Page 314 - Hunter - The Vigil

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all over the city; second, he thinks he’s fallen in love. See, this Inside Track
girl who works at the movie theater counter not far from his For many mages, the powers they wield seem to divide
favorite sewer drain, well, it’s driven him to the surface more them into several different camps or paths (but aren’t limited
than once to gaze at her from afar. But people don’t seem to to these):
like that. Soon, they might come after Billy. Soon, hunters Necromancers: These witches rule the dead with words
may be born out of this hatred. of lead. Anger one, and end up not only haunted, but with the
Appearance: He’s doughy, dirty, bald and he smells.
Whenever he uses a Dread Power, his corpselike features very matter of the earth turning against you. Despite their beating
hearts, necromancers are implacable foes to anything that lives.
become more prominent, and his face seems made of blood, Priests: Deft hands with the sterile forces of physics or
bone and mud. the primal magic of life, these creatures allege loyalty to high-
Storytelling Hints: Billy’s not a bad “man,” but he gets sad
and he gets angry and he just wants somebody to love. Maybe he er powers...but are as cruel and fractious as any of their kind.
Psychics: They look like you. They talk like you. But they
can come to terms with the fact that nobody loves him, or maybe can, with naught but a thought, see the past, speak to ghosts,
he’ll just start breaking necks.
predict the future or snap your wrist bones by blinking.
Ritualists: They carve their magic out of occult tradition
Sorcerers and Witches and otherworldly ritual gleaned from bad books and weird
He looks like he’s down. Look again, for what falls may rise web sites. Their magic is not theirs: they steal it for a time,
and the witch always lies. forcing it to heel with brutal or bizarre ceremonies.
Sorcerers and magicians think they’re human. Witches Warlocks: Masters of nature and fate, wizards red in
don’t suffer the hungers of the undead or the scars of the lost, so tooth and claw. They command as familiars the beasts of the
the bastards think they’re just like every other hunter. Obviously, woods, and hunt their prey as savagely with packs of demons
they’re wrong. They’ve built towers of Babel and signed their or hounds.
names where only God’s belongs. They gather in fi lthy cloisters At tier one, a witch exists unconnected to any communi-
and work gory rites...all in the name of human potential. As if ty except maybe those within her cabal. They work for them-
there’s anything human about twisting time to vanish your rivals selves or for some larger purpose, but this cause isn’t supported
or crushing minds to fill your purse. The wizards have vast powers by any. Many are selfish, existing as obsessed academics in

and use them to satisfy their basest desires. the ivory towers of gilded educational institutions or as dark-
Most speak openly of the pursuit of knowledge, of their hearted occultists grasping into the dark for true power.
holy quest to unlock the secrets of the cosmos and all that lies At tier two, the sorcerers likely gather together in odd
beyond. But they pry secrets from the mouths of rivals with guilds of magic and academia. Some might work out of shared
pliers, study for years under honored masters and then stab laboratories or libraries; others form occult covenants to pro-
them in the back. Vampires hunt out of hunger; witches stalk tect or exploit mystical spaces (graveyards, standing stones,
each other for power. And the bastards are proud of it. famed murder sites, a series of tunnels said to be carved out by
some goliath parasite). Their grasp for power is perhaps just as
Powers of Magic selfi sh, but it is supported by more than one cult or cabal.
Who knows where a witch gets his power? One magician At tier three, who knows how the deeply this occulted
says he gets his power from some lost and fallen civilization: crusade has rooted itself in the everyday goings-on of global
Thule, Mu, Hyperborea, Atlantis. Another says he earned his concerns? Magic is, in theory, a limitless power, and the orders
from brokering deals with dragons or demons, while a third and armies of magicians likely exist at every stratum, tugging
says he was given his at some watchtower made of thorn or the puppet strings of political figures, business icons, celebri-

bone. Some seem to avoid all that nonsense and carve their ties and socialites. While at this level, the individual sorcerer
own paths to magic: hoeing hard rows with secret rituals and may still be capable of doing good, when working in huge
esoteric ceremonies. agencies, it becomes difficult for any kind of righteousness

Magic, for the most part, can be duplicated as a number to shine through. Selfishness takes the helm as magic subtly

of the Dread Powers contained within. Some sorcerers can warps the world.

cast the Dread Powers as they read. Others, though, must first
perform some strange ritual or ceremony to achieve the effect: Blowing Out the Lamp
burning a lock of the target’s hair before using Dement, form- Witches talk about their “winding ways” and “silver lad-
ing a hand out of wax and then burning it to use Agonize, ders” — the path to ultimate power they’d all like to find.

and so forth. Assume that these lesser witches must perform a When a hunter needs to knock ’em back a step or down a
ritual like this the scene before performing the Dread Power, rung, surprise is key. Whether the cell is dealing with vio-
or otherwise are unable to achieve the desired effect. lence, meticulous scheming or social manipulation, a mage’s
Common Dread Powers include (but are not limited greatest powers all come from preparation.
to)…well, pretty much any of them. Magic is frighteningly What can they do when they’re prepared? Anything. As
limitless to those who know how to control it. Of course, in “anything” anything. Move mountains. Banish people to
magic requires the expenditure of one’s will to achieve, and custom-built hells. Multiply cancers in the blink of an eye.
will is not limitless… And that’s all without phoning a friend.
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