Destroy All Monsters
Like Godzilla or King Kong movies? I do. The monster movie is a healthy sub-genre, and it needs an RPG. That’s where I step in.
The point of this game is rather simple: You, the player character, step into the soles of one of these monstrosities. It can be a favorite from previous movies, or it can be an entirely new creation. Roll up your stats and start going for the mayhem. Play as an alien invader bend on subjugating the planet. Play as a territorial creature that just wants these damn kids to stop messing up his window. Play as a creature who is determined to save Earth’s environment.
Select a Character Type
It is important that you select your character type before you choose standard attributes. Human characters will not select from the regular list, and Mechanicals will be built according to budget guidelines (meaning that their statistics could be maxed out, but at the cost of absolutely 0 other abilities – that will automatically ensure a N/A Firepower).
Select Attributes, Appearance and Abilities
Select Your Mission In Life and Other Background
Fight Monster Jaw!
Monster Jaw is an astoundingly weak monster. You can test your character out against him. Even Human characters with a little bit of resourcefulness will be able to take him down. His only redeeming characteristic is the capacity to keep on coming back for more punishment.
Monster Attributes:
All Attributes range from 1-10. Characters can either choose to roll a 1D10 for each attribute, but subtract 1 from Reputation and Firepower, or select from a pool of 45 points. In other words, rolling a 1 in Reputation will garner a 0. A character who rolls randomly may be able to achieve 10 in all statistics except for Firepower and Reputation. After the dice have been rolled, the character may choose to switch 3 points around. The pool option allows players to maximize the stats they want, the die system allows them to randomize.
Some may notice a statistical anomaly: by choosing a N/A in Firepower and a 0 in Reputation, you can have quite a bit of extra points. Problem: the government will routinely use long-range weapons on you, and you can’t hit back because all you can do is punch.
Firepower: This indicates how much effect your projectile and other special powers will have. If you don’t pick any, this becomes an N/A (equivalent to a 0). A 1 indicates that you’d have trouble knocking over a SUV with Firestone tires. A 10 indicates that you have to watch your diet or your burps will explode a continent. Not like you care. Firepower will also determine how many of the available skills you will choose (unless you are a Mechanical, in which case you will have to purchase the powers). See the individual characters for the rules. Note that Firepower will affect Ranged Attacks and Monstrous Powers, not Passive Skills.
Reputation: This is a starting attribute and can be quite useful, but it is applicable to change. This ranges from 0 to 10. Note that this is different from Notoriety, which we will discuss later. A 0 indicates that people are terrified of you: you are a horrible beastie sent from the deepest pits of the netherworld to enslave mankind… or at least, that’s what they must be thinking, because they have a nice little nuclear weapon aimed your way. A 5 is a complete neutral: you’re okay, you knock down some cities but you hit people, so the military will neither hunt you like a wounded animal nor heal every wound you ever get. A 10 indicates that they think you are the savior of mankind. This attribute offers some nice perks, like having positive news coverage, assistance from the government in the middle of battles, and so on and so forth. Note that Reputation will get modifiers when dealing with specific groups (i.e. a group that worships all large monsters will obviously treat you as a 10), and will also change if you choose a certain appearance (i.e. a cute, fuzzy fur ball will usually not have a 0... until it starts slaying the innocent and eating their corpses)
Strength: This is rather simple. The amount of physical brawn your character will have is determined by this attribute. The damage your punches, kicks, bites, tail swats, pins, throws, and other physical attacks will inflict will be mostly determined by this (although Speed will also matter). Strength is also useful for throwing buildings and other pieces of the scenery.
Agility: This attribute indicates how much dexterity and flexibility you have. If you can wield giant weapons, you will have to have a fairly high Agility score. Your melee multi-attack is determined by your Agility. All characters with an Agility of below 7 strike once in melee. 7 and above each offer an additional melee multi-attack.
Intelligence: Rather simple: are you a lunkhead or smart? This mostly refers to combat: do you fight strategically or instead think “Me Smash?” You will have to act it if your character’s not the brightest: i.e. three eye lasers to the same character with the reflection ability.
