Hunter: The Reckoning vs Monsterhearts
Compare Hunter: The Reckoning and Monsterhearts side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Hunter: The Reckoning | Monsterhearts | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Horror, Modern |
| Tags | Investigation, Mystery, Character-Driven, Gritty, Deadly, Atmospheric, Social Combat, Strong GM Support, Lore-Heavy, Urban Fantasy | Narrative, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Drama, Roleplay-Heavy, Playbook-Driven, Player-Only Rolls, Theater of the Mind, Collaborative, Atmospheric |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a pool of d10s, usually an Attribute plus a Skill. Each 6 or higher is a success. Meeting the Storyteller's Difficulty wins. Each pair of 10s counts as four successes. On tests within their creed's Field, Hunters may choose to add Desperation Dice equal to the cell's shared Desperation rating. A 1 on any Desperation Die turns a win into a choice: keep it and raise the cell's Danger, or fail and enter Despair. A failed test with a Desperation 1 always causes Despair. | When a move calls for dice, roll 2d6 plus Hot, Cold, Volatile, or Dark. A 10+ is good, a 7–9 is complicated, and a 6 or less lets the MC introduce unpleasant consequences. Strings represent emotional leverage that characters can spend during interactions, while the MC never rolls dice. |
| Dice | d10 dice pool | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $ |
| Publisher | Renegade Game Studios | Buried Without Ceremony |
| Year | 2022 | 2017 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish | English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish |
| Best For | Groups who want investigation-heavy modern horror in which a cell of ordinary people researches, plans, and confronts a monster at real personal risk. | Groups who want collaborative teen-monster horror driven by desire, social leverage, and messy relationships. It suits an MC ready to discuss boundaries and facilitate safety practices. |
| Highlights | Desperation rises after the cell's setbacks, so mounting trouble adds both dice and risk to later Field tests. Overreach lets a player keep a win by raising the cell's Danger, which escalates the quarry's response against the whole cell. Monsters have weaknesses Hunters can discover, so research pays off as concrete advantages in the final confrontation. | Strings turn emotional leverage into a spendable resource, so relationships mechanically shape influence and risk. Every Skin carries distinct moves and an economy that gives each monster archetype a different mechanical focus. A fifth advance unlocks Season Advances for everybody, then the current session plus one more session take the campaign toward its close. |
| Considerations | Desperation Dice apply only to tests within a Hunter's creed Field, so a character's signature boost sits idle outside that specialty. The book recommends ending most conflicts after about three turns, which leaves little room for extended tactical combat. The content warning covers themes such as sexual violence and torture, so groups should calibrate boundaries before play. | The game addresses sex, abuse, and trauma, and it calls for upfront conversations about boundaries. Physical violence uses the Lash Out Physically move, resolving harm through immediate consequences rather than a separate combat procedure. Strings and Conditions shape social interactions, while Skin-specific resources add extra tracking. |