Questions and Comments from first play test

[Annerios]

We tried a 3 player game with each player controlling 1 monster:
Annerios using Ultracyborg Giant Hero, Thecia with the Giant Lizard Shaped Mecha and Arwen with the Giant Radioactive Regenerating Lizard. Giant Lizard Shaped Mecha won the game.

Giant Lizard Shaped Mecha is an absolute beast. 540pts of total death. Thecia would move within range and unleash the 2 (sometimes 3) ranged attacks and then turn on the force field as her final action in the turn. She was quite lucky on her rolls, so I am sure that helped, but having the force field, plus all of the armor and Tough to get through made the Mecha a really daunting opponent. In this game there was a lot of battle back and forth, but we are going to try a game where two of us just try to take the Mecha down to see how we do. Even the Giant Radioactive Regenerating Lizard is at at big disadvantage against the Mecha since its best attack (Radioactive Breath) is at -2 against it!


On the Action table 1 success and 1 failure specifies that you can take your one action and then nominate another figure to activate? Is this correct? In one monster games that means you are giving up your turn at that point. I just wanted to make sure that is the intention and that the part about being able to select another body part as an option was not left out.

Can a monster that has been knocked out get up on the same or following turn? The instructions mention that it is treated like Fallen and you cannot attack and then mention that Regeneration is the only thing a monster can do. What if you have 3 red die, roll 1 success and 1 failure on Legs activation and roll knockout on the Staggering Table (because you failed one 1 activation)? Can I use my one successful action to get up or do I have to wait until my next turn to try to get up? Or am I just unconscious until someone passes by and kicks me to death?

The Finisher on the Ultracyborg Giant Hero did not specify a range, so we just used medium. Since it is a shooting attack I assume that should be specified?

If two monsters next to each other are Fallen and one attacks the other, does the monster get to use the +2 close combat bonus for attacking a Fallen enemy or does that get cancelled since both are Fallen?

Thecia found the card usage to determine the order of who goes per turn for multiple players a bit needless. She thinks that the game is very dice heavy and dependent on luck anyway, so why shouldn't players just roll the dice against each other to see who goes first? If a player happens to go last in one turn and then first the next, then she thinks it is just the luck of the draw or how some monsters rally in the movies and fight back harder. It can make a strong player stronger or it could save a damaged player by letting him heal or move away from the battle.

Players asked about the screaming crowds of puny humans and why we could not eat them to heal? Are they being saved for scenario rules only or should there be some special power like "Devour" that allows creatures to eat crowds of humans?

It was commented that this game needs more detailed monster sheets than the standard summaries that are provided. This game has more things to keep track of than you would think. There were always questions about who could do Intimidation or who could go Berserk. Did I use my Tokusatsu Hero automatic success this turn or not? Did I remember to use that Hero's once per game reroll of one die? What about the negative effects that start to add up from rolling on the yellow and red die tables? All of these little details that can be forgotten start to add up. So either the monster sheet has to be detailed or some of these complexities need to be streamlined. Thecia suggested Intimidation or Go Berserk as Special Powers instead of automatic ones, since not all of the monsters can do them anyway.

Arwen mentioned that the game was fun, but that the turns seemed to take too long, especially when you are enduring a beating from the Giant Lizard Shaped Mecha with Thecia rolling the dice! ;D

We will be playing again over the weekend and another player should be joining to give his input.

Thecia and Arwen want to try the game on some Heroscape terrain to get away from just the cityscape and try out the rules for water, etc, so we will try a board more like this:

[andrea sfiligoi]

Cool, will reply to all of this in the book.

Yes we have to do a detailed profile sheet, although the profiles in the book must use the shorthand format for space reasons.

For "use once" powers we frankly just remember or use glass beads of different color on the profile sheet next to the special rule.

Berserk may be a misnomer. it is a tactical "ace" that everybody can have. I sort of agree on Intimidation being more of a special ability than a general ability.

When two monsters have the same modifiers (both fallen) the modifiers cancel out. must state that in the book.

A KO monster may NOT do anything... he is out of the game but you leave the body there because:

1) it can be used as cover
2) it counts as broken ground
3) if he has Regeneration he could come back into play.

All other actions are lost if you suffer a KO. I must state that in the book.

Finisher is modifier applied to a Shooter attack, so it has the range you purchase with Shooter. But it hits at +2, inflicts one extra wound to the target and one wound to the user.

Monster healing by eating humans seems like an idea from another monster game, it is rarely done in the movies. Maybe it is a special ability. Please read the rules for Vampirism and Consume here on the board.

[Annerios]

Aug 21, 2011 11:54:27 GMT 1 andrea sfiligoi said:

Yes we have to do a detailed profile sheet, although the profiles in the book must use the shorthand format for space reasons.

I figured as much and that an online tool of some kind would be available eventually as for many of the other Ganesha games.

Aug 21, 2011 11:54:27 GMT 1 andrea sfiligoi said:

When two monsters have the same modifiers (both fallen) the modifiers cancel out. must state that in the book.