Endurance: This is a measure of how much damage you can take and how much exertion you can handle.
Speed: This is a measure of the monster’s ability to cover distance. Most monsters will be able to walk on land and swim with a reasonable degree of skill.
Willpower: This indicates just how strong of a will the character has. When push comes to shove, will he keep fighting? A high Willpower allows one to get back up from nearly lethal wounds and can override a low Endurance’s limits on exertion. It also determines the likelihood of running away or fear.
Notoriety:
This is a measure of how far you are along. The higher your Notoriety, the more you are known; the nature of how people will react is based on the Reputation attribute. In the Godzilla movies, Godzilla at first was known only to Japan. By the end of the series, they were making an entire project to either kill or control Godzilla.
Notoriety ranges from 0-255. A 0 is what most player characters will be when they start (Mechanicals will usually have a slightly higher Notoriety, and they will be one of the few classes that can purchase Notoriety).
The following guidelines indicate what level the military and governmental response will be to you. With a 0-4 Reputation, you’ll have to fight these levels of governmental response. With a 5 Reputation, it’ll be pretty even – sometimes they’ll assist, sometimes not. With a 6-10 Reputation, these will be the level of backup they’ll send to assist you.
0-50 Notoriety: Level 1 Opponents. These will be either poorly commanded or poorly armed battalions sent off in overconfidence and through office politics (i.e. Colonel John spilled coffee on the Brigadier General, so now they send him out to beat this stupid monster, grumble grumble grumble..)
51-100: Level 2 Opponents. You will be beginning to be taken seriously. They will deploy fairly ordinary weaponry on you, but it will be well commanded and well armed.
101-150: Level 3 Opponents. The military will begin to pull out the big guns. No Secret Technologies yet, but you’re getting close.
151-200: Level 4 Opponents. Secret Technologies will now be available, albeit rarely.
201-250: Level 5 Opponents. The military will use their absolute best equipment. You arriving will be a national emergency. Secret Technologies will now be somewhat common.
251-255: The Anti-Monster Project. That’s right, you will now get to have an entire project determined to kill you (or ensure your absolute safety). Expect Mechanical units optimized to slay you as well as Secret Technologies in every battle.
Character Types:
Mutant:
You were some sort of ordinary creature until some idiot decided to expose you to radiation or chemicals or anything. Alternatively, you are a natural (or manmade through genetic alteration) mutation and have been born unto the world, traumatizing your poor, normal creature mother.
Multiply your Firepower by 20, Willpower by 5 and Intelligence by 10 and combine the number to determine your Ability Purchase Points (APP).
Superhuman:
You are a superhuman. For whatever reason, you gained the capacity to grow, as well as other super abilities. This is very similar to the Mutant category, and a lot of the powers will overlap (under the Mutations section, it will be clear whether or not human Mutants can select the skills).
Multiply your Firepower by 15, Willpower by 5 and Intelligence by 15 to determine your APP total, but you must choose Growth L.2. If you feel gypped, remember that in the middle of the battle you can shrink yourself back to normal and run like the wind, get healed, then regrow.
Mechanical:
You are an entirely mechanical being, either piloted or with an AI or remote control, that has been designed to fight the hulking brutes (or conquer the world, or to destroy all cabbage… you decide, obviously.)
Skip Step #2 and head down to the Mechanicals section. There it will detail what you can buy. You will start with a 100 billion unit budget (that’s 100,000,000,000). That lets you buy attributes, equipment, etc.
Bio-Mechanical:
For whatever reason, some organization decided to take you, a living monster creature, and modify you bio-mechanically. This could have been through exposure to a super soldier serum (in which case you will wear a harness), a massive cybernetic enhancement, or similar. It could also have been through turning a corpse into a weapons platform, such as what was done to King Ghidra in Godzilla vs. King Ghidra. This option will not be available in the Alpha.
Paranormal:
You are an ancient god creature or king of legend or budding mage with a Growth spell of some sort. Regardless, you gain special skills based upon your ability to, at least partially, break and bend the rules of physics; after all, it’s magic, eh?
Multiply your Firepower by 10, Willpower by 5 and your Intelligence by 20 to determine your APP total.
