Just before Gen Con, Catalyst was thrilled to announce a partnership with Travis “Shirtaloon” Deverell, author of the bestselling He Who Fights with Monsters litRPG book series, to make a series of games based on the books. We hosted signings for Travis at Gen Con and really enjoyed the crowds and energy he brought in—and we made sure those who showed up got a chocolate spirit coin to go with their autograph.
With Gen Con in the rearview, it’s time to start working on the games in earnest, and we’ve been busy! But before we talk about the games, let’s review the basics of the book series. He Who Fights with Monsters tells the story of Australian office-supply worker Jason Asano who abruptly find himself in a very difficult situation—naked and alone in a strange world called Pallimustus where not only does magic work, but monsters occasionally issue forth from astral space. Jason stumbles his way through his first encounters but eventually learns how to build up his powers and become more than capable at taking on monsters—and dealing with the risks and challenges from other people in the world around him.
All that provides plenty of fodder for games. The first things we’re working on is a press-your-luck dice game where you race other players to see who can reach a monster-slaying goal the fastest. One of the fun parts of this game and the full book series is the range of monsters it presents, and that means working on dozens of pieces of art for the monsters of Pallimustus. Since these monsters have only existed on the printed page, we get to work with Travis to define the look of these monsters, and it’s been fun to watch them come to life. We look forward to sharing previews with you soon!
We’re also moving on the roleplaying game. We had a great time running the alpha playtest with Travis at Gen Con, and we’re looking forward to sending those rules out to everyone who signed up HERE. The full game will, of course, need a whole lot more abilities and mechanics than that short sample has, and we also have to keep working on the balance between the different ranks. We’re excited, though, to make different ways for people to play in this world, fight monsters, and wonder if maybe they’re perhaps making themselves too powerful.
- Jason Hardy, Catalyst RPG Director
