Last Stand - Fly free, beautiful crab, on butterfly wings

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Last Stand - Fly free, beautiful crab, on butterfly wings

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Mikan: Sep 5, 2007; by Radium

Last Stand is now available as a pdf from DrivethruRPG and in print from Amazon. You can buy the Armory Deck from here. Print copies and decks now shipping to backers. Should have print and cards available on drivethruRPG soon too.

Last Stand is a tabletop roleplaying game influenced by Godzilla movies, Earth Defense Force 2017, Shadow of the Colossus and Mega Man. It uses the Fortune System, a lightweight set of mechanics all about gambling. _{_{and it's made by a goon}}

In Last Stand, giant b-movie monsters are invading Earth. Radioactive lizards, enormous swarms of ants, humongous crabs with wrecking ball claws. All of these and more threaten humanity.

To fight them, you must become them. You are a Bio-Armor Agent of a shadowy corporation. This Bio-Armor is constructed from the corpses of your enemies. With Bio-Armor, you are stronger and faster than an army of soldiers. You are the only hope for humanity to survive the invaders.

During the game, you can rip body parts from your enemies and attach them to your Bio-Armor. Every single enemy power can be slotted into your Bio-Armor and kept as a permanent upgrade. You can build new Bio-Armor frames from invader corpses as well.

The core mechanic for Last Stand uses 2d10 and requires you to gamble. You can gamble with tokens you earn through play, by rolling less dice than normal or even gamble away the HP of your allies. (That last part is the best gamble.) You'll launch explosions, throw cars, cause collateral damage and scale city-sized monsters.
Last Stand is all about cool powers and quick gameplay. It's also built to be compatible with a variety of other games that use the Fortune System, including Ragnar�k.

This thread includes exclusive Something Awful content, news about playtests and updates about the game.

Useful Links

I'm collecting all the useful things from the last thread. If there's anything specific you'd like to see here, let me know.

Official site, with more content
Ragnar�k playtest
Critical Hits review
Interior art gallery
Google Plus community
PublicOpinion's light D&D hack
Large version of the cover

Mikan fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Feb 11, 2013

# ? Feb 11, 2013 02:59

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# ? Apr 19, 2024 16:50

Mikan: Sep 5, 2007; by Radium

Reserving post for content from previous threads, cool announcements, fan art once I find it all

# ? Feb 11, 2013 02:59

gnome7: Oct 21, 2010; Who's this Little
Spaghetti?? ??

Congratulations, Mikan! You finally got this to print. I really look forward to holding my preorder copy in my own hands sometime soon.

# ? Feb 11, 2013 03:16

Bieeanshee: Aug 21, 2000; Not keen on keening.; Grimey Drawer

A reviewer on DrivethruRPG briefly complained about the art, but I think it's charming. It reminds me strongly of the kind of spare but proficient stuff I saw when I first got into the hobby in the mid Eighties, and the game makes me think of all the Godzilla and other monster movies I used to see on TV in those days, too. I'm definitely taking a closer peek at this when I get up tomorrow morning.

# ? Feb 11, 2013 05:53

Potsticker: Jan 14, 2006

Bieeardo posted:

A reviewer on DrivethruRPG briefly complained about the art, but I think it's charming. It reminds me strongly of the kind of spare but proficient stuff I saw when I first got into the hobby in the mid Eighties, and the game makes me think of all the Godzilla and other monster movies I used to see on TV in those days, too. I'm definitely taking a closer peek at this when I get up tomorrow morning.

The complaint is understandable, especially when there's a lot of other products out there that have really amazing contemporary art. Last Stand is certainly not a bad product that needs great art to sell it, (though it does have an amazing cover) but I can see someone seeing the interior art and dismissing the product on the idea that the quality of the art reflects an unpolished product altogether.

# ? Feb 11, 2013 07:53

KillerQueen: Jul 13, 2010

This game looks kickin' rad and I fully intend to purchase a copy later this week.

