IC
Mana is the essence of life. It springs eternally from the Planet itself, being absorbed by the plants that are nourished on its soil. In turn the herbivores nourish themselves on the plants and the predators on the herbivores. But mana concentration is not equal across the world. There are areas of meager mana concentration and those with unbelievable concentration - known throughout most the world as "fertility". Those who feed from high fertility land are granted great power...both man and beast.
Beasts are just as willing to kill over power as men are. Areas of high fertility are known to be incredibly dangerous in return for their great prize. "Monsters" - animals that have gorged themselves on mana rich foods - are often territorial to the point they will not allow insects to steal away their precious mana. Monsters are physically powerful for certain, but their diet often gives them a variety of strange powers and abilities that make them deadlier still. Perhaps a creature will gain an armor that high-fertility steel can not pierce, perhaps they will spit a powerful acid that can eat through armor in moments, perhaps they may take to the sky and strike opponents with lightning. Whatever their abilities are, those who are able to hold valuable land for long periods are no doubt powerful fighters.
This is where the Hunters come in. While in the past Hunting was the job of nobility who received a high-mana diet thanks to their status (aside from brave poachers who often became nobility themselves if successful), with the discovery of the New World anyone can become a Hunter. Humans receive the same benefit from eating mana as animals. They become physically powerful, capable of great feats strength and dexterity equaling monsters. While many hunters rely on this some instead turn to Magic, the human equivalent of the special powers Monsters receive. Those with a deep understanding of the world are able to manipulate it with the mana in their brain, giving them a versatile set of powers depending on their area of study. Hunting is often its own reward. A powerful Monster will increase the Hunter's strength by making a fine meal, while its parts can either be crafted into equipment or sold to the market for high prices.
You are a Hunter. You've joined together with people around the world to start your career in the New World. They say humanity's greatest power is teamwork, together you will be able to defeat monsters that would be invincible if you went alone. Will you and your friends become successful and powerful Hunters? Will you simply end up as fodder for your prey? Will you perhaps run into something more complicated then simple hunts?
Character Sheet
Name: What your character is called. This world developed different cultures than ours, but you can assume a normal name is actually its cultural equivalent. And a non-normal name is exactly equivalent.
Class: Humans have developed a number of hunting techniques since the stone age. Which one do you go with?
Stats: For simplicity Stats are baked into your Class. As you successfully Hunt you'll gain more mana which will allow you to increase your stats.
Feats: Your special abilities. Starting out you will be able to modify your Class ability for flavor if nothing else, later on you'll be able to gain new Feats after successful hunts. These feats will be more unique to your character and made with player input.
Equipment: Like Feats, baked into your class barring flavor.
Backstory: What lead you to the New World? Why did you become a Hunter?
Appearance: What do you look like?
Class List:
Courser:
Perhaps the most ancient technique, Coursers use melee weapons to bring down their prey. Traditionally this is a spear or other polearm, but some instead decide to hunt with axes, clubs, or even oversized swords to the user's own preference. Anything that can be used to hit a Monster has no doubt been tried by someone. With heroic strength, Coursers are physical powerhouses capable of leaping over huts in a single bound, effortlessly lifting weights that would slow down a pack animal, and of course dealing mortal wounds to their quarry. Given their close proximity to monsters they're also most likely to take a hit and as a result tend to wear armor if they value their own hide.
Stats: Attack 14 Defense 14 Armor 5 (6) Fate 6 (6) Speed 3
Feats:
Dodge Strike: When you are targeted by an enemy attack that misses, you may spend a Fate point to get a free attack
Inhuman Strength: Every time you hit a target, get +2 damage on your next attack. This is reduced to 0 on a miss.
Weapon Mastery: This feat is to be suggested by the player based on their choice of weapon. This should reflect a quirk of the weapon, such as a mace bypassing some armor.
Equipment: Low-quality Melee Weapon (8 Damage), Low Quality Armor (+1 Armor)
Stalker:
Stalkers are those who hunt at a distance, preferably out of sight from their target. They are expert marksmen able to target weakpoints from long distance even as the Monster moves unpredictably in combat, only deliberate action on the target's part or truly bad luck would cause them to miss. Historically they would often hunt with a bow, sling, or crossbow, but in modern times these have been overtaken by black powder firearms as the most popular hunting weapon. High-quality firearms are able to solve degassing issues with high-fertility materials meaning that quick-loading breechloaders are commonplace. Occasionally those who do not want to deal with procuring black powder will instead equip themselves with a windrifle, a "firearm" that relies on compressed air to fling bullets at Monsters. Stalkers often wear camouflage instead of armor, relying on distance and stealth to keep them safe.
