Pokemon Contests (3.5e Variant Rule)

Pokemon Contests
In the various pokemon games, there are various contests (RSE introduced contests, which were expanded on in DPPl, then HGSS gave us the Pokeathlon Dome. BW then ditched it, which was a terrible idea. In pokemon d20, this exists to be the contest - something you can pursue other than the usual combat, for a change of pace and to brag about how your Geodude actually IS the cutest.

Main Rules
For Pokemon Contests, after registration and everything, the contestants (usually around 4) all gather before the judges. The contest will be in one of the following categories: Beauty, Cool, Cute, Smart, Tough.

There are four rounds in a Pokemon Contest. At the beginning of each round, the Turn Order is decided: everyone rolls 1d20 with no modifiers - tied results re-roll. This can then be affected by special abilities.

When it is your turn, you declare what you are doing - you have to utilise one of your abilities and make a Skill check. The ability is basically anything on your sheet that has a Descriptor and can be used - whether it's an attack, a spell-like ability, or curling up defensively. The Skill must be one that is being judged in the contest. Certain ability Types grant certain skills a bonus or penalty, and if you use either the same skill or the same ability two rounds in a row, you take a -3 penalty to the skill check - these will stack if you use both the same skill and the same ability.

Beauty, Cool, Cute, Smart and Tough Contests
Beauty Contest: The skills that can be used are Craft (any), Diplomacy, Perform, Ride, Spellcraft and Swim. The following ability Types grant a +2 bonus to the skill: Ghost, Flying, Ice, Rock, Grass and Fire. The following ability Type grants a -2 penalty to the skill: Poison.

Cool Contest: The skills that can be used are Bluff, Escape Artist, Forgery, Jump, Sleight of Hand and Use Magic Device. The following ability Types grant a +2 bonus to the skill: Fighting, Dark, Ghost, Psychic, Bug, Fire, Ice, Electric and Dragon. The following ability Types grant a -2 penalty to the skill: Normal, Steel, Water, Grass and Ground.

Cute Contest: The skills that can be used are Balance, Disguise, Handle Animal, Hide, Move Silently and Tumble. The following ability Types grant a +2 bonus to the skill: Normal, Bug, Water, Grass, Ground and Fairy. The following ability Types grant a -2 penalty to the skill: Fighting, Ghost and Rock.

Smart Contest: The skills that can be used are Appraise, Decipher Script, Gather Information, Knowledge (Any), Profession (Any) and Search. The following ability Types grant a +2 bonus to the skill: Dark, Psychic, Poison, Steel, Water, Electric and Flying. The following ability Types grant a -2 penalty to the skill: Bug, Fire and Dragon.

Tough Contest: The skills that can be used are Climb, Concentration, Disable Device, Intimidate, Survival and Use Rope. The following ability Types grant a +2 bonus to the skill: Normal, Fighting, Poison, Steel, Dragon, Ground and Rock. The following ability Types grant a -2 penalty to the skill: Dark, Psychic, Ice, Electric, Fairy and Flying.

Altering the Turn Order
Various abilities can allow someone to automatically go first or last, or to change the turn order in other ways. If there would be a clash due to two people both automatically going first, for instance, roll between them to see which goes first. The other goes second. If someone uses an ability that changes the Turn Order on the following Round, this cannot be changed on the Round after - if someone uses Ice Punch on Round 1, and forces Kadabra to go last on the next Round, Kadabra can't use Quick Attack to automatically go first in Round 2.

Winning, Losing and Stealing Points
The DC to meet depends on the "level" of contest and the Round number:

Normal Contest: DC 12 (Round 1) Expert Contest: DC 15 (Round 1) Super Contest: DC 20 (Round 1) Perfect Contest: DC 30 (Round 1)

Each Round, the DC increases by 1.

If you reach or exceed the DC with your check, you gain one point. If you manage to beat it by 10 or more (so for a DC of 12, you roll 22 or more) you win a second point but you raise everyone's expectations: the DC (for everyone) increases by +3 for the rest of the Round, and for all of next Round. If anyone manages to roll a negative, not only do they not gain any Points that round, but also the audience is let down, and the DC (for everyone) decreases by -3 for the rest of the Round, and all of the next Round. In both cases, this can happen multiple times in a round - if the DC is 12, and one person rolls 22, then it becomes 15. If the next rolls 25, it becomes 28, and so on.

This is the basic format - there are Feats and abilities that let people affect this in different ways.

There is no limit to the number of Points that can be won (by an individual, or in total) per Round, although beating the DC by a million still only gives you two Points - any more than that will require special abilities that specifically grant more Points.

It is possible to lose Points - not through the normal skill check, no matter how badly you roll, only through special abilities, feats and such.

Points can also be Stolen. In some cases, it steals "all Points won this Round", and in others it merely steals a set number of Points (often one). If the number stolen is greater than the number of Points actually available to steal, the excess are lost.

Judging and Prizes
At the end of Round 4, tally up the scores. If there is a clear winner, the Contest ends and they win. If there is a tie for first place, eliminate the others and then have a fifth Round (same DC as Round 4). Keep going as necessary until there is a winner.

The prize for first place always depends on the location, level of the contest and what day of the week it is. Typically though, there's a cash prize as well as a special item - a held item that can boost stats, a TM, or who knows what? Indeed, as a way of encouraging people to climb up the ranks from one to the next, the ribbons actually make you better at what you just won an award for:

Normal Ribbon: +1 to the Skills of that Contest Type Expert Ribbon: +2 to the Skills of that Contest Type Super Ribbon: +4 to the Skills of that Contest Type Perfect Ribbon: ??? (You'll need to find out!)

It is suggested the cash prize for first place be 250 GP (Normal), 1000 GP (Expert), 5000 GP (Super) and 15,000 GP (Perfect).

Special Rules
Many special attacks, feats and so on grant special rules to use in Contests. Without them, Contests are quick (on a per-Round basis - there is a good chance of a tie occurring, however) yet somewhat bland. With them, there can be multiple tricks to shake things up and cause unexpected things to happen, while still generally allowing the better contestants (those with higher skill totals, more skills and abilities of the relevant type and more resources put into it) to win. The special abilities are listed in the relevant Feats, and in the ability descriptions for individual Pokemon.