Hey everybody, Duffy here!

First, a quick update: We’ve had some feedback from playtests and from messages directed at us online addressing the game’s complexity and playability.

Keep them coming!

Your opinion matters and it helps us in making the best giant monster/robot/superhero tabletop RPG we can.

We’ll be publishing an update on some of the suggested changes in the coming months, but I can tell you we’re adjusting the ATTRIBUTES, SKILLS, and Class play styles to be easier to understand and more manageable.

But we’re not here for that right now. Today, we’re talking about the Kaiju Jockey.

Forging a powerful bond with a giant monster, theKaiju Jockey is a force to be reckoned with. While the Mech Pilot is able to interact with the world at giant size with assistance from equipment, and the Aesir is able to assume a completely different form, the Kaiju Jockey is unique in that they collaborate with another living, thinking being.

Haley Sitwell was put on the path to becoming a Jockey when she was just a child. She grew up on Tartarus, the artificial continent in the Pacific Ocean that acts as a preserve and research site for many of the world’s most unique monsters. It was just after the end of the War, and the disappearance of Gigargun had led to a reorganization of the world’s scientific resources. A community was formed by the research teams of the different countries that wanted to study the island and its inhabitants

The child of researchers, Haley was often exposed to many wondrous creatures that have never been seen by the outside world. It is unknown how it happened, but the Sitwell family eventually came into the possession of a young creature, a reptilian creature they named Hellbender.

While Hellbender was still under the size of a hatch-back, the monster was treated like the family pet. Haley and Hellbender went on dozens of adventures all over Tartarus, encountering legendary monsters like the deity Aviox, or the powerful Thagomizer. As Hellbender continued to grow, the bond between it and Haley remained strong. The research teams noticed this not just with Haley and Hellbender, but with other children and young monsters.

Scientists found that the pairs were forming bonds that allowed the children to greatly influence the monster’s actions, almost to the point of control.

These children, including Haley, became the firstKaiju Jockeys, wielding the awesome power of monsters and proving the possibility of cohabitation between humanity and monsters.

Since then, this research has disseminated throughout the world, leading to Kaiju Jockeys joining the ranks of several organizations including G.A.R.D., the disaster relief agency Hands on High, and the criminal organization Ghul.

Haley grew up on Tartarus, and didn’t leave until she was already an adult. She had no problem making friends thanks to her outgoing personality, but she was disheartened by how monsters were treated as commodities or natural disasters in the outside world compared Tartarus. It didn’t help, either that she was unable to regularly see Hellbender. The monster wasn’t faring any better, becoming lethargic without his friend.

Luckily for the both of them, they came to the attention of G.A.R.D. recruiters. Now, Haley and Hellbender lend their power to the peacekeeping organizations as a secret weapon in an increasingly dangerous world.

As mentioned above, Haley has a very social personality, and her QUIRKS reflect this. They are:

Empathic: Haley is a very understanding person. She is always there if you need someone to talk to or a shoulder to lean on. This also gives allies in her presence a bonus when they need to recover.

Enthusiast (Monsters): Being the daughter of xenobiologists, and growing up on Tartarus, Haley has always been fascinated by monsters. If she encounters one that she has never seen before, she has to learn as much about it as possible. She has an edge, in this regard, as this QUIRK gives her a bonus to SCIENCES checks to learn more about a monster. (NOTE: This QUIRK must be focused on a single topic when it is first acquired. It can be acquired multiple times for different topics.

Intrusive: While she is well adept at talking to people, her time on Tartarus has left Haley prone to forgetting certain boundaries. Both in conversation and in security systems. She gains a bonus to infiltrating high-security areas.

Intuitive: Haley is a very good problem solver, and a *very good* problem solver when it comes down to the wire. This allows her to substitute her SURVIVOR SKILL for any test she needs to accomplish.

