Hunt Phase

One of the main game phases for Kingdom Death: *Monster* alongside the Settlement Phase and the Showdown Phase. During the Hunt Phase, players will choose a quarry, set up the hunt board and trigger hunt events until a showdown begins or the hunt fails.

## Hunt Phase Steps

### Table Setup

Place the hunt board (the opposite side of the settlement board) on the table. Place the players gear rids, and record sheets of the survivors that compose the hunt team on the table.

### Choose Your Quarry

Before departing on a hunt, the players will choose a quarry from the list of available monster of the Quarry List of their Settlement Record Sheet. Some monsters cannot be hunted, and only appear as a result of story events or nemesis encounters on the timeline (i.e. the Butcher, Slenderman or The Hand). If this is a nemesis encounter, skip the hunt phase and move directly to the showdown.

#### Choose the Monster Level

The players should decide the level of the monster. Higher level monster typically grant rare resources and gear, though the higher the level, the more difficult it will be to hunt and defeat.

### Set Up the Hunt

The hunt is the survivors' journey to find their quarry. Survivors travel along the hunt board, facing perils along the way.

#### Hunt Board

The Hunt Board has 13 spaces, including a starting space, the Overwhelming Darkness space, and the Starvation space.

#### Hunt Event Cards

There are three types of hunt event cards, basic hunt event cards, monster hunt event cards and special hunt event cards. Basic hunt event cards describe events survivors may encounter out in the darkness; monster hunt event cards describe events that occur while tracking a specific monster; and special hunt event cards are triggered when survivors have specific gear or meet certain gameplay criteria.

#### Hunt Board Setup

Each monster's story event has a diagram of the hunt board showing where to place a monster's hunt event cards and the monster's miniature.

1. Shuffle the monster's hunt event cards. Place one monster hunt event card from the deck facedown on all spaces indicated with an "E" on the hunt board diagram.

2. Place one basic hunt event card in every open space on the hunt board except those occupied by a monster hunt event card, the Start space, the Overwhelming Darkness space and the Starvation space.

3. Place any special hunt event cards on any space except those occupied by the Start space, the Overwhelming Darkness space and the Starvation space. The only exception to this rule is The Forest Gate special hunt event card, that is always placed on the Overwhelming Darkness space.

4. Place the monster's miniature on the hunt board, according to its level, in the space indicated on the hunt board diagram.

5. Place the departing survivors on the Start space of the hunt board.

### Hunt Your Quarry

Survivors take turns as the event revealer. The event revealer draws the top event card in the survivors' current space, reads it aloud to the other players, and follows the rules on the card. When an event is complete, the card is archived and the next survivor becomes the event revealer. If no cards remain in the survivors' space, the survivors move one space toward the monster and the event revealer draws the top event card in the new space and follows the rules on the card.

Hunt event cards are resolved one at a time, from top to bottom. Unless compelled to move by an event, the survivors must resolve all hunt events in their currently occupied space before moving. The monster does not move unless an event specifies otherwise.

If there are not hunt event cards on a hunt board space when the survivors move into the space, the event revealer makes 1 roll on the hunt event table before the survivors can move to the next hunt board space unless specifically directed to skip spaces.

During each hunt, the first time the survivors land on the Overwhelming Darkness space, trigger the Overwhelming Darkness story event instead of rolling on the hunt event table.

#### Find the Quarry

If the survivors move into the same space as the monster on their hunt turn, the hunt phase is over, and the Showdown Phase begins immediately. Do not resolve any hunt events (except Starvation) on the hunt board space occupied by the monster.

#### Hunt Event Cards

Most basic hunt event cards are identical and direct the event revealer to roll on the hunt event table to determine what happens next. Some basic hunt event cards introduced in expansions (e.g. Baby and the Sword, Object of Desire, Dead Warrior, etc.) have event text printed on them and will be resolved by reading the card.

The basic hunt event table lists 100 possible events the survivors may encounter. The event revealer rolls "1d100" to randomly determine the event. Tol roll 1d100, take 2d10 and nominate one die to be tens and one die to be ones. Roll them together for a result between 1 and 100.

