stay In Form - cost saver, not necessary

(d) Lockout - to prevent it from using any other attack it might have learned as Ditto.

5. Requires a roll... I thought, to keep it balanced when coming up against more powerful pokemon, that Ditto would have to roll some kind of Analyze Skill Roll first, to examine the pokemon, and possibly take more time to figure out its abilities, etc. But, I also thought it should require an Activation Roll for the power itself, back before I had reduced the CP in the most expensive form to 75, rather than 500. Another way of putting it might be like this:

30 Transform: Multiform (500 Character Points in the most expensive form) (x512 Number Of Forms), Reversion (+0), Must Be Used At Full Power (-0) (145 Active Points); 4 Recoverable Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances; Healing at PokeCenter required for Recovery; -1 1/4), Requires A Power Skill Roll (Skill roll, -1 per 5 Active Point difference in forms modifier; -1), Costs Endurance (To Stay In Form; -1), Lockout (-1/2) 14

So, if attempting to change Forms into a 500-point Pokemon, that would be 100 Active points. Its current form (the Ditto itself) is built on 75 total points, so 15 Active Points. The difference is 85 Active Points, divided by 5 is 17. The Power Skill Roll would take a -17 penalty. In order to offset this penalty by buying up the Power Skill with +17 would be 34 points, although, by the time you got 34 Exp, the difference between the Active Point totals would be less, meaning less of a penalty. 

Out of curiosity, are you familiar with one of the earlier episodes called So Near, Yet So Farfetch'd? The PokeDex states that Farfetch'd "makes a delicious soup" or something like that, "especially when prepared with leek". I wonder if that was supposed to be a joke or something, because it gives the idea that people actually eat pokemon. Curious!

I figured two broad categories (very broad) of legislation would be protecting the rights of pokemon (under which most of the stuff you mentioned falls), and licensing/educating trainers. I figured it was a lot like hunting and similar animal rights rules we have IRL. 

You had some great suggestions!

We officially started a Pokemon campaign last Thursday. Here are the details:

I appreciate the standard/cliche stuff when trying out a new genre or series for the first time, so we agree to be 10 year-olds, entering the next stage of life as new pokemon trainers, and embarking on a journey of... well, that's up to the PCs!

I elaborated on the idea that coming-of-age trainers get a starter Pokemon form a Pokemon Professor at a research facility. I figured, with a touch more realism, kids could probably get their starter pokemon from all kinds of different sources (like buying them, legally or illegally, or handed down from a parent, or any other tradition similar to hunting IRL, etc.) but I liked the idea of organizations offering starter pokemon to kids in exchange for student/summer work. The PCs liked the idea of getting a job with a conservationist group and choosing from a number of pokemon that were sick/orphaned. Part of their job is to rehabilitate them. Then they put in a few months of data collection (like counting the number of pokemon species in an area) and maintenance (clearing waterways, planting trees, etc). It's a dynamic setting - it gets them out, moving, doing things, and in the exact kind of environment where they're likely to encounter wild pokemon, or other morally black-and-white problems like poachers, natural disasters, corporate insurgency, or diseases.

Their first pokemon, and any other pokemon obtained in a similar way (with significant plot implications, that is), is built as a follower (caught pokemon built as Summons). I will create them and give them interesting personality quirks, and complications.

It's in an area East of Orre, west of Aron, according to this map.

Everything else is pretty much standard. I'll come out with some of the character creation basics that I have laid down, for both trainers and pokemon. But I've been trying to re-envision the pokemon League as an organization that doesn't just schedule the contests, tournaments, and the gyms, but is actually governmental and polices the use and care of pokemon in every facet. Any ideas of what might be contained in something like The Pokemon Act? lol

It seems to me that any game where players are playing themselves should be free-form/super rules-lite. The PCs know themselves well enough that they don't have to write up a characters sheet on themselves and they can base their decisions in-game on what they're capable of in the real world. I agree that you're going to run into all the problems previously mentioned in this thread, but you could do away with them if you drop the character sheets. 

Excuse me, sorry.

If you can dupe good enough, you might be able to get it for free.

I read this whole thread before I realized it was so old! Now I'm contemplating whether I should comment or not... Oh well, here goes!

From my write up of Scarab

10 Far Memory: Retrocognitive Clairsentience (Sight Group And Normal Hearing) (45 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2), Retrocognition Only (-1), Only Through The Senses Of Previous Incarnations (-1/2) 4 Notes: In either secret or heroic identity, Scarab sometimes has glimpses of past incarnations, especially of being a priest of Ra. These can be full fledged "visions" of a past life, or sudden flashes of insight or special knowledge - "This way! The fourth duke built a secret tunnel in case of seige, it may still be there." "I thought you had never been in this castle before?" "Not in this life...."

