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Reading the FAQ


  • General Questions - Questions about the system development and release dates.
  • Mechanical Questions - Questions and clarifications about how the system works.
  • Guides - Written and visual guides produced by the community to help new players. These are very much worth a read!
  • Storyteller Questions - Questions and clarifications on how to run the system.
  • Submitting Errata - The instructions for submitting Errata via the Discord.
  • Discord Questions - Questions related to the Discord specifically.

Green boxes contain questions and answers.

Light blue boxes contain guides and explanations.

Dark blue boxes contain information you should know.

Grey boxes are direct quotes from Discord, usually.


General Questions

I’d like to run/play a game of Pokerole!

  • The system is still fairly obscure compared to the other Pokemon systems. What we currently lack in player base, we make up for in quality! Try learning to be a Storyteller, and you’ll find a rewarding system with players eager to engage with your world.
  • (If you've never been a game master before, Pokexplorer’s Summer Camp is designed for both people new to the system and Storytelling.)

  • Players: You can post in the #player-directory channel following the template others have set. Storytellers can then find you by scrolling through the directory.
  • Storytellers: You can use the player directory as described above, or you can post your game's description using this template to the #open-games channel. You should ping the “@Looking For Game” role as part of your message as well. Once you've posted your game info, make a thread for people to respond in.

Where do I get the current version of the game?

You can find it the offical website. Not all the resources are used for the most current version of the game, however, so be mindful.

When will edition X.X of Pokerole/PMD come out?

There are no guaranteed release dates. At time of writing, Pokerole 2.1 and an update to the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon expansion are in active development, they will be released when they are ready.

Why can’t you give us a release date?

Because during the release of 2.0, a hard drive failure caused major delays in the release time frame and people made a meme about it. This frustrated the dev team to no end and they’ll no longer give release dates because of it.

Where are the Contest Cards mentioned in the rulebook?

Contests cards were lost in the aforementioned hard drive failure and 2.0 was released without them.

Why can't I print the book? It says it's password protected.

The book is password protected out of respect for the artists who donated all the art that makes the book so nice.

How do I fold the Pokemon printable sheet?

see this visual guide.

General Note Regarding PMD:

  • The Pokemon Mystery Dungeon module was written as an expansion of Pokerole 1.25. Pokerole is currently on 2.0, and no official Mystery Dungeon expansion exists for it (though there is homebrew).
  • Some Mechanics may not play well in PMD, because the 2.0 rules are designed exclusively for trainer games. This is something your table will have to work through until an official module can be released.

I want to run PMD, but the module is outdated!

The general recommendation is to run PMD as Pokerole 2.0.


Mechanical Questions

The book says you always do a minimum one damage, but can anything reduce my damage to zero?

Type-Resistance, Force Fields (light screen/reflect/aurora veil etc.), Shield Moves (Protect/Detect/Wide Guard), And certain Abilities (Filter, Flash Fire, Volt Absorb) can reduce damage to 0.

How many successes do I need to succeed on an Accuracy check?

  • The number of successes you need is determined by how many actions you have taken in that Round. On your first action you need one success, second action, two successes, etc.
  • Learn More on Pg.49

What’s the difference between a Round and a Turn?

Rounds consist of multiple rotations through the Initiative order. Each Pokemon can take up to 5 Actions in a single round. Starting with the highest initiative, that Pokemon takes a Turn where it can perform an action. Continue the process down the Initiative order until all Pokemon are out of Actions to take or pass their turn.

When the book says that Multiple Actions are optional, does that mean I can forgo them in my game?

Multiple Actions have an Optional tag next to them because it is optional whether or not you want to use them on your turn. Multiple Actions are built into the system and affect how the system is balanced, and so should be included in your play.

Is the amount of successes necessary to Evade or Clash affected by previous actions?

When you Evade or Clash, you only need to match your opponent’s successes on their Accuracy Check to be successful.

Does Evading or Clashing count as one of my 5 Actions per Turn?

Yes, Evading and Clashing each add 1 to your action count.

Are there any moves you can’t Evade or Clash?

Moves that use a Social Attribute (Cool, Cute, Tough, Smart, Beauty) for Accuracy can’t be evaded or clashed. Support Moves, Moves that ignore Defenses, and Moves that have a Set Damage cannot be clashed, as well.

Are the success/victories required for Training/Evolution cumulative?

  • No. After you rank up or evolve, the number of successes you need does not include successes from before ranking up/evolving.
  • IE: A beginner pokemon needs 6 successes to rank up to Amateur. Once it's Amateur, it needs 12 successes to get to Ace, the 6 it already has do not count.

Do I have to get all the required successes for Rank Up in one training session?

No. Write down the total number of successes you have at the end of each training session as you add up training session results until you reach the target number.

How many targets can I affect with my move that targets “All Allies/Foes in Range”?

The amount of allies/foes you can target is dependent on your rank. Check its description on pg. 30 for more specifics.

