Page 289 - Hunter - The Vigil

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During this time, the human starts to break down physical- structure and foundation of the place fail to damage the de-
ly and emotionally. He suffers one bashing damage per day and mon itself. The only exception to this rule is damage caused by
cannot heal (so they eventually accumulate to lethal damage as blessed items (World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 214), or dam-
bruises turn to actual rot). Also, once per week the victim gains age done as the result of the invocation of the demon’s Ban.
a new mild-level derangement. If the human physically expires The demon becomes very hard to root out once it’s bound
during this time, the demon is free and once more has the “one to a place: any and all exorcism or banishment attempts are
mile, one hour” restriction. Alternatively, the demon can fl ee performed at -3 dice. If the demon can be extricated and un-
the body at any time, but still suffers from that restriction. bound from the place, it gets no second chance and is drawn
Possessing an object is a bit easier and more permanent, back into the hungry Abyss.
if the demon so chooses. The demon must succeed on an ex- Elder demons are created with traits similar to Twilight
tended Power + Finesse roll equal to the object’s points in familiars (p. 166) or ghosts (World of Darkness Rulebook,

Structure. Each roll is equivalent to five minutes. The demon p. 208), except they’re…bigger. Assume that the demon’s At-
can only possess objects that are suited to its Vice, figuratively tributes (Power, Finesse, Resistance) go up to 12 dots instead

or literally: a demon of Greed might possess a credit card or a of 5, and they have 20 to 30 points to spend between those
cash register, while a demon of Wrath might find home in a three Attributes. They also have a maximum Essence of 25,

sword or rifl e. This, of course, makes for easy Willpower gain: and begin with 10 points of Dread Powers (though they can
the demon is likelier to be in the presence of its Vice expend- also have Numina, like ghosts, with each Numen assumed to
ed. While in an object, the demon can communicate freely cost 2 Dread Power dots each). They can, however, go up to
with anybody touching it. It can use Dread Powers on any 20 points in Dread Powers at their peak.
within a number of yards equal to the demon’s Power + Fi-
nesse score. However, rolls made in service to a Dread Power The Neighborhood
are subject to a -2 penalty, because possessing an object is still (Elder Demon)
a somewhat imperfect state for the demon. Quote: You want, you need, you want, you need.
What an Elder demon really wants is to bind itself to a Background: This is a bad neighborhood. Not bad be-
place. Then, and only then, does the entity have access to its cause it’s poor, or because it’s too close to a sewer line. This
full power (and then some). The demon can only bind to a is a bad neighborhood because it’s full of bad people. Bad
place thematically or literally appropriate to its Vice: a demon people who covet one another, all day, every day.
of Lust binds itself to an underground sex club, a demon of It didn’t start with the demon, oh no. It started small, just

Pride inhabits the offices of a fashion magazine, and a demon one apartment where a man gazed out of his window and spied on
of Wrath might possess the house where a man murdered his a neighbor relaxing in front of a big-screen TV, a TV he wanted
cheating wife and his unappreciative children. The demon so badly. Then Sally downstairs shot her husband for hogging the
can possess a location equal to half its Power (round down) dope, dope that was hers by right, damnit. This is a neighborhood

in square miles. of conflicting extremes, of haves crammed up next to have-nots.
Once bound, the demon can have full access to all its It’s a neighborhood of Envy, which made it a perfect home for the
Dread Powers and they can be used against any who walk Elder demon known as Bekard-Ardad. With the demon bound to
upon the spoiled ground or within the now-unholy structure. the neighborhood, the Envy that has taken root now blossoms into
Here the demon can also manifest automatically for a full scene horrid life.
once per day and night (though this manifestation cannot Beneath the surface of this seemingly peaceful neighbor-
leave the boundaries of its structural or territorial “body”). hood is a mass of heinous crimes to rival the run of any soap
This costs nothing and requires no roll. It cannot manifest for opera. The neighborhood (as the demon) works to keep the
longer than a scene in a given 12-hour period. perpetrators of envious and covetous crimes safe...but always in
While bound to a place, the demon cannot be harmed the most subtle possible way. The murder weapon rolls into a
by mundane attacks — even attacks that destroy the literal gutter, the detective is interrupted before he can examine the
closet, the hunters’ car is stolen with the evidence
in the trunk, and so on. The neighborhood is also
USING THE NEIGHBORHOOD capable of more sophisticated tricks, like sudden fi res
or disappearing doors, but it uses those effects only
Bringing the cell to The Neighborhood where more subtle ones will not suffi ce.
shouldn’t be hard at all. Luring a cell in Storytelling Hints: The neighborhood is the
should usually be as simple as providing embodiment of classic urban and suburban fears:
a strange incident, or a crime that needs a place claustrophobically familiar, yet detached
solving. Or, if you’re real tricky, lure and anonymous enough that victimization carries
them in using envy: does an Aegis Kai no consequences. This is the setting of Hitch-
Doru member hold envy over a fellow hunter cock’s Rear Window, or the quiet street where
who possesses a Relic he feels he rightly Kitty Genovese was murdered. All the famil-
deserves? Fine. That “fellow hunter” lives iar signals of safety are here: friendly neighbors,
in The Neighborhood. well-lit streets, regular police patrols. Where they
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