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| Special Terrain [PTU]; Because even the ground has to rise up to murder you. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 19 2015, 11:30 AM (1,223 Views) | |
| TenabreTrevellian | Aug 19 2015, 11:30 AM Post #1 |
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Pokémon Trainer
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This is a little thing I've been idly thinking up. This will be a list of different kinds of terrains and hazards that could pop up in the world to change things up. An echoy cave that enhances sonic moves to make that Whismur encounter a little more interesting, or the breathable water in the Porygon sourcebook. It's more relevant for my current planet hopping campaign what with all the different planets with different workings of the world, but bits and pieces could be adapted if you like to make an encounter memorably different. Mundane: Terrains you might find in the real world today. Sand Dunes: many think of Sand Dunes as this stationary thing that you find in deserts, but you could go miles without any at all. But then Sand Dunes appear in many ways. The wind will pick up a thin layer of dust and small rocks to coat a road, or a dried lake bed. But there are a number of plants and grasses that'll cling onto bouts of sand until a heavy wind plucks it all up and throws it around. Sand Dunes move about, although it takes a long time for them to get anywhere, it's enough to run over farmland and choke out a forest, eventually. A Sand Dune could possibly Collapse, the grains of sand sticking together just enough to keep an illusion of a slope but once you set foot on it, or the wind blows just the right way on a sand dune nearby, a small avalanche of sand will come down. If a Sand Dune collapses, and you are standing in it, you must take an Athletics or Acrobatics check to hold your ground, or get pushed a number of meters. (Actual numbers can vary, depending on the size of the Dune and so on.) If you start your turn in the resulting sandy pile up, you are slowed for that turn. Flying Type moves near Sand Dunes can cause them to fall a lot easier, and as can some Ground type moves. If a move from one of these types Miss their target, a Sand Dune can collapse. Alternatively, a GM can suggest that any Flying move has a chance of collapsing a nearby Sand Dune if it's big enough. Larger Sand Dunes may even cause damage, perhaps a tick of hit points. There is also chance of a Blowout, to add a little more danger to these Sand Dunes. Sometimes, the wind can change direction and cause the sand to hollow out, leaving a large cavity. These cavities are not always visible, and a thin layer of sand might cover a decent sized cavern that'd swallow a trainer or pokemon. Noticing a Blowout would require Perception or Survival checks, and a Pokemon or a Trainer falling into one can cause enough problems in the heat of battle. Quicksand: is an obvious danger in the deserts, when sand is suddenly agitated and holds water that cannot escape, it becomes Quicksand. This loses it's strength, and it becomes unable to hold up weight. Liquefaction is also a rarer danger, usually after an Earthquake increase the pressure of shallow groundwater, causing the same effect and this can mean buildings or objects on the surface sink. A Perception or Survival will appropriately identify Quicksand, and if one is caught, they come trapped in a Vortex and undergo the rules as such. An Ally can assist in pulling someone from the Quicksand, however, allowing another chance to roll at the next decreased level. E.G. You roll on your turn and unfortunately do not get that 20, but John grabs you on his turn right after, you can try again and roll 15, and get free. That said, if you've somehow managed to get yourself stuck in the middle of a large pool of quicksand, you're either on your own or hope your Flying Pokemon, or similar, get to pull you out. A GM can rule that certain Pokemon with Sky speed and high enough Power can just pluck you out. Flash Floods: Always a danger when it starts to rain a whole bunch, a flash flood can raise the water level to unexpected levels, causing the rivers to overflow and causing normal terrain, now matter how dry it usually is, or even in the desert, to suddenly flow with new rivers of rushing water. Flash Floods are treated as Rainy Weather, and rivers of fast flowing water can suddenly cause a burst of water that can require you to use your Swim Speed to stay in place, or Survival to grab onto something to not get swept up. Depending how long it lasts, and how deep it ends up going, GMs can ask for other checks to keep heads above water, and to avoid flowing debris inside the rivers. Panicked wild Pokemon can also be an issue as they flow by. Strong flows might uproot small trees and large rocks, which may also be avoided, but to get hit might be a problem. 