We’re nearing $500k and can’t wait to show you another one of the stretch goals that lies beyond. Every $1000 dollars we get closer to the big half million we will reveal another piece of the puzzle on the front page, until the entire graphic is revealed.

Model Walkthrough

Today we take a break from the Heroes to look at the monsters that terrorize Crystalia.

The Bramble Knight and its monsters are closely tied to the Forgotten King. Its monsters make up the warriors who joined the Forgotten King in his rebellion against the rulers of Crystalia, and were cursed for their betrayal.

The Bramble Knight is a single spawning point, despite this it comes with a good number of monsters. It an its monsters have an Emerald Crystal affinity owing to the Frog Knights impressive movement and the Billmen’s ability to bog down the Heroes.

The doughty Billmen are solid base line troops. Their 3 blue dice for STR is a solid number that puts them at even odds against most Heroes who do not have equipment bolstering their defense. This allows them to continually have a chance of dealing damage over the course of the entire game, especially once they begin receiving bonuses from the Mighty Monster Chart later in the game.

This is backed up by their Melee 2. Being able to make a melee attack from 2 squares away allows them to participate in the fight even when more powerful monsters are crowding the Heroes.

Their defense of 1 white “dice” is a static value, meaning that Heroes must roll at least 2 stars when making their offense roll to wound them.

The ability Slow is where the Billmen really shine. Anytime they inflict a wound on a Hero that Hero suffers the status effect Slow reducing their Speed by half (rounded up). It is an excellent ability to keep the Heroes from jetting all over the dungeon killing whomever they please.

At a single skull point to activate Billmen are an excellent baseline monster. They aren’t going to carry the day by themselves, but judicious use of their slow ability and the opportunity to attack a Hero who is surrounded makes them a valuable tool.

Frog Knights bring a whole new definition of speed to the game of Super Dungeon Explore. Their base Speed 8 puts them in with the fastest models in the game, but things get really crazy when you pair it with their offensive action Frogger and its Pounce ability. Pounce allows you to place the model anywhere within 5 squares and adjacent to their target, before they make their offense roll. With 2 action points to spend this ability can have the Frog Knight leaping across the dungeon a jaw-dropping 18 squares! You can run but the Frog Knight will certainly catch you.

Surefoot is just icing on the Frog Knight’s mobility cake, allowing it to ignore difficult terrain and its harmful effects.

This incredible mobility comes at a cost however and the Frog Knight only has a single wound. This is somewhat offset by its respectable static ARM 2, but in general the Frog Knight is the very definition of a glass cannon.

When the Frog Knight finds a foe that its STR cannot harm it can switch to its tongue-twister ability Supremely Skilled Shrieking Squawk Strike. (Five times fast!) This offensive action provides the knight with a bonus red dice to STR and knocks down the target. That’s not all though. The Feint ability allows the Consul to force the target to reroll one of its defense dice. Hope you didn’t need those 4 stars your green dice rolled!

The Grobbit Executioner may be the most feared non-boss monster in Crystalia. On first examination the lack of unique actions may lead one to believe the Grobbit is an underwhelming foe. Do not be fooled.

With 3 blue dice and 1 red dice for STR the Grobbit can roll an impressive 9 stars—9 stars of terror thanks to its Massive Damage ability. That’s right, every time the Grobbit wins an offense roll it inflicts 2 wounds. With 2 action points to spend that’s a hefty 4 wounds per activation. Executioner indeed.

Fortunately, the Grobbit has some weaknesses. His ARM of 1 blue dice and 1 red dice is low and a party that dedicates itself to eradicating the Grobbit can usually chew through his 3 wounds in a couple of activations. The Grobbit also costs 3 skull points to activate meaning he is usually only accompanied by a single weaker monster. However, watch out when a mini-boss is in the dungeon. The two of them tag-teaming a Hero is a sure recipe for a bad day.

It’s also worth noting that the Grobbit’s platform is 16-Bit this means he doesn’t begin the game in play. Lending Heroes the opportunity to beef up a little before the Consul uses an activation to spawn the insane Executioner to wreak havoc upon the land.