Modern monster hunter weapons

Neither does Monster Hunter technically, your point?

Edited by sifsand on Jun 12th 2019 at 7:00:05 AM

Now, I’m not too familiar with Monster Hunter, but doesn’t the Hunter’s guild in that game require new recruits to pass certain examinations and undergo physical training? At least, unless they’re already super-skilled when they register.

It’s also set in a high fantasy world, rather than a realistic modern one.

If you want to have relatively modern weaponry and still be relatively unconstrained, the best thing to do would be to set it on some sort of vaguely western frontier

As far as I'm aware the games make no mention of any prior training.

Last time I played a Monster Hunter game was back on PS2, but there were a series of missions set in a training academy for new players, implying that they trained new hunters. The wiki also says that new hunters have to register officially and take aptitude tests.

Keep in mind, again, that Monster Hunter takes place in a high fantasy setting. A modern setting has slightly different constraints. A police academy or certification course is more or less the modern equivalent of registration and aptitude testing anyways.

My suggestion would be to make monster hunting a more informal/underground activity. Not necessarily a job, more of a pastime. Perhaps the police or military take care of very dangerous or aggressive monsters but the more basic ones are hunted for sport by civilians, similar to the real world difference between official game wardens/animal control experts and hunters.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 12th 2019 at 7:48:21 AM

Monster Hunter also has a Guild which regulates the actions of the Hunters. This suggests a licencing system to keep track of each hunter. We can presume that the Guild either trains or examines hunters before throwing them into the fray if only to ensure they understand the rules.

Edited by Belisaurius on Jun 12th 2019 at 12:12:39 PM

I did include a registration at the beginning, there's also branches of the organization in every major country. Nepotism might've taken a role in the MC enrolling but I'm leaving that open.

I don’t think there’s any way this organization could get away with not training recruits. At least, not without breaking suspension of disbelief.

I mean, think about it. Provided this is set in the US, hunters would need carry permits to be able to bring their firearms out and about. Carry permits almost universally require a firearms course. An organization this large wouldn’t waste their time sending people out to different places, they’d just run the course themselves. And at that point it would simply be a matter of common sense to teach the recruits some other stuff as well. You wouldn’t want half your recruits killed in their first fight because they didn’t know a damn thing about monsters or about guns. Hell, you wouldn’t want a bunch of totally untrained novices walking around your HQ with loaded guns either. That’s just asking for a ND.

Don’t forget that this is a job as well. Even non-combat jobs have seminars and training courses to familiarize new employees with the structure and policy of the company they now work for.

Tell you what, I'll introduce a training course to clear confusion

It doesn’t need to be anything crazy, but realistically for a profession that carries weapons there are inevitably standards. Police officers still have NDs every now and then and they’re trained professionals, imagine if it was a bunch of people with zero firearms experience whatsoever walking around. Someone with no experience doesn’t know the four rules, they don’t know how to safely clear their weapon, they don’t know how to disassemble and care for it, that’s an incredibly dangerous situation.

Guns aren’t complicated, but the average layperson doesn’t really know a damn thing about how they operate other than point and shoot.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 13th 2019 at 8:28:22 AM

Anyway, Im curious to know more about the story you are intending for this world. Details like training or weapons might be more or less important depending on the demands of the story you are telling.

Well, the general plot is that monsters and cryptids are both real and the public is fully aware of them. This resulted in the formation of the hunters, an unofficial organization meant to hunt pestering monsters for pay. Because of the monsters themselves acting for the most part like natural animals and with humans being who they are some have even gone extinct. The story thus far is following our young MC and his companion who happens to be a skinwalker.

I guess my question is that if you’re set on a realistic setting, how are you transposing the high fantasy trope of a hunters guild? That doesn’t exactly translate well to the modern day.

It's not necessarily a guild in the traditional sense, more like an unnoficial group of bounty hunters who take requests to hunt dangerous beasts. Think of it as a sort of exaggerated animal control.

The thing is, animal control officers need training. It's hard to think of a good way to merge this premise with the modern setting and teen protagonist

He's a legal adult though, I said he was a kid in the sense that he was a fresh face. Plus I already mentioned I would add in a training course for new recruits.

I mean, the whole idea this is somehow an unofficial group doesn’t really mesh with the idea that monsters are a known and constant problem and have been for all of human history.

The realistic modern setting and the high fantasy adventurers guild don’t really merge well. Given the setting monster hunting would probably be something done by a government agency, which means standardization and training. People wouldn’t be walking in off the street to hunt monsters with a gun they just bought.

I think a lot of writers miss the complexity of firearms because of their essentially simple operation. Sure, a random person can point and shoot, but can they really operate a weapon? Experience says no, they can’t.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 13th 2019 at 7:54:46 AM

The bottom line is that, in realistic modern settings, no one allows "unofficial" groups to handle anything of importance. This simply means that you may need to change the cultural setting of your story into one in which self educated gentlemen adventurers can exist more easily.