History TabletopGame / KingdomDeath

* ModestyTowel: The survivors in the beginning wear clothes that cover their private areas. It also offers a point of protection to the torso.

* KillTheGod: The Scribe is described as being able to [[RewritingReality rewrite reality]]. He's a boss in the Lantern Festival.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Lion God, [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]], [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Man Hunter]], The Dragon King, The Sunstalker, The Nightmare Ram, TheButcher, {{Satan}}. Also, a random hunt event can see the survivors hounded by "[[KillerRabbit Cancer Pigeons]]", small birds with humanlike faces who [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin will afflict them with tumors]] if able.

* BeastWithAHumanFace: The Gorm, Lion God, and Spidicules. The Phoenix has one ''inside its bird-like mouth'', while the Dragon King has one inside its chest. The upcoming expansions Frogdog and Nightmare Ram also have human(ish) faces. In all cases this makes the monsters more creepy/horrifying.

* CastFromHitPoints: One of the unique game mechanics for Monster. The monster's attack deck is also its hp deck. Once it runs out of cards, the monster is dead.

* CommonPlaceRare: Founding Stones are mediocre melee weapons that possess an exceptional ability of being a one-off throwing weapon with an automatic hit and critical damage with unlimited range. This makes them invaluable for being able to reliably trigger critical effects, remove powerful AI cards, or even instantly kill a target under the right circumstances. Each of the starting survivors comes equipped with one, and you will be hard pressed to find more.

* DeathWorld: Part of the theme of the game.

-> "Suddenly, a monster emerged from the darkness"
-> -- '''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mboZZZ8TuV8 kingdomdeathgame]]'''

* ArtificialStupidity: For whatever reason, few monsters will attack the survivors' settlement, despite the fact that humans are regarded so low on the food chain that other creatures have taken their form to fool more powerful creatures that they're harmless. Justified: [[spoiler: the base of a settlement is a Lantern Hoard, which is the cocoon of the Watcher, one of the most powerful creatures in the game. Its presence keeps other monsters away.]]

* BadassInCharge: The King's Hand is more powerful than the King's man: [[spoiler: even when the survivors defeat him he doesn't die, whereas the kingsman will.]]

* HeroicBuild: Given that this game was originally built about a line of very specifically crafted boutique miniatures, all of the humans portrayed in the game seem to hold the physique of olympian athletes, supermodels, or, commonly, both. [[spoiler: Seemingly ''[[JustifiedTrope justified]]'' however, in that the dried ink that cakes the eyes of all newly-awakened humans found among the Plain of Faces implies that they were literally ''written into existence'' by the powers of the [[RealityWarper Scribe]], in furtherance of that entity's continuing interest in studying human civilization cycles. The Scribe can, literally, make his creations look as beautiful or ugly as he pleases, so it seems that - in either a small act of mercy, vanity, or both - he blesses the humans he creates with physically perfected bodies... Not that having a top-of-the-line physique actually ''allows'' many newly-made humans to survive the overwhelming rigors of the [[DeathWorld world of Kingdom Death...]]]]

* CherryTapping: There are rules for unarmed combat. No word on its effectiveness, but Poots has implied that it's a last resort deal. Definitely a case of MagicarpPower, as unarmed mastery gives everyone in the settlement immunity to knockdown, and its luck bonus makes it invaluable to certain crit builds.

* CherryTapping: There are rules for unarmed combat. No word on its effectiveness, but Poots has implied that it's a last resort deal.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Lion God, {{Slenderman}}, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Man Hunter]], The Dragon King, The Sunstalker, The Nightmare Ram, TheButcher, {{Satan}}. Also, a random hunt event can see the survivors hounded by "[[KillerRabbit Cancer Pigeons]]", small birds with humanlike faces who [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin will afflict them with tumors]] if able.

* OurMonstersAreDifferent: '''''VERY''''' different. It's telling that of the preexisting monsters included in the game, SlenderMan is the one most similar in powers, appearance and behavior to its non-Kingdom Death counterpart.

* RecurringBoss: The nemesis monsters. Where most of the monsters are just beasts you hunt down, TheButcher, The Man Hunter, SlenderMan, The Lion Knight actively look for and hunt down settlements of survivors.

* ShoutOut: To the {{Slenderman}} mythos with the inclusion of Slender himself as a [[RecurringBoss nemesis monster]], who fits in quite well with the general theme.

