Yeah, I'm committing to the bit.
I recently converted Dungeon Module B1: In Search of the Unknown to Into the Oddish. It's B1, but with Pokémon. I even created a sandbox for it, just as I did with the original B1. I've been running B1 in AD&D 2e since March and have been writing play reports for the campaign more or less every week. Our ongoing Into the Oddish game (in which I am but a humble player) is on hold for a bit, so I thought why not? Why shouldn't I run the same adventure in two different systems at once? Why shouldn't I write play reports for each of them? So, I recruited my fellow Into the Oddish players to embark with me on this mirror world experiment.
The Pokémon in our current game are Stage Two, and this adventure is for Stage One Pokémon, so I had the players start by creating new Pokémon. We ended up with a Bellsprout (realbagel), a Geodude (Zin), and a Pidgey (Tuck), which is awesome because none of those Pokémon are in our other game. Bellsprout has a Paralyze Heal, Pidgey has a Potion, and Geodude knows Strength. I believe we decided that Bellsprout was a wild Pokémon, while Geodude and Pidgey are trained. With that, we were off to the races.
The party's Pokémon adventure began in Leekfield, the Pokéthorp in the southeast corner of the region. I explained that the player Pokémon had ventured to this region because they had come into possession of a special Town Map which indicated the location of a long lost gym - Quagsqueton, the seat of the Black Belt Rogahn and the Psychic Zelligar.
Rogahn and Zelligar had a mixed reputation among the humans. They were known to be insular and perhaps vaguely evil. They built their gym far away from civilization in a well hidden location, using their trained Pokémon as laborers in the complex's construction. Nonetheless, as human civilization declined, the pair were a source of protection for the people of the region against hordes of marauding Pokémon. This culminated when the pair and their Pokémon turned back a wild Pokémon army. They then took their army of Pokémon into the northern wilds to launch a counterattack, never to be seen again.
The gym's location was lost even to human knowledge. With the humans gone, its location became double lost. Until now... Who knows what vast riches of badges, TMs, Pokédollars, and Potions remain unclaimed in the ruins? Only one way to find out.
The player Pokémon arrived in Leekfield, a small community of Pokémon inhabiting simple shelters on a grassland surrounded on four sides by a lake and a river. The water's edge was overgrown with leek-like reeds from which the community derived its name. Several Flying- and Normal-type Pokémon inhabited the place, with Water-type Pokémon in the lake and river.
The player Pokémon were harangued by some curious Pidgey who wished to know their business. The player Pokémon expressed an interest in trading and in learning the lay of the land. The Pidgey eventually brought them to their leader, a female Farfetch'd named Mallow.
Mallow assumed that the Pokémon had come to the region to journey to Pinecrest Lodge to the west and challenge King Aegon for the Evergreen Badge. The Pokémon were surprised to learn there was a king here. Mallow explained that the Lodge used to be a resort for humans, and that its owner, Myrtle, was a gym leader. Since the humans disappeared, Myrtle's Exeggutor, Aegon, had claimed the Lodge as his seat of power and styled himself a gym leader in Myrtle's place. He is known as a capricious ruler. One of his heads always lies, another always tells the truth, and the third does a secret third thing.
The player Pokémon expressed an interest in meeting Aegon. Mallow explained that the road to the southwest led into the forest and would eventually take them to the Lodge. Along the way they would find Old Needleroot Town, a small human settlement which was now overrun by a gang of outlaw Pokémon led by a Poliwrath.
I don't remember how we got on this line of conversation, but somehow the Pokémon ended up talking to Mallow about Pokémon Natures. Mallow suggested that, back in the Age of Humans, Pokémon with unsavory Natures were locked up in institutions to keep them away from more well-behaved Pokémon. If it were up to her, such Pokémon would face the block, where their necks would meet the sweet kiss of Mallow's sharpened leek.
