Dice Notation for the Monsterpocalypse

In an attempt to better record and report battles, I have developed a system to track the flow of dice in a game of MonPoc. Note that this is not a notation system that will allow for a complete recreation of any particular game; instead it is designed to track dice flow and serve as a reminder to the participants for better battle reports. Positioning in MonPoc is at least as important as dice management; but tracking the movement of each individual piece in MonPoc is too time consuming to execute on a clock. I have tested this dice notation system with a standard 45 minute game clock and found that it did not significantly impact the speed of the game for me or my opponent. With that preamble out of the way, let’s begin.

Game Setup

NameA (A) vs NameC (C) A: MonsterX & MonsterY (MX & MY) C: MonsterK & MonsterZ (MK & MZ) A wins the opening roll A first on MapName Number of Action dice start.

Names are the names of the players and are shortened to a single letter to indicate which player is being referred to. I recommend first or last initials, or, if preferred M for me and O for opponent. Monsters are represented by two letters, so that there is no ambiguity on which monster is being referred to. For example, a team of Zor-Maxim and Zor-Magna would likely have ZX, ZG as the monster shorthand, while either one paired distinctly with Defender X would probably be ZM. Record who won the opening roll, who is going first, and what map is being played on. Also, due to concerns about how tournament rules may change from causal rules, note how many Action Dice the starting player begins the game with in their Unit pool. Current variants being 10, Push3, and 5/5.

Example:

Gearbox (G) vs BoxyMD (B) G: Armodax & Sky Sentinel (AD, SS) B: Krakenoctus & King Kondo (KO, KK) G wins the roll G first on Carnage Corners Push3 start

Unit turns

A U#: #u, Action Name, #a, +#p (notes) X/Y/Z vs MK # #dmg

The first letter is the initial of the player taking the turn. The capital U indicates that it’s a unit turn, and the number after the uppercase U indicates how many action dice the turn begins with. The number before the lower-case u is the number of action dice spent on Spawning units this turn. Each Action is called out by full name when used by the player. The number before the lower-case a is the number of action dice spent on Attacking with units this turn. The number between the plus sign and the lower-case p is the number of power dice earned by units this turn. If the units attack a monster, track the number of dice rolled in the attack in the following fashion: X action dice, Y boost dice, Z power dice. Also track which monster is attacked, what the target defense # was, and how much damage the attack deals. Anything noteworthy is tracked in parentheses after the full entry.

Examples:

B U7: 3u, Tectonic Shift, 3a, +0p 3/9/3 vs AD 7 1dmg

In this turn BoxyMD took a unit turn with 7 action dice starting in the unit pool. 3 action dice were spent on spawns, a monster was Tectonic Shifted by a secured Mt. Terra. Then 3 action dice were spent by an Elite Assault Ape and two Grunt Assault Apes with 3 power dice added by Power Hitter to attack Gearbox’s Armodax, needing a 7 to hit and dealing 1 damage. Zero Power dice were earned during this unit turn

G U10, 5u, 4a, +1p 3/9/0 vs KO 8 miss 1C&C miss (spotter)

In this turn Gearbox took a unit turn with 10 action dice starting in the unit pool. 5 action dice were spent on spawns and 4 dice on making attacks with units. One die was used in an attack that destroyed a unit; garnering 1 power die. 3 dice were used to attack the enemy Krakenoctus with an Elite Strike fighter and two Grunt Strike Fighters, needing an 8 due to Spotter. There was a miss, a reroll from Command and Control, and another miss.

Note that if no monster was attacked during the unit turn, then only spawns, actions, attacks and power dice need be tracked and that this can be done on a single line.

Monster turns

A M#, #+#p, -#N, Action Name, #s MX attack MK X/Y/Z # #dmg +#p, #s (notes) MY attack MK X/Y/Z # miss, #s (notes)

The first letter is the initial of the player taking the turn. The capital M indicates that it’s a monster turn; followed by the number of action dice in the monster pool. The first number after the number of action dice is the number of power dice the player begins the turn with in their power pool, followed by the number of power dice they power up for. So, if the player begins with 2 power dice and powers up for 5, it is indicated with 2+5p. The number between the minus sign and the N is the number of power dice lost by the opponent due to negative zones or other special rules. Actions are called out by name. The number of steps used for initial positioning are indicated by the number before the lower-case s.

Every monster attack is tracked. In the format of MonsterX attacks MonsterK using this attack (Power attacks are capitalized) rolling X action dice, Y boost dice, and Z power dice. Track the hit or miss, the amount of damage done, and the number of power dice harvested. Finally, note any steps after the attack and any noteworthy points (Such as health remaining on target monster) in parentheses.

Example:

B M7: 3+5p, Tectonic shift, 1s KO Throws SS 1/5/6 9 4dmg +2p 1s (SS@5) KK Body Slam SS 2/4/4 9 miss 1C&C 5dmg +5p (SS dies)

In this turn BoxyMD took a monster turn with 7 action dice starting in the monster pool. With 3 power dice in the power pool the player powered up for 5 more. There were no negative zones claimed by the player during power up. One action die was spent on stepping and one was spent on Tectonic Shift. Then Krakenoctus (in Hyper) threw Sky Sentinel with 1 action die, 5 boost dice and 6 power dice (needing to hit a 9) onto a Downtown Highrise for 4 damage (since Krakenoctus’s throws deal Super Damage in hyper mode). This generated 2 power dice. King Kondo then stepped into position and attempted to Body Slam Sky Sentinel with 2 action dice, 4 boost dice, and 4 power dice, needing to hit a 9. After missing, Command and Control was used to reroll. The attack hit and the body slam dealt 5 damage by crashing Sky Sentinel into a Tokyo Triumph and a Shadow Sun Industries building. Sky Sentinel was destroyed and 5 power dice were harvested from the attack.

Game End

GAME

MX: #

MY: #

When the game ends, record the health of all monsters still in play. If it ends in concession, note who conceded and record the health of their remaining monsters as well.

Example:

GAME (G Concedes) KO: 4 KK: 11 AD: 7

In this example, with 7 health left on Armodax, Gearbox conceded to BoxyMD who had 4 health on Krakenoctus and a full health King Kondo.

Final thoughts

This system is meant as a baseline notation. It can, and likely will, evolve. We as a community may decide that it lacks necessary info or preserves unneeded data. For now, however, I’m publishing this for community use. I look forward to many discussions about how useful this notation is, whether it is helpful for outlining game trends in Monsterpocalypse, and how it can be improved. I hope you try using this notation system in a game or two to see if you find it useful or clunky. Finally, I wish you good luck in the Monsterpocalypse!