Monster Hunter and the Research Minigame

[Prak]

So... Buffy/Angel, Supernatural, Grimm, Call of Cthulhu(, Reaper/Brimstone, Hellboy, Bleach?, Ghostbusters, Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Dresden Files?).

That seems like a lot of precedent for "Mundanes/Mostly Mundanes hunt down monsters on the city streets that, for one reason or another, cannot be seen by the bystanders." Also After Sundown is basically a perfect system for this if you tailor it a bit for the protagonists being mundanes/low level supernaturals.

That said, the prime three examples (Buffy/Supernatural/Grimm) have a very clear three phase set up for most episodes: Monster Pops Up, Scoobies Research, Scoobies Fight Monster. The first and last phases are really, really easy to set up for a game. You start the session with "You turn on the news/open the paper and see a report of [insert weird thing here] happened. Better go check it out." and end with "Ok, so you're in the dark undeveloped lot/old sewer/abandoned factory, and the monster pops up, lets you and him fight."

But what about that middle part? How would you do a research minigame that's interesting and rewarding to take part in?

[radthemad4]

Something like this perhaps with a few tweaks.

[shadzar]

talk to NPC, use social contacts, etc.

depending on tech level there are MANY different ways, but you have to get information from someone either written or spoken.

[OgreBattle]

But what about that middle part? How would you do a research minigame that's interesting and rewarding to take part in?

The monster has a goal (eating people)
You have a goal (stop the monster)
The longer you research the monster, the better your chances of killing the monster
The longer you research the monster, the more people get eaten.

So the PC's have to weigh the lives of the innocent vs their own safety and the final goal of stopping the monster. Early on the players may even have to run away from the monster because they can't harm it. There's a Japanese tRPG based on monster hunting that follows this pattern (it's also made for 1-shot campaigns so players can win even when they die), though the name escapes me at the moment.

[zeruslord]

The Shamus Young thing doesn't seem like it fits the goal here - it deals with gaining information as a secondary activity during play focused on something else, where a monster-hunting game wants to spend at least half its time in the research phase (which may involve some combat and social activity, but only as part of achieving your research goals.)

[Kaelik]

Yeah, the Shamus thing does not work. The combat minigame is fun because you have choices to make, and so you do things. It would not be fun if you just rolled dice until you won/lost without any choices.

That can be okay for something arbitrary, but take 20 rules exist because rerolling without making any choices is stupid.

And the difference of "Do we sit here for hours until we get it" or "do we sit here for even more hours" does not create any actual choices.

[rasmuswagner]

I'd say the very first steps would be to take out Perception and Gather Information.

If you must have a "Perception" skill, make it strictly "Detect Ambush". In fact, you should call the skill that, or maybe "Tactical Awareness". If you have a skill to roll against for spotting clues, not maximizing it won't even be an actual choice, and your game is still going to grind to a halt when the players blow their rolls. Mission-critical clues are always found, and bonus clues can be found with a variety of skills.

Similarly, Gather Information should be Intimidate, LEO, Occult Librarian, Hacker, Gang Member, All-American Quarterback, Bridge Club or whatever. I'm not sure distinguishing between "investigation" and "interaction" skills should even be a thing.

Another thing that would be great is if every skill is both an action skill and an investigation skill. Kung Fu automatically gets you a Sifu, a roll against Architecture gets you perfect cover in a fight, stuff like that.

Skills could be rolled against in action sequences, and provide a spendable pool in investigation. "I spend 3 points from Bridge Club to hear about other attacks" and "I roll against Bridge Club to smell really unappealing to the man-eating monster".

[Username17]

The "Research Period" in shows like Supernatural are a narrative device for the authors to continue to introduce major setting elements retroactively. The authors of the show don't know what monsters of the week they are going to use next season, and may not even know what monsters of the week they are going to use next week. Each monster is supposed to be hundreds if not thousands of years old and have special resistances and powers and so needs special actions and/or materials to defeat it. But until the episode the monster is in began to be written, it wasn't in the setting at all.