Ordinary Human:
This is an entire subset and could almost be a separate RPG! Instead of playing as the hulking monstrosities, you play on the other side: as civilians or military men working while the cities collapse. This will not be available in the Alpha
NOTE: If you want to play as humans controlling monsters, do NOT select this option! Select any of the other monster types besides Superhuman, then build their stats as normal. Subtract 2 from any stats you choose, which will be compensated by you as a human assisting them. Mechanical pilots are essentially this option. This option will be available in the Alpha.
Missions in Life:
This is an important category, for it indicates the entirety of what your character will be doing with the sweet abilities you have purchased.
Genocidal:
Your character is going to conquer or destroy the planet. That’s right, you’re going to leave Earth and any colonies and subsidiaries a smoking wasteland. If you have a high Reputation, don’t expect it to last long, except among those who have a vested interest in seeing the human race go bye-bye. This is appropriate for both the Battra style characters (i.e. see the human race as an evil plague that must be eliminated) and the Mecha-Godzilla style characters (i.e. see the human race as playthings and slaves).
Territorial:
You frankly don’t care about this entire “good” and “evil” business. You want to live in peace and quiet in some ocean trench or on your island. However, your neighbors are really irritating. You know, this entire “battle to save the planet” bit and those really loud 20 million hunks of meat. Frankly, sometimes you get pissed off. Mad. At those points, you tell these kids what’s up. This also applies to ancient gods who are worried about their worshippers and not much else.
Benevolent:
Characters with this distinction are planet savers. That’s pretty much it. Whether you serve a particular locality or all mankind, you are dependable, friendly and… well, nice.
Insane:
That’s right, you’re absolutely crazy. Pick any set of obsessions, phobias, schizophrenia, etc. This is for a monster that is determined to destroy all green leaved trees or something.
In addition, you’re going to have to select a haunt, a location for you to spend your time, and a history. Where were you born? What made you? Here’s a random table for locations.
00-10 The United States
11-20 Japan and Southeast Asia
21-30 Western Europe
31-40 Northern Africa and the Middle East
41-50 Russia and Eastern Europe
51-60 Middle and Southern Africa
61-70 Central America
71-80 South America
81-90 Australia
91-00 Antarctica
Appearance:
This will be where you and the GM can negotiate. The system is chosen in such a way as to allow a lot of creativity. You can play anything from some sort of ever-expanding plant creature to a gigantic crab to a robot built entirely from razor blades. If the design of the character includes some powers listed (i.e. a squid with tentacles), then the GM may opt to make the player spend APP.
Note that all monsters will be monster sized. Sizes range from a small mansion (Mothra) to some of the tallest skyscrapers (Biollante, Godzilla). Most monsters will weigh an extensive amount. Generally, weight and size should be determined by Speed, Agility, Strength and Endurance, but GMs and players should have a lot of leeway.
This is the matrix of abilities from which Mutants and Superhumans will select skills.
Available To indicates whether or not Mutants and Superhumans can access it. Most of these skills will be available to both, but some will not be. Growth L.2, for instance, is only accessible to mutants, but Growth L. 1 can be used by both.
APP Cost indicates how many APPs the ability will cost.
Passive Skills:
Bio-Regeneration:
Available To: Mutants and Superhumans
APP Cost: 40
The character will regenerate at an astounding rate. This is a terribly useful ability. Instead of having to sleep endlessly and make makeshift bandages, the creature can simply retire to the comfort of his home for a drastically reduced amount of time.
Adhesion:
Available To: Mutants and Superhumans
APP Cost: 10
This is the simple ability to be able to adhere to walls and distribute weight in such a manner as to cause most surfaces to support the creature. Incredibly useful in city environments, as the character can evade by climbing onto skyscrapers, not to mention get a nice vantage point for an elbow drop or for sniping. On flat plains, it may not be so useful, but in huge mountains, it's awesome. Quite awesome.
