I love the concept of monster hunts. Researching, specializing, & gearing up to take down a single terrifying beast. Something only possible because of the time hunters spend preparing for the hunt. The cool calculating mentality of going in for the kill, only for things to inevitably go wrong. Where victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat because of a piece of information discovered while researching the target. It is something I have experimented a lot with over the years so I can provide such experiences to my players, and in this article, I hope to share what I have discovered. Going through each step in creating a hunt together. Regardless of the system we run in.
Prepare, Execute, & Gather
These are the three phases any good monster hunt will have. Each of these three compliments each other and builds up to something our players will feel great about overcoming. Because they will have to work for their win and reward. Not just in the fight either. The key concept we need to build this entire adventure around is this creature is dangerous, it's deadly, and it WILL defeat them. No amount of lucky rolls or hair-brained shenanigans will be able to overcome the challenge. Well at least not completely. We are playing TTRPGs after all. Regardless of how the adventure is themed, luck and shenanigans will always play a part. But it won't carry the party.
Preparation will need to be done to find out more about the creature's strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. To get the appropriate tools to counteract the monster's advantages and cover the players' vulnerabilities.
Execution of this plan is the main event. The party takes everything they know and puts it into motion. Discovering things they didn't expect and having to adjust their plan on the fly to retake the advantage.
Finally, gather the spoils of victory. Any creature players have to prepare to take on will have something rewarding that can be taken from its corpse. Something to add some substance to the victory. So let's get to it.
(As a note, when I reference an "average party", I mean a group who would reasonably choose to go after this creature. I am not advocating making a quantum ogre, just a fun hunt)
The Monster
To make our hunt we first need to make the monster & environment. As said previously the monster should be built to defeat an unprepared party. But it should also become easier to kill if time is spent preparing to fight it. The specifics will be decided based on which system you are building this hunt for, but regardless we will need to decide what kind of design we will be using. We can make a monster in many ways. But the three types of designs I found best for the hunt are;
Phase-Based: Where after it’s “killed” it changes its style and fights on with a 2nd or even 3rd health total.
Damage-Based: Where its damage output is increased significantly while also having a major weakness.
Mechanics-Based: Where the only feasible way to slay it is through a mechanic rather than damage.
Let's use an Adult Red Dragon as our example. Huge flying lizards who are well armored, have terrifyingly sharp teeth and claws, and can breathe devastating fire. Those things aren't going to change. What is going to change is how we represent it in a fight, and how our party can overcome its dangers.
A Phased-Based Red Dragon is going to have relatively low health, something an average party could deal with in a challenging fight. They have to put in some effort but they can take it down pretty easily. At least, they could do that with each health total individually. Because as we know "killing" it once isn't going to do it.
Each of the "phases" needs to have a unique threat. Almost like they are fighting a different creature altogether with some of the same abilities. For our red dragon, we can start it off with a Flying Phase. Never landing but just constantly doing fly-bys. Whether it is with its fire breath or a swipe of the claws. The danger here is that the dragon is constantly out of reach and flying.
After "killing" it the first time, we need to transition it to the next phase. Simultaneously showing off its battle damage and it becomes threatening differently. Our Red Dragon probably would be too tired or battle-damaged to fly so it'll land. It'll be within reach of the party now, but its attention will be fully on them too. The threat here could be it attacks more often or its blows strike harder now that it has good leverage down on the ground.
If we wanted to add a third phase the dragon could retreat into its lair. Where the danger would be the unknowns of the terrain. Two or three phases is the sweet spot, any more and it becomes a bit exhausting.
Now for a party to prepare for a fight like this they need to figure out how to get through the phases quickly to deal the final kill. That could be as simple as learning enough about the beast to counter each of its threats. Or it could be negating a phase altogether. If the party decides to fight the dragon in its lair, the flying phase wouldn't happen. Or if they collapsed the lair itself then that phase couldn't possibly happen. Proactive actions like this should be rewarded and phases should be eliminated without them having to fight.
