Issue 85 Monster Hunter Online

Forming an effective monster hunter team is never easy. It requires finding a group of brave and reckless individuals with a mix of talents. These should include trackers to find the beast and a good mix of weapons, missiles to pin the beast and melee to close in and deliver the killing blow. Two handed axes and swords are favoured by most Monster Hunter teams.

As casualties tend to be high in teams, hunters tend to have a devil may care attitude. Veteran hunters tend to dress flamboyantly, spending their gold on expensive clothes. Most ordinary folk view hunters as eccentric at best to completely insane at worst.  

New Equipment.

There are several weapons in the Monster Hunter arsenal.

The Bane Poison – It is said that every beast has a specific bane or poison which will affect them. Silver is known to affect skin changers. There are various rare toxins for dispatching beasts – these may require a quest in their own right to find. Each ‘bane’ is unique to the specific type of creature, so ‘Drake’s Bane’ will not work on Manticores. No bane has yet been made which affects Golems. Effect: Coats one sharp weapon, bolt or arrow for one encounter. The next time the weapons wounds the monster, the beast will be wounded (one action per turn plus -2 to all dice rolls, see Page 41 of the main rulebook) for 1D5 turns (roll a D20 and divide the result by 4). A bane will only affect a monster once in any one encounter. Cost: 150 gold   

Medea’s Ungent – This powerful concoction will protect one individual from the effects of fire and flame effects for one encounter. Effect: It gives +5 armour versus fire attacks, including Elemental Ball and Bolt. Cost: 200 Gold.

Lacer – The lace lance or ‘lacer’ is a special kind of armoured piercing spear with a weighted head and hollow tip, designed to deliver toxins or sleep drugs into a beast. It is a one use weapon, has the range of a javelin (10”) and has +2 damage modifier, plus the effect of any poison added (see Banes above). See page 36 of Thaw of the Lich Lord for the Javelineer. Cost: 5 Gold.

Sacrificial Lamb - This rather cruel tactic is literally a small animal with bells on. It is a tasty snack on legs to attract the monster. Once released, the ‘lamb’ moves a D5” in a direction chosen by the player (roll a D20 and divide the result by 4). It will move randomly a D5” in subsequent turns. If the ‘lamb’ is the closest target to the monster, it will choose to attack it and move into close combat in order to devour it, wasting an action. One use! Cost: 25 Gold.

Wards - These are typically creature specific. Just like with Banes, every creature is said to have something which specifically repels them. Skin Changers are repelled by Wolfsbane and garlic repels Vampires. So it is with the larger monsters. A ward is typically placed in a bag and mounted on a stick, which is thrust into the ground. If a monster approaches within 10” of a ward, roll a D20. On a 11-20, the monster will ignore the ward, otherwise it cannot move any closer to the ward. The monster may add its Will value if the ward lies directly between it and its primary target. Cost: 300 Gold per ward.

New Beasts

The Floating Eye and Elder Eye

The floating eye, or kakodaimon as some refer to it as, appears as a massive floating sphere complete with central eye and a mouth with sharp teeth. The older ‘Elder’ Eyes have tendrils growing from their crown and protruding tentacles. They are feared for the powerful magics they possess. All of these creatures have a powerful bite but generally relies on powerful magic to hunt and kill its prey. Sadistic and cunning, most intelligent creatures and even other monsters avoid these dangerous aberrations.

Floating Eye

The Eye casts Elemental Bolt on a 6+. It takes no damage for a miscast. It moves by levitation, floating off the ground, so ignores terrain for movement. The creature attacks once to the front with a bite. 

Elder Eye

The Elder Eye may cast any and all of the following spells as an action once per turn on a 6+.

Elemental Bolt, Dispel, Mind Control, Petrify, Push, Spell Eater

It takes no damage for a miscast. The creature attacks once to the front with a bite. 

Flaws: Magic attraction. Floating and Elder Eyes are attracted to the use of magic. If anyone is using magic, it’ll choose to move towards the magic user in preference to other targets.

For Otherworld, see page 79 of the manual and use the Eye Tyrant’s stats.