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BattleZoo Eldamon Review: What If Pokémon Was Part of Your D&D Game?

I’ll admit something right up front.

For someone who has spent decades surrounded by tabletop RPGs, fantasy creatures, monsters, and all things nerdy, I somehow managed to largely avoid Pokémon.

Sure, I knew what Pokémon were. I knew Pikachu. I knew there were hundreds of them. Then hundreds became more hundreds, and suddenly there were literal decades of Pokémon lore, games, shows, cards, and creatures.

I just never really got into it.

Then my coworkers got me hooked on Pokémon Go.

And that’s all it took.

Once I started playing, I finally began to understand the appeal. Collecting creatures, discovering new ones, figuring out what they can do, watching them evolve, and deciding which ones you want to keep around creates an incredibly satisfying gameplay loop.

So when I discovered BattleZoo Eldamon, the concept immediately caught my attention.

Roll for Combat was kind enough to send Nerdarchy a copy of the book after I reached out, and I’m glad they did. Because BattleZoo Eldamon is essentially what happens when you take the creature-collecting fantasy of Pokémon and ask:

“What if we put this into a tabletop RPG?”

And yes, that got my attention.

What Is BattleZoo Eldamon?

BattleZoo Eldamon is a creature-collecting RPG system designed around the idea of adventurers discovering, battling, befriending, and raising magical creatures called Eldamon.

The easiest comparison is obvious.

It’s Pokémon for your tabletop RPG.

But that comparison only tells part of the story.

Eldamon are creatures that adventurers can encounter throughout their journeys and eventually add to their collection. They can participate in battles, develop new abilities, and grow alongside their trainers.

For players who love the idea of having their own collection of fantastic creatures, there’s a tremendous amount of potential here.

And for people like me who come to this without decades of Pokémon knowledge already rattling around in their heads, Eldamon provides an opportunity to explore that kind of gameplay from a tabletop perspective.

The Quickstart Guide Is Important

If you’re looking at BattleZoo Eldamon and thinking, “Okay, this sounds cool, but how exactly does this work?”, the Quickstart Guide is going to be one of your best friends.

This is something I want to emphasize for both players and Game Masters.

Don’t just grab the main book, flip through a few pages, and assume you’re going to understand the entire Eldamon experience immediately.

The Quickstart Guide provides an important introduction to the concepts and gameplay, giving you and your group a way to understand how the system works before committing to a larger campaign.

For players, it’s a great way to wrap your head around the creature-collecting mechanics and understand what you’re actually doing with your Eldamon.

For GMs, it’s especially useful because running a creature-collecting game introduces some different considerations than running a traditional fantasy RPG.

You’re not just managing encounters.

You’re managing the world where these creatures exist.

You’re deciding where they can be found, how they interact with the players, and what happens when the characters decide they absolutely, positively need to catch that particular Eldamon.

The Quickstart helps establish that foundation.

Catch Them, Raise Them, Battle Them

The appeal of Eldamon comes from the same place that made Pokémon Go finally click for me.

There is something inherently fun about discovering a creature you’ve never seen before.

Then you get to figure out what it does.

Then you want to see what it can become.

Then suddenly you’re building an entire team around it.

That progression translates extremely well to tabletop gaming.

Instead of simply defeating a monster and moving on, an encounter with an Eldamon can become the beginning of a relationship between the creature and the player character.

Maybe you discover an Eldamon while exploring a forest.

Maybe you encounter one protecting its territory.

Maybe somebody gives you an egg.

Maybe you become obsessed with finding a particularly rare creature.

Now the players have another reason to explore the world.

This Isn’t Just a Monster Manual

One of the things that makes a creature-collecting game interesting is that the creatures aren’t simply enemies waiting in a dungeon.

They are part of the world.

That’s an important distinction.

Traditional fantasy RPGs often treat monsters as obstacles. You encounter the monster, fight the monster, collect the treasure, and move on.

Eldamon creates another possibility.

What if the monster becomes your companion?

That changes the relationship between the player and the creature.

It also gives the GM another tool for worldbuilding.

Different environments can have different Eldamon.

Different regions can have different populations.

Some creatures might be incredibly common.

Others might be rare.

Some could become legendary.

Suddenly, the ecosystem itself becomes something the players care about.

A New Kind of Character Collection

There is also something wonderfully dangerous about giving tabletop gamers a creature collection.

Because we collect things.

Dice.

Miniatures.

Books.

Character sheets.

Magic items.

Now you’re telling us we can collect monsters?

