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| ...Well? It ain't gonna fill itself! |
Howdy, Farmhands!
Into The Oddish, written by Warren F. Smith of Prismatic Wasteland, is a heist-funded parody hack of Chris McDowell's "Into The Odd", using the chassis of the system to emulate (and poke some fun at) the Pokemon Franchise. It takes the classic dungeon-crawling fantasy and plops it directly in the center of the Kanto Region, in an era long after all Humans have mysteriously disappeared. Despite being a parody (or maybe this elevates the bit, idk) the game is fully functional and playable. The core book comes in two versions, Red and Blue. They are identical except for the Pokemon listed within it- of which only 1 of the player options changes between books. Of course I bought both, the joke isn't funny unless I did. It's only "official" adventure, "Vileplume Mountain" leans much heavier into parodying Dungeons and Dragons, specifically the module "Whiteplume Mountain", with the joke being that it retains much of the jank of the original adventure and also Pokemon are there. Isn't that fun? Isn't that hilarious?
Yes, but unfortunately, Warren has created a bit of a (pocket) monster. You see, Pokemon is an expansive series, and while Gen 1 is most definitely OSR, it's ALSO highly documented, based around completing a static collection, and incredibly formative for all the autistic millenials who might consider picking up a copy while the print run lasts. This means that when there's an omission, someone is going to notice.
Hi, I'm someone.
The format of the core books being what they are, there are Pokemon missing from their pages, either due to version exclusivity (which is very funny and part of the joke), or because actually printing all 151 pokemon's statblocks would balloon the size and price of the print (understandable but maaaaaaan). Similarly, while the core books have an impressive list of Pokemon moves, adapted for the system and easily referenced, there are still plenty of Moves from Gen 1 that have yet to be adapted. I like lists and completing tasks, and so I sat down to note every Pokemon that has yet to be converted, as well as every Move that is still missing. Not because I wanted to point out a flaw in the books I recieved, but as a starting point for anyone wanting to make use of Warren's incredibly permissive third party use policy:
Here is some legalese you can put in your adventure: “This is an unofficial adventure scenario for Into the Oddish, but what would make a scenario official anyway? You want me to get some certificate? My mom said I was allowed to post this and her brother works at Nintendogs.” - Warren F. Smith
I WILL however be pointing out the oversights I encountered while working on this resource. During my work, I noticed that many Moves that were "missing" from the Move Lists were actually in the books! They simply existed solely in Statblocks of specific Pokemon, meaning they could be completely missed when scanning for them. I will not be reprinting any of the Moves' mechanics, simply listing in which book and statblock they can be found.
Without Further Ado-
MISSING CONTENT
LIST OF POKEMON THAT LACK CONVERSIONS
- Bulbasaur (and evos)
- Squirtle (and evos)
- Charmander (and evos)
- Caterpie (and evos)
- Weedle (and evos)
- Nidoran (both genders and evos)
- Clefairy
- Clefable
- Wigglytuff
- Vileplume
- Venomoth
- Poliwag
- Poliwhirl
- Abra (and evos)
- Machop
- Machamp
- Victreebel
- Geodude
- Graveler
- Magneton
- Doduo
- Dodrio
- Dewgong
- Electrode
- Exeggcute
- Exeggcutor
- Marowak
- Lickitung
- Chansey
- Tangela
- Kanghaskhan
- Seadra
- Seaking
- Starmie
- Tauros
- Lapras
- Porygon
- Dratini (and evos)
- Mew
The Kanto Starters, as well as Caterpie, Weedle, and Nidoran families are in the books, but as playable options. Their "stats" are formated very differently from the enemy/wild statblocks of the rest of the 151. This may or may not make converting them easier, depending on your take.
Also, this list only includes the Pokemon that appeared in Gen 1, ignoring future additions to their lines. As I will add later, the books themselves do not hold TOO closely to ONLY adapting Gen 1 content, but until someone writes up a Johto expansion, I'm not going to presume such data is needed, this is about completion.
LIST OF MOVES THAT LACK CONVERSIONS
- Barrage
- Bone Club
- Clamp
- Comet Punch
- Constrict
- Conversion
- Dizzy Punch
- Haze
- Headbutt
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Jump Kick
- Light Screen
- Lovely Kiss
- Mist
- Roar
- Rolling Kick
- Sharpen
- Sing
- Smog
- Soft Boiled
- Sonic Boom
- Spike Cannon
- Splash
- Spore
- Superfang
- Thunder Punch
EXISTING BUT ODDLY PLACED CONTENT
LIST OF MOVES THAT EXIST IN VILEPLUME MOUNTAIN, BUT ONLY IN STATBLOCKS
- Aurora Beam (Seel)
- Crabhammer (Kingler)
- Fire Punch (Poliwrath)
- Guillotine (Pinsir)
- Hyper Fang (Raticate)
- Minimize (Muk)
- Leech Life (Zubat)
- Poison Gas (Grimer)
- Pound (Grimer)
- Screech (Voltorb)
- Sludge (Muk)
- Smokescreen (Koffing)
- Stomp (Kingler)
- Vise Grip (Krabby)
LIST OF MOVES THAT EXIST IN THIS BLOGPOST, BUT ONLY IN STATBLOCKS
- Thundershock (Magnemite)
- Transform (Ditto)
- Peck (Spearow)
- Meditate (Hypno)
- Glare (Arbok)
- Drill Peck (Fearrow)
AND HERE'S ONE LAST GEN 1 MOVE THAT WAS ADAPTED BY MITCHELL DAILY IN ONE OF HIS TRIFOLD ADVENTURES, "MIME HOUSE". THANKS MITCHELL THAT'S REAL NICE OF YA
- Barrier (Mr. Mime)
ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST
Despite being primarily based on Pokemon Generation One, a number of Moves listed across ItOish come from later in the franchise. This isn't a BAD thing in the slightest, but may be a stumbling block for people attempting to complete things, so I'll list them and their locations here.
- Calm Mind (Vileplume Mountain, Gen 3)
- Heat Wave (Vileplume Mountain, Gen 3)
- Razor Shell (Vileplume Mountain, Gen 5)
- Whirlpool (Vileplume Mountain, Gen 2)
- Wood Hammer (Vileplume Mountain, Gen 4)
- Infestation (Mime House, Gen 6)
- Trick Room (Mime House, Gen 4)
And last but not least, there's a Move that is not only not from the Gen 1 List, it's ALSO only printed as part of a statblock- Flail (Gen 2) in Sudowoodo's entry.
OK SO NOW WHAT?
Again, I did not do this research and make these lists as a form of critique or to tell you not to pick up the game. I, frankly, adore these books and plan to run them in relatively short order. This post exists as a quick reference for folks who may want to create more adventures and supplements, to quickly guide them to where stuff still needs some work, or for GM's who may not even notice that something that's "Missing" from the reference lists that were included in the print product they're holding. Since writing this post, I have been informed that I completely overlooked the Held Items included in Vileplume Mountain, opening the door to everything related to them being up for a list. I won't fucking be doing that here. You can do it, since you're so smart. I look forward to hearing of works that let me whittle this list down, eventually.
As for me, I have a couple ideas in mind for supplemental stuff I could write; mostly with regard to items that were left behind from the original video game. The cool part about this game using Into the Odd as it's chassis is that I've already been writing additional mechanics and such for games that build off the same framework since the beginning of my blog. I've got a bit of a leg up, though the specifics of ItOish's rules require a little extra care to make work. I'm not here to BREAK things.
Until then,
Farmer Gadda
