Page 198 - Hunter - The Vigil

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IN-GAME R&D
full week’s worth of work. This only applies to rolls where the functional weaponry or components enter the building, being
character is building the item himself. Teamwork rules can shipped directly from suppliers to cell drops. If TAKOMA’s
apply, with secondary actors helping to streamline the pro- physical premises were breached, the attackers would get, at
cess. Once more, suspense should come into play: something most, financial data and drop sites. Unfortunately, this means

attacks the lab, a time limit is in place, and if things go wrong, that even if you happen to know where TAKOMA is and go
they do so dramatically. knock on the door, you’re still going to have to wait for your
Red Tape: Sometimes, a hunter has to cut through the damn package.
tangled bureaucracy of his conspiracy to requisition for a new R&D: TAKOMA can’t get a hunter any Advanced Ar-
Endowment, whether one he’s developing himself or one he’s mory above three dots. That said, going through TAKOMA
having the conspiracy develop for him. Chopping through can earn a -1 discount to the Endowment Equation, but the
red tape necessitates knowing who’s in charge and how best hunter must wait until the next story to get the item.
to utilize the channels of power to get what the hunter wants.
Manipulation + Politics, extended roll, with each roll equal The Forseti Facility
to one day’s worth of phone calls, footwork, bribes, subtle Forseti Manufacturing is a completely legitimate business.
threats and maneuvering. The target number is likely differ- Really. VALKYRIE tends to look at it all squint-eyed, though,
ent for each organization: 10 for the Cheiron Group and Task because it was formed by a couple of former TWILIGHT per-
Force: VALKYRIE, eight for the Lucifuge, and six for Malleus sonnel who actively recruited boys from the Union. They’ve

Maleficarum, the Ascending Ones and Aegis Kai Doru (as built up a plant that manufactures devices that are in no way
they are less beholden to a bureaucratic structure). illegal and that they are zoned to produce in every way. They
Meditation: Particularly with Benedictions and Castiga- also redistribute a number of off-the-shelf electronic compo-
tions, meditation is sometimes key (though some say that hid- nents. It’s the target market — VALKYRIE personnel doing
den Aegis Kai Doru Relics are sometimes revealed in dreams). DIY — that gets them the squinty looks. Business is good,
Meditation is largely as found on p. 51 of the World of Dark- though. Seems a lot of agents appreciate being able to polish
ness Rulebook, but the number of successes necessary is equal up equipment faster than TAKOMA can come through. And
to twice the Merit dots of the Endowment. Meditation can the odds and ends in Forseti’s catalog are often just the thing
also be fraught with danger, here: visions can turn dark (ru- to fi nish up a pet project.

minating on one’s own Satanic blood or God’s infinite mercy R&D: Forseti has a lot of odd and interesting spare parts:
and judgment can be maddening), and one might even gain a burnt-out etheric cells, gray market shell casings, rejected or
temporary derangement upon several failed rolls. forgotten tech. But it’ll cost the hunters to use Forseti. If the
Other Rolls: Obviously, a number of rolls can be appro- hunter’s own Resources is at three dots or above, he can use
priate (Subterfuge for lying, Intimidation for interrogation, Forseti and gain a -1 discount to the Endowment Equation.
Computer for hacking, etc.), but they aren’t necessarily tai- Forseti only supplies the parts; the hunter and his cell must
lored to the Endowments as precisely as the rolls above. build the equipment themselves, or fi nd someone who will.

The Black Book
Advanced The story goes like this: VALKYRIE has a black book
Armory R&D (some say a database) that has cases deemed “too dangerous”
for its normal strike teams. The term “dangerous” can mean a
If you’re a Task Force: VALKYRIE agent, and you’d like
lot of things, but it usually implies a loss of limb, life, or san-
a new piece of gear, you’ve got several options open to you.
ity. Could be a haunted oil platform from whence no agents
The most obvious is to file a request with TAKOMA. This is

return. Could be a high-profile monstrous target plaguing a

a lot like filing a prayer with God (the kind most of us get, not
city. Might be some spectral train that rattles down the aban-
the front-of-the-line prayers accessible through Benediction).
doned tracks, and any hunters who go to it come back with a
Developing Advanced Armory is really a matter of knowing
head full of new phobias and no memory of what happened
how to hook up with suppliers and, preferably, being a bit of
there. These “black book” assignments are often reserved for
a do-it-yourself type.
the worst offenders within the agency: those plucked from
TAKOMA prisons, those who have gone mad, those who hope to avert
TAKOMA’s generally referred to in all-caps as a mat- a court martial. While nobody says it aloud, these are suicide
ter of tradition more than sense. It’s not an acronym, it’s a squad missions all the way. However, it’s also another avenue

place — Takoma Park Asset Contracting Facility (sometimes of getting access to high-profile Advanced Armory fresh out
called T-PAC). TAKOMA is the organization that supervises of R&D. Take a black book assignment, and grease the wheels
the specialty contractors who supply VALKYRIE’s conven- of progress. If the hunter makes it back alive.
tional or near-conventional weapons. When the program was R&D: Taking a “black book” assignment involves a mis-
launched in 1973, these contractors were more or less created sion more dangerous than the cell is used to. However, com-

by “firing” operatives from the VALKYRIE payroll and provid- pleting the mission (or at least returning with some modicum
ing them with startup funds, plus rigged contracts and grants. of information or success) earns the hunter a -2 discount to
Agents jokingly refer to TAKOMA itself as “nuke free:” no the Endowment Equation when requisitioning Advanced Ar-
mory equal to four or fi ve dots.
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