I really enjoyed reading through this, and I think it's a good combination of the Polymorph system and the monster- collecting genre. Thr part that most intrigued me was having a PC be a "unit" of Trainer-and-PolyMon. It's not only a cool concept, but it makes the role types easier to conceptualize (which I fear I struggled with a bit in my entry). This also worked really well with the concept of the Heart Trainer and the idea of a thoughtful trainer being one who is aware of the PolyMon's Traits (using 1 roll as a way to incentivize players helping one another was also a clever addition)! The list of Traits was clearly well thought through and not so open as to make them useful in any situation.
I do think it's possible that you switched the success numbers for Clash and Endure (either that or we interpreted them very differently). Also, while the descriptions for Endure and Overcome were clear, I could definitely see the terms themselves getting mixed up (same with Bold and Brash). But having the Role be a "Trainer Style" was fun (and decoupled from identity so much as choice, which I appreciate), and I found the "what would you do" element (in deciding what Style to pock) to be effective, clear, and charming.
The idea of PolyMorphing is 1) a great pun 2) a good way to incorporate evolution from Pokémon, and 3) helpful for scaling and an elegant fit with the Traits system. I can see the PolyMorph in a pinch rule being a really fun one in practice, especially in creating interesting PolyMon as the situations call for them. This seems like a fun and elegant game, and I hope folks get a chance to play it!
Thanks so much for the in-depth review! I did swap the Polymorph core combat roll to be the highest numbers. I wanted to refocus the core roll and make sure everyone could do exploration type actions.
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I really enjoyed reading through this, and I think it's a good combination of the Polymorph system and the monster- collecting genre. Thr part that most intrigued me was having a PC be a "unit" of Trainer-and-PolyMon. It's not only a cool concept, but it makes the role types easier to conceptualize (which I fear I struggled with a bit in my entry). This also worked really well with the concept of the Heart Trainer and the idea of a thoughtful trainer being one who is aware of the PolyMon's Traits (using 1 roll as a way to incentivize players helping one another was also a clever addition)! The list of Traits was clearly well thought through and not so open as to make them useful in any situation.
I do think it's possible that you switched the success numbers for Clash and Endure (either that or we interpreted them very differently). Also, while the descriptions for Endure and Overcome were clear, I could definitely see the terms themselves getting mixed up (same with Bold and Brash). But having the Role be a "Trainer Style" was fun (and decoupled from identity so much as choice, which I appreciate), and I found the "what would you do" element (in deciding what Style to pock) to be effective, clear, and charming.
The idea of PolyMorphing is 1) a great pun 2) a good way to incorporate evolution from Pokémon, and 3) helpful for scaling and an elegant fit with the Traits system. I can see the PolyMorph in a pinch rule being a really fun one in practice, especially in creating interesting PolyMon as the situations call for them. This seems like a fun and elegant game, and I hope folks get a chance to play it!
Thanks so much for the in-depth review! I did swap the Polymorph core combat roll to be the highest numbers. I wanted to refocus the core roll and make sure everyone could do exploration type actions.