A Damage-Based Red Dragon but comparison is much easier and sets up for a brutal fight. All we need to do is increase the damage the dragon does so an average party member would go down in a handful of swings. Where each blow the dragon deals causes the player to go wide-eyed and realize they can't stand toe to toe with it. Not with their attacks bouncing off its scales or dealing minimal damage.
There are technically two versions of a damage-based monster, Defensive and Tough. They both need to be balanced differently. A Defensive version will be difficult to inflict damage to but have a relatively low health total. While a Tough version will be easy enough to deal damage to, only specific types of attacks will deal meaningful damage. That kind of monster will have a health total an average party could take down with a challenge, but only if they are capitalizing on the dragon's weaknesses.
Regardless of the version we use, our party will need to figure out what the weaknesses of the dragon are. Maybe cold iron cuts through its scales that were enchanted by a fae. Or perhaps its skin is especially sensitive to corrosive acid. The dragon should have two to three of these types of weaknesses the party could discover.
A Mechanics-Based Red Dragon is going to be another simple. It simply can't be defeated until its primary advantage is addressed. The party can hack and slash and blast all they want, and they can even deal damage to it, but there is no way it is going to die before the party does.
For example, a red dragon that has swallowed a gem of regeneration will keep on healing. Maybe not out-healing all damage, but certainly enough so the party would die trying to brute force it. Or maybe the dragon's scales are so thick only minimal damage can make it through except for a small gap on its chest.
Whatever we decide, we need to make sure we also attach it to a threat so it's not easy to exploit. The gap in the dragon's scales might only become exposed when the Red dragon inhales to breathe fire. Or the only way to get to the gem of regeneration is to get INSIDE the dragon. Once our party figures out what it needs to do they'll plan the rest of it themselves. This type of monster sets up the players to go for some interesting plans. Also of note, the health total of a mechanics-based creature should be something an average party could inflict in a challenging fight
Now for this exercise let's use the Damage-Based Red Dragon. It's straightforward enough so we can focus on the other aspects of the adventure. For its weaknesses we will say that cold iron can cut through its scales, its skin is susceptible to acid, and it is blind in its right eye. Not all weaknesses need to be related to dealing damage. It just needs to be something the party can capitalize on. Now let's talk about where the fight is taking place.
The Environment
It is an important part of the hunt. Not only will it be the player's battlefield once the time comes to take on the dragon, but it might house dangers of its own. Let's choose a rocky, volcanic, mountain range. It seems like the natural home of a red dragon that has made it into adulthood. Immediately the party will have several things to worry about. One is finding a place flat enough so the dragon's flight won't be too advantageous. Then of course they'll need to be careful of lava flows and sudden eruptions. And let's not forget the dangers of toxic gasses that are no doubt floating in clouds along the mountainside.
The point here is not to make an unassailable fortress for our monster to live in. It is to make a diverse living environment the party can prepare for. Perhaps even discover ways to use it to their advantage. But the most fun reason is to give ourselves a couple of fun tools to shake up the fight with when it comes. Like everything else, the players should have a fair chance to discover & mitigate the danger if they try. It's not fun for anyone in the middle of the fight if meteors start raining down out of nowhere during the fight. These dangers should also be as neutral as possible, potentially harming our red dragon as well should they be unfortunate, or our players clever, enough.
Now we also want our red dragon to feel connected to its environment. Making the area feel lived in by this legendary beast. While also establishing clues to the monster's capabilities, abilities & weaknesses. Like how there are deep gouge marks on cliff tops where our dragon likes to perch, rock faces that have been blasted deeply to ride the area of cold iron deposits, or how the lava flows that are acidic (yes that is a thing) strangely have no sign the dragon goes near them. Accomplishing two goals at the same time.