Exoskeleton:
Available To: Mutants only
Turtle Shell:
Razor Body:
Berserker Rage:
Available To: Mutants and superhumans
APP Cost: 50
“You don’t want to see me when I’m angry.” No truer words were ever spoken. When the character is hurt (30% health) or has had something very irritating happen, he or she gets mad. Real mad. When activated, the character has a +1 to Firepower, Strength, Endurance, and Speed, plus all attacks are launched with two turns of charge prepared.
(The bonus cannot put the monster over the maximum of 10. If a character has a Firepower of 10, raise critical damage and accuracy rates with Monstrous Powers and Ranged Attacks; if the character has a Strength of 10, do the same for melee attacks; if the character has an Endurance of 10, boost Passive skills; and if the character has a Speed of 10, add one to the melee multi-attack.)
Radiation Absorption:
Multiple Heads:
Multiple Arms:
Solar Powered:
Advanced Leap:
Monstrous Powers:
Magnetize Self:
Available To: Mutants and superhumans
Charge Time: 2
Flight:
Available To: Mutants and superhumans
Charge Time: N/A
\APP Cost: 20
This allows the character to fly at a speed proportional to their Speed attribute. The character should specify whether this is some sort of jet-like propulsion or wings. Both can be taken to truly streamline the character and make it quite fast.
Growth L. 1
Growth L. 2
Telepathy:
Damaging Body Aura:
Available To: Mutants and superhumans
Charge Time: 1 turn
Simple: assimilate radioactivity or similar energies and then turn it into a deadly combat aura.
Ranged Attacks:
Fire or Energy Breath:
Available To: Mutants and Superhumans
Charge Time: Five turns maximum
This is the bread and butter: a powerful breath of some form of energy, whether it’s radiological flame or electric death. These attacks usually inflict a high damage. Characters with a Firepower of 7 or above can use their breath attack to propel them, either augmenting their running speed or allowing them to fly.
Electrical Expulsion:
Acid Spit:
Available To: Mutants only
Charge Time: One turn maximum
This is simplistic: a spit of deadly acid or corrosive material of some sort. Its damage is not astounding, but it is a clean and useful weapon. It can be used quickly and often, as it is far less tiring than many of the other Ranged attacks. In addition, the corrosive effect can be used to bore holes. In general, it is a very dirty tactic, but spraying boiling acid into your opponent’s eyes and ears is effective, isn’t it?
Eye Beam:
Available To: Mutants and Superhumans
Charge Time: Two turns maximum
Self-explanatory: a beam from the eyes.
Sonic Scream:
Available To: Mutants only
Charge Time: Two turns maximum
Also simplistic: either through screaming or some sort of chest pounding or similar, the character emits a high-pitched scream with controllable focus. The character can either deafen and shatter windows or focus the scream into more of a hammering force.
Kinetic Expulsion:
Available To: Superhumans only
Charge Time: Three turns maximum
Instead of screaming, the character fires a bolt of kinetic energy. This beam is far more focused than even the most focused version of sonic scream, meaning it contains a powerful hammering force.
Ki Energy Wave:
Available To: Superhumans only. Mutants with a high enough Reputation and Intelligence to get a human mentor capable of teaching the attack may be able to master it, but they will start with a Firepower of 1 for the particular ability.
Charge Time: Five turns maximum
Yes, DBZ fans, the good old Kamehameha style skill will be available. Whether you decide to entitle your attack Destructo-Disc, Hadoken or Sword Beam, you will be able to launch this deadly assault after doing the appropriate things (you choose what that will be).
Webbing Launch:
Confusion Dust:
Freeze Breath:
Many of the Mutant skills will be similar to the Paranormal skills, but there is something to be said for magic and legend.
APP Cost indicates how many APP it will cost.
Passive Skills:
Reflection:
APP Cost: 50 each.
A very useful little ability. You will be able to reflect other people’s ranged attacks back at them! Choose one of the following: head, forearm, or pecs. That zone will reflect attacks when a ranged attack strikes that area. For an example, see Godzilla vs. Mecha-Godzilla, when Emperor Seeser decides to reflect Mecha-Godzilla’s prismatic lasers back at him… three times. Depending on the angles involved, the attack may go straight back at the enemy, into the ground, into another enemy, or into an ally or building! But hey, you’re okay, aren’t ya?
