whitekeys

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

Sorry, I'm using 6E. I know how the Martial Maneuvers add DC classes to Unarmed Damage. On 6E2 90, it states "When a character uses a Martial Maneuver with a weapon, substitute the weapon's damage for "STR" listed in the Damage/Effects column, consider any added damage as added Damage Classes, not added d6s." So I'm just wondering, if you build a weapon using the Hand-to-Hand Attack power, can you use this Power in conjunction with Martial Maneuvers? Do you have to buy a corresponding Weapon Element to work with the HTH Attack? For example, my animal familiar is a Baboon. It has a STR score and HTH Damage of 2d6. I buy a Hand-to-Hand Attack power for it's Claw, +1d6. Then I buy a few Monkey Business Martial Maneuvers for its instinctive fighting ability. 3 Rake: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, Strike 2d6 This Rake attack is currently no added DCs, but the basic 2d6 Strike. So, can I add the HTH Attack and can I add further DCs to the Martial Maneuver? As Tasha indicated. Which I'm guessing would look something like this: 3 Rake: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, Strike Weapon +1 DC ... for a total of 4d6 if the Weapon is the Claw: HTH Attack, +1d6.

When using a Martial Maneuver, can you substitute a HTH attack instead of the "STR" for the maneuver? Keeping in mind, the HTH could be something like a weapon, but otherwise it would most likely be a STR based attack.

Here's a Poké Ball I built using Cantriped's suggestion of EDM Poké Ball: Extra-Dimensional Movement (Single Dimension), Only Works Against Pokemon (+0), Affects Desolidified One Special Effect of Desolidification (Ghost-type; +1/4), Range Based On STR (+1/4), Persistent (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Constant (+1/2), Usable As Attack (x16 maximum weight per inanimate target; +2 1/4) (100 Active Points); 1 Charge (-2), OAF Expendable (Easy to obtain new Focus; -1), Attack Versus Alternate Defense (Successful EGO Roll; All Or Nothing; -1/2), Beam (-1/4), Can Be Deflected (-1/4), Cannot Be Used With [Multiple attack] (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4) [1] *This build lacks Requires a Roll on purpose* According to the rules, EDM has a weight restriction, so it was necessary to build in the Poké Ball's capability of capturing the largest Pokemon, Primal Groudon, as listed here. The increased weight was a +1, UAA was +1 1/4. Affects Desolidified for obvious reasons. Range Based on STR is an Advantage here because it's a UAA power, which is normally No Range. Constant and Persistent because the power is being built as part of the Trainer, and we want it to work whether we are conscious or not. I decided to go with Cannot Be Used With Multiple Attack so that Trainers couldn't lob a bunch of Poke Balls out to defend themselves from hordes of, ooh.. I dunno.. Spearow? lol Beam was probably not necessary, as this is not a Standard Attack power. I don't think the whole EGO saving throw is doing it for me though. Because it's not tied to the results of battle: doing damage to a pokemon doesn't reduce its EGO, thereby having no affect on whether its caught or not. EGO Drain would be too cheese... that's like a make-my-poke-ball-work-good attack. And really, with Psychic pokemon using legit Mental Powers, it would be way to hard to catch them. And that wouldn't be fair. And I realize that input a fix for this relative to STR, which was the Physical Comlication: Half STR when at, or below, 25% STUN, but that translates to less d6 of damage, rather than a reduce Roll. I'm not sure its the same thing. For a strong Psychic pokemon with 20 EGO, reducing it to Half would result in a 13- roll going to an 11- roll. Or a weaker 10 EGO would go from an 11- roll to a 10- roll. That's less reliable in my opinion, especially with a potential (and unexplained) failed Required Roll activation. The compromise Cantriped suggested has promise. But I would have the capture mechanic be the Entangle, and Unify the powers - the EDM is just where they go if they can't escape. Meta-power FTW! Poké ball: Entangle 3d6, 3 PD/3 ED, Cannot Be Escaped With Teleportation (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Backlash (+1/2), Takes No Damage From Attacks All Attacks, STR only to break out (+1) (97 Active Points); 1 Charge (-2), Cannot Be Escaped With Teleportation (-1/4), Can Be Deflected (-1/4), Unified Power (-1/4) [1] Poké Ball: Extra-Dimensional Movement (Single Dimension), Only Works Against Pokemon (+0), Affects Desolidified One Special Effect of Desolidification (Ghost-type; +1/4), Range Based On STR (+1/4), Persistent (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Constant (+1/2), Usable As Attack (x16 maximum weight per inanimate target; +2 1/4) (100 Active Points); 1 Charge (-2), OAF Expendable (Easy to obtain new Focus; -1), Can Be Deflected (-1/4), Cannot Be Used With [Multiple attack] (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Unified Power (-1/4) [1] EDIT: I kind of wanted the Always On Limitation, to reflect the fact that, after a pokemon has become your friend, and willingly goes into the Pokeball, it can't come out of its own volition to help you if you're in danger. Is this further evidence that Follower is better than Summon, since we can just turn off the power? This might be getting to complicated...

