#Cataclysmic Kaiju Month

[thezanyarthropleura]

The Not-March Ones (2 of 5)

And now, finally, just as we go into overtime after spending nearly a whole month reviewing eight of the other films, I present a discussion on Giant Monster Gamera, the original Gamera film and the first of the Showa era. The Japanese original was released on November 27, 1965 and will celebrate 58 years later this year.

There are two Americanized versions of the film: Gammera the Invincible, the original US cut which features additional American-filmed scenes (this is the version used by Rifftrax in a full-length episode recently uploaded to their Youtube channel) and Gamera, the infamous Sandy Frank’s later Americanization which is just a straight dub of the original Japanese film without the added scenes (this is the version used in the classic MST3K episode). The Gammera the Invincible version is a double-edged sword, because while it adds some creeping sexist guys in the additional scenes, it removes a creepy one-sided romance in the main cast. It also doesn’t rename Toshio to ‘Kenny’ or any of the other characters renamed in the same manner, and has different dialogue for the ending, omitting that weird last jab of misogyny thrown at Kyoko which is mild but iffy in the Japanese original and overtly insulting in the dub that became the Sandy Frank version.

So, let’s talk about the overall portrayal of Yamamoto Kyoko, and see how this movie really feels about women, since it’s the earliest one we’re going to cover:

An assistant to Dr. Hidaka, Kyoko functions as his radio operator, plane identifier, artifact holder, and timekeeper, all while wearing the coolest cool-cat pair of shades of all time (unfortunately she only wears them in the first scene). Other than that, she really just feels ‘along for the ride’ throughout the film, but you can say that about most of our main characters – the military does just about everything important, our lead trio of Hidaka, Kyoko, and photographer Aoyagi tag along and watch. Both single-M versions of the film end with Dr. Hidaka cheerfully recommending that Kyoko either take a break from or give up her own studies entirely, to act as Aoyagi’s muse instead, and do keep in mind, at this point she’s shown about zero interest in Aoyagi’s advances. This honestly sours the whole film, and as such I much prefer Gammera. Our sole other woman in a significant role is Sakurai Nobuyo, older sister to the young child of the film, Toshio. Nobuyo acts as Toshio’s guardian in place of his deceased mother, and shows her worry for him throughout the film, however also frequently contributes to his abuse, even if one might argue she’s mainly deferring to his father and teacher on the matter.

By far my favorite scene in this film is the first time Gamera comes ashore after fleeing his awakening in the arctic. By this time, Gamera has been missing for long enough the human characters assume he may have died as a result of the radiation from the plane crash that awoke him. To the surprise of the unsuspecting world, however, Gamera emerges from the sea near a small, remote settlement, makes the slow climb up a hill toward the lighthouse at the top, and as said lighthouse shatters and crumbles, makes the decision that a single, heartbroken and abused soul doesn’t deserve to die young, even when hundreds of other people are about to be killed in destructive cataclysm – yes, we’re still talking about Gamera! It’s a real scene, go watch the movie!

Other than ‘Gamera is the bae over bay kaiju,’ the main takeaway here is that this establishes Gamera’s status as ‘friend to all children’ which is more solidly defined in future films. From the get-go, he’s not just another destructive monster, he can think and make decisions either on an emotional level, or about guilt and culpability if we take into account the Heisei trilogy’s continued implications that he may blame humans for the damage they cause to the Earth. This first film’s establishing moment, though, is very close to my heart, because Toshio is heavily coded as neurodivergent, with a special interest in turtles, and what happens in the film, from his perspective, is effectively that his special interest has manifested as a giant monster that crushes the home of his abusive family while specifically sparing his life. Seriously. In some versions of this, we get Toshio’s older sister and father, who shunned his interest in turtles only moments ago, forced to agree with his summation that Gamera saved him because “he knows I like turtles.”

The subtitled original Japanese version of this film establishes what is, in my view, a critical piece of lore information: that Atlantis stretched all the way to the Arctic Circle, and also that multiple Gameras were said to have lived there. This author further postulates that (*continuity goggles on*) many of the Atlantean-Muan military engagements occurred throughout the Bering Sea, with the Atlanteans crossing the north pole and using the Bering Strait as their accessway to attempt a conquest of Japan. Japan is established in Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris as some sort of Mana center, and I’ve previously suggested control of Japan was the primary motivation for the Muan-Atlantean war, and thus the reason for so many Atlantean-related discoveries to have occurred in the Pacific Ocean. I further suggest now that an outpost in the Arctic Circle was established as a Gamera production facility, consistent with the Black Tortoise (Genbu)’s association with the northern compass direction in the legend referenced in Gamera 3. It is unknown how or why, but thus made somewhat more reasonable that the skeletons of the other produced Gameras ended up in an underwater graveyard near Okinotorishima. Perhaps they were covertly placed there in hopes that they would revive from or otherwise interact with Japan’s Mana?

(*continuity goggles off*) Unfortunately, the rest of the movie isn’t quite as interesting or meaningful as what I’ve covered so far – it subsequently devolves into Gamera attacking place after place, and the military coming up with one plan after another to try and stop him, until they ultimately settle on sticking him in a rocket and shooting him into space (in an ending quite prescient of one major source of the film’s later continued fame). This is the result of conflicting driving forces behind the production, with Director Noriaki Yuasa seeking to establish Gamera’s character as a hero of children while also still needing to fulfill his assigned mandate from Daiei of creating a city-crushing monster to compete with Toho’s Godzilla. What none of this really excuses, however, is the fact Toshio’s role for the rest of the movie is to get himself into more and more dangerous situations while trying to see Gamera, requiring others to put themselves in danger to save him, creating conflict over whether we’re really meant to sympathize with him (he is, after all, the origin of the unfortunate, offensive “Kenny” stereotype of children in kaiju films being more annoying than helpful).

If one would prefer an in-universe explanation for why Gamera might go on a destructive rampage in his first film, in contrast to the later ones, here I present three (*continuity goggles back on*) hypotheses, some of which may overlap.

Gamera is simply trying to restore his own energy, hence why he keeps going after fire. This is what is presented in the film itself, and is likely the canon explanation, with the only question left being why he seems to not care about the destruction he’s causing and the lives lost.

Gamera knows Gyaos is going to awaken soon, and Gamera 3 style, is in full ‘ends justify the means’ mode to power up and prepare. Despite being intended as separate continuities, the other versions of Gamera all tend to follow the Heisei’s may he awaken with the Shadow of Evil prophecy (we may just not have spent enough time with Toto for this to happen, and that film specifically establishes the Gyaos rivalry in its opening scene). While Showa Gamera is shown to be awakened by accident, it’s still possible he was already close to being ready to emerge and the nuclear incident simply jumpstarted the process.

Gamera is still reacting to something that happened before he was frozen in the ice, possibly an environmentally-destructive action taken by whatever civilization was present at that time – and which may have intentionally frozen Gamera in the arctic to get rid of him. Either that, or he’s reacting to the nuclear incident itself, and later learning about Toshio’s abuse only fuels his disregard of human life.

Abuse warning for how Toshio is treated by his teacher and family in the beginning of the film, which, as mentioned, bears enough parallels to shaming/punishing a neurodivergent child for having a special interest that I have to assume this was the filmmakers’ intent despite likely not possessing the words to describe it. This is immediately followed by Gamera appearing on scene and saving/sparing Toshio which seems to shock some sense into his parents. There’s also a scene later in some versions of the film where another child takes advantage of Toshio by throwing the rocks he’d gathered into the river, but another adult in the scene calls out the other child and defends Toshio.