# ? Feb 12, 2013 03:29

Ceetee: Feb 14, 2013

I missed the game when it was on kickstarter, and was hesitant to try it out, because I love the concept, but was judging it by the art used. Once I bought the game however, I fell in love with it the more and more I read, and then some more again once I started playing. Same with the playtests floating around. The trickster mechanics in Ragnarok look great, and I just got done running a game of BttS about an hour ago. Would be glad to give you any details you need on how that went.

Some notes and questions about LS:

What do flight and aquatic actually do, other then qualify for field effects?
Damage over time tokens, do not have their effects listed in the book, only on the card. this can cause confusion for people not using the cards.
What is the action cost of a ripped web slam? I assume Standard.
Is a slotted wrecking claw supposed to be collateral 1, 2, 3? or does it do double damage on a 2, or some other effect?
If you roll equal to the opponent on an attack, is no damage dealt, or do you both take 1 damage?
Some of the powers (specifically, the drone powers) only affect the stat they are slotted into. What happens if you use that power to build a new frame?

And BttS:

It doesn't list how to determine starting locations. One of our players started in the same sector as a dragon. This ended about as badly as you would expect.
If a player dies, does the number of actions a monster gets per turn get reduced?
It appears that if a Sledge draws four 6's and a 5, they achieve enlightnment and take up a vow of peace, never to harm another monster again. (They can never take any action or get rid of any cards, from that point on)
When a monster drops loot, do all players get a copy of that piece of loot, or is it just one piece that goes to the person who snagged it?

Ceetee fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Feb 14, 2013

# ? Feb 14, 2013 04:36

Mikan: Sep 5, 2007; by Radium

Questions! I love questions.

Ceetee posted:

Some notes and questions about LS:

What do flight and aquatic actually do, other then qualify for field effects?

Right now they are mostly narrative abilities - having flight or aquatic gives you the in-game benefit of flight or swimming. They open up certain kinds of descriptions and actions.
I think both will see some expansion in later supplements, though. I have a few things slotted in as Keywords that I thought would be useful. Flight and Aquatic are among them. Future powers, field effects, subsystems might refer to those keywords. (A dive bomb power that deals more damage if the user has Flight for example, or in the rules for swimming around in a gigantic jellyfish creature.)

quote:

Damage over time tokens, do not have their effects listed in the book, only on the card. this can cause confusion for people not using the cards.

Ugh, yeah. The token descriptions are scattered around and I know it's annoying. I have a list on the website and I'm including something like that with print copies.

quote:

What is the action cost of a ripped web slam? I assume Standard.
Is a slotted wrecking claw supposed to be collateral 1, 2, 3? or does it do double damage on a 2, or some other effect?

Yeah, Standard for the web slam. That one's on me; I'll update the pdf and see if it's too late for the print copies. The other one is all Dagon :argh:

It should be Collateral 1, 2 instead of Collateral 12, 2.

quote:

If you roll equal to the opponent on an attack, is no damage dealt, or do you both take 1 damage?

Attacker deals damage, defender doesn't. I'm not sure why that isn't in the book, I know I had it in a draft.

quote:

Some of the powers (specifically, the drone powers) only affect the stat they are slotted into. What happens if you use that power to build a new frame?

Free point to place wherever.

quote:

And BttS:

It doesn't list how to determine starting locations. One of our players started in the same sector as a dragon. This ended about as badly as you would expect.

If a player dies, does the number of actions a monster gets per turn get reduced?

It appears that if a Sledge draws four 6's and a 5, they achieve enlightnment and take up a vow of peace, never to harm another monster again. (They can never take any action or get rid of any cards, from that point on)

When a monster drops loot, do all players get a copy of that piece of loot, or is it just one piece that goes to the person who snagged it?

I appreciate this. If anyone hasn't seen it, the Monster Hunter-inspired game I mentioned in the previous thread is now in early open playtest and can be found in this G+ update. I'm adding new content each week.

I'll add this info to the playtest, but:
Nope, monster keeps the same number of actions. The crafting system might see a huge rewrite, but for now you get one piece of loot for the whole group and it's supposed to be communal. I'm not thrilled with the crafting system as is though.
And haha about the Sledge, I'm gonna rewrite that right now to something like this:

quote:

When you play an Added Force attack, you may play any number of additional cards. The attack gains +1 power for every card played and occurs on initiative count 5 + number of cards played.

