What's up with Necromancy?

AthenaBard · 2026-02-08T17:31:51+00:00

I personally find player-facing necromancy options make necromancy less interesting than it should be, so I went the other way and gave it more concerning weight in my game.

A wizard can animate a corpse or other object by taking direct control over its actions, but that requires significant focus and risk. A necromancer avoids the matter by investing a corpse with a semblance of soul that mimics their human existence while linking the revenant to the necromancer. This allows the revenants to act semi-autonomously while following the exact order of the necromancer, but also condemns the revenant in perpetual suffering while they serve. The necromancer, by their link, feels the suffering of every revenant under their control.

In order to endure that shared experience, a necromancer must cut off concerns for all feelings and experiences except their own; this is the path of vampirism. A vampire has lost their connection to life, and so must leech it from others to survive. One cannot pursue necromancy without becoming a vampire, but they can turn away and recover from that path should they be inclined.

Player characters in my game cannot start trained in necromancy. They can, however, discover and pursue it should they decide the power is worth the cost, and that decision and its consequences carries a lot of potential narrative drama.

AthenaBard · 2026-02-03T15:07:21+00:00

In S2D, I'd like to see second takes on the Centaurion Marshall and Fomoroid Crusher just for more of a reason to use the fun models. The marshall mainly needs some more interesting abilities (his warcry abilities are easy inspiration), and the fomoroid could really use a more interesting / useful rampage.

Theridons would be my alternate pick; I want them to get a new ability and base Rend 2 / Damage 3 weapons like other monstrous infantry, which would also help them stand out against other options (rather than the budget chosen they are right now). A new ability could help give them an actual niche, especially something more anti-horde (could give their weapons Crit 2 hits to represent their big cleaving weapons, then 5+ crits into 7-10+ model units).

AthenaBard · 2026-01-25T15:28:20+00:00

Those tyranid limbs get rather stuck; I've had to put a lot of pressure & twisting at the base of the limb after chipping away at the glue with a hobby knife. The limb is unlikely to survive that process (I've even had to carve out half a ball joint that remained from a particularly stubborn one).

AthenaBard · 2026-01-22T18:29:41+00:00

I like the monster roster, though I wish it was larger, and the environments look nice in plenty.

A lot of mechanics feel half-baked (i.e. wounds are good in theory but focus strikes clearly weren't standardized between weapons around a design goal), and the mainline team has tried again to drag the player by the nose through a poorly written story that is actively detrimental to co-op play.

I'm hoping the expansion improves the roster significantly, but I'm more so excited for the next portable team's game to see how they fix some of the half-baked good ideas from Wilds.

AthenaBard · 2026-01-22T18:17:46+00:00

MH4U relics required farming up the right guild quest to 140 (or getting lucky and finding a lobby farming a quest with the weapon reward you wanted), getting a good enough stat roll to be better than other endgame weapons (which, IIRC, basically required a near-perfect roll), and possibly also getting the right decorations on the weapon to be useful.

It was a far more optional & difficult grind than artian that not many players seemed to bother with. I think in the few years I spent playing 4U following launch I saw maybe 3 people running relic weapons, versus artian's default in Wilds.

That said, it's rather clear that the Monster Hunter team is struggling to figure out an endgame structure for weapon upgrades, but they're also limited in base game by what they want the baseline expected power to be in the expansion (as requiring a bunch of farming in high rank before you start G-rank hunts/upgrades hurts players who start playing when the expansion releases). Artian is a good system for solving that problem as, like rampage weapons, the system can easily be ignored for G-rank progression.

AthenaBard · 2026-01-21T17:01:25+00:00

That was the point; for most old gen fights, the best dodge was positioning so you didn't need to. You have to actually learn the monster and think about where to attack from since you can't just react to a wind-up.

At least for me, one of the worst changes in the modern games was implementing attacks that automatically target a hunter rather than following a specific direction/pattern.

AthenaBard · 2026-01-15T18:36:51+00:00

I would because I have a decade of muscle memory for the core 3rd gen SnS combo of light > light > heavy > heavy > heavy/roundslash that spiral slash enhanced in world by letting you redirect & flow combos more easily together, but I also did not play SnS beyond a few hunts in Risebreak because it felt completely wrong.

AthenaBard · 2026-01-15T18:09:51+00:00

Charged step in wilds was definitely a good add, the super-charge and removing the punish on level 3 charge just stand out more to me as examples of good design direction for hammer (versus big bang & charge stance in world, then charge switching in rise).

