Hi everybody, Duffy here.

Sorry for the late article. We’re hard at work on a piece examining one of the factions and will take time this week to go over a variety of topics that will get articles down the line or can just be knocked out right here.

Let’s get started!’

Factions

It’s been a slow burn so far, going over the different organizations that exist in the world of GIGARGUN. It might be fun to go over the one’s we have fleshed out so far just to help give an idea of the world and how things work



THE GIGARGUN ANALYSIS AND RESPONSE DIVISION (G.A.R.D.): We covered them in an early article. They are the greatest monster research and defense organization in the world. At least, they were until the “monster problem” was around for so long that a large, centralized organization was not needed when smaller, more localized one’s could do just as well. They survive as a bare-bones organization, handling international crimes.

THE GIGARGUN ANALYSIS AND RESPONSE DIVISION (G.A.R.D.): We covered them in an early article. They are the greatest monster research and defense organization in the world. At least, they were until the “monster problem” was around for so long that a large, centralized organization was not needed when smaller, more localized one’s could do just as well. They survive as a bare-bones organization, handling international crimes. THE AURIANS: During the 1970’s, it was revealed that an alien army had been living on Earth in secret, instigating monster attacks in order to weaken humanity so that they might conquer the planet. The Aurians come from a distant planet that is home to its own giant monsters. The race had devised means of controlling them and were making use of it on earth to control the native monster population. The Aurians also created the original Titan Devices, symbiotic technology that allows the user to transform into a more powerful form and even grow to giant size. They were responsible for creating Tartarus, the landmass in the Pacific Ocean that acts as the world’s largest monster preserve. They are believed to have all been destroyed during the final battle of the Gigargun War in 1985.



HANDS ON HIGH: An organization to dedicated to relief efforts in areas affected by giant monster attacks. They use Mechs and benign monsters to aid in search-and-rescue, and provide medical aid, cleanup, and reconstruction in areas affected by giant monster. We’ll go into this further next week.

HANDS ON HIGH: An organization to dedicated to relief efforts in areas affected by giant monster attacks. They use Mechs and benign monsters to aid in search-and-rescue, and provide medical aid, cleanup, and reconstruction in areas affected by giant monster. We’ll go into this further next week. BIKINI FARMS: One of the largest conglomerates in the world. So named because of their purchase of the Bikini Atoll in order to lay claim to the island’s giant mutated livestock. They are the leading (legal) provider of monster-derived goods, and own subsidies that are involved in everything from Mech production, to giant-proof building materials.

Ghul: One of the world’s largest criminal organizations. They have cornered the black market with monster-derived goods, Mech parts, and alien technology. While they do have their hands in goods that make them competitors with Bikini Farms (monster hormones, medical remedies, etc.), Ghul has a larger focus on military application of giant monsters. High ranking members have raised monsters from birth to act as their protection or to hire out their services as a Monster Jockey to the highest bidder.

SLINGSHOT: The most loosely organized group in the world of GIGARGUN. Not so much a faction, Slingshot is the name and banner that is raised by those who see all giants as being unnatural and need to be destroyed. They employ high-powered military weaponry, guerrilla tactics, and even a few Mechs, in order to carry out their agenda. They are seen as terrorists and hate groups in most countries.

GAMEPLAY BITS

Originally, there were 5 character attributes:

STRENGTH: Physical power output

AGILITY: Dexterity and agility

INTELLIGENCE: Your character’s mental ability

SPIRIT: Personality and willpower

CONSTITUTION: Stamina and resistance to damage

We’ve cut out CONSTITUTION and are having STRENGTH take over its duties for the rest of the character, also influencing things like the character’s toughness, grappling ability, and survival skills.

The current character sheet is:

We’re also working on a new character class, The Slayer, who is unable to achieve giant form, but fights giants as a human with the aid of high powered technology, particularly their Lance; a large melee weapon capable to incapacitation and even harming giants.

One problem we’ve had with recent playtests was enemies being too powerful for low-level characters. This is funny considering the very first playtest had players complaining that they didn’t feel threatened. After re-doing the enemy-creation equation, we should have more even combat.

What the system has been good at is providing player’s flexibility in play styles and combat. One player got into melee in a department store where they were outgunned. Luckily, they were able to call upon their monster and have them take out her attacker. Another situation had players trying to stop an opponent from destroying evidence: this involved both combat and finesse rolls to put out fires.

Currently, we’re thinking about changing combat from a target number system to an opposed roll system. This would mean that, instead of having a target number a roll must reach in order to affect the target, both parties (the attacker and defender) would each make a roll and add their respective attacking and defending modifiers to see who is victorious. We’ll run this in some demos and see if it works.

We’ve been getting some great feedback and it’s helped in changing the game into a much more interesting experience. If anybody reading this has questions or comments about the game, character sheets, or world, let us know. We love to hear from you!