King Of Tokyo

King of Tokyo is a hugely popular tabletop game by Richard Garfield, published by Iello Games. F2F rules for the 2016 edition are available from the Iello website

These are the rules for the postal adaptation (for 3-4 players only)
by Richard Smith 2019

1. Monsters

Each player chooses a name for his monster. This might be one he likes from the F2F game or he could make one up (go on, be a devil).

2. Game Mechanics

For a three-player game, there are three bouts being played simultaneously and in each postal turn it is a player's turn to roll the dice on one of them. The game has a maximum of 12 postal turns (in Variable Pig, zines with faster turnaround might set a larger multiple of three). The example below shows who the "active" monster is for each bout each turn:

Turn Bout 1 Bout 2 Bout 3
1, 4, 7, 10 Clodzilla The Evil One Cereal Killer
2, 5, 8, 11 Cereal Killer Clodzilla The Evil One
3, 6, 9, 12 The Evil One Cereal Killer Clodzilla

For a four-player game, there are four bouts being played simultaneously and in each postal turn it is a player's turn to roll the dice on one of them. The game has a maximum of 16 postal turns (in Variable Pig, zines with faster turnaround might set a larger multiple of four). The example below shows who the "active" monster is for each bout each turn:

Turn Bout 1 Bout 2 Bout 3 Bout 4
1, 5, 9, 13 Super Trumper Mr. Munchy Herman Banana Raptor
2, 6, 10, 14 Banana Raptor Super Trumper Mr. Munchy Herman
3, 7, 11, 15 Herman Banana Raptor Super Trumper Mr. Munchy
4, 8, 12, 16 Mr. Munchy Herman Banana Raptor Super Trumper

The round numbers in the above tables will change if monsters die. The next monster in line takes a turn if the originally designated monster is dead.

A player wins a bout if his monster is the only one left alive (scores 3 King Points), or if it reaches 20 victory points (2KPs), or if at the end of the time limit it has the most victory points (1KP, tie breaker is the number of turns spent in Tokyo, then remaining health).

The monster winning the most bouts is declared King of Tokyo. If there is a tie it is decided on total KPs. If still a tie victory is shared (or the players can arrange to have a fight behind the bike sheds).

3. Power Cards

In the 2016 Edition there are 66 power cards (64 different - Extra Head and Evacuation Orders are doubles) and the GM needs to own a set. All of the cards are used in the postal game with the exception of Opportunist and Psychic Probe.

In the postal game, the three cards for sale plus the next three in the deck "the reserve" are visible. When a player buys one of the for sale cards, the top reserve card becomes for sale. The remaining reserve cards move up but no new cards are added to the reserve until the next player's turn. Paying 2 energy to sweep the cards does replace all three, but there is now no reserve and it is not replenished until the next player's turn, so the sweep cannot be repeated.

The fact that everyone can see the cards in the reserve makes Made In A Lab potentially less useful in the postal version, but to make up for this it allows any reserve card to be bought directly, not just the top one.

4. Orders

From the turn report you will know which monsters are in Tokyo. At the start of a bout the first monster enters Tokyo after rolling the dice (see F2F rules).

4.1 Standing orders (all monsters)

Players may want to set or modify standing orders for some power cards. For example Rapid Healing allows you to cure one health for 2 energy at any time, so you might specify "use Rapid Healing to keep my health to at least 4, but only use up all my energy if I will otherwise die".

4.2. Roll Dice (active monster only)

By default the GM will roll the dice once and act on that. It is of course much more likely that players will want to take advantage of the three rolls available. Because players cannot see the dice that the GM rolls, they will need to supply conditional orders. These orders may be complicated by power cards, for example with Energy Drink you can pay 1 energy for an extra roll.

Example: "Keep hearts and energy, reroll the rest. Do not take the third roll if there are no claws after two."

The GM then applies the results taking into account power cards such as Gourmet.

4.3. Tokyo (all monsters)

Monsters who started in Tokyo need to state a leave condition (for example: "leave if below 6 health"). The default is to leave if any damage occurs from claw dice.

Monsters may also want to use a power card conditional on being in or out.

4.4. Buy Cards (active monster only)

You may order conditionally on the number of energy you have, as per section 3. Default is no purchase.

4.5. End of Turn (active monster only)

Any newly-acquired "discard" power cards must be played and orders should be provided to cover these (e.g. Frenzy gives you another turn immediately). Some "keep" power cards are activated optionally at the end of the turn, e.g. Metamorph, and the GM should remember to check for automatic cards such as Rooting For The Underdog and Solar Powered.

5. Special Rules

These were thought of during the current VP game so are not currently being played.

5.1. Replicas

At the start of the game, the monster spawns replicas to fight each bout. One of the bouts is being fought be the real monster and if it dies so do all the replicas.

5.2. Energy Pooling

Players may transfer energy from one replica to another (including the orginal) at any time.

5.3 Spoils of Victory

If a monster kills another via a claw attack, the slain monster's remaining energy points are transferred to the victor.

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