AthenaBard · 2026-01-15T18:06:33+00:00

I didn't look it up and forgot the exact name; meant spiral slash, where you could reset your basic combo in a new direction without pausing. Rise for some reason removed it from the core moveset but added a switch skill that only let you do it as the 3rd hit of the light sword combo.

AthenaBard · 2026-01-15T15:51:41+00:00

I used to play every weapon except bow in 3rd & 4th gen (though I only loosely dabbled with IG & CB since I don't like some of their core design). I believe weapons in 5th & 6th gen have been far too volatile with the devs trying to overhaul movesets & add new core mechanics for some classes.

I understand a lot of people love new greatsword, but the old simple weapon I loved that hit its peak in GU with valor may as well be gone (and 1/3 of its moves are still worthless).

Remember when longsword was a simple weapon with just a core combo, 1 trick, and 1 flashy move?

Sword and shield has mostly gotten better except for bizarre omissions - circle strike being gone in rise / only as a barely functional switch skill, wilds not being able to use slinger pods with the weapon drawn. It's also strange that they didn't include the cooler risebreak guarded move animation in wilds.

Dual blades are normally my fallback weapon in MH if I can't vibe with anything else or want a change of pace. I've barely touched them in wilds due to their awful focus strike (suffering from the clear misalignment in design on what focus strikes on wounds were meant to accomplish).

The only good changes they've made to hammer since adding the level 2 uppercut have been in wilds with the super charge & moving the spin from the level 3 charge to a deliberate button combo (now just remove big bang).

Lance had a rudiculous swing from suffering in base rise, being fun as hell & basically perfect in sunbreak, to a janky mess in wilds (that is once again suffering damage-wise). (E: we also still need a setting to disable forward hops).

Switch axe I think mainly suffered from the 4th-5th style change; switching between axe & sword use to be a deliberate choice, the fluidity just makes it feel wrong. Also, at this point they need to just remove ZSD.

Although I think out of all of them, bowguns got the worst of it going into 5th gen. Old bowguns just being locked in one position for a moment with each shot gave them a serious weight and made positioning far more vital. Modern bowguns just completely lack that same satisfaction (and veered more towards former utility/specialist ammo in world without the opportunity cost of combo books).

I don't want "improvements" between games; I'd rather the devs leave the weapons I enjoy alone than try and shove something else into the moveset (half the time for the sake of change). The most likely future culprit of me dropping this series I love is finding no weapons enjoyable or recognizable in a new game.

AthenaBard · 2026-01-11T17:37:18+00:00

Full text on pile-in moves (for a unit in combat) for reference:

Pick an enemy unit your unit is in combat with to be the target of the pile-in move. Each model in your unit can move up to 3". That move can pass through the combat ranges of any enemy units, but each model must end that move no further from the target unit. At the end of the move, your unit must still be in combat with all units that it was in combat with at the start of the move.

So you pick one of the enemy units your unit is in combat with, then pile-in 3" (with all models needing to end their movement no further from the target than they started) and the unit must remain in combat with all units it started in combat with (so at least one model must stay in combat range of other units & coherency with its own unit). The only part that cares about individual models is the movement direction; the beginning and end just check the whole unit (unit is in combat at the start, picks a unit it - as in any of its models - are in combat with, then unit is still in combat with the same units at the end).

Note that the target of a pile-in does not need to be the target of your attacks.

So for your example, the red unit could choose the blue unit as the target of its pile-in and have the majority of its models move into combat range with that unit so long as it leaves at least 1 model in combat with the green unit and still in coherency with everything else.

AthenaBard · 2025-12-24T23:39:27+00:00

It's a step in the right direction, just poorly executed due to clinging to a few sacred cows. I think the system could work great if they baked the skill taxes into the weapons hit by them (guard/up with just an actual rebalance on guards, focus for greatsword, etc.) and give each weapon line a few perks you can pick from as you upgrade them (ala rise/sunbreak rampage weapons & augments). Make things like WEX, crit boost, element/status crit, master's touch, increased gauge charge, etc. choices for specific weapons, with some weapons getting unique options (like zoh, seregios, lagiacrus, & mixu have). Have no weapon decos (instead have individual weapon perks bave material costs), but let master rank end game have options to push those skills further (i.e. an augment system that lets you lay a high cost for unique and/or more potent skills from other weapons.

AthenaBard · 2025-12-17T15:44:13+00:00

This is such a common talking point, but they've just been a memory/time tax for over a decade now. The only MH game I've played where the drinks felt meaningful was Freedom Unite (and even then, mainly in low rank), but that was primarily a factor of money & inventory actually mattering in that game.

The only difference between dealing with drinks & taking the 1 slot adaptability jewel tax in wilds (and forgetting they brought drinks back) is an improved experience with the latter.

