Page 275 - Hunter - The Vigil

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C CHAPTER FIVE: STORYTELLING
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STORY HOOK: THE CRUSADE
The characters know there are other cells out there in the city and,
frankly, they need the help now. Whether it involves appealing to the
bastards in another neighborhood or standing before the freaks in another
third-tier organization, the hunters have to go somewhere for aid. The
Vigil has taken a turn for the worse lately, and the cell is beaten,
bloodied and bruised from all the effort. Something big is happening in
the shadows. The enemy is up to something.
The characters see the patterns and sense the oncoming dangers. If
they try to unite the local cells into a loosely gathered fi ghting force,
there’s a chance everyone will survive. But cells are going missing,
and time is running out. Gathering the “crusade” force to take back the
night needs to be done now, before the characters’ cell is the next one
to vanish.

Common Enemy: Even hunters who don’t share Vigil ide- find conflict with the group’s outlook, or simply chafe under
ology or who might hate each other under other circumstances the new rules imposed upon them.
can find that changes when a common enemy threatens them or First, of course, they need to attract the attention of the

the city’s innocents. Could an agent of the Lucifuge and a Malleus agencies. That means they need to hunt. Moving from a first-

Maleficarum priest work together? Sure, if the threat warrants it. tier group up to a second one is the initial step, and its main

Most hunters recognize that even those hunters with whom they difficulties depend as much on luck as skill. To reach tier two,

violently disagree are still, after all, on the Vigil. They share that, a cell needs other cells that think the same way. Alliances

at least. And when the monsters come calling, maybe it’s time to need to be formed, outlooks confirmed and goals agreed upon.
put down petty things. And when the monsters are put into the That in and of itself is likely to be a nightmare of organi-
ground…well, maybe it’s time to pick those petty things back up zation, with the various cells meeting up, testing the waters
and resume old hatreds. around each other and treading the line between rivalry and
friendship. Classic roleplaying opportunities, though, and it’s
Ascending the Tiers fun for some troupes to be engaged in setting up something
The deal with ascending the tiers is that it is and isn’t a larger than their own characters.
“promotion.” A character has access to greater support, bet- Once the alliance is formed and the cells have a unify-
ter organization from above, new edges in the Vigil via En- ing theme, their actions become increasingly likely to attract
dowments, but it also comes with a loss of freedom. Before, third-tier attention because of their increase in efficiency.

when the Vigil was just a group of friends banding together Here’s where the real tensions start. Up until this point, the
to survive, they ran their own show and did things their way. characters are still ruling the roost. Even if they join (rather
Maybe that worked for them, but as a character goes up the than form) a loose second-tier coalition of cells, they still
three tiers, that freedom evaporates. While the third-tier have a great deal of free rein and are probably working better
organizations obviously allow their agents to live their own than ever with the added support of men and women just like
lives, characters within the branching arms of these brother- them, who all see the truth.
hoods are bound by new codes of conduct and are forced to Then along come the “altered” hunters, claiming to do
keep dangerous secrets. It also means they might not be able the same work as these “salt-of-the-earth” types, but doing it

to do things a certain way anymore. In this instance, with in mysterious and secretive ways. At first, the contact between
great power comes a great need to toe the party line. the lower and upper tier cells is likely to be hesitant, with the
That disclaimer aside, it can be an extremely satisfying third-tier hunters revealing very little of their sponsors, em-

chronicle arc if the Storyteller and the troupe run the characters ployers or their Endowments. It’s a difficult balance; trust will
ever upward through the various paths of “established” hunter or- be thin on the ground between the factions anyway, and com-
ganizations. Characters will attract the attention of local agents ing across as overly mysterious is going to lead the low-tier
representing one or more of the third-tier groups and, over time, hunters into suspicions that the organized cell perhaps aren’t
will be asked to join if they show the right stuff. as human as they claim to be. And the problem here is that,
Some great stories can be told (and some fantastic group in some cases, that’s relatively true. Some Endowments blur
dynamics will emerge) if characters begin their rises in dif- the line between man and monster, hunter and prey.
ferent directions, with a good spread of organizations now If and when the offers of joining come, they’re likely to
backing up the cell. It’s likely, however, that the group will be after several tests, either formally offered to the low-tier
be sponsored and recruited by one third-tier organization and cell (which is then provided with targets to hunt) or just as
rise through the ranks that way. Again, depending on the a judgment of its skill on the Vigil (as the third-tier cell ob-
hunters’ experiences, they might revel in the added support, serves and sees how the others do).
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