The Kaiju Jockey’s CLASS TALENTS reflect the bestial nature of their partners. Despite being a happy-go-lucky person, Haley is no different. Her CLASS TALENTS include:

PREDATORY INSTINCT: Monster’s need to eat, and most of them are carnivores. Spending time with Hellbender, Haley knows how to hunt with the best of them. Whenever she attacks an enemy from stealth, it is an automatic critical hit.

SAVAGE: Do yourself a favor: if you ever find yourself fighting a Jockey and they come at your bare handed: RUN. Haley gets a bonus to all ATTACKS and DAMAGE rolls against opponents when she is unarmed. It will not be pretty.

Of course, Haley’s only one half of the team. Hellbender, her monster partner, can be called upon to aid her in combat.

Jockeys have two ways of utilizing their kaiju.

The Jockey can instruct their Kaiju to perform an action at the cost of the Jockey’s own. Simple things like instructing a monster to come to a certain location, or pick up an object do not require any tests on either the kaiju or jockey’s part. For complex actions though, like engaging an enemy or using a special SKILL or POWER, The player must roll the kaiju’s INTELLIGENCE to ensure that the monster understands the instruction. The challenge number increases with the intelligence of the Jockey. The higher the Monster’s INTELLIGENCE, the easier it is for them to understand the Jockey’s request. The Jockey can ride their kaiju into combat. To do this, the Jockey must be in physical proximity with the monster. The player then performs a SYNC CHECK with the Jockey’s INTELLIGENCE to ensure that they are able to convey their instructions to the kaiju quickly and clearly. The target number for this check is proportional to the kaiju’s INTELLIGENCE. If the player succeeds, the SYNC CHECK was a minor action and the player performs the rest of their turn as normal. If they fail, the SYNC CHECK was a standard action and the player’s turn ends. The target number to hit increases with the intelligence of the kaiju.

Kaiju Jockey players have to balance their Jockey’s and Kaiju’s intelligence to ensure that they are able to utilize their giant form to the full effect. This is the downside to being a Kaiju Jockey, but it does come with the benefit of being the flat-out strongest character class in the game. Kaiju Jockey’s start out with the most points to put into their core ATTRIBUTES out of all three classes.

Another double-edged sword with the Kaiju Jockey class is the Kaiju’s ability to become enraged. When a kaiju is at critical health, they gain a bonus to their damage output and defenses; effectively making them harder to kill and better at killing. The downside to this is that the Jockey must once more make a SYNC CHECK to regain control of their monster, otherwise they will rampage and attack the nearest target, even if it’s an ally!

Finally, the Kaiju Jockey class is limited upon creation with how many powers its monster can start out with. Other classes can start out with multiple ones, but the damage output of Monster powers is so high that it does not act too much as a draw back. What’s more, Monster powers begin with a unique status effect. For example, take Hellbender’s power:

Molten Blast (Immobilizing): Hellbender has an internal temperature well over 350 degrees Celsius, the melting point of lead. This is helpful, because Hellbender engages in Geophagy. He is able to weaponize these qualities by dispelling semi-molten heavy metals at his target, which quickly cools and immobilizes the them.

It is dangerous for Haley to ride Hellbender into battle due to his high temperatures. A special pod was attached to the creature to allow Haley to control Hellbender without any danger.

As player’s Monsters grow, so do their powers. As they level up, the player will be able to choose another power and status to go along with it, or another status for their current power. Hellbender can choose such qualities as Flame, Intimidation, Venom, Confusion, and others!

Overall, the Kaiju Jockey is a devastating tank of a character class that can deal out punishment as well as it can take it. Its overwhelming qualities are kept in check by the bond formed between the human and Monster. Once must know what the other is thinking to be effective in combat, but when they do, they are unstoppable!

This ends our initial coverage of the character classes for GIGARGUN! Be sure to check out the Mech Pilot and Aesir as well and find out which one you like the most.

Have any thoughts or comments, let us know. We love hearing from you!