Type-based Vulnerabilities and Resistances: 10 Vulnerability: 2 x STUN Fighting-type attacks (Uncommon) 9 All Damage Reduction**, 50% (20 Active Points); Only Works Against Uncommon attack (Ice-type attacks; -3/4), STUN Only (-1/2) 0 ** "All" meaning it applies to PD (Physical attacks) ED (Special Attacks) and Variable (Different types of ongoing damage from Status Move, special effect depending on the move). I didn't pay extra for the Expanded Effect in this case, as I was just playing around with different builds (see below). This build invites many questions: 1. Should Pokemon have to buy separate Damage Reductions for PD and ED, or can they get the same effect for only the cost of one, given the kind of damage system I've got going on? 2. Should they even pay for Damage Reduction at all, or get points for Vulnerabilities at all, or should it just be a function of the universe? I have seen that it can be somewhat unbalancing, with certain types with lots of resistances are at a loss for what else to spend points on. Fire is a good example. If made Inherent, as it should be, it would have 66 points to spend on six different 11-point Damage Reduction powers. And for a starter pokemon, that's maybe only built on 100 CP, that's a lot of points to spend on a Template. Similarly, Rock-types have 5 different Vulnerabilities, which would give them a butt-load more points to spend on other stuff, perhaps defenses. If each pokemon had three different Vulnerabilities and three different Damage Reductions, then it would be balanced, but that's not the case, and I'm not going to change the Type Chart for such purposes. The trouble is, the resistances don't necessarily get more powerful as the pokemon get more powerful. It's always a relative Damage Reduction. This is why I think it could be free. It's as if it's a fact of the universe, in a sense, and can't be altered, and everyone is subject to it equally. Not to mention, most of them are common-sense, like Lightning not doing any damage to Ground and more to Flying, Fire being Vulnerable to Water, Steel being resistant to Normal attacks, etc. These things a GM might declare anyway, in another context given the special effects. 3. How to define the commonality of types? I decided that given the variety, the points were more evenly doled out if defined as Uncommon. Anything more common than that, and the above balance issues increase by a similar factor. This applies to a few other powers, as well, not just Damage Reduction. Are there, in fact, some types that are more rare than others, apart from the fact that Normal-types are definitely more common, and regionally speaking, there are more common types, but otherwise... Dragon, maybe. There are some pokemon that are more rare, but not their type.

A quick update on a play test I did a few days ago with a friend: We pitted a Pidgey against a Charmander. We figured out that Power Defense is a must, and that, in what is essentially a straight-up Blast vs. Blast (or Strike vs. Strike) the Status Moves can be too powerful. Solution: Power Defense is a must and should be purchased at comparable values to PD and ED. It then follows that, given Flashes are excellent fighting techniques, and Psychich powers will definitely be built with the suite of Mental Powers available in the HERO System, Mental Defense and Flash defense should also be purchased at comparable values. I further recommend that, when building your own pokemon, whether high or low level, purchase Characteristics and Defenses first, and then see what's left over for any combat techniques or other tricks.

