If this works the same as my tabletop game, then I might take up Farmer Jack, a pokemon breeder with as starting pokemon a Mareep.
Basically the idea is to get a whole cattle ranch filled with Tauros, Ponyta, Mareep and the like. So he's supposed to be bulky and sturdy, but pretty likeable as well. Enduring Soul + Rider I think.
Good basic idea, but will still need to flesh it out more.
@thunderbeard any suggestions good sir?
Ok pokemon image doesn't show up on the sheet for Nidoran lol, but I think I'm done with crunch.
I went Taskmaster/roughneck/Provocateur - A disabler type character to give statuses and weaken enemies.
Prices of armor and weapons is crazy lol
@Phntm888: Check out page 287 of the CRB for information regarding weapons. Use the commonplace pricing.
@Rocan: I'd recommend going hybrid farmer-rancher (there's a lot more on harvesting berries and spores and things, but also rules for milking pokemon). Since we'll be settling the wilderness, a character specializing in growing apricorns and berries will be quite useful, and probably responsible for outfitting the first general store we build. I'm not sure where this game stands on pokemon-as-meat, but quite a few pokemon produce byproducts that can feed people with no moral implications!
-Mareep/etc.: A solid choice! Interestingly, a couple of these guys working together with Thunder Boost/Static get CRAZY powerful, making a mareep ranch a potential source of electric power for a mad scientist.
If you're not sold on mareep, here are some other good farm-friendly starter/battlers, that you might be intersted in (or just in adding to your team):
-Skiddo/Gogoat: The only starter-type that can produce milk (at high levels); it's a grass-type goat pokemon (gen 6, slow mixed offense but with the right nature and pokeedge could be effective as entirely-physical). Milk Drink is an egg move option for this guy.
-Cottonee/Whimsicott: A cotton plant and/or sheep. Unclear, but definitely makes fabric. Excellent trickster/rogue type, with focus on speed, status, and stealth (gen 5, fairy/grass)
-Lillipup/Herdier/Stoutland: The sheepdog pokemon. Great for herding livestock, might be worth having one on your farm. Unimpressive stats, but decent abilities and moves. (gen 5, normal)
-Shinx/Luxio/Luxray: The *other* sheepdog option. Stats a bit awkward without pokeedges or nature adjustment. Fights really well alongside Mareeps thanks to Sequence. (gen 3, electric mixed offense, excellent perception and stealth)
-Combee/Vespiquen: The honeybee/queen bee pokemon. Can produce honey. Seems unimpressive at first, but makes an excellent guardian, with good defense and excellent protective moves. If you take up bee keeping, you could keep a whole hive of combee, with only one queen. (gen 4, flying/bug)
-Ponyta/Rapidash, or Blitzle/Zebstrika: Nearly identical pokemon, except one's a fire horse/unicorn and the other's a lightning zebra/unicorn. For eventually having horses
-Blaziken? (eh, it's a chicken)
Other farm-types that don't make good starters:
-Male Combee (beekeeping)
-Miltank/Tauros (your standard cow herd)
-Bouffalant (a more-wild Tauros from gen 5, you might be able to catch some for your herd)
-Shuckle (it turns berries into jam!)
-Tropius (produces bananas)
-Paras (tinymushrooms!)
-Clamperl (for farming pearls)
I'd also recommend breeding pokemon like extra mareep, miltank, etc. in herds and keeping them in town without too much training (if the GM's okay with it) as sort of "wealth/flavor pokemon" while having a smaller core of pokemon that you fight with.
As for classes/abilities: Green Thumb is likely a great start (see if you or someone else wants to take apricorn balls though). Chef is a fun class to look into. Botany Researcher gets you better farming (Researcher gets two branches for free; Climatology, Caretaking, or General are a good second branch). It's probably a good idea to start with 2-3 classes and maybe add more later, as you figure out what fighting style you enjoy the most and add onto it.
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@Warlord: Think of weapons/armor as TMs for people, and the prices make sense.
Finally dotting this after lurking for a bit. Been wanting to play a PTU game for a while and this seems like a great idea! Have a concept for a heavy metal bard using Musician and Spark Master I've been putting together.
