Gloranthan Kaiju

[ZedAlpha]

We all know about the Crimson Bat and the Mother of Monsters--what other gigantic god-beasts stomp around Glorantha, looking for grudge matches? The Guide to Glorantha mentions Monster Island, with such inhabitants as a giant butterfly and a giant, flying, saber-toothed turtle. The art definitely shows Totally-Not-Gamera-Don't-Sue-Us and Legally-Distinct-From-Kong yelling defiance to the world. I wonder who else there is? 

If anyone has any information about these awesome creatures, or any ideas for new ones that they wouldn't mind people stealing for their own games, have at. 

[Ian Absentia]

[cough-cough]

http://thedesignmechanism.com/store.php#!/Monster-Island/p/25252033/category=5186110

!i!

[Bill the barbarian]

See Austin Conrad’s Monster of the Month. He has a few there on the Jonstown Compendium. Of course, in the bestiary...page 188 under Terrors there are a few more like Cwim.

 

[jajagappa]

4 minutes ago, ZedAlpha said:

I wonder who else there is? 

Check out RQG Bestiary in the Terrors section for:  Cwim, and the Chaos Gaggle which, if complete, would reform as the Sky Terror.  (Along with the Mother of Monsters, Cwim and the Sky Terror form the threesome in Sandy Petersen's Gods War game as the Chaos Monsters.)

The Gods War game also included Cosmic Monsters which were:  Leviathan, the Juggernaut, and Androgeus.

And of course the Dragons.

[ZedAlpha]

1 minute ago, jajagappa said:

And of course the Dragons.

Of course. 

 

6 minutes ago, Ian Absentia said:

[cough-cough]

http://thedesignmechanism.com/store.php#!/Monster-Island/p/25252033/category=5186110

!i!

😀😀😀😀😀😀 alright, I know what book I'm buying next

2 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

See Austin Conrad’s Monster of the Month. He has a few there on the Jonstown Compendium. Of course, in the bestiary...page 188 under Terrors there are a few more like Cwim.

 

where would I find that? On this site, or is it elsewhere?

[Bill the barbarian]

Jonstown Compendium is available at Drivethrurpg.com and the RuneQuest Bestiary is available there or at Chaosium.com. The 2nd option will allow you a free PDF when you but a hardcopy Bestiary but you will have to go to the first option for Austin’s great series.

Edited February 4, 2021 by Bill the barbarian

[Ian Absentia]

6 minutes ago, ZedAlpha said:

😀😀😀😀😀😀 alright, I know what book I'm buying next

Monster Island is pretty special, and being written for RQ6, it's probably better than 95% compatible with RQG/BRP.  If you're looking for the classic movie kaiju, you'll definitely see their reflections in those pages.

!i!

[ZedAlpha]

Has anyone ever used creatures like this in their own games?

[HreshtIronBorne]

1 hour ago, ZedAlpha said:

Has anyone ever used creatures like this in their own games?

We definitely used Totally-Not-Godzilla, as well as Ape King of Monster Island in a couple of our campaigns as they got to crazy power levels. Regular old vestiary dinosaurs like the allosaurs and the T rex are 50 -75 SIZ or so. 

One time our PC Agimori, who was the leader of his whole tribe near the end of our campaign used Call Founder to fight Godzilla or some other giant monster. It was freaking epic. Way before RQ:G, though I can totally see shenanigans like that working just fine. Especially as we get rules for HeroQuesting, Hero Souls, Hero Abilities and all that jazz. 

[ZedAlpha]

My Hero Wars timeline is about to probably go off the rails if the PCs succeed at their shenanigans, and I have plots and plans to involve the God Monsters of Monster Island in the Hero Wars in a huge (pun intended) way.

[Ian Absentia]

21 minutes ago, HreshtIronBorne said:

Regular old vestiary dinosaurs like the allosaurs and the T rex are 50 -75 SIZ or so. 

SIZ beyond the 20s or 30s is notoriously subject to interpretation, of course, and different sources are often not consistent.  Just make sure they're big enough. 😃

!i!