Stats: Attack 15 Defense 13 Armor 5 (5) Fate 6 (6) Speed 3
Feats:
Snipe: Stalkers may make a called shot to any part of the Monster's body for a penalty depending on the size of the part (such as -3 for a giant Monster's eye). If successful, the monster will receive penalties depending on what was targeted including but not limited to bypassing some Armor, giving penalties to Attack, giving penalties to Defense, or extra damage. This may be included with use of any other Feat.
Special Ammunition: Spend 1 Fate point. Your next attack uses special ammunition such as an exploding round, a poisoned round, or an armor piercing round. What form these will take depends on what weapon you are wielding. Your next attack receives a Fate dice in addition to an extra effect (such as added damage or poisoned effect)
Weapon Mastery: This feat is to be suggested by the player based on their choice of weapon. This should reflect a quirk of the weapon, such as a sling getting bonuses against small monsters
Equipment: Low-quality Ranged Weapon (8 Damage), Low Quality Camouflage (1)
Trapper:
Rather than fighting directly, trappers place hazards where they know the target monster will be (often luring the creature there themselves). What traps a trapper uses is limited only by their imagination. And budget. And preptime. Mostly the last two. Theoretically a Trapper could make enough Traps to defeat just about any Monster in the world, but in practice high-fertility areas are dangerous enough that it ends up being faster and safer to place a moderate amount of traps to significantly weaken the target Monster and let the combat-oriented classes finish them off for you. Of course you'll help out with that a bit - and truly master Trappers are able to place traps even in combat. They tend to wear camouflage rather than armor and avoid getting close enough to get eaten by their targets.
Stats: Attack 13 Defense 13 Armor 5 (5) Fate 9 (9) Speed 3
Feats:
Trapping: Trappers may place or create a trap at a given location so long as they have enough time and a Trapping Kit. Each trap placed acts as an Attack against the target using your Attack value with a bonus or penalty depending on how well the trap was laid (typically +2 if they don't see the trap coming, though further traps may be penalized). Each successful attack will do damage as normal with a Damage Value of your Trapping Kit. Each successful attack will also penalize the target with a debuff, such as a net trap reducing defense by restricting mobility. You may create a trap that does no damage on a successful Attack and instead doubles the debuff. Debuff duration depends on the trap.
Instant Trapping: Spend 1 Fate. This allows you to set premade traps such as explosive mines or bear traps inside of combat. If successful, the traps will take effect on the Monster's next move. Until the traps are triggered there is a chance someone else may accidentally set foot in one of these hastily laid traps. Anyone who rolls a Critical Failure on any action where a loaded trap is around will set it off themselves, including any Monsters or the Trapper himself if his attack roll fumbles.
Trap Specialist: Pick one type of trap that your character specializes in. They will receive an additional bonus when setting this particular type of trap.
Equipment:Very Low-quality Weapon (6 Damage), Low Quality Camouflage (+1), Trapping Kit (8 damage), Explosives (8 damage)
Beast Master:
Not all "Monsters" are enemies of humanity. Friendly animals that receive a high-mana diet have the same strength and abilities as wild Monsters, but they see
you as the source of their power and will defend you to the death just as wild Monsters would defend their territory. Humans typically respond to this loyalty in turn, growing a close bond with their hunting partner. Most Beast Masters train variants of domestic animals that have been bread for millennium. Dogs are the most common, followed by horses, followed by falconry birds. Some Beast Masters choose odder domestic animals, such as cats, oxen, or ferrets to surprising effect. The rarest are wild Monsters, who must be raised from near birth and even then have a tendency to be more feral and difficult to handle. Novice Beast Masters tend to only have enough Mana rich food to have one effective Beast, though as you get wealthier you may be able to have many. Beast Masters usually have to stay close enough to shout orders to their partners, meaning they often wear armor since this technique makes stealth troublesome.
Stats:Attack 13 Defense 14 Armor 5 (6) Fate 7 (7) Speed 3
Feats:
Monster Companion: Your trusty friend who will fight and die for you. You may attack with your Animal Companion instead of attacking yourself. Your Animal Companion is by default stated at 14 Attack, 14 Defense, 6 Armor, sharing your Fate and Initiative. They have 35 hitpoints and may take attacks independently from you. These traits will be improved as you level up and may change at character creation by player request. You may attack alongside your animal companion for 1 fate point, but both attacks will be at -1.
Loyal to the End: Spend 1 fate point. After calculating damage for any attack on you or an ally, your Monster Companion may jump in front of the attack blocking it with its own body. Your Companion takes the damage instead of the original target, placing its own Armor modifier in place of the target.
