I’m looking for a role-playing game where players can become monster hunters by tracking creatures using their behaviors, trails, and other clues—kind of like a detective/mystery hunt mixed with monster battles. The time period isn’t super important to me; I’m open to anything. I’ve already checked out The Witcher TTRPG and Vaesen, but they didn’t quite fit what I wanted. Anyone know RPGs that focus more on investigation and hunting monsters with this kind of approach?
5 Answers
If you’re into urban fantasy, Chronicles of Darkness and specifically Hunter: The Vigil are designed around people hunting monsters in a modern setting. You get to investigate supernatural creatures and deal with their weirdness in a pretty immersive way. It’s a solid pick if the setting works for you.
You might want to check out some of the Gumshoe system games like Trail of Cthulhu, Night’s Black Agents, or Esoterrorists. These games shine when it comes to clue-finding and investigation, which fits well if you want players tracking monsters by their trails and habits. Plus, the companion books like The Book of Unremitting Horrors and Hideous Creatures have tons of creepy monsters that you can adapt easily and use clues to hunt them down.
For something a bit more mechanical and pulp-action flavored, Hero System’s Pulp Hero setting has some solid options, plus there’s an official Monster Hunter International supplement if that fits your style. Also, Wilderfeast is a newer game with a cool blend of tracking, fighting, and even cooking monsters, which adds a unique twist if you want something fresh and fun.
Wilderfeast sounds wild, definitely going to explore that one! Cooking monsters is such a cool angle to add to the hunt.
Monster of the Week comes up a lot and for good reason—it’s pretty much built around hunting monsters in a Buffy or Supernatural-style format. If you’re into something similar but a bit more modern and with slightly different mechanics, Bump in the Night is a neat alternative. Plus, if you want something with a Victorian era vibe and killer mystery mechanics, The Between is also highly recommended for monster hunters and provides a fantastic investigative feel.
Thanks! I’ll definitely look into these, especially The Between since the mystery angle sounds really promising.
Call of Cthulhu might surprise you as a pick here. While it’s usually associated with Eldritch horrors, it’s super strong on investigation and clue-gathering, so you can totally run it with any kind of monsters. Delta Green is a modern extension that amps up the government conspiracy and monster hunting in a dense, atmospheric way too, which might be exactly the blend of hunt and mystery you’re after.
Oh yeah, Fear Itself is another great Gumshoe game that’s more horror movie themed and could fit that vibe too!