Page 62 - Hunter - The Vigil

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What Type of
Hunter Are You? CODE NAMES
Is the Vigil a duty, or revenge for some pre- AND ALIASES
vious wrong? Are you in it to accomplish a par-
ticular goal, or for the long haul? Do you have a Some hunters, especially those in
favored target or some sort of a personal vendetta fi rst-tier cells, continue to refer to
against a particular type of monster? Do you see themselves by their normal human name
your weapons as just tools, or do they mean more after joining the Vigil. Others may take
to you than that? Could it be just for the money on an alias specifi cally for the hunt,
your organization pays you, or do you do it for the out of a desire for anonymity, a need
mad joy of putting bullets in monsters? to protect their families or an attempt
to juggle the double life of pursuing
the hunt while maintaining careers and
Example families.
Individual hunter aliases may be completely
of Character mundane, simply a generic name that isn’t
tied to the hunter’s actual identity. On
Creation the other hand, a hunter may take (or
be given) a “nom de guerre” (war name)
Pat is creating a character for Autumn’s Hunt- that is designed to convey a particular
er: The Vigil game. Autumn tells Pat the game will meaning. Jerry Kravitz isn’t a particularly
focus on an unprecedented surge in the frequency intimidating handle, but the Jackal,
and intensity of supernatural activity in Philadel- Doubletap or Ghoul might well communicate
phia. The players’ characters will make up a covert a measure of intimidation (especially if
hunter cell put together to investigate the causes backed up with actual lethal ability.)
and extent thereof, and to try to stop it if possible. Hunter cells also often take on unique
The game will focus on paranoia and danger as the nomenclature. A tier-one cell dedicated
group attempts to survive in an obviously hostile to protecting a particular town might call
environment and discover the source of the threat itself the Saviors or the Gatekeepers,
while learning to work together as a newly created denoting its goal of shielding the city from
cell. Autumn says the game will be a trial by fi re for harm. Alternatively, a cell might choose
the cell as the characters learn about one another a name that speaks of its own attributes
and the grim scenario. rather than its purpose: Lightning, for a
Pat takes a copy of the character sheet and group that specializes in quick (and fatal)
some scratch paper for notes, and begins writing strikes, or The Ghosts, for a cell that
down some rough ideas for his character. Before “haunts” a particular region.
committing completely to an idea, he discusses sev- Cells working for a particular
eral aspects of the game with Autumn. He learns organization may be given a code name
that the characters will all be from third-tier con- that suits the organization’s goals or
spiracies, although they can choose to which con- focus. The Ascending Ones might name a
spiracy the characters belong. Autumn envisions strike-team cell after Sekhmet (the lion-

this being each character’s fi rst official hunt, so she headed goddess of war), and one that is
would like all to start with the basic character cre- devoted to the collection of research
ation statistics, rather than additional experience and information after Ipuwer, one of the
points or Practical Experience. Autumn explains oldest known papyrus documents.
why the cell features hunters from differing con- In general, almost anything can be used as
spiracies: the situation in Philly is bad enough that a code name for a hunter or cell, although
multiple conspiracies have assigned hunters to the players would be well advised to listen to
cell in order to counterbalance each other’s inter- Winston Churchill’s advice when choosing
ests in the area and ensure no one group can claim one: “Intelligent thought will already
all the glory (and possible bounty — knowledge, supply an unlimited number of well-sounding
captive “guinea pigs,” arcane items or the like). names that do not suggest the character of
the operation or disparage it in any way
Step One: Concept and do not enable some widow or mother to
Pat’s interested in playing a museum curator, say that her son was killed in an operation
someone who seeks out lost treasures and antiqui- called ‘Bunnyhug’ or ‘Ballyhoo’.”
ties to sell them to the highest bidder. He decides
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