In summation, I like this movie primarily for Gamera’s establishing character moment, as well as the positive/empathetic depiction of Toshio’s likely neurodivergence, despite the awkwardness with which the film treats his character from then on. That said, the majority of the film still falls back into a standard “how do we defeat the monster?” movie, and after the lighthouse scene, the idea of Gamera having any character outside of being a destructive kaiju who eats fire isn’t really expanded upon again until the sequels. And then there’s also the misogyny. I rank this one somewhere in the middle of the Showa films, there being a few others that I undoubtedly prefer and also, a few from which I can’t find as many things to like as I do from this one. Interestingly, our two main women Kyoko and Nobuyo do get a significant interaction that states they’ve been in contact offscreen, as Kyoko invites Nobuyo and Toshio for a brief visit at what seems to be Dr. Hidaka’s office after the lighthouse is destroyed and they decide to stay in Tokyo while it’s rebuilt. So there’s actually some basis for a wlw ship in this film, who would’ve guessed?

Enjoy this movie with Cape Cod kettle chips and waffle pretzels.

#gamera #giant monster gamera #gamera the giant monster #gammera the invincible #gammera #yamamoto kyoko #sakurai nobuyo #sakurai toshio #atlantis gamera #gamera march #gamera april #a lesbian reviews all the gamera movies

[monstersdownthepath]

The Final King, Mogaru

CR 28

Chaotic Neutral Colossal Magical Beast

Bestiary 4, pg. 170~171

Lets get this joke out of the way really quick aaaand

So, here we are! After referencing him in so many other posts during Cataclysmic Kaiju Month (which isn’t even over yet!), how many of you were waiting for the article on Godzilla Mogaru himself? Claimed by scholars to be the King of All Kaiju, Mogaru is said to be older than all of them combined, so ancient no known historical record predates him, birthed in Golarion’s earliest days and just as much the part of the planet as any mountain or lake and as necessary for the ecosystem’s function as a seasonal flood or wildfire. Like a seasonal flood or wildfire, though, Mogaru’s infrequent awakenings have recently begun to affect the expansion of mankind throughout the planet because they have rather rudely decided to do things like raise civilizations that happen to be in his favorite ancient stomping grounds. The NERVE of some species’! Honestly!

There is also Mogaru’s other, more important function: Keeping the population of other Kaiju low. While other Kaiju awaken every few decades or centuries due to some inborn schedule or rise in response to specific stimuli, the stimuli Mogaru responds to is other Kaiju waking up, his Sense Kaiju perfectly pointing him towards any and all active Kaiju regardless of distance... but it’s ultimately up to him whether he leaves his primordial lake or not to engage them. It’s not known why the attacks of some Kaiju rouse Mogaru while others go ignored, but it tends to rely on geographical location more than anything else. Like his inspiration, Mogaru cannot fly (thankfully), but he CAN swim, and quickly (100ft/round), but this mean’s he’s limited to intercepting attacks that occur on or near shorelines.

Woe to any Kaiju he deigns to face down, though. As numerous dead and buried beasts can attest to, Mogaru’s purpose is population control, and if you happen to be over whatever arcane limiters he has set in his mind, the typical “battle to the point of exhaustion and then part ways” collision of force do not apply. Neither does it apply to any puny adventurers who try to catch his attention.

Lets get the first and most obvious one out of the way first: The Breath Weapon. Like his inspiration, Mogaru’s most famous and most devastating technique is the hellfire he can produce from his mouth, heralded by the red spines along his back and head glowing ominously. His breath isn’t radioactive (thankfully), but it’s “fiery red force” that takes the shape of a 1200ft line. Anything in that line takes 20d6 Fire and 20d6 Force damage (and no Kaiju actually resists Force) and, fun fact, cover does literally nothing. The blast of energy is so intense that not only staggers anything struck for 1d4 rounds, but also completely bypasses the cover mechanic, affecting small creatures cowering behind debris (provided the debris withstands the initial blast anyway) just as well as it does the whatever massive beast is at the other end.

But Mogaru isn’t anchored in place while unleashing his greatest weapon, like some of his competition. No, his mastery of his energy weapon is so complete that he can actually move while firing, swinging his head as he does so and turning the 1200ft line into a 600ft-long cone, an area of devastation so enormous that, unless a party has split up to completely surround him, will likely affect everyone and everything present in the battle, wiping hundreds of structures and countless innocent civilians straight out of existence (since anything brought to 0 HP is automatically disintegrated). It’s such an enormous AoE that I literally cannot even draw it accurately in Paint because, in Pathfinder, cones tend to be as wide at the endpoint as they are long, so the visualization becomes absolutely ridiculous. Even when compared to Agyra’s four-mile hurricane, the sheer enormity of Mogaru’s cone weapon is difficult to express through text alone, and trying via a grid drawing--even when the squares represent 10ft instead of 5--is proving to be far too fiddly to be easily readable. Just looking over the quick doodle I did for the sake of it tells me it hits thousands of individual 5ft squares; someone better at math with more patience than me can probably get an accurate number, but my own mental math puts it somewhere at or near 3,000. Pathfinder’s systems literally are not meant to work on the scale Mogaru does, to say nothing of Kaiju in general, which is why, mercifully, Paizo changed them to be environmental hazards in 2e.

Maybe someone with a program more advanced than Paint will have an easier time, but we all have our weaknesses. All of us except Mogaru, of course, but we’ll get into that in a moment.

People aren’t likely to be packed shoulder to shoulder in neat little 5ft squares, so Mogaru’s body count will not likely be extremely high after only a single breath weapon... which is why he can do it once every 4 rounds, just for good measure. No impediment vulnerable to Fire or Force stands in the Final King’s way for very long, and anything that does resist the initial blast will likely either be torn apart by his follow-up Full-Attack, or his follow-up Firebolts. On the round following the use of his Breath Weapon, Mogaru’s spines remain charged with energy that he can fire off as a powerful ranged touch attack. He can choose to fire one, three, or six bolts of heavy fire at any target(s) within 1200ft, the singular Firebolt dealing 20d6 Fire/Force damage, the triple bolts 8d6 damage each, and the six bolts only 5d6 damage each... But there’s no limit to whether or not he can target the same creature or object with multiple bolts or not, so if he (the DM) is feeling especially spicy and thinks the +31 to hit touch AC is enough to guarantee each bolt lands, he can trade his single gargantuan shot to aim the six smaller bolts at the same victim, dealing 30d6 Fire damage instead of 20d6 (or all three of the medium bolts for 24d6). His Firebolts give him incredible coverage against even flying Kaiju, to say nothing of archers or casters buzzing around his head like mosquitos.

If you thought we were done with the consequences of his Breath Weapon, though, you’re going to be sorely disappointed, because the Final King has a final prank up his sleeve that lets him use it even when it’s on cooldown. While players are unlikely to experience this variant due to the restrictions of the Massive rule, Mogaru’s Reflexive Breath lets him use his fiery force beam as an Attack of Opportunity, blasting a victim with 40d6 damage and potentially staggering them. He can only use Reflexive Breath once per round, and it thankfully only damages the creature that provoked the AoO, but using it charges up his Firebolts (provided I’m reading it right; there seems to be nothing indicating otherwise) and doesn’t impact the rate his normal Breath Weapon recharges. With his Reflexive Breath discouraging enemies from disengaging (and serving as the coup de grace against Kaiju he wants dead, should they try and flee with their Recovery ability), Mogaru’s Full-Attack traps them between a rock and a hard place.

He’s got a CCB attack, as one may expect looking at him, his two claws dealing a generous 4d8+20 damage, while his significantly more damaging bite hits for 8d6+20 damage and Grabs whatever it strikes. While all Kaiju are immune to it, Mogaru does have Fast Swallow to gulp down smaller annoyances into his molten gut where they take 10d6 bludgeoning and 10d6 Fire damage each round until they escape or succumb. For enemy colossi, Mogaru can also bring his twin tails to bear, each dealing 6d6+10 damage on impact, and ALL of his natural attacks critically strike on a 19-20! For anyone managing to get out of his 60ft reach (and 60ft space), he can still close in and bite down via Greater Vital Strike for 24d6+20 damage to keep those numbers high.