How much should we be incorporating from the Golarion setting? (e.g. the Kingmaker Campaign Guide). Is the Aldori Academy still a dueling school, a pokemon dueling school (i.e. teaching League-style battles), or some hybrid of the two?
I think Cheliax would be a good brithplace for me lol
Why Cheliax? It's all the way across the world. Brevoy has a huge martial culture (the swordlords), one of the campaign suggestions is the disowned bastard of a local noble house looking to make a name for himself, and if you want to come from a relatively imperial background, Taldor's far closer, with Taldan adventurers occasionally making it to the River Kingdoms.
I'm afraid I'm gonna have to withdraw my dot. Interesting as this seems, I don't think I'd be able to put together a character in time enough to make the cut. Good luck everyone!
I was just saying Cheliax do to the character classes, seemed to fit nicely lol. I will be from Brevoy.
Looking through the rules (night shift messes with you SOO much!) should be able to come up with a concept and character during the weekend. when are you thinking of starting this?
Edit: Hmmm... looking through this a bit more, perhaps a Tactician/Mentor would work? And how viable is Joltik as a starter?
When will recruitment close for this?
Is Fennekin okay for a starter?
Alright. Having too much fun with this system, and now I have a submission. (Can change etc. as necessary for setting details)
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Doctor Leon Agathis, Pk. D. (“Doctor Poketti Monstrorum,” Aldori Academy)
Background: Disgraced Scholar; Campaign: Rostlander
Ideal Kingdom Role (if relevant): Pokemon Professor (Magister?)
Starting Classes: Researcher, Researcher, Mentor; Starting Pokemon: Yanma (“Odo”)
General Party Role: Knowledge expert, item crafter, move tutor and stat re-balancer for party pokemon
(I made a character sheet if you’d prefer to see it)
*Dr Agathis can craft a whole lot of items for free, but using items to be found in-campaign; let me know if I should start with any shards or apricorns.
And so, when the Agathis family decided they would no longer fund their wasteful son’s education, his acquired knowledge had already earned him the respect of one of the university’s Pokemon Professors, who offered Leon research funding to continue his studies as an assistant. And so Leon became Doctor Agathis after years more of study, tending to the University’s pokemon stables, helping young duelists choose starters, and corroborating stories and legends of historic pokemon with those he observed through the University’s stables and correspondence.
But Brevoy is not a nation known for its alchemy or magic; and yet Agathis’s early research, once he had finished his doctorate, focused on the mystical. His true passion was the study of evolution, and to do this, he focused on learning about pokemon from the ancient past, and training techniques by which pokemon could evolve and adapt rapidly to mimic past or future forms. There were stories, his colleagues told, of the lands to the west, the forges of Numeria and the numerous universities of Ustalav, where alchemists wrought spells and alchemy capable of building Pokemon from nothing. And so Doctor Agathis focused on acquiring such magic himself, alchemy by which ancient Pokemon might be returned to life and studied.
And this did little for his academic reputation. Fossil collection, in Brevoy, was a pastime of the wealthy nobility, with fossil pokemon themselves seen mostly as curiosities, fit to be purchased and admired rather than studied and created. And the rumors grew—that the young Doctor Agathis was practicing necromancy under the auspices of the University, rumors spread by colleagues (perhaps jealous of his talent at Pokemon studies, or annoyed at his distaste for dueling as a sole field of study, or simply annoyed at his lack of charisma) that he had sought forbidden rituals and dark magic to revive the dead for sinister purposes.
Doctor Agathis was never arrested, or threatened, or even directly accused of anything. But the university quietly fired him, “reclaiming” all but one of his research pokemon, and he quickly found himself scorned and overlooked entirely by Restov’s community of scholars. And so he found work where he could, traveling to ranches and farms, working as a veterinarian and expert on wild and feral pokemon to those on the fringes of the city. There was correspondence with far-away scholars at the University of Lepidstadt, though he lacked the funds or resolve to travel so far from Brevoy on a whim.
And with the expedition to the Greenbelt, Doctor Agathis saw new and better opportunities than even Lepidstadt could offer. A lawless land, where his research would not be scorned; a vast open country full of resources, where he could study the local pokemon, hunt for fossils, and finally perfect his resurrection ritual. A country where he could help shape the culture of education and misconceptions, geographically closer to the alchemically-advanced nations of Ustalav and Mendev. And, finally, a new kingdom with such a scarcity of scholars that, perhaps, he could finally call himself a Pokemon Professor.
