here, there, be monsters!
A downloadable monstrosity
This game is currently slightly more expensive only here at itch because the U.S. government treats me as a foreign store and takes 30% out everything I make from the start (before every other normal tax), so I'm testing to see if I can just say fuck them.
If you don't want to pay for this difference, you can get it for the actual price of 10 GBP (12.50 USD) here at the publisher's website. Or you can hit me up and say something like "gimme game" and I'll send you a download key for free. Just please consider rating it and leaving a comment if you like it!
And if you'd like to support my work, it's better to donate any value to my ko-fi than to tip here, considering the 30% situation described above. Thanks!
No matter what they tell you, there’s still weirdness and wonder everywhere. You just have to know where to look. At the edges and cracks of ‘normal’ life we exist, we persist, and we resist: the monsters, the magicians, the anomalies, the freaks, and the outcasts. We gather in the shadows, trying our best to live our lives in a world that, when it doesn’t exactly fear or hate us, doesn't even believe in our existence.
Alas, there are people out there who can’t stand this. They work from behind the scenes to protect ‘normality’ at all costs. This means getting rid of us, by any means necessary. They are often successful, but not as much as they’d like. Even so, they are resourceful, and they’re good at what they do.
There are also those who would use and abuse us for their own purposes, be it profit, knowledge or power (which, one could argue, are the same thing in the end). These are even more dangerous when they manage to get what they want.
But we’re still here. We’re not going anywhere. And we fight back.
here, there, be monsters! is a rules-lite response to monster-hunting media from the monsters' point of view. It's both a love letter and a middle finger to stuff like Hellboy (and the BPRD), the SCP Foundation, the Men in Black, the World of Darkness games and the Urban Fantasy genre in general. It is an explicitly queer, antifascist and anti-capitalist game about the monstrous and the weird, in any flavor you want, not as something to be feared, but to be cherished and protected.
Play as a diverse crew of monstrous, anomalous or just generally odd beings, fighting against those who would use, abuse or even annihilate you. Create and populate your own supernatural underworld, abnormal gang and extra-dimensional haven. Hunt monster hunters! Punch nazi occultists! Eat the rich! Protect each other! Fight back! Here, there, be monsters!
Featuring:
- A simple tag-based system and quick character creation;
- 100 pre-made character background options to get you started as fast as you want;
- Collaborative worldbuilding;
- Dozens of tables with ideas for characters, factions, places and objects;
- Optional screenwriting-inspired long-term mechanics with focus on character arcs;
- Simple resolution mechanics based on rolling 2 six-sided dice (2d6);
- 164 pages of completely illustrated and colorful layout, along with text-only versions in epub, html and pdf.
"A work of art", Linda Codega (io9/Gizmodo);
"Good lord I am bowled off my tiny feet", Zach Cox (Orbital Blues, Best Left Buried);
"punk, full of counter-culture, acid humor and unapologetically in your face critique. (...) shows a perspective on the monster side, of the excluded minorities and the world around them. To me it feels like 'what if world of darkness was actually cool'.", M.A. Guax (Backpack & Dream, MiniBX's layout);
"A towering work of fucked up awesomeness. A totally fucked up Electric Bastionland", David Blandy (multiartist, Lost Eons);
"[The art direction is] really, really fucking good. (...) It's loud and colorful and in your face and that is damn refreshing. (...) Writing's great. Punchy, concise, effective, full of life and personality. Incredibly strong authorial voice, never bland." Dan D. (Throne of Salt, Unicorn Meat);
"easy to pick up and full of interesting sicko material. Frankly, it's also extremely erotic", Samuel Mui Shen Ern (Capitalities, Lumen Ryder).
WINNER OF A THE AWARDS 2023!
Content notice:
This book contains bodies. Lots of bodies, both referenced and illustrated. Some of those bodies are naked. Some of them are monstrous, grotesque, horrific, in many different ways. They were not made with the purpose of being offensive, but if any of that makes you uncomfortable or disturbed, be advised to proceed with caution. There are also mentions of neonazis, billionaires, aristocrats and cops, all of which are supposed to be punched. On the other hand, here there be no elves or spiders whatsoever.
writing, design and layout by wendi yu;
with original art by Lino Arruda;
editing by Samuel Mui Shen Ern;
project management by Matt Sanders and Zachary Cox;
published by SoulMuppet Publishing;
additional collage art by wendi yu; ghoul drawing (p. 54) by CosmicOrrery.
here, there, be monsters! © 2022 by wendi yu is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 unless you’re a corporation or a bigot of any kind, in which case you have the right to fuck off and die.
