Arc Philosophy & Knowledge: Part 21 – The Monster Knowledges (Patreon)

It's time to return to some more exploration of the various Philosophies and Knowledges that came in the Gambler's Chest. Starting with a look at the Gambler's Chest Expansion (GCE) Monster knowledges, which are specific singular knowledges based on the particular node monsters that you have picked for your given campaign. In the GCE we get the following ones:

Tactical Drag – Node 1: White Lion (6)

Blood Dancer – Node 1: Crimson Crocodile (6)

Herb Grinder – Node 2: Screaming Antelope (16)

Relentless – Node 2: Smog Singers (16)

Plausibility – Node 3: Phoenix (26)

Relativity – Node 4: King (36)

This is a solid selection, though it does highlight one of the largest failings of the GCE, which is how it provides all of the relevant upgrades for the Base Game's Phoenix, but only partially upgrades the White Lion and Screaming Antelope. This oversight remains the single largest black mark on the GCE and I honestly wish that future printings of that expansion would fix this directly (and issue an update pack for everyone else). Expanding your Kingdom Death collection beyond the base game box is already a labyrinthine experience, and not having the largest single expansion function as a clean upgrade to all the base game monsters (rather than just the Phoenix) is something that remains a disappointment.

However, what is not a disappointment is the design of these six cards, as the monster knowledges are somewhat related to the various monster linked Secret Fighting Arts in that the knowledges each provide a new ability that reflects the behaviours of the monster it comes from. This is a sweet little world building element that rhymes with the designs for monster armor sets and weapons (which also mimic the monster).

These knowledges are first unlocked at certain collective cognition totals, when the given threshold is reached, the knowledge will always be given at no cost to one survivor (providing a gamification mechanic representing the given survivor who 'invents' the knowledge) and then it is also immediately shared at the Forum. This allows a second survivor to purchase it with lumi, and as an additional incentive to do so, that purchasing survivor gains a refund of 1 lumi after the purchase.

I do think that the design of this “refund” is an interesting one, often it is better than a straight discount because the starting point of all the Node 1 and 2 knowledges cost 0 lumi. This means despite the level 1 knowledge providing no direct benefit; as all of the Node 1 and 2 knowledges have no mechanical ability, we are still encouraged to pick them up. That's a nice little bit of encouragement that tries to ensure a settlement has not just one, but two survivors with the Theory version of the knowledge for no direct lumi cost. “If you take this knowledge that does nothing right now, you get +1 lumi for no cost.” is a solid little mechanical incentive that I appreciate. Subtle design to steer players in the direction the designer wants to encourage is a great thing and this tiny touch demonstrates how much Team Death have improved over their original understanding of the player psychology and employing it in good game design.

That is it for the pre-amble, there's no “Monster Arc Booklet” so we'll go through all six knowledges in one single article for this very long running series.

Tactical Drag

White Lion Node 1 Knowledge, unlocked at 6 Collective Cognition

Type: Defensive

Stages: 3

Observations Required: Spend <Knight> to escape a zone/Drag a survivor away from a zone that would cause damage, thereby cancelling that damage/-

Advancement: 3/4/-

Lumi Costs: 0/2/3

Bonuses: Theory/Spend <Knight to drag adjacent survivor full move away from monster, both survivors are knocked down/ Spend <Knight to drag adjacent survivor full move away from monster, dragged survivor only is knocked down

Parallels: Dash

Node 1 monsters are typically located quite low down the power ranking pole when considering their overall position in the game's world, their showdown threat level and the strength of their gear cards. Knowledges tend to reflect that, with the higher node monsters getting stronger knowledges due to the extra effort required to unlock them and the lesser time one will have with them.

Tactical Drag is easily the weakest of all the current Node 1 monster knowledges, something that is thematically appropriate given how weak the White Lion is in comparison to most other monsters (I'd only put it above the Screaming Antelope and Smog Singers on any monster food chain considerations).