Needless to say, this doesn't make any sense "in world." If you stop to think about it, the actions of the monsters introduced in season five should generally be visible in season one. But they aren't because they haven't been retconned into the setting yet. Further, even a long running show like Buffy or Supernatural only ever posits the existence of a couple hundred monster types at most. Even cantina scenes only bring in a handful of really new monsters. You could research all of them in a month, and it strains credibility that professional monster hunters haven't already done that.

But of course, the research scene isn't there to convey information to the characters, it's there to convey information to the audience. Before you have the Vetala adventure, there do not appear to be any Vetalas in your setting. So before you can tell the story about the characters fighting a Vetala, you have to establish to the audience that there are Vetalas and what the rules of Vetala encounters are going to be. So even though logically the monster hunters should already be aware of Vetalas, having lived the life of professional monster fighters in a world that had Vetalas in it since generations before they were born, they still have to tell each other key Vetala information in order to convey that information to the audience.

If you're playing in an established setting, such as the Buffyverse or Dresden Files or whatever, then the research scene is pointless. The monsters have already been established to the audience, and there's no purpose served in restating any of that. The research scene is there to create canon, and if you are telling stories in a setting that already has canon, you can skip it.

So basically the Research Scene is a go-to option for a storytelling medium where the canon of the setting is being made up as it goes along. As such, you'd probably want to give control of it to the players. The characters research the monster of the week, and the players of those characters get to make declarations about what is going on. I really can't see any benefit to using "make it up as you go along" canon for a cooperative storytelling game unless the canon was itself being made up cooperatively.

-Username17

[Prak]

So, I looked at the points people made, and pounded away at my keyboard, and came up with this:

Research Minigame

One of the big themes in a lot of monster hunting shows is that the hunter doesn’t always necessarily know what they’re up against other than “big, horned, and furry” or whatever. Even if the hunter’s been at it awhile, they could come up against something they’ve never seen. When this happens, it’s time to do research. The heroes pull out the books, or hit the net, or call up a friend who’s on the inside.

At the end of the day, however, games are a collaborative experience, and so if you’re going to make the players go through this minigame, they should probably get some say as to what they come up with. Of course they’ll probably try to use this to their greatest advantage, and you should, within reason, let them. Salt and iron are actual folk loric things you could use to protect against or harm the supernatural, and in the modern day, you’ve probably got both in your kitchen. If the players decide that borax and hot water are the Achilles heel of your monster of the chronicle, then what the hell, who’s to say that’s bad or wrong?

Finally, if something’s going to be integral to the game, it needs to be interesting. Rewards for success are good, but even better is when failure gets you something too. On your first look through the books, maybe you don’t find the special weakness of the thing you’re hunting, but maybe you find the name of a hunter who had extensive experience with them, and wrote about it in his journal. Maybe you found a ritual or a sigil that gives you a short, but meaningful defense against it. As well, it needs to offer players choices. In combat having a single attack option—whether you’re wasting it with a crossbow or eldritch fire until the end of time—is boring, and so it is with research.

Basic Mechanism
“Time to hit the books.”
--ubiquitous quote in the genre

Research of this nature is an extended test. While you can always set the threshold and timeframe to whatever you feel is appropriate, a good rule of thumb is to go by the monster’s potency rating. Start at 5 minutes for potency 0 or 1—a basic vampire could seriously be “researched” in five minutes of racking your brain or googling—and going up to a year for potency 10. For threshold, a good basis is the monster’s edge stat. So that basic vampire with potency 1 and edge 3 could be researched in one round by someone who got five hits and that’s not a problem—“A stake through the heart, a little sunlight. It's like falling off a log.”

Research Methods
Tara: Oh, do you have any books on robots?
Giles: Oh, yes, dozens. There's an enormous amount of research we should do before— no, I'm lying. I haven't got squat, I just like to see Xander squirm.
--Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “I Was Made to Love You”

There are three basic ways of knowing what to do in a situation—personal experience, advice from others, and reading about it. Ok, yes, you could boil these down to two or even one source, or inflate them to more than three, but work with me.

Looking it up- The basic mechanism assumes you’re going this route. You sit down with books or a computer or your monster hunting father’s journal, and flip through it until you get a lead. Roll your Logic + Research and count your hits. Simple as that. This requires that you have an occult library, or that your world has reasonably accurate occult websites—Watchernet or something.