* HeroicBuild: Given that this game was originally built about a line of very specifically crafted boutique miniatures, all of the humans portrayed in the game seem to hold the physique of olympian athletes, supermodels, or, commonly, both. [[spoiler: Seemingly ''justified'' however, in that the dried ink that cakes the eyes of all newly-awakened humans found among the Plain of Faces implies that they were literally ''written into existence'' by the powers of the [[RealityWarper Scribe]], in furtherance of that entity's continuing interest in studying human civilization cycles. The Scribe can, literally, make his creations look as beautiful or ugly as he pleases, so it seems that - in either a small act of mercy, vanity, or both - he blesses the humans he creates with physically perfected bodies... Not that having a top-of-the-line physique actually ''allows'' many newly-made humans to survive the overwhelming rigors of the [[DeathWorld world of Kingdom Death...]]]]

* HeroicBuild: Given that this game was originally built about a line of very specifically crafted boutique miniatures, all of the humans portrayed in the game seem to hold the physique of olympian atheletes, supermodels, or, commonly, both. [[spoiler: Seemingly ''justified'' however, in that the dried ink that cakes the eyes of all newly-awakened humans found among the Plain of Faces implies that they were literally ''written into existence'' by the powers of the [[RealityWarper Scribe]], in furtherance of that entity's continuing interest in studying human civilization cycles. The Scribe can, literally, make his creations look as beautiful or ugly as he pleases, so it seems that - in either a small act of mercy, vanity, or both - he blesses the humans he creates with physically perfected bodies... Not that having a top-of-the-line physique actually ''allows'' many newly-made humans to survive the overwhelming rigors of the [[DeathWorld world of Kingdom Death...]]]]

* FinalBoss: The Watcher in the core game. The Dragon King and Sunstalker in those expansions and The King and Scribe in the Lantern Festival.
* FluffyTheTerrible: Not cute names, but at the very least mundane. The White Lion, the (Screaming) Antelope, The Dung Beetle Knight, The Flower Knight, The King, The Scribe.

* MonsterKnight: The Dung Beetle Knight, The Flower Knight, the 1st and 2nd Lion Knights, the Black Knight, the Gold Smoke Knight and the Storm Knight. The White Knights likely also count.

* AbortedArc: The Lantern Festival expansion, as the original idea behind it would have taken the scope and power level of the game too far for Poots' taste, turning settlements into towns and pitting survivors against two PhysicalGod {{Humanoid Abomination}}s ([[MonsterLord the King]] and its master, [[RealityWarper the]] [[RewritingReality Scribe]]. WordOfGod is that the miniatures intended for it will be reused in one or more unspecified future projects.

* AlluringAnglerfish: Gorm has a bioluminescent lure. Spidicules uses a [[{{Squick}} human torso]] as a lure.

* VaporWear: Most of the pinups wear very little clothes. The Dragon King's armor for both genders has a giant gash down the center of the chest.

* ArtificialStupidity: For whatever reason, few monsters will attack the survivors' settlement, despite the fact that humans are regarded so low on the food chain that other creatures have taken their form to fool more powerful creatures that they're harmless. Justified: [[spoiler: the base of a settlement is a Lantern Horde, which is the cocoon of the Watcher, one of the most powerful creatures in the game. Its presence keeps other monsters away.]]

* BigCreepyCrawlies: The monster Spidicules is a cross between a spider, a human, and an anglerfish. The Dung Beetle Knight evolved a humanoid form as camouflage of sorts, but is still an insect-like monster (its "armor" is actually its chitinous carapace) that stands taller than a human adult.
* TheBlacksmith: The creature known as the Forge God.

In November 2016, a second Kickstarter for the 1.5 version of the game was launched. It smashed the funding level of the first campaign within hours, and at the end of its first day had amassed more than double that amount, over $4 million. It is currently the second most funded tabletop game Kickstarter of all time, and the eighth overall.

* ActionSurvivor: The survivors if they last until to endgame. Which most [[AnyoneCanDie do not]].

* AncientOrderOfProtectors: The order of the Twilight Knights guard what precious little history humanity has managed to gather. White Speakers may also qualify.