Does the damage caused each round by Restrain moves (Fire Spin, etc) ignore defenses?

Yes.

Does a Shield move block all the attacks from a move with Successive Actions?

No. A Shield move only blocks one action, and Successive Actions lets you take multiple actions to attack.

Why is Assurance/X move different from how it is in the games?

Different moves have been given different effects to match the feel wanted for Pokerole. This is not the case for everything, but 99% of the time the change is intentional.

What effects stack with each other?

  • Moves stack with Abilities with the same effect. (Example: Moves with High critical + Super Luck / Growl + Intimidate / Moves that increase an attribute + Ability that increases an attribute)
  • Items stack with Abilities with the same effect
  • Moves + Items with the same effect do not stack
  • Moves + Moves do not stack, take the larger number and apply that
  • Abilities with the same effect do not stack even when they are from a different source.

How do Charge moves work?

Charge moves are split between two turns. The first turn is the turn you declare you are using a charge move. You roll the Accuracy for the move, jot that down, and your turn ends. The battle continues until your next turn, where 1, your target can attempt to evade or clash, and 2, you roll the damage for your move.

If you fail your accuracy roll, the second half of the Charge move process is irrelevant: you can take any action you wish on that turn.


Guides

I don’t understand how multiple actions/Combat works!

How do large battles with multiple pokemon on each side work?

Glee has once again, written up an excellent breakdown of this. Read it here.

How does Clash work with Type Effectiveness?

Glee has made an infographic explaining how clash damage works with types. Read it here.


Storyteller Questions

How do I balance fights against player Trainers?

  • Generally, fights of equal rank and number will make a balanced fight. If your Trainers have three Pokemon at rank Amateur, an enemy trainer with three Amateur Pokemon in the fray will be a fair fight.
  • The Action Economy is also very important, IE, if three allied pokemon are attacking one enemy, the enemy, even at a higher rank, simply can’t keep up with three different pokemon attacking it. (AOE attacks can help balance this.)

Word of Glee

I divide battles on how they impact the story.

Random encounter
Just as it name indicates, it’s just a battle that was generated randomly. It’s usually just a few wild pokemon that can be defeated in a couple of rounds, no special strategy is used and sometimes they don’t evade or clash attacks.
Defeating them or running from them has no impact on the plot whatsoever.

Weak battle
Similar to random encounter, just adding more timed evasion/clash and try to use type advantage. Victory means a bit of money and information about the plot.

Meaningful battle
Can either be against a trainer or a strong pokemon or horde, but this battle is directly plot related, Victory means getting closer to the goal, Defeat still gives the players all they need to know but they now will have to find another way to reach their goal.

Boss fight
Dante-must-die mode, not only the foes are stronger but they usually have a strategy to neutralize the players, they must use all of their available resources to win.
If by the end of this battle they still have Will points, potions and more than 1-2 HP i did not do a good job.

Ranks

Lower rank = normal
Same rank = challenging
Higher Rank = Very hard

Add type advantage from the players and it becomes:
Lower rank= easy
Same rank = normal
Higher rank = challenging

And add type disadvantage and it becomes

Lower rank= challenging
Same rank = very hard
Higher rank = dante must die

How should I run a gym for 3-5 players?

  • Use “Anime Style” team sizes for official battles, where even if a Trainer has six Pokemon, they only use one or two in the fight. This keeps battle lengths down.
  • If your group is willing to share the spotlight, single battles between Trainers and Gym Leaders can be dramatic battles worth spectating.
  • If you don’t want to run single combats, have the league run double or triple battles against Gym Leaders and let your PCs all fight as a group. (Galar’s Star Cup rules are a good reference.)

What are suggested ranks in the Pokedex for? Is that what rank the Pokedex entry is describing?

All entries in the Pokedex are Starter Rank. The suggested rank is a guideline of what rank that pokemon might be encountered at in the wild, but NOT a requirement. You can have a starter rank Dragonite or an Ace rank Caterpie appear in your games.

How should I calculate the amount of money Trainers should receive?

The Pokedollar (Pokebuck, Poke, etc.) is based off of the yen. Therefore, the easiest conversion method is taking two decimal places off of the Pokedollar amount, and that will be your dollar amount (A Potion costing 400 Pokedollars would be about 4 dollars). Think about how much a trainer of that age could receive from an individual based on this.

Are there any prewritten Adventures/Modules for Pokerole?

  • As a matter of fact, quite a few are hosted on this very wiki. Jump the Home Page and scroll down the the Modules list. They're also listed in the sidebar, by title only. All four are for Trainer games.
  • A special call out to Pokexplorer’s Summer Camp! A module specifically designed to help newcomers learn the system and help new DMs easy into DMing. Good for people who have never DMed before and/or never played Pokerole before.
  • There are currently no prewritten adventure for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Games.

What Rank is recommended to start at?

Beginner is the recommended starting rank for newer players. The Devs refer to starting at Starter Rank as “Hard Mode” due to the lower power level, so if you do start at Starter, be sure to rank out of it quickly.