Bio-Regeneration:
APP Cost: 40
The character will regenerate at an astounding rate. This is a terribly useful ability. Instead of having to sleep endlessly and make makeshift bandages, the creature can simply retire to the comfort of his home for a drastically reduced amount of time.
Speech:
APP Cost: 10
This will allow you to speak to not only other monsters, but to normal humans.
Aura Sight:
APP Cost: 40
This allows you to see outlines of your opponents through walls and other obstructions, as well as determine: their Attributes (including Notoriety), their Mission In Life, whether or not they are charging an attack, their Character Type, and other relevant data. Mechanical monsters will only be able to be seen, not
Hypnotic Gaze:
APP Cost: 30
There’s something to this character’s eyes. Whether it’s a strange color or just a visage exemplifying hundreds of years of experience, those who lock horns with it must make a Willpower check (merely see whose is higher) or else be enraptured by fear and intensity.
Berserker Rage:
APP Cost: 50
“You don’t want to see me when I’m angry.” No truer words were ever spoken. When the character is hurt (30% health) or has had something very irritating happen, he or she gets mad. Real mad. When activated, the character has a +1 to Firepower, Strength, Endurance, and Speed, plus all attacks are launched with two turns of charge prepared.
(The bonus cannot put the monster over the maximum of 10. If a character has a Firepower of 10, raise critical damage and accuracy rates with Monstrous Powers and Ranged Attacks; if the character has a Strength of 10, do the same for melee attacks; if the character has an Endurance of 10, boost Passive skills; and if the character has a Speed of 10, add one to the melee multi-attack.)
Advanced Leap:
Monstrous Powers:
Healing Wave:
Charge Time: None
APP Cost: 50
This is a rare healing move. Those who possess this will be able to heal their brethren or innocents. This power will not work on buildings, Mechanicals, or the mechanical part of Bio-Mechanical creatures (see Reconstruction Wave).
Reconstruction Wave:
Charge Time: None
APP Cost: 50
An even rarer healing move. The monster is able to use a combination of telekinesis and arcane magic to restore artificial objects, including buildings, Mechanicals and the mechanical parts of Bio-Mechanical creatures. Definitely a way to boost Reputation.
Create Magick Weapon:
Emotion Harvester:
Soul Powered:
Sun Deity:
Shade Deity:
Shadow Meld:
Teleport:
Ranged Attacks:
Mesmerization Wave:
Charge Time:
This entire subsection details what Mechanical characters can buy. Note that who built you is determined by your Reputation. A madman’s creation won’t be liked too much, but a military generation will usually be appreciated as a hero.
0-1 indicates alien invader
0-4 indicates madman’s creation
3-7 indicates corporate or wealthy individual’s construction
5-10 indicates military support
Bear in mind that your character cannot heal on it’s own – it must find a repairing station, which can be deadly in the middle of a fight.
Each one of these has advantages and disadvantages.
Alien Invader: In addition to the bonus of not having to spend upon Reputation points, the character also receives an additional 20 billion units. Regrettably, that low Reputation hurts. Particularly because you start with a Notoriety of 30, and because your Notoriety grows at double the rate of a normal monster. Remember that that’s bad when you have a low Reputation. In addition, you gain a Reputation penalty against all other monsters except some Genocidal monsters. You may be strong, but nobody likes you. You won’t have to pay for repairs, at least.
Madman’s Creation: Subtract 20 million. 10 million of this is lost, but 10 million goes into any one Secret Technology. This is a buggy design, but the Secret Technology is an immense benefit. You won’t have to pay for repairs.
Corporate Support: Your character will have access to additional funds, depending on their success. Basically, the character must amass 10 Notoriety per month they are in operation, but each Notoriety point they do amass allows them to gain 500 million units. However, maintenance costs are subtracted from this additional total.
Military Support: The high cost placed into Reputation hurts, but add an additional 20 billion units. In addition, your character will gain free maintenance and frequent upgrades.
Attributes:
Attributes are selected in the same way as normal. Each attribute point requires 2 billion units.
Notoriety:
You are, tarantara, one of the lucky few classes that can buy Notoriety! This comes in the form of pamphlets, advertisement, etc. Usually Madman’s Creations and Corporate Support projects will have a low to medium range. Military projects will have a high range.
