The D20 Thread

[g2vd]

With the D20 Section being revived by Jack Jordon, the section needed it's own thread again.
http://www.tohokingdom.com/articles/art ... _game.html

[Kaiju Claws]

Thank you g2vd! I was going to do this myself, though I was stuck trying to decide just where I might post the thread.

The first articles have gone up, both the new Godzilla entry as well as an update to the radiation domain. Godzilla actually has an update in the pipeline (wherein a few spelling errors and general edits are being applied). Beyond that, I'm busy writing and editing the next few entries, as well as an update to the introduction to the D20 section.

I have a few more plans in store for the D20 section beyond updating/adding new kaiju. I have long loved it, and it is what gave me the inspiration to get into tabletop roleplaying games in the first place. So, to be able to expand upon it and (maybe) give other players out there a new way to connect to their favorite kaiju is an exciting chance that I just couldn't pass up.

I'll check back in here whenever someone posts something new. Feel free to post thoughts, issues, and any game experiences with the updates here. I'll be excited to see what everyone thinks about it if it comes up in game.

[BlankAccount]

Thank you g2vd! I was going to do this myself, though I was stuck trying to decide just where I might post the thread.

The first articles have gone up, both the new Godzilla entry as well as an update to the radiation domain. Godzilla actually has an update in the pipeline (wherein a few spelling errors and general edits are being applied). Beyond that, I'm busy writing and editing the next few entries, as well as an update to the introduction to the D20 section.

I have a few more plans in store for the D20 section beyond updating/adding new kaiju. I have long loved it, and it is what gave me the inspiration to get into tabletop roleplaying games in the first place. So, to be able to expand upon it and (maybe) give other players out there a new way to connect to their favorite kaiju is an exciting chance that I just couldn't pass up.

I'll check back in here whenever someone posts something new. Feel free to post thoughts, issues, and any game experiences with the updates here. I'll be excited to see what everyone thinks about it if it comes up in game.

I think Spacegodzilla makes more sense as Lawful evil as he wants to control the world, not destroy it (that's more of King Ghidorah's thing since he, you know, killed Venus/Mars). It'd also make more sense as to why Spacegodzilla and King Ghidorah hate each other. They're both evil but opposing ideas of different evil.

[Kaiju Claws]

You are correct Living Corpse! SpaceGodzilla's desire to rule over those he conquers places him firmly within the domain of Lawful Evil. Though he does not have a code of conduct per se, his predisposition to create a plan (be it imprisoning Little Godzilla to lure Godzilla to a battlefield of his choice, making Fukuoka Tower a conduit for his power/fortress, or his "mastermind" role in recent comics/video games) combined with the aforementioned hunger for rulership places him within the lawful evil spectrum. This creates a nifty roll for his followers, who would attempt to infiltrate the upper echelons of leadership to cement their rule over those beneath them. The fact that they possess real power only makes them that much deadlier (and more interesting to play or battle against).

I can understand where Mr. Freund was coming from in the 3.5 entry for SpaceGodzilla as chaotic evil, as we had not seen the expansion of his role/character that we have seen in recent years with games/comics, but he has really shown himself to be something more than a mindless destroyer (at least as far as kaju go). Chaotic Evil enemies run the gamut from selfish, self interested individuals to those who want to destroy everything, so being of the same alignment doesn't necessarily mean that Ghidorah and SpaceGodzilla would ever get along; it just means that their own brand of evil doesn't mesh well with the other's. But, as the years have proven, they are certainly different enough to warrant the alignment difference as well.

Thank you for the input by the way. I am glad to hear that someone else out there has some thoughts on the matter.

[BlankAccount]

I wonder what other monsters could be added. I'd say King Caesar since he along with Mothra are one of the few who is an actual god in the kiajuverse.

[Kaiju Claws]

There are a number of kaiju that I will be adding, with King Caesar and Hedorah making it into the ranks as well (of course, all of the original kaiju will be returning). Not to paint myself into a corner, but there are truly few kaiju that couldn't be added thanks to the flexibility of the monster creation system from Pathfinder. In fact, if there were any in particular that people out there were clamouring for, I would be happy to oblige. Personally, I like building stats/encounters (it's probably something most DM/GM's enjoy a bit), so making more monsters is never really a problem.