Ceetee posted:

Once I bought the game however, I fell in love with it the more and more I read, and then some more again once I started playing. Same with the playtests floating around. The trickster mechanics in Ragnarok look great, and I just got done running a game of BttS about an hour ago.

This owns. :unsmith:

Thanks.

# ? Feb 14, 2013 05:28

Ceetee: Feb 14, 2013

Mikan posted:

Right now they are mostly narrative abilities - having flight or aquatic gives you the in-game benefit of flight or swimming. They open up certain kinds of descriptions and actions.
I think both will see some expansion in later supplements, though. I have a few things slotted in as Keywords that I thought would be useful. Flight and Aquatic are among them. Future powers, field effects, subsystems might refer to those keywords. (A dive bomb power that deals more damage if the user has Flight for example, or in the rules for swimming around in a gigantic jellyfish creature.)

It also seems that Aquatic can only be taken if you start with it. No monster offers it.

Mikan posted:

Ugh, yeah. The token descriptions are scattered around and I know it's annoying. I have a list on the website and I'm including something like that with print copies.

Bacteria, Collateral, and Crushed tokens are missing from that list. Pretty justifiable, since reading through the old thread, those were all added in after that list was made.

Mikan posted:

Free point to place wherever.

Oh cool. Not the best I suppose, since it seems makes you strictly weaker then the basic Ant armor. Can't wait to see how it plays out though.

Extra questions:

In BttS, with Elevation, my group had a small argument. To move into or out of an Elevated sector, do you have to discard a face card from your hand, or does it mean that the action you take that turn has to be a face card?
I would also like to note that the movement seems to be a little stagnant. At least with the dragon. Once turn 2 rolled around, the whole board just kind of locked down, as everyone found a comfortable position to attack from, and the dragon never moved to challenge that, and the only time the entire fight it even moved was when one of the players used a push attack on it.

I suggest stealing (another) page from KD:M, and have different attacks change targets. Like "Target the last player to hit you.", "Target the last person in the initiative order.", "Target the player who played the most cards this round.", etc.

Also working on my own Fortune System game, since my FLGS has a game design night, and I've had the game design bug bad for a few years now. Currently have a couple ideas rolling around in my head, but the one I'm gonna work on is basically a high fantasy setting, with the players playing as warrior mages who use parts from the monsters they kill to create new spells. Heavily influenced by Final Fantasy and its Blue Mages. Current unique mechanic I am tossing around is Attunement. Most enemies drop a certain amount of Attunement points, which functions a bit like Fury, in that it is a 'token' pool that actually isn't made up of tokens and has unique interactions.

Each ripped power has a cost associated with it, which you pay in Attunement points, in order to slot it outside the 'once per session' allotment, or pay double that to convert the ripped part into a frame. This allows players to get new powers more often, however, you are still stuck with the frame you choose for an entire session, which lets them frequently switch up tactics between sessions, but still requires planning ahead before one. Still toying around with it. Seems easy to break, as is right now.

# ? Feb 14, 2013 06:33

Mikan: Sep 5, 2007; by Radium

I know there's a lot of Last Stand - Dungeon World crossover fans, so the first set of Last Stand monsters reinterpreted for Dungeon World is available. Download here and you can buy it for $1 DrivethruRPG if you like it.

# ? Feb 23, 2013 18:31

Winson_Paine: Oct 27, 2000; Wait, something is wrong.

In light of this actually shipping and this being one of the few goon projects involving several TGers to go from seed of an idea to an actual book, I think that deserves a little notice. So congrats to our own Mikan on his apotheosis as a self starter, and welcome to the March GAME OF THE MONTH.

# ? Mar 1, 2013 13:52

Mikan: Sep 5, 2007; by Radium

If anyone doesn't have the game yet, it is 25% off on DrivethruRPG/RPGnow for GM Day and I'm working with them to get the print copies ready too.
I also come bearing gifts, the first collection of Last Stand monsters modified for Dungeon World.