Personal Experience- You’ve encountered this kind of fire-breathing chicken demon before and already have the rope and the bigger cart. You may spend a point of edge to use an appropriate occult background instead of research. One point of edge contributes a number of successes equal to your background rating as if you had made a successful research roll. Any given player may only do this once per mission.

Phoning it in- You may not have dealt with this kind of thing before, but you have a friend who might at least be able to tell you what it is. You can spend a point of edge to contribute hits equal to half your Contacts resource rating. Note—you need a contact who could reasonably know about the occult. Old monster hunting buddy of your dad is good, the local sheriff, not so much.

Success! …and failure.
"I've got a theory...
--Buffy, Xander, Willow, Anya, Tara, Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer-“Once More With Feeling”

There are 4 basic things you might want to know about a creature of the week, how to hurt it, how to ward against it, how to find it, and its motive. How to kill a monster is often important, but if you can't find it, you may as well have no clue, and if you get killed first, who cares if you have silver bullets? Motive may be a point of minor concern, but it can tell you important information on its own, maybe the creature is avenging barrio murders the police can't touch and is thus a necessary evil. Each player who contributes hits to research can make suggestion. Ultimately, mister cavern decides which are correct, but if he doesn't use at least one player suggestion per category, he has to give each player who made a suggestion for the category an edge point.

I'm not sure what else to do with the rewards and success/failure system in a way that keeps the players and MC all collaborating. Also the numbers are all totally eyeballing.

[hogarth]

If you're playing in an established setting, such as the Buffyverse or Dresden Files or whatever, then the research scene is pointless.

I wouldn't say it's pointless: the purpose would be to make the game feel like a Buffy episode (or whatever). Similarly, comic books often have a similar kind of plot where the heroes get trounced by a new villain (or an old villain with a new twist), then they figure out a strategy to beat the new villain, then they fight the villain and win.

But I agree that it doesn't make much sense to have a research minigame where there's a chance of failure if that never happens in the underlying setting.

[Cyberzombie]

But I agree that it doesn't make much sense to have a research minigame where there's a chance of failure if that never happens in the underlying setting.

This is an example where you really don't want rules (or a die roll). You want the research to turn up something, because that helps the PCs actually make informed decisions about the monster they're fighting. Having the PCs fail at their research attempt isn't something you want to happen, so why bother rolling for it at all.

[fectin]

You'd want a procedurally generated monster system to go along with your research system. Otherwise, every episode will be that stupid scene where your character discovers that you need to kill trolls with fire. Again.

[Username17]

But I agree that it doesn't make much sense to have a research minigame where there's a chance of failure if that never happens in the underlying setting.

This is an example where you really don't want rules (or a die roll). You want the research to turn up something, because that helps the PCs actually make informed decisions about the monster they're fighting. Having the PCs fail at their research attempt isn't something you want to happen, so why bother rolling for it at all.

Just because you don't want "nothing happens" to be a potential outcome, doesn't mean that you don't want there to be a random element. There are still multiple acceptable outcomes, and it's still lame for it to be MC-choice which of those outcomes you get.

First of all, in the standard Supernatural/Buffy scenario, there are a number of victims that each drop clues before the main characters can figure out what they are up against (and thus, how to fight it). Secondly, as canon is being made up sometimes the requirement to fight the monster is something complicated that requires a mini-adventure to acquire, and sometimes it can be handled with shit you have in the kitchen.

As both the number of victims before you get an answer and the relative difficulty of acting on the clue given are variables, there is ample room for one or two die rolls. Defaulting to "Arbitrary MC Choice of What Happens Next" every time "fail the adventure" isn't an interesting or acceptable output for a single test of skill is simply bad and unimaginative design.

-Username17

[hogarth]

Just because you don't want "nothing happens" to be a potential outcome, doesn't mean that you don't want there to be a random element. There are still multiple acceptable outcomes, and it's still lame for it to be MC-choice which of those outcomes you get.