[BlankAccount]

There are a number of kaiju that I will be adding, with King Caesar and Hedorah making it into the ranks as well (of course, all of the original kaiju will be returning). Not to paint myself into a corner, but there are truly few kaiju that couldn't be added thanks to the flexibility of the monster creation system from Pathfinder. In fact, if there were any in particular that people out there were clamouring for, I would be happy to oblige. Personally, I like building stats/encounters (it's probably something most DM/GM's enjoy a bit), so making more monsters is never really a problem.

Well, then, how about Zone Fighter and the MUTO?

[MoarCrossovers]

Varan was treated as a God in the original film. Maybe he could fill the role of Legendary Goji and be a 'force of nature' type.

Then again, we kinda already have Battra for that.

[SpanishBulldog63]

Varan was treated as a God in the original film. Maybe he could fill the role of Legendary Goji and be a 'force of nature' type.

Then again, we kinda already have Battra for that.

Looks like I'm not the only one who thought of Varan. I'm not quite sure where he'd fit in Domain-wise under the ones in the D20 article, unless we consider the pre-existing ones like Air, Water, Earth, or simply Animal. Alignment-wise, he strikes me as a neutral monster.

[Kaiju Claws]

Apologies for the slow response, I was running my monthly Pathfinder game yesterday and it was a long session (set within a Toho setting ).

Corpse, the MUTO are definitely on my list. They are interesting, unique looking amongst Godzilla kaiju, and as a pair they have an interesting set of tactics. As far as being deities, I am unsure as yet if they would make it that far. They could just be "normal" kaiju, as they are referred to as parasites within the film and could fulfill that role within the Toho setting. Of course, they would still be rather powerful, but they would fill a different role within the setting. I'm going to ponder it awhile longer (though I'm glad someone else out there wanted the MUTO's).

As far as Zone Fighter goes, I must confess that I don't really know much about Zone Fighter beyond what I've read here. While I'm not against including him (I have already stated Jet Jaguar for instance, though as a non-deified kaiju), I guess I'm saying that I need to watch the show first before I can commit to that.

Birdman/SpanishBulldog, Varan is actually an interesting choice to include and I had forgotten that he was referred to as a god in film (it's been awhile since I've watched it). The tri-phibian would be a cool addition to the list, probably comparable to Rodan in power/status. Hopefully I haven't given anyone the impression that the domains of the kaiju can't be from the standard list (Godzilla is supposed to have War, which I have properly added back in with the first edit). Varan would definitely have Air and Water, possibly Animals as well for one of his main domains (abstract domains/concepts are also acceptable, like Godzilla's atonement, for roleplaying opportunities, etc). Signature Weapon for Varan would be something that relates to his spiky appearance, like a Kumade or Tiger Fork.

Added in 11 hours 36 minutes 45 seconds:
Godzilla entry update
Just a head's up to any who may be curious, Godzilla has been updated. A few of his saves were off and there has been some more detail added to his bio. And the next kaiju god has been submitted, so the section will continue to grow and be updated. Thanks to everyone for all of the replies thus far. Keep them coming!

Added in 9 hours 48 minutes 40 seconds:
We have another kaiju up and running: Rodan! Next up will be Mothra (once I hammer down her stats), alongside an update to the introduction to the D20 page.

[BlankAccount]

Hedorah confirmed.

[BlankAccount]

Was wondering when we'd get a new update.

[Kaiju Claws]

Indeed Corpse. An update at last.

For a bit of insight into my process, I aim for about one entry every 3 weeks. Typically it comes out to 1 week of research, 1 week of stat building, and the last week for bio writing and review. Within that time frame, I also do a good bit of on the fly editing (for the newest entry as well as previously published ones) alongside comparison to published materials. For those interested, Paizo has 3 official kaiju floating around out there, as well as Cthulhu, which make a wonderful basis for comparable power and abilities.

Kaiju - http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monste ... asts/kaiju
Cthulhu - http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monste ... ne-cthulhu

When I first received permission to take over the D20 section, I had already completed Godzilla's entry and the Radiation domain update, with Rodan in the final review process (I write and edit everything myself). Because of that, my normal output looked a little faster than it normally is. I would love to put new articles up more frequently, but I also have a campaign that I write and run for ~7 - 8 people once a month (and for that I do a lot of writing). So this way I think I've got a fair amount of balance going on, especially because the campaign and what I put up on the site here are linked, feeding off of one another (I managed to recently convert one of my players to become a follower of Mothra! ). No worries though, you'll never see one of my player's characters end up on the site or anything like that. I do have plans for the setting though...

