Pokemon is 30 years old this week! It's also probably the 28th or 27th anniversary of a girl in my class giving me a Valentine's card that said "you're cool even though you talk about Pokemon all the time."
But you know what isn't cool? Bad encounter tables! And Pokemon is loaded with them. I'm not going to wade into whether or not Pokemon is or isn't OSR - but both of these posts made think about a specific area that Pokemon has been lacking in for most of its existence.
Let's take a look at the encounter table for Route 1, the very first place a new player would step into the tall grass and encounter a wild Pokemon.
Birds and rats. Okay, we're keeping it light as we ease you into the game. Let's check our next route:
A new type of rat. And another bird. We don't encounter a wild bug Pokemon until our third route! And that's still still less likely than running into one of those rats or birds you've already seen.
Things don't really heat up until Virdian Forrest where you encounter an evolved Pokemon for the first time (Medapod/Kakuna) and a maze full of bug catching weirdos who want to impede your progress.
Lack of encounter variety is simply boring. There's only so many times you can throw your Bulbasaur or Rattata against hardening Kakuna before you wished you could simply fumigate Viridian Forrest. This is why (almost) every cave environment in Gen 1 is an absolute slog. It's just Zubat after Zubat (unless it's Digletts.)
But do these tables tell us something about the world?
So the first thing that stands out there is the presence of Pikachu, everybody's favorite little guy. But the next thing that leaps out to me is the lack of Rattata, Nidoran, Pidgey and Spearow. Surely they would be at home in a place like Virdian Forest?
Unless an invasive colony of Pikachu's forced them out.
Pokemon distribution in Gen 1 (and 2 and 3 and...) has often been a sore point for fans. There's a reason so many Pokemon hacks take a crack at adding some variety or logic to where Pokemon are placed on the map. Just taking a look at what Routes have what Pokemon really makes you wonder both
A) Why some of them are only found in one (or very few) places
B) Why some of them are everywhere
C) Why certain Pokemon are encountered later instead of earlier
It totally makes sense from a game design perspective why you'd place Paras, Jigglypuff, Clefairy and Jigglypuff after Brock: they all have abilities that would make that first gym battle incredibly easy for the dim bulbs who picked Charmander. But Ekans? C'mon. I should've been able to catch a snake as soon as I got my Pokeballs.
I won't harp on this because I could totally fall down a rabbit hole of micro obsessing over Pokemon ecology and the implied state of Kanto into Generation 1...so let's just look at some lessons we can learn from Pokemon's handling of encounter tables for our own tabletop gaming:
1. Encounter tables should be diverse: If you're making a d10 encounter table and 3 of the options are the exact same thing, you done goofed.
2. Encounter types should be varied: in 30 years the only thing we can do with Pokemon when we encounter them is run away or battle them. And Pokemon only respond one way to your presence - fight or flight.
Give your players a little more than that! Encounters should respond to player behavior and other cues like their species, manner of dress, and languages spoken. I don't think we need full on reaction tables, just play it by ear.
3. Encounters should tell us something about the world and environment: If there's only of something somewhere, with a 5% chance to encounter it, you better know why. Is it endangered? Perhaps it's an alpha predator that doesn't like sharing territory.
4. They should be asymmetrical: Why should I let Mewtwo beat my Pokemons ass one by one? We are in a cave, just jump him. 7 v 1.
Encounters don't need to be fair they just need to be interesting. Did you know that in the OG Gen 1 games your opponents had infinite PP for their all Pokemon's moves? Stack the deck against your players and give them every opportunity to use their resources to do the same to the encounters you set up.
5. Make resources matter: Raise your hand if were out of Pokeballs the first time you encountered a Pikachu in Viridian Forest. It's not punishing your players if you put an encounter on your table that requires a resource they may not have - or might not want to give up.
Do you give the wounded trader your potion of healing? Is a days worth of rations worth it for *that player* to befriend a Dire Wolf? Make them think about it, but don't make them suffer. There's nothing fun about truly unobtainable rewards.
That's all for me on Pokemon for now.
POKEMON Inspired Encounter Table
1. Territorial Striges: 1HD. Carnivorous birds who prefer the flesh of young animals and small children. 2d20 appearing.
2. Jelly Siren Concert: 2HD, resistant to physical attacks. Gelatinous songstress who grows irate when it's magical song inevitably puts its audience to sleep. Constitution check to resist. 1 appearing.
3. Ember Elemental Traffic Jam: 2HD, fatally weak to water. A school of Ember Elementals cries out for help as a river blocks their path forward. Their tears are lava. 1d4 appearing.
4. Mimic Trainer: A Wizard (4HD, spellbook containing 6 spells, treasure: 3x capture crystals, 2d30 foreign coins, a small pewter badge) is struggling to help their pet Mimic (3HD) take on new shapes. To a passerby on the road, she looks like a madwoman arguing with a shoe. A Dire Rat (2HD) sleeps near her camp
5. Napping Bear: A sleeping Bear (6HD) of massive proportions blocks the only easy path forward.
6. Lucky Duck: A duck (2 HP) crosses the road carrying a bundle of scallions in its mouth.
7. Goblin Scytheman: A Goblin (4HD) carrying an ornate Scythe challenges passersbys to a friendly duel.
8. Hungry Travellers: A trio of travellers - Hai (exuberant young boy in a hat), Ganjo (stoic but flirtatious young man), and Ame (Friendly young girl tending to mysterious egg) are prepping a meager meal of rice and pickled vegetables.
There's a bunch of ways to connect the principles I laid out to these encounters.
-Perhaps the Hungry Travellers will shsre information about the Abandoned Den where they found that egg if you share food.
-The Sleeping Bear might but what diverted the normal migration of the Ember Elementals. Leave some pink jelly nearby too.
-The "friendly" Goblin has allies laying in wait nearby.
-The Duck might make great soup or be on its way to something interesting.
New Item: Capture Crystal
Capture Crystals are arcane devices crafted by skilled artisans of a foreign region.
An apple sized sphere carved from red and white crystal. When thrown at a creature rendered unable to fight but still alive, it has a chance of being captured.
Roll 5d20. If the creature has 2HD or less, it is captured if at least three dice read under 15. For creatures with 3-4HD, 4 dice must read under 15. For creatures with 5HD all 5 dice must read under 15.
You gain advantage on one dice roll if the creature is burned, confused, or paralyzed. You gain advantage on two rolls if it is frozen or asleep. A crystal shatters if a capture attempt is unsuccessful.
These crystals can only be used on non-intelligent, wild creatures. They don't work on anything they wouldn't be considered some sort of beast, animal or magical construct.
Once captured, a creature can be easily transported and summoned at will. Capture crystals bestow them with a modicum of loyalty to their trainer and the ability to follow rudimentary commands and instructions.
A crystal can only store one creature at a time. They can be reused if a creature dies or is released.
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There, I nerded out about Pokemon. Here is to 30 more years!
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