I haven't seen any episodes of Buffy, so I can't comment on it. What happens on that show when they fail to research the bad guys?

[Username17]

Just because you don't want "nothing happens" to be a potential outcome, doesn't mean that you don't want there to be a random element. There are still multiple acceptable outcomes, and it's still lame for it to be MC-choice which of those outcomes you get.

I haven't seen any episodes of Buffy, so I can't comment on it. What happens on that show when they fail to research the bad guys?

Generally what happens in that show (and other shows that follow the same formula) is that there are a series of murders and the heroes find clues at each murder location and eventually they figure out what kind of demon it is and how to fight it. Then there may or may not be multiple confrontations or future victims after that as they try to piece together the monster's methods.

So they don't ever "fail" to research the monster, but they often "don't have enough info" until the monster strikes again or even until it strikes several more times. And from a game mechanical standpoint, you actually could handle that as a pass/fail test that you got to repeat with a bonus every time the monster of the week claims another victim.

So for example: in the Incan Mummy Girl episode, the mummy kills one dude at the museum and then the heroes find out that something is wrong, but don't know what. Then she kills the exchange student and the heroes know that they have ancient Inca problems but not what to do. Then she kills the bodyguard dude and then the heroes figure out what's going on. And then she tries to kill Willow but the heroes stop her in time. Obviously, if they had figured out about putting the seal back together after the first victim it would have been a very short episode.

-Username17

[Prak]

Yeah, I wasn't looking at a pass/fail minigame, because, well, that would suck. I guess it needs to interact with clues in some way, but the whole "each person who contributes gets to make a suggestion for one aspect of research, if MC doesn't use them he has to give them edge points, but not until it comes up" basically establishes that if they completely succeed in one shot they get all the information "Here's what this thing is, here's a way to ward against them, here's why they do what they do, and here's how to kill it." But with each attempt (I'm assuming each attempt will generate a significant number of hits, given that I've provided three ways to generate them), even if they don't completely succeed, they get to find something. Maybe I need to go chart mode and say "Ok, X hits gives a new clue, Y hits gives you a site to check which might reveal the creature, or give you more clues, Z hits gives you a piece of information..." and so on. I also need to have clues do something.

I took a look at the Gumshoe system and how it handles clues, because I'd heard that clue discovery is automatic, as it should be if it's a significant part of a game. It's the system behind a number of games, like Esoterrorists which is somewhat in the genre we're talking about and Trail of Cthulhu. So the way that works is that each scene has one or more clues, and players say "I'm using [skill] to investigate." This can be specific (textual analysis of a memo to see if it was written by someone other than who is supposed to have written it) or general (evidence collection to check the crime scene). If the MC decides that works with a given clue, you get it, no rolling.

Then there's just the question of what the hell clues give you in the research minigame.

[mlangsdorf]

The GURPS Monster Hunters supplement handles the investigative mini-game fairly well. Something may be happening, but you can/need to investigate Who is doing, Where they are doing/hanging out when they're not doing it, What they really are, When they are doing whatever they're doing/their deadlines expire and the world ends, and Why are they trying to do whatever they're trying do.

PCs then take various investigative tasks (research, computing hacking, interviewing witnesses, forensics, tracking, casting divination spells, meditating on the universe, whatever) which give them Clues. Clues give them bonuses on the heavily penalized rolls to deduce aspects of the 5Ws above. When the PCs succeed on their deduction rolls, the GM just gives them the information, though smart players may have already guessed stuff and can shortcut the investigation ("it's clearly albino alligators living in the sewers around 9th and Main - let's go there and murderize them!").

It works very well in play, in my experience. The PCs will eventually figure out the threat if they do enough investigative tasks, but there's less collateral damage if they figure it out quickly.

[fectin]

Gumshoe also has tiny pools for each skill, so you're actually spending resources to investigate. So you might have 2 points in Bullshit Detector. During a conversation, there might be an opportunity to spend one point to get a clue. Then you only have one point available (that refills at "full refreshes", roughly between each adventure.)

(disclaimer: that's based on playing Night's Black Agents, which claims to use Gumshoe.)

