One Last MHI Update

It is rather fitting, perhaps, that the day before the Monster Hunter International RPG Kickstarter ends turns out to be Halloween. One suspects Larry Correia and the folks at Hero Games to have done it deliberately.

Anyway, the response has been amazing - with an initial goal of $45,000, the current total pledged is at nearly $76K. And what is everyone getting for their pledges? With all of the stretch goals that have been met, everyone who went for at least the PDF will be receiving:

• A complete copy of the Monster Hunter International Employee's Handbook And RPG.
• A PDF copy of The Devil's Dozen, a collection of villains and other NPCs.
• A PDF containing four five MHI adventures.
• Another PDF of monsters, villains, and other NPCs, these created by the backers - for an extra $100, you, too can contribute to the collection.

And that's not even including the hard copies, patches, and dice that can also be added. Best of all, that PDF of adventures? It'll get another added for every $5000 that gets raised in the next 24 hours.

After all that, I think a big congratulations is due to Larry, Steve Long, and everyone who's put in their contribution. And if you're still wondering what this MHI thing is all about, well, I can think of no better introduction than this:

"On one otherwise normal Tuesday evening I had the chance to live the American dream. I was able to throw my incompetent jackass of a boss from a fourteenth-story window. . . "

Monstrous Monday: Piranhamoose!

As the name suggests, these awesome creatures are hybrids, combining the might of the majestic moose with the ferocity of the freshwater piranha. How, precisely, this combination came about is a great mystery, though the influence of wizards and/or mad scientists seems probable.

Although in the wild the piranhamoose is a fierce ambush predator, if tamed it makes for a very distinctive mount.



Inspired - OK, stolen outright - from the webcomic Wondermark, the piranhamoose can be used in a variety of settings - for an OSR or other Dungeon Fantasy-type game, for example, it fits right along with other weird hybrid-animals. Now that I think of it, in fact, it seems like it'd be a natural enemy for the infamous owlbear. The stats for such a beast might look something like this (I'm using Labyrinth Lord as a guide):

Number Encountered: 1 (2d6)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 240' (80')
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 4
Attacks: 2 (butt, bite)
Damage: 1d8/1d12
Save: F2
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: None
XP: 80

If ridden, carries as Draft Horse.

For a more Earth-like setting, it seems like the piranhamoose is most likely to be found in the weirder settings - could it be a post-apocalyptic mutation? A creature of Faerie realms? The creation of a deranged mad scientist? The possibilities are endless.

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Monster Hunter Kickstarter Update

As the Monster Hunter International RPG Kickstarter heads into its final two weeks, funding is at approximately 125%. When it hits 130%, or $60,000 we'll hit the next stretch goal - dice! - but what do we have so far?

Well, in addition to the main book, everybody who pledges for at least the PDF will get a copy of the (first? One can only hope) PDF supplement, The Devil's Dozen:

". . . an illustrated PDF of 13 new villains, monsters, and NPCs dreamed up by Larry and written up by Steve. We thought you might enjoy a sneak peek at a couple of the ideas Larry's already sent Steve:

El Maldición, the Haunted Gun:  This old, intricately engraved, gold-inlaid Colt 1911 chambered in .38 Super seems to possess a strange sentience, and to bring misfortune and disaster to those who dare to wield it."

That right there tells you tells you quite a bit about both the MHI setting, and Larry's writing style. If you're still on the fence, you may want to give his short story Tanya: Princess of the Elves a try (note that there are technically spoilers for the first two MHI novels in there).

But wait, there's more - there's also two exclusive MHI unit patches available. One of them can be added onto any pledge for at least the physical book, for an additional $10 - honestly, I feel that's rather steep, but the patch is very cool:

Sharktopus

 LUSKA!

There's another patch for the upper pledge tiers that's even better, so cool I have to link to it instead of showing you directly. Alas, I'm already in as far as I can currently go . . .

What Did I Tell You?

It's been less than 48 hours since the Kickstarter for the Monster Hunter International Employee's Handbook and RPG went live, and already it's raised over 2/3rds of the original goal. Of course, MHI author Larry Correia has been saying all along there's some great stretch goals planned, so if you're a fan of the series, the HERO system, or the genre in general, you could do worse than backing this one (and, for the record, the only thing I'm getting out of this is better perks if those stretch goals do get hit!).

If you're not (yet) a fan of the series, there's some sample chapters and short stories on Larry's blog to give you an idea of what to expect. Check them out!