We’re doomed.

The character-building possibilities become particularly interesting because the Eldamon you choose can influence how you approach encounters.

Players aren’t simply building one character.

They’re effectively building a team.

That introduces another layer of strategy and decision-making.

Which creatures complement each other?

Which ones are best suited for a particular situation?

Which Eldamon do you bring into a battle?

Which ones do you keep in reserve?

And, perhaps most importantly:

Which one is your favorite?

The GM Gets a Whole New Toolbox

BattleZoo Eldamon isn’t only appealing to players.

Game Masters get an entirely different set of toys to play with.

The system gives GMs another way to build encounters and adventures.

An Eldamon doesn’t necessarily have to be something the players are expected to fight.

It could be something they need to find.

Something they need to protect.

Something they need to convince.

Something they need to rescue.

Something another trainer desperately wants.

Or something that has become a problem for an entire community.

That opens the door to adventures that don’t feel like traditional monster hunts.

Instead of:

“There’s a monster in the cave. Go kill it.”

You can have:

“There’s a rare Eldamon living in the cave, and three different groups are trying to find it first.”

Now you’ve got a story.

Exploration Becomes More Rewarding

Creature collecting also gives exploration a tangible reward.

I’ve always liked RPGs where exploration feels worthwhile. Finding something new should feel like more than discovering another pile of gold.

Eldamon gives players another reason to poke their noses into places they probably shouldn’t.

What’s living in that swamp?

What’s hiding in those mountains?

What creatures live on the other side of the forest?

What happens if we travel farther than anyone in town has ever gone?

Those questions are fantastic fuel for adventures.

And once players realize there are creatures out there they haven’t encountered yet, you may have a difficult time convincing them to follow the adventure hook you actually prepared.

“The mayor needs you to investigate the bandits.”

“Sure, but what’s that mountain over there?”

Every GM knows how this goes.

Pokémon Fans Will Find a Lot to Love

If you’re already a huge Pokémon fan, the appeal of Eldamon is pretty obvious.

You get the fantasy of discovering creatures, building a team, raising them, and battling with them while bringing the experience into a tabletop RPG environment.

But I think there’s an interesting opportunity for people like me, too.

You don’t have to come into this with decades of Pokémon knowledge.

You can approach Eldamon as its own tabletop experience and discover what makes creature collecting fun along the way.

In fact, that’s part of what makes this particularly interesting to me.

Pokémon Go finally gave me the gateway.

BattleZoo Eldamon might be the next step.

What I Want to Do With It

Reading through BattleZoo Eldamon has already gotten my brain doing what it always does when I find an interesting RPG book.

I started thinking about what I could build with it.

Not just playing the existing material.

Making my own Eldamon.

That’s probably the biggest compliment I can give the book.

It got me thinking about designs.

What would an Eldamon based on a particular fantasy creature look like?

What kind of abilities would it have?

What would its evolution or development look like?

What strange combinations could I come up with?

And how could I take some of the monsters and ideas already rattling around in my head and turn them into creatures that fit into the Eldamon system?

I have some ideas already.

And I suspect this won’t be the last time we talk about them.

Final Thoughts

BattleZoo Eldamon is an incredibly fun concept.

Take the creature-collecting appeal of Pokémon, combine it with tabletop RPG storytelling, and give players the freedom to explore a world filled with fantastic creatures.

That’s a combination that makes a lot of sense.

For me personally, the timing couldn’t have been better. After finally getting sucked into Pokémon Go thanks to my coworkers, I was already starting to understand why people have been obsessed with these creatures for decades.

Then BattleZoo Eldamon landed on my desk.

I reached out to Roll for Combat, and they were kind enough to send Nerdarchy a copy for review. We’re grateful for the opportunity to check it out, and I’m genuinely excited to see where this rabbit hole leads.

If you’re interested in BattleZoo Eldamon, I would strongly recommend starting with the Quickstart Guide, especially if you’re new to the system. It gives players and GMs a much easier way to understand what the game is trying to accomplish before diving deeper.

And now comes the dangerous part.

I’m starting to think about making some Eldamon of my very own.

So don’t be surprised if somewhere down the road you see a Nerdarchy-created Eldamon showing up on these pages.

Until then, I’m going to keep playing Pokémon Go, keep reading BattleZoo Eldamon, and probably start asking myself one very important question every time I see a fantasy creature:

“Could I turn that into an Eldamon?”

Thanks for reading. Until Next Time, Stay nerdy!!