[rasmuswagner]

Rolling dice to maybe get information that the GM has pre-prepared is definetly not how I want an investigation mini-game to work today.

[Username17]

Gumshoe essentially runs off the family feud model.

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[/img]

You make guesses as to what will come up during the adventure and you load yourself out with charges of investigation chicanery, then during the adventure when those things come up you can cash them in for clues. So it's really a lot like being a D&D Wizard. Your divinations always work, but you have to prepare them ahead of time and they can only be cast in specific situations.

-Username17

[Ice9]

Some options that could available for researching, so that it isn't just "roll a bunch of times":

Focused / Opportunistic Research - With focused research, you pick a category (weaknesses, how to ward against it, motivation, finding it) and learn something in that category. With opportunistic research, you get something at random. But opportunistic research is easier/faster.

Careful / Hurried Research - Hurried research is faster, but you have a bigger chance of getting false information.

Double Check - If research is happening in multiple phases, you can spend a phase double-checking a previous result to make sure it isn't false information, instead of looking new stuff up.


Also, I think that getting additional information should be a part of this. So you hear a rough description of a monster and you do some initial research, but you can only reach a limited point with that.

To get farther, you need to go observe it, or examine the area it attacked, or go find an obscure book, or whatever. Then you can return to research, and get a greater amount of information. There could be more than one stage of this, especially for major and/or recurring foes.

[Krusk]

My buddy keeps trying to get me to play this http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Fears but it seems too pederast-ie to me so I won't.

It's big "thing" that makes it interesting is that players can spend resources to give monsters weaknesses. When you first find stuff it's invulnerable. You spend stuff to decide that vampires hate silver, and now they are weakened by it. Silver weapons can now kill it.

When I read it reminded me a lot of Buffy, and my condition for running it was that we'd actually just play Buffy. We did not.

Might be worth a read to browse and crib ideas from.

[JigokuBosatsu]

Didn't the old Ghostbusters RPG have a research minigame? (ducks)

The "research" in Supernatural fucking pisses me off. These are supposed to be full time monster hunters with access to hella contacts, arcane research libraries, demonic wifi (if you believe fanon) and nothing but spare time. How are they not experts at even the most obscure monsters?

I'm always pissing my wife off, because we'll be watching and it will go like this...


Sam Winchester: "Well, it looks we have a [somewhat obscure mythical creature]."

Me: "STAB IT WITH [one or two things I can think of off the top of my head]!!!"

Dean Winchester: "So how do we gank it?"

Me: "I DON'T KNOW, WHY DON'T YOU CONSULT MY GRADE SCHOOL LIBRARY YOU FUCKING IDIOT."

My wife: "Hey, shaddap a you face!"

[phlapjackage]

I have the same problem watching Grimm. God it's a dumb show, but the missus likes it. I get told to be quiet at least twice an episode.

Guess that's the only way to make it "interesting"? If they actually had someone on the show who had middle-school-level awareness of mythologies, there'd be no show...

[OgreBattle]

K, the RPG I was talking about is Hunter's Moon. There's a replay of it here: http://d66roc.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/ ... rom-above/

Characters include
-Yoriko, school girl survivor of a monster attack, inherited a magic spear
-St. George, a 35 year old Black man with a gun
-Toujaku, glory seeking apprentice mage
-Sirius, dog out to avenge his master

Introduction Phase

Each player goes through a scene that explains their connection to the scenario’s monster.

Yoriko: She rolls on the Intro Phase chart and gets: “you are charged by a monobeast’s victim, mages or Hunters guild to defeat a Monobeast.” Yoriko’s friends–all children–were massacred by Aldol in the last game, so she decides that her father–a Hunter–is in the hospital after being wounded while saving Yoriko. He explains their family’s history to her. She decides to get revenge for her friends. George asks to enter the scene and explains that he is an old friend of the family. George takes on Yoriko as his new Hunter apprentice. She rolls on the feeling chart and she begins the game with “Anger.”

George: He rolls and gets “You are being chased by a Monobeast. There’s nothing you can do but run until a full moon…” He has a run-in with Aldol and takes a wound right off the bat. He rolls for his feeling and gets “Fear.”