Monstrous Ability: Each creature has its own special ability that will help it help you, such as a horse companion making a great mount and giving bonuses to the rider. The player gets to suggest what bonus they get based off of what Monster they have.
Equipment: Very Low-quality Weapon (6 Damage), Low Quality Armor (+1)
Cuisinier:
Food is life. Food is power. Food is your specialty. In this world, the source of everyone's power comes from eating and drinking. Those with the ability to cook are therefore prized as the gatekeepers to power. You know not only how to cook meat from your hunts to perfection, but also how to identify edible plants and bring about the best in all ingredients. Cooking a normal meal will give everyone who eats it a buff during the next hunt depending on the dish cooked. You may also extract mana into potions, broth that allows for smaller buffs and healing during combat. If desired you may also bring out harmful mana in a material - powerful poisons. Cuisiniers tend to participate in the back line, tossing potions to those who need them most, and therefore tend to wear camouflage.
Stats: Attack 13 Defense 13 Armor 4 (4) Fate 9 (9) Speed 3
Feats:
Hunter's Feast: If you prepare a full meal for you and your companions before a hunt, everyone receives a bonus during the next hunt. This bonus may be applied as a general +1 to all actions, or as a +2 to specific actions (such as Defense or "Trapping"). These bonuses may apply individually to each ally, so you may give a general +1 bonus to one companion but a specific +2 to another and a different specific +2 to a third. These bonuses fade and must be renewed when your companions grow hungry again.
Hunter's Brew: You may identify plants in the wild and create potions out of them. Spend 1 Fate point and an Attack action to give one companion +3 on their next attack, +3 on Defense until their next attack, +1 Armor until 0 Init, or heal them by an Attack roll. You may also spend 1 Fate point and an Attack action to add a poison to a companion's weapon, dealing a relevant status effect if their next attack lands.
Specialty Dish: With how widespread the cultures of the world are due to various angry Monsters existing between nations, food culture can be very different even from town to town. This represents the delicious specialty dish of the Cuisinier. It may add a Feat written by the player to anyone who eats it until their next meal, but costs 1 Fate point per companion eating this meal and can not stack with Hunter's Feast.
Equipment: Very Low-quality Weapon (6 Damage), Low Quality Camouflage (+1)
Conjuror:
Magic is the sole domain of Man. While Monsters may have magic like effects, they are essentially just biological parts that will work even when torn from the monster and grafted to a weapon. Magic requires a deep understanding of what you are attempting to accomplish with it. That is to say it takes years of schooling. Normal schooling, not necessarily any fancy magical school. To shoot lightning from your hands you must understand what lightning is. The better you understand what lightning is, the better you can control it. With the advancement of science to the current age magic gains more and more power as our understanding of the world increases. This makes it incredibly versatile, however for practical reasons most Conjurors tend to specialize into fields that they understand best and can visualize quickest. Conjurors tend to be medium range fighters as they need to be able to visualize their magic's effects for their spells to work, coupled with the fact that magic tends to be flashy and gives away their position most utilize armor rather than camouflage.
Stats: Attack 14 Defense 14 Armor 5 (6) Fate 8 (
Speed 2
Feats:
Spellcasting: Spellcasting is a versatile craft. Instead of attacking with a weapon, you may attack with a spell for damage 8 as long as you have Fate points remaining. For 1 fate point, you may cast a minor spell that gives a bonus to an ally, a penalty to an enemy, or is an attack that deals 11 damage. For 2 Fate points you may cast a moderate spell that gives a more significant bonus to a single ally, a temporary bonus to all allies, a penalty to an enemy, a penalty to all enemies, or is an attack that deals 14 damage with a bonus to hit. For 3 fate points you may do all of the above more significantly or deal an attack that does 17 damage with a larger bonus to hit.
Knowledge is Power: Conjurors are first and foremost scholars. This means you need to know how the world works to use your powers, but often the knowledge itself can be just as useful as the lightning it lets you shoot. With this ability you automatically know knowledge related to your specialty and trivia beyond your specialty. You may use this to create relevant equipment so long as the materials are available.
Spellcasting Specialty: With all the knowledge in the world, Conjurors need to pick a field to specialize in to be truly effective. This field can be fairly broad, someone who wants to shoot a lot of lightning might focus on "Electricity" while someone who wants to strengthen his companions might choose "Biology". You receive bonuses to spells that fall within your specialty and penalties the further away your spells are from your specialty.