Not only is this one a bit weak and awkward to develop, it's also very dependant on Fist & Tooth Mastery to assist in overcoming a portion of its effect. The main sticking point here is we specifically need to be escaping a zone, and at level 2 it needs to be escaping a zone which would attack/damage a survivor and avoid that outcome or able to cancel the attack by outpacing the monster. So we need a zone, we need that zone to be causing damage, we need to be adjacent to the survivor to start the process and we need to be dragging the survivor far enough away that the monster doesn't manage to still damage the survivor we've dragged to safety or we need to hang around in a pair at the limit of the monster's movement.

The White Lion has exactly 2 zone AI cards; Ground Fighting and Alert. And both of these also involve the monster using a Basic Action to damage the targeted survivor, meaning that the Lion also gets to move. That makes it more difficult to avoid the damage from these two and for attacks monster movement totals tend to be higher than survivor ones!

However, it is worth noting that the various Hit Locations that have the White Lion move forward and grab any survivors in front of it do also feature a zone in the diagram (blue spaces are zones, though this one isn't explicitly called “Zone of Grabbiness”.

Zones appears to be the main intended window for levelling up Tactical Drag with flowstep Dash movement being a secondary option, it works with zones because we have a survival action window that occurs after the attacker rolls to wound but before the monster resolves the reaction. With Dash that means, if you are adjacent to a survivor in the monster's path when it performs its forward grab, you can pull the hapless survivor clear from the damage and gain an observation.

Of course, the White Lion is not the only monster with zones, so other opportunities may arise depending on the behaviours of the other Node monsters (Phoenix Wing Blast for example). However, it's best to understand how the knowledge works with the paired monster because that is the only certain combination every player will have. One quick note on Tactical Drag I vs. Ground Fighting, because Ground Fighting doesn't trigger if you wander next to the monster, you can dawdle in and out of the zone to complete it while the White Lion lounges and watches you “Do the hokey pokey). Which is a nice freebie and in combination with Dash could get you close to the L3 knowledge in a single showdown.

Overall I find Tactical Drag to be an awkward knowledge to utilise, you have to be constantly vigilant when levelling it up, and positioning really needs to be “squire” orientated (standing next to another survivor like you are their squire). Plus it is survival intensive, especially if you don't have Fist & Tooth or some other way of getting to stand up without needing to be encouraged. It's not something I really need in large numbers, but having one copy of it on a viable hunting survivor can be useful against certain monsters. Also the level 3 full panel artwork is gorgeous and it features the weird screaming hooded guys who are also present in the antelope introductory event.

Blood Dancer

Crimson Crocodile Node 1 Knowledge, unlocked at 6 Collective Cognition

Type: Offensive

Stages: 3

Observations Required: Gain a bleeding token/wound the monster while guardless/-

Advancement: 4/6/-

Lumi Costs: 0/3/4

Bonuses: -/+1 strength for each bleeding token, guardless while have bleeding tokens/+1 strength for each of your bleeding tokens

Parallels: Monster-Tooth Necklace,

In stark contrast to Tactical Drag, Blood Dancer is simple to use and has tight synergy with the Crimson Armor set and Crimson Pearls. The first level of Blood Dancer can be completed very quickly with the aid of those gear cards (with the pearls you're done inside two showdowns), and the second level will usually be completed in just 1 or 2 showdowns against any monster you choose.

What we get is a bonus that's very intrinsically linked to bleeding tokens, and because of how strong the synergy between bleed and Crimson Armor/Pearls is, this is something we'll be able to utilise for a long time in a campaign. Extra strength is a phenomenal tool for an offensively slanted survivor and because we have ways to bleed ourselves in a controlled fashion when the Crimson Crocodile is our Node 1 monster, this is a strong knowledge that will usually be present on one survivor for most of the campaign.

It's strong, it is easy to level up, it's worth having on any damage focused survivor, what more can one write beyond that?