Updated | 16 days ago |
Status | Released |
Category | Physical game |
Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (49 total ratings) |
Author | wendi yu |
Tags | fkr, monster-hunting, Monsters, punk, Queer, Tabletop, Transgender, Tabletop role-playing game |
Average session | About an hour |
Languages | English |
Links | Homepage, Ko-Fi |
Purchase
In order to download this monstrosity you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $15 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
Support this monstrosity at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Free copies
I'm still figuring out how this will work, but until then just go ahead and grab it for free if you want.
Development log
- More free copies! Game jam!Jul 14, 2022
- A few more free copies!May 09, 2022
- Update 1.3May 09, 2022
- Update 1.2May 06, 2022
Comments
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I've been eyeing this for awhile and finally picked it up from my LGS. Could I snag a community PDF to go with it?
The 100 are excellent and I like how you handle Conditions. All around it's just really nice work.
thank you! i just added more community copies (sorry for the wait!), but if you miss it, just email me and i’ll send you a download key :D
Hi, Wendy!
I picked up a copy of this book at a local Pittsburgh game store called Games Unlimited in Squirrel Hill on Forbes Avenue—
I fell in love with the art and the concept and I wanted to extend my congratulations to you and your team for putting this together. I hope to get some characters made up tonight with my friend and partner to play.
Thank you for your hard work and contributions to the community, it's really inspiring to me, as I am tackling a project of my own.
It's in its most early stages but I hope to garner some inspiration from your work to get back into my own process.
Much love,
Dillan
thank you so much! i hope your project goes well <3
Really love this work of art! Would you please gimme a free copy .... I'd love that, many thanks!
hey! thank you so much for the interest. i just saw this and added more community copies so you can download it!
Oi Wendy! Você tem alguma cópia física pra vender desse jogo? Vc vai tentar publicar ele no brasil?
ooh I love this so much. would love a free copy if you have any, super interested but can't afford it right now :(
put some more community copies! hope you enjoy it <3
thank you so much! very excited to try this out!
Tem algum lugar para comprar o livro em português?
ainda não, mas estamos nos organizando!
oi! descobri esse jogo recentemente e imediatamente fiquei muito interessado, não tenho como pagar agora mas adoraria uma cópia de graça kk amei o conceito muito
coloquei mais cópias gratuitas! obrigada pelo interesse <3
Going to buy a physical copy from your publisher but untill then can I get a free pdf?
done! thank you for the patience, I haven’t seen your comment until now!
Hey so. I've been having trouble in trying to buy this product, whenever I try to purchase via PayPal (which is the only option that appears to me) it then says it doesn't accept my coin? Which makes no sense since I'd be paying in the dollar value anyway. Can anyone shine some light into this situation, I'd really like to buy it
I noticed the community copies had run out so I bought a few extras. :) Can you put them in the free pile please?
done! thank you for the help!
This is absolutly amazing. Any chance I could get a free copy? I really can't afford it rn
hey, I just restocked the community copies! thank you for your interest!
Thanks for your kindness! I've now read your game and it's so damn cool!!
glad you like it! let me know if you play it :)
heyo, great idea, would like to try it out :)
I’ll probably never play this beautiful freak, but I love it and all it’s attitude. Everyone? More of this, please. Money spent on art and inspiration is never misspent.
How do I score one of those free copies? This looks amazing!
just added a few! sorry for the wait
I've always taken the Dragons side in the classic brave knight vs monsterous dragon. So this seems just perfect for me!
If you search some queer to translate this masterpiece in french, I can do that. Even for free.
thank you! I still gotta figure out how that would work, but I’ll let you know ^^
any chance another free copy will pop up again? looks awesome!
sure, why not. there you go!
this is amazing, and thanks so much! excited to take a look at all of this.
looks rad. would wanna run online
wendi is, in fact, a MONSTER of game design. I do not fear to exaggerate when I say this is a work of genius.
Absolutely fantastic game. quick to pick up and a blast to play. The art in the book is stellar, and definitely reveling in the theme. Please buy and play this; I know it's going to be at my table for a while yet.
I have had the privilege of getting to playtest this beautiful monstrosity, and it has quickly become a favorite game. The illustrations and layout are absolutely stunning, and getting to play characters in a setting so explicitly against the status quo is absolutely refreshing. Please do not hesitate to pick this up, I cannot praise it highly enough.
Yet another excellent game from Wendi, the layout is absolutely stunning, the writing is funny and pungent in equal measure
I am so excited this game is finally here! IT’S ALIVE!
I've been slowly watching this monstrosity of a game come into being for months. hbtm is beautifully grotesque. I've run it as a one shot and hope to run it more.
"An explicitly queer and anti-capitalist take on the urban fantasy genre" is already an amazing premise for a game, and this one comes with over 160 gorgeous pages of fabulous art and intriguing content. Create your character and your crew, revel in your monstrosity, and fight back. Cannot wait to sink my teeth into this and actually play it!