Kong-Sized Inspiration and Release Timeframe

Project Update

Howdy all - this project hasn’t had an update in 90 days, so I wanted to provide an update.

As I have mentioned in a prior devlog, playtesting for “Under a Hostile Sun” has gone very well. Playtesting for “In the Kaiju’s Shadow” . . . not as well.

I have been watching the 2005 King Kong (a very good movie) in preparation for the Godzilla vs Kong movie. The movie has helped me see that there is a benefit for slightly smaller Kaiju. At the size of the creatures in the 2005 movie, humans are still able to meaningfully fight the monsters. Whereas when things are Godzilla-sized (as Kaiju’s Shadow is currently written), there can be little for the characters to do except run.

So, I am planning on taking this project “back to formula” and making a Skull-Island inspired setting with smaller Kaiju.

Combat

The most recent rules for Boss Monsters in Under a Hostile Sun are going to inform the combat system. Humans have actions per round. Creatures will have a Pester Radius and an Impact Attack.

This means there is no “upper limit” to how many creatures a Kaiju can damage in a round. Every creature that enters it’s “Pester Radius” will need to make a Pest Resist or take damage. Likewise, the Impact Attack will designate a section of the map as elevated impact.

Parts of a Round

1. Initiative Players Test Agility. Players that succeed move before the GM’s characters
2. Creature Phase - Creatures move and establish Pester Radii and Elevated Impact Attacks. First creatures tamed by the players who passed Agility are moved, them the GM moves his creatures, then remaining players move their creatures
3. Humanoid Phase - Humanoids, which do not use Pester Radii and Elevated Impact Attacks can move and take an action.
4. Opportunity Die - depending on environment, rolling a “1” can mean more monsters join the fray, exhaustion sets in for the humans, a titan awakens or some other disaster.

Release Timeframe

Right now the main “Under a Hostile Sun” is taking precedence as I need to have the project and sample adventure ready by GenCon. Nonetheless, I am hopeful I will have a rewrite of Kaiju’s shadow sometime in May.