Monster Hunter Valor

Rules for running Monster Hunter games in the Valor system

 Designing Monsters
In Monster Hunter, teams of hunters team up to take down any number of dangerous and imposing creatures, harvesting components from
them in order to craft more powerful equipment that allows them to take on increasingly difficult foes. This gameplay loop can be captured in
Core Valor, but if you want to truly embody the concept as it is presented in the games, it may require some additional rules to spice things up.

Complex Monster Design

One of the unique features of the Monster Hunter franchise is the complexity of its monster design. These creatures have many distinguishing
limbs and features that can be targeted in unique ways in order to achieve the best result. To best represent this in Valor, Game Masters should
create complex monsters – instead of using a single Elite or Master to represent the Monster, they should combine a number of different,
independent “body parts” on their own initiative. For example, if a monster has an offensive option from a long tail, that tail can be
represented by a Soldier-class enemy build, with the main body having the Health of a Master but no options and the head and other major
body parts having stats of Elites.

For this kind of design, each individual body part should always be attached to the main body, but you can represent their independence in
interesting ways. In some cases like limbs or tails, you may use the Move stat of the limb to actively swivel away from the main body in order to
attack Hunters. In others cases, you might have the Move stat represent a limb’s ability to extend and retract, allowing it to target enemies
based on its location.

The purpose of this design is to offer unique and dynamic Monsters for players to face, and giving yourself the freedom to design interesting
encounters that feel dramatically different. Since the campaign will likely heavily center on these major Combat Scenes, GMs should feel
comfortable making things interesting and different.

Rule Revisions for Complex Monsters

Complex Monsters should occupy a lot of space and dominate the battlefield. As such, don’t feel obligated to attach skills like increased size to
them, simply build the various limbs and parts as best suits what you’re trying to do.

One of the ways to keep Complex Monsters dynamic is also how they are interacted with. Complex Monsters should all be climbable, and
characters should be able to move over the Monster’s body as if they were moving normally. As a support action, any part of the Monster that
has a Hunter on it can use a Support action to attempt to shake it off, rolling either Muscle, Dexterity or Resolve against the target’s choice of
Muscle, Dexterity or Resolve. A successful roll by the part drops the Hunter to the ground next to the part, and the Hunter takes an increment
of damage. While on top of a Monster, the Hunter gains +1 to all their attack rolls against any part of the Monster with melee attacks.

Equipment as Leveling Up
One of the major features of Monster Hunter is that characters themselves don’t gain in strength but their equipment does. You can accomplish
a similar feel by spreading benefits that would normally be attained via level-up across different equipment types. For example, a weapon
upgrade might increase 2-3 Active attributes by 1 (and all Active Attributes by 1 every other tier, starting at tier 2), Armor might increase health,
defense and resistance, gloves might increase 2-3 Attack stats and Damage Increment, boots might increase Movement every few tiers, and
jewelry might bestow a collection of skills or Techniques. As Hunters down mightier monsters, they can gain higher tier gear. You can either let
players generally customize their own gear, or give them gear that you customize, in which case Hunters can acquire a variety of sets that
bestow various skill and ability loadouts to customize themselves. If you choose to emphasize the availability of different equipment loadouts,
you should ensure that gear can be upgraded to the next tier so players can continue to expand on the gear they have.

If this method is used, you can divide upgrades up by monster, either giving the same type of equipment to all party members from a single
monster or by splitting the various upgrades types between bosses, such as having a certain monster upgrade a different type of equipment for
each party member. In general, clearing a boss should give something to each party member upon takedown – players shouldn’t be expected to
grind the same monster several times in order to upgrade their equipment so they can continue moving through and attempting different
battles.

It is possible to use the gear system with a component-based system, but you will need to carefully balance it so that all players are obtaining
upgrades at around the same time. This will be truer to the Monster Hunter feel, but can be potentially detrimental to the tabletop roleplaying
experience by making the progression potentially uneven among the party.
Traps
If desired, you can give players the chance to survey the battlefield and lay out traps. Traps can give them strategic options to lure or push
monsters and use the terrain to their advantage. If you are using Traps, there are a few options. In all cases, Traps will employ Special Modifiers
outlined below.

Delayed Strike
Your Technique is placed within the terrain, unleashing itself when it is triggered.

Applicable to: Barrier Core, Boost Core, Damage Core, Healing Core, Weaken Core
Season: 1st
Level: +1
Effect: When using your Technique, the targeted area becomes primed with your Technique. Whenever anybody enters the area the Technique
targeted, the Technique activates once, interrupting the movement and attacking everyone within its area before finishing the character’s
movement.
Special: If this Technique has the Persistent modifier, it will instead activate at the start of your turn so long as at least one person is standing
within its area. The Technique will activate 3 times in this fashion, until it is completely expended.