Re: Cantriped Quite right, Cantriped! I had thought of many different ideas for Pokemon Trainers, but I hadn't put any of them down in this thread, except my pokeball idea. And I had also considered your initial idea of giving the Pokemon BODY and taking it as a real possibility that they die, just like what it could be in a "real" pokemon world. I think this is very plausible and very possible. My intention was to run a campaign with the same kind of flavour and atmosphere as the show. I thought bringing in actual death was an occasional happening, used to affect the narrative and the emotional power of the Pokemon/Human relationship. I did not want it to ever be the result of a simple pokemon battle. Which other thread are you referring to? Some of you other ideas: A) Summon. This is a great build! Especially for the whole visual element of calling the Pokemon out of the pokeball. I will seriously consider this. However, there're certain drawbacks for me. One, it seems to take out the element of the relationship between the trainer and pokemon. While you could roleplay this however you want, Summon or not, I feel like the Pokemon acts more as a Follower, given that they are characters in the story (like Ash's Pikachu), and that they grow, gain experience points just like PCs, can gain or lose Complications (like Hunted), and act on their own accord apart from their Trainer, etc. Furthermore, as I mentioned in my reasoning for not allowing VPPs, Summon's cost structure is the same as Follower (1 Character Point per 5 Character Points in the Summon, x2 the number of Summons for +5 Character Points), with the exception of putting Limitations or Advantages on them, so I feel like this is not helping the idea of balance. I'm not sure I would allow it based on that (A little bit like Wizards in D&D... they're fine at low level, but unbalancingly strong at higher levels). Cantriped, how do you view the idea that you're only allowed to give a Summon a certain number of tasks? Do you feel you're allowed to Summon creatures just for the purposes of training them in order to, thereafter, Summon more powerful creatures? It makes sense with character points, and experience and stuff, but, again, more like a Character that is a Follower, rather than a Summon. Specific Being; this is definitely a +1 Advantage for a few reasons (in this context): 1. The bond between the Pokemon and the Trainer is a unique aspect, and often provides various bonuses in and out of combat; it would need to be replicated by the Specific Being advantage, rather than just Summoning any old Bulbasaur from the swamp. 2. For reasons of experience, not every Bulbasaur is going to be the same power level, and, yes, while the relative power of the Summon is based on how many character points you spend on it (so any Bulbasaur would naturally need to be built on the same points), specific moves, attacks, knowledge, and tactics would need to be replicated with the Specific Being Advantage. 3. If it dies, you lose that Summon permanently, including any of the benefits mentioned above. 4. I forgot this one, but there was another one, I swear! lol I never truly understood the Computer system in that game... But a great suggestion, anyway. C) Great idea! D) While your Pokeball idea has merit, I prefer my own. Just personal preference, really, especially as the GM and knowing what kinds of things I'd be okay with hand-waving and not. Mostly, I feel that the Entangle gives a more realistic approach to allowing Pokemon to break out, rather than just an activation roll. It gives a definite purpose to attacking the Pokemon, or giving it a Status Condition, before throwing the ball. And other limitations like Can Be Deflected are also realistic in my opinion. But balancing the amount of Body PD/ED is a challenge. Thanks for all the ideas!

I suppose you folks are right. You're right in this sense because I'm running a Heroic campaign, and that kind of thing just gets purchased with money in-game. It's for an NPC character who's an early 1920s flavoured reporter, into the big stories and constantly asking questions. I thought he could help the PCs out by taking a photo with one of those cameras with the big bulbs, just at the right moment, and temporarily blinding the assailant. I know this is a Flash, I can handle that, but I just thought about what else the camera might do in terms of assisting the PCs. Basically its information stuff that a Contact might be able to provide you. Like the PCs are trying to track down a villain: the proffering of a photo by some informant might help drastically if that villain doesn't have Distinct Features of any kind. In a low-tech campaign, like with technology from the late 1800s, it could prove more useful, or at least more interesting to the Characters, that you might think. But, yes, I still think this should be handwaved. I like L. Marcus' idea of an unusual camera.... This is sounding like a Dr. Who episode! Thanks for the ideas!

