Going Ape On Skull Island

While I recommend supporting small business, especially friendly local game shops, I also admit that sometimes a great deal is a great deal. Right now on Amazon the Kong: Skull Island - A Cinematic Adventure for Everyday Heroes is only 7.99. I've not been shy talking about my love for intelligent and giant apes so I snagged a copy with some Amazon credit I had. This is the only print Everyday Heroes book I have, but I dig it. The book clocks in at 112 pages and six parts.

Here is a breakdown of the book and my thoughts.

Part I focuses on the world of Kong and the Monsterverse. This is an interesting one because while the book focuses on Kong and only includes stats from Kong related projects, it does mention Godzilla and some of the other titans. One thing that definitely stuck out to me was the inclusion of Apex Cybernetics in the book. This is the company that created Mechagodzilla. They definitely feel more like a Godzilla thing than a Kong thing, but I'm fine with them being detailed (even getting npc stats later in the book).  This section is pretty detailed, given the little amount of lore for the setting at the time. Of course, a map of the titular Skull Island is given. 

Part II is all about heroes. There are tips for creating and playing characters in the setting. New backgrounds and professions are given. All of these are connected to Skull Island or the Monsterverse as a whole. Characters can be members of the Iwi tribe or work for Monarch. There are two new classes: Field Researcher and Monster Hunter. Field Research is a smart hero that's more physical based than normal ones. Monster Hunters are a tough hero class that does what the name says. An interesting feature of the class is that they have to encounter species in different ways (beyond just combat) to use their best class abilities against them. Both classes sound pretty fun, to be honest. There are some new feats (mostly related to multiclassing) and equipment (some from the 70's and some from modern times).  

Part III includes new rules. Absolute armor is an interesting idea and plays on Everyday Heroes armor/defense differences to typical 5e. Cinematic actions are ways to make enemies more powerful and are basically Legendary actions. There are new combat conditions and a new "difficulty mode" for the game to make it more dangerous than typical Everyday Heroes games. The most important section discusses Titanic Scale. It's an interesting idea. Essentially it makes kaiju stats comparable to regular ones (and therefore less complicated). Breaking it down, damage is done basically at a 1 to 100 rate. Titanic creatures deal normal damage to each other, but that damage is multiplied by 100 to non-Titans. Because of this epic scale, there's a section on including Titans in encounters without direct combat. 

Part IV is GM advice. This is preobably the shortest. There's a discussion of themes, weather, encounter tables, and a little blurb on how to use Kong.

Part V, the cinematic adventure, is the longest section (39 pages). Set in 2016, shortly after the events of Godzilla, the characters (who should be 3rd level) are a part of a Monarch expedition to Skull Island. In this three act adventure the character have to stop a deadly plot to weaponize the island's unique creatures.

Part VI is the cast section and is full of stat blocks. The stats are divided into different subsections. Supporting Cast includes human npcs, divided by affiliation: Apex Cybernetics, Iwi tribe, and Monarch. This is followed by Superspecies, which includes the (non-Titan) flora and fauna of Skull Island. Titans follow that subsection. As I mentioned the titanic scale of this setting means that the Titans, while powerful, don't have super complicated stat blocks. For example, Adult Kong is the most powerful and is technically only CR 11. Because the titans are the big draw I figured I'd list the ones included:

• Camazotz - this bat-like Titan (Kingdom Kong comic)
• Kong - there are two different Kong stat blocks included, adolescent (Kong: Skull Island) and adult (Godzilla vs. Kong)
• Skull Devil - while a majority of the skullcrawlers are just regular superspecies, the alpha is considered a Titan (Kong: Skull Island)
• Snarehunter Queen - queen of the "singing ants" (heard in Kong: Skull Island, but this book is technically their first appearance)

Key Character stats are included for the main cast of Kong: Skull Island. For the characters that survived the film (which is all mentioned by Bill) a brief description of their actions after the film are included. The final stats in the book are pre-generated 3rd level characters that can be used in the adventure. 

I would have enjoyed more Titans, but I understand that while this is set in the Monsterverse, they aren't the focus of the book. If you'd like to add more Titans to your game the Kaiju from the Pacific Rim Cinematic Adventure would be good. That one also has Jaeger stats, so you can add mechs. There's also the serial numbers filed off The Vault, which includes the rules from the various cinematic adventures divorced from their IP's. 

Not going to recommend this one to everyone but if you love Kaiju, the Monsterverse, or play Everyday Heroes consider picking this one up.