Hunter: The Reckoning — Ordinary people hunting the monsters of the World of Darkness

"You saw what hides in the dark. There's no forgetting it now."

5th Edition

Diced10 pool

Players3–5

Prep~45 min

Foundry VTTCommunity

Complexity

Vote with your group →

What is this system

Hunter: The Reckoning is horror about people who learned the truth about vampires, werewolves and ghosts and decided to do something about it. The fifth edition (H5, 2022) from Renegade Game Studios runs on the same engine as Vampire V5: a d10 pool, 6+ succeeds, a pair of 10s is a critical. No superpowers here — just your cell, a jury-rigged arsenal and Desperation that climbs when the hunt goes badly. The closer you get, the higher the Danger that the monsters notice you first.

Setting

The modern World of Darkness: our world, where vampires rule from penthouses and werewolves guard the woods. Hunters are not chosen ones but ordinary people with trauma and resolve — a nurse, a biker, a priest, a conspiracy vlogger. They gather in cells, stake out their target and scrounge for weapons. A Creed shapes how they hunt, from enforcers to investigators, and a Drive explains why they fight at all. Bigger players such as the Second Inquisition and the Society of Leopold work the same streets with their own ideas about the hunt.

What it looks like at the table

The basement of an old laundromat. You track the nest by the blood on the floor — Wits 3 + Investigation 3, six dice. The cell's Desperation is 2, so you gamble and add two orange Desperation dice. Regular dice: 7, 2, 6, 9, 3, 10 — four successes. Desperation dice: 1 and 6 — one more. Five successes against Difficulty 4: you find the hatch. But a Desperation die came up 1. You choose to Overreach: the result stands, and Danger rises. Somewhere below, something wakes up.

Playstyle

Horror Mystery Combat Modern Urban Fantasy

Key mechanics

d10 pool (V5 engine)

Roll Attribute + Skill in d10s; every 6+ is a success and a pair of 10s is a critical worth four. Difficulty is how many successes you need. The same engine as Vampire V5 and Werewolf W5.

Desperation

On rolls tied to the hunt, add Desperation dice equal to the cell's level. A 1 on one forces a choice: Overreach (keep the result, raise Danger) or Despair (your faith in your Drive breaks until you redeem it).

Danger

A shared track of how aware the monsters are of your hunt. Noise, witnesses and Overreaches push it up, and the Storyteller answers with ambushes, surveillance and retaliation.

Creeds, Drives and Edges

Five Creeds set how you hunt; a Drive is your personal reason. Edges and Perks are not magic but the cell's know-how: an arsenal, wheels, an archive, a sense for the unnatural.

What people say

If your experience with TTRPGs has started and ended with Dungeons & Dragons, then this is a game to pay attention to.— Claire Jackson, Kotaku

The premise and layout of the book makes it a perfect way to get into TTRPGs, or try a new one if you’re playing the standard ones out there.— Claire Jackson, Kotaku

Art & materials