You Can Battle Pokemon in 'Dungeons & Dragons'

A creative Dungeon Master has converted all 151 original Pokemon into Dungeons & Dragons monsters, with more on the way soon.

Tim Gonzalez has brought together two of the hottest game franchises in the world: Pokemon and D&D. Back in 2016, Gonzalez completed a full conversion of the original Kanto Pokedex, so that players could battle any of the original 151 Pokemon as monsters in their D&D campaign.

Each Pokemon has been lovingly converted into a D&D monster, complete with an appropriate Challenge Rating and attacks. Pokemon like Caterpie, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu can all be battled by low level adventurers, but Pokemon like Dragonite or Mewtwo will be tough even for a party of experienced characters.

Most Pokemon have multiple attacks and abilities, many of which with harmful effects. For instance, Pikachu's Static ability mirrors his ability in the main series Pokemon games. Any adventurer who hits Pikachu with a Melee attack has to make a successful Constitution Saving throw or be stunned until the end of their next turn. A few Pokemon like Gyarados, Articuno, and Mewtwo even have Legendary Actions that they can use in between their regular turns.

Gonzalez has another set of Pokemon coming soon, as he announced over the weekend that he's nearing the completion of the Johto Pokedex. In a short blog post written last week, Gonzalez notes that the Johto Pokedex is a bit more balanced than his original creation and shouldn't contain as many monsters that are more powerful than what their Challenge Rating indicates. Gonzalez even released the first three pages of his new supplement containing the full evolutionary tiers of the Johto Starter Pokemon. You can check them out here.

Gonzalez's work is unofficial and isn't licensed by either the Pokemon Company or Wizards of the Coast. However, these are perfect for using in a home game....especially if you have a few Pokemon fans in the party. Even non-Pokemon fans should appreciate the chance to battle semi-magical creatures capable of shooting flame, ice, or electricity at trainers.

Hypothetically, an adventurer could even summon a Pokemon using the Conjure Animals spell, so that you can have them battle your enemies. Heck - there's even an opportunity to have an impromptu Pokemon battle in your D&D adventure...supposing that your DM allows it!