One final trick proving that he’s the King Of All Kaiju is his secret weapon against any beast or mage that tries striking him from beyond his range with magic or energy weapons: Absorb Energy. He is immune to Fire and has 30 points of Resistance against every other form of elemental energy (except Force), including negative energy, and Absorb Energy turns that Resistance into a unique form of self-healing; he heals from any damage that gets blocked by his Resistance or Immunity. If your attack deals 31 Acid damage, then you’ve actually netted him 30 HP, as the first 30 points of damage are absorbed and used to heal his wounds instead. If your strike dealt 800 Fire damage, well, that just brings him back to full.

Perhaps to keep the ability from being too insane, Mogaru can only focus on feeding on a single type of energy at a time. The first energy damage he’s exposed to each round is the only one he’ll actually draw HP from, so having some tiny critter at the top of the initiative order flinging Acid Splashes or Jolts at his feet to trigger Absorb Energy and then unleashing a Cone of Cold or Greater Shout is perfectly viable. Not so much for other Kaiju, who tend to rely on a single type of damage, though, who tend not to catch on to his gimmick until they’ve already given him a fourth of his health back.

While Mogaru’s appearance in a city besieged by another Kaiju can be a blessing, it will more often than not end with the city being destroyed anyway as the titans clash. The one hope for salvation the puny townspeople have is the Final King’s fascination with song. For a reason lost to the ages, Mogaru is Susceptible to Song, any being capable of managing the DC 35 Perform (Sing) able to plant a Suggestion in the mind of the titan. If he succeeds his own save against the song (the DC of which is set by the performer’s Perform roll), the effect only lasts 1d4 rounds... but if he fails, the Suggestion sticks for as long as the spell typically would (1 hour/level, with the caster level being the performer’s ranks in the skill). Unlike any other mental effect, Mogaru cannot use Recovery to shrug off the song’s effects on him, so the order he’s been given is guaranteed to be obeyed.

While this weakness tends to be used to spare a civilization from the Final King’s wrath, the fact that anyone with the ability to beat the DC can give him an order (though no more than once per singer per day) can absolutely be used for things far more nefarious. Not every day you see a potential plot hook for a Bard destroying a city, is it?

You can read more about him here.

#Cataclysmic Kaiju Month #CR 26 and up #Monster Spotlight #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

[develation]

I dont know if it has been asked before but how do Kaiju!AU characters return back to their original form ? Do they pass out after a certain amount of destroying things and then passing out and waking up in some place of total destruction ?

Nope! You are my second ask ever so congrats :D!

That will be answered in the second part of POTM so I don't want to say a lot. But to sum it up, you're pretty spot on! It just depends on how long the pre-dormancy stage lasts to determine the factors of how long their titan forms will last and how awful there gonna feel when they wake up.

A couple of days (these are by how long pre-dormancy last)? They won't be like THAT for a long time since there wasn't a crazy amount of magic storage before. Mostly only a couple of cities worth of damage.

Weeks? Awful, but not the worst thing. State's worth of damage, maybe even countries.

Months? At least the whole side of the planet in the universe therein will be flattened. Lighting storms and tornados from Celestial. Earthquakes, dust storms, and landslides from Eradicator. Cyclones, floods, hurricanes, tidal changes, and tsunamis from Calamity. Volcano eruptions and acid rain from Daemon. Wildfires, solar flares, and heat waves from Cataclysm. Yeah, that universe is fucked. We're talking end of the world, apocalypse capabilities. And you bet all of them are gonna feel like it is the end of the world when they wake up xD.

And how they change back? Well, like Error said in POTM- surrounded by their own former flesh. I'm sure y'all can put two and two together :3

#Titan/Kaiju!AU #ask #anon

[the-story-after]

Just came across this tumblr and i desperately hope it isnt dead cuz this game looks REALLY INTERESTING! You got like, an elevator pitch or progress on it lately?

Hello freezing-kaiju! The game is in fact still alive! I’ve still been working on it for many years but have been stuck in a rut for a while. But recently I started re-adding to the story but the process has been slow because of an online coding course that I’m taking (which isn’t because exactly for my game but will be extremely helpful because I’m learning Ruby this month).

Recently I’ve made:

Changes to dialogue 

Additional maps

New puzzles

And plenty of new story.

As for an elevator pitch well I guess it goes like this:

Mara is a sickly young lady who was recommended to go read for some therapy after the recent passing of her grandmother. While there she discovers a mysterious and dangerous book which appears to be able to “read” the future. After a series of events she finds herself in Drangea: The Victim’s Land.

Here she must find a way to save and find her best friend by aligning herself with either the Spriggans or Fae all while the clocks ticks down before the return of the Great Cataclysm the Drang: The Soul Devourer.

Will you be able to survive this war-torn land? Will you be able to save your friend? With your book will you be able to read “The Story After?”

[evolutionsvoid]

We know the cataclysms that can come from nature. The wrath of the sea, with its roaring waves and churning depths. The devastation of the earth, with its grinding plates and explosive strength. When the rage of these elements are brought forth, we all know what destruction and suffering will emerge. It is a fate that cannot be avoided, and a horror we shall never forget. Though we know of the terror and might of these forces, one must not forget their gentler side. While we may cower at the rushing waves, we admire the peace and tranquility of a lazy ocean. As we fear the shattering quakes, we rest upon the grassy hills and stare at the beauty of the earth. And what sight is more wonderful than the gentle lapping of the waves upon a soft sandy beach? Where the earth and sea come forth to meet their love, and the two hold each other in sweet bliss. No anger, no rage, just peace and joy. What greater beauty can there be, than the tender love between earth and sea?   ------------------------------------ “Love of Earth and Sea” Apparently Kaijune is a thing, which caught me off guard. I am still working on busting out some pieces for the month, but at least I got this one done! And kaiju isn't the only thing being celebrated this month, so I figured that I should do a piece featuring my Furies, Tsundra and Ter'Mora. In this scenario (perhaps a dream?) the two Furies are at last able to reunite and be together. Did Ter'Mora finally escape her prison for good? Has Tsundra successfully evaded her hunting mother? Or have the gods finally given up their cruel ways and allowed their children freedom? Who knows, but in this moment, the two care only about holding one another, joyous to finally be together.

#monster #creature #titan #fury #furies #kaijune #pride month #art #drawing #love

[magepie]

Why Ashe is better for Overwatch lore than Junkerqueen will ever be

Now, I had a mixed reaction to Ashe last night. From the moment the camera focused on a pair of scarlet eyes and white bangs, I knew Blizzard have disappointed me. “Oh, come on!” I cried out from my seat. She looked like a cheesy self-insert from a second-rate McCree fanfiction (the 1% of it where he's not gay). Then Blizzard baited us with the enigmatic omnic Echo, later confirming that we are not yet ready for her, while Ashe and her sidekick Bob are here to stay. Since then Ashe had slightly grown on me - mostly because her voice actress did an excellent job bringing this violent lady to life. Her “BOB, DO SOMETHING!” screech is hilarious, her omnic companion is endearing, her mechanics are cool... But she is, unfortunately, still a filler, an acquaintance of someone from the main cast, not unlike Brigitte and Hammond.

But, while I am disappointed, I am not bitter. I mean, we could’ve gotten another MEKA pilot or Queen of Junkertown, which would disappoint me so, so much more. You see, Overwatch is this crazy place where everything is possible: sentient animals, kaiju-slaying teenagers, futuristic cowboys, you name one. Like WoW, it is so full of pop culture references, that one more doesn’t look out of place. But in the Cataclysm expansion of WoW Blizzard made a whole location, Uldum, a homage to Indiana Jones movies. This decision wasn’t taken well by the players, because it was too obvious and ruined the immersion for them. The Junkertown subplot is like Uldum for me - an overplayed joke. Hammond was already a close call, but the Queen doesn’t even have what Hammond has - his uniqueness. There is nothing new she brings to the already diverse hero roster: she an attractive bossy amazon from an isolated town in a fictional version of Australia, not representative of any real world demographics or cultures. She is also a petty villain with no connection to any of the major factions or plot-relevant conflicts, whose only achievements are beating a bunch of bogans in mech battles and running a gang of scavengers and thieves.