Alien Invaders will want to avoid high Notorieties, but corporate or military creations can benefit. The maximum the character can get is 50, and each point costs a billion units.
Passive Skills:
Advanced Coolant:
Abrasive Design:
Monstrous Powers:
Stealth Systems:
Barrier:
Plasma Energized Fist:
Rocket-Chain Fist:
Solar Powered:
Ranged Attacks:
Drill Grenades:
APP Cost:
These are grenades launched from a high-speed launcher that have a drilled tip to penetrate armor. They can be set for proximity, impact or remote detonation.
Arm-Mounted Minigun:
Budget Cost:
Missile Shield:
Energy Blade:
Eye Beams:
Finger Missiles:
Finger Machineguns:
Coolant Expulsion:
I have strongly intended for the human militaries and vigilante forces to be far more challenging than they are to Godzilla in the movies. However, at first, the opponents should be a cakewalk.
Secret Technologies:
As the game develops, the military or other interested parties will slowly develop what they believe to be the ultimate Monster Killers. Like most things in the military, they will be overblown, but they will inflict tremendous damage
Blood Coagulant Bullet:
Developed Against: Mutants, Superhumans, some Paranormals, some Bio-Mechanicals
This is a handcrafted, high caliber bullet filled with a chemical designed to make your blood coagulate. Most of the time the military will assign it to a single ace sniper, but they may build it into a minigun or artillery cannon on a Mechanical monster.
Telepathic Feedback Unit:
Developed Against: Mutants, Superhumans, some Paranormals, some Bio-Mechanicals
A small telepathic amplifier, usually shot from a high caliber rifle and targeted for the head or neck. An experienced telepath can then send signals to the monster’s brain, either killing it, distracting it or controlling it!
Monster Slaying Bacteria:
Developed Against: All monsters
The military will be able to eventually genetically modify bacteria to specifically attack your design. Whether that be to attack your internal organs, food material, or mechanical joints or computer system, will depend upon your weakest points. The bacteria will feed on the material that it was designed to live on.
The weapon will be deployed as a Scud or similar biological missile system or through a launched hypodermic needle.
Oxygen Sucker:
Developed Against: Mutants, Superhumans, some Paranormals, some Bio-Mechanicals
This weapon does what it says: it, either through some sort of advanced compression technique or through burning off all the oxygen.
Attack Satellite:
Developed Against: All monsters
This may be one of the deadliest Secret Technologies. The military will optimize a satellite with weapons designed to destroy you. However, oftentimes the military will make an unwise decision due to internal politics and pressure from corporate supporters. Thus, one of the weapons may be a microwave launcher designed to irradiate you into submission… when you feed on radiation.
This weapon will come late in development cycles for a number of reasons. For one, it’s dreadfully expensive. For another, it carries massive political costs. It also is problematic in that they have to get a good lock on you first, and often times the weapon will inflict massive damage to the surrounding area.
Launched weapons include: microwave beams, lasers, ion beams, particle beams, plasma, mini-nukes
Energy Absorbing Unit:
Developed Against: Any monster with an energy expulsion ability
The military will eventually figure out how to build an energy containment unit optimized for your energy.
Trick Decoy:
Developed Against: All monsters
The military will decide, for whatever reason, to build a life-sized decoy of you. It will be made of the newest materials, perhaps even cloned cells of you! Then, they will send the decoy at you. If they can lure you into a fight, it will allow them to lay an ambush. This is usually not a stand-alone Secret Technology and often has another Secret Technology working in tandem with it (i.e. a bomb filled with Monster Slaying Bacteria set to go off when you destroy your decoy, or a GPS beacon to position the satellite’s attack).
Shrink Ray:
Developed Against: All monsters
This weapon cuts you down to size. Pretty simple. The amount that it will shrink you depends on the exposure time, focus of the beam, and power they pump through. Those factors will usually be determined by your Notoriety and your Agility. However, once you’ve lost a majority of your size, you’re a far easier target for all opponents. Better hope you have some abilities that allow you to survive with small size (Adhesion becomes rather easy).
