When Lemon Demon produced the song, The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, I was completely blown away. It perfectly encapsulates Dungeons & Dragons geekdom in the eighties, encompassing characters from comics to movies to television shows. So it's no surprise that, as a compulsive converter of all things to role-playing game statistics, I was tempted to take on this project: what if you really did want to run your own Ultimate Showdown? Could you do it?
The answer: sure, if someone was insane enough to convert every character into one game system. Thus begins a journey that will probably take months. I will work my way through every character mentioned in Lemon Demon's song, one at a time.
At least that's the plan. My goal is to use d20 Modern as a template and use statistics determined by the Internet (i.e., you) that I can find on the web. Then I will buff them and polish them and make them all compatible (I have no idea how I'm going to handle Gandalf or Superman, in case you're wondering). As a result, this will be a work in progress. If you have some ideas for a character or you think that I went off the beaten path, tell me and I'll try to tweak the statistics as best I can.
Take a deep breath. This is going to get very weird.
And without further ado, let's start with the big guy himself…
Old Godzilla was hoppin' around Tokyo city like a big playground…" –Lemon Demon, The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny.
Providing statistics for Godzilla is treacherous because Godzilla keeps changing over the years. First he's this force of nature, then he's helping little kids beat evil monsters, then he's under alien mind control. His weight and size fluctuates. His powers (he regenerates! Now he doesn't! Now he does!) change at the directors' whims. Different series ignore the movies that have gone before, because of course THEIR version is superior.
We're only one character in and this project is giving me a headache. Toho Kingdom has some great statistics to start with. Godzilla is reptilian and he has a breath weapon (in fact, he seems to have defined the term "breath weapon"). So making him a colossal dragon makes sense.
We know that Godzilla is huge and unleashes radiation. Fortunately, D20 Modern has rules for radiation, so we'll include those. But we're not out to make Godzilla make any more (or less) sense than he does now, so we'll leave out the divine qualities.
Add this all up and it quickly becomes clear that Godzilla is pretty much going to flatten everybody. Batman doesn't have chance.
| Godzilla (CR 20, HD 48d12+576) N Colossal Dragon (Reptilian,Electricity,Fire) Init +7 Spd 20 or Swim 20 Senses Scent (Ex); Low-light Vision (Ex); Darkvision (Ex): 120 ft.; | Listen +44, Spot +44 AC 35 (FF 32, Touch 5) hp 888 (Disabled -12/Dying -35/Injury 35) Saves: Fort +38, Ref +29, Will +18 Immunity: Fire (Ex), Immunity: Poison (Ex), Immunity: Disease (Ex), Damage Reduction (Su): 15/Epic, Immunity: Energy Drain (Ex), Immunity: Ability Damage (Ex), Regeneration (Ex): 40, Spell Resistance (Ex): 32, Resistance: Energy (Ex): 50, Immunity: Sleep Effects (Ex), Immunity: Paralysis (Ex) Atk +57/+52/+47/+42 base melee, +43/+38/+33/+28 base ranged; Grapple +81; Face 30'x30'; Reach 20'; +57 Melee (Bite 4d8+17/crit 20/x2) and +55 Melee (2 Claw 1d12+8/crit 20/x2) and +55 Melee (Tail Slap 3d8+8/crit 20/x2); SA: Frightful Presence (Su), Improved Grab (Ex), Swallow Whole (Ex), Augmented Critical (Ex), Frightful Presence DC: 36, Frightful Presence Radius: 60 ft., Trample (Ex) 4d12+9, Battle Frenzy (Ex), Radiation (Ex), Breath Weapon (Ex), Chain Reaction (Su) SQ: Amphibious (Ex), Abilities STR 45, DEX 16, CON 35, INT 3, WIS 14, CHA 14 Feats: Awesome Blow, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Improved Overrun, Improved Snatch, Improved Sunder, Large And In Charge, Maximize Breath, Multiattack, Power Attack, Rend, Snatch, Snatch and Swallow, Tail Sweep Knockdown, Whirlwind Tail Sweep. Skills: Listen + 44, Spot + 44, Survival + 36. Frightful Presence (Su): Godzilla can inspire terror by charging or attacking. Affected creatures must succeed at a Will save (DC 26) or become shaken, remaining shaken until they leave the area of effect. Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, Godzilla must hit a Huge or smaller opponent with its bite attack. If it gets a hold, it can try to swallow the foe. Swallow Whole (Ex): Godzilla can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of Huge or smaller size by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the opponent takes 2d8+8 points of crushing damage plus 2d8+6 points of acid damage per round from Godzilla's digestive juices. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by dealing 50 points of damage to Godzilla's digestive tract (AC 20). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out. Godzilla's gullet can hold two Huge, four Large, eight Medium-size, or sixteen Small or smaller creatures. Augmented Criticals (Ex): Godzilla threatens a critical hit on a natural attack roll of 18-20, dealing triple damage on a successful critical hit. Radiation (Ex): The area within a quarter-mile of Godzilla is considered highly irradiated (see Radiation Sickness, below), so characters receive a low exposure to radiation if they remain in the area for less than a minute and a moderate exposure if they stay longer. If Godzilla hits a creature with a natural attack, that creature receives a severe exposure to radiation. Breath Weapon (Ex): Godzilla’s breath weapon is a 200-foot cone of white-hot nuclear slag and fullspectrum radiation. It deals 20d6 points of damage to all in its path, or half damage if a Reflex save succeeds (DC 10 + 1/2 Godzilla’s Hit Dice + Godzilla’s Constitution modifier). Any creature that takes damage from the cone also suffers a high exposure to radiation (see the Radiation Sickness). Chain Reaction (Su): If Godzilla is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, he explodes in a blinding flash of light that deals 400 points of damage to everything (creatures and objects alike) within 400 feet and 100 points of damage to everything within a mile; a successful Reflex save halves the damage (DC 10 + 1/2 Godzilla’s Hit Dice + Godzilla’s Dexterity modifier). This explosion generally results in a mile-high mushroom cloud and a highly radioactive crater a quarter-mile across. Battle Frenzy (Ex): Twice per day, Godzilla can work himself into a battle frenzy similar to the barbarian’s rage (+4 Strength, +4 Constitution, +2 morale bonus on Will saves, -2 AC penalty). The frenzy lasts for 6 rounds, and Godzilla suffers no ill effects afterward. Immunities (Ex): Godzilla has fire, poison, and disease immunity. Regeneration (Ex): No form of attack deals normal damage to Godzilla. Godzilla regenerates even if disintegrated or slain with death magic: These attack forms merely reduce it to -10 hit points. It is immune to effects that produce incurable or bleeding wounds, such as a sword of wounding, mummy rot, or a clay golem's wound ability. Godzilla can be permanently slain only by reducing it to -30 hit points and using a wish or miracle spell to keep it dead. If Godzilla loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 1d6 minutes (the detached piece dies and decays normally). The creature can reattach the severed member instantly by holding it to the stump. |














Comments
Good luck with all that. Thanks for bringing attention to the Lemon Demon song. Bliss.
Michael, this is a very cool conversion. Soon after D&D 3e hit the streets, Dragon magazine featured an article for making kaiju (Japanese movie monsters). Thought about using that tool for this guy or Rodan or Gamera? Any thoughts toward tweaking this for Pathfinder compatibility?
Hey Epikto,
My pleasure. Lemon Demon rocks. We're going to see a lot of it because there's like 30+ characters in the song. That's a lot of conversions! *gulp*
Hi Michael,
Yes, in fact I took a look at that article. It's got more math than my brain is capable of handling, so I didn't use all of the kaiju conversion rules, but I did look at them. I'm of the general opinion that when a critter gets big enough, some of the rules become moot. I based Godzilla off of the Tarrasque, which made life easier. I'm actually not that familiar with Pathfinder, but if you (or anyone else) wants to do a conversion I'd be happy to append it to this article and provide credit/links.
I have thought about Rodan/Gamera, but this project alone will take forever. I mean, Batman is next...I'm pretty sure I'll get some comments on my conversion (statting Batman is an impossible task).
stating out Chuck Norris will be a challenge.
With superman and chuck norris, one must use the paragon template
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