'It was very much like the games, but in order to do that, 90% of the time you were just crunching numbers,' the creator explained. As a Pokemon fan, he sought out a Pokemon tabletop game too, which led him to another fanmade set of rules completely separate from 5th Edition that didn’t quite scratch that itch.

After playing his first game, he listened to tabletop-centric podcasts and tried out additional TRPG rulesets like Pathfinder and FATE. Why Pokemon With a Dungeons & Dragons Ruleset?None of that would have been possible without the person behind Pokemon 5e, which we'll refer to as simply 'the creator.' Like me, the creator had begun his journey into tabletop gaming with Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition a few years ago. I even DM'd my first mini-campaign where all of my stupid amount of random Pokemon knowledge became useful. I could write a whole separate article about how much cathartic fun playing Pokemon 5e with some of my closest friends online over Roll20 brought me in a time I couldn't see my usual local D&D group or play video games due to an injury, but trust me when I say we had a blast. There is even a price sheet for stores and specific catching mechanics!Īs seasoned D&D players, we picked up the fan-made ruleset intuitively. are all included and adapted for optimized D&D 5th edition-style play. But Pokemon 5e doesn't stop there: every Pokemon, move, item, held item, etc.

For the D&D fans reading this, it basically makes you a modified version of the Ranger’s Beast Master subclass (except actually good) with multiple beasts that do 99% of the fighting. Luckily, around two years ago, our Dungeon Master found a homebrew Pokemon handbook and monster manual online called Pokemon 5e, and it was exactly what we were looking for: The freedom of the D&D 5th Edition ruleset, but with Pokemon and the trainers that caught them featured front and center.

Hundreds of Pokemon, moves, abilities, items - it’s a lot. To be honest, translating the Pokemon video game into a tabletop-friendly format is a daunting task, and none of us wanted to commit to the legwork behind it. However, there is a truly cooperative group activity perfect for a nostalgic crew of Dungeons & Dragons fans who want to play Pokemon while also being social (or, socially distant): Pokemon 5e, a set of unofficial tabletop RPG rules built just for Pokemon.Though I have been playing with Dungeons & Dragons’ official 5th edition rule set regularly for five years, and always loved the idea of Pokemon D&D, my group had never quite figured out how to incorporate Pokemon ourselves. The core RPGs where it all started, the massively popular trading card game, the countless spin-offs like the upcoming New Pokemon Snap, and even a few board games. Pokemon has been around for 25 years now, and there are numerous ways to enjoy the well-loved franchise for its 25th Anniversary.

Official pokemon handbook online