'Small' objects would cause a damage at DB 2, Medium at DB 4, and Large at DB 6, along with effects that might come along with being pushed downstream. These rules keep in mind the idea that this Flash Flood is a HUGE DISASTER, however. You can play it as small rivers that simply cause your players to be slowed. It could even prove beneficial, give everyone a free Pickup roll as they see stuff flow on by! Plot Hook: The Flash Floods going on recently have caused local Spinarak to flee and set up cobwebs around local farmland. You've all seen those Australian Spider Web things, I'm sure you can imagine. Mirages: Can prove an interesting idea, especially if your players don't catch on quickly. You could have them running in the desert for a long time before they realise the oasis ahead of them isn't really there. This doesn't have to be in a desert though, a particularly hot day makes roads look like puddles of water in the distance and you could end up seeing things walking around a really hot forest. Mirages work like Illusions do, of course without a controller. Certain Pokemon or maybe Trainers can see through them as normal. Beyond that, they'd have effects mainly based on the roleplay you'd have with them. Keep your PCs in mind when using Illusions, what might be on the forefront of their mind that they might want to see, play with what they'd end up chasing after. If one player's a bit worried about seeing stuff in the forest on a hot day, make him see things out of the corner of his eyes. Dirty Thunderstorms: Google it, I'll wait. It looks like an entrance to hell. Usually this is caused by Lightning Storms in plumes of volcanic ash, and this can suitably be involved in your games. It makes a fight on the mountain that much more terrifying and memorable when you're fighting Fire Pokemon, like Magcargo, a plume of ash from the nearby volcano drifts over as a thunderstorm picks up. This does start off as Rainy Weather, and can be foreshadowed by the gathering mixed clouds up above. Rainy initially makes this disadvantageous to the poor Magcargo, or fire pokemon that might be around, and your players may celebrate it! One the second round of a Dirty Thunderstorm picking up, start to coat the area with Smokescreen as the heavier clouds come down. On turn three, for each player, roll a Thundershock. You may randomly dish out these Thundershock's trainers, their pokemon, or wild pokemon as you see fit. The idea is that then these start coming down and give your players a realisation in what's going on, to get to some kind of cover. The Smokescreen does not effect these Thundershock rolls. If the players don't find some kind of shelter, you can escalate it with a Thunderbolt thrown in instead. Brinicles: An interesting phenomenon. when the surface of the sea freezes, it creates a pocket a cold and salty seawater to gather below it, this is especially cold and begins to sink, freezing as it falls into a kind of ice stalactite. Now, chances are, if it's that cold your players aren't swimming in the ocean or a salty lake, but if they find themselves thrust into it, or for some reason head down themselves, you can make a point of having these appear and cause some manoeuvring. Alternatively, perhaps in this particularly salty lake, these form strong enough that you can walk and hop across a given lake, requiring Athletics rolls to keep on them without falling in. Or perhaps still, an item of the party's interest falls in and becomes a part of this Brinicle. Echo Caves: The formation of vastness of caves and caverns can cause echoes. Some caves can cause an echo that is particularly strong, escalating sound that is involved in the cavern and in some cases, enhancing it. This has a number of effects on certain abilities and moves; Drown Out - The Focus check gets a +2 to the roll. Echoed Voice - Is treated as started already, giving the starting DB as 8. Round - Counts as already having a previous use when starting. For the rest, all Sonic Moves have their range increased by double, Cone 2 becomes Cone 4, and so on. Musicians songs also count. At a GMs discretion, variant options could be that Effect Ranges on Sonic Moves increase by 2, or that they lose the Friendly tag. Tidal Marsh: Large salt-water marshes occur when low-lying lands meets the ocean, but doesn't quite become a beach. They'll come in the forms of Marshes and Bogs but with salt-water rather than inland. Although I'm mentioning Tidal Marshes in particular, what I write here could be adapted easily for inland. Moving through such Marshes and Bogs incur the Slowed effect on many travellers, dotted around with deeper sections that can cause problems. They can be used at advantage, though. Bogs and Marshes provide a +2 to Stealth skill rolls when hiding in them, although -2 when trying to move around. Mud Flats offer brief landmasses that can be crossed normally. Strange: We live in Pokemon worlds, there's bound to be a few different and strange terrains that are harder to explain, and rarer to pop up. I'd suggest with each of these just dropping hints nearby that this is a thing. I'll give examples with each. Shadowrock: Perhaps found in long lost caves under a dead volcano, or sand mixed in of ground up cinders, Shadowrock is a result of weaker obsidian shards around parts of the world. But it is odd, it has a strange property to almost absorb the light around it. Walking across it just makes the day seem a little bit later, and a torch in a cave of it seems like it's barely shining at all. Darkvision comes in handy, naturally. Pokemon lose the Glow capability when walking on Shadowrock. A GM can rule whether levitating or flying Pokemon still lose thing depending on situation. Fire Type moves used in caves or whilst standing on Shadowrock are resisted one step, regardless of the type of the target, and Rock Type moves used are Doubley Super Effective against Fire Types (Dealing 2x rather than 1.5x). Other moves are also adjusted, Solar Power just plain doesn't work in caves of the stuff, no matter how much one tries. Sunny Day doesn't work, and trainers with features to have their Pokemon act as if it's Sunny don't work either. The Ability Sunglow doesn't work when on Shadowrock terrain, although mysteriously, Starglow does. (Although that's entirely up to you, it could just be slightly interesting to play with. Green Fireballs: A phenomenon that is strange in our current modern day escalates in the Pokemon world. A storm of Green Fire is an omen for bad things to happen, as well as it's own danger. Dark clouds will form in the sky, and a Survival check of 10+ would