Page 330 - Hunter - The Vigil
P. 330

E
                                                                                                            P
                                                                                                C
                                                                                  T THE PRICE WE PAY
                                                                                          P
                                                                                                                Y
                                                                                                                Y
                                                                                                                Y
                                                                                                              A
                                                                                                              A








































                t
                                 the
                                                    Failure
                                 the
                                     p
                                      l

               rotsky
               rotsky’

                      l
                                             t
                     player
                   ’

                                    replacement
                    s
                    s
                                 h
                  yp
                  k
                     player
                                    replacement

                                 t
                       y

                          chooses
                                                   “Failure
                                                 of
                                                 of
                                                  f
              T T T
                                                          to
                                                   “F

              Trotsky’s player chooses the replacement sin of “Failure to
                                                          to
                                                          t


                                                      l
                                              sin
                                               i
                           h
                          chooses
                                              sin
                                                     i
                                 t
                                                    re
                            i

                              t
                            interests
                            interests
                                               ,
                                               ,
                                              y
                                                   fire
                                              l


                                                   fi
                                                th
                                                the
                                                the
                                            t
                                    Unfortunately
                                    U
                                   ”
                                  .
                                   ”
                                    Unfortunately
                                         t
                                                   fi
                                       f


                                                      gets
              protect
                t
              protect


                    American
                                                      gets
                                                      g
                    A
              p
                    American
                                                          so
                                                          so
                  t
                        i

                                                        t
              protect American interests.” Unfortunately, the fire gets so                 External Costs
                                     instead
                                 cult
                                               h
                   control
                                                     out
                 of
                                   li
                                                   it
                                                i
              out
              out of control it kills the cult instead of flushing it out. So,

                         it
                           kills
                                                  g
                           kills
                                             fl
                                                         S
                                         d
                                           of
                         it
              out   of f   control l   ik i l l    the   cult   instead   of f   fl     ushing   i it   out .  So ,  For a hunter to deviate from that common recognition
                                                         So,
                              the
                                             flushing
                               h
                  T
                                             the
                                         sin
                                                         h
                                             h
               h
                                      one
                                                         has
                                          i
                il
                                 d
                                                      il
                                                     still
              while
              while Trotsky has replaced the one sin, the Agent still has
              while   T rotsky y   h    replaced   the   one   sin, ,   the   A g    still l   has  in a single “sin” is enough to start to crack the façade of nor-
                            replaced
                         has
                         has
                              l
                             p
                      k
                                                Agent
                  T
                                   h
                   rotsky
                                                Agent
                                   the
              to
              to deal with the Morality 4 sin of impassioned crime, man-
                                               ed
                                                   ri
              to   deal l   with   t the   Morality   4s sin   of f   impassioned   crime,   man -  malcy. It means that his Vigil has forced him off the path the
                                                  c
                                                         n
                                                d
                                             on
                                                  crime,
              to
                                             i
                     i
                                  4
                               i
                                y
                                  4

                   with
                                  4
                   with
                               l
                          M
                          M
                        he
                          Morality
                        h
                      h
                              alit
                       the
                            or
                                   sin
                                        i
                                        i
                                                   i
                                        impassioned
                                        mp
                                           as
                                            si
                d
                dl
                deal
                                    i
                                                       ma
                                                    me
                                    i
                                    n
                                      of
                                      of
                                                       man
                 ea
                     A
                     A
                     A
                       degeneration
                       d
                       degeneration
              slaughter
              slaughter
              slaughter . .   A   degeneration   roll   i is   imminent.  rest of humankind walks. With each successive change in
                 h
              l
              slaughter. A degeneration roll is imminent.
                                     is
                                     is
                                       imminent
                                       imminent.
                                       i
                               i
                                          i
                                  roll
                                    ll
                                  roll
                                                              the hunter’s Code, the aforementioned cracks spread, spider-
                                                              webbing and growing wider, until the semblance of normal
                        The Price We Pay                      humanity is all but absent.
               Changing one’s Morality is an epiphany of epic propor-  In terms of game mechanics, each deviation is represent-
            tions. It is a realization that something a character has been   ed by a cumulative -1 Social penalty (to a maximum -5 dice)
            taught since infancy is wrong. It is as significant as discovering   when dealing with other mortals. Every time the hunter’s

            that the color one has thought of as blue since birth is, in fact,   Code shifts away from normal human Morality, interacting
            red. And once the change has been made, while the rest of the   socially with other human beings becomes more diffi cult, un-
            world still calls it blue, the hunter will never hear, see or think   til, at later stages, the hunter is likely to be viewed by non-
            of it as anything but red, ever again.            hunters as a monster himself.
               Regardless of whether it obeys them or not, humanity as a   This penalty does not affect interactions with other
            whole recognizes certain rules, identifying particular actions as   hunters, regardless of whether the other hunter’s Morality has
            “good” or “bad.” These form the basis of the human Morality scale.   shifted or not — those on the Vigil inherently understand
            A Mafia hit man may deal with murder on a daily basis, but he still   the pressures the hunt puts upon one another. It also does

            recognizes, deep down, that killing is “wrong” by society’s standards,   not affect supernatural creatures that are on any other type of
            even if he has shielded himself from that knowledge with layers of   Morality system. Unless the Storyteller declares otherwise, it
            justifications, excuses and explanations. For a hunter whose Mo-  does not affect relationships with current Allies or Retainers,

            rality Code regarding murder has changed, however, that common   though the penalty may still be invoked when dealing with
            rule has not just been violated — it has been warped, supplanted   contacts (who are rarely close to the hunter and do not con-
            by a different value that humanity, as a whole, does not share.   sider him friend, ally or supervisor).
                                                                                                             329
                                                                                                             329
   325   326   327   328   329   330   331   332   333   334   335