Herb Grinder

Screaming Antelope Node 2 Knowledge, unlocked at 16 Collective Cognition

Type: Supporting

Stages: 3

Observations Required: Gain Fresh Acanthus/Grind Acanthus into a Medicinal Paste/-

Advancement: 1/4/-

Lumi Costs: 0/2/3

Bonuses: None/Spend <Knight>+<Bolt> to heal 2 hit locations on you or adjacent survivor/Spend <Knight>+<Bolt> to heal all hit locations on you or adjacent survivor

Parallels: Not many, healing is rare in KDM, but the main thing is that it is a better version of Fresh Acanthus.

One of the more unique ways of playing Kingdom Death is the Acanthus Healer, this requires a continuous way of gaining Acanthus (Bone Sickle for example) and then provides something that is incredibly rare in the game's showdown mechanics. Healing is not something that the game is focused around, in truth that is an element of the game I really appreciate. One of the things that I dislike about MMO Boss Battles is how much their designs lean into a need for continuous healing throughout the fight. It drags out battles and I prefer designs where damage is mostly permanent, meaning that you need to spend your protection/health carefully.

Still, Acanthus is an exception to that, and one which I do not mind because it requires the gathering and usage of a specific resource. In particular it can be awkward to get Acanthus outside of the Screaming Antelope showdown (mostly it's available in the Herb Gathering Special Hunt Event) now that they nerfed the Screaming Armor to not generate Acanthus terrain at the start of the showdown in 1.6. I actually don't agree with that change because of how much it has pulled away from the unique identity of Screaming Armor, but it was powerful and I do get it even if it isn't something I would have done myself.

All of that written, this is something that you can get levelled up relatively quickly if you hunt antelopes and once it is online with the support of a Bone Sickle it is a fantastic little tool for quarry hunts. However, because the Screaming Antelope gear suite doesn't have any way of letting survivors take an acanthus out with them during departure, we're left with no good use for this when fighting Nemesis monsters. There is the Satchel gear card, which could be used in concert with a solid supply of Acanthus in the settlement to give us at least some Acanthus for those showdowns, but that is a Flower Knight gear card and it's Node 2, meaning it is intended to be mutually exclusive with this Knowledge, so even if we generate Acanthus via the Dung Beetle Knight's farming mechanic, we still can't take it out with us.

All of that is a bit of a shame, and it reigns in what is a powerful and unique playstyle. If you happen to still be on 1.5 Screaming Armor however, Herb Gathering is superb and encourages a unique survivor build that can satisfy players who enjoy healing support types. Hopefully Campaigns of Death solves this situation and lets Screaming Antelope campaigns do more with Acanthus by allowing it to be grown in the settlement and more easily taken out to showdowns.

Relentless

Smog Singer Node 2 Knowledge, unlocked at 16 Collective Cognition

Type: Offensive

Stages: 3

Observations Required: 1/4/-

Advancement: Monster moves away from you during your attack/When you pursue and wound/-

Lumi Costs: 0/2/3

Bonuses: None/When Monster moves away during your attack, you must pursue (see card text above)/When monster moves away during your attack you may pursue.

Parallels: Dash/Surge combined

This is a rather fun knowledge that is clearly designed to be utilised against the Smog Singers directly, but also has broad applications against any kind of monster that uses Hit Locations to break your attack chain by moving away. It flips the dynamic of “Roll against Hit Locations that cause movement last” into something you'll choose to roll against earlier in the attack chain. There is of course also the delicious moment where you relentlessly pursue the monster, draw that new hit location and get clobbered by the trap. Which is a fair and fun cost applied to this little knowledge.

The overall power of this one varies depending on how much the monsters in your campaign move away from you during attacks, it turns out that there's a lot of monsters that can do that, pretty much all of the Node 1 monsters have something that causes them to move away from you. Grab, Retch, Roll etc. So this is something that'll vary in power, but you'll be able to utilise it in many showdowns as long as you're smart with positioning. As such there's a fair amount of skill to develop here and that's always nice to see in a knowledge, you're rewarded for bringing it against the right kind of monsters and positioning yourself correctly to take advantage of the reactive behaviour movements of the monster. It's not a huge boost, but it is useful for a damage orientated survivor and it adds up over the showdown. It's kind of perfectly designed and balanced for a Node 2 knowledge.