# ? Mar 4, 2013 22:51

Undead Unicorn: Sep 14, 2010; by Lowtax

Hey Mikan do I need to buy both Armoury deck and the core book to play the game?

# ? Mar 5, 2013 17:32

Mikan: Sep 5, 2007; by Radium

Nope. The cards are a great resource for drafting powers and having a physical display of your abilities, but everything on the cards is listed in the book and you could get the same benefit from printing out the power list. Mostly they look pretty.

The DTRPG purchase includes a pdf with the cards you can print if you want, too.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 18:04

Rulebook Heavily: Sep 18, 2010; by FactsAreUseless

Hey, did you know? The more you bug Mikan about it, the more Ragnar�k will be worked on.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 19:42

Newfork: Feb 13, 2012; There are innumerable ways in which I can stop you.

Rulebook Heavily posted:

Hey, did you know? The more you bug Mikan about it, the more Ragnar�k will be worked on.

Send out some bees and Mikan will be able to rip and slot their work powers!

# ? Mar 5, 2013 21:13

Tollymain: Jul 9, 2010; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Mikan you should work on Ragnarok

_{Mikan Mikan MikanMikanMikan work on Ragnarok}

# ? Mar 6, 2013 01:16

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

At the risk of asking a stupid question, were kickstarter physical copies shipped yet?

# ? Mar 6, 2013 01:25

Mikan: Sep 5, 2007; by Radium

They got held up at the printer and I've been working with them for the last 2-3 weeks to get it worked out. (It was going backward in the queue for some reason.) They should be in my hands in about a week, from what I've been told, and I'm going to start shipping as soon as I receive them. I already have all of the cards at least.

Print copies are ready to go on DrivethruRPG but I'm waiting for the kickstarter copies to start shipping out before I make the option available.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 01:37

children overboard: Apr 3, 2009

Does it adapt to play-by-post well? I'm wondering about the gambling mechanic: one minor hitch in Fate games is that the system of upping the ante with fate points works best face-to-face. If you gamble in this game can you handle it all in one turn and roll your dice and make your post in a PBP game, or does the gamble need mid-turn GM/other player input?

# ? Mar 6, 2013 12:47

Mikan: Sep 5, 2007; by Radium

The gamble rules shouldn't be an issue; you know whether you've succeeded on a gamble based on your die roll.
For PBP there are going to be a few hitches with Reaction moves. Most of them happen after actions resolve or are a reaction to your own actions so they can be resolved without mid-turn input, but there are a few that might trip things up. There are enough powers available you could just avoid them though.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 16:02

homullus: Mar 27, 2009

I got my print copy a week or two ago from Amazon (missed the KS, sorry) and (now that I've read it) really like the gambling/collateral mechanic and the token bribe. I don't have my head wrapped around sectors yet entirely but find it an attractive abstraction that looks scalable. Mostly I just don't find insects interesting at all so please yes make the other Fortune System games.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 18:30

Rulebook Heavily: Sep 18, 2010; by FactsAreUseless

homullus posted:

I got my print copy a week or two ago from Amazon (missed the KS, sorry) and (now that I've read it) really like the gambling/collateral mechanic and the token bribe. I don't have my head wrapped around sectors yet entirely but find it an attractive abstraction that looks scalable. Mostly I just don't find insects interesting at all so please yes make the other Fortune System games.

quote:

Elf

One of the Hulduf�lk, or the V�ttir, these are most often confined to their own world and venture forth only rarely to deceive or aid mortals or send them requests in dreams. As far as the �sir know, they have retreated from the world entirely. The elves do delight in drawing out their tasks, so even if they do come to the players in dreams to give them a message they might draw the encounter out for their own entertainment or sport, whether in conversation or in a dream-battle. Any items won from them during these dream contests will mysteriously appear in a mortal�s possession on waking.

Elves have the following special rule; any battle with them present actually takes place in dreams. They may, as a minor action, create any sector effect they want (except for a Sacred Site) in any sector on the map during their turn. Furthermore, when attempting to exploit a Sector Effect, they pay one less Token to do so if applicable and gain a +1 bonus on their roll if applicable. Finally, They are immune to the deleterious effects of Sector Effects, if any. No matter how many monsters are in the encounter, it immediately ends when all Elves in it are defeated.

