Which game does monster hunting well?

[overgeeked]

I'm likely going to be running a monster hunter campaign in the near future and I'm trying to capture the tone of the tv show Supernatural with a bit of X-Files-style investigation. So far I have narrowed my potential candidates list down to Monster of the Week (Evil Hat Productions) or potentially Hunter the Reckoning (Renegade Games Studios). I might just opt to go with my general-purpose horror RPG of choice, Shiver (Parable Games) if none of these would seem to do the trick well.

Which one of these games would capture this essence best?

Monster of the Week is the best in class for this style of game by a long, long way. It's designed from the ground up to be exactly this style of game. It's main influences are the shows you list. It has some of the best monster creation and scenario creation rules/advice you'll find just about anywhere. I can't recommend it highly enough.

To me, monster hunting and horror are not the same genre. It comes down to the power of the protagonists relative to the monsters. Completely different tone, vibe, and style.

Call of Cthulhu and Dread are fantastic horror games, but neither one will remotely feel like Supernatural or X-Files. The closest you might get with a more horror-style game is Delta Green. It's based on Call of Cthulhu but it leans far more into the government conspiracy and monster of the week tone of X-Files and shows like Fringe. But the body count of main characters will be dramatically higher than either Supernatural or X-Files.

 

[Voadam]

Other possibilities.

Conspiracy X for for the in-depth government conspiracies with plenty of supernatural monster hunting.

Pulp Cthulhu since you want the characters to not die or go insane in first hitting a monster. Or in going after one each week.

Trail of Cthulhu for the Gumshoe supernatural investigation focus.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the hunting part if you want cinematic and are OK with dynamics of powerful hunter, magic type, and normal with plot points as party members.

I had fun playing in a d20 modern government conspiracy modern monster hunting game.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Here are a few suggestions.

Slayers RPG
In the Slayers RPG you play monster hunters in a mysterious, ever expanding city. The game is a rules lite game with simple mechanics. What makes it interesting is the asymmetrical design for the classes. Each one works in its own way. It gives you interesting options on how you want to approach gameplay. I haven’t played this yet, but it looks like it’d be fun.

The Between RPG
This is the preview edition, which you can get for PWYW. There was recently a crowdfunding campaign on Backerkit for an expanded and complete edition. You play a group of monster hunters in Victorian England, but each has their own haunted past that will be revealed through play, and which will complicate things for the PCs. I played a campaign of this and it was a really interesting game that I would recommend.

Against the Dark Conspiracy RPG
I picked this game up because I love the idea of the game Night’s Black Agents, particularly the Dracula Dossier campaign, but my experiences with the Gumshoe system have been underwhelming. This game offers a similar take on special agents taking on a supernatural conspiracy, though with different rules, and the options of demons and fae in addition to vampires. I’m planning on using this at some point in the future to run Dracula Dossier.

 

[Committed Hero]

Of the choices, Monster of the Week has worked for me. With the caveat that I played a Chosen. I think a strong-willed player might take over the game using that class - or at least turn it into a game of Buffy.

 

[Voadam]

Dark Places & Demogorgons is basically modern day B/X with normal people archetype classes and a sample 80s setting. Set up for Stranger Things monster hunting. The Whole Survive This! compatible game line allows lots of variations from vigilantes to zombie horror to a camp blood thing. The ultimate edition is the deal of the day today at 70% off.

 

[Gorgon Zee]

I have it and have considered it, but I watched a review that claimed it is missing a lot of monster types in its bestiary and that the rules are kind of half-baked, not clear in some places. I should pull it down and read it.

I played in a fantastic 2-year Supernatural campaign, and although we never had issues with the actual rules, the book was terribly organized and it was very hard to work things out.

Overall, I think the game was great becasue of the GM and players. I'd say the rules were OK, but unless you want that exact world to run in, I'd go with Fate or BRP or your other favorite system for real-world gaming.

 

[Arilyn]

I played in a fantastic 2-year Supernatural campaign, and although we never had issues with the actual rules, the book was terribly organized and it was very hard to work things out.

Overall, I think the game was great becasue of the GM and players. I'd say the rules were OK, but unless you want that exact world to run in, I'd go with Fate or BRP or your other favorite system for real-world gaming.

We made characters for Supernatural but weren't too sure about the system. We translated our characters into Fate and had a great time. The Supernatural book worked great as a resource, however.

 

[Simlasa]

Call of Cthulhu and Dread are fantastic horror games, but neither one will remotely feel like Supernatural or X-Files.

That's mostly because those shows were NOT RPGs, they were written to maintain and ongoing series with ongoing characters who needed to come out alive so they could appear in the next episode.
Early Supernatural felt like anything could happen... that it was going to end badly for the protagonists (like a good bit of noir). But several seasons on... when both of the bros had died and come back multiple times... the edge was quite dull and it was kind of lame (IMO).
If you really want that feel, just declare that PCs will never face permadeath... that some author ex machina will find a way to write them into the next session. At that point it's a superhero game (again, IMO).

 

[Jahydin]

My first thought is Savage Worlds + some supplements (Horror Companion, Ripper Resurrected, Monster Hunter International, etc.). I'm biased though since I'm not a huge fan of PbtA games.

I just picked up City of Mist and began flipping though it. Seems like it could be good too if you don't mind a higher power curve?

 

[overgeeked]

That's mostly because those shows were NOT RPGs, they were written to maintain and ongoing series with ongoing characters who needed to come out alive so they could appear in the next episode.

Early Supernatural felt like anything could happen... that it was going to end badly for the protagonists (like a good bit of noir). But several seasons on... when both of the bros had died and come back multiple times... the edge was quite dull and it was kind of lame (IMO).

If you really want that feel, just declare that PCs will never face permadeath... that some author ex machina will find a way to write them into the next session. At that point it's a superhero game (again, IMO).

I disagree.

The problem is that those games are in the horror genre, whereas X-Files and Supernatural are not horror shows, they’re monster hunting / monster of the week show. Yes, death of the main characters is part of it, but that’s not the only or even the main difference.

There’s a huge tonal difference between the horror and monster hunting genres.

Horror is Saw. Monster hunting is Doctor Who.

Call of Cthulhu and Dread are horror games.

X-Files and Supernatural are monster hunting shows.