While locating that, I stumbled on this thread

http://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/86059-incarnation-awareness/

Lucius Alexander

On a clear day, a palindromedary can see forever

The OP never really answered all the excellent questions that were asked, but I would add Uncontrolled onto the quoted Power, and let the GM and players decide when it actually comes in to help them. This seems like the best option to me, since I agree with the idea that, since it effects all the elves equally, it's just a special effect. The HERO System rules are used to create unique characters with a schtick. 

EDIT: I meant No Conscious Control limitation, not Uncontrolled.

I'll have to look at the writeups later when I've got access to HeroDesigner, but I would suggest that pokemon should not necessarily be point balanced with one another.  A wild Charmander maybe should be more points than a wild Ekans.

 

Not that you have to (or even should try to) make them the same balance as they are in the video game, or TV show, or card game.  But I don't think making them all on the same points in Hero is necessarily a good idea.  Wild pokemon, in the cartoon and the video games, varied in power level quite a bit.  And they all have abilities that aren't always going to be point efficient to replicate in Hero.

It's good to point out that the power level of the wild pokemon in the anime, and to a certain extent in the video games as well, were not all the same power level. I chose to point-balance the pokemon for a few reasons:

1. I felt it was in keeping with the HERO System philosophy in general, though that doesn't refute anything you mentioned in your post.

2. Despite being "wild", these were also designed as potential starter pokemon that PCs could choose from at the beginning of a campaign. That, or pokemon that they might catch early on in the game, and my desire was to have them be similar power levels to the starter pokemon. I had to ask myself "In a campaign where the PCs are freshly 10 years old, how powerful would their starter pokemon, and the first pokemon encountered, be?"

3. Since they would be purchased by PCs during their Pokemon Trainer character creation, point-balance seemed like an important facet of creating these creatures for the indirect influence they would have on the point-balance of the characters themselves. But that would also be the decision of the person buying the pokemon Summon or Follower.

4. The process of creating pokemon, and the end product, are as varied and unique as Superheroes are in any odd Champions campaign (or any other character in any other genre of fiction, for that matter). Who's to say what pokemon learn, as they grow up in the wild, in order to protect themselves? Who's to say what restrictions there are on how Trainers train their pokemon and what techniques they utilize? The points are essentially irrelevant in this respect, but in terms of comparing them here and in play-tests, I thought point-balance would help. And further to that, point-balance issues in general in a Pokemon campaign, will be an important issue to tackle at some stage. For example, if you decide to make your starter pokemon on more points, how easily will you be able to defeat the Elite Four with virtually no experience? I think we can agree there must be some significant differentiation.

That being said, I didn't think these pokemon would be standards, necessarily. They just seemed to work. It was almost like young, weak, wild pokemon, such as I created here, were the equivalent of Skilled Normal Characters in the HERO System Character Type Guidelines table. Which means, more powerful pokemon could utilize that guideline in cases of higher point totals, like Powerful Heroic pokemon or Cosmically Powerful Superheroic pokemon, for example.

I definitely encourage people to come up with more, asking questions like "How powerful would Team Rocket's pokemon be?" or "How powerful would the Elite Four's pokemon be?" or "Even though the Snorlax in Red/Blue was level 30... I wonder how powerful it should be in this campaign?"

Here are some baseline Pokemon I've created. I would love feedback on them. 

Charmander, Rattata, Pidgey, Ditto, and Abra, are meant to be "wild" pokemon. This typically means they're a little weaker, and they have different Complications, and they have basic attacks. Ekans and Koffing, I have built as starter pokemon, owned by a trainer, with 10 extra Base Points.

Charmander.hdc

Rattata.hdc

Pidgey.hdc

Wild Ditto.hdc

Abra.hdc

Ekans.hdc

Koffing.hdc

So, I'm not hung up on levels (of pokemon, from the videogames), but I thought of an interesting idea to simulate them in a HERO rpgame. What if the Active point cap (and possibly other caps, as well) were a figured on the Base Points of the character.

For example, I'm working on a Koffing with 60 Base points. Divided by two, that produces an Active Point limit on Powers of 30. It seems reasonable so far. I was able to make two Powers with the same special effect: Sludge as a Flash 6d6 and an Entangle 3d6/3/3. For the Charmander, 50 Base Points, a 25 AP cap means 5d6 Blast, an average of 15 STUN per attack, with an average PD/ED of 6 and STUN of 30. That takes 5 successful hits to knockout (ignoring the recovery score).

There could be other formulae, like 1/3 or 2/3 the Base Points, or different caps for different types of attacks (Entangles vs. Blasts). Divided by two was the one that seemed to make the most sense to me right now.