Substitute “Australia” with “USA” and you basically get Ashe. Doesn’t help that she is a rare example of “design-first” hero: she was added for the sole reason of looking cool enough, not because she had a thought-out role in the story or in the gameplay meta. But there is something Blizzard did right with Ebony Dark'ness Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe.

It’s her backstory.

Now, some people believe that Ashe’s introduction messes up whatever Overwatch timeline there is. Indeed, the Deadlock Rebels were originally supposed to be a biker club founded in the late XX century. However, according to the new information, Ashe and McCree founded Deadlock in their teens and it became notorious enough over a couple of years at max to justify a sting Overwatch operation in the busy post-Crisis era. While it is not the most unrealistic thing in this universe, the retcon seemed forced enough to upset the lore crowd. I don’t know if Blizzard writers changed those things for a reason or just to make the new hero look badass But it certainly changed how the community sees McCree. Not anymore is he a clueless orphan brought up in a gang (well, there is still a possibility that he was raised in one, just not the one Overwatch was after). His decisions at the time were his own.  

I would argue that the new short paints McCree as a bigger anti-hero than we thought. He tips his ex-gang about a potential jackpot, making the catastrophic heist possible. We don’t know if cargo trains in OW universe have human operators on board, but blowing up a transcontinental railroad? Sounds dangerous as hell. Reyes taught McCree the importance of fighting for the right cause, but his methods are as... unconventional as they get. McCree himself admits it to Echo by saying “They want me. But they need you”. The last thing the reformed Overwatch needs is another maverick with disregard for civilian safety. They cannot afford the same mistakes as Jack Morrison.

I doubt that Ashe is getting any lore-relevant dialogue right away: new heroes so far didn’t get that until months later. What I am looking forward, though, are interactions between Ashe and Doomfist. They have very similar backgrounds, joining crime for the thrill of it and using what they learned from their successful parents to become excellent negotiators. Also, as an arms dealer, Ashe can have wide connections in the underworld, which would make her a valuable ally for Talon. Who knows, maybe she will become the first person who will be actually interested in Doomfist’s offers...

#ashe #Overwatch #mccree #doomfist

[monstersdownthepath]

The Moon Grub: Yarthoon

CR 25

Chaotic Neutral Colossal Magical Beast

Bestiary 6, pg. 174~175

Beginning End of the World Month: Cataclysmic Kaiju, we have the smallest and weakest of the known Kaiju, Yarthoon spends most of her time living on Golarion’s moon, shrouding herself and her chosen nesting site in the frozen mist she exhales slowly but constantly. Rather than terraforming it, this seems to serve the purpose of marking her ‘territory’ so to speak against the moon’s other inhabitants, not that any of them can hold a candle to her in terms of power anyway... especially if you believe the tale that she is merely the larval state of some unfathomably powerful entity that guards a clutch of eggs which hatch a new Yarthoon with the memories of the previous one each time the adult form--whatever it may be, wherever it may go--ceases to be. This mythical ‘adult stage’ and this ‘clutch of eggs’ has never once been seen by anyone on Golarion proper, if it even exists, but it’s still awfully strange that Yarthoon has been dealt grievous wounds and even killed in the past only to re-emerge from her misty moon lair time and time again, good as new.

In addition to being the weakest of the Kaiju, Yarthoon is noted to be the most peaceful of them, rarely ever attacking with the intent of causing immense destruction like the rest of them seem to be driven to. Rather, she seems curious and investigative of events which draw her attention--which include cataclysmic uses of cold-based magic--arriving from the moon via her Starflight, which allows millions of miles of distance to be crossed in mere hours, to examine whatever has caught her eye. Despite her childlike curiosity, her immense body (250ft long!) and the passive effects of her freezing breath cause untold destruction by proximity alone, driving local populations and guardians of the world against her. Do note that she is not Good, and without the ability (or desire) to speak and reason with others, such attacks will be met with the universal language shared by all Kaiju: Force.

Or, rather, Cold (badum-tish)

Yarthoon is the cold of space, the ice of the frozen north, and the crushing absence of the ocean depths all rolled into one wormy package. Immune to Cold herself, her Penetrating Cold subtracts 30 points from any Cold Resistance her damage may encounter (and most natural Cold Resistance caps at 30!), and her Clinging Frost makes any Cold damage she deals form layers of ice over the victim that dramatically slows their movement. Each instance of Cold damage causes more and more frost to form, though it will never get to the point of completely immobilizing the target; rather, each layer represents 1 round of the effect stacking. So long as a victim has at least 1 round of Clinging Frost on them, they take a negligible -2 penalty to Reflex saves and Dexterity-based skill checks... but having at least 2 or more rounds causes a permanent, irresistible stagger that offers no save to resist. Only Freedom of Movement prevents this stagger, while using fire-based Supernatural abilities sloughs 1d4 rounds of Clinging Frost off the target. Creatures with the Fire subtype or any method of shedding immense amounts of heat (like her greatest enemy, Varklops, and her greatest frenemy, Mogarou) are immune to this, but everyone else has to suffer layer after layer of building ice.

Yarthoon has multiple methods of inflicting stacking Cold damage to anyone she’s fighting, letting her Clinging Frost build up on them and denying them their Full-Attack actions, which all other Kaiju rely on. First and most famously is her Freezing Mist, a massive blast of obscuring frost that fills a 200ft sphere and lasts for 10 entire rounds. Anyone caught in the initial blast takes 8d6 Cold damage, and anyone inside the mist as it lingers each round takes 4d6 more, piling on the Clinging Frost and likely biting deeply into the party due to Penetrating Cold. But that’s not all! Because while the thick mist renders almost everything else blind (it is, ironically, much harder for players to see through common fog than it is to see through supernatural darkness or illusions), Yarthoon herself has Mistsight and 300ft of Tremorsense besides, letting her navigate perfectly through her fog.

Everyone else will have to find some way to see past the mist (gaining Blindsense, Tremorsense, or using wind magic to blow it away are recommended) while the Moon Grub hammers on them with her natural weapons. Each of her natural attacks deal 4d6 Cold damage in addition to their normal damage, triggering Clinging Frost to prevent victims from retaliating with their own full-rounds. She can lash out with her lengthy body to slam into victims, dealing 4d8+27 damage and triggering Staggering Strike, knocking Gargantuan or smaller targets prone and staggering them for 1d6 rounds as they busy themselves picking their teeth up off the floor. Amusingly, the ability is specifically noted to knock flying enemies 30ft out of the air, but winged flying enemies fall 60ft out of the air, making her an expert at plucking her greatest foes--fellow Kaiju Agyra and Varklops--out of the skies and engaging them on her terms, in her Freezing Mist.

As with many creatures bearing a toothy maw, though, most of Yarthoon’s melee damage output lays in her bite. Her Swift Bite allows her to make two bite attacks whenever she makes either a Full-Attack or uses her standard action, and she can make any number of Attacks of Opportunity with her bites; each bite deals 4d6+27 damage and threatens to Grab her target, which can then be Fast Swallowed into her sub-zero gullet where it takes 6d6 bludgeoning and 6d6 Cold damage each round until it succumbs or escapes. Thanks to Swift Bites, Yarthoon can potentially swallow an entire party in a single round! ... provided everyone is, for whatever self-destructive reason, Huge size or larger, as the Kaiju’s universal Massive ability prevents her from making AoOs against targets smaller than Huge.

She IS Massive, by the way; a 30ft space and 30ft reach already makes her melee the stuff of nightmares, but her perfect 100ft flight speed (with Flyby Attack because of course you need to worry about her zooping in and swallowing someone out of nowhere), 100ft burrow speed, and 100ft swim speed means escaping her threat radius impossible without teleportation. Even if you do somehow manage to get 131ft away from her in a single round, she can still simply blast the area with her Eye Beams, a standard action she can take every 4 rounds. She can either focus the beams in a single destructive ray 1200ft long (get used to that number, a lot of Kaiju love blasting unbelievable amounts of terrain) that deals 20d6 Cold damage to everything and everyone inside it, or she can divide her beams into up to 8 rays which deal 8d6 damage to whatever they hit. The beams have a +30 to hit as ranged touch attacks with ranged increments of 1200ft (so they’re more or less automatic hits), but “““thankfully”“” she can only aim two beams at a single creature at a time.