Toujaku: “There has been some a problematic monobeast lately. Several Hunters are converging–are you going to let another Hunter take the kill?” The player decides that Toujaku is a lowly adept in his mages guild. Another aspiring adept arrives to deliver the information about the monobeast, and the two begin a fierce rivalry. He rolls and begins the game “Angry.”

Sirius: “You have come across the scene of great bloodshed by a Monobeast. There’s no way you can let it live…” Sirius is part of the ‘Silver Bullet’ Hunters’ organization. He has been hot on the trail of Aldol for a long time, ever since his (human) partner was killed. He rolls for “Anger.”

Gathering: Yoriko and George arrive at the scene of the previous game’s massacre. It’s a temple at the top of a high hill, with lots of police barracades, etc. Toujaku shows up, flying in out of nowhere. They talk and decide (as PCs tend to do) that teaming up would be a good idea. Then, a ruffle in the bushes and they prepare to kill whatever is going to pop out–only it’s Sirius. George still wants to attack, because he can’t communicate, but the other PCs convince him that Sirius would be a good addition to the team.

To be continued…

The next phase is the Sunset phase: There is the ‘Pursuit’ round, where the PCs each get a single chance to learn the monobeast’s weakness, stop whatever action it’ll be attempting (like eating people) or several other options that occur in order. Then there is the ‘Battle’ that will occur between the players and the beast. After this is over, the Midnight phase occurs and is exactly the same as the Sunset phase. After the Midnight phase is the final battle, which occurs at the Sunrise phase.

In Hunter's Moon there's an intro phase that shows how characters are related to the monster (survived an attack, loved one killed by attack, is a pro monster hunter, etc.). In this particular replay, the previous party was wiped with only the spear girl surviving so they have partial knowledge of the monster's powers.

When we last left our intrepid Hunters, they gathered at the temple that was the site of the bloody massacre of several junior high schoolers that attempted to fight a monobeast named Aldol. It’s the night of a full moon and they intend on exacting revenge.

Now that the introduction phase is over, the Pursuit (Sundown) Phase occurs. First up, the GM rolls to see what the monobeast will be attempting during this phase.

The GM rolls for Aldol, and he rolls a 4: “The monobeast will devour another Hunter (an NPC) and gain a random ability.” The GM decides that Aldol will be targeting Kimura ( NPC), who had appeared earlier as Toujaku’s (PC) rival in the mage guild. A random skill is chosen for Aldol’s action, which turns out to be “diversion.” A PC must make a skill check against “diversion” and succeed, or Aldol will automatically succeed and receive a random ability. Toujaku steps up and succeeds, saving Kimura and belittling him in the process, warning him to stay away from his quarry. Kimura reluctantly agrees and leaves. Well, he flies away, mage style.

Next in the Pursuit phase is the Location Roll. The GM rolls to decide where the next battle will take place. They roll a 1: Warehouse. The effect of this location is that the PCs will receive one free item at the beginning of battle. The PCs decide not to try to change it. Next up is the Weakness Investigation. Basically, when the monobeast takes enough damage to a body part, it’ll usually need to roll 2d6 for a death check. But when the beast’s weak point has been hit, it’ll only roll 1d6. The party decides to skip this for now, since it can’t be killed until the last scene anyway.

It's kinda meta-gamey that you can try to change your location, but that's just how this game works.

The next step is the Behavior Investigation. If the PCs succeed on this check, they will know what triggers Aldol’s Extra Actions. During each turn, a monobeast only gets a certain number of attacks–but if certain conditions are met, they’ll get Extra Actions, which can quickly tear a team apart. I think this is what undid the previous party. The PCs decide to give it a shot. The PCs need to be choosy because each PC can only attempt a check once during each phase; Toujaku can’t do anything anymore since he took part in the previous check. Sirius attempts it and fails, saying “I know, but I’m saying.” George also fails, leaving Yoriko to decide whether or not to try, but she doesn’t. After the Behavior Investigation, however, is the Location Change; since they don’t want to change the Location anyway, she moves on to the Practice Check and succeeds, despite her misgivings that she couldn’t roll over a 7. (She’d been rolling poorly). Through repetitive training and practice, she has given herself a +1 to any damage she does. This leaves the Feeling and Support Checks, but no PCs are left to roll them, so the game moves on to the Battle (Sundown) Phase.

