Page 221 - Hunter - The Vigil

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C CHAPTER FOUR: SPECIAL RULES AND SYSTEMS

power is subtle — a hunter first comes to respect a vampire, then Failure: No successes are accumulated toward the total.
to admire her, then to love her. Sometimes, the power is much Success: Successes are accumulated toward the total. If the
more overt. A siren song from afar, and suddenly a hunter would subject’s player rolls more successes than the deprogrammer’s, the
lay down his life for the singer. The Moral Support Tactic (see deprogrammer’s successes are not counted toward his total. That
p. 226) offers some protection against such powers before the is, the deprogrammer only counts successes toward his total when
monsters have a chance to use them, but sometimes a cell has to his player’s roll for the hour turns up as many as or more successes
talk a member down from such a power. Likewise, some cells use than the subject’s. If the deprogrammer’s player achieves the total

moles, hunters that are sent to infiltrate cults or cabals (usually described above, the subject is free of the mental control. The sub-
subjected to double-blind techniques so they don’t know enough ject’s player must immediately roll Resolve + Composure. If this
to betray their cells) and then debrief and deprogrammed later. roll fails, the character develops a mild derangement.
At least two hunters can act as deprogrammers. One talks Exceptional Success: Considerable successes are accu-
with the victim, breaking down his self-esteem, then building mulated. If the subject beats the deprogrammer’s successes and
it back up, explaining rationally what is happening one mo- achieves an exceptional success, successes equal to the sub-
ment and then growing violent the next. Some cells claim ject’s Stamina are subtracted from the deprogrammer’s total. If
that this shock to the emotional system snaps the hunter’s the deprogrammer’s successes equal or exceed the subject’s and
own mental defenses back into relief, but in actuality, the pri- the deprogrammer achieves an exceptional success, the sub-
mary actor is brainwashing the subject. The secondary actors ject’s player suffers a -3 penalty on his next resistance roll.
stay in the background and lend support to whatever the pri- To Purchase: 13 Practical Experience, 10 for any tier-
mary actor is saying or doing. two cell, 8 for any tier-three cell.
One roll is made every hour. The subject resists with Re-
solve + Stamina + a number of dice equal to the successes Dentistry

achieved on the monster’s roll to mentally control or influ- Prerequisites: All: Strength 2, Weaponry 1, Brawl 1. Par-
ence the hunter (if the Storyteller doesn’t know this number, tial (1): Weaponry 2 (primary actor). Partial (1): Brawl 2 or
she should assign a modifier based on how powerful the crea- Brawl 1 with a Specialty in Grappling (all secondary actors).

ture is). The subject doesn’t seek to achieve a specific num- Requires: 2; up to 4 adds one die to secondary actors per
ber of successes, only to match or exceed the deprogrammer’s extra hunter. Maximum 4 for this Tactic.
total. Sooner or later, the subject is going to break…or wind Dice Pool: Primary: Strength + Weaponry. Secondary:
up going mad, or being rescued by his supernatural “patron,” Strength + Brawl.
or snapping and attacking his fellow hunters. Action: Instant.
The deprogrammer seeks to achieve a number of success- Description: The bite of a monster can have any number
es equal to the subject’s Resolve + Composure + [the same of hideous effects. Apart from rent fl esh, some monsters carry
modifi er applied to the subject’s roll, as described above]. disease. Some, reportedly, can pass on their monstrous condi-
While only three hunters can deprogram at a time, sec- tion with a bite. Vampire bites, according to some sources, are
ondary actors can be switched out at any time. The primary even addictive. The Dentistry Tactic provides some protec-

actor can be switched, but the first deprogramming roll after tion against monster bites by knocking out teeth or breaking
the switch suffers a -2 (primary actor). the jaw. All that’s required is a hunter with a lot of muscle,
Organizations: All cells of hunters, regardless of organi- and another hunter with a heavy weapon of some kind. Blades
zation, fear the power of monsters to alter their minds. This work, but hammers and bats are more popular.

Tactic, therefore, is a favorite of any cell that fights monsters The secondary actor(s) first grapple the target. See pp.

with a propensity for doing so, rather than being a favorite of 156–158 of the World of Darkness Rulebook for information on
any particular organization. Grappling (note especially the section on multiple people grap-
Potential Modifi ers: Deprogramming hunter has been pling a single target). The roll to grapple the creature, however, is
subjected to the same kind of mental control in the past (+3 not part of the Tactic. That is, the initial roll to grapple does not
to appropriate hunter); subject was given commands that are add dice to the primary actor’s roll. Once the creature has been
out of character for him, such as to harm or betray his cell grappled and one secondary actor successfully overpowers the crea-
(+2 to primary actor); subject’s Morality is 7 or higher (+1 to ture, all the secondary actors’ players make their rolls (Strength +
primary actor); subject was given commands that he wanted Brawl). This roll is to keep the monster from thrashing about, giv-
to follow anyway (-2 to primary actor); subject’s Morality is 5 ing the primary actor a clear target. The primary actor’s player then
or less (-1 to primary actor). rolls Strength + Weaponry (adding the weapon’s damage modifi er
Roll Results: as usual), swinging his weapon at the creature’s maw.
Dramatic Failure: If the subject suffers a dramatic failure Note: Some hunter cells, particularly within the Aegis Kai
at any point in the proceedings, he falls catatonic or incoher- Doru, use a variation on this Tactic that targets a creature’s nose
ent for a number of hours equal to 10 - [Resolve + Compo- rather than its mouth. Animalistic monsters like werewolves
sure]. He then wakes up with a mild derangement, but is free rely heavily on scent to track and navigate, and removing that
of the mental control. If the deprogrammer suffers a dramatic ability can be a major tactical advantage. Dentistry can be used
failure, he believes the subject to be completely cured, when this way without learning a separate Tactic; simply reverse the
in fact no progress at all has been made. “Success” and “Exceptional Success” results, below.
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