And remember, this is the “weakest” of all the Kaiju. It’s only going to get worse!

You can read more about her here.

#Cataclysmic Kaiju Month #Monster Spotlight #CR 21 to 25 #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

[monstersdownthepath]

Kaiju: A Primer

Everyone knows who Godzilla is, hopefully, so you’ve already got a fairly good idea of what a Kaiju can be in general. Big, huge beasts (Magical Beasts, specifically) whose sole purpose seems to be destruction, awoken under mysterious circumstances after decades or centuries of peaceful slumber to wreak unbelievable havoc.

Some awaken on some arcane schedule only understood by them, something they cannot communicate to others (because they all have only 3 Int). Some of them, such as Agmazar, have a specialized ‘trigger’ that awakens them, causing them to stalk relentlessly towards the stimulus and attack it either to wipe it out or to investigate it (which typically wipes it out). Agmazar is drawn to massive acts of necromancy, while Vorgozen is drawn to huge gatherings of arcane energy of any flavor. Once they rise, the citizens of the area they’re lumbering towards likely won’t be able to stop them, because not one of them is below CR 25.

They’re so powerful that, most of the time, the only thing players facing them can do is awaken another one to fight the first and then either pounce on the weakened loser or hope they both deal such greivous wounds to one another that both competitors slink away to lick their wounds. Two (or more!) Kaiju clashing can make for a fantastic climax to a campaign if done with the right amount of flair. So, to help give you the right amount of flair, and to set the proper mood, here’s some answers to the question “What are Kaiju?”

Kaiju are HUGE.

Kaiju are all Colossal in size, but only because there’s no category larger than it. They push the boundaries of the size category (which covers monsters 64 ft and up) to sometimes stand at heights exceeding 200 feet–so immense that they’re easier to render as battle maps unto themselves than actual creatures. They’re rivaled for Biggest Monster by less than six other creatures, and are only dwarfed by Mhar, a Great Old One who has the honor of being Titanic (a size category I’ve made up that’s used for creatures that are more landscape than monster).

They’re so huge, in fact, that they have a special rule called Massive. Massive means that their movement is impossible to impede, ignoring difficult terrain and bypassing cover entirely… But it also means that they cannot make Attacks of Opportunity against enemies that are smaller than Huge size, a mercy given to players and citizens running for their lives.

The Massive rule also means that Huge and smaller characters can actually climb onto Kaiju’s bodies to attack or cast spells directly on them, though doing so is a difficult task… and Kaiju may make AoO’s against enemies climbing them if they alert the beast to their presence.

Kaiju are RESILIENT.

It is extremely hard to put one of them down. At base level, they have Fast Healing 30, DR 20/epic, immunity to ability damage and drain, immunity to death effects, and Resistance 30 to Sonic, Fire, Acid, Cold, Electricity, and even negative energy, with specific Kaiju being even more resistant or outright immune to certain energy types.

All Kaiju possess the Recovery ability, which allows them to make new saving throws every single round versus effects such as being polymorphed, petrified, paralyzed, Dominated, hypnotized, dazed, or even trapped in temporal stasis. This is by no means the limit to what they can shrug off, and with their legendary stats, such effects may only impede them for a round or two.

Recovery also gives them a special resurrection mechanic they can use once per year: Taking fatal damage instead allows them to recover health equal to twice the damage that would have killed them, though this damage demoralizes them to the point that they become permanently nauseated and seek only to return to their lair to hibernate until awakened again. While it may be tempting to attack them as they retreat in the hopes of finishing them off, taking any amount of damage while they’re nauseated instantly ends the condition and allows them to fight back once more. All Kaiju can seemingly instinctually recognize when another has gone into Recovery mode and will often stop attacking, satisfied with forcing their foe back... with the exception of Varklops, whose Kaijuslayer ability prevents Recovery from activating.

Kaiju are FAST.

You may think that lumbering colossi would be incredibly slow, but the fact of the matter is that longer legs lets you cover more ground. A lot more. Mogarou, the Kaiju King, the Paizo answer to Godzilla, can move 100 feet each round, a far cry from the slow, ponderous plodding of his inspiration. The rest of them aren’t much slower, either, which makes them a nightmare when combined with their huge space (some up to 60ft on each side!) and massive reach, making actually escaping them impossible.

Most of them possess some form of movement trick, as well. The pterodactyl-esque Agyra, for example, can suddenly blitz one mile in six seconds once per hour. Vorgozen can Infuse Terrain and then choose a destination, slithering inexorably towards it at 50 miles an hour. Yarthoon, which typically spends her time on the moon, can go from the moon to Golarion in as little as two hours.

Kaiju are POWERFUL and DRAMATIC.

It goes without saying. At CR 25+, Kaiju can clash with demigods like the Archdevils, Empyreal Lords, and the Four Horsemen and pull their weight. What they lack in flexibility due to not having spell-like abilities or Mythic power, they make up for in sheer force, their damage output being among the highest across all six bestiaries due to their reach letting them get into full-attack position without any hassle.

Typically, the only thing that can stop one Kaiju is another one, and they seem built to do exactly that. Mogarou automatically awakens when other Kaiju do, and any Kaiju nearby when one stirs can awaken on its own in a disastrous domino effect. They almost instinctively seek one another out to battle, as though it serves some purpose to them.

All Kaiju not only possess powerful natural attacks, but often have beam-like attacks to supplement their range. All of them have a long (1200 feet!) line attack dealing variable elemental damage (though usually dealing a combined total of 40d6 damage), while each beam usually has a secondary effect. Vorgozen’s acid jet shoves enemies along, while Mogarou may instead convert his beam into a cone to shorten its range (to 600 feet) but quadrupling its area. The scorpion-like Bezravnis can fire three such beams from each of its three stingers, either all at once or broken up over a few rounds!

And finally, each of them also possesses specific and painful combat tricks beyond merely attacking, all of which are breathtaking to see in action. Mogarou can fire off volcanic bolts of energy one round after using his breath weapon and can use his breath as part of an AoO. Vorzogen’s Polluted Magic aura reduces how effective spellcasters are. Bezravnis’ sticky webbing seeks out and grapples nearby creatures. Agyra can conjure a four-mile-wide hurricane on her location once per day. This is just to name a few!

We’ll see so much more Kaiju in the next few days, but I hope this gives you all an idea of some universal things they can do!

#yes i am reusing parts of an old post i made #Cataclysmic Kaiju Month #Pathfinder

[monstersdownthepath]

The Thrice-Headed Fiend: Varklops

CR 30

Chaotic Evil Colossal Magical Beast

Bestiary 6, pg. 170~171

The most powerful of the-- oh. oh my god i. i really don’t want to draw attention to this but poor varky has some serious “dragons drawn from the front” syndrome going on with his center head. lets just... focus on the other two heads ok? Okay. Alright, let’s start over--

The most powerful of the known Kaiju and thus the Finale of Cataclysmic Kaiju Month, Varklops is also the cruelest of them all. Like Mogaru, his purpose seems to be population control, hunting and slaughtering other Kaiju. Unlike Mogaru, who performs it as a matter of course and has Kaijusense to lead him straight to his quarry, Varklops seems to do it out of sheer sadistic pleasure, lacking Kaijusense and thus needing to hunt them down via mundane means... while slaughtering, burning, crushing, and otherwise destroying everything between him and his target. When Varklops rises from his volcanic lair--an act devastating enough by itself--and no Kaiju are present to sate his lust for violence, the Thrice-Headed Fiend will gleefully destroy every civilization he sees for seemingly no reason but vile joy. The only way to avoid the wrath of the Kaiju Slayer is to be depraved enough to point out a target for him; anyone capable of speaking Ignan can reason with the mad beast, but those with a lust for destruction as great as his own can beseech his aid in wiping a city, nation, or even a country from the map.