So you have X amount of scenes to spend, which can be attempts to find the monster's weakness, find out it's powers and what triggers them, or it can be something like "I go train with my weapon" and you get a bonus.

So the first battle phase begins:

Aldol flies into a warehouse on the outskirts of town. First things first: the PCs demand their free item. Once that’s out of the way, the PCs roll an initiative check. Any that succeed may attack before Aldol, but any that fail will attack afterward. All but Toujaku succeed.

George starts things off by combining his Explosive Shot ability with his basic attack, which raises his Emotion. He succeeds and does 6 damage. Once a PC’s emotion goes above a certain amount, they go into a sort of Frenzy or Terror mode, depending on their Emotion type. PCs/monobeasts in Rage mode deal and take extra damage, but PCs/monobeasts in the thrall of Terror deal/take less. The damage that was dealth to Aldol first is applied to his Morale. In this first battle, Aldol’s Morale is 20, so this knocks him down to 14. Once Morale is stripped away, damage is applied directly to certain body parts if the character fails to block and/or dodge it. Morale acts as a sort of armor.

Next, Yoriko combines Skewer with her basic attack and succeeds, dealing 11 damage. Yoriko screams, “See, you’re not invincible!! We’re winning!” The GM responds with, “Oh.. you said it, didn’t you. You said you’re winning!” Which can never be a good thing for PCs to hear a GM say. Sirius uses his Shopping Dog ability to instantly buy himself a Net item. This item prevents a wounded monobeast from fleeing, I believe.

Aldol takes his turn, combining his Drill, Flame Breath and Great Scythe skills to deal 1d6+3 damage plus the Flaming and Serious Injury status effects to every PC if it succeeds. One of the player cries foul, saying that PCs can only combine 2 skills, but unfortunately, monobeasts are not held to the same rule. Aldol succeeds, dealing 8 damage. The PCs attempt to dodge the attack taking a penalty to the dodge check equalling 1/3 the damage total, but only George is able to succeed, so he takes no damage; the others all take 8 damage to their Morale and are put on fire with serious wounds. Also, anyone who dodged (everyone) raises their Emotion by 3. Toujaku then takes his turn and attacks, dealing 2 damage to Aldol. Aldol has no Extra Actions, so the round winds down, leaving Aldol with 1 Morale.

The last thing that happens in the round is everyone’s flame damage. Everyone takes some damage but George, and Yoriko and Sirius are knocked into Frenzy. In his last attack, Toujaku managed to make Aldol affected by the Bloody status effect, so he takes an extra point of damage and raising his Emotion to 9.

Round 2:

The Initiative Check occurs and everyone but Toujaku succeeds, leaving him to go last. The players strategize, agreeing it’d be a good idea to have Aldol’s Emotion go up quickly to get him into his Frenzy. The frenzying Yoriko then applies her Crystalization to her basic attack, which would push Aldol’s Emotion up beyond his limit, sending him into his frenzy. She reasons that, in her frenzy, she’s realized the power that resides in her blood that enables her and her family to fight the monobeasts. She succeeds and deals 7 damage and forces Aldol into a Frenzy.

George sees his chance and takes it, shooting another explosive shot. He mutters, “I’ve got to be the blocker from here on out, so I won’t worry too much about doing much damage, but..” but he deals 11 damage to Aldol! Once a character’s Morale is gone, any damage is applied to a static number (usually 6 for PCs, 10 for beasts) and if it meets or beats it, then a random body part is disabled. Aldol takes a hit to a body part and loses his “Dominant Leg.” Though the PCs reason that Aldol is probably blowing fire from this leg and therefore loses the ability, they are wrong and Aldol has no abilities linked to the dominant leg at all. Sirius attacks and deals 9 damage… not enough to force body part damage.

