WHAT YOU NEED TO PLAY
Whether you play as a Monster or a Hunter, players are going to need the following things in order to play the game:
MINIATURES
Each player, Hunter or Monster, is represented by a single miniature placed on the board. Whether a stalwart knight or an agile duelist to a lumbering giant, each Hunter or Monster has their own unique attributes. Each one is different and full of character, and can be customised by the player. No two need to be alike in appearance.
RULEBOOK
If you’re new to the hunt, it’s handy to have a copy of the rules with you. After a game or two, however, you should be able to pick up the gist of how the game works, and should only need the rulebook for reference or clarification when appropriate.
MAP TILES
You’ll need any flat surface as the foundation for your game map. A kitchen table or a floor should do. The basic game contains thirty 4” by 4” map tiles, displaying a 1” grid, but should always include one Home tile and one Exit tile. The other twenty-eight tiles in the basic set include: two straight corridors with small rooms, four straight corridors, five dead end corridors with a large room, three t-junction corridors with a small room, four t-junction corridors, two corner corridors with small rooms, four corner corridors, and four crossroad corridors.
GAME CARDS
These cards represent either loot or events discovered when entering a room for the first time. These can range from superior weapons and useful items to traps and hazards.
PEN and PAPER
Players may need at least one pen and paper handy to calculate player scores, and to keep track of health points. This helps prevent forgetfulness and instead helps you concentrate on the game.
DICE
Glory of the Hunt uses six-sided dice to determine how successful actions are. You only need two or three dice to play the game, but it’s recommended to have at least one per player.
THE HUNT
So, how does the Hunt work? To start with, there needs to be space for players to build their map to explore. Each player’s turn is split into tile placing, and movement, followed by ranged and melee combat if applicable. Collecting Glory Points means everything, and means all the difference between victory and defeat.
SETTING UP THE HUNT
Each player controls one character, and there must be at least one hunter, up to a maximum of four, and only one monster. The game is easy enough to set up, just place the Home tile in the middle of your play area, and your four hunters in the four squares in the centre of the tile. The rest of the map is built as you play by placing a new tile next to an existing tile at the beginning of your turn. Think of this as lifting the “fog of war” as you explore, or discovering the layout of an enclosed space you’ve never been to.
DEPLOYING THE CHARACTERS
Hunters always start their game in the centre of the Home tile. The hunters have dropped into the lair of a dangerous creature, assuring that they’ll only leave victorious or die trying. Hunters who have bitten off more than they can chew will have to find another way to escape.
The monster is always deployed after the hunters’ free turn, and always goes last in turn order. It can be deployed in the centre of any empty tile. This is to show the monster coming to investigate the disturbance within its home, or the hunters stumbling across it unprepared.
INITIATING THE HUNT
The monster that the hunters have come to slay is evidently no pushover, and the distinction between hunter and prey becomes faded. Players take turns placing a map tile, moving their character to collect potential loot from rooms, using ranged attacks if they can, and determining close combat if they’re within range.
Movement and combat is determined by rolling dice. In your own turn, you’ll be using dice rolls to hopefully outrun the monstrosity bearing down on you, or at least outrun the nearest hunter, or initiate combat.
In other players’ turns, you may be rolling dice to defend yourself against traps or enemy attacks.
GLORY
The game ends when the hunters have all fled or lie dead, or the monster has been slain. Based on the game’s ending condition, it may be pretty easy to tell who’s won, but there is a points system in the rules to determine who was truly victorious.
HOW TO PLAY
DEPLOYMENT
Place the Home tile in the centre of the play area and place the four Hunters in the centre four squares of the tile. Once this is done, each of the four Hunter players must roll a 6-sided die (also referred to in this guide as a D6) with the highest number going first. Any draws are settled with a roll off until a turn order is settled. The Monster always goes last.
A roll off is simply when two or more players roll a die and the highest number wins.
Players should make sure to read their player cards to know what equipment they start with, removing them from the card deck and shuffling it again before play.