There are two types of Shrink Ray. One is temporary, the other is permanent. Shrink Rays that are temporary will last either 1D4 hours or 1D4 days. Either way, laying low for a while is recommended. Both types of ray can be cured by other means. Healing or Restoration Waves will be effective. Going on a smorgasbord for your monster’s food type or building material can also work. A Growth Ray will easily reverse the effects. Of course, some very interesting RPing can be done when shrunk.
Growth Ray:
Developed Against: All monsters
The opposite of the Shrink Ray, the Growth Ray will be used in a myriad of ways. If allied, the military will use it on you. If they are your enemies, though, they’ll use it to boost their operatives and allies. Giant tanks, massively boosted rivals, and even grown humans are coming your way!
Time Machine:
Radio-Launched Computer Virus:
Weather Control Devices:
Developed Against: All monsters
Although primitive and crude, these devices can work to stimulate natural conditions. The military can build massive storms to prevent solar powered beings from gaining energy and to add lightning to battles, pelting rain to weaken firebreaths (however minimally), and so on and so forth.
Earthquake Machine:
Developed Against: All monsters
This machine uses some form of tectonic pummeling to cause stress patterns to build up between plates. These stress patterns will relieve themselves in apocalyptic earthquakes. This weapon will only be used on truly low Reputation monsters. First of all, it requires adequate timing and positioning: earthquakes cannot, by their very nature, happen just anywhere. In addition, the weapon does absolutely incredible damage
Antimatter Grenade:
Developed Against: All monsters
That’s right, the big A. Using a rocket filled with antimatter would be unnecessary and cause a massive amount of destruction. This grenade will be launched from a high quality grenade launcher and will be detonated only when contact with you (or the other target, in the case of high Reputations) has been confirmed.
Psychic Development Project:
Developed Against: All monsters
The military decides to do research into mentalic and physical psychic phenomena. At first, the military will gain sensitives whose sole purpose is to predict when disaster approaches (yeah, that’s you, buddy). Later on, psychic opponents will range the gamut from telekinetic to telepathic to matter dominating.
Artificial Singularity:
Developed Against: All monsters
Brilliant strategy, huh?
Combat so far is pretty simplistic. Characters take turns fighting each other. When attacked, they can opt to spend part of their turn evading it or merely take the hits like a man and respond back with a full assault. Most characters will strike with a melee strike once a turn (if you think that’s unrealistic, think how fast you can punch your friends in real life. Then multiply your slowness by creatures that are really, really big.) However, creatures with an Agility of 7 or higher will strike multiple times.
This monster is actually capable of speech! He looks like an actor stuck in a terribly constructed suit. His skin is loose and ill-fitting and has the texture of clothing. His head is green (while the rest of his body is green splotched, as if with bad paint) and is obviously too big for his pitiful neck. The inside of his mouth vaguely resembles a bear trap. He speaks alternately in flawless (but terribly acted) Japanese or poorly translated, but not badly acted English (which is, of course, out of synch with his lips).
Firepower: N/A
Strength: 2
Intelligence: 1
Endurance: 1
Reputation: 0
Speed: 1
Agility: 1
Willpower: 10 (you have to be pretty hard headed to keep sweating in that damn suit)
+3 to Strength when biting
42 lives – will die, be reincarnated elsewhere… right where another character is ready to pummel him.
This ancient knight in the Black Forest of Germany Poland fought demons in the year 1000, preventing the hellspawn from traveling any further than the chasm that they entered this plane from. He was laid to rest, but a magician regenerated his body
Q: What the hell are we supposed to be doing? Is there a way to win? Isn’t the game sort of finite, since we’ll probably have blown up a significant segment of the Earth?
Wow, complex question. I’ll answer each in turn. Your Mission in Life will determine a large segment of what you’re doing. Given that I’m a fan of the Godzilla movies where he beat the shit out of some other monster, the game is mostly geared towards fighting other monsters. Thus, the GM should have a few monster NPCs made up geared for your area of play. These NPCs should be recurring and should have some survivability. Just think about what you’d be doing if you were a really huge monster. That’s what you’re doing.