[ZedAlpha]

I'm using HeroQuest rules for this (or maybe FATE if the players decide they want to go back to a more familiar system), so the kaiju will be more plot devices and obstacles rather than creatures with distinct statblocks.

[soltakss]

10 hours ago, ZedAlpha said:

Has anyone ever used creatures like this in their own games?

Back in the 802, Channel 4 was showing a lot of Japanese monster movies late at night. I was GMing Dorastor at the time, so a lot of those made it into Dorastor as one-off encounters.

I have used Cwim and Cacodemon as powerful foes before. The PCs in our last campaign tried to rescue someone who had been eaten by the Crimson Bat and ended up turning it inside out.

 

[Oracle]

11 hours ago, ZedAlpha said:

Has anyone ever used creatures like this in their own games?

Session 4 of the White Bull Campaign (Chaosium's current Runequest House Campaign) on YouTube has Cwim in the battle between the Lunar Army and Argrath's army of Praxian nomads.

[Akhôrahil]

Beyond what’s already been mentioned:

The Hydra.

”East Isles Cthulhu” (Giant Walkatapus).

Giant gorp, like the one in Slimestone (it has SIZ 10000).

So, so many sea monsters (especially check out Strangers in Prax).

Edited February 5, 2021 by Akhôrahil

[Ladygolem]

What's a kaiju war without some giant robots in the mix? Granted, the bronze age setting oes make that a little difficult, but there's still a bunch of options.

There's the Watchdog of Corflu, a 70-meter tall animated statue that guards the mouth of the Zola Fel river in Prax. The neat part is that it's cobbled together from the remains of an even more ancient (humanoid statue) that must have been even bigger, since the Watchdog is basically a huge head with arms. Kind of a kaiju-sized Geodude. It's described in River of Cradles and is being used by the Lunars to attack the Cradle, but who knows what happens to it afterward?

Also in the "giant animated statue" category are the Jolanti, which are basically Mostali (dwarf) built golems. Most nowadays are more or less troll-sized but there were some very, very big ones manufactured in the distant past. Gonn orta and the other giants fought a war with the dwarves to free the huge Jolanti*, which sort of wandered off into the world; later on the elves granted some true sentience. These are now known as Dringi, and they chill out in the elf forests, all overgrown in vegetation**, in contemplation of eons and all that. Having one or several of these wake up and march with the Aldryami would be a good way to add some Elder Race spice into the mix!

The Faceless Statue, with the aid of which the original Pavis defeated the nomads and founded his eponymous city, might have been a wandering Jolanti or something even weirder. Its shattered remains now make up the walls of the Big Rubble, but who's to say if some kind of crazy magic couldn't put it back together?

Not a giant robo, but Gonn Orta himself is more or less kaiju sized. He's an Issaries merchant nowadays, but he's been known to kick ass in the past. No reason he couldn't do so again. Griffin Mountain's write up of him even emphasises that he's been patiently waiting for centuries now, intently watching the horizon for someone or something. Perhaps he's been waiting for the Monster Wars this whole time?

(Anyway, take a wild guess what my special interest is! 😉)

* The giants saw themselves in the Jolanti, and as creatures of the Disorder rune giants cannot abide a master. Being condemned to eternal mindless servitude is a giant's worst nightmare. They must have felt pretty sorry for the guys - I think that's the only recorded case of the giants working together for a common cause as a unified whole.

** A testament to the victory of Growing over Making, the conflict between which is the source of the ancient enmity between elves and dwarves.

Edited February 5, 2021 by Ladygolem

[Joerg]

7 hours ago, Ladygolem said:

 

 

The Faceless Statue, with the aid of which the original Pavis defeated the nomads and founded his eponymous city, might have been a wandering Jolanti or something even weirder. Its shattered remains now make up the walls of the Big Rubble, but who's to say if some kind of crazy magic couldn't put it back together?

Definitely not a wandering Jolanti. The Faceless Statue used to sit in the Throne that still can be found outside the Greatway dwarf city on the flanks of the Rockwood Mountains.