* BadassAbnormal: The Saviours. They are born with magical powers that prevent them from [[BlessedWithSuck leading normal lives]]. Almost all die young. But they're also supernaturally equipped to deal with all the monsters in the setting.
* BadassInCharge: The King's hand is more powerful than the King's man: [[spoiler: even when the survivors defeat him he doesn't die, whereas the kingsman will.]]
* BadassNormal: The survivors. It's kind of a requirement if one's reaction to a gigantic Lion with a tentacle for a face is to hunt it down and kill it. Twilight Knights also qualify; humans with little else than a magic sword and cape out to save humanity.
* BeastWithAHumanFace: The Gorm, Lion God, and Spidicules. The Phoenix has one ''Inside its bird-like mouth'', while the dragon king has one inside its chest. The upcoming expansions Frogdog and Nightmare Ram also have human(ish) faces. In all cases this makes the monsters more creepy/horrifying.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: The monster Spidicules is a cross between a spider, a human, and an anglerfish.

* TheCorruption: [[spoiler:Killing a Kingsman turns one of the survivors' body into the armor of a Kingsman, complete with [[{{Squick}} graphic description]]]].
* CosmicHorrorStory: On top of the {{Crapsack|World}} DeathWorld filled with monstrous, madness-inducing horrors where humans are at the bottom of the food chain, the fluff hints at one or several unknowable, unkillable entities who created the world and everything in it for completely unknown reasons. Even managing to defeat the endgame FinalBoss of a given campaign is likely to be a PyrrhicVictory at best. In fact, even the monsters themselves, despite usually being some shade of EldritchAbomination, aren't immune to being hit by this, the intelligent ones especially - the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragon King]], for example, is the LastOfItsKind, and explicitely angsts over this and the fear of ultimately being forgotten, showing it to be as insignificant as the human chattel it lords over.

* KillTheGod: The Scribe is described as being able to rewrite reality. He's a boss in the Lantern Festival.

* LampshadeHanging: In-game example. One of the hit location cards mention that the survivor manages to stab the White Lion in a human looking hand.

* ModestyTowel: The survivors in the beginning wear cloths that cover their private areas. It also offers a point of protection to the torso.
* MonsterKnight: The Dung Beetle Knight, The Flower Knight, the 1st and 2nd Lion Knights, the Gold Smoke Knight and the Storm Knight. The Black Knight and White Knights likely also count.

* NewGamePlus: There are rumors that killing the phoenix can send/reset the survivors back to year 1 of the lantern horde with all of their armor intact. A good thing because the Watcher attacks on year 25 regardless of the survivors' gear level.

* ThePowerOfTheSun: The Sunstalker. Doubles in that an ancient one ''is'' the sun in this world.

* ShoutOut: To the {{Slenderman}} mythos with the inclusion of Slender himself.

* TheNightThatNeverEnds: The "world" is srouded in near-constant darkness, the only source of light being lanterns that mysteriously show up in several places, or bioluminescent body parts on certain monsters (which are sometimes said lanterns, creepily enough). Any celestial body you may see somewhere up in the sky... [[ThatsNoMoon isn't]].

* BeastWithAHumanFace: The Gorm, Lion God, and Spidicules. The Phoenix has one ''Inside its bird-like mouth'', while the dragon king has one inside its chest. The currently rules-less Frog-Dog and Nightmare Ram also have human(ish) faces. In all cases this makes the monsters more creepy/horrifying.

* BodyHorror: The monsters have all sorts of ''human'' appendages sticking out of them at arbitrary angles.

* CrapsackWorld: The setting is bleak. Humans are born into a world of darkness with no history, culture, or in some cases freedom. They're regularly used as food and chattel slaves to a number of monstrous creatures. Even if they do survive the monsters, there's usually only insanity waiting. On top of all of this, there's a mechanic that can make the settlement starve.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Eaten alive, cooked alive, butchered by armored men, SwallowedWhole, burnt alive and then driven into exile. There's probably a smaller list of mundane ways to die.

* EldritchAbomination: All of the monsters have various hands, faces, and other appendages strewn about almost haphazardly. It gives the monsters a very unique feel.
* EldritchLocation: The Lonely Tree has some strange interactions with the White Lion and the Phoenix.

* EverythingIsTryingToKillYou: Both straight and inverted. Nearly everything is trying to kill the survivors. But the survivors can turn the tables by hunting them down and killing them first.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: According to the play test reports from Poots. Many of the reports involve the Butcher wiping the party.

* FluffyTheTerrible: Not cute names, but at the very least mundane. The White Lion, the Antelope, The Dung Beetle Knight, The Flower Knight, The King, The Scribe.