While his specialty is the study of pokemon biology and evolution, years of academy study have taught him a great deal about alchemy and history as well, and the doctor is somewhat versed in both the history of the Greenbelt and how to craft useful items from its natural resources. But his true strength lies in his favored studies, as years care taking for pokemon have taught him a great deal about interacting and caring for them subtly and through scientific observation and effort.
Agathis has little interest in capturing pokemon; while he understands the science and magic of this, he’s interested in apricorns mostly for their arcane oddity and utility in transporting living creatures. But he’s purchased what tools he can for temporarily trapping, slowing, and studying wild creatures, as well as those that might help him search for fossils and secrets in the caves of a new land.
Background: Disgraced Professor (++Pokémon Education, +General Education, -Charm, -Combat, -Intimidate)
HP: 10
Atk: 5
Def: 5+2
SpAtk: 5
SpDef: 5+3
Speed: 5+5
Features:
Researcher [Class]
>Branch 1: General
-Breadth of Knowledge (3 free education edges) [Feat 1]
>Branch 2: Caretaking
Researcher [Class]
>Branch 1: Artificer
-Crystal Artificer (can craft from shards) [Feat 2]
>Branch 2: Paleontology
Mentor [Class] [Feat 3]
-Mentor Lessons [Feat 4]
Focus Training [Free Training Feat]
Skill Edges:
Occult Education (to N)
Intuition (to N)
Paleontology
Gem Lore
Apricorn Balls
PokéPsychologist
(Wishlist: Grooming)
Inventory: Dowsing Rod, Grooming Kit, Poke Ball Toolbox?, 1x Potion, 1x Antidote, 1x Burn Heal, 1x Hand Net (50 HP), 1x Weighted Net (50 HP), Dark Vision Goggles
Yanma, Level 5
(Bug/Flying), Modest Nature
Ability: Compound Eyes
HP: 7+3
Atk: 5
Def: 5+2
SpAtk: 10+3
SpDef: 5+2
Speed:10+5
(HP 45/45, Evade 1/1/3, Accuracy +3/+4 with training)
Moves:
-Tackle
-Foresight
-Silver Wind (Egg Move)
Doctor Agathis first acquired Odo for experimental purposes: he had heard stories of Yanmega being one of the few pokemon capable of spontaneously evolving into powerful ancestral forms, and wondered if he could do the same with a steady regimen of specialized food and climate conditions. Such experiments went nowhere, but the cheerful dragonfly proved a handy lab assistant, fetching from high shelves and amusing students, and so he trained the young Yanma, with its sharp vision, to be his second set of arms and eyes.
And when Agathis was forced to leave his scientific work, the University reclaimed his other pokemon—they had never really been his—except for the little dragonfly a creature he had obtained himself and which wasn’t quite valuable enough for his former bosses to bother taking.
Odo is thoughtful and patient for a bug-type pokemon, though as a Yanma, his wings are naturally loud. He is less accustomed to battle than his powerful wind attacks would suggest, perhaps uncertain of his own strength, preferring to retreat in the face of confrontation unless danger is unavoidable. With his swift wings, he rarely stays still, though often maintains a leisurely pace; with Doctor Agathis’s general dislike of capture and confinement, he spends most of his time out in the open, often circling high overhead.
Role:
Yanma starts out a bit strong for a starter, but levels off very quickly—within a few levels/battles of game start, he should be at the same place as everyone else. With his extreme maneuverability and ranged attacks, he’ll probably function best as a scout/sniper/skirmisher, utility which eventual moves like U-Turn and Fly should help him accomplish (alongside good special sniping moves at high levels).
Dr Agathis’s ability to give training bonuses to skills should also be helpful with this, helping make Odo into a versatile assistant who will likely spend most of his time out in the open.
Annnd I missed the online character sheet at the beginning of recruitment. Guys: This is amazing! It autofills and tracks everything, and would've made character creation/pokemon statting wayyyy easier. Try it out! Doctor Agathis stat sheet
@Thunderbeard: Most things from the Golarion setting will transfer over, save for the stuff I've previously mentioned. The Aldori Academy makes perfect sense as both a martial and Pokemon battling academy. I really like your submission, it was a fun read.
