Page 267 - Hunter - The Vigil

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C CHAPTER FIVE: STORYTELLING
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STORY HOOK: Broken Bones
AN UNPLANNED PREGNANCY and a Bouquet
of Bullets
One of the female characters, or a female
relative of a cell member, has become The level and nature of violence in your game
pregnant. Since the pregnancy was confi rmed, is an important consideration. For the most part,
strangeness dances around the expectant violence lurks at the core of the Vigil. Even a paci-
mother. The enemies of the Vigil converge fistic cell dedicated to observation and study will

on her, not to harm her but to protect eventually trade fists and gunfire with the enemy

her. The cell fi nds that its duties are when its presence is detected. Hunters hunt. And
harder than ever before, due to the added for many, “hunt” takes the same connotation as
pressure of supernatural numbers drawn to a guy who takes a .30-06 rifle out and bags a big

the mother. Something dark has occurred buck in the woods. For them, the Vigil is a duty, a
here — the pregnancy isn’t natural. It duty to set things right. Violently.
might even be a hybrid of some kind… But not every game is going to be like that.
The characters research all they can and Some games will feature little to no violence at
seek to hide the mother from the watchful all. A merciful cell of Long Night hunters doesn’t
eyes of the creatures surrounding her in charge into the beast’s lair with guns drawn and
the shadows, but it isn’t enough. A second torches waved about. They have their Bibles. They
faction of inhuman creatures emerges — and have their hopes. And they have nothing else.
these monsters seek the mother’s life, So, how do you want to approach violence in
wanting her dead so the baby will never your game? The default level is that it’s ever pres-
be born. The cell must learn the reasons ent and brutal. The characters, by and large, are
behind both factions’ movements and decide not elite-trained martial arts specialists, and even
which one (if either) is in the right.
those with access to quality training and special
weapons (or abilities) are still often outgunned
when facing their prey. Even the flashiest Endowments are

Life demands. Can the hunter balance his hunt against this? little more than an edge for smart hunters to use to their ad-
Even a hunter who belongs to a bigger compact or conspiracy vantage.
still has life issues to deal with: family problems, bad dreams, In this style, punches land with dull smacks to faces and

a gambling addiction, whatever. This conflict is about those blur the senses for a few panicked heartbeats. Pulses hammer
issues being a persistent presence in the cell’s day to day. and blood runs cold, while expert fingers slam in another maga-

Hunter versus Himself: A big one. Hunters can be pretty zine of that “special” ammo. Bones break and cause people to

fucked up. Many are heroes, but all of them are flawed in some cry out. Blood loss makes people dizzy. Doing this night after

fashion. Some go mad. Some find their Morality whittled away by night, the bruises add up into ugly patches or permanent scars.
the constant horrors of the hunt. The struggle outside pales when Here, violence has consequence. Hunters don’t heal easily. The
compared to the struggle within. A hunter who thinks he’s the monsters usually do. Hospital stays are long affairs.
Devil’s own son has that to deal with. An agent who takes a shot Alternatively, violence may take on a hyper-realized,
at a fleeing beast accidentally clips and kills a woman crossing the almost action-movie style. Hunters kick open doors, shot-

street with a baby carriage, and has to live with that for the rest guns taking out hunks of mortar and banister. They blow
of his awful life. A hunter who’s done terrible things in pursuit of holes through the chest of some keening beast. They wince

knowledge finds that his comfort level with such atrocity grows at the fl ash and bang of an explosive going off somewhere.
and grows, until he’s only got a tiny little light inside overwhelmed Here, hunters really might be elite-trained bad-asses: ex-
by encroaching personal darkness. Hunters always have to deal Special Forces guys with high-end VALKYRIE armory, or
with what goes on inside their heads and their souls. Fear, para- a cell of Lucifuge agents calling upon the unholy forces of
noia, obsession: these dark specters live within the heart and mind, darkness to force the fi ends to squeal and kneel. Violence
and can be a thousand times more dangerous than any monster on has less consequence. Monsters may have less Health to
the outside. blow through. You might decrease the healing time of hunt-
ers or give them pluses to attack rolls or Defense scores to
The Vigil’s Many Masks keep combat fast, furious, evocative.
Violence. Mystery. Horror. Investigation. Think of these Going the completely opposite direction, violence might
elements in play as having sliders, and you can amp them up be so overwhelmingly dangerous that it’s one shot, one kill.
or tone them down like volume, bass, treble. What follows is Hunters better know how to take cover or approach a peril-
an examination of these elements and how you can “tweak ous situation quietly because fi re burns fast and because even
the settings” a bit to tell the type of story you want to tell, a bullet in the leg can cause enough systemic shock to kill
evoking the themes and moods you desire. the hunter within an hour. You might double damage done.
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