I am looking for some help building a camera. Just the whole idea of taking a concrete visual record of something. Like Eidetic memory with a Transmit sense, but limited somehow for only putting it down on paper in specific packages. Eventually, I'm going to add a Flash attack (for the bulb in the camera) but I'm sure I can do that later. It's Pulp time. Thanks!

Another possible build for Poke Balls I just thought of was to apply the Backlash Advantage. This would make the break-out chances proportional to the amount of HP the Pokemon has, that is, if we envision the pokemon attempting to break out of the Entangle with attacks... if it can do enough damage to the Entangle before being knocked out, it escapes. If not, then it knocks itself out, simulating capture. If this were the case, I might go back to my original idea of having Poke Balls be 3d6, and increase by 3d6 at each level, Master Balls being 12d6. Or greater. Poké ball: Entangle 3d6, 3 PD/3 ED, Cannot Be Escaped With Teleportation (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Backlash (+1/2), Takes No Damage From Attacks All Attacks, STR only to break out (+1) (97 Active Points); 1 Charge (-2), Beam (-1/4), Can Be Deflected (-1/4) EDIT: Took one modifier out.

My most recent build has been for Poké Balls and how to catch Pokemon. I built them as a simple Entangle, starting as 2d6 for Poké Ball, and increasing by 2d6 for each level after that, Great, Ultra, Master. The Poké Ball then has 2 PD (ED will be useless for reasons stated below) and an average BODY of 7. Since we're making the damage system one-track, I see no problem in defining this Entangle as having 7 STUN, as a special effect of the Poké Ball. If the sorts of wild pokemon you come across at the beginning of an adventure have an average STR of 10, like regular normals, then they do 2d6 HTH, or a standard effect of 7 STUN. Taking into account the PD of the Entangle, that's 5 STUN, which equates to 2 Phases until it breaks out. How do I prevent it from breaking out, simulating the fact that it has been caught more or less permanently? Each Pokemon has two Complications. The first and most important is a Pyschological Complication: Enjoys the Poké Ball environment. This makes it easier to explain why Pokemon get caught in the first place, and the details of this explanation can be found at this link under the Mechanics and Design heading. So, if the pokemon can break out of the entangle in 2 phases, it's not caught. It if can't, because of good rolls on the part of the Trainer, or bad rolls on the part of the pokemon, it's caught. This adds a bit of chance to it. Secondly, Physical Complication: Half STR when at, or below, 25% STUN favours the trainer if they've done battle and reduced it's HP. An explanation of this also appears in the link above. Which means, the rule I'm instituting is 3 strikes, you're caught. Any other ideas on how to catch pokemon? Entangle seems like the obvious choice, but it's hard to simulate absolutes in the HERO system, and usually involves some kind of genre-related house rule. I could rule something similar to the free action to escape a Grab with Casual STR. .. give Poké Balls a STR score. This will probably make it too hard to catch high-powered pokemon with regular Poke Balls. I could just role-play it. Battle. The roll 10- on 3d6 and see what happens. EDIT: Any other ideas greatly appreciated!

Partly because I'm not as familiar with Multipowers, partly because I'm probably going the route of no Power frameworks at all. It seems too overpowering at the moment. After all, a Trainer buys Pokemon as followers, and I've already waived the rule about not buying followers built on more points than the Leader. Even the rule about getting twice as many followers for +5 points seems unbalanced. I'm not going to throw Power Frameworks into the mix to make those followers even more powerful. No, the powers I'm coming up with are generally pretty low cost, I feel they can be on their own.

Ah, I did not know that. It's neither here nor there at this point. The type-based effects are minor complications that can be easily added later. But to answer your question, I just thought it would make it simpler. I appreciated the Gen 1 when I was a kid. Recently, when i was thinking about actual campaigns and starting PCs off with starter pokemon, I thought there's a bit more variety of types in Gen 2 even, so I'll think about it. This is essentially what I'm doing. Charges is the PP of the attack, needing to be healed at the PokeCenter for Recovery. The only problem I see with this is that the PP numbers we're dealing with all have the save Limitation value as per HERO Rules. So attacks with 15 Charges are at the same cost-savings as attacks with 40 PP. Not sure if it really matters at this point. Great suggestion, thanks. Thanks! I'm glad this has caught more people's attention.

