Hunter: The Vigil

Hunter: the Vigil

cover of Hunter the Vigil
Designer(s) Chuck Wendig, Travis Stout, Matt McFarland, Jess Hartley, Wood Ingham, Stew Wilson, Rick Chillot, Russell Bailey, Mike Lee, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Martin Henley, Alex Greene, Justin Achilli, Rich Thomas
Publisher(s) White Wolf, Inc.
Publication date August 2008
Genre(s) Personal Horror
System(s) Storytelling System

Hunter: The Vigil is a game line from White Wolf, announced on January 2, 2008, and released on August 14, 2008, when the sponsors for the second Free RPG Day were announced.[1] It is the sixth game line to be part of the World of Darkness and the spiritual successor of Hunter: The Reckoning from the old World of Darkness setting. Like Promethean: The Created and Changeling: The Lost, Hunter: The Vigil is a limited game line, consisting of a core setting book and several supplements. A board game is also planned.[2]

The first hints of the new game line came in the Changeling: The Lost core book. At the back of the book was a word search, and after finding all the words and removing several Xs, all that was left was a cryptic message: thehuntersarrivetwothousandeight.[3]

There are two sets of quickstart rules, one for Free RPG Day and another in line with the usual quickstart rules for the other game lines.[4] They are "about 50% different".[5]

Organizations

Hunters operate socially, in collectives and groups of various sizes. The smallest organizational unit in which hunters operate is the cell. Cells operate independently of one another, frequently without even being aware of the existence of other cells in the region. Individual cells make up for their lack of firepower with flexibility and local knowledge.

Characters affiliations are categorized into 3 tiers:

Cells occasionally discover one another and band together for strength and mutual support. When multiple cells get together in a region, the organization often acquires an independent identity, a group structure known as a compact.

Frequently, a compact forms out of a sense of cultural identity or shared purpose: The Long Night, for instance, comprises mostly fundamentalist Christians, whereas the compact known as Null Mysteriis draws its membership from the ranks of scientists and medical personnel who have been exposed to supernatural phenomena, and seek to strip it of all the superstitious hocus pocus surrounding it to find rational explanations for the irrational wherever possible.

Compacts can extend their reach to encompass large geographical regions, and even become global in scope through the medium of the internet if the compacts are particularly net savvy. Compacts sacrifice some of their flexibility for backup from other cells within the compact.

Compacts examples from Core Book:

Sometimes, a compact becomes something else: a truly global organization, with access to Endowments - powerful devices or other powers whose use blurs the line between the hunters and their prey. Conspiracies sacrifice flexibility for access to serious backup and firepower, including their Endowments. Some conspiracies date back thousands of years; others are relatively modern.

Conspiracies examples from Core Book:

With the release of additional sourcebooks for the game line, a greater range of compacts and conspiracies have been revealed.

Compacts from Sourcebooks

Conspiracies from the Sourcebooks

Endowments

Endowments are a new category of Merit, and represent "tools of the trade" that hunters use to hunt monsters in the World of Darkness. While most hunters hunt with "their wits, willpower, and whatever supplies they can gather from the local sporting goods store", others have access to "tools beyond those that ordinary men and women can acquire".[6]

Every Conspiracy has their own type of Endowment which can range from various rituals to special equipment to body modifications. Usually in order to get endowments from a Conspiracy you must have Status with them. Endowments are powerful tools and directly can be used against supernatural opponents at the expense of a multitude of red tape from your organization and character experience. While some Conspiracies are governmental bodies such as Vanguard Serial Crimes Unit and Task Force Valkyrie, it is still frowned upon to fling bolts of energy from your mind or firing off a howitzer sized rail-gun in public.

Books

* Storytelling Adventure System

References

  1. "Free RPG Day Initial Sponsors Announced". Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  2. "Rich's Reveal 2008 (#14)". Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  3. "WOD Next book riddle?". Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  4. "Monday Meeting: Population Nil". Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  5. "Two Hunter Quickstarts?". Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  6. "Endowments in Hunter: the Vigil". Retrieved 2008-06-25.

External links

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