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Advice for a complicated encounter; Please and thank you
Topic Started: Feb 13 2017, 09:32 PM (654 Views)
Grissom
Pokémon Trainer
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So I'm preparing to DM a campaign for some friends of mine, but I'm still fairly new to PTU and have never actually DM'd before. I have an idea for an encounter of some significance, and I can already tell that the idea I'm currently rolling around is going to be complicated (to put it mildly). I was hoping anyone with some spare time and more experience could offer some wisdom on how they'd make this idea work.

The scenario in question will be spoilered on the off chance my players frequent this board and see this topic. Speaking of, for anyone currently involved in Magnetic Mystery, it's me. No peeking.

Spoiler: click to toggle


Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

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l33tmaan
Pokémon Trainer
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There's nothing wrong with your idea at all, but I didn't see you mention anything about the most important part of any encounter: the environment.
In order for you as a GM to utilize your bosses to the fullest of their abilities, you should have a battlefield just as varied and epic as the enemies the players fight, so in this case, you're going to have to think really hard of ways for your Type:Infinites to make the best of what's around them.

Here's a simple one:
-One T:I flies into a nearby lake and starts siphoning the water into a massive Hydro Pump that has the effects of Soak as well (it's a boss, stretch the rules)
-Another T:I flies straight up and unleashes a fearsome Rain Dance, causing a storm to appear out of nowhere
-the third T:I burrows into the ground and unleashes a pinpoint-accuracy Thunder from its horn while inside a hole, where it now actively burrows underneath the party to strike again

Just think of ways for them to work together and break things and your party will handle the rest.
Also, I wouldn't worry too much about what their exact capabilities are, unless they're going to be directly relevant or something. No need to give it Firestarter/Fountain/Guster for each transformation when you can just say what you want it to do without having to refer to the sheet. Unless you're planning on posting the forms here or something.
Edited by l33tmaan, Feb 13 2017, 10:04 PM.
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Grissom
Pokémon Trainer
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Well, the reason I didn't mention anything about an environment is because that hasn't been decided yet, partly because where this encounter occurs is at least partly dependent on where it ends up being appropriate for the party to find it. This is gonna be at the end of a fairly involved campaign so I'm not going to lock down details like that until I have a better feel for where this might actually go down.

As for the forms, I was only going to put up actual details if it was decided that they needed proper workshopping.

In regards to the capabilities, my main concern was the possibility that certain combinations would result in imbalances that I just wouldn't see coming, especially since I plan to play around with the big-ticket ones like Phasing and Telekinetic and Invisibility.
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Goliathus
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It's a final boss, I personally see no problem of it being crazily OP as long as the players still have a chance to win against it. You can use all the capabilities you want as long as you present players with solutions to fight against them. If you think you might go too too far in the design, establish some possible help for the players before the final fight and deploy them whenever you think you have to. "Final stage helper" is common in RPG video games where some sort of powerful artifact and what not is given to the player only in the final stage. So, you can have some kind of artifact "awaken", legendaries interfering and what not in the final fight when the players are in a pinch.

Edit: I would also point out that multi-form final boss is a common thing in RPGs too. I find it don't see it as an impossible idea to run in tRPG.
Edited by Goliathus, Feb 15 2017, 12:15 AM.
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GrayGriffin
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"Ah, you unmasked me. Whatever shall I do."
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Goliathus
Feb 15 2017, 12:13 AM
It's a final boss, I personally see no problem of it being crazily OP as long as the players still have a chance to win against it. You can use all the capabilities you want as long as you present players with solutions to fight against them. If you think you might go too too far in the design, establish some possible help for the players before the final fight and deploy them whenever you think you have to. "Final stage helper" is common in RPG video games where some sort of powerful artifact and what not is given to the player only in the final stage. So, you can have some kind of artifact "awaken", legendaries interfering and what not in the final fight when the players are in a pinch.

Edit: I would also point out that multi-form final boss is a common thing in RPGs too. I find it don't see it as an impossible idea to run in tRPG.
You probably want to set up a reason for legendaries to interfere in the final fight. And also a reason why they don't just crush the encounter themselves. Good foreshadowing goes a long way here.
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l33tmaan
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Personally, if I was a player, I'd think having legendaries come in to help me against the final boss would be a bit cheap unless it was really set up in advance. If anything, they should show up, get punked, and then the party has to rescue their ass. But maybe I just like power trip games.
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Arcran
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Grissom
Feb 14 2017, 06:54 PM
Well, the reason I didn't mention anything about an environment is because that hasn't been decided yet, partly because where this encounter occurs is at least partly dependent on where it ends up being appropriate for the party to find it. This is gonna be at the end of a fairly involved campaign so I'm not going to lock down details like that until I have a better feel for where this might actually go down.

As for the forms, I was only going to put up actual details if it was decided that they needed proper workshopping.

In regards to the capabilities, my main concern was the possibility that certain combinations would result in imbalances that I just wouldn't see coming, especially since I plan to play around with the big-ticket ones like Phasing and Telekinetic and Invisibility.
I mean, at the end of the day "random" just means GM fiat. If the T:I are too strong just have them "randomly" mutate and gain a less useful Capability.

Honestly though, random Capabilities won't have much of an impact on the fight most likely. The majority of the ones you listed can't be used in a way that would radically change the encounter. Even stuff like Phasing and Invisibility, while strong, severely limits your ability to do, well, much of anything.

Rather than making the changes random though, I'd plan it all out beforehand. It'll let you set the bar for how difficult the encounter will be pretty easily, while also cutting down book keeping during the fight. Maybe give each T:I six Types, and iterate through those forms as it loses HP bars? Maybe have a flux Ability and two flux Moves that change with the forms, as well as it gaining appropriate Capabilities?
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Grissom
Pokémon Trainer
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The pre-set forms seems like the best thing to do, especially since by the time this happens the party's teams should be finalized and I'll be able to specifically tailor each T:I to give its player a difficult but winnable fight. Best part about that is, if they decide to trade dance partners I can just swap the dockets on them :3

As for legendary backup, the campaign already has a number of scenarios that could lead to that. Hell, I might have it happen even if they win the fight just to pay off that setup. I probably wouldn't have thought of that right away though, thanks for that.
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