@Whiskey: Not sure yet. I'll have a better idea once more applications start trickling in. It's a lot to ask of people to learn a brand new (somewhat complicated) system and make a character on their own, so there will be ample time to work on what you need to.
@Zamrok: Joltik is hilariously one of the most powerful Pokemon in the game, though thankfully not until it gets Electroweb. I'm gonna go ahead and say no on it, just because of the horror stories I've read.
@Madcaster: Fennekin and all of the standard starters make good starters for PTU as well.
Whoa... just took a look at that Electroweb thing. And wow, with tutored Electroweb, Quiver Dance, and some abilities, Underdog Butterfree (or god forbid... Vivillon) becomes a ridiculously powerful sweeper.
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And thanks! It turned out to be a lot easier than I thought when I started, and the spreadsheet helped a lot. Now can't wait to see what else gets proposed.
Ditto.just need to be able to edit it :P
I guess it's alright to post our characters if we have them then? Because Faraday Heartsong is ready to shred a rallying storm through the Green Belt.
@Seth86: You just need to make a copy of it to edit.
@Hat-Trick: Faraday looks awesome, thanks for the submission!
Well, there's literally a class called Survivalist that gets bonuses based on the Terrain they're in. The Chronicler Class gets the ability to catalog people, places, and techniques to get bonuses later, perfect for a survivalist trying to make his own maps. There are some playtest things out that I'm not sure if Maeve wants to use or not, but one of them has a class called Backpacker that makes you extremely talented at getting the most out of items. Finally, there's a Hunter class specialized in fighting along side your pokemon like a coordinated pack. I'd say look at those options.
Another possible option is taking Researcher for the restorative making Apothecary and plant growing Botany fields, and there's a Medic class in one of the playtests as well.
@Xan: The core rulebook lists a bunch of "suggested starters" for easy reference. Of those, ones you might be interested with three-evolution lines that fit your "ranger's companion" style idea (and a few others):
Suggested by book:
-Oshawott (water otter, skilled at fishing; one of the few pokemon that can use weapons such as a bow and arrow)
-Shinx (electric, lion/dog hybrid, natural tracker ability)
-Sandile (ground/dark crocodile, skilled at moving stealthily)
-Zubat (you know this guy, but his final form is pretty cool, and he gets the natural tracker ability)
I'd also personally throw in:
-Starly (flying/normal falcon, extremely good offense)
-Fletchling (flying/fire falcon, extremely good speed)
-Lillipup (normal-type dog pokemon, pretty good moveset for a normal type, naturally-skilled tracker)
-Trapinch (ground-type antlion, later evolves into a dragon, but has the unique ability to keep wild pokemon and human enemies from running away)
Looking at the sample starter list in the book, they don't list ANY Normal starters, nor do they list any of the other Types Maeve has banned for starters. We should probably avoid Normal starters as well I think, STAB makes them remarkably strong with the Normal-Type moves early on.
Normal types are fine, STAB damage won't break things too bad, and most of your starters will likely have a STAB egg move anyway. But yeah, Ghost, Rock, and Steel are still off the table.
Fair enough, I suppose. My pichu does have Thunder Shock already.
Haha yeah. I took a STAB egg move because it will potentially be my only STAB until level 43
Many thanks to thunderbeard here, for giving my idea more form, I'll try to have my submission ready by tomorrow evening.
Still have a lot of reading to do, but still very much interested.
Alright, I've got my character sheet ready, and I'll post it as soon as I've got my backstory written out. I'm a steel type specialist who aspires to become a knight.
I don't think Nidoran starts with a stab move but anyway this is the sheet for Nina Veras. Fluff is on the works.
Huh, this looks really neat. Would Trapinch be an acceptable starter? I'm torn between that and Shinx, not sure what I'd make out of either of them though.
Sonia Steinhardt was born in the town of Grayhaven next to the Golushkin mountains. Her parents ran a simple business shipping ore from the mines higher up in the mountains, but she was raised to believe that there was better for her. Loosely speaking, the Steinhardts were distant relatives of House Garess, the noble house that controlled their part of Brevoy. Because of this tenuous connection, Sonia grew up believing she had noble blood in her veins, and for a stalwart young warrior like herself, there was only one path in life that a noble might follow. Thus, she decided, at a tender young age, that she would become a knight.