Selective Delay
When placing your Technique, you may select what spaces activate it.

Applicable to: Barrier Core, Boost Core, Damage Core, Healing Core, Weaken Core
Season: 1st
Level: +1
Effect: When using your Delayed Strike Technique, you may select which spaces within its total target area will activate it.
Special: Selective Delay can only be applied to Techniques with the Delayed Strike modifier and either the Blast Radius or Line Attack modifier.

Remote Delay
You can trigger your Delayed Technique at will.

Applicable to: Barrier Core, Boost Core, Damage Core, Healing Core, Weaken Core
Season: 1st
Level: +3
Effect: You may trigger your Delayed Strike Technique as an Interrupt Action at any point during any character’s turn or during their Move
action.
Special: Remote Delay can only be applied to Techniques with the Delayed Strike modifier. Remote Delay is +2 for Mind Techniques.

Crafted Traps
This method allows you to utilize special objectives and allow your players to gather additional parts to craft traps and other potential
consumable items for use during their Hunts. For this method, the GM makes a number of Traps available for the party and sets component
requirements. As they take part in Hunts, these components can be rewarded for meeting certain objectives such as disabling certain parts of a
Monster before defeating it or defeating smaller monsters in the process of stalking a larger mark.

This method is more work for the Game Master, but brings the experience a lot closer to the Monster Hunter core experience, especially if the
game is already employing a component-based system for gear upgrades instead of traditional leveling up.

Techniques as Traps
This method is generally in-line with more traditional Valor games – in it players simply customize Techniques they want to be traps with the
appropriate modifiers and set them up before or during combat. This method is for games that want to be lighter on the Monster Hunter-
specific rules and instead play more like a traditional Valor game with some additional elements.

Consumable Items
While Valor typically makes healing accessible to all characters, for Monster Hunter-based games you may want to restrict Healing. An easy way
to do this is to impose an Ammunition limit on all Healing Techniques, but you can also weave Healing Items into a crafted consumable system.
To avoid forcing players to grind for ingredients, it’s recommended that you make Healing items per-Scene use and allow them to be upgraded,
which suits Valor’s gameplay more than single-use consumables that are gone forever. If desired, this approach can also be applied to Boosts
and Weakens.
Environment Design
In addition to designing Monsters, it’s important to give them an environment that suits their nature and provides interesting options for
players to interact with. When designing environments for Monsters, focus on terrain that can be exploited by players and the Monster.
Depending on how fast the Monster is, a battle can range across a large area and setting up terrain that allows Hunters multiple ambush points
and areas to get ambushed.

One major decision point is if Monster habitats can be adjacent. A contiguous map that contains several Monster habitats can make for
interesting encounters but will force players to make strategic retreats if they get in over their heads. Meanwhile, maps that are individualized
for each Monster can be a bit easier to handle, offering less opportunity for things to go off the rails.

When designing maps, consider how the Monster who lives in it will interact with the environment. The Monster should be assumed to be the
dominant creature within its habitat, so it should consider the entire area its own hunting ground and behave accordingly. Hunters should have
to put a lot of thought into preparation if they want to successfully ambush a Monster in its own home.

Environmental Hazards
Monsters can often inhabit hostile areas and adding hazards to a map can really spice up a Scene. With this approach, the first major
determination is if the Monster itself is vulnerable to the hazard. In many cases, it may make sense for the Monster to be immune to or at least
highly resistant to a hazard, if the Monster lives within the area it’s likely adapted for it so a volcanic region may not pose much danger to a
Monster that has a strong affinity to fire. In this case, these hazards will only impede the player characters, and should be planned for
accordingly in the Monster design (more hazards mean the Monster itself should be weaker since the players will have additional challenges
from the terrain). If the terrain is dangerous even to the Monster that dwells there, then players can make use of that to attack the Monster
and the Monster’s difficulty can potentially remain the same.

Stalking Prey
Tracking and observing a Monster is a good way to incorporate Challenge Scenes into a Monster Hunter game. The act of stalking a Monster,
learning its routine, and finding the most opportune time to strike can be an engaging way to break up the action from constant combat, as well
as encourage characters to specialize in more than just combat abilities. For these scenes, characters will need to remain hidden and keep a
sharp eye to observe the Monster’s habits and patterns. Successfully stalking a Monster should give the Hunters a strong advantage by allowing
them to set up ambushes and lay traps in ways that the Monster will be vulnerable. However, should the Monster find the characters while
they are scouting, they may need to flee or stand and fight at a disadvantage. If the Monster does spot Hunters and drive them out, it may be
appropriate for the Monster’s patterns to change. A more intelligent Monster may move more cautiously if it believes there are foreign dangers
in its home.