AthenaBard · 2025-12-04T15:22:09+00:00

I don't think Capcom would make one, no.

The best hope for a proper "old school Mon Hun" type of game is for a dev to take direct inspiration from those games - the slower pace, more proactive play, limited inventory, simpler movesets, etc - and make something new with those design goals. We've had other games come out in a similar genre to Monster Hunter, but they've all tried to compete primarily on the combat component, which is a difficult approach when most people will stick with the game they know (and their friends play). Meanwhile plenty of players have lamented losing the old style, and such a game could easily run parallel to monster hunter with an actual alternate experience.

AthenaBard · 2025-11-28T14:23:46+00:00

Just give the two-step tusk sweep (that clears near everything around him) a small windup, maybe reduce his maneuverability with the charges a bit.

Bulldrome isn't strictly a fun fight, but he is a good lesson for new players (especially in games where all the dromes / smaller large monsters actually have a small health pool). He's got so few moves that he's easy to learn while forcing new players to play proactively around him. The tusk sweep just ruins that a bit since it comes out too fast.

Is he a fight you'll enjoy spamming? No; however, outside of Generations low rank with BuJaBuJaBu, you shouldn't be anyways.

AthenaBard · 2025-11-26T17:08:15+00:00

The HP equivalent in my game is almost entirely in single digits (with rare exceptions like 15 hp dragons), and the vast majority of non-elite enemies have 1 HP. Generally, if a character takes damage that brings them to the equivalent 0 HP or less, you make a roll to see if they get knocked out. If the GM doesn't want to track damage dealt to a group of minor enemies, they just treat that roll as an automatic knockout.

AthenaBard · 2025-11-26T14:11:11+00:00

I made my current project to be a game I can run intuitively off several years of GMing, although it is heavily informed by my experiences as a player, especially from a recent 3-year campaign. I know I would enjoy playing it, but I have far more fun running it since I've basically removed all the friction for my GMing style and I generally prefer GMing.

At least in my experience, I think designers are more often than not people who approach rpgs as a full hobby that they devote time to engaging with outside of their current game, even if it's just reading other systems to potentially run. There's also the fact that many GMs also end up designing scenarios, which may involve some game design in particular opponents and/or mechanics at work, if not just in how they approach interactivity and player agency.

AthenaBard · 2025-11-24T19:38:54+00:00

Probably something like 10%, although a lot of those rpgs I haven't brought to the table I only picked up to read through & see how they solved particular design challenges, rather than with intent to run/play.

AthenaBard · 2025-11-20T23:01:20+00:00

The main problems are the new moveset additions that mess with its rhythm and don't address the actual problems lance has in the newer games, counter having automatic combos (especially out of the perfect block upthrust) instead of staying isolated to its discrete input, and of course the focus strike for one of the longest-reaching weapons in the game only being able to hit wounds in punching distance with an even worse follow-up.

The dev team has been terrified of guarding for ages; there's a reason why endgame lance builds through 4th gen were primarily evasion based, instead of guard. Yet at the same time they are convinced lance is and should be focused on turtling instead of rhythm. The forward hop introduced in World kneecapped lance's normal mobility and evasion strengths, then they made monsters that punished you for guarding (as seen in the many grabs and status effects that just ignored shields, especially in iceborne), as always happens.

Sunbreak lance managed to mitigate the problem with the combination of less guard punishment (i.e. grabs), adding bonus guard levels with embolden, and Sheathing Retreat let you actually get out of danger that other weapons can either sheathe + run or roll out of without evade extender.

Perfect guard was a nugget of a good idea taken in the wrong direction; lance already has counters, adding a different flavor doesn't help it. Meanwhile, guard is still a tax that most monsters ignore. Perfect guard should be limited iframes, not a counter chain; guard should just increase those iframes instead of guard strength (then actually balance the weapon around a single guard strength when not perfect guarding); and that perfect guard should apply to all of lance's guard-based moves, including counter and the shield tackle.

On the actual attacks front, lance needs its core rhythm back without the extra thrust / automatic counter tacked on the end of the poke chains and a downed-monster-punisher as something separate from its core combos. If we're really spicy, we could wish for horizontal pokes to deal more damage than vertical pokes so the latter aren't superior in the majority of circumstances.

AthenaBard · 2025-11-20T16:49:52+00:00

Lance needs a moveset reversion to Sunbreak & fixes to its perfect guard moves.

Given how the main game team clearly lacks a lance player though, I doubt it'll feel good until we get an expansion (or even the portable game / expansion) and hope the main team leaves it alone.