For over ten years, Sonia has trained her mind and body to be as hard as iron. She spent her days hauling ore from the mines, and her nights training in swordplay. In time, her dedication earned her the admiration of the Pokemon that were used to work the mine, and a young drilbur became her stalwart companion.
While Sonia has never seen the likes of Restov or the Green Belt, word eventually made its way to Grayhaven of the upcoming campaign to drive off the villainous Team Stag. Seeing it as an opportunity to prove her worth as a knight, Sonia has set off, with Ser Drilbur in tow, to finally make a name of herself.
I don't think Nidoran starts with a stab move but anyway this is the sheet for Nina Veras. Fluff is on the works.
@Warlord: Don't forget about Egg Moves! You get one free on your starter, and I recommend Poison Tail; it would be your only poison STAB without TMs for a looong time (until the almighty Poison Jab at level 43), and is similar in power to the other starter moves I've seen people picking.
@Sonia: Don't forget to enable shared viewing on your doc link.
Totally forgot about the egg move!!
I hope you liked the build as I'm aiming to disable enemies.
I think my 4th class is going to be some kind of support to round up the team if needed, otherwise I might specialize on Type Ace or Hex Caster to finish the full disabler lol
Edit: Nidoran has no Poison Tail
Egg Move List
Amnesia, Beat Up, Confusion, Counter, Disable, Sucker Punch, Supersonic, Take Down, Venom Drench
@Sonia: Don't forget to enable shared viewing on your doc link.
Oh, whoops! I fixed it, it should work now.
I don't see a Stab move in the Egg list (bold highlight), or I might not getting it. Also don't see poison tail on nidoran (male)
Male Nidoran don't seem to have an Egg Move list, actually. Maeve would have to allow it, but the females have Poison Tail on their list.
I don't see a Stab move in the Egg list (bold highlight), or I might not getting it. Also don't see poison tail on nidoran (male)
My bad! It's a nidoran (female) egg move, and nidoran (male) gains it as an egg move in the videogames, but apparently not in this pokedex. Guess it's a GM call. Sucker Punch would be another excellent egg move, as it would protect your Nidoran from psychic types and fit with what seems to be your trainer theme.
EDIT: @Greg Owilder: Make sure you remember base stat rankings in your pokemon stat-ups. Lillipup's highest stat is Speed, so it needs more points invested in that than in any other stats. (Here, Speed>Atk>Everything else). You get a free redistribution of stats every time your pokemon evolves, so the choices don't need to be super-permanent.
Nidoran Male does have an egglist.
Egg Move List
Amnesia, Beat Up, Confusion, Counter, Disable, Sucker Punch, Supersonic, Take Down, Venom Drench
I think Beat Up, Counter or Sucker Punch are the best options.
Dot.
I am gonna work through trying to get through the very lengthy CRB as well as the various supplemental info in the ZIP folder.
Concept:
Chase, was born on the streets. He learned one thing: nothing is handed to you, so take something if you want it.
Adept Skill: Intimidate
Novice Skill: Combat
Features:
Edges:
Beast Master
Demoralize
Skill Enhancement (Athletics / Acrobatics)
Intimidating Presence
There aren't many classes you can qualify for with just Intimidate and Combat at Novice or above. The only one I'm seeing is Berserker, which, while rather interesting and cool, is also rather reliant on getting yourself into dangerous situations. Very determinator style of never backing down, might work for you if you want your character to be thuggish.
If you swapped Skill Enhancement out to get Novice Athletics, you can qualify for Roughneck as well which focuses on being intimidating while providing some defense to supplement Berserker's HP. The concept of taking things made me think Rogue would fit conceptually, but it requires two of Acrobatics, Athletics or Stealth to qualify, and is Attack based.
@The Warlord: I will allow Poison Tail on Nidoran M as an egg move.
@alexgndl: Trapinch is a good starter!
@Newbonomicon & Xan Neas: Thanks for the submissions, looks great!
Many thanks! Will add Poison Tail to it's move set.