Aside from his Vulnerability to Cold, Varklops’ ego is his greatest weakness, and anyone aware of his incredibly inflated self-worth can potentially direct the draconic fiend to a wide variety of targets he’d otherwise have no clue existed by heaping endless praise upon him. Beware, though, because the slightest misstep--that is, hinting for even a moment that you’re anything more than dirt beneath his heel begging for his aid--can cause him to turn his destructive rage upon you. And when a beast is able to fight even King Mogaru to a standstill, turn entire cities into memories, and kill thousands simply by flying over them, staying on his good side is literally the only thing you should focus on, even if it means sacrificing your own ego.

Like some of the other Kaiju so far, we’ll begin with what everyone expects from these huge monsters: The Breath Weapon! Like fellow Fire-based beast Bezravnis, Varklops can fire one, two, or three devastating exhalations in a single round, each 1200ft line taking up more and more of his actions as he ramps it up. One blast takes his move action, two his standard, and three his full-round... but like Bezravnis, creatures caught in the path of multiple blasts (he CAN aim them in different directions to spread the love around a city) in a single round receive no grace or mercy from Paizo’s developers, taking damage from each individual blast. And what is that damage, you may ask? 20d6 Fire and 20d6 bludgeoning, for a grand potential total 120d6 (average 450, half to three-quarters of a Kaiju’s health bar, though most of them have 30 Resistance to Fire) combined damage if all three weapons connect. Anything damaged by even one of those exhalations of magma and ash may also be stunned for a round by the devastating impact, though a DC 43 Reflex save halves the damage and negates the stun!

From one of the attacks. You still have two more saves to attempt. Good luck!

Now that that’s out of the way, lets revisit the introductory paragraph: “Destroying cities simply by flying over them” isn’t an exaggeration on my part. Once he’s found something to destroy, the first thing Varklops tends to do is find the most populated (or flammable) area he can and subject it to his Fire Monsoon. This devastating rain of fire falls from his wings while he’s in flight over the targeted area, cascading down from him as he moves and causing 20d6 Fire damage to everything in a line that’s 60ft wide and 300ft long. This fire continues to burn with supernatural heat for 1 minute before it begins to gutter, dealing 4d6 Fire damage to everything in the area... but that’s only how long it remains unnaturally potent. The fire will likely continue to burn long after that minute passes, spreading outwards as it finds more wood, cloth, and flesh to consume. For any survivors of the initial attack, the worst has only begun.

With the power to turn an entire battlefield into an inferno with a single action, the first order of business is often getting out of the fire to avoid taking further free damage. East enough for Kaiju, who just need to shuffle a little to the left, but a one- to two-round endeavor for players who can’t teleport. And would you believe this isn’t the only initiator the Thrice-Headed Fiend has? Because while approaching from the air is often a great way to strike fear into the hearts of a nation, approaching from below is an option the draconic titan has that keeps him safe and inflicts yet more wide-scale devastation. While he can’t burrow as quickly as he can fly (80ft vs 150ft), Varklops can use Eruption more frequently than his Fire Monsoon (3/day vs 1/day). This Eruption is a blast of superheated earth and fire that strikes everything within 150ft of Varklops’ emergence point, dealing another 20d6 Fire damage to everything in the area and afflicting them all with the beast’s Burn ability (2d6 damage/round). What’s more important than the damage, though, is the amount of control this gives Varklops over his enemies’ senses; a cloud of burning ash and dust fills the whole area, obscuring the vision of everything inside... except, of course, for Varklops himself, whose Mistsight lets him see perfectly in the debris.

Also, have I mentioned the fact that ALL of Varklops’ attacks and abilities are Devastating? He not only outright ignores any Hardness less than 20, but his fires can burn anything. ALL objects, regardless of their composition, take full damage from any fire he generates, letting him melt steel, stone, and even mithral as easily as he could incinerate wood and paper.

Back on topic of his explosive arrival though: players and enemy Kaiju without any ability to see through the mist will likely be quickly torn to shreds by the Full-Attack of the fiend, whose damage output is simply awe-inspiring: Three bite attacks, each dealing 6d6+26 damage, followed by two swats with his wings for 3d8+18 and a smashing strike from his spiny tail for 4d8+35 damage which triples on confirmed critical. Anyone struck by two of his bite attacks in a single round may suffer from his Rend for an additional 6d6+28... but taking all three of his bites improves the Rend further to 12d6+28 damage, for a potential total damage of 30d6+106 damage, averaging to 216 damage in a single round! PLUS his other natural attacks! Which ALL inflict 2d6 extra Burn (continuous Fire damage), which doesn’t stack but will add up over time with its continuous re-application and punish creatures attacking him in melee. Like, oh I don’t know, his primary prey.

Varklops is, first and foremost, a Kaijuslayer, and if one presents itself to him, he will quite literally throw everything else aside (possibly with his Improved Hurl Foe, which doubles the distance smaller foes are sent flying when struck by his tail) to engage them. His bloodlust is so intense that Kaiju engaged with him take a -4 penalty to their saving throws against all of his abilities, his rage so infectious that his victims find themselves unable to retreat even when mortally wounded, fighting to the bitter end against a foe they cannot out-damage. See, Kaiju battling Varklops cannot use Recovery to prevent a fatal blow against themselves and are compelled to stay in the fight even when it becomes obvious they cannot win. Only King Mogaru appears to be immune to this supernatural fury, a fact that drives Varklops absolutely up the wall, as the Final King’s Recovery kicks in to grant him a second wind every time he seems to be on the ropes and his rapid regeneration induced by the Thrice-Headed Fiend’s own Fire damage makes it nigh-impossible for the Kaiju Slayer to actually slay this Kaiju.

If Mogaru can keep Varklops tangled up enough for reinforcements arrive (especially Yarthoon, who can easily strike at the dragon’s weakness to Cold), Varklops’ will quickly begins to crumble. Despite having three brains, the Thrice-Headed Fiend is a notoriously terrible multitasker, becoming Distracted While Outnumbered by other Kaiju and not only being staggered if he fails a DC 30 Will save (which he must make each round he remains engaged), but LOSING Kaijuslayer and thus allowing his foes to recover from wounds he inflicts. Possessing Recovery himself like the hypocrite he is, being put into a weakened state will often see Varklops swiftly burrowing or flying away from his opposition to lick his wounds, hibernating for a year until he can get out of death for free once more later. While other Kaiju--to say nothing of the smaller creatures Varklops loves to torment--would love nothing more than to put an end to the titan once and for all, fighting him on his own volcanic turf (as far away from the shore, and thus Mogaru, as possible, of course) is a suicide mission that none have ever returned from.

You can read more about him here.

#Cataclysmic Kaiju Month #CR 26 and up #Monster Spotlight #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

[monstersdownthepath]

The Forever Storm: Agyra

CR 27

Chaotic Neutral Colossal Magical Beast

Pathfinder Bestiary 4, pg. 166~167

This ptitanic and pterrible pterodactyl dominates the skylines whenever she appears, her destructive potential a head above every other Kaiju in existence to the point that she’s sometimes viewed as the progenitor of all storms. Rodan Agyra is simultaneously the most and least destructive of all Kaiju, minding her business by sleeping on her distant island nation for the majority of her existence where an isolationist civilization lives peacefully in her shadow... but whenever these people are endangered, such as by being attacked by pirates or captured by slavers, she rouses from her slumber to dispatch the threats with all the suddenness of a lightning bolt from a clear blue sky.

Don’t let make you think she’s a generous guardian, though. As with all Kaiju, her rampages cause unimaginable collateral damage as a matter of course, and she doesn’t seem too concerned with the fact that she often ends up killing dozens of the very people who see her as their protector. While one could reasonably state that Agyra may simply be protecting her island territory and any ‘guarding’ she does is incidental, this doesn’t explain why she takes her destruction to the shorelines far beyond her land whenever her people are stolen away to them... except with the excuse she views them as her property, and if she can’t have them, no one can. Rather than trying to retrieve her stolen people, Agyra seems more focused on punishing the thieves and everyone who happens to be in the same area code, acting as a storm of mindless vengeance that more often than not results in the deaths of the captured tribesmen.

