How well would the collectable monster genre work in GURPS?

[starslayer]

Slave mentality (combat only) [??] - might be a very applicable disadvantage that will keep your trainer/pet master busy issuing orders instead of directly participating in the fight.

Allowing the martial arts implementation of the tactics skill would also further improve the usefulness of a 'battle co-coordinator' over just another combatant.

[jeff_wilson]

Isn't there a campaign frame in BIO-TECH where kids get to genemod their own fighting pets?

[Nymdok]

I see no reason it couldnt work. I would offer a few of these tips/questions:

1. What keeps the monsters from attacking other 'trainers'?
2. In the event that the match is settled, and one side is a 'sore looser', what happens then?
3. Why is everyone fighting these tiny monsters?

I like the idea at its core. In a way, it allows the Player to have several different combat charachters that they get to 'pilot'. The problem is, once that combat is over, where is the story going? If its just 'to be the very best, like no one ever was' thats ok, but sooner or later the PCs are going to start fighting each other 'Highlander' style.

Now what might be kind of cool short term is to tell a pokemon like story from inside the pokeball or from the pokemon's perspective. I lke the idea that pokeballs are just gates to a common dimension where pokemon run free and have thier own world w/o humans. So no matter WHO caught them, or who had the pokeball, ALL pokeballs would be gates to Pokemon-dom. This allows pokemons friendly in one dimension to be forced to be combativie in the human world.

Further advice:

Pick a point range for all pokemon that they must adhere to. I dont know what that range should be, but try building the first 150 pokemon and see what falls out. Im thinking about 75 points would do it. and you may want to keep that +-10 points with a hard cap. No matter how much you train them, they will be awarded no further CP.

You may want ot level them. 75 poitns for Level 1 pokemon, 90 for stage 2 evolution, 105 for stage 3.

Alot of the powers would be common. Leverage that. BUbble Beam, Razor Leaf etc.

Nymdok

[Disliker of the mary sue]

Nymdok

Hm admittedly with pokemon the answer to those questions are kind of vague. Though I Guess these tiny monsters would basically be legal lethal weapons in a collectable monster general genre unless you trying to do a deconstruction so the answers would probably be

1. Nothing really stopping them from using them on humans, in fact criminal organizations in various shows do that.

2. I guess the answer has always been if one guy out of creatures and the other guy still has some still in fighting condition....well mundane humans are not usually good at dealing with fire breathing dragons and electrical rodents by themselves.

3. The meta answer is because in a boys show a series about raising weird animals without fighting would be kind of boring to them.


Hm your CP limits on pokemon sound good but what about legends like mewtwo or zapdos.


And thank you everyone for the feed back in general I am learning a lot here. Two more questions I have though.

1. If one does have one of each monster, like if you caught all six hundred pokemon do you have to buy an ally advantage for every single one of them?

2. How exactly does Gurps handle something like fusing two monsters into one stronger monster, is their a rule explaining something like that somewhere?

[Faolyn]

Originally Posted by Disliker of the mary sue

1. Nothing really stopping them from using them on humans, in fact criminal organizations in various shows do that.

They seem to have some sort of inhibition about attack their master, though. Slave Mentality, a SoD that comes with being caught, or what?

2. I guess the answer has always been if one guy out of creatures and the other guy still has some still in fighting condition....well mundane humans are not usually good at dealing with fire breathing dragons and electrical rodents by themselves.

Actually, my question is, how easy is it to kill one? On the show, as I recall, they always called recalled. In a game, especially one not actually built on Pokemon, can they be killed? If so, how easily?

1. If one does have one of each monster, like if you caught all six hundred pokemon do you have to buy an ally advantage for every single one of them?

Isn't there a limit to how many you can have at a time? My knowledge comes from cheezburger pokemon memes, so I could be wrong.

2. How exactly does Gurps handle something like fusing two monsters into one stronger monster, is their a rule explaining something like that somewhere?

I would just make a new creature that combines elements of the component parts.

[Disliker of the mary sue]

Originally Posted by Faolyn

Isn't there a limit to how many you can have at a time? My knowledge comes from cheezburger pokemon memes, so I could be wrong.


.

You can have six in you possession at a time but you can store roughly hundreds of them in either a PC or a pokemon ranch depending on continuity.

[Ketsuban]

Dragon Warrior Monsters might actually be a better model to follow than Pokémon when running a collectable-monster game in GURPS - in DWM, monsters decide to join you of their own free will rather than being captured, and resent being left in the farm rather than being taken with you.

[Nymdok]

Originally Posted by Disliker of the mary sue

Hm your CP limits on pokemon sound good but what about legends like mewtwo or zapdos.

Well its your game, so you're going to have to decide. Usually the ways to do that are:

1. assign offsetting Dissads (like a major weakness) to keep the point total in line with the other Pokemon

2. Just accept that some are worth more. Be careful with this as it can turn into a 'I've got the Uber pokemon no one can stop me' situation or a 'You have to have one of the legendary pokemon to be competitive.

2. b. Make a 4th level. I like the idea that as pokemon evolve, they get 'better'. Makeing a Zapdos or a Mewtwo in line with a 3rd evolution pokemon seems legit and as long as you keep strength close, there should still be a chance that a lowly Bellsprout can get the best of a Zapdos.

3. Keep in mind that some pokemon are more 'valuable' becaue they have uncommon abilities, not just the raw power of their attacks or abundance of HP.

And thank you everyone for the feed back in general I am learning a lot here. Two more questions I have though.

1. If one does have one of each monster, like if you caught all six hundred pokemon do you have to buy an ally advantage for every single one of them?

2. How exactly does Gurps handle something like fusing two monsters into one stronger monster, is their a rule explaining something like that somewhere?

1. If you can have no more than 6 at a time on your person then picking the 6 you take is as simple as a loadout for any other game. The ability to load them out at all, Id call a 1pt perk in the context of that game on top of the Summonable Ally that you pay for. Here again is where keeping point values on par works in your favor.

2. The simple answer is just to build a third monster.

Nymdok

[Disliker of the mary sue]

1. If you can have no more than 6 at a time on your person then picking the 6 you take is as simple as a loadout for any other game. The ability to load them out at all, Id call a 1pt perk in the context of that game on top of the Summonable Ally that you pay for. Here again is where keeping point values on par works in your favor.

Wait does that mean I only have to pay for six of the Pokemon that are currently in my possession? Or did I misphrased my question? I was sort of asking how does one handle having a huge amount of Allies in "storage" somewhere, do you have to pay the ally cost for every individual monster or what?

[Kalzazz]

I suggest modular abilities, 6 slots

Will not be cheap really, but being able to carry fire team of critters into battle with you isn't likely to be cheap