I agree, massey. When I first discovered HERO a number of years ago, when it was 5ed, I attempted to convert MechAssault. I had lots of fun, but looking back on it now, the results were terrible and I attempted to change too many things. I realized that HERO is balanced, elegant, even, and the more I change it, the uglier it becomes. However, that conversion was a lot different than what I'm attempting here. Here, I'm not really changing much of anything, but using the rules to build Pokemon powers. I'm not saying what I've got here is the best.. it's going to take a while to get it right, but I don't find it overly complicated. At least not more so than any other game involving complex powers and abilities. The build you suggest is problematic in different ways, I'd have to think about it some more, but it's a good alternative to what I have. Thanks for suggesting it. I actually had completely forgot that REC gives back STUN in all the other problems I was having. It's true enough.. the BODY and STUN system is somewhat complicated, and narrowing it down to just one or the other seems like a simplification. But maybe it would be easier to say that, even though a Pokemon's BODY has been reduced to 0 this battle, they can still be revived at the Pokecenter later on. That brings more substance to REC and STUN, like you suggest. I'll think more on that, too.

Right-o. Since the CSl were Constant to begin with, I had to take the Nonpersistent Limitation off. That didn't change much. Making it Instant worked okay...but it was still wishy-washy on how you would do a Full-Phase Set and a Full-Phase Power in the same phase. So, I've gone with bigdamnhero's suggestion of Only While Setting. This nullify's the use of Extra Time, since that special effect is already present with Set and is a Full-Phase, and we want to power to work while in that stance, not take extra-time on top of that. I put the value at -1. 17 Mechanthropic Eye: (Total: 34 Active Cost, 17 Real Cost) +16 versus Range Modifier for Normal Sight (8 Active Points); Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), OIF (Telescopic implant; -1/2) (Real Cost: 4) plus Partially Penetrative with Normal Sight (5 Active Points); Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), OIF (Telescopic implant; -1/2) (Real Cost: 2) plus Sight Group Flash Defense (9 points) (9 Active Points); OIF (Telescopic implant; -1/2) (Real Cost: 6) plus +4 with a small group of attacks (12 Active Points); Only While Setting (-1), OIF (Telescopic implant; -1/2) (Real Cost: 5) 0 Thanks for all your help everyone!

I love it when imaginations run wild! I wish I could give more information, but it is more or less up to one of my players the details of the Solarium, and we're not getting together until tomorrow when he may or may not have them However, I'm quite sure I will rule that this doesn't constitute a Foci, or an endurance reserve. It's just part of the campaign setting. Thanks both for your responses!!

My current conundrum is Snorlax's Rest ability. The trouble is the seemingly ridiculous amount of Active points that would go into a Heal power, especially since Rest typically heals all Hit Points (STUN in this case), AND Status Conditions, which would mean it would need to take Expanded Effect advantage, and fully restore a pokemon with one of the highest Hit Point totals in the game. This has raised the question for me: Once a Stat has been raised or lowered via move like Tail Whip or Agility, what are the video game's conditions for returning those to normal (other than ending the battle or healing at the Pokecenter)? Does Rest restore Snorlax's Attack power after being Growled at? If not, I think this would be appropriate to include in a HERO conversion. This makes Rest more expensive. I figured out a better solution. Absorption works by taking BODY Damage caused by attacks and converting them into Character points with which a Character can "Aid" other abilities - in this case Snorlax's STUN. It's bought 1:1, and since you can absorb twice the amount you pay for, this makes it much less expensive to purchase for the whole value of Snorlax's HP. The trouble is that it's technically only supposed to absorb BODY Damage done by attacks, and it's not something Steve made an exceptions for with different Advantages or Adders. However, as the campaign standard is everything's STUN and no BODY, I feel it would be appropriate to have Absorb absorb STUN. The power below is actually two powers. One is the Absorption power that operates "in the background" so to speak, and it is limited such that the absorbed STUN is stored up and can only be (re)applied to STUN at a certain time. That time is when Snorlax actually uses Rest: a custom power that actually does nothing, but has the Side Effect of putting Snorlax to sleep. Sleep is roughly equivalent to being Stunned. 14 Ability-Rest: Absorption 9 BODY (Physical and Special, STUN), Absorbs STUN (+0), Persistent (+1/4), Increased Maximum (x4 points) (+1/2), Varying Effect (Physical, Special; +3/4), Delayed Return Rate (Lasts until end of battle; +1) (31 Active Points); Limited Application (Absorbed points are stored and can only be applied when Snorlax uses Rest; -3/4), Only Restores To Starting Values (-1/2) 0 1 Rest: Status Move (1 Active Points); 10 Recoverable Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances; Healing at PokeCenter required for Healing; -1 1/4), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Pokemon falls Asleep; -1) [10 rc] So far, this is only to heal HP, and not remove status effects. I'll think more on that.

