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"Our ancestors told stories of the earth before it was like this. They roamed free like the birds who fly in the sky above our biodomes. They ran like mustangs across fields of verdant green. If we were so carefree we would likely end up dead or worse: infected. To be infected is a waking nightmare, it is to lose your humanity. The virus unleashed upon this world by those who came before us mutates the body in strange ways. It turns people into monsters. It touches everyone differently. Some will grow long talons and fangs like wild beasts, others will drip black ichor from their eyes and wail to the heavens as their skin turns bright red and becomes painfully hot to the touch, and others will grow impossibly large while sprouting additional limbs and tear at the flesh of their former friends in a blind rage. We have scientists who are studying this strange virus and who are looking for a cure but they need resources for this. Each year those from all walks of life will don masks to embark on their pilgrimage, a once-in-a-lifetime venture outside the biodomes in search of resources for their homes. This is considered the greatest honor and adventure of our lifetimes. It is also the most dangerous. Some of us will never make it back home. " 

Monsters is a multi-player tabletop RPG based on the Breathless SRD. It is set in a post-apocalyptic reality where a virus mutates people's bodies in unusual, and sometimes frightening ways. Included are the core rulebook, a character sheet, and an introductory adventure module.   

This work is based on Breathless, product of Fari RPGs (https://farirpgs.com/), developed and authored by René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas , and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5 USD. You will get access to the following files:

MonstersTTRPG_CoreBook_Pages_v2.pdf 962 kB
MonstersTTRPG_CoreBook_Spread_v2.pdf 958 kB
MonstersTTRPG_TheMissingMaps_Module.pdf 99 kB
MonstersTTRPG_CharacterSheet_v2.pdf 521 kB

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A free copy of MONSTERS, for anyone experiencing financial hardship or marginalization.

Development log

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(4 edits) (+2)

(EDIT: The V2 update, added right after release, fix all of my surface level gripes below! There are now some excellent random tables with lots of fun options for transformations and fractions. I have a great feeling this game will only continue to develop and solidify) 

A nice little system for post-apocalyptic wanderings. I like the core dice shifting mechanics, and I'm interested in the Belief track, but it seems like an afterthought without support in game. The infectious transformation selling point is even more of an afterthought (Monster Traits don't even have a spot on the character sheet, nor any example Traits). There is some setting descriptions, but only for the starting area, a place the players would presumably not spend the majority of their time if they are to be adventurous. The small Module that comes with the game is a nice saving grace, but if you are already familiar with the Breathless system, there is very little that is new here. The transformation idea needs to be more fully fleshed out before I could recommend this game as something special. However, for a designers first TTRPG, its preforms its roles admirable and cleanly. I'd look forward to see how the author pushes system boundaries further with future updates or new projects.

(+2)

Thanks for the feedback! I added you to a thank you page. I realized that the things I left up to narrative freedom are some things you pointed out that felt more like an afterthought.  I wonder if this is a blindspot of this originally being an idea for a novel that I decided to make a game instead. I definitely will keep working on this and pushing out updates. Do you think having someone run it as a GM independently of me running it is a stronger playtesting method? 

(+1)

Oh yeah, getting someone else to GM is always the best playtest method whenever possible. I'm going to try to run games of all the tf jam submissions, so I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. 

Narrative freedom is important, but it feels strained because both the Beliefs and Monster Traits are points to keep track of, so to be mechanically grounded while narratively absent just makes them feel abandoned. I see easy fixes for that though, and this is a cool starting place with a lot of potential.

MONSTERS was my Judges choice for the TF TTRPG Jam. Shoot me an email at usducktape@gmail.com and we can see about getting you some signed books, cards, or whatever!

Amazing! I'm so excited <3 Thank you~