Freyja 4
��inn 5
T�r 3
��r 2

��inn: Stealth. Move action, Wager 2. On a 5 or 6, the Elf does not move but instead places a Stealth token in any adjacent sector. The Elf is then removed from the board. At the beginning of the Elf�s next turn, he may reappear in any sector adjacent to the Stealth token, then the Stealth token is removed. Any player may spend 3 as a minor action to cause the Elf to immediately appear in the sector containing the Stealth token and then remove it. If the wager is unsuccessful, nothing happens.

Ripped: Whenever an Elf uses Stealth, it only costs you one token to cause them to reappear. Furthermore, you are immune to all Sector Effects conjured by an Elf.

Crafted: Apparel. Move. Spend 3 to place a Stealth token in any adjacent sector, then remove yourself off the board. At the beginning of your next turn, place yourself in any sector adjacent to the Stealth token, and then remove the Stealth token. Enemies may spend 3 as a minor action to cause you to immediately appear in the sector containing the Stealth token and then remove it.

T�r: Monster Summons. Spend 4. Place a swarm of three Leeches of the Deep, Chewed Corpses or Vargurs in any sector. They may act immediately.

Ripped: You are immune to the attacks of all monsters summoned by an elf. They cannot affect or hinder you in any way.

Crafted: Apparel. Minor, Spend 3. One enemy in any sector of your choice is affected by an illusion causing it to believe it is currently affected by one Sector Effect (except for a Sacred Site) of your choice. It suffers all the effects of this Sector Effect.

# ? Mar 6, 2013 18:43

occamsnailfile: Nov 4, 2007; zamtrios so lonely; Grimey Drawer

So I was planning to buy Last Stand soon enough, it looked neat and all. Then Indiegala did their current bundle deal (four days left) which includes Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon. It's a flawed game but you get to zap hordes of evil bugs with glowing super weapons and can have a jetpack.

The end result of this is that Amazon is sending me a present, because I can't play Steam games on the bus.

# ? Mar 8, 2013 03:32

Ceetee: Feb 14, 2013

Apparel? Thats a new keyword. What does it do?

Also, I'm working on creating my own version of the monsters statblocks for easy printing out, and with the powers being able to tear off the sheet as double sided power cards, that I can just hand to the players to show what they ripped, as well as easily see what powers the monster has lost. Thoughts?

# ? Mar 10, 2013 07:00

Rulebook Heavily: Sep 18, 2010; by FactsAreUseless

Ceetee posted:

Apparel? Thats a new keyword. What does it do?

I was hoping someone would spot that. Ragnar�k has a Crafting system in place of Last Stand's Slotting. They work pretty much exactly the same except that the Craft system also classifies items by what they can be crafted into, that being as Armor, Weapons, Apparel and, my favorite category because it has all the weird poo poo in it, Special.

Now for the most part this has no impact on play. You can use all melee or ranged powers regardless of whether you have a Crafted melee/ranged weapon in your slots (you're assumed to have some kind of delivery system for it) and everything proceeds as in Last Stand. However, it does impact further customization of your equipment in that you can Name your Crafted stuff later to give it additional minor abilities, such as extra damage versus wolves on your nice wolf-tooth axe or protection from poison on your wyrm-scale shield. You will actually construct these abilities yourself and give the item a completely unpronounceable Nordic rune-name like "Eldhugi" or "Ormab�tur".

And of course in the inevitable crossover game, any characters with Bioarmor will simply Slot powers as normal according to the stats, which map onto Last Stand's four stats fairly easily (��r = Leader, ��inn = Disruptor, Freyja = Operative and T�r = Tactician). Ragnar�k characters don't have this stat limitation on what they're allowed to Craft (they still have only four slots though!), but they're all marked in the game to aid in crossovers. There's also guidelines for what fits in each category if it isn't stated, such as when some dude decides to Craft for himself some bio-monstrosity (for instance, if it's a special attack, it's pretty much a Weapon).

quote:

Also, I'm working on creating my own version of the monsters statblocks for easy printing out, and with the powers being able to tear off the sheet as double sided power cards, that I can just hand to the players to show what they ripped, as well as easily see what powers the monster has lost. Thoughts?