Aha! I had been vaguely wondering about immunities but hadn't quite got there. This is an excellent suggestion, thanks. This power could work for any Pokemon with immunities. The special effect can change, of course. Sometimes it's hard to know if the effect you're trying to represent should be built by the attacker or the target. For example, all the Slots in your Fighting-type attack VPP are taken Does not work against Ghost-type Pokemon, vs all Ghost-type Pokemon taking Desolification Only works Against Fighting, Normal, and Ground types. Or both? Qui bono? Fighting types saving more points on attacks, or Ghost types spending points to protect themselves.

I agree with the first paragraph. Your second paragraph hits on exactly what my difficulty with this power has been. Only While Setting as an appeal to me. Value? Thanks for suggesting it! And the third, I have to quibble about whether this is a skill or not. I hadn't read 6E1 283, actually, so thanks for pointing it out to me, but the build I produced in an earlier post, and the general idea I have in mind, is not skill-based. It an attack bonus, so either OCV or a CSL. However, Martial Maneuvers are given in the text example... so perhaps CSLs are governed by this rule as well. Perhaps a question for Steve?

Presence Attacks Presence attacks are generally made with the regular HERO rules, but their effects are slightly altered in this conversion. Firstly, Presence attacks in combat are meant to represent certain Status-Affecting moves such as Leer or Tail Whip. As such, a Presence Attack during combat constitutes an Attack Action, and thus has a duration of Half-Phase and ends a Pokemon’s Phase. Alternatively, a Presence Attack can be used as an Action that takes no time for a specific effect (see below). Secondly, even though all Pokemon have a PRE, Presence attacks which reduce a target’s Characteristic, as per the rules below, must be “learned”. Trainers must teach their Pokemon to use them before gaining their benefits in combat, that is, they cost Character points beyond what has been spent on PRE. They are, in effect, Presence Attack Maneuvers, and must be purchased in a like manner. Effects from Presence Attacks are ‘transferable’ from Trainer to Pokemon or Pokemon to Trainer. That is, a Pokemon, as it is a Follower of a Character, can intimidate another Character on behalf on it’s Trainer, or, in other words, the Trainer can get the benefit of any successful Presence Attack made by their Pokemon, taking into account common sense and dramatic sense. The GM can rule that a Trainer’s action does not benefit from their Pokemon’s successful Presence attack if the GM feels it doesn’t make sense. Otherwise, PRE and Presence attacks can be used outside combat in the regular fashion, as detailed in the HERO System rule book, without having to purchase Presence Attack Maneuvres. Presence attacks outside combat can be used to intimidate other people, like cowing another trainer into giving up a battle before it begins, or impressing other people into believing you are a better Trainer than you are, etc. Presence Attack Maneuvers The Base Cost of each Maneuver is 5. Simply name the Maneuver after the Special Effect, such as Tail Whip or Leer, and define which Characteristic it will reduce. Players can choose from the following Characteristics to be the subject of Presence Attack Maneuvers: DCV (Evasion), DEX (Speed), or STR (Attack). Players can apply the Expanded Effect Advantage at the Plus One level, for +½ Advantage, or the Plus Two level, for +1 Advantage, in order to reduce more than one Characteristic simultaneously. Players can apply the Cumulative Advantage, as well. There is no minimum cost for purchasing Presence Attack Maneuvers. Effects of Presence Attacks: Attack Equal to Presence If the total on the Presence Attack dice at least equals the target’s PRE, the target’s Characteristic is reduced by 1. PRE +10 If the total on the Presence Attack dice exceeds the target’s PRE by +10, the target’s Characteristic is reduced by 2. For every +10 