Edited February 5, 2021 by Joerg
adding missing emphasis. Of course the Faceless Statue was a giant jolanti. Just a sedentary one.

[Ladygolem]

32 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Definitely not a wandering Jolanti. The Faceless Statue used to sit in the Throne that still can be found outside the Greatway dwarf city on the flanks of the Rockwood Mountains.

"Most Jolanti were destroyed during the Great Darkness, and their splendor is now long past. Instead of thousands of each type there are now only the small, human-sized Jolanti and a few of the exotic, giant stone beings remaining, such as the Faceless Statue which Pavis the Hero used to build his city." - from "Creating Jolanti", published in Different World #21, published 1998, by Michael Maloney and Greg Stafford.

Not sure on the source material's canonicity - I was only able to find it via Wayback Machine on the old Well of Daliath website - but I've got at least one source.

Anyway, Jolanti or not, the point remains that the walls/ruins of a city reassembling themselves into a giant statue man would be awesome as fuck, canon be damned!

PS. Credit to @soltakss for the big archive of old Google Search results on his website, I wouldn't have been able to find the quote otherwise. Cheers, mate!

Edited February 5, 2021 by Ladygolem

[jajagappa]

3 hours ago, Ladygolem said:

Not a giant robo, but Gonn Orta himself is more or less kaiju sized. He's an Issaries merchant nowadays, but he's been known to kick ass in the past. No reason he couldn't do so again. Griffin Mountain's write up of him even emphasises that he's been patiently waiting for centuries now, intently watching the horizon for someone or something. Perhaps he's been waiting for the Monster Wars this whole time?

In my old RQ3 campaign, the PC's made it to Giant Land in pursuit of some relic and were able to trade with Gonn Orta for it.  All the miniature figures of the PC's fit very nicely into the palm of Gonn Orta's hand!  (~6 ft human to 28mm miniature is the right ratio of Gonn Orta to PC).

1 hour ago, Ladygolem said:

Instead of thousands of each type there are now only the small, human-sized Jolanti

I believe the two "statues" standing outside the Dwarf Mine in Dragon Pass are actually giant Jolanti guards.  (At least I'd play them as such)

[Akhôrahil]

3 hours ago, Ladygolem said:

What's a kaiju war without some giant robots in the mix? Granted, the bronze age setting oes make that a little difficult, but there's still a bunch of options.

If you really want a giant robot, maybe something can be woken from the ruins of the Clanking City?

[soltakss]

1 hour ago, Akhôrahil said:

If you really want a giant robot, maybe something can be woken from the ruins of the Clanking City?

What could go wrong with that?

[Bill the barbarian]

Just now, soltakss said:

What could go wrong with that?

Isn’t that the catch phrase for the Godlearners?

[ZedAlpha]

is there anywhere that I can read more about the giants? I'm pouring through the Guide to Glorantha, but that book is dense, and my ADHD is having a bad time with how the text is formatted. 

[ZedAlpha]

5 hours ago, Ladygolem said:

Not a giant robo, but Gonn Orta himself is more or less kaiju sized. He's an Issaries merchant nowadays, but he's been known to kick ass in the past. No reason he couldn't do so again. Griffin Mountain's write up of him even emphasises that he's been patiently waiting for centuries now, intently watching the horizon for someone or something. Perhaps he's been waiting for the Monster Wars this whole time?

Hnnnghthat'sawesomeIlovethatimage

3 hours ago, Ladygolem said:

Anyway, Jolanti or not, the point remains that the walls/ruins of a city reassembling themselves into a giant statue man would be awesome as fuck, canon be damned!

that's also amazing, and I love that image even more.

[Eff]

15 minutes ago, ZedAlpha said:

is there anywhere that I can read more about the giants? I'm pouring through the Guide to Glorantha, but that book is dense, and my ADHD is having a bad time with how the text is formatted. 

I'm not sure if and where the Runequest 3 material on Elder Races (part of the Elder Secrets boxset) has been reprinted, but that's probably the best source, along with the tidbits in the Glorantha Bestiary.