And when I say “storm of vengeance,” I don’t mean the actual spell Storm of Vengeance... Because that would be less destructive than what Agyra brings to the skies over the heads of any who offend her!

When Agyra arrives, she often begins by creating her own battle arena from which nothing escapes. Once per day, she can generate a Hurricane four miles wide centered on her position, with rains that render communication and ranged attacks impossible, and winds capable of tearing structures from the soil and flinging Huge or smaller creatures like pebbles spiraling throughout this radius for 24 entire hours... but for a small, 500ft-wide bubble of safety in the center that Agyra rests in, reveling in the chaos. She can leave at any time, her flight speed unaffected by winds of any strength, but watching everything burn is a hobby of all Kaiju. This storm is more than enough to obliterate whatever civilization it rests upon, as even creatures and structures not directly within the storm when it first manifests are in danger of the whipping winds leaving the storm, as well as any debris being flung around. Heavy rains are one thing, but in a hurricane you’ve got to worry about carts, horses, entire houses, and whole trees raining down. It’s safe to say that Agyra’s radius of destruction may be as wide as ten miles if the DM plays up just how dangerous the winds escaping the actual cyclone may be!

(side note: while doing a quick google search to try and figure out how bad this ability can get, I came across the terrifying fact that real life hurricanes average to be hundreds of miles wide! isn’t that fun!!!! love this planet!)

It, thankfully, apparently takes 10 minutes for her to establish a Hurricane (the ability states it replicates Control Weather, with no indication of the ability overriding the spell’s 10 minute cast time), meaning a party hoping to stop Agyra’s most destructive ability has 10 minutes to break her concentration before whatever city she’s parked over is wiped off the face of the planet... provided, of course, she doesn’t wait until after dealing with all potential threats before leaving the storm as a parting gift. Once her concentration is broken, however, the party will have to deal with the fact that they managed to damage Agyra enough to stop her casting, and thus she will acknowledge them as a potential challenge.

Agyra’s true hostility is usually directed at Mogarou, ‘King’ of the Kaiju, a Kaiju who the book states she sees as “a rival,” something the Final King reciprocates with strange enthusiasm. They will both unfailingly rise to engage one another in conflict whenever the other wakes up first, and their clashes are so legendarily destructive that they can alter the landscape. This battle of rivals ends only when one finally defeats the other, or when a greater and more malevolent threat rears its head, but every few hundred years it starts all over again when Agyra leaves her layer to go harass her best frienemy with everything in her arsenal.

And what does that arsenal look like? A mountain of d6s, mostly. While all her natural attacks have lower flat damage than most Kaiju, her spiked tail has the most potential damage among the natural attacks any of the other Kaiju and has the longest non-ability-based reach of any natural attack in all of Pathfinder*, slapping foes up to 75ft away (which, due to her 50ft space, means this attack has a 125ft range). That potential damage? 10d6+8. And if she decides to use Greater Vital Strike instead of pulling off a Full-Attack? 40d6+8 damage, which averages out to be about 130 damage and is the single most damaging natural attack in any Bestiary without relying on a critical hit or a unique ability.

Thankfully she doesn’t have Flyby Attack, but with such enormous reach does she really need it? She has a 200ft Perfect fly speed to begin with and can hover in the air when necessary, and most land-bound Kaiju can’t even touch her without using their beam attacks while she wails on them with Greater Vital Strike. Each strike with her tail also inflicts 5d6 bleed damage just to rub more wounds into the wounds and lessen the efficiency of a Kaiju’s typical Fast Healing, though it works tremendously well against creatures without Fast Healing. Like most party members.

While the tail is the star of the show, Agyra’s got a nasty Full-Attack like every Kaiju, with her twin bites dealing 6d6+17 and her two talons hewing 3d8+17 chunks of flesh from her targets, letting her keep up with her earthbound brethren. You’ll notice, though, that none of her attacks have any elemental flavor! That’s because all of it is concentrated in her Breath Weapon, twin arcs of powerful plasma that cause 20d6 Electricity damage to anything they strike. The convulsions from the electricity stagger any creature struck for 1d4 rounds, but here’s the kicker: being struck with both beams at the same time (something that can only occur to a creature larger than Medium) causes the damage and stagger duration to stack, and any creature targeted by both beams takes a -4 penalty to the Reflex save to dodge them (raising the DC from 41 to 45). Any creature wearing metal armor or comprised mostly of metal also become stunned for 1 round per beam, and because no Kaiju are made of metal, this ability is solely for use against adventurers!

Any creature killed by the Breath Weapon remains electrified for 2d4 rounds after their deaths, zapping anyone who touches them for 3d6 Electricity damage, which is something similar to what happens if Agyra herself is ever slain. Her Electrified Corpse deals the same damage to anything that touches it for 1 minute after her death, and even destroying her corpse leaves enough of a charge to cause the air to crackled with damaging electricity until 1 minute passes... or she’s Reborn.

Unlike other Kaiju, Agyra has been canonically slain--multiple times, in fact. The problem is that she never stays dead, her Rebirth raising her back up as if by True Resurrection a mere minute after she’s killed. Rebirth replaces the normal Get Out Of Death Free card that Recovery grants, but is significantly more powerful, not that it matters; despite being returned to full health and stamina, Agyra is usually quick to flee from any battle she returns to life from, something most Kaiju treat with the same combatant’s respect they appear to expect when their death is prevented via their own Recovery ability. Attacking her again post-resurrection, though, means the party will have to contend with another 650 hitpoints hidden behind 40+ AC and ten thousand different resistances and immunities. At that point, it’s best to just let her leave.

Her leaving might still kill you, though. Once an hour she can blitz up to a mile in any direction via Swift Flight, which is how she enters and exits battles, but anything within 100ft of her previous space when she zips outta there gets blasted by the sonic boom and has to deal with a parting gift of 20d10 damage, permanent deafness, a free trip off your feet, and a 1 round stun. Again, though, after taking all that damage, just cutting your losses and letting her fly dramatically into the sunset is in everyone’s best interests.

You can read more about her here.

(*for those curious, the longest reach to any natural attack via unique abilities belongs to Ouar-Oong, whose Prodigious Reach lets her strike from 1000ft away, and the Apostate Devil, whose Boundless Reach allows them to attack any creature they can see regardless of distance) (also, added fun fact: the second most damaging natural attack goes to Tsathoggua, whose 8d10+29 bite attack deals triple damage on a critical hit, letting him hit preposterous damage numbers)

#Monster Spotlight #Cataclysmic Kaiju Month #CR 26 and up #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

[monstersdownthepath]

The Inferno Below: Bezravnis

CR 26

Chaotic Neutral Colossal Magical Beast

Bestiary 4, pg. 168~169

One of the strangest of the Kaiju in terms of its behavior, the gargantuan spider-scorpion (sporpion? scider?) Bezravnis, the Inferno Below, slumbers below the sands of a vast and hostile desert in the shadow of the world’s largest mountain (notably, the book doesn’t say which mountain this is, allowing DMs some leeway) for centuries at a time before awakening. Two centuries at a time, to be exact. 273 years, to be frighteningly exact. Bezravnis, unlike other Kaiju, seems to have a schedule, rising every 273 years--give or take a day or two--and randomly selecting a city within its line of anger to reduce to dust and ash. Rather interestingly, while there’s no discernible pattern to which city Bezravnis will burn to the ground, there’s patterns in other matters of its behavior: It never attacks the same city twice in a row, it never attacks more than one city in a single awakening, and it always travels in a straight line from its emergence point towards its target, so it’s easy for scouts and mages to determine who’s going to get blasted.