*Ex: If the tens die result is "3", and the ones die result is "5", the event number is "35". Trigger hunt event 35 on the hunt event table, read it aloud, and resolve it.'*

#### Reaching Overwhelming Darkness

The first time in a hunt the survivors move into the Overwhelming Darkness space, they trigger the Overwhelming Darkness story event.

The survivors cannot skip Overwhelming Darkness. If they move, through the space for any reason, instead, stop the hunt board movement and resolve Overwhelming Darkness (before any other events or effects on this space). Resolve any other events on this space then continue to the next space on the hunt board.

If for some reason, the survivors move into or through Overwhelming Darkness more than once in a single hunt phase, treat it as a blank space.

#### Reaching the Forest Gate

The Flower Knight and Spidicules hunt board setup places the Forest Gate special hunt event card over the Overwhelming Darkness space. When survivors encounter this space, trigger The Forest Wants What It Wants story event. The space retains all of its normal rules, and cannot be skipped or ignored.

#### Gaining Gear on the Hunt

If a survivor gains gear during the hunt phase, they may add it to their grid immediately. If their gear grid is full, they must either archive the acquired gear (unless it is cursed) or another piece of gear from the gear grid to make room for the new gear. A gear grid may not be rearranged when this occurs, and the item cannot be added to another survivor's gear grid.

#### Event Damage

Survivors may suffer damage during the hunt. This is event damage and is non-lethal. Event damage will still reduce armor points and insanity, cause light and heavy injuries, but will not cuase severe injuries or brain trauma. Any damage accrued on the hunt persists into the showdown phase.

Any tokens gained on the hunt remain through the aftermath of the following showdown or the beginning of the next settlement phase, which ever comes first.

#### Severe Injuries and Brain Trama

In special cases, survivors may suffer severe injuries or brain traumas during the hunt. The cases will be clearly indicated on an event.

Apply any attribute modifiers, impairments, and restrictions from injuries and brain traumas suffered on the hunt to the showdown that follows it (including bleeding tokens). If you must skip the next hunt as a result of an injury, this refers to the next hunt, not the remainder of the current one.

#### Retire on the Hunt

If a survivor retires during the hunt, they participate in the coming showdown and return to the settlement with any victorious survivors. When they return, they retire, never to hunt again.

#### Death of the Hunt

If survivors perish during the hunt phase, all of their gear (except any gear with the irreplaceable rule) returns to the settlement storage unless the event states otherwise. It may not be used by the remaining survivors on the hunt.

#### Ambush

If the monster moves into the survivors' hunt board space, the survivors are ambushed End any current hunt events and start the showdown immediately.

If the survivors are ambushed by the monster, they must skip their first turn. In most case, this means that the monster will take two turns.

Some hunt events allow the survivors to ambush the monster. When the monster is ambushed, survivors may choose to go first in the showdown. Do not follow the setup rules for terrain on the monster's story event. Instead, place the listed showdown terrain, the monster, and survivors on the showdown board as the players decide (setup rules on terrain cards must still be followed).

#### Compulsory Movement

Some hunt events or effects may move the survivors. When this happens, move the group the indicated number of spaces forward or backwards. The survivors cannot move past the Start space or the Starvation space.

#### Monster Movement

Monsters cannot move off of the hunt board. If a hunt event, effect, or rule would move a monster off the hunt board, they stop on the last space.

#### Starvation

If you fight a monster on the Starvation space, the hunting team takes too long to bring food back home. Apply the rules of the Starvation space of the hunt board (lose 1d5 resources from the storage).

#### The Hunt Fails

If the survivors perish on the hunt, the Hunt Phase ends and the quarry is lost.

Apply the rules on the Starvation space of the hunt board. The lantern year is over, and a new Settlement Phase begins.

#### Run Away

If the settlement has innovated Pictographs, survivors may attempt to flee. After a hunt event is resolved, you many nominate any number of survivors and trigger the Run Away story event. Each nominated survivor rolls individually on the story event.