Actions & Skills

Taking Action

Most of a game session in Pokémon Odyssey should be a conversation, with no dice involved. The GM sets a scene, the players narrate how they and their Pokémon act, and the GM narrates how the world and non-player characters (NPCs) respond to the player characters’ (PCs) actions.

For many actions, no resolution method beyond a judgment call is necessary—a character can obviously open any door that isn’t obstructed or locked, a Staraptor can fly up to retrieve something stuck in tree branches, a Machamp can lift a heavy barrel out of the way. On the other hand, other actions may be simply absurd—a Pikachu isn't lifting a car. The GM has the final say as to what actions are reasonable—is this jump feasible?, can this person be persuaded?, can this device be fixed with the resources at hand?—as well as whether or not a Skill Check needs to be invoked to resolve a situation or whether a simple judgment call can be made.

Players are always in charge of narrating their Trainer’s actions, and we recommend that players narrate their Pokémon’s simple actions as well but leave it up to the GM to add character to their Pokémon. Generally, if a player is actively doing something with their Pokémon, they are in control, but a GM may take over to have their Pokémon act in a situation where they’re otherwise idle or to have the Pokémon react to a situation. While a GM is in their rights to have Pokémon refuse to undertake a dangerous action, become afraid and unable to act in a situation, or otherwise compromise a player’s control over their Pokémon, this should be done very carefully and only with an eye to enhancing the roleplaying portrayal of the Pokémon. Pokémon Odyssey was created with the idea that Pokémon act as a reliable toolkit for their Trainers, and the non-combat capabilities of both Trainers and Pokémon were calibrated under this expectation. In combat, players are considered to have absolute control over their Pokémon.

Skill Checks

When the outcome is less certain AND failure can continue to drive the story forward in an interesting way, use Skill Checks. To do so, you and the GM discuss which Skill is most suitable for the challenge, then you roll 2d6 (two 6-sided dice) and add your Trainer or Pokémon's Skill Modifier (whoever is undertaking the challenge) for that given Skill.

Skill Modifiers range from –1 to +3.

Results

• On a 6 or lower, you generally fail and there is a complication that still drives the game forward.
• On a 7-9, you succeed at a cost or gain only a partial success.
• On a 10 or higher, you succeed cleanly.

Sometimes, you may roll with Advantage on a Skill Check or with Disadvantage because the GM decides the circumstances are especially favorable or unfavorable to you. To roll with Advantage, roll 3 dice and keep the highest 2. To roll with Disadvantage, roll 3 dice and keep the lowest 2. You cannot stack multiple instances of Advantage or Disadvantage, but the two cancel each other out. So gaining Advantage once on a roll is no different from gaining Advantage on that roll from two different sources. But if you were to also have Disadvantage from a source on that roll, you would still have Advantage because one of the instances of Advantage cancels that out.