THE HUNTERS’ FREE TURN
With the Hunters deployed, they get a turn to themselves before the Monster arrives. The Monster is a much larger creature that can cover longer distances quicker, and doesn’t rely on equipment for attack and defence. The Hunters’ free turn gives them a chance to expand the map, potentially finding useful items, and spread out before the Monster turns up.
Once each Hunter has had their first turn, the Monster is deployed in the centre of any tile not occupied by a Hunter. The Monster always goes last in turn order, but their turn works in the same way.
THE TURN
Each turn is broken down into placing a new tile, movement and assessing any potential ranged or melee combat.
At the beginning of every turn, a player, both Hunter and Monster, takes a map tile from the face down tile pile and adds it to an existing tile, making sure to connect corridor to corridor. Some tiles may include rooms, as designated by the different floor tiles.
Room tiles contain potential loot, and should have written on them a number of cards to be taken from the card pile and placed face down on the tile. When a Hunter lands on a tile with face down cards, they can flip the card see the potential loot, choosing to either take what they want or leave it for other Hunters. Monsters can’t use items or equipment, but if they land on a tile which contains cards, they can remove them and shuffle them back into the card pile. If there are no more tiles to place, skip straight to movement.
Some room tiles may have a locked door, indicated by a red bar over the doorway. Locked rooms can only be entered by a Hunter carrying a Key.
There is also an Exit tile for players who wish to leave and fight another day. The Exit usually requires a Key to pass through and player who exit retain their score and equipment. It may be considered a selfish move, but sometimes being selfish is necessary for survival.
Each Hunter can equip up to two pieces of equipment, one in each hand, depending on whether a piece of equipment is one handed or two handed. Each Hunter also has an Inventory hand of six cards, which is the maximum amount of items a Hunter can carry that isn’t equipped. Hunters can drop items on the tile they’re currently occupying if undesired, making them free for other Hunters to collect. Hunters can also trade items with other Hunters occupying the same tile.
Now, with a tile placed, the Hunter player rolls a D6 to determine how many spaces they move. For example, if a player rolls a 6, they move up to six spaces. Players can choose not to move. Hunters can pass through spaces containing other Hunters, but can’t land on the same space. Monsters on the other hand, due to their large size, can travel larger distances in less time. Monsters typically move 2D6 (two six sided dice) spaces instead of just D6.
Once a Hunter has moved, they can assess whether they can enter combat, either at a distance or in close. Ranged combat requires the target to be visible down a corridor in a straight line, close combat requires base contact.
Once combat has been determined, the game continues until all Hunters are dead or out of play, or the Monster has been killed.
COMBAT
There are two types of combat, ranged and melee.
Ranged attacks require a clear straight line between the attacker and the target. Each ranged weapon has its own range, detailed on its respective card. This range can be improved by adding the character’s Strength value. For example, a longbow’s range is 2D6 + Strength spaces, and if I roll a 5, a 3 and have a Strength value of 2, the number of spaces the shot will travel is 10.
When throwing an item, such as a throwing knife or a bomb, throwing is judged based on the character profile. Typically, the distance an object can be throw is D6 + Strength spaces. For example, if I roll a 5 and have a Strength of 2, the distance my character can throw and object that turn is 7 spaces in a straight line. A thrown item is discarded.
Now that the distance has been determined, the player must see if their character has the accuracy to hit their target, this is called a To Hit roll. Whether firing a weapon or throwing an item, rolling to hit is the same. With all ranged attacks, rolling To Hit is based on the individual character profile. Specifically, the Dexterity value. Each character statistic, with the exception of health points (HP), is valued 1-5 for Hunters and 1-10 for Monsters and has a corresponding dice roll when applicable:
 |
| Character statistic values and successful dice rolls needed. Numbers in brackets are for re-rolls. |
For example, if my Hunter has a Dexterity value of 2, I would need to roll a 5 and above to successfully hit my target. Typically, rolling a 6 is always a success and a 1 is always a failure, the Monster can choose to re-roll if their first roll failed. The roll needed to succeed in the re-roll is shown in brackets in the table above.
