Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Pokemon Tabletop. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
[PTU] Combination Moves
Topic Started: Feb 6 2017, 05:46 PM (695 Views)
l33tmaan
Pokémon Trainer
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
I play too many video games. One of the things that drew me to Pokemon tabletop was the idea that I wouldn't be limited to what the games can provide tactically. For years, I've wondered what stopped a Fire pokemon from spitting an Ember into a Gust to turn it into a mini-fire tornado, and then I realized - nothing is stopping me now. I was spitballing it in my head for a while, until my party actually pulled it off - A synchronized surprise attack consisting of three Confusions.

I thought, "how on earth do I keep this balanced?" "What would be worth giving up three attacks for one?" It came to me: attacking separately can and should do more damage, but combining multiple attacks into one should do something special. And so I came up with something on the fly and went back, wrote it up, and edited it so I can have more consistent combos as I move forward. I've only done it in one game so far, so please, let me know if it's horribly unbalanced.

Combination moves can be executed by delaying a user’s turn until an allied user uses a move at the same time. This uses up the turns of both users, but they can both add their attacking stats and gain an additional effect if another user is present. Each user makes an attack roll and must hit in order for the effect/damage to trigger.

Here's what my party pulled off:

Psycho Sync - 2 Confusion attacks, triggers Effect 2 with another Psychic attack
Target: 6, 1 Target
DB 11 (3d10+10+SpAtk of each user)
Effect 1: The target is Confused.
Effect 2: Each user gains +1 SpAtk CS


Using these rules, I had a few Lotads exhibit another move later on in the adventure:

Bubble Torrent - 2 Bubble attacks, triggers Effect 2 with another Water attack
Target: 4, 1 Target
DB 10 (3D8+10+SpAtk of each user)
Effect 1: Target loses -2 Speed CS
Effect 2: The weather becomes Rainy for 1 full turn


My general line of thought is that whatever 2 moves were initially combined will enjoy a damage boost and a guaranteed effect with another effect if there's a third user. Presumably, you could keep going for a fourth, fifth, and sixth user, but that gets increasingly unlikely. These are good for doing lots of damage to one thing, but if it has low defenses, it's far more effective to just attack separately. Additionally, these moves aren't as good against multiple targets, but you could totally come up with something that does.

Oh, and these damage bases are including STAB. If any user would gain STAB, then it applies to the attack, but if no one gets it, then the DB would decrease by 2.

NOTE: If anything, I'm worried about these being too weak in comparison to regular attacks, but I'd also hate for them to be exploitable as well.
Edited by l33tmaan, Feb 7 2017, 04:19 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Marhatus
Member Avatar
Avid Lurker
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
It seems to me like the combination attacks here are already better than using separate turns, because the attackers can apply their relevant Attack stats once for each attacker, while the defender only get to apply their relevant defense stat once. You probably want to look at the move Helping Hand for inspiration here, since it's a similar idea, but make your combination attack slightly weaker (so that Helping Hand is still worth a moveslot). So since Helping Hand gives a +2 to accuracy and +10 to damage with priority, you might do something like +1 to accuracy and +5 to damage per additional ally (or an additional effect instead of the damage bonus). Also, when thinking of additional effects, don't forget about effects that aren't in the games, such as Push, Slowed, Tripped, etc. Focusing combination attacks around these effects may get your players thinking more creatively for ways to get advantages in the fight besides damage. Good luck!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
l33tmaan
Pokémon Trainer
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
Marhatus
Feb 7 2017, 11:30 AM
It seems to me like the combination attacks here are already better than using separate turns, because the attackers can apply their relevant Attack stats once for each attacker, while the defender only get to apply their relevant defense stat once.
I already considered that - Yes, the defender only gets to defend against it one time while the attackers can all apply their attacking stats, but the tradeoff is that those three attacks aren't split up across three different pokemon, so unless you're fighting a solo 'mon and nobody else, that's overall damage you're missing out on.

