Page 59 - Hunter - The Vigil

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C CHAPTER TWO: CHARACTER CREATION
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Morality The Prelude
Non-hunter humans have a Morality rating that serves
as a gauge of their accordance with the moral standards of The prelude is another way to flesh out your character

human society. Hunters are human and, as such, are held above and beyond the basic character creation process. While
to the same standard. Hunters on the Vigil, however, are it is an optional process, it is one that can allow a player to
often duty bound to commit sins to survive and to execute explore his character’s background and, in the process, get a
the needs of the hunt. real feel for his persona, rather than just the character sheet.
As an optional rule, Storytellers may allow players to ex- During character creation, you’re building your character in
change Morality for experience points during the character the abstract, as a conglomeration of concepts and statistics. In
creation process. This represents the acts the character has the prelude, you are given the chance to try your character on
taken in his life before becoming a hunter (or perhaps during for size, to begin experiencing the World of Darkness through
the prelude that brought him to his role as a hunter), which his eyes, ears, goals and fears. Preludes are normally run as a
have already begun to shift him away from what normal hu- one-on-one scenario with the Storyteller, though some char-

mans think of as being a “good” person. Players may sacrifice acter creation sessions might be run as a group process: if the

one dot of Morality for five experience points, lowering their players create a cell together, it is perhaps appropriate to run
Morality to as low as 5 (for 10 experience points). This ex- them through the prelude together.
change does not inherently invite a derangement or a “Tell” The prelude may also be used as an opportunity to fi ne-tune

(a hunt-specific madness; see pp. 330), although if a player your character’s statistics to better refl ect how the character “comes
wants his character to begin the game with one as a matter to life” once you’ve actually played him. Frequently, when a char-

of character development (without any compensating benefit acter is actually put into play, the player may discover that a slightly
for it), he is welcome to do so. different trait combination better suits the actual character (rather
than the theoretical version built during character creation). He
Step Eight: may manifest as more cunning and less book smart, for example,
The Spark of Life prompting the player to move a dot from Intelligence to Wits, if
the Storyteller approves of the change. If allowed, a player can
Other than a basic character concept, character creation swap dots within the same trait groups (so increasing one Physical
up to this point has been predominantly a matter of statis- Attribute while decreasing another Physical Attribute by the same

tics, defining your character in terms of what he can and can’t amount), as long as the end product is something that could have
do or what he does or doesn’t know. A roleplaying character, been built with the original character creation rules.
however, is more than dots and traits and percentages of suc- Storytellers benefit from running prelude scenes with

cess. The statistics on your character sheet are just the foun- their players, too. They are given the opportunity to impart

dation of the character, the finite and measurable aspects of setting and backstory information to the players without the
what he can do. Your challenge now is to determine the other necessity of a lengthy narrative session where the players do
half of the character — who he is. nothing but listen. Prelude scenes give Storytellers the op-
Some of the same statistics you chose earlier may serve portunity to establish relationships between the players’ char-
as guidelines for the other aspects of your character. But traits acters and others who exist in the story. Rival or allied cells,
can always be interpreted more than one way. If, for example, mentors, even ongoing antagonists can be introduced, and
your character has high Dexterity, does that mean he’s slim their presence as three-dimensional characters with their own
and athletic, nimble on his feet and ready to dodge danger at histories, goals and desires established in a tangible fashion

every turn? Or is he adept with fine motor skills, capable of for the players and their characters.
shooting an apple off a demon’s head or carving the “Lord’s
Prayer” on a grain of rice? Does his low Presence reveal him Storytelling
as a shy hermit, overlooked by everyone in a crowd, or does
he make an impression (but a bad one) with poor hygiene and the Prelude
worse manners? Each trait can manifest in a variety of ways, As a Storyteller, there are several decisions you will need
depending on how you see your character. to make before running a Hunter prelude. The initial set of
Other aspects of your character have nothing to do with decisions deals with the nature, rather than the subject mat-
his traits. Is he old or young? Tall or short? Tidy or slovenly? Is ter, of the prelude.
he popular with his peers, or seen as an outsider? Does he read You can run preludes one on one, or in a group setting.

the paper, or prefer sci-fi novels? Does he spend his leisure Individual preludes for each player are useful in that they al-

time oiling rifles and researching monsters, or does he coach low a single character to act as protagonist in his own back-
the local Little League team and rebuild vintage sports cars? story, while cell-preludes are useful in establishing a cohesive
Little details like this are not represented by any particular group experience (and may be necessary if time is limited).
statistic on your character sheet, but they go a long way to- Your prelude scenario can be interactive (with players
ward making your character three-dimensional, rather than a being allowed to control their characters during the scene) or
cardboard cutout in the shape of a hunter. simply narrative, where you, as Storyteller, describe the sce-
nario and the actions of everyone involved in the scene. Nar-
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