Monsters differ in that they are supernatural creatures with powers beyond the human threshold, so their stat values can go beyond human limits. For example, if a Monster is using ranged attack and has a Dexterity value of 7, they would hit their target on a roll of 2 or above. If their first roll is a, they failed, and they can then re-roll, succeeding on a 5 or above.
When is comes to melee combat, the attacker is required to be in base contact with their target. A character’s Strength value is required to determine their To Hit roll in close combat. For example, if my character has a Strength of 3, they hit their target in melee combat on a 4 and above.
A player can only initiate an attack on their turn, but can defend themselves whenever appropriate. Defending is split into blocking and dodging, determined by the Defence and Evasion values, respectively. When attacked, the target may choose to block or dodge, but be warned some attacks can’t be blocked and ignore Defence. For example, if my character is attacked and they have a Defence of 4 and an Evasion of 2, they have a higher chance of blocking on a 3+ than dodging on a 5+. It’s advised to pick that which you’re character is best at. However, if an attack ignores Defence, be cautious as you’re forced to rely on Evasion.
Monsters inflict a preset amount of damage with their teeth, claws and special attacks that can be enough to instantly kill a Hunter if they’re ill prepared. Hunters rely on items and equipment to increase their damage and defensive capabilities. Certain items can even restore or extend Hunters’ HP. The amount of damage a Monster attack or Hunter weapons does is equal to the amount of HP it removes.
Your character dies when their HP reaches 0. When a Hunter dies, their equipment and items are dropped on the tile they died. When all Hunters are dead or the Monster is dead, the game is over.
GLORY POINTS (GP)
It’s recommended for Hunters to work together to kill the Monster, but it’s not a necessity. Hunters can choose to help or hinder each other, even attack each other if they think it’s necessary to their goal.
The game does end when all Hunters are dead or out of play, or the Monster is slain, but the true winner of the game is determined by the player with the most GP. GP can be acquired by both the Hunters and Monster player by inflicting damage on enemies, earning a point for each of their opponent’s health points removed.
Hunters tally their points individually, but if they choose to team up their scores are combined for as long as they are a team. However, there’s no glory in death! A player who dies has their score reduced to zero. On the other hand, a player who leaves the game via the Exit tile maintains their score. They may be out of the game, but their survival can make them the true winner.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
It’s handy to know a few things about the game’s common principles and some terminology regarding dice and dice rolls. If you’re unfamiliar with tabletop dice games already, these are a few useful things to know before playing.
DICE
Pretty much all dice rolls in Glory of the Hunt use basic six-sided dice, which can also be referred to as a D6. The only other exception to rolling a D6 is rolling a D3 as noted below.
ROLLING A D3
Sometimes you may be asked to roll a D3 to determine a score between 1 and 3. This is easily done by rolling a D6 and halving the score, rounding up to the nearest whole number. So, 1 and 2 = 1, 3 and 4 = 2, and 5 and 6 = 3.
MODIFYING STAT VALUES
Some items and equipment may modify a character’s stat values but increasing them or decreasing them. Note that no matter what plus or minus an item or piece of equipment gives to a Hunter, their stat value cannot go above 5 or below 1. Monsters usually have fixed stats, but may be altered by special rules or effects of enemy attacks. In those cases, a Monster’s stat value cannot go above 10 or below 1.
SPECIAL RULES
Has a special rule been referenced and you’re not sure what it does? This section gives explanations on a few universal special rules such as status effects that may pop up in game.
FLAMING
A weapon that is Flaming deals D3 extra damage to normal enemies and Monsters, calculated after the target has taken an unsaved hit. Rolling a 6 against normal enemies, or 4+ against Flammable enemies, when calculating the extra damage sets them On Fire.
ON FIRE
When On Fire, the character suffers D3 extra damage for D3 turns. In addition, characters who are On Fire and Flammable take D6 extra damage for D3 turns instead.
FLAMMABLE
A character suffering from the Flammable status effect takes D6 damage from fire based damage instead of D3.