I'm happy to say that everything is proceeding as planned. There may seemingly be a lull from time to time, but rest assured that this section will be updated for the foreseeable future and then some. Next in the pipe, we have our first purely villainous kaiju!

[Grimlock#1]

I'm curious to see what the Triad will look like when you get to it. As for other gods not already in the game, I'd like to see Manda, Baragon, and Megalon. Are you going to include lesser monsters such as the Snowman, Giant Rats, H-Man, Matango, etc in the game?

[Kaiju Claws]

Hello Grimlock! As far as the Triad goes, I am in a bit of fun predicament there. Not to derail the thread, but I'm curious about the relationship between Mothra and Leo. Namely, are they the same character? Toho does not have a separate copyright icon for Leo vs Mothra (except for his transformations) and he is never addressed as "Leo" in the films (at least as far as I recall, though I haven't watched the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy in about a year), so it leaves me curious.

The reason I ask this question is because it affects the lore. If Leo is "just" Mothra, then they sort of occupy the same space in the universe, which affects the construction of the Triad (after all, if it's just Battra and Mothra it can't really be a triad). The lore, the concept of a world where these creatures share the same land with humans and other races as deities is the primary reason I wanted that I took over the D20 section. Having stats, etc for each creature is fine and dandy. But the ability to interact with them, to see the world from their point of view as a follower is what really drew me to it. That is something that the old entries were missing, and something that I intend to amend after the stat entries are up. So to say that Leo's place in it doesn't occupy a portion of my planning and writing is an understatement. I didn't come into this without a plan after all, I'm just trying to flesh out his portion of it more.

Rambling aside, rest assured that a stat entry and bio will be made for Mothra Leo regardless (as an aside, I intend to make more than a few variants of the various kaiju, each tailored to a specific version of the character ie. Heisei Godzilla, Showa Mechagodzilla, etc). He'll probably just be one of the later ones is all.

And there will be more kaiju than what we've already seen as well... some articles have already been edited to reflect that, and will continue to be as more kaiju are added. And let's just say that I already have 1 or 2 lesser monsters stated out, shall we? After all, what sort of Toho/Godzilla setting would it be if it didn't include a least a few smaller monsters to terrorize players (my own players have been introduced to a few already). Like the separate lore articles, the lesser monsters and races will start being uploaded after the main kaiju deities are finished.

[BlankAccount]

Leo is the son of Mothra, so yeah they are separate.

[Kaiju Claws]

I do recognize that Corpse, but for the every instance aside of the ROM trilogy, the child of Mothra is still Mothra. So that's why I was curious.

But to be perfectly honest, I think I was just making too much out of nothing to begin with. It's one of those situations where you say something out loud, then you realize how silly it sounds. So yeah, no worries. I think I got too into my own head here.

I hope it's apparent to you guys, but I really want to give you all something fun and very cool to do with in these entries and articles. I've always wanted to give something to the community, and I figured this would be my best shot at doing that. And even if you just read these articles for fun, even if only one person uses these actual stats, then I will be satisfied. I hope someone has some fun with this.

[BlankAccount]

Well if you need a good argument, most Mothra offspring grow up to be an exact copy of the mom (reincarnation,rebirth). Leo is so vastly different from his mom even in the larval form he pretty much is his own thing, much like BATTle mothRA.

[Grimlock#1]

I can see where Kaiju Claws is coming from regarding Mothra Leo as being the same as Mothra, at least in terms of how in-universe characters such as Mothra worshipers would see the two: Mothra Leo might be cosmetically different from Mothra in terms of appearance and powers, but they essentially have the same role.

[Kaiju Claws]

Hey everyone! I wanted to apologize for the next entry being late. It should have went up last night, but my grandmother has been in the hospital this week and it's not looking good. Because of that, I'm a little late on the final submission of my article (just about everything is written, I just need to construct the stat block and edit everything). No worries, I will have it submitted a little later this week.

And I did just want to thank you all for the continued discussion. It is very cool to know that there are curious/interested people out there giving things a look.