Page 214 - Hunter - The Vigil

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L L LEARNING, CREATING, AND MODIFYING TACTICS
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requisites to learn the Tactic, though they will need to pur-
chase them before they can use the Tactic.
From the perspective of the characters, creating a Tactic is
a matter of training, experimentation and luck. The hunters fi rst
need to figure out exactly how the Tactic is going to work. Are cer-

tain types of terrain going to make it unusable? What equipment
is necessary? How many people are required to make this work? In
game terms, the players of the hunters devising the Tactic need to
roll Intelligence + the highest Skill required for the Tactic. This
is called the conceptualization roll. For instance, if the cell is devis-
ing the Corral Tactic (p. 218), the conceptualization roll is Intel-
ligence + Intimidation, whereas if they are devising the Dentistry
Tactic (p. 220), the roll would be Intelligence + Brawl. In the rare
event that a Tactic doesn’t require a Skill, the conceptualization
roll can be an Attribute task (see p. 122 of the World of Darkness
Rulebook). This roll can be made by one character or as a team-
work action. In any event, regardless of whether this roll succeeds
or fails, the cell progresses on to the next stage.

The next stage is fine-tuning through practice. The hunt-
ers need to be able to rely on muscle memory and composure
in order to apply the skills they use in a practice run while
actually fighting a supernatural horror. Take the number of

successes from the conceptualization roll and subtract them
from the Practical Experience cost of the Tactic (Corral is
14 Practical Experience). The resultant number is how many
hours each individual hunter must spend practicing the Tactic.

(If the conceptualization of Corral earned five successes, then
nine hours would be necessary to practice.)
The players must each roll Stamina + Resolve (the prac-
tice roll) before practice begins. If the conceptualization roll
failed, the character must not only practice the full amount of
time, but also suffers -3 dice on the practice roll.
Success on the practice roll indicates that the character
weathers the mental and physical rigors of tireless practice
(even if the practice is gained in hourly drips and drabs). Fail-
ure or an inability to complete the necessary hours for train-
ing hinders the hunter’s understanding and application of the
Tactic, as noted below.
The next step? Spending the Practical Experience, and
then…the field test, where the cell puts the Tactic into action

(hopefully against a lesser opponent, but such is the life of risk
hunters lead — many aren’t afforded the chance to test Tactics
against weaker adversaries). Those hunters who either failed
the practice roll or could not commit the requisite number of
hours to practice suffer a -3 to any Tactic-based rolls during
the enactment of the Tactic. This penalty remains for all uses
of the Tactic until the cell succeeds on the Tactic at least once.
Once the cell properly performs the Tactic, that penalty ends
for the hunter (as the character fi nally “gets it”).
While the process of creating a Tactic can be reduced to
a series of rolls, it might be more satisfying to the players to
discuss the Tactic in character, play through a scene or two of

practice, and then “debrief” to figure out if it’s really going to

work in the field. The Storyteller can and should grant posi-

tive modifiers to the conceptualization roll for logical discus-
sion, identifying problems and fixing them preemptively, and

lateral thinking.
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