Plausibility

Phoenix Node 3 Knowledge, unlocked at 26 Collective Cognition

Type: Protection/Rerolls

Stages: 3

Observations: 2/4/-

Advancement: Required: Suffer a severe injury/spend a reroll token on a severe injury/-

Lumi Costs: 1/4/6

Bonuses: None/After you suffer a severe injury gain a reroll token/Just before you suffer a severe injury gain a reroll token.

Parallels: None

The Phoenix stays on form with this knowledge, the bird is unpleasant opponent to fight and this knowledge is one that I am not particularly excited by most of the time. We need to suffer severe injuries to get this one rolling, which means we have to flirt with death repeatedly in order to progress forwards. I've lost a lot of survivors to this knowledge while testing it out and it has been honestly a sour experience. As I wrote, on form for the phoenix. (Side note: I do actually really adore how awful the Phoenix is from a thematic standpoint, it's a really nasty opponent that doesn't play fair, so to have that mirrored in my experiences with levelling up this knowledge card is a delight).

If you do want to utilise this one, then the main tricks you can employ are ensuring that you have other sources of rerolls (Lifetime reroll, Guardian Knowledge, etc), Gorment Armor which when fully upgraded with the Regeneration Suit allows you to heal from non-lethal hits and the Life Potion which can cancel the first instance of death you'd suffer in a showdown. At level 2, you want to save your bonus reroll gained from the first severe injury in order to reroll the second severe injury you'd suffer (if it is horrendous or lethal). That means you effectively have a scuffed version of Plausibility III at the II rank.

Fully ranked up, this is a decent level of protection, but one of the key things in good player behaviour is to not suffer severe injuries and instead block/soak hits. Outside of things that deliver direct severe injuries from AI cards like the Butcher's Bite, things are only in severe injury territory when they are going really pear shaped.

However, using this knowledge with a full upgraded Gorment Armor survivor is the one area where I felt this was powerful, because that is an armor set that seeks to tank hits via suffering and healing up severe injuries instead of not taking them in the first place. So there's something to be gained by pairing Gorm and Phoenix in the same campaign, but outside of that I tend to not worry too much about push this one up.

If it happens, great, it is quite strong at max level though 6 lumi is a very steep cost for something that is effectively a safety net. I'd rather focus on not getting to severe injuries in the first place, because they can cripple survivors to the point that they stop being useful on hunts, which halts the ability to progress this ability. Why have a safety net when you can just not fall in the first place? I guess it depends how good one is at staying up in the first place!

Relativity

King Node 4 Knowledge, unlocked at 36 Collective Cognition

Type: Progression Based

Stages: 1

Observations Required: None

Advancement: None

Lumi Costs: 5

Bonuses: +1 torment, +1 systemic pressure. In the aftermath each survivor must gain +1 observation in a knowledge of their choice

Parallels: Shared Knowledge (ish)

Relativity has one job, to help you progress up awkward and/or slow knowledges by giving you a steady way to have guaranteed observation progression. This is not optional, so it doesn't play well with Knowledges that have dangerous observations, but outside of that clash each version of this knowledge you are able to take on a survivor will stack and can get knowledges upgraded to their maximum form very quickly.

This is especially strong when combined with Romanticism, because that philosophy provides us with extra Knowledge slots making it easier to fit such a progression based knowledge onto survivors without harming their overall power as much.

There's really not too much more to write about here. Relativity has sweet artwork, speeds up knowledge progression and is great to run in multiples. The main downsides are the torment and systemic pressure modifiers along with the opportunity cost of filling a knowledge slot with something that doesn't help you win a showdown and instead improves the quality of the victory results. It's good in the way that all things which speed up advancement of multi-lantern year projects are, we've only got so much time in a campaign, Relativity helps survivors go faster.

Also the artwork, an overt tribute to M. C. Esher's painting "Relativity" is a wonderful piece. It is always fun to see it be reinterpreted in various mediums.