I think you should share so I can steal them for myself.

Rulebook Heavily fucked around with this message at 14:28 on Mar 10, 2013

# ? Mar 10, 2013 14:26

Mikan: Sep 5, 2007; by Radium

Shipping begins Monday :sparkles:

# ? Mar 22, 2013 23:11

PublicOpinion: Oct 21, 2010; Her style is new but the face is the same as it was so long ago...

After going on a kickstarter bender this summer, it's amazing just how much can go wrong when putting together a book. Chinese New Year, artists disappearing, editors apartments burning down, printers who go "lol i dunno". Anyway, hurray!

# ? Mar 22, 2013 23:13

Potsticker: Jan 14, 2006

Mikan posted:

Shipping begins Monday

The best news!

# ? Mar 22, 2013 23:26

Rulebook Heavily: Sep 18, 2010; by FactsAreUseless

Mikan posted:

Shipping begins Monday

Mikan/Kanji OTP

# ? Mar 22, 2013 23:27

Druggeddwarf: Nov 9, 2011; My first attack must ALWAYS be a charge!

if mine doesn't arrive by Monday evening in London... I'm going to sulk.

# ? Mar 23, 2013 15:16

Evil Mastermind: Apr 28, 2008

Mikan posted:

Shipping begins Monday

Box sets too? :shobon:

Also, on the off chance you're reading this and going to be at PAX today, look for someone in the tabletop section holding up a sign that says something like "SAVE PAX FROM GIANT BUGS!" That'll be me, trying to get a game or two of Last Stand going.

# ? Mar 23, 2013 15:23

Comrade Gorbash: Jul 12, 2011; My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

I'll have to find you for sweet monster on monster action once I finish playing Mobile Frame Zero.

# ? Mar 23, 2013 17:51

Evil Mastermind: Apr 28, 2008

Hit up Games on Demand, looking for players RIGHT NOW!

# ? Mar 23, 2013 19:48

Comrade Gorbash: Jul 12, 2011; My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

I'll come back around after this panel - 4:30ish.

E: have to find you tomorrow, meeting some friends for dinner & phone is dying.

Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Mar 23, 2013

# ? Mar 23, 2013 20:24

Mikan: Sep 5, 2007; by Radium

Evil Mastermind posted:

Box sets too?

Box sets are still in production, but box set backers are getting their books and cards at the same time as everyone else.

# ? Mar 24, 2013 01:02

Evil Mastermind: Apr 28, 2008

Comrade Gorbash posted:

I'll come back around after this panel - 4:30ish.

E: have to find you tomorrow, meeting some friends for dinner & phone is dying.

Sorry, I won't be at PAX Sunday. I'm too tired and I can't justify driving up there again.

I hope you at least saw me walking around with my cheap-rear end "Ask me how to save PAX from giant bugs" sign.

# ? Mar 24, 2013 03:09

Evil Mastermind: Apr 28, 2008

From the first game I ran: Rachel, Matt, and Dan-squito try to finish off the stunned Tarantank that rose out of the river near PAX! Look at those evocative minis!

# ? Mar 24, 2013 04:35

ZenMasterBullshit: Nov 2, 2011; Restaurant de Nouvelles "À Table" Proudly Presents:
A Climactic Encounter Ending on 1 Negate and a Dream

Mikan posted:

Box sets are still in production, but box set backers are getting their books and cards at the same time as everyone else.

So what does that leave out of the box set?

# ? Mar 24, 2013 06:44

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# ? Apr 19, 2024 16:50

Mikan: Sep 5, 2007; by Radium

ZenMasterBullshit posted:

So what does that leave out of the box set?

Double-sided sector tiles, blank sector tiles, dice, tokens, the box, a print copy of the Last Stand companion supplement and individual unique Last Stand content.

# ? Mar 24, 2013 06:58

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Last Stand - Fly free, beautiful crab, on butterfly wings

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