Mounts (Rule)
Traveling on foot can become hard for any trainer, but with the proper tools and training, any pokemon can become a useful ride on the ground, the sea or the sky! When Trainers are using Pokemon as Mounts, travel becomes quicker for the party and the pokemon get to be out of their Poke Ball, grabbing some excercise. So then, what are the qualifications for a pokemon to be a mount? Ultimately, whether a Pokemon can serve as a mount or not is up to your GM, but here are some things to consider:
- Size. If a Pokemon is too small, it wouldn’t make sense for a Trainer to be riding it, when the Trainer’s legs are dragging on the ground. This could be confusing for certain species of pokemon, but a quick lookat the pokemon’s level should serve as a hint as to whether or not the pokemon is too small for you. For example, a Ponyta around level 20 or 25, can serve as a mount. Ponyta may not be very tall, but it can support an average sized human considering its shape and its legs that are built to lift itself with
little burden and quickly move around. However, a newly born Ponyta should not be able to lift a person at all. It would be very tiny. Another example would be an Onix. Onix could easy serve as an entire party’s land Mount. However, a newly born Onix would not be able to serve as even one person’s Mount as it would probably be no longer than a meter.
- Power. If a Pokemon is large, but is as light as a feather or weak as a twig, it probably cannot carry your weight and keep itself up as well. This would be most obvious for a sky Mount. If the
Pokemon’s Power is one or two, there should be no circumstance in which the pokemon would be able to carry your weight on their body.
- Equipment. Some Pokemon might not ever be able to be a Mount, by itself. However, with a couple of Pokemon, such as a Nidorino and a Nidorina, some rope to use as reigns, a sled and some training, you could have a single mount between the two pokemon. A school of Magikarp could hold a matress up and make a raft-Mount. Several creative combinations of tools and Pokemon could create modes of transportation.
Mount Mechanics:
- Mounting a Pokemon is a Trainer Action, and forfeits the Pokemon’s Shift and Move Actions that round.
- When a Pokemon is being used as a Mount, its Speed Capabilities are lowered by three, and its Speed stat is lowered one Combat Stage. If you weigh less than a fourth of the pokemon’s weight, neither the pokemon’s Speed Capabilities nor their Speed stat’s Combat Stages are affected.
- When mounted on a Pokemon, you may shift during your trainer turn using your Mount’s Speed Capabilities instead of your own. During Pokemon turns, your Mount may use any unused Speed, and may make a Move Action as normal if you use your Command Action.
- If either you or your Pokemon who is being used as a Mount are hit by a damaging attack that deals damage equal or greater to 1/5th of the target’s Max HP, or are hit by a move that causes Paralysis, Confusion, or Sleep, you must make a check to remain mounted. Roll 1d20 and add your STR or DEX modifier. On a roll of 12 or higher, you remain on your mount. If the move had a Push effect, you must roll 15 or higher. A single Move may only cause you to roll this check once per round.
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