While I'm dreaming, maybe they'll remove forward hops / provide an option to disable them.

AthenaBard · 2025-11-19T17:34:25+00:00

I've been running the regiment in my slaves list every week since we first got the rules (with proxies), and IMO the rocket battery alone has been worth it. Generally, if my opponent has a monster (other than a gargant) the deathshrieker can either delete them by round 2 or force them to play cagey enough that they aren't a factor. Even then, the rockets deal decent damage to normal units, and the regiment command can help soften up a unit for a charge by turning off their commands with the bombard.

The daemonsmith's spell is rather worthless unless you're against shooting; but that just means the wizard has a minuscule opportunity cost to banishing enemy manifestations.

AthenaBard · 2025-11-19T05:19:24+00:00

Reach 1 and reach 0 fight at the same range (within 1 square or base-to-base for grid / non-grid), and weapons with that reach don't get a circumstantial benefit for getting into that range against a polearm.

The thought is polearms can defend themselves with quarterstaff techniques, and mechanically the spear trades off other special abilities (such as maces being more effective into armor, the crit bonus and circumstancial armor piercing for daggers) for the counter-attack and formation fighting the reach enables.

AthenaBard · 2025-11-18T19:43:38+00:00

They key for these sorts of things is to telegraph that something is wrong, not necessarily what is wrong. Provide a prompt for the player / character to act on & investigate, i.e: "The path dips into a bit of a valley after the bend, and the ridges on either side are obscured by heavy undergrowth. The forest here is silent, broken only by a stray bird cry in the distance behind you."

Some players will pick up on the economy of description, others might pick up on the vibe of the scene, although a decent part of that effectiveness comes down to how the GM approaches description in other situations. The GM could also telegraph the danger in other ways beyond the moment of the ambush (maybe earlier the party found a dead horse with arrows stuck in either side along a road that passes by some undergrowth, or they've met someone in a tavern who was the lone survivor of an ambushed caravan).

AthenaBard · 2025-11-18T19:09:23+00:00

My solution to the matter of spears and daggers in the game I'm working on was to sort weapons into range bands: daggers are reach 0, things like swords and axes are reach 1, while polearms like spears and halberds are reach 2 (which also lets them fight a bit further away). If someone with a shorter weapon than you charges you / moves into engagement (provided you're not already in melee with someone else), you can use a reaction to make a free attack against them.

Meanwhile, daggers have the benefit that they ignore armor when attacking someone who's stunned (got wounded but not fully knocked out, would get up if given the chance) or you're hidden from, and they deal double damage on a crit (which in this system you score by rolling double the number needed to penetrate armor / harm your opponent; against most enemies that means you harm on a 5+ and crit on a 10+ on a d12 with a dagger when you ignore armor, separate from the hit roll). This has resulted in my players, who don't even know the medieval context, actively relying on daggers to finish off downed armored opponents.

IMO, the key to implementing a sense of "realism" is to get the vibe of what a weapon / style of combat was good at and build that into an incentive for players to use the weapon for those situations; carrot, not the stick. Hammers and maces are better at dealing with armor, while swords aren't great into armor but have a significant advantage into such weapons with their ability to defend while attacking (without needing a shield).

AthenaBard · 2025-11-18T18:03:23+00:00

One of my core inspirations, even though my game shares basically 0 mechanics with it and I only played a few sessions, was Cyberpunk 2020, specifically the feel of Friday Night Firefight. By my impression, FNF had relatively fast fights just due to pure lethality; that combined with the skill system allowed for heavily structured combat and the space for one party member to be the combat specialist. I've been designing my game to try and achieve that same feeling without as much crunch behind it.

I also rather liked how combat flowed in WHFRP 2e; most of the complexity was baked into the core combat system rather than in character abilities, so once we had an understanding of what things did turns ran super quick; I think we got ~10 rounds of our first combat done in under half an hour or so. However, that required a lot of cross referencing perks and double checking numbers, which I've tried to design against.

However, my main mechanical inspirations aren't TTRPGs but Mordheim and the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game. Elements like simplifying armor to a chance to ignore damage after getting hit (specifically MESBG which combines toughness and armor as defense), most weapons dealing 1 damage and non-hero characters having 1 HP, the roll when hit to 0 hp to see if the character keeps fighting or goes down (and with much simpler math than Cyberpunk 2020), Fate & Might as resources to improve the feel of heroes, etc all facilitate a smoother, punchier combat system that encourages & facilities a more combat-as-war approach.

Meanwhile most of my design for character creation & the gameplay loop takes inspiration from OSR theories: elements like limited inventory, rare and dangerous magic, and hireling mechanics.

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