Aldol takes his action, attacking Yoriko with his basic attack. Aldol rolls 25 damage! Usually Aldol would deal 4d6 damage, but both Aldol and Yoriko are Frenzied, they both add 1d6 to the damage–6d6! After some discussion, George decides that he can’t spare the Emotion to block the damage to the point to where Yoriko could easily dodge it, and asks her to take the damage, reasoning that she can’t die from just a single blow. Yoriko would have to roll a 15 on a 2d6, which is of course impossible. In order to reduce the damage, someone would have to block it about 8 times, knocking 3 damage off each time. She gets hit in her “weak arm,” losing the ability that was linked to it: Basic Attack.

Toujaku decides to run away before anyone else loses their abilities. The round ends, people taking burning damage. Aldol’s Bloody status hits him, too, dealing an extra 1d6 damage for Aldol’s frenzy. Toujaku, though he’s left, rolls 10 damage! That’s enough to roll on the body part table, taking out Aldol’s heart! Aldol now loses his fire breath ability.



Round 3

The Initiative Check: Yoriko and George pass, Sirius fails. Yoriko and George escape, leaving Aldol to attack Sirius.

Aldol fails on his attack, but succeeds on his Kairiki/Heavy Lifting attack dealing 11 damage nontheless. The skill used in the attack is somewhat difficult for Sirius to use, with a base of 8 to dodge, but with a +4 to the difficulty, he’d need a 12 to succeed. He takes the hit, and his Mouth is disabled, taking away his Shopping Dog ability. When it’s his turn, Sirius runs away to join the others.

The hunters ran away from the monster, so a 2nd pursuit phase begins (Midnight)

So the team is pretty trashed already, but Aldol has also taken some damage. Sirius took a hit and Yoriko lost her basic attack, and with Aldol minus 2 body parts, it’s 2 and 2.

The GM rolls the Location and gets the subway; anyone rolling a Fumble will be hit by a train, taking 1d6 damage. George remarks that even if he’s hit, he wouldn’t die and someone mentions him being Frenzied. He asks if anyone has a ‘sedative’ that he can use for the final battle, and nobody has one to hand over and the players ask if there if they can buy some, but are told no; convenience stores don’t sell that sort of medicine, etc.

The GM next rolls to see what Aldol’s next move will be. It turns out that Aldol will eat on the run, devouring a group of people and gaining 3d6 Morale (ablative hitpoints, when morale is lost and wounds are taken the monster's bodyparts get disabled, so things like flame breath switch off if he takes a chest wound, etc.) unless he’s stopped. George tries to stop him, but he fails and the other players decide that they can’t afford to try to stop him, even though the increase in his Morale will force them to use more Emotion later. (btw I’ve been using the word Emotion for 感性, which might better be sensitivity or sense, but since it makes PCs berserk–Frenzy or Atrphy–I felt Emotion works better. ymmv) Anyway, the players really need to find Aldol’s weakness and trait, so they let him go for now. The group is afraid that Aldol is going to concentrate their attacks on Yoriko since she’s weakened, and want to end this round quickly by finding his weakness and end combat quickly.

Yoriko is successful in finding out Aldol’s weakness: his heart! Toujaku holds the heart he tore from Aldol and asks, “This?” They’ve already hit his weak point. Toujaku asks if he can eat the heart now or if he has to wait until later. It turns out that Hunters gain abilities by eating slain monobeasts. The others ask where he got the heart from, to which he replies, “It’s magic!”

Sirius succeeds in finding Aldol’s trait. It turns out that Aldol gets an extra action anytime an enemy goes berserk. The players remark that they’ve already gone berserk a few times, but Aldol hasn’t gotten any extra attacks. He says that because they went berserk during the end phase, he was not able to use it because of timing issues. The party then discusses the danger of using too much Emotion now.

Toujaku succeeds on his Practice check, enchanting his blades to get an extra point of damage on Aldol on the next battle, although they’ve all decided to run as soon as they can.

So the game's broken between information gathering phases where the Monster does something (like go eat people, or hunt down someone) PC's can each take one action to get a benefit (figure out monster's weakness, choose location of battle, improve their fighting ability, figure out monster's attacks, defend the innocent). After that phase is a combat phase, and if one side manages to not die then this repeats.