This all was very disturbing, so the Pokémon decided it was time to be on their way. Mallow reminded them to beware of the outlaw Pokémon. She also mentioned that some of her people had been kidnapped by the outlaws and were being held for ransom. If the player Pokémon did something about it, they could be friends.
A group of Pidgey escorted the Pokémon to the edge of the community and sent them on their way. They followed the road across the plains, over a river crossing, and into the forest. In a couple of hours, they made it to Old Needleroot Town. The town was a small collection of simple dilapidated houses slowly being reclaimed by the forest. In the center was an old Pokémon Lab. There were little burrows and mounds scattered about the ruins.
The Pokémon investigated one of the burrows and could hear movement within. Pidgey took to the air to survey the Lab, spotting a half dozen or so Spearow roosting on its roof, with several dozen more visible on the second story through a hole in the roof. Fortunately, the Spearow did not spot Pidgey.
Pidgey flew back down to report his findings to the rest of the group. They heard a voice behind them, and turned to find a Rattata had emerged from one of the tunnels. They asked the Rattata about the outlaws and found out that in addition to dozens of Spearow and a Poliwrath, the group consisted of an Onix, a Haunter, a Magmar, and others.
The player Pokémon decided that they did not, in fact, want to mess with the outlaws. This was a bit of a miscommunication on my part, as I had not adequately explained to the players that they knew the precise location of Quagsqueton, so they were trying to find more information (which would be fruitless, because no one in the area knows exactly where Quagsqueton is except for them) and latching onto any hook that presented itself. I explained that this is an AD&D sandbox but with Pokémon - "bandits causing problems" is not necessarily a 1st level adventure hook!
Resolving to get out of here and hustle to the dungeon, the player Pokémon accepted Rattata's offer to escort them through the underground to the edge of town. Squeezing into the cramped tunnels, they found a mazelike Warren home to dozens of Rattata. They learned of a Nidorina and Nidorino to the south who preyed upon the Rattata and the outlaws alike. They also learned that south of Pinecrest Lodge is Frost Witch Barrow, an old haunted Pokétomb which is off limits to all except those who get permission from King Aegon. They were also offered to come back sometime to meet Gnash, the Rattata's Raticate leader. If the player Pokémon wished to confront the outlaws some other time, the Rattata could help.
At the edge of town, Rattata informed them that the road led to a Tamer's cabin at the edge of the forest. The Golduck that lived there was okay - a bit of a weirdo but he probably wouldn't kill them on sight. They continued on the road.
A few hours later, they arrived at the cabin. They found a trio of Sandshrew playing in the dirt in the yard. They approached the Sandshrew, who told them that the road to the southeast led to Pinecrest Lodge. The Sandshrew seemed anxious for the player Pokémon to get a move on. Apparently, they were supposed to be battling to gain experience points so that they could evolve, and they didn't want to get in trouble for talking to the player Pokémon instead, because Golduck would whip them. Their trainer was a cruel master with his whip, and Golduck had gotten pretty good at using it too.
The player Pokémon explained that to their knowledge, Pokémon evolved by going on dangerous expeditions and earning badges. The Sandshrew weren't sure about that, so they thought they should ask Golduck. The player Pokémon did not want to meet the Golduck with a whip. Okay then, maybe Persian would know. Who was Persian? Persian was Golduck's mistress.
The player Pokémon decided they also did not want to be here. They told the Sandshrew never mind and they'd be on their way. They headed north into the wild forest, towards Quagsqueton. The Sandshrew reminded them that the road to Pinecrest Lodge was to the southeast. The player Pokémon said that there were some berries over there they wanted to check out, then ran off.
They made it to the edge of the forest by the end of the day and made camp for the night. The evening passed uneventfully, and they rose the next morning to continue their journey. They saw an expanse of plains before them, with a wooded crag to the northeast. They knew that this is where they'd find Quagsqueton, so they set off in that direction, hugging the northwest edge of the forest.
