Hey there,

If you have gotten to this page, you may have some questions about the game and how some specific mechanics work. We’ve worked to capture some of our more common questions (in BOLD) and answers here, however, if you don’t see what you were looking for, you can send us an email directly at caveofmonstersgames@gmail.com

Enjoy,

Sam + Tim

How do you all normally decide when a baddie is defeated, or if the players had failed?

So in general, players aren’t meant to fail or lose a game of Henshin! The game is centered around personal growth and gaining opportunities to learn from mistakes. With regards to defeating monsters, this is at the whim of the narrator…a narrator should work with characters at the onset of a session to set up a problem to solve or goal to achieve. Much later on in play, they should be asking themselves, ”Have they learned anything? Completed a goal? Resolved any personal problems?”

If the narrator feels like the story has been told, squash that bad boy!

Question about Tasks. Do these change every session or are they like a list of things you want your character to accomplish as the game goes on?

Tasks are meant to be interchangeable session to session, if the player and circumstances feel right. Many of the tasks were designed to be something the player works towards for a couple (2-3) sessions and then switches to something else, however, we recognize that might not always be the case.

Be sure in your sessions, to have players review tasks at the start of a session and make sure that the previously selected task still feels right.

When looking at the character sheets, it says "Describe the other colors". Is that where the player writes their opinion of the other Colors in the game?

Yes, this was designed to give characters a way to capture funny moments & opinions of one another and establish some common ground.

Can you run a game without a red color?

Yes! Henshin! was designed to support games of all color combinations. Red is not a required color so play away!

Regarding "Set a special effects budget and spend every cent", I always assumed it was a fancy way of saying "What kind of aesthetic do you want for your game" in terms of stock footage, transformation scenes and weapon effects, but I don't recall that bit being elaborated on.

Yes, this is our way to getting the narrator and players on the same page about how they describe the aesthetic and world of their game. You can incorporate any elements you like, like more modern CGI sequences for mechs or obvious rubber suits from older seasons. No matter what the group is feeling, we generally recommend that the narrator and players have a conversation before the session or season starts, to make sure everyone’s input is accounted for.

How would you handle scenes while under a tighter time limit?

When running sessions that are pressed for time, we would suggest focusing on one player and their task, creating a “focus episode”, which is something commonly seen in the genre. Encourage other players to contribute and use their light and heavy turns to that scene, reducing the need for flashier, bombastic action and focusing again on character growth and interaction.

I have a question about the "questions" within the Turns section.

For example, for Black:

Ask someone, “What do I need to sacrifice in order to see this through?”

Ask someone, “Who have I failed to protect?”

I just would like to better understand how to use such mechanics. Have I understood correctly that, by taking such turn (either Heavy or Light), the Narrator will trigger an out-of-camera scene where something will happen but the players are not supposed to know that In Game? If not, whenever a player uses a "question" turn, what happens exactly?

There are a few different ways to utilize these in the game.

1. A character can ask this directly to the Narrator, who can provide a direct answer or choice, depending on their play style and the module, which can lead to some interesting scenes.

2. There are some questions that can also be directly asked to other players, like Gold's "What secret about you do I already know?" where that player can come up with an answer, which allows for some collaboration in storytelling. Depending on the type of question & connection it could make between players, that might not be known by everyone else.

The questions should generally always kick off a scene with the character in it, not off screen or without a player in it, as the questions are meant to emphasize the strengths and weaknesses of each character.