points exceeding the target’s PRE thereafter, the Characteristic is reduced further by 1. Exceeding by +20 reduces the Characteristic by 3, exceeding by +30 reduces the Characteristic by 4, etc. The effects of Presence Attack Maneuvers remain in effect until the end of a battle. Special Use As an Action which takes no time, a Pokemon can make a Presence attack solely for the purposes of acting before the target on on any Segment in which both the Attacker and the Target have a Phase. This Action must be made on the Phase in which it is to take effect. A Pokemon cannot “hold” the effects of a successful Special Use Presence attack until a later phase. The total on the Presence Attack dice must equal the target’s PRE in the least in order to succeed. Succeeding by more provides no other benefit. __________________________________________ That's what I just wrote up on Presence attacks. Not sure if it's too much changing things, or if I should just buy them as Drains. Note: Most of these rules are standard HERO rules, with very minor changes. For example, the regular Presence attacks reduce a target's DCV to 1/2 or 0. I simply apportioned this effect for better utility, where, when the 1/2 DCV condition takes effect at +20 per the normal rules, my system has that at -3 DCV. Same with acting before an opponent in combat. Expanded Effect advantage was changed to +1 and +2 rather than x2 and x3. I could have done all the Status-Effecting moves this way, and let Players choose from a whole list of Characteristics to reduce, such as OCV or PD, but that was too much. It would make PRE way over-powered. This will have to be play tested. Any volunteers? lol EDIT: Clarification on my explanation.

On attacks: While the video games provide a long list of interesting and unique attacks, each with a Type and stats, I don't feel that a HERO conversion should be restricted to that list. It makes more sense that Trainers (Player Characters) should be able to train their Pokemon however they want, and to do whatever they want, coming up with new attacks, their own special effects, etc. You could teach new electric attacks like Lightning Storm or Thundernado, not just Thunder Shock and Thunder Bolt. Furthermore, attacks such as Tackle, Bind/Wrap/Constrict, Headbutt, Takedown, Double Slap, are all different special effects of Strike (since they're all Normal Physical attacks with no other effects) and are already covered by Maneuvers such as Move Through, Grab, Shove, Trip, and Multiple Attack, respectively; moves like Leer and Growl are covered by Presence attacks; I feel like this would give more emphasis to Pokemon Characteristics, rather than having character creation focus solely on Powers, and further supports my feeling in the first paragraph. It should logically follow that Pokemon with no claws can't Scratch, Pokemon with no feet or legs can't Stomp, and Pokemon with low SPD shouldn't Quick Attack. This is no penalty, just a logical special effect. Strike is still available to all Pokemon in some form or another, just as it is available to all characters.

This is a good point. Here are some solutions: I can up the starting value of 0-15 Power Ratings, beginning the scale at, say, 2d6, making the upper attacks 11d6. I could try and fudge the numbers around in anyway I thought was more balance, like 20/1DC starting at 3d6, but this could be time consuming, requiring many more play-tests. Better, I could declare a minimum effect rule, like any successful attack, including such status moves as Poisoning, always do at least 1 STUN Damage. This seemed to be the case in the video games for weak attacks like Wrap, that were designed to do small amounts of damage while at the same time restricting the amount of damage taken. Even if you got wrapped by a significantly weaker pokemon, it was always going to do at least 1 Damage to you. And, generally speaking, it seems like a fair rule here, given the context of the game and game balance (though I haven't tested it yet to say that with 100% confidence). Thanks for the feedback!