EDIT: 

Another idea that just hit me, as an example of how caps can simulate the leveling up, or generic growth and evolution, of pokemon, is to cap HA at twice that of the pokemon's STR, so physical moves like Scratch can only increase HTH Damage twofold. Otherwise, using the cap rule from above, a Charmander would be able to Scratch for HA 7d6 even though its relative STR is only 10.

So let's say we've got a Pidgey:

 

Str 5

Dex 18

Con 15

Body 10

Int 8

Ego 8

Pre 10

Com 10

 

PD 10

ED 10

Spd 4

Rec 4

End 30

Stun 21

 

16" Flight

 

Gust: 6D6 EB, double knockback

Quick Attack:  +6D6 Hand Attack, +5 Lightning Reflexes

 

 

 

Something like that.  I think pokemon should generally be able to beat on each other without really taking Body damage.  So I'd give them all a minimum of 10 PD and ED.  Humans don't really seem to be a threat versus pokemon.  Even a lowly Caterpie could probably render a human helpless with a String Shot.

 

The problems will be when you have a few different moves with a very similar description (Pidgey can use Gust, Whirlwind, Hurricane, Twister, and Air Slash), and you have to decide which one should be represented by which Hero Power.  I'd probably try to reproduce the visuals from the show more than the specific game mechanics of the video game (String Shot would maybe be an Entangle, not a Dex/Spd Drain).

I'm using 6E, but this will be helpful to people using 5E. Thanks for the contribution! As for your last comment, it's a good point, which is why I'm leaving it totally up to each player to create their own attacks. It leaves it open and free, and players won't argue about it (that's my feeling, anyway). They can be whatever they want them to be and whatever they think will be fun to teach their pokemon.

Here are some guidelines on how I would do things:

 

All pokemon and pokemon powers are considered to have an automatic vulnerability-slash-limitation versus the appropriate element.  So all Fire pokemon take x2 Stun from Water attacks.  They have that as a disadvantage.  All Water pokemon take a limitation on their attacks that they do half damage versus all Grass pokemon.  It might be a -0 limitation, or a -1/4, but whatever it is, it's consistent across all types.  Everybody takes the same limitation that it is of reduced effect against the appropriate counter-type.  Maybe electric, fighting, ground, and normal (I think those are the ones) get a further limitation in that they cause zero damage against certain opponents (I think electric versus ground, normal vs ghost, fighting and ground against flying, but I might be wrong on that -- and those last ones might just be the problem with having no range attacks versus a flying opponent).  Ghosts don't have to mess with Desolidification because the effect is just something that Normal type pokemon have as a limitation.

 

I'd establish a baseline for a generic pokemon.  Maybe an average wild pokemon hits for 6D6 or 8D6 or something like that.  More experienced, trained pokemon can go higher.  But your average, I dunno, Beedrill or something that is flying around will have 40 active point attacks or so.  Whatever the level you decide doesn't matter that much, just set a baseline that most of them follow.  I wouldn't stick too close to the pokemon stats in the game, they won't translate perfectly.  I'd scale them as much as possible to feats displayed in the cartoon, really.  So if we see Snorlax push over a tree, then he probably needs like a 50 Str or so.

 

Most pokemon would be handled by a Summon.  You buy it with "can summon from limited group" advantage, with the limited group being whichever pokeballs you have with you.  Pokemon should generally be bought with the friendly advantage, and things like gym badges and other accomplishments make the pokemon more likely to do what you say.  It's like bargaining with a summoned creature, but rather than giving the pokemon something to convince it to obey you, you've got the proper gym badge and that's what the pokemon looks for.

 

Pokeballs are an XDM, Usable Against Others, usable against pokemon only.  It you want to break it down, pokeballs versus great balls, versus ultra balls, versus master ball, then you just put limitations on them.  Pokemon would get a breakout roll of some kind to escape a ball that is too weak for their power level.

 

Ash's Pikachu would be purchased as a Follower, not like a normally summoned pokemon.  That thing is almost a PC in its own right.

I agree on most of these points. I had considered having some pokemon be followers and some be summons. The ones you just use for battles could be summons, but the ones (for roleplaying purposes) that you work on training, have out, and use for lots of non-combat situations, could be followers. 

I'm working on some baseline Wild Pokemon, right now, on 50 points, with one 10-point complication. I've gone with no Vulnerabilities or Damage Reduction powers for points, just ones for no points, but the other options mentioned by people are fair and usable. With your suggestion, I'm not sure what you meant by "appropriate element". Did you mean the ones from the game, or the ones that make realistic sense?

Thanks everyone! I get it now.

Greg