Submitting Errata

What is an Errata:

  1. Typos
  2. Grammar Mistakes / Wonky Sentence Structure
  3. Errors in information (i.e. Pikachu being listed as a dark type)
  4. Inconsistencies in the information (i.e. Move says it's Power 3 but the Damage pool space says Strength + 1)
  5. Floating letters or pixelated images
  6. Repeated content

What is Not an Errata

  1. Comparing stats between Pokemon and changes you think should be made even if the games support your thoughts, Pokerole is not required to be fully up to date to the latest Gen
  2. Comparisons between the games and Pokerole, for newer Gens see above, for older games you may ask respectfully, if it was intended in pokerole but more than likely, it was
  3. Demands to changes in the system (You're welcome to discuss a homebrew in homebrew-discussion , or ask respectfully why something is the way it is in pokerole)
  4. Complaints about X thing being broken (gm-discussions exists if you need help dealing with a broken mechanic, also house rules are a thing)
  5. Fakemon (Just no.)

Storytellers! There’s an addendum for the Guide here that applies to you.

I've checked the rules, how do I submit?

  1. Check if anyone else has submitted the errata to the team already on this spreadsheet. (If you see it mentioned, don't resubmit, even if the status isn't marked “Fixed” yet)
  2. Post the errata you found in the Errata channel of the Discord. Then if you have additional comments, or others want to comment on your errata, start a Discord Thread based off your original message. Please do not have conversation in the Errata channel.

Discord-specific Questions

Which resource channel can I post my fakemon in?

  • Fakemon are not allowed to be posted in any of the resource channels. They are allowed to be posted in #comfey-general, however, as these do not have an impact on the game itself. Regional variants of existing Pokemon are allowed to be posted in the pokemon-variants channel.
  • If you'd like to know why, the Fun/Sad/Cringey Story is at the bottom of the section.

How do I invite the Pokerole bot to my server?

Check the pinned message in the #bot-channel.

Where can I find separate PDFs of all of the different book sections?

Check the pinned message in the #announcements channel.

Can I post a non Pokerole game in Looking for Players?

As long as it’s not PTU, ask for permission from a Mod and they’ll let you know if you can post in #looking-for-players.

What are the Resources & Homebrew Channels for?

  • Each channel in this category is for different types of unofficial content generated by other players and GMs. The rule of thumb is only the content itself is to be posted in the channel relevant to it (IE, a custom character sheet in #sheets).
  • Any and all discussion of Resources in the channels takes place in homebrew-discussion!

Why Can’t I post my Content in the Resources & Homebrew channels?

In order to keep people from accidentally starting conversation in Resource channels, only those with the Content Creator role can post into Resources & Homebrew channels (besides #homebrew-discussion).

How do I get the Storyteller/Looking For Game/Content Creator role?

Read the Server Rules channel very carefully…

I want to make Fakemon and post them, why aren't they allowed?

To quote Glee, it's a “fun/sad/cringey” story.

A Fun/Sad/Cringey Story...

Back when pokerole was in alpha stages

we were experimenting with a lot of things, working on the balance and playtesting at the same time

There were more devs back then, I was one of the play testers

We've been playing for a couple of years already and the system was starting to get shape

we played in this popular game store in Monterrey city

when one of the devs/play testers said

“You know what it's missing? …Fakemon”

Mikel and Ruben (Pokerole main devs)
were pretty overwhelmed on the amount of work that had to be done for the pokedex
and said: “don't you think it's a little too much?” “yeah, we already have to stat 493 Pokémon and who knows how many will come out in Black and white since it's 2010!”

I'm paraphrasing…

yet he tried to push the subject: “People want customization! Choosing from the same batch will get stale and boring!”

Mikel said: “We are not ready, let's finish official pokemon first and then we'll see”
Ruben said: “Yeah, besides they will add more and more pokemon over time, soon we'll have 890 in 10 years! or maybe more!”

again, I'm paraphrasing

But this guy was not having it: “C'mon guys! I have this awesome idea for some new region starters, this idea is soo original Nintendo will soon be stealing it! It's a Jalapeño Grass/Fire starter, a Dinosaur mixed with a Water boiler that's Water/Fire and another one Glee does not remember right now that's Water/Grass see? Super original!”
He even showed us drawings
Bad drawings
it was awkward

and then

Mikel said: Yeah….I don't think we are adding those…
and that's when hell broke loose

We were in a public place, many people were in there and suddenly started staring
as this guy started throwing a fit

“How dare you?!” “This project is shit anyways!” “You always do this!” “Fakemon are the future!”
“without Fakemon Pokerole will go down the drain!”

“At least we should make a chapter on how to create them!”

and that's when both mikel and Ruben said: “You know what? we were going to add that chapter, but now we won't…ever”
i was like: 😮

and then there was silence

and this guy stormed off
afterwards the blood pact was signed among the remaining members of the dev team
No Fakemon on pokerole ever