Mons
A downloadable game
Mons is a rules-light tabletop roleplaying game of monster partners. It uses 24XX rules by Jason Tocci, and is primarily inspired by Pokémon Adventures by Hidenori Kusaka.
Mons (short for etymons) tries to provide alternative excuses for travel and ways to grow (besides battling), as well as more etymon-friendly "bonding" versus "catching". Not everything in the world is explained (e.g., How common are etymon? How do you form a bond?), and it's up to the play group to decide together!
~ ~ ~ ~
The rules are quite complete, but in future versions I'd like to add some tables/lists of people, places, items, and quests that you'll encounter on your journey. Feedback welcome!
Status | In development |
Category | Physical game |
Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (8 total ratings) |
Author | benji t |
Tags | Exploration, Lo-fi, Minimalist, Print & Play, rules-lite, Tabletop, Tabletop role-playing game |
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- v0.5 updateMar 14, 2024
- v0.4 updateJul 02, 2022
- v0.3 releaseJun 25, 2022
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Is there going to be a V1.0 soon?
Thanks for your interest! I haven't had the time to play and/or develop much -- there was almost 2 years between v0.4 and v0.5 because I only got to play it again then! That said, the rules are (I think) in a pretty good state since they're riffing off 24XX rules, which are already good. That most recent time I've been having fun playing both solo and co-op with a friend, using *ahem* actual pokemon in addition to randomly generated etymon... The game's free/pwyw so take it for a spin!
I do have a few ideas brewing on how to develop and refine the rules further, and of course it's still missing the all-important random tables... The tables just takes some time to sit down to write (I find more joy as a rules tinkerer than as a writer!), and I do want to playtest more before adjusting the rules again -- but real life is very busy, so I can't tell you when v1.0 or even v0.6 will drop. Sorry about that!
If it helps, I also have a mini GM companion to help with solo/co-op play, it could be backup for my lack of random tables.
That all sounds very fair. Is this GM companion available somewhere?
Here you go... Enjoy!
https://benji-t.itch.io/mini-gm-companion
Is it possible to play this solo? Id love to give it a try if there is solo rules!
There's an excellent resource below for playing 24XX games solo (Mons is derived from 24XX). I personally find the play loop/procedure in the Push SRD (see chapters Creating and Running your game), to fit solo games perfectly, and you can fit them around any set of game rules. Both are free! Hope this helps!
https://mstrocks.itch.io/24xx-solo
https://fari.games/en/srds/cezar-capacle/push
Awesome thanks for the response!
Will be bringing this to my regular play group, very excited to see how they all enjoy it. Looks like a very fun game :)
Thank you! Kiwis were on my shortlist for the Etymon form table, but were unfortunately cut (36 is so restrictive!), but feel free to use kiwis whenever! Perhaps a Fire-Mind kiwi, or a Beast-Rune kiwi, all the possibilities!
You're welcome! I did have an inquiry though, are you open to supplements to the game being posted to itch.io? I'd love to make a list of alternative backgrounds for others to use, among a few other things :) I really think this system has a lot of potential and I'd love to expand upon it and share said expansions with others.
110% yes, please share what you make if you'd like to!
I am excited to get this to the table! I have been looking at doing my own 24XX PKMN hack, so now I don’t have to! Cheers!
That's great to hear! Of course, there could always be hacks of hacks!