Forums » RP Discussion » The Hunting of Monsters Discussion Thread

Good afternoon! This is going to be the discussion thread for the roleplay The Hunting of Monsters, based in the months before Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate's timeline.

You can check out the Looking For Roleplay thread here.
You can also check out the Fantasy Board thread for the actual RP.

Hook Reminder: The Far and Wide Caravan is parked in Val Harbar, before the roving city's fateful move to the Great Desert, seeking fellow hunters and more for their quests and adventures!

Those of you playing are taking on either the roles of the titular monster hunters, or you're taking on other very necessary roles within the FaW Caravan.

INFORMATION
If you want to know where I'm getting my in-game info from, I'm currently using these two sources: Kiranico & Monster Hunter Wiki.

FLOW OF THE HUNT
The game will generally go like this: as your DM, I'll set up a list of quests with a title and quick description, along with where in the rankings they sit: 1 Star (), 2 Star (), etc. All quests in a list will be of the same rank, and there will be no more than 10 quests per list. Your characters can decide which of the quests they'd like to participate in, but once a quest has been decided upon, everyone who wants to play must take that quest. It makes it easier for me not to DM more than one quest at a time. Once a quest is selected, I'll give the full details-- rewards, NPC who requested it, fees for participation, so on.

After that, the hunters will prepare for the quest however they need to in Val Harbar, and once fully ready, they'll set out on their quest. I will set up a required posting order for all hunts, always starting with myself. Hunts are the only time you need a posting order.
I'll always make note of what round we're on.

A quest succeeds when one of two requirements is met: the primary objective is completed, or the subquest (if there is one, a secondary objective) is met. If hunters finish the subquest and wish to return to Val Harbar, they may do so, but the quest won't be considered officially finished. You'll have to go back and pick the quest and finish it to completion. Loot will be divvied up regardless if a subquest is the ending point. A quest fails if the primary objective is not completed before the final round is done, regardless of subquest completion.

If the (sub)quest succeeded: I have a numerical secret list of loot that can be earned by all participants. I'll roll dice corresponding to the list and to each hunter, and hand out the loot accordingly.

Ex.: The hunting party of four has just successfully killed a Great Jaggi on a low star quest. Great Jaggi gives 14 different loot drops. I apply a number to each, roll 1d14, then roll a 1d4. Roll(1d14) & get 2. Roll(1d4) & get 3. The Great Jaggi Claw goes to the third player from the posting order. Actual in-game loot drop percentages won't be factored into the rolls.

These rolls will happen on my end in private, so I can divide up all the loot in one post. Rolling ceases on my end when every loot item has been rolled out, barring illogical rolls; for example, you can’t get two Great Jaggi Heads because that monster has only one head. If someone already got the head, its number removed from the roll pool.

And congratulations! You won! You can take your loot and return to town.

BETWEEN THE QUESTS
When a quest is done, characters can go off and do their own things. After the hunters come home, I'll ask what each player would like their character to do in this down time. These in-between scenes don’t have to be fully played out. You can freely assume your character is visiting the blacksmith, stepping back out into the field to gather materials, having a quick meal, taking a rest, and so on. I will interject occasionally with relevant information, and when everyone is done with their day-to-day lives and ready to go, they can go on their next quest.

OTHER ROLES
Regarding blacksmiths, medics, merchants, and so forth, people who have taken up a less combat-worthy role in the caravan are still very important! It’s your job to help the members of the caravan be prepared in all their ventures, on top of...

Getting to issue quests! That’s right, you get to help form a quest. If your character needs materials for a project, or supplies for a shop, or you’ve got connections elsewhere being tormented by a monster, you can come to me with these quests so I can issue them in an official manner. You’ll need to organize and PM me the following info:

• The main objective of your quest (why are you sending the hunters out into the field?)
• Reward (between 800 & 45,000 zenny); Pick one, rounded-off number from the range.
• Do you require a fee to be paid? (Between 0 & 4500 zenny); Pick one, rounded-off number from the range.
• Summary - this is a quick, one-paragraph description of why exactly you need the quest done. Have you run low on a certain material? Is a monster bothering you or a contact? What kind of monster is it? The more details, the better! It's your little narrative to give the quest flavor.

Based on this info, I’ll figure out an appropriate location, any lesser monsters involved, rounds allotted to complete the quest, and difficulty. PLEASE be specific with your information! The more information you give me, the better I can pose the quest to the hunters!