Curiously, each emergence event coincides with the passage of a tiny red comet called the Inferno Star by scholars of Golarion. The connection between Bezravnis and the Inferno Star can only be guessed at, as the beast itself cannot (or will not) communicate, but two possibilities reign supreme over all others: That the Inferno Star is the former home of the colossus, and it’s driven by mad longing to return home and envy at the creatures of Golarion whose home welcomes them every night... or, the significantly more worrying theory that the Inferno Star may be a creature (or creatures) of power similar to Bezravnis, and its rampages are a method of establishing dominance over the inhabitants of the Star, marking its territory on the planet and preventing them from touching down. Perhaps, and this is my own theory, both are true in a way; the Inferno Star is Bezravnis’ former home, but rather than being plagued by longing, its trail of destruction is its way of showing its kind that Golarion doesn’t need another burning Kaiju to touch down because it’s doing just fine on its own, thanks!

And even on its own, it takes whole armies to even slow Bezravnis down enough to evacuate its targeted city. Not even other Kaiju can be relied upon, with the titan seemingly picking a spot none of them can easily reach before it’s already laying into its target, and it’s not like they’re much of a concern anyway. Bezravnis will actually ignore other Kaiju until directly attacked by them, at which point it engages with all the single-minded relentlessness it otherwise only displays to its target city. Only a threat on equal footing catches the attention of the Inferno Below; all others are merely trampled underfoot, given no mind as it continues its grim work.

I say “trampled underfoot” but it’s ironically Bezravnis that typically starts battle underfoot. Far underfoot, in fact. With a 100ft burrow speed, the Inferno Below can go from below to above in the blink of an eye, a speed that becomes even more dramatic when it initiates with Burrowing Charge. The Kaiju can plunge beneath the ground (or, as the book helpfully notes, into magma, mud, or any similarly loosely-packed or semi-liquid soil) and, ignoring all intervening creatures and terrain, charge 200ft in a straight line at a target it’s aware of, either with its eyes or its 600ft of Tremorsense. While the amount of soil kicked into the air is a terrifying enough visual, Pathfinder augments the experience by opting for the surprisingly realistic result of a creature over 200ft long dramatically erupting from the earth: That is, what happens when all the soil comes back down.

Anyone and anything inside Bezravnis’ 50ft space when it concludes a Burrowing Charge is automatically affected by its Trample attack, taking 2d8+17 damage (which is doubled to a Hardness-ignoring 4d8+54 against structures!!!) unless they succeed a DC 43 Reflex save. The explosion of loose earth is so dramatic that creatures less than 50ft above Bezravnis’ space are also subjected to this damage... And then the final crash occurs, all the soil and stone settling down, forcing any creature smaller than Huge to succeed a DC 40 Reflex save to avoid being buried alive in the debris. and being buried alive is no joke! The only way to free one’s self from being buried alive is to either succeed a DC 25 Strength check, or wait for one’s allies to free them, which takes a long, long time without magic. This means Bezravnis can potentially end combat against an entire party (or even an entire army) with its opening charge, burying its foes completely and leaving them for dead. Thankfully, once a party disappears from its sight, it’s unlikely to continue hammering on them and will then resume destroying the scenery... Unless, of course, one of you happened to be the subject of its attention, the target of its original charge.

I haven’t even mentioned yet that whoever Bezravnis attacks via Burrowing Charge takes twice as much damage, and as a Kaiju, any of the Inferno Below’s natural attacks already hit hard! Bezravnis has two claws (4d6+18) and three stings (3d8+18), which add up fast. AND! There’s more! Anyone hit by the claws can get Grabbed and constricted, shorn further and further in half for 4d6+27 additional damage each round they fail to break the grip of the colossus, and anyone stung takes 2d6 points of extra Fire damage and becomes poisoned. Fun fact for you: While Kaiju are immune to a slew of status ailments, including ability damage and drain, they’re not immune to poison, which Bezravnis takes full advantage of.

No, his poison doesn’t do something as banal as ability score damage. Instead, the toxin causes an intense fever to overtake the victim, staggering them once a round for up to 6 rounds and preventing them from using a Full-Attack... and suppressing any Fire Resistance or immunity they may possess. Racial abilities that cause immunity or resistance to Fire are shut off so long as the victim remains poisoned, while any magic in place that imparts these immunities is similarly suppressed so long as the staggered condition remains (which technically means that even if the poison is cured, the victim’s fire-proofedness is still shut down for at least one more round). Thankfully, despite the poison being effective against other Kaiju, any natural or magical poison resistance a non-Kaiju target may have renders them immune to this particular part of Bez’s kit, and you’ll need it, because not being immune to Fire when fighting The Inferno Below will end with you getting cooked to charcoal.

The meager Fire damage from the stingers isn’t the only form of weaponized heat the titan has under its belt. Like all other Kaiju, Bez has a beam attack, a Heat Beam to be specific. Each of its three tails can fire a 1200ft-long line of intense heat that deals 20d6 Fire damage to everything in its path, but here’s the kicker: Each tail can fire individually, and each of them has a separate 4-round cooldown. Firing just one tail at a time is a move action, firing two a standard, and firing all three a full-round. With just a bit of patience (Bez has 26 Wisdom, it can be patient), the Kaiju can sting its victim as a standard action (with Greater Vital Strike allowing his damage to keep up even if it can’t Full-Attack) and then unleash its heat beam right into their face--along with the faces of everything 1,200 feet behind it--for the full 20d6 damage, which averages to about 65. Given the choice, though, it’s likely Bez will prefer its Full-Attack, especially if engaged with other Kaiju.

Against flying foes like Agyra, Yarthoon, or Varklops, the eruption of Burrowing Charge often isn’t enough to knock foes from the air, which is why Bez will either use its 50ft of reach and yank them out of the skies with its pincers, or entangle them with its Web. Bez can hock webbing at foes up to eight times a day, the +27 ranged touch attack basically always hitting other Kaiju on anything but a 1 and being incredibly hard to avoid for anything or anyone else. It requires a DC 40 Strength check to burst the webbing, which is further complicated by the fact that the individual strands are alive and crawling. Any creature that begins its turn entangled by the web takes 2d6+6 damage, which is a pittance but it’s just yet more the victim will have to deal with as Bez closes in and begins to unleash its Full-Attack. Since the strands are actually immune to Fire damage, the Inferno Below can also unleash its Heat Beams on tangled victims as well without fear of freeing them.

Wrap ‘em up, sting ‘em once for a marinade (and to assure the sole action they can take each round is struggling free), and then cook by exposure to 1500-degree heat once every 6 seconds. That’s how you get Roasted Kaiju, a Bezravnis specialty! A feast for all to enjoy! Especially since Bez itself, like all Kaiju, don’t appear to need to eat at all.

You can read more about it here.

#Cataclysmic Kaiju Month #CR 26 and up #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

[monstersdownthepath]

told you all someone smarter than me would be able to do it

jesus christ though, 7,000 squares? I was being conservative with my estimation of 3,000, and it turns out I wasn’t even half right!

#Cataclysmic Kaiju Month

[monstersdownthepath]

The earth cracks, the skies split, the seas churn with apocalyptic fury,

The ground heaves upwards as an impossible pressure rushes up from below, spewing thousands of tons of stone, earth, and molten rock into the air. The winds whip with such ferocity that they threaten to tear skin from bone. The oceans rise to swallow the land, the great hands of a furious god come to crush all that it finds wanting.

It is no god that wreaks this destruction, but to onlookers, it may certainly seem that way as a great titan bursts from the earth in a spray of cataclysmic fire, another descending from the sky with a hurricane as its throne, and a third rests upon a sea now frozen solid with naught but death beneath. They are living beings, beings which bleed--and bleed they do as they engage one another in combat--and yet their presence is unlike any life on the planet. They are living natural disasters, walking apocalypses all their own which are mercifully content to sleep for ages... but they rise to rampage at the whim of some ineffable schedule, and when they awaken, only their defeat will put them back to rest.

They are the Kaiju, nigh-invincible titans hailing from the great stretches of the untamed wild, engines of limitless destruction and power rivaling that of Demon Lords and demigods, and they are the stars of End of the World Month: Cataclysmic Kaiju, which will begin this October!

#Pathfinder