Page 82 - Hunter - The Vigil

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It takes a lot of money to become a full-fledged physician, An Engineer working a defense tech trade show is the

as well as the grit and dedication to live through mistakes target of a vengeful ghost. After realizing that what he’s been
that kill people. This experience hardens some Doctors, while through isn’t a lie, he resolves that monsters must be a glitch

others see human beings as complicated machines. Alterna- in the world — and it’s up to him to fix it. A biotechnologist
tive therapies require just as much training as conventional works late, taking a shortcut home through an old park where
medicine, though practitioners know more about how to deal she’s set upon by a patchwork man. She takes a sample, and
with people face to face. wants to find the creature again to study it. The aerospace

Most Doctors have Mental Attributes primary, though Engineer resolves to fly his next mission personally, hoping to

no one Attribute stands out above the others. Surgeons and make contact with whatever found — and marked — his cre-
pathologists need a high Dexterity and Composure for their ation. The Vigil is the perfect excuse for the Engineer to learn
work, while those who speak to patients face to face can ben- more about this world that has been hidden from him for so
efit more from Presence and Manipulation. Many Doctors long, a task he throws himself into. The only problem is that

have a high Stamina, no matter their other Attributes. Most if he’s not careful, his work will suffer. Fresh graduates with
Doctors will have three dots spread between Medicine and brilliant ideas all want his job, and if he can’t keep his hunt
Empathy, with a specialty depending on their field of exper- and his work separate, he’s going to be in a world of trouble.

tise (Surgery or Psychotherapy, for example). Other common The longer the Vigil draws on, the more it takes its toll
Skills include Academics, Larceny, Politics, Science (Biology) on an Engineer. The supernatural doesn’t have an underly-
and Socialize, along with any Skills required by her specialty ing scientific order. A killer returned from Hell doesn’t hold

(e.g. Animal Ken for a veterinarian). Holistic Awareness, to the rules of human biology. The Reanimated are so much
Iron Stomach and Toxin Resistance are all common Merits. worse than plastic surgery addicts. Every answer brings more
Concepts: Abortion clinic worker, city coroner, di- questions, and trying to answer those takes more time than the
agnostician, EMT, forensic pathologist, herbal therapist, Engineer has. The hunt consumes every waking hour of an En-
overworked resident, psychotherapist, triage nurse, veteri- gineer’s life. Eventually, something has to break (ironic, given
nary surgeon their predilection for building), either at work or at home.
Asset Skills: Empathy and Medicine Task Force: VALKYRIE recruits a few who can turn their
Professional Training: hands to advanced weapons design, while the Loyalists of
• • Nu r se Thule prefer to take Engineers who want to continue their
Nurse
•• Resident studies of monster biology. Engineers with a flexible attitude

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••• Doctor r toward the monsters’ rights, or a desire to use what they find
•••
•••• Specialist to improve humanity, may see the Cheiron Group as a better
icine
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ief of Me
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••••• Chief of Medicine employer. Chemical Engineers — especially those who might
•••••
be used to make certain “pharmaceuticals” — might instead
Engineer be snatched up by the Ascending Ones. Engineers in smaller

cells tend to find less use for their “big ideas,” and often end
I’m building a new world, a better world. A world without
up in the hands of larger groups, regardless of intention.
things that go bump in the night.
Background: Many Engineers are graduates, but a sur-
Engineers think big. It’s a requirement of the job. Wheth-
prising number are college dropouts. They train themselves,
er he’s designing a new hospital or coming up with a way to
then parlay their skills into a role within a larger organization.
get people into space, at the back of his mind, the Engineer
From there, they keep learning. Some Engineers never learn
is thinking about the impact he will have. His hospital will
how to deal with people, requiring mediators between them
change lives. His new drug will make life so much easier for
and their co-workers. Like it or not, she needs the backing
people. It may just be a tiny change, but it’s there — a lasting
of a big company or the government if she’s going to make
legacy. Some Engineers want to help people, others want to
signifi cant changes.
go down in history alongside Henry Ford and Isambard King-
Whether they completed a degree or not, most Engineers
dom Brunel, but whatever their motive, their goals are the

are smart. Some only really know their field, others benefit
same.
from nepotism, while a few are true polymaths. Though they
What inciting incident might draw an Engineer to the

specialize in a specific technical field — anything from chemi-
Vigil? A civil Engineer who plans a bridge could put a road
cal engineering to architecture — often an Engineer picks up
through the middle of a werewolf pack’s territory, pissing off

just enough knowledge of other fields to get her colleagues’
the creatures that live there. An aerospace Engineer’s pro-
jokes. While a few achieve worldwide name recognition,
totype space-plane comes back with the pilot replaced with
many more never escape the cubicle.
biological machinery and claw marks on the wings. A cult
In game terms, Engineers often possess high Intelligence,
kidnaps a chemical Engineer, forcing him to process odd sub-
backing that up with a similar amount of Resolve. Those who
stances and human remains into new drugs. However it hap-
look after themselves put Physical Attributes secondary, while
pens, an Engineer starts questioning her experience after the
others see human interaction as a system to learn and under-
fact: What were they? Why did they target her? How did they
stand, preferring Social Attributes. Common Skills include
do what they did? Most importantly, how can she use what
Computer, Crafts, Investigation, Medicine, Persuasion and
she knows to her advantage?
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