Equipment: Very Low-quality Weapon (6), Low Quality Armor (1)
Manhunter:
Most people think of Hunters out in the wild slaying giant monsters. And most Hunters are out in the wild doing just that. Manhunters are an odd breed in that their prey tends to areas settled by humans. Usually because their prey is often humans. As they say, "Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely". It is worryingly common for the new breed of Hunters to get a taste of power and believe themselves to be beyond the consequences of their actions, and the eternal problem of Nobles abusing their power cropped up occasionally in the Old World. Manhunters took up the duty of taking down those who use their strength to abuse the weak, specializing in fighting other humans. They tend to be more used to city life than other Hunters, and certainly more used to fighting against human enemies. Still there are some that instead hunt legendary human-like monsters that are said to hide among and prey upon humans rather than humans themselves. Most people are convinced these creatures are the stuff of myth, but every so often an expert shows up insisting they are more common than everyone believes. Technically those wayward Hunters that abuse the weak can also be considered "Manhunters"...
Stats:Attack 14 Defense 14 Armor 5 (6) Fate 6 (6) Speed 3
Feats:
Manslayer: Fighting humans is a lot different than fighting monsters. You're good at the first one. +2 when fighting humans and human like creatures, and you may attack multiple humans in one attack at a lowered penalty (so that you may strike 2 at -1, or 3 at -2). You understand humans better than monsters. When rolling to track, communicate with, or otherwise deal with humans you receive a +2 bonus.
Hiding Among Us: You are always looking out for signs that other people are going to attack you and your comrades. If someone is secretly hostile to you, you will notice. If someone is hiding in the bushes waiting to steal your kill, you will notice. If someone is secretly a monster in human skin...you will notice. Automatically detect if someone is your enemy, penalty to being ambushed by humans, automatically detect non-human monsters pretending to be humans.
Saving Man from Himself: Humans are perhaps the most diverse prey on the planet. As a result they give birth to the most diverse Hunters. In short, this is a free space. Make your own Feat.
Equipment: Low-quality Weapon (
, Low Quality Armor (+1)
Wildcard Hunter:
"I want to build my own Class!" Go for it. We'll talk it over and try to make something balanced.
Playing the game:
Mostly based off of Feng Shui 2E.
Dice rolls are 1d6 positive and 1d6 negative exploding. If both dice come up a 6, then the result will be a critical success or critical failure depending on if you succeed or fail the action.
Attack is your stat used for attacks. You roll against your enemy's Defense. If you succeed, you hit and do damage. Your damage is the difference between your attack and the enemy's defense plus your weapon damage minus their Armor. Minor enemies will be destroyed on a single hit. You may target multiple enemies with a single attack roll at -1 per enemy targeted (so -2 for 2 enemies, -3 for three). You may give a +1 bonus to a friendly unit instead of attacking. You may increase your Defense by 3 until your next attack instead of attacking. Humans have 35 hit points, if you take that much damage you'll be knocked out until healed magically or naturally. Monsters may have more or less depending on how sturdy they are.
When a fight starts, everyone rolls Speed+1d2+Bonus/penalties for initiative. The highest Initiative Starts, getting one attack action at the initiative. So if a Player rolls 4 initiative, they'll start by making one attack then going down to initiative 3. Players go in posting order unless they're is a reason not to (like boosting someone else's attack will get processed first). The Monsters will go after all players have gone. So if three players rolled a 5, a 4, and a 3 against a Monster's 3 it would go like this: 5 Initiative player acts, 4 and 5 act on Init 4, everyone acts on Init 3. This means high Speed will get you more attacks in an Initiative round, as will ambushing a Monster. If we reach Init 0 everyone rerolls for the next round.
Characters are assumed to be hyper competent in most things, especially related to their profession. If you're a Cuisinier making food, it will be world class without a roll. If the roll would effect the plot then it is the same roll as above, with a difficulty based on how difficult the action is.
Weapons and armor have quality based off of their materials. Lorewise, equipment produced from low-fertility areas will be weaker than those in high-fertility areas. Monster parts may be used to create or upgrade equipment, giving you their own Feats that may help in battle (or just upgrading their numbers). Other Equipment may grant feats or narrative abilities as appropriate.
Range is abstracted. The only functional difference between ranged and melee weapons is what Feats work with them. Ranged weapons are assumed to reload as part of the Attack, whatever kind of weapon they are. As above weapons add their damage value to Attacks.
Armor works by adding to your Armor stat. Camouflage works by adding Concealment - essentially a bonus to hiding. Monsters will tend to attack Armor wearers they can see over those hiding in Concealment unless there are obvious reasons to prioritize the Concealed target. Appreciate your tanks people!
Fate works as your protagonist plot armor and resource for Feats representing limited resources. You may spend a Fate point to add 1d6 to any of your own rolls, or to subtract 1d6 from an enemy's roll. Fate dice reload at the end of each Hunt.
That is probably all the important stuff. Happy Hunting!