Ok. That makes sense.

Aug 21, 2011 11:54:27 GMT 1 andrea sfiligoi said:

A KO monster may NOT do anything... he is out of the game but you leave the body there because:

1) it can be used as cover
2) it counts as broken ground
3) if he has Regeneration he could come back into play.

All other actions are lost if you suffer a KO. I must state that in the book.

Ok, so a Knockout result on a table, even if you you only have 1 yellow die and roll badly on the stunned table for example, means that the monster is out of the game?

I guess what we are confused about is how Regeneration brings you back into play. Does healing from a yellow to a white die change your status to Fallen instead of Knocked Out? If so, I don't think this is explained in the rules.

I read the "Rebirth of Monster X" posting about how monsters come back into the campaign, but our concerns are about how monsters with Regeneration come back into play within the current game, if at all.

Aug 21, 2011 11:54:27 GMT 1 andrea sfiligoi said:

Monster healing by eating humans seems like an idea from another monster game, it is rarely done in the movies. Maybe it is a special ability. Please read the rules for Vampirism and Consume here on the board.

I will look at the new special abilities. I think the "monster healing by eating humans" may have come from a giant monster video game.
I certainly don't remember it from the movies. I think that destroying crowds or capturing/defending a movie star would work nicely as part of a scenario, though. Perhaps scoring points for doing so.


Another big question that came up during our game, which I unfortunately left out last time, is about why almost every attack is limited to affecting the body?

Robert C. (the 4th play tester in my group) explains, "If the game intends to include body parts, then it should make the most of them. Right now, only a handful of attacks can target a part that's not the body, and most of those only cause a normal wound. I think it would be better if figures could target specific parts, and possibly cripple them so that a Kaiju can suffer the Cripple effect as a direct result of attacks and not just when those Kaiju try to activate. In that vein, a Block ability might be an idea to consider. Kaiju could use block to attempt to substitute an arm (or other part) for the original part targeted by the attacker. "

It would make it more strategic to be able to cripple the arms of a monster wielding deadly claws by focusing a bite on the arms, for example. This would require a few more table entries, but it does make a lot of sense. I don't think every attack would need to have different target options, but some of the close combat ones should (bite, punch, kick, claw). I can understand not wanting the shooting options to be that precise with these large monsters. Plus, allowing in close combat would give players more incentive to engage in close combat so the game does not turn into a mostly ranged attack festival.

Also regarding the table effects like crippled, Robert C comments, "...the colored dice only play a role when a figure activates, which seems like an odd time for a Monster to become Crippled or KO'd or whatever as it just seems un-thematic: Godzilla starts his turn and his legs suddenly break, even though he had planned to Regenerate during his turn. Huh?! This seems like it will be very random and very bizarre. Plus it is more to keep track of. "

Regarding movement, Robert C. comments, "I think figures should be allowed to use different movement types as long as they spend a separate action for each type. Maybe limit the move actions to three max per activation."


On the Action table 1 success and 1 failure specifies that you can take your one action and then just nominate another figure to activate. Is this correct? In one monster games that means you are giving up your turn at that point. It certainly looks like the activation table is incorrect according to this text in the rules:

"Regardless of the number of dice rolled, you are entitled to one action per success rolled. But if at any point you roll two failures, play passes to the opponent.
In all other cases, you can nominate another body part which you didn’t use yet, or a different figure, and try to activate it (unless all your figures have already been activated!)"

Shouldn't the 1 success and 1 failure entry in the table be updated to state that:

Monster performs one action with that body part, then the player nominates another body part of the figure and rolls to activate it or nominates a different monster and try to start the activation process anew.

?

[andrea sfiligoi]

Yes you are right on the table...I'll correct it

Regarding the aimed blows: yes we can add them but be warned, In my first version of the game, that was the default rule (you aimed each attack) and monsters were always going for the head with aimed shots etc. That made the game boring. It was "let's see how many shots before godzilla head comes off" which never happens in the movies.

Regarding what Robert said: the turns are only in the players' minds... and not knowing the exact effect of your punch makes for realistic strategies. also remember, most KOs happen when the target is staggering, and when he is, all damages requires an IMMEDIATE KO roll. The KO roll that happens on activation is more "hmm I'm wounded, I think I'll just lay down and rest a bit" that you see in some movies when the monster has taken a lot of punishment.

More movement types: no, again, watch the movies. They generally do one or the other in any given scene. Allowing both or more would make monsters too fast and you'll require a larger board which is not the case.

[boromirandkermit]

Regarding movement, Robert C. comments, "I think figures should be allowed to use different movement types as long as they spend a separate action for each type. Maybe limit the move actions to three max per activation."

This would make them far too mobile. Giant Monsters never move much. It goes against the grain of the game.

I don't think there is that much to keep track of during a game. Yes there are different body parts etc... but you are only controlling 1-4 monsters, so its not a big deal.