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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AttentionHorse" data-source="post: 9562946" data-attributes="member: 7049279">It's time for The Hunt.[ATTACH=full]393948[/ATTACH]This is the meat of the game, the main course. The game is very focused on combat, you can clearly see it in the various abilities (techniques, traits, conditions), since most of them are about fighting a monster. So how does it work exactly?There are 40 monsters in the game, each has a big description and a lot of stats and traits - the bestiary is honestly pretty huge and crazy, it takes up 1/4 of the book. You can fight everything - birds that spew fire, ice spiders, huge hyenas, armored moles...[ATTACH=full]393949[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]393950[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]393951[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]393952[/ATTACH]Without going into lore too much, Wilders mostly hunt monsters that are infected with a disease called Frenzy which makes them aggresive and dangerous to everything around them. You're pretty much playing a woodsman or gamekeeper, not a vicious hunter that kills for sport or fun.Each monster has a bunch of stats, traits etc.:[ATTACH=full]393953[/ATTACH]Traits are special abilities that can be activated by using some action points (more on that later) or by using extra successes during tests. Each monster also has Parts, and each part has its own durability and abilities. When you destroy a part the ability changes or is deactivated. Book also describes behavior of each monster so that the GM knows how to use it during combat. The "AI" of monsters is so specific in its rules that they take actions almost automatically without GM input - I like that, it makes it so that Wilders can really get to know specific patterns of attacks and abilities during combat and use them to their advantage.[ATTACH=full]393954[/ATTACH]Distance in combat is abstract, it is always measured relative to the monster. You can either get closer to it, farther, or change levels up and down (underwater, climbing trees etc.). When the monster gets closer to someone, their token instead gets closer to the monster on the map. Very simple.Combat options during The Hunt are numerous. Each Wilder gets 3 action points every turn and can attack in various ways, brace for impact, improvise, eat snacks, repair their weapon, taunt, use traits. The list is long, and cheat sheet is required. Monsters take their turns between players turns. They can take short turns (1 action) and one time in round they can take a long turn (3 actions).One interesting thing is that the damage is extremely swingy. Each Wilder has 3 hp bars, each one has 20 points. Every time a bar gets depleted Wilder gets a wound. The result of the Action die is damage dealt, so since monsters are always rolling a d20 as an action die, that means that you can get slightly grazed or instantly lose whole hp bar. There are even combat actions that allow Wilders and Monsters to double or triple their damage. Since I haven't played the game yet I don't know how it works at the table, but it looks like the game rewards careful observation of the monsters, their tells, their intended attacks and bracing before taking damage. It's very Monster Hunter (duh) and kinda soulslike.I have to mention the excellent addons for the game that really make it easier for the GM to run it. There's a GM screen, cards with every condition and technique, area cards and monster cards. Here's the awesome thing - you can slot the cards in a pocket at the top of the GM screen so that the players see the area they're in or the monster they're fighting, and at the same time GM sees all the important information on the other side of the card. Very helpful and looks cool.[ATTACH=full]393957[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]393958[/ATTACH]I won't get into the specifics of every action, weapon, technique, traits etc. but it looks like the combat can be very intense and rewarding, with a lot of moving parts and various tactics. Each monster presents a different challenge and requires player cooperation. From what I've heard one of the main inspirations for the game was Lancer and DnD 4E, which definitely shows, although Wilderfeast isn't nearly as crunchy as those games.Next - The Feast!</blockquote>

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