Diary of Death - Interlude

The regular weekly installments of Diary of Death will resume on New Year's Day 2016. Until then, here is a closer look at the survivors, the settlement as a whole, my gear loadouts, and some more pictures of each assembled and painted monster.

If you are new to Diary of Death, you can find the various installments here.

During a campaign of Kingdom Death: Monster, survivors are born, they die, they suffer wounds and trauma. Up to this point, I have described most of the happenings through the lens of story narration. I wanted to take this opportunity to show the actual record sheets for the living survivors who populate my settlement of Forlorn, and for the settlement itself.

Because of the sheer depth on offer, and the myriad choices and possibilities, stories abound in Kingdom Death: Monster. While writing the Diary of Death, I have expanded and slightly tweaked the narrative on many of the events and situations, but the game itself is the driving force behind each and every scenario that the characters face. It is very easy to get attached to certain characters, and it can be gut-wrenching to lose a favorite.

These sheets can be used by people who are unfamiliar with the game to get a feel for what kind of record keeping is involved in the game and how detailed the game actually is. Along with each character sheet, I'll provide a bit of exposition about a few of my favorites.

Survivors

Resolve, Father of Words

Originally intended to be the narrator of the story, I changed perspective because I didn't want the story to end with Resolve's death, and I couldn't think of a smooth transition to a new narrator if I told the story from his perspective. He's still my favorite character, but he doesn't hunt much, as I was never able to really get him going as a hunter before other, better fighters came in to being.

Calm, Shining Coward of the Lion

Initially intended as a "throwaway" character, Calm has stepped to the forefront as my premier hunter. Contracting leprosy has been key to his survival.

Surly, Dingle Savior of the Lantern

Forlorn's matriarch. She spends most fights firing arrows from a distance, which has kept her alive far longer than it should, as she enters battle with very little armor, and she is actually unable to wear chest armor.

Triumph, Foolish Sneak of the Lantern

Triumph was right on Calm's heels for biggest badass. Time is fluid in Kingdom Death and can flow both forward and backwards and, in Triumph's case, it flowed backward, carrying her back to her beginning, erasing her hunt experience, near axe-mastery etc.

Tragedy

Triumph's twin brother and, along with Sorrow, one of my two gay survivors. In spite of choosing spear as a weapon proficiency, I've had Tragedy run a zanbato almost exclusively. Oops.

Sorrow

Tragedy's lover. Until Tragedy and Sorrow partnered up, I had no idea it was even a possibility for characters in Kingdom Death to be gay.

Warmth

The first savior born to Forlorn. Warmth is a red savior, deadly with weapons.

Burden

A green savior. Burden is incredibly tough. A pure tank.

Other named survivors include Regard, Broken, Cheer, Morose, Boon, Doubt, Favor, Struggle, and Despair.

Notable deceased survivors: Pain, Persevere (formerly Grace)

Other lost survivors include Mercy, Hale, Tolerance, and two unnamed survivors.

Forlorn

Forlorn is currently in Lantern Year 13. Lantern Years don't follow the same structure as an Earth year, and survivors don't age as we do as time doesn't operate the same in Kingdom Death: Monster as it does for us. The biggest decisions in Kingdom Death: Monster revolve around the choices made regarding the growth and expansion of the settlement as a whole.

I've listed the monster fought each year as well as the additional story and special events that have been added to the timeline via play.

Each Lantern Year consists of one monster fight or nemesis encounter combined with a Settlement phase. The outcomes of most of which are covered in detail in the Diary of Death.

Tough choices abound, especially when it comes to choosing which Principles to adopt and which to ignore, and it can be doubly difficult to decide when playing with a group of players. I am playing this campaign solo, so the decisions made have been mine alone, although I did take some input from Adam Poots, the designer of Kingdom Death: Monster, when deciding my New Life and Death principles for this particular campaign.

This is the third campaign that I have played of Kingdom Death: Monster, and, having chosen different principles in other campaigns, I can say that they make a huge difference, altering the way the campaign plays out significantly.

The Gear

I run four very consistent loadouts, regardless of the survivor actually hunting. Here are pictures of each of those gear grids as well as a picture of the "extra" gear that I've built. These loadouts are tweaked from the usual in preparation for the next fight, which is significantly different than the other fights faced in the campaign so far.

This is the "tank" kit. This is what the green saviors had been running.

The "standard" kit.

The "Surly" kit.

A modified, armored up version of the "Calm" kit. Usually lighter on armor, I broke this kit's zanbato in the last phoenix fight.

These two grids are all of the gear that I have built that I'm not actively using.

The Monsters

As much a hobby product as it is a game, each miniature in Kingdom Death: Monster comes in the box unpainted and in need of assembly. All of the monsters and heroes seen here, and in the regular Diary of Death installments, were assembled and painted by yours truly (yes, the bases are plain, I know). 

The White Lion

The Screaming Antelope

The Phoenix

The Butcher

The King's Man

The Hand

The Watcher

Even though I have been  using the four painted starting survivors for the entirety of this campaign, one of Kingdom Death: Monster's big draws are the modular armor kits that come in the box. Nearly every piece of gear that can be created in the game is represented physically in plastic. It is entirely up to the builder how to assemble these kits. Effectively, this game is a hobbyist's dream.

While they are not painted, I would feel remiss if I didn't include a few pictures of some of the armor kits that I have put together that are awaiting a coat of paint ...

... and here is a look at others that I have assembled that I have yet to put on temporary bases.

I received my copy as payment for the commission to assemble and paint two copies of the game for friends, and this is most of the armor kits assembled from all three full sets. I have my work cut out for me.