RULES OF THE GAME & MH4U MECHANIC TRANSLATIONS
I have simplified many of the mechanics from the game as much as I can to make DMing them easier. Since the series is a full-blown RPG where the player characters are the titular hunters, this may take some length explanation and may apply mostly to them. Please read through this part regardless, since it lays down ground rules for game mechanics.

1. Weapons - There are 15 weapons a hunter can use. Most will probably use a primary weapon ("main(ing)"), but you may handle and craft however many of the 15 your character would feel inclined to use. All I ask regarding stats is that you please acknowledge your weapons’ elemental properties and any upgrades you may give your weapon at the blacksmith’s shop.
2. Armor - you can have a full set of armor from one monster or mix-n-match various monsters. As was the case with weapons, acknowledge your armor’s elemental properties. If a piece of armor has a negative number in Poison, you take more damage from poisonous attacks. If it has a positive number in Poison, you take less damage from poisonous attacks. You can acknowledge your skills too; sometimes armor gives a boost to setting traps, but other times it may cause you to be fatigued faster. Play it out however it makes sense to you—if you have a set that has a crippling number in hunger, obviously your hunter is going to need to eat a good deal of cooked meat while out and about.
   
   If this helps you regarding what your armor can do, Kiranico has an armor builder, where you can input your character’s set and see what skills, perks, or flaws it nets you. It even tells you if the armor you’ve put together is a valid combination, to keep you from mixing up Gunner vs Blademaster gear or the Low, High, and G rank sets.
3. Decorations - your characters can have talismans and fill slots in their armor with gems. The gems you can craft have certain properties which are used to fill in weak spots in an armor’s defenses or traits. I can help you with that. Again the above Kiranico link can show you if a piece has slots and how many. If you want to craft a gem but aren’t sure what materials you’ll need, I can help you figure that out.
   
   Example: A full set of low ranked Nerscylla armor has perks in trap set up, sleep prevention, and perception (when is a monster trappable), but huge numbers in hunger. You’ll be eating a lot on the field. You can craft a Hungerless Jewel to fill up any or all of the armor set’s 5 slots, combatting the hunger.
4. Materials - the other main idea behind MH, besides the hunts, is gathering the proper materials from monsters & the environment to craft the items you need for a particular situation. If you want to research on your own between posts what materials you need for a certain item, be my guest! If you want to, but you’re not sure where to start looking, I’ll be more than happy to point you and your character in the right direction.
5. Palicos - your felyne friends who can accompany your character on a quest! If you choose to use them, each player may have one. They can have armor & weapons. They can also have certain quirks; some excel in treasure, others in healing, bombing, setting traps, etc. How you use these adorable kitties is up to you—they’re your NPC to control. I’m being freer with these lil’ guys just because wrapping my head around their experience point system made my head hurt. I’ll admit it, I got lazy!
6. Hunter Ranks - This system is the numerical system by which the Guild gauges the skill and capabilities of their hunters, and it's the same system I'll more or less be using to see how characters are doing, for the same IC reason. You all had to make note of your rank on your character sheets. The higher that number, the more capable and skilled the hunter is. Hunters advance in the ranks by completing certain quests equal to their HR, after which a special "urgent quest" is issued--an emergency of sorts. Completion of that urgent quest raises a character up one rank. HR 1 to HR 2, HR 2 to HR 3, so forth. My plan when I issue urgent quests is to allow lower ranked characters to catch up with anyone of a higher rank. High ranked characters can join lower ranked characters to assist in quest completion, but only the lower ranked character(s) will have their HR increase at that time. At the start of an Urgent Quest, I’ll note who is eligible to advance in rank.

WHAT I CAN HELP WITH
As your Game Master, I keep the flow of the story going, assist with any changes to characters, and answer questions about the story or mechanics. If something’s unclear at any point in time, I’m here to help clear the muddy waters!

SCHEDULING
During a quest, I’ll allot two day’s grace period for someone to respond. If they don’t respond without any reason in that time frame, they will be skipped for that round. No consequences will be suffered by the group as a whole, but repeat offenses will result in you being removed permanently. If you have a legitimate reason you’ll be away from the site and unable to participate, you need to let me know ahead of time so I can instead NPC your character doing their job.

If you no longer wish to participate at all in the game, please let me know that as well. We will dismiss your character ICly and carry on, thus opening the position they held back up to a new player.

On that note, your DM happens to be a house sitter, so there are occasions where I’ll be gone or barely able to post for a few days to a couple of weeks at a time (mostly around major American holidays). You’ll all get a PM ahead of time about an extensive absence on my part.



And that’s all you need to know. If you have questions you feel are important, this is the thread to ask them! Happy hunting, and good luck!