They made it to Quagsqueton without incident, finding a narrow, perilous path winding up the black, wooded crag to a cave opening in the cliff's face. Atop the cliff was an old, partially collapsed watchtower, its stones tumbled down the hillside and overgrown with vegetation.
Inside the cave opening they found a door, overgrown with roots and vines and showing signs of forced entry in the past. They cleared away the vegetation and went inside. Beyond the door, they saw a long corridor lined with alcoves.
There was a bit of discussion as to whether or not Pokémon can see in the dark. I imagine that Pidgey cannot, while Bellsprout maybe has some ability to sense pheromones, and Geodude can either see in the dark or has something like tremor sense. This is I guess what the Flash HM is for, but since Into the Oddish isn't exactly a "torches and rations" game and because I don't want dungeon exploration to be entirely dependent on an HM (that only an Abra player can know at the start of the game), I decided that yeah, Pokémon can see in the dark.
The player Pokémon proceeded down the corridor. 20' ahead, in the first alcove, they found statues of a Black Belt and a Psychic. They were carved of mundane stone and without special value. They continued 50' to the second set of alcoves, which appeared empty. 40' down the corridor was the third set of alcoves, and 20' beyond them was a small landing at the top of a short flight of stairs. The player Pokémon could see the aftermath of a Pokémon battle, with Pokémon bodies scattered about on the landing.
They inspected the alcoves and found Pokémon tracks which seemed to emerge from the walls themselves. The walls at the back of the alcoves appeared to be of unusual construction compared to the other walls in the area. The player Pokémon deduced that these must be secrets doors and searched for a way to open them, but found none. Geodude decided to use Strength to batter down the wall on the left.
In B1 as written, these doors can't be opened from this side. However, I really like the idea that a Pokémon can use a once per day HM to just obliterate a 10' section of wall. So Geodude came in like a wrecking ball, smashing through the wall to the other side. This made a lot of noise, but no wandering Pokémon appeared.
On the other side of the wall was a T intersection with corridors to the left and right. The player Pokémon went right 60', made another right turn, and 30' beyond that found themselves at the top of the landing littered with dead Pokémon. There they found a Weedle torn asunder, the segments of its body rotting and oozing on the floor. They found a strange glowing puddle of goo, a Nidoran female which seemed to have burned to death, and a Charmander and Ekans which had killed one another in a desperate struggle.
They searched the area and found that the Charmander carried a satchel containing 7 Pokédollars. Score!
From the landing, the corridor with all the alcoves was to the right. 10' to the left was a pair of doors opposite each other. 10' beyond the doors was a corridor to the left, then another to the right 10' beyond that. Beyond that, the corridor continued straight. Straight ahead from the landing was a corridor which went 30' and turned right. It took a very long time for me to communicate this accurately to the players. That's the B1 learning curve, baby! It made me reflect on how the players in my AD&D game have gotten pretty good at interpreting my description of the space.
The player Pokémon decided to inspect the doors. They smelled a tantalizing aroma beyond the door on the left, and heard the hustling commotion of hurried footsteps, clattering pots and pans, and the hiss of fire and steam. They opened the door and to their surprise found a group of four human chefs in a kitchen preparing a delicious smelling meal. The chefs greeted them warmly and welcomed them inside to rest their weary feet and have some lunch.
We wrapped there. This was a fun session, although a bit rough around the edges, as first sessions often are. Part of that was definitely on me for not adequately communicating to the players what knowledge their Pokémon had. Part of it was that I literally just sketched out this sandbox last week and was kind of just riffing on all the non-dungeon parts. Part of it is that B1's dungeon map is totally bonkers and the players need to get settled in a bit before they're able to really imagine the space.
We had a good time, and I'm excited to see how this game unfolds in parallel to more or less the same content being run with an entirely different group of players in an entirely different system. This is something I've always wanted to try, so we'll see where it goes.
Finally, here is the player drawn dungeon map after the first session (I'm kicking myself a bit for not regularly including player maps in my AD&D play reports, so I want to start the practice early with this one):
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