discern they're not typical rainclouds. The Fireballs will rain down and cause damage to everything they touch, like an acid rain. Fire-type moves have their DB increased by 1, everyone loses 1/10th of their HP unless they're a Fire or Water type. Steel types lose 1/8th. Strangely enough, the Green Fire doesn't ignite anything, it just rains down and causes havoc until shelter is found. This is only the first effect though, as stated, the Green Fire brings an omen of bad things coming. The GM creates a pool equal to the number of rounds the Green Fire lasts, the GM can spend a point of this pool to inflict Probability Control at any point on any target, or to temporarily give a Wild Pokemon Super Luck, or Omen. Other abilities can be played with, such as Forewarn. They may also be used to activate Lucky Chant on an opposing Pokemon even if the Pokemon doesn't know the move. Drainsalt: Everyone knows that eating Salt or drinking Salt Water makes you thirsty, this turns that up to eleven. Salt Flats are known in the world, and can pop up in your game with some interesting Pokemon. But Drainsalt is another level. It seems to drain the moisture from the air, leaving a trainer dehydrated as much as if they were walking through a desert. If someone touches the Drainsalt with bare skin, or stays in a patch of Drainsalt for long periods of time, the effects start to set in. A Pokemon or a Trainer will gain the ability Dry Skin temporarily, and start to find that drinking water to combat this dehydration doesn't work as well. Further exposure would lead to feeling the effects of even the normal sun as if it was Sunny Day. Only by getting off the Drainsalt and drinking a lot to rehydrate themselves will they be 'cured' of this condition. Certain Pokemon with other abilities can suffer additional effects. Aqua Boost, Damp, Permafrost, Wash Away, Water Absorb and Water Veil do not work when on Drainsalt, but having any of these abilities causes Dry Skin to set in much later. Photosynthesis works, but heals only 1/10th of total health instead of 25%, and when the further effects set in, it simply negates the damage. Steel Types and Pokemon with Shed Skin are immune to this ability. You may adjust accordingly for Pokemon with Sky speed or Levitate whether or not it is effective. Slumbersand: This is possibly the simplest terrain I'm going to add to this page. Slumbersand works as Sleeping Powder does. It Careful adventurers can cross it without suffering the effects, by moving as if they were slowed. However, fast movement, especially sprinting, or moves that may kick up the sand causes everyone to be effected by a Sleep Power. Levitating and Flying Pokemon obviously get an advantage here. Gathering Slumbersand can be used to make Sleep Pesterballs. Magnetised Ore: Strange energies, ley lines or technologies imbue veins of ore with a powerful energy, a magnetism posing as a hazard for Steel Types and anyone wearing Ferrous metals. They will find themselves almost supernaturally being pulled towards the ores. You are slowed for the purposes of moving away from the ore, and at the end of your turn you are pulled 2 meters towards it. This is one I might need to play with numbers a bit. Something interesting here could be that you put a Pokemon in the way between the ore and the players, so they start to believe it's to do with the Pokemon, and then when the Pokemon moves behind them, they try and move back, only to be dragged onto the wall. Pokemon with the Magnetic capability are not only unaffected, but can get between someone affected and push them away, or even closer, as the case may be. Other Idle Ideas; Things I've thought about, but not in any huge detail. Bad Air: Down in caves due to methane gas, or something else entirely, it's harder to breathe. Sonic moves have decreased effect range/DB Decrease. Flying Pokemon have Sky Speed reduced. Poison Moves more effective. Another idea might be if a Fire Type move is used, everyone within X are Burned. Fairy Circles: A strange energy around here is reminiscent of the Flower Veil or Aroma Veil ability. Also grants everyone nearby the Mindlock capability. Geysers: Use Water Sports everywhere and give Pokemon nearby Damp. Cursed Tomb: If a melee move misses a target who is adjacent to a wall, they instead hit the wall, which has the Mummy ability. GM can also have the tomb use Omen. I hope all of these prove interesting, and inspire you to include variant terrain and weathers in your worlds. If people do like this and are interested, I'd happily add more bits and pieces when I get the time to write it up, such as Petrified Forests, Glass Canyons, other idle bits and pieces. Feel free to throw up your thoughts and suggestions, and I might see what I can do. Edited by TenabreTrevellian, Aug 19 2015, 01:42 PM.
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| l33tmaan | Aug 8 2017, 01:49 PM Post #2 |
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Pokémon Trainer
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I'd just like to let you know that I'm going to steal as much of this as I can, as it's perfect for the campaign I'm starting. I'll throw down terrain ideas as I use them, but I've always been partial to the thought of deserts with giant, jagged slabs of glass all over the place due to perpetual thunderstorms. When it's not storming, it's almost impossible to look anywhere in the desert. |
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| togapika | Aug 9 2017, 09:00 AM Post #3 |
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Togepi in human form
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It sounds from the flavor like this should enhance fire pokemon somehow? |
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