For example: I have 3 Woobats with 15 Sp Atk each. In my first scenario, they'll be fighting 3 Geodudes with 5 Sp Def each, and in the second they'll be fighting a Snorlax with 25 Sp Def. Set Damage is nice and average, so I'm going to use that.

Example 1
Each Woobat attacks each Geodude with Confusion.
Each Woobat does DB7 + Sp Atk (32) damage to each Geodude for a total of 27 damage each.
That's 81 damage dealt total, plus three separate chances to confuse each Geodude.

Example 2
The Woobats combine their psychic energies to use Psycho Sync on the Snorlax.
The Woobats together do DB11 + each Sp Atk (72) damage to the Snorlax for a total of 47 damage.
That's 47 total damage that round, plus the Snorlax is confused and each Woobat gains +1 SpAtk CS, bringing their SpAtk to 18.

Please let me know if my math is off or if I'm overlooking something, but it seems like an acceptable tradeoff to me.
Thanks for reminding me of the other status afflictions, by the way. I'll totally keep them in mind moving forward.

NOTE: I totally forgot to mention, but each user has to make an attack roll like usual, and each must hit for the next effect to activate. If you only hit once, you just get the damage boost. If you hit twice, you get the effect, and if all three hit, you get the bonus effect. This also means that it's more difficult to get a full hit on something with high evasion.
Edited by l33tmaan, Feb 7 2017, 04:18 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kagemaru656
Member Avatar
Pokémon Trainer
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
An interesting idea... so far your examples are for the same type of move... but your description mentioned a fire tornado, plans to do some combos?

Or better yet, turn this into a framework that creates the moves based on the initial ones and hteir types so you're not trying to create stupid numbers of moves to cover all possibilities?
Edited by Kagemaru656, Feb 7 2017, 04:40 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
l33tmaan
Pokémon Trainer
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
Kagemaru656
Feb 7 2017, 04:39 PM
An interesting idea... so far your examples are for the same type of move... but your description mentioned a fire tornado, plans to do some combos?

Or better yet, turn this into a framework that creates the moves based on the initial ones and hteir types so you're not trying to create stupid numbers of moves to cover all possibilities?
Well, my idea is that the players are also more than free to come up with their own combinations, barring GM approval. I'd like to spur their creativity, after all, and they should know the capabilities of their team better than I do. My players don't, but that's besides the point.

But I do have a general framework, at least for similar moves: The DB increases and the secondary effect of those moves always activate. This is why Psycho Sync always confuses the target. The extra effect is a little less strict, but should fit in line with other moves of that type (hence the turn of Rain from Bubble Torrent). I'm not sure if I should let Status moves be combined, but I'm leaning towards no.

I'm not trying to cover all of the possibilities, either, as that would quickly get out of hand, I'm just trying to come up with cool (but not OP) moves to use in my campaign while expanding everyone's tactical options. I need to theory up that fire tornado move, just so I have an idea of what moves from different types would look like.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
l33tmaan
Pokémon Trainer
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
Oh, look at that, I finally came up with another one - a nasty weather combination a clever Ice-user could make use of.

Heavy Ice Storm - Hail and Gravity
Target: Field
DB -----
Effect : The weather changes to Heavy Hail for 5 rounds. While it is Hailing Heavily, all non-Ice pokemon lose a Tick of Hit Points at the beginning of their turn and any Flying-type pokemon take double damage. The area is also considered Warped, as per the Gravity move. Everyone caught in the storm under WC 5 is slowed.

Don't tell my players, but they'll be fighting an Abomasnow and Gigalith (naturally sporting a nice coat) in this, so they're not going to be quite as bothered by it. Fortunately for them, they're also the only two pokemon this guy has, I'd hate to see this on an Ice team or something.
Edited by l33tmaan, Feb 16 2017, 11:45 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Enjoy forums? Start your own community for free.
« Previous Topic · Pokemon: Tabletop Homebrew · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Pokéball created by Sarah & Delirium of the ZNR