Monster Nodes
Kingdom Death: Monster is a game with countless emergent possibilities. Monster nodes provide a guide to adding new expansions to your game, curating a unique mix of changes to the story of your settlement each time you start a fresh campaign.
Monster Campaigns
A campaign of Kingdom Death: Monster starts when desperate survivors suddenly awaken in the darkness, if they survive, their fragile settlement will continue to grow , face new challenges, and reveal the secret of their existence until they reach the finale of their story. Campaigns include:
- Quarry monster that survivors hunt for resources.
- Nemesis monster that arise to challenge the settlement's existence.
- Core monsters that define your story.
- Finale monsters that bring your story to its glorious end.
Campaigns take place over a span of lantern years. Each lantern year you will grow your settlement, hunt a quarry in the darkness or fend off an assault from a nemesis. Survive long enough and you will face the cire monster at the heart of your story and meet your end in the finale.
Monster Nodes
Monsters are organized by their node in your campaign. Nodes indicate the type of monster (quarry, nemesis, core, finale) and the challenge level of that monster indicated by a number.
Quarry monsters arrive in your campaign in node order NQ1, NQ2, NQ3, NQ4. When a quarry monster is added to your campaign you can hunt it to reap the rewards of truimph or perish in surprising new ways.
Nemesis monsters arrive at designated points on the timeline of your campaign to challenge your settlements existence.
Each campaign has one core monsters. The delicate ecological balance between a settlement's survival and the darkness teeming with monsters is embodied in this lynchpin foe.
Campaigns have one finale monsters. The Finale monster is your settlements final challenge! The many lantern years of campaigning have lead to this moment and its time to put your very best survivors and gear to the ultimate test.
Core Game Nodes
The Kingdom Death: Monster core game features a balanced variety of monster nodes, composed of:
- [NQ1] White Lion
- [NQ2] Screaming Antelope
- [NQ3] Phoenix
- [NN1] Butcher
- [NN2] Kings Man
- [NN3] The Hand
- [Co] Watcher
- [Fi] Gold Smoke Knight
The events of your settlement's timeline weave them together into your first campaign, People of the Lantern.
Quarry monsters are introduced to you campaign through an introduction story event listed on your settlement's campaign timeline. Once your settlement encounters this event this monster is available to hunt in your campaign.
The arrival of nemesis, Core, and Finale monster showdowns are listed on the the settlement's campaign timeline.
Expansion Monsters
Once you have experienced the People of the Lantern campaign, customize your play experience by swapping out a monster node with an expansion monster!
Expansion quarry and nemesis monsters can be easily incorporated into your campaign by following the instructions provided by their rulebooks.
Expansion content is marked with unique monster crests, allowing for quick installation and removal when adding or removing a monster node from your game box between campaigns.
For the best experience, ensure that expansion monsters added to a campaign replace any existing monsters of the same node.
As a rule of thumb, when you add an expansion, remove any monster of the same node from the settlement's timeline and quarry list (erase its corresponding story events, showdowns, and encounters).
Nodes and Monsters
Co
Watcher [People of the Lantern]
Dragon King [People of the Stars]
Sunstalker [People of the Sun]
Gambler [People of the Dream Keeper]
Other Campaigns
Some Monster expansions include new campaigns that take your story beyond People of the Latern.
Sunstalker expansion has People of the Sun, Dragon King has People of the Stars, The Gambler's Chest has People of the Dreamkeeper.
Mixing new monsters into any of these campaign remains the same, replace a monster in the campaign with another monster of the same node. Some considerations are listed below with its campaign.
People of the Sun
- [NQ1] White Lion
- [NQ2] Screaming Antelope
- [NQ3] Phoenix
- [NN1] Butcher
- [NN2] Kings Man
- [NN3] The Hand
- [Co] Ancient Sunstalker
- [Fi] None
People of the Sun have a unique nemesis challenge that arrives at the end of their campaign, to match the intensity of this apocalyptic onslaught, use the monster levels listed on the settlement record sheet for any new nemesis swapped into the campaign.
People of the Stars
- [NQ1] White Lion
- [NQ2] Screaming Antelope
- [NQ3] Phoenix
- [NN1] Tyrant
- [NN2] Kings Man
- [NN3] The Hand
- [Co] Death of the Dragon King
- [Fi] None
People of the Stars are inexorably tied to the challenge of their godking. Do not replace NN1 with any other nemesis monster of the same node.
People of the Dream Keeper
- [NQ1] Crimson Crocodile
- [NQ2] Smog Singers
- [NQ3] Phoenix
- [NQ4] The King
- [NN1] Butcher
- [NN2] Atnas the Child Eater
- [NN3] The Hand
- [Co] The Gambler
- [Fi] Godhand
Adding Expansion Using Nodes
Some monster expansions (Slenderman, Manhunter, Lion Knight) are installed without conforming to 1 monster per node campaign design. Campaigns that use these rules may end up with more than one monster occupying a node.
If you want a more modern campaign using monster nodes to guide its structure we provide rules below. These rules dictate what existing monster node to remove and how to add the monster to your settlement timeline. These rules should replace the ones listed in the monster's introductory story event.
Modify Slenderman, Manhunter, and Lion Knight for Nodes
[NN2] SLENDERMAN
Remove the [NN2] King's Man (or any other NN2 monster in your campaign) from the settlement's timeline (Armored Strangers and all Nemesis Encounter - King's Man).
Add: Lantern Year 6: Story Event - It’s Already Here. For campaigns currently beyond lantern year 6, add it to the next lantern year on the timeline.
Change adding Slenderman to the settlement's timeline to:
Lantern Year 9: Nemesis Showdown - Slenderman Level 1
Lantern Year 19: Nemesis Showdown - Slenderman Level 2
Lantern Year 28: Nemesis Showdown - Slenderman Level 3
If your campaign is already underway, you may not challenge a nemesis from past lantern years.
If your story includes additional special showdowns with the monster, use the lantern year guide on the monster's showdown page to determine the monster's level.
[NN1] MANHUNTER
Remove the [NN1] Butcher (or any other NN1 monster in your campaign) from the settlement's timeline (Nemesis Encounter - Butcher).
Add: Lantern Year 5: Story Event - Hanged Man. For campaigns currently beyond lantern year 5, add it to the next lantern year on the timeline.
Change adding Manhunter to the settlement's timeline to:
Lantern Year 10: Nemesis Showdown - Manhunter Level 2
Lantern Year 16: Nemesis Showdown - Manhunter Level 3
Lantern Year 22: Nemesis Showdown - Manhunter Level 4
If your campaign is already underway, you may not challenge a nemesis from past lantern years.
If your story includes additional special showdowns with the monster, use the lantern year guide on the monster's showdown page to determine the monster's level.
[NN2] LION KNIGHT
Remove the [NN2] King's Man (or any other NN2 monster in your campaign) from the settlement's timeline (Armored Strangers and all Nemesis Encounter - King's Man).
Add: Lantern Year 6: Story Event - An Uninvited Guest. For campaigns currently beyond lantern year 6, add it to the next lantern year on the timeline.
Change adding Lion Knight to the settlement's timeline to:
Lantern Year 8: Story Event - Places Everyone, Nemesis Showdown - Lion Knight Level 1
Lantern Year 12: Story Event - Places Everyone, Nemesis Showdown - Lion Knight Level 2
Lantern Year 16: Story Event - Places Everyone, Nemesis Showdown - Lion Knight Level 3
If your campaign is already underway, you may not challenge a nemesis from past lantern years.
