This post was originally meant to focus on Runar Synch Moves, the super secret special abilities I'm instituting into my Pokemon: Rise and Fall RPG campaign. Unfortunately, its taking a little longer than expected to rework and format the information so I figure its as good a time as any to tackle another aspect of the game that needs fleshing out: Inventory.
This is a set of guidelines designed to give the Pokemon AD player a little 'resource management' mixed into their high adventure exploration game of cute monster collecting. The mechanics here - such as they are - are less concerned with tracking encumbrance and that sort of thing and more about deciding what your character can and can't live without when heading into the wilderness on your Pokemon Journey.
This past week, while giving my players an overview of the Inventory mechanics, one of them asked, "How important is Inventory going to be?". A reasonable question and one relatively simple to answer, though as is often the case, what one person says and another hears can be two very different matters.
Suffice to say Inventory is not one of the most important or largest elements of our Pokemon campaign. It is an element though and as such, it needs some rules.
Pokemon Trainers begin with a Basic PokeBag that has 10 Slots of Inventory Space. PokeBags can be upgraded at Pokemon Centers for a fee and new PokeBags with far more Slots can be purchased at Poke Marts (A Pokemon League sanctioned international franchise of convenience stores that sell Pokemon related supplies).
Most items take up 1 Slot. These items are generally about the size of something that would fit in a small backpack, 'fanny pack', or handbag. That's just a rough estimate of course. A rolled up Tent for 1 person also takes up a single Slot. So would a Medical Kit that would itself contain Bandages, Antiseptic Spray, Aspirin, and other related components.
If the item is notably larger or effects/is useful to multiple people at once it will likely take up two or even three Slots (though that is rare). If the item is too big, not only will it not fit in your PokeBag, it may possess Inventory Space of its own. In fact, that's a good sign that you're looking at an item that shouldn't go in a backpack, like a Steamer Trunk or a Car.
Note that many special items can have multiples of themselves stored in a single Slot. These items will be listed with a ' # per Slot ' on the table below indicating how many can be stored together.
Here are some standard Pokemon Journey items, how many Slots they take up, their cost, and some descriptions:
Items noted under the Number of Slots column may be listed as # by Type, such as Potions. This means that a single Slot may hold 3 regular Potions or 3 Super Potions or 3 Max Potions but different types of the same item do not stack. The important thing is that if you have 2 regular Potions and 1 Max Potion, the regulars will go in one Slot and the Max in another. Different varieties of Berries may be stacked together and different Evolution Stones may as well. Not so with Potions or items listed the same way.
If the Cost of an Item is written #+ by Variety, such as Pokeballs at 200+, it means the basic or standard version is the price listed but improved or special versions of the item can go for more. A standard Pokeball is 200 but a Great Ball costs 600, while an Ultra Ball costs 1200!
Items with an asterisk * are considered Key Items. Key Items are items often available for free under certain conditions. When a player creates their PC, they may choose up to three Key Items to begin the campaign with. It is strongly suggested that at least one of these choices be directly related to your Trainer Class. For example, if you are a Pokemon Rider, you don't have to buy Riding Gear. You can just choose that as one of your starting Key Items and its definitely a good idea to do you.
If an item has no Cost, it is generally not available for purchase or is far too expensive to make it viable to a Player Character. Fear not! These items may be given for free as they are intrinsic to the game (like a Pokedex) or they may be obtained on a Scenario by Scenario basis (though in these cases you might not get to keep them). Some are gained as a reward by performing a task for an NPC, as is the case with the Bike Voucher.
Some items here will likely require further description and explanation but I will save that for another post. This one is already quite long and was much delayed.
The list above is also no where near complete in that it isn't anything and everything a Pokemon Trainer might want or need so Players and GMs should consult with each other regarding adding new items using the Item Chart about as a reference point.
It probably doesn't need to be said but you might have some D&D players in your group so: A PokeBag takes up 1 Slot if placed inside another PokeBag, as long as the stored PokeBag is empty. If there is even one item/slot occupied, it counts as 'too big' to place inside the first PokeBag because, as noted above, it is an item with its own Inventory Space.
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Barking Alien
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