The Preparation Phase
After we've finished all our initial prep, it's time to set up for the party. Now you may be asking what we need to do for this section. The good news, we did most of it when making the monster. All its strengths, weaknesses, methods of attack, & other mechanics have been decided at the beginning. All we need to do is decide how that translates in-game. A civilian saying "I once saw it incinerate a dozen soldiers with fire" could mean an attack deals 12d6 fire damage. "You watch the beast glide lazily through the clouds” can be interpreted as it only has a fly speed of 40ft. How exactly the party finds more information will be up to them, and they’ll likely find more creative ways to do it than us. But it is a good idea to have 3 avenues of research on hand to suggest in case our party is struggling. Like going to a library, talking to the locals, or scouting out the mountains nearby.
How in-depth and granular we want to make each act of research is up to us. Make it a full-on side quest or have it be done during downtime, it only matters on how we want it paced. Just allow them to prepare as much as they want. If they want to spend the time, let them discover every aspect of the creature’s stat block. Good preparation should be rewarded because they will most likely need it during the hunt.
I am running a monster-hunting game within my homebrew world of Spiritus. I run it in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition and have it paced so the party completes a full hunt in a single session. They look at a quest board with a bunch of different hunts and choose one. Then they split off into different methods of research. Say one party goes to research in the guild's bestiary and another goes to scout out the mountains. I set a secret DC depending on how difficult that avenue of research is for the particular creature and how long in-game they spend doing it. Depending on how much they beat the DC by they get to ask me several questions I have to answer in the context of how they researched. But ALWAYS give them mechanical clarifications if they asked for that info. It is a sleek system that runs at a quick pace. But this could easily be paced for a multi-session campaign. Just depends on our desires.
The Execution Phase
So the party is ready to slay the beast, there is nothing else to do, right? Wrong, we have location, location, location to worry about. The dangers in traversing the location, any changes in the location since the party learned about it, and lastly the location of the creature itself.
We prepped the environment when we made the monster, and each of these things can and may have been learned in Preparation by the party. But even the most recent information can become unreliable in mere hours. Once our party decides to move out, it's up to us to determine what, if anything, has changed in the environment. Will they encounter other creatures along the way? Will the flat combat area be partially covered in a fresh volcanic eruption, will the dragon stumble upon them earlier than expected? All up to us to decide how we pace things.
If the party bothered to scout things out we should alter or add to one of the three features to add some tension to the party's Execution. Keeping them a little unsteady and causing them to focus on adjusting their plan on the fly. What kind of hunt would it be without a little complication? What is VERY IMPORTANT is we don't completely change the landscape. If the party was planning on using an overhang to jump onto the dragon, don't just cause it to crumble away. Make it a bit more unstable because of an earthquake or partially have it fall away so only a few of the players can use it. NEVER make it completely impossible for a party to do what they planned. It only punishes the players from planning in the first place.
The Gathering Phase
Whether it was for fame, fortune, or favor, a deadly monster will always have its tangential rewards. And this is our opportunity to fill it with adventure hooks, or just more treasure.
A well-rounded monster will have 3 diverse components scavenge-able from its corpse. A red dragon for instance will have scales that could be fashioned into armor, teeth that a blade could be hewn from, and a flammable fluid sack usable as a magical component for alchemist's fire. Though we can make components for anything, having something for a weapon, to enhance, and for a spell/utility component is a good default trio for any slain monster. We shouldn't require a check to gather materials from a corpse either. The challenge was slaying the dragon, not skinning it.
There is of course always the question of more immediate rewards. A dragon’s hoard, a troll’s corpse pit, or the gut of a sarlacc have a certain stigma of holding valuable artifacts. Seeding our monster with nearby riches is fine and sometimes expected, but not always required. If we do leave some additional treasure behind for our players, Why not attach some history to it? A sword with a family crest on it or gold with an unfamiliar mint mark can add to the history & mystery of the now-slain monster. Possibly even invoking more adventures in the process.
With these tips in mind, go forth and create your own memorable monster hunts. I'm sure your players will appreciate a challenge that makes them feel like true heroes.
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