* KnightErrant: Of the monstrous variety. The Lion Knight wanders the wilderness visiting human settlements. He can be helpful to artistic settlements. He can be downright vicious to warlike ones. Several miniatures The Twilight Knight is a more traditional example.

* MonsterLord: The King, the Dragon King and the Lion God.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Lion God, {{Slenderman}}, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Man Hunter]], The Dragon King, The Sunstalker, The (k?)nightmare ram, the Butcher, Satan.
* NestedMouths: The Phoenix has a beak that opens to reveal a human mouth with a human tongue.
* NewGamePlus: There are rumors that killing the phoenix can send the survivors can reset the survivors back to year 1 of the lantern horde with all of their armor intact. A good thing because the Watcher attacks on year 25 regardless of the survivor's gear level.

* OurCentaursAreDifferent: The (k?)nightmare ram has many of the elements of a centaur, but still somehow looks wrong.

* RecurringBoss: The nemesis monsters. Where most of the monsters are just beasts you hunt down, The Man Hunter, SlenderMan, The Lion Knight actively look for and hunt down settlements of survivors.

* [[spoiler:{{Womb Level}}]]: [[spoiler:The lantern hoard is actually the womb of a watcher, who waits for the settlement to grow powerful enough before consuming it]].

* BeastWithAHumanFace: The Gorm, Lion God, and Spidicules. The Phoenix has one ''Inside its bird-like mouth''. The currently rules-less Frog-Dog and Nightmare Ram also have human(ish) faces. In all cases this makes the monsters more creepy/horrifying.

* CosmicHorrorStory: On top of the {{Crapsack|World}} DeathWorld filled with monstrous, madness-inducing horrors where humans are at the bottom of the food chain, the fluff hints at one or several unknowable, unkillable entities who created the world and everything in it for completely unknown reasons. Even managing to defeat the endgame FinalBoss of a given campaign is likely to be a PyrrhicVictory at best. In fact, even the monsters themselves, despite usually being some shade of EldritchAbomination, aren't immune to being hit by this, the intelligent ones especially - the Dragon King, for example, is the LastOfItsKind, and explicitely angsts over this and the fear of ultimately being forgotten, showing it to be as insignificant as the human chattel it lords over.

* MonsterKnight: The Dung Beetle Knight, The Flower Knight, the Lion Knight, and the Gold Smoke Knight.
* MonsterLord: The King and the Dragon King
* MonsterModesty: Some combination of averted and played straight. The Wet Nurse is generally considered the least modest.

* FreudWasRight: A ''lot'' of monsters have visible, prominent humanlike sexual characteristics.

''Kingdom Death: Monster'' launched its Kickstarter campaign on November 2012 with a goal of $35,000 and a release date targeted at November 2013. It was funded on January 2013 after having raised over $2 million which, at the time of its funding, made it the most funded tabletop game on the site. The game vastly increased in size and scope after having reached all its stretch goals, leading to a delay in the project. The new release date was in Q3 2014 where it was again delayed. Poots has provided steady updates on the project's progress. The base game was finally released to Kickstarter backers at the end of Q3 2015. The expansions started shipping out in Q1 2016.

* CosmicHorrorStory: On top of the {{Crapsack|World}} DeathWorld filled with monstrous, madness-inducing horrors where humans are at the bottom of the food chain, the fluff hints at one or several unknowable, unkillable entities who created the world and everything in it for completely unknown reasons. Even managing to defeat the endgame FinalBoss of a given campaign is likely to be a PyrrhicVictory at best.

''Kingdom Death: Monster'' launched its Kickstarter campaign on November 2012 with a goal of $35,000 and a release date targeted at November 2013. It was funded on January 2013 after having raised over $2 million which, at the time of its funding, made it the most funded tabletop game on the site. The game vastly increased in size and scope after having reached all its stretch goals, leading to a delay in the project. The new release date is in Q3 2014 where it was again delayed. Poots has provided steady updates on the project's progress. The base game was finally released to Kickstarter backers at the end of Q3 2015.

* AlluringAnglerfish: Gorm has a bioluminescent lure. Spiducules uses a [[{{Squick}} human torso]] as a lure.

* TheCorruption: [[spoiler:Killing a Kingsman turns one of the survivor's body into the armor of a Kingsman, complete with [[{{Squick}} graphic description]]]].

* KnightErrant: Of the monstrous variety. The Lion Knight wanders the wilderness visiting human settlements. He can be helpful to artistic settlements. He can be downright vicious to warlike ones. The Twilight Knight is a more traditional example.