Page 266 - Hunter - The Vigil

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Hunter versus Society: Similar to hunter
STORY HOOK: versus human, this is about how the Vigil is a se-
STRANGER PASSING THROUGH cret thing and how society is ignorant to it. By be-
ing ignorant, it stands in the way. Hunters break
Nothing works anymore. Everyone is having laws or exist outside social norms and so society
the shittiest luck. Characters’ cars are works against them. In this case, society isn’t
breaking down; their houses’ plumbing is evil, just…well, dumb, or self-interested. Hunt-
costing a fortune to repair; they’re on the ers work perhaps to enlighten society, which is no
edge of getting fi red for problems at work that easy task, or maybe tries to navigate within soci-
aren’t even related to their extra efforts on ety without being “outed” as not being the family
the Vigil. Tempers are short and everyone’s men or professionals they pretend to be.
blood is up. And no one knows why. Hunter versus Hunter: Every cell does
A creature whose mere presence corrodes things differently. Some hunters within a cell do

the world around it has moved into the things differently. And quite often, hunters find
area. Until it is located and chased away their Vigil against the monsters is either disturbed
or destroyed, everyone near the creature by other hunters or actually becomes a Vigil
suffers runs of bad luck in social situations against monstrous hunters. This can be an ideo-
and malfunctions in man-made items. As the logical clash: Catholic gun-toters go toe to toe
erosion continues, people nearby begin to against the Satanic agents of the Lucifuge. This
fall ill, with either cancer…or perhaps can be a clash of principle, where one cell deter-
the fi rst signs of a plague… mines that a hunter has gone rogue or is simply
too willing to harm innocents and must be put
down like a rabid dog. This can even be a com-
and the monsters are one invocation of that. Monsters prey petition: many hunters hunger for resources and knowledge
on humanity without its knowledge. They pull the puppet (esoteric secrets and powerful artifacts) and they struggle to

strings. They control the secret highways and byways of hu- get to these rewards first. Hunters, sadly, have all too much
mankind. Hunters, though — they’ve kicked over the log and reason to work against one another.
seen what squirms underneath, and the locus of control shifts Hunter versus Organization: Some hunter organizations
from being controlled by outside forces to attempting to take are faceless and cruel. Some are righteous but unforgiving. And
control of one’s own life and, frankly, cut the goddamn puppet sometimes a cell works against one of these groups. Could be
strings. Hunter is about characters taking their own destinies that the cell works from within to carve out a place for itself or
in their hands and, by proxy, working to give the rest of igno- to bring the whole goddamn conspiracy crashing down around

rant humankind a similar benefit. This, however, is not easy, its ears. Maybe the cell works from outside the group and tries to
and it pushes hunters into constant confl ict. limit its influence by plundering its resources or poaching its ter-

Theme can be expressed as this conflict, meaning that ritory. This is less of a personal struggle (as noted by hunter ver-

one particular type of conflict dominates the game. This con- sus hunter) and more of a single cell fighting against some kind

flict isn’t at the expense of other types — no, other types of of coalition, perhaps providing some kind of insurgency. They

conflict exist, but one simply takes prominence. What follows might be fine with the hunters of that compact or conspiracy on

are these non-exclusive themes-as-confl ict. a personal level, but as a group, they gotta go.
Hunter versus Monster: The most obvious conflict of the Hunter versus Cell: Yes, it’s possible that a hunter

game is of one or several hunters versus one or several monsters. struggles with his own cell. Maybe it’s doing things he can-
It’s the most common and, arguably, the purest approach to the not support, perhaps even sliding down that morally slippery
game. Monsters exist. They do harm whether purposefully or on slope while he watches the others tumble toward corruption.
accident, and they must be dealt with. Hunters work to undo And he works to save them. Or maybe he’s something of a

the influence of monsters, whether by killing them, neutralizing double agent — a Cheiron Group spy or a Network Zero
them, capturing them or curing them. “embedded” clandestine journo who exists within the cell as
Hunter versus Human: Humanity can be just as fi endish a matter of deception. Maybe he even wants to bring the cell
as any monster, and sometimes hunters have to deal with that. down. (Careful with this confl ict, though. Players need to be
Maybe they wage war against a local gang. Or maybe a local comfortable that a mole or plant is in their midst, and might
monster they thought was the true problem actually has a collar rather prefer to play a game where the conflict is not within

around its neck and a leash gripped tightly by all-too-human its own supposedly safe cell.)
hands. Some might argue that the World of Darkness is what it Hunter versus Life: Life is not easy for any hunter. Bills
is not because monsters exist, but because humankind’s iniquity need to be paid. Family needs attention. A one-night-stand
and sin leaves the door open for such horrors to intrude. In this can lead to a sexual partner accidentally discovering just
conflict, hunters find that humans are the true bane of their ex- what it is the hunter actually does with his time. This isn’t

istence, whether humans are criminals, law enforcement or the so much the hunter against a cruel or punishing society; this
anonymous hands of a callous bureaucracy or government. is just the shit a hunter has to deal with while on the Vigil.
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