As far as the “winning” aspect goes, no, you don’t really “win”. This is an RPG: there isn’t really a set goal, a level you beat, a final boss. Your Notoriety level will continue building. You can stop at 255, since by then you probably will have slain all of your rivals and done a significant amount of damage, but you can keep on going. The GM can always introduce catastrophes like a meteor strike or something similar, which will require some brains.
I’d like you to bear in mind the size of the Earth. Remember how in the old Godzilla movies, everyone evacuated? Yeah. There’s 6 billion people on this planet. It takes a LONG time to devastate that many squishy folk. Also bear in mind that the military will begin developing Secret Technologies. Further, the game is intended to be played in “Eras.” In other words, the game time is not months, but years or decades. These are massive creatures fighting epic battles, and so the game has an epic timescale.
Q: What are our enemies? Who will be doing a lot of the fighting?
That depends on your Notoriety, Reputation and Mission In Life. A lot of your enemies will be fellow monsters, whether you be an evil invader or a protector of justice. The GM can always throw in the wildcard, Godzilla type character who will happen to interfere in your fights at the worst possible moment. Remember that in some movies, Godzilla fights Angorus and Mothra, but in others, he works with them.
Some of your enemies will also be humans or aliens. Yes, the small folk. As the game progresses, your opponents will progress as well. You’ll move from having to fight WWII era battle tanks to having to fight Tesla tanks and railgun-carrying troops. In addition, the forces that cause you to exist also apply to smaller enemies. You may have to fight superheroes or supervillains, who will use your size against you. GMs should feel free to have cameos. I, personally, will use characters from any comic book I enjoy. My monsters at one point may have to fight the Gung Ho Guns!
Q: How do we develop our skills?
In the Alpha, I don’t have a clear way for that to happen yet. The Mechanical section offers rules of thumb for it. A good way is to connect Notoriety with additional APPs and allow the characters to purchase new skills. This can also be done through IC action: i.e. the character searches for someone to teach him a technique, or skips a gaming session to research a particular skill.
Q: Isn’t the Notoriety system rather… well, subjective?
Yes. I want it to be. If I were to define how many battles or how much property damage it would take to boost Notoriety points, it would eliminate part of the fun of the game. Roleplaying is designed to allow the GM a lot of leeway. No book I’ve seen forces the same number of players to play the same group of characters and go through the same mission – that’s a railroaded movie right there, not a game. This game has decided to allow the GM the subjectivity he or she needs through the Notoriety system.
Your GM can determine what level he wants his campaign to operate upon. He can make gaining a single Notoriety point an excruciating task. Or he can give them out like Santa Claus. All they do is inform you of how far you are, and how much your actions are becoming known.
Note to GMs: Personally, I advocate allowing your players to get quite a few quickly (at least 20 to 30), so they feel like their early actions did matter and did put them on the map. Then make it considerably slower. Notoriety does not have to be a linear function. Any giant monster showing up in a city will become famous, but it will require additional roleplaying to begin to push the threshold. In other words, the Notoriety should be a curve: easy acquisition at first, increasingly grueling acquisition later.
Q: What’s this about N/A in Firepower? It’s rather confusing.
All right. This is pretty simple. You choose your Attributes first. That determines how many APPs you’ll get. Since you’ve chosen an N/A Firepower, you can’t choose any abilities but Passive. Given that the maximum that you’ll be able to choose is 250 APP (and that’s with a 10 Intelligence, 10 Willpower and a Paranormal character), there won’t be much extra. Originally, Firepower would be the only determinant of APP, but I decided to use Intelligence and Willpower as well.
If a characters wants absolutely no special abilities, they can trade APP back into attributes. They cannot trade back into Firepower, and they cannot boost their Intelligence or Willpower so they get extra APP. They can boost any attribute except for Firepower by 1 for every 30 APP. This indicates that the character spent his Intelligence and Willpower figuring out novel ways of using his strength and speed instead of developing skills.
Note that characters who for a N/A Firepower can later develop some abilities, but like always, there must be a catalyst for the skill development. Further, opted characters will build their skill at an incredibly slow rate.new
