Page 86 - Hunter - The Vigil

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Even the most reputable Journalist will have a very hard Professional Training:
ac
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time getting stories about ghosts or sewer goblins or Reani- •• Hackk
mated corpses onto the evening news. Tabloids may run the •• Blogger
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occasional story, but even they have their limits when a whole ••••• Journalistt
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load of outlandish stories come from just one address (plus, •••• Columnist
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most of what they run is purposefully fake, so what’s the use ••••••••• Editoritor
of injecting truth into a bed of lies?). If she’s skilled, she can
twist her words just enough, substituting rabid dogs for were- Laborer
wolves or reporting on a serial killer without actually men-
You assholes don’t like it when people try to take you apart.
tioning that the “man” took 10 bullets to the head without
Funny thing is, I work in a wrecking yard.
dying. She may need to edit photographs or video, but that’s
Laborers are blue-collar workers. Electricians, builders,
the price a Journalist has to pay in order to air her story.
joiners, plumbers and demolitions workers all fall under the
After spending some time on the Vigil, a Journalist’s
purview of this profession. Some take up their job out of a
nerves often fray. She constantly looks for the supernatu-
love of building things; others couldn’t afford college and pre-
ral angle on any story, expecting an explanation that may
fer using their hands. While some take their job to keep their
not be there. Sometimes, she has to take a step back and
family under a roof, others really take to their role, becoming
remember that plain old humans can be plenty fucked up
contractors or foremen and, in time, possibly hiring engineers
without monsters pulling their strings. Any hope of the
to help them open a building fi rm.
prime time slips away, with more and more editors relegat-
There’s a strange idea among people who grow up in a
ing her stories to the slush pile. For many, regaining an
white-collar world that Laborers are poor, badly educated, or
even keel takes time that could better be spent sleeping or

otherwise not worth an office job. While plenty live the ste-
interacting with normal humans. It’s no surprise that most
reotype, it’s not always the case. A joiner might not have a
Journalists who take on the Vigil spend at least some time
clue how to use a computer; a banker wouldn’t know how to
looking out of the bottom of a bottle.
build a house. Foolish monsters suspect that while a power-
Who can use a Journo? Cheiron needs someone to write
ful banker going missing means a manhunt, nobody misses a
its PR (and hide its myriad secrets). Null Mysteriis is con-
builder or an electrician. They’re wrong. Many Laborers have
sumed with the nature of truth (or, some would say, the denial
families — even those who work odd shifts have time enough

of it), and Journalists can fit right into that equation. Net-
for a wife and children. A wide range of trade jobs are union-
work Zero is a natural home for Journalists, and for good or ill,
ized, and even in those that aren’t, people look out for each
doesn’t have the same pesky “ethics” getting in the way when
other.
it comes to reporting “truth.”
Laborers take up the Vigil for a range of reasons. A build-
Background: Some Journalists are college educated;
ing crew that starts work within a skin-stealing spider-creature’s
others start blogging or writing for a free paper. Educa-
th
territory comes under attack. A plumber notices a 13 fl oor in
tion is less important than training and a desire to print
a building he’s maintaining and goes to investigate (and later
the truth. She needs the skills to uncover her own evi-
wonders at the “missing time” he suffers when he wakes up in
dence, and needs an eye for events that could later turn
his bed). An electrician uncovers a whole bunch of bloodless
into news. Even when she’s just talking to people, she may
corpses behind a wall when putting in a fuse box. A demoli-
hear something she deems interesting, and needs to know
tion crew unearths a strange artifact and suffers bizarre deaths.
how to get people to open up.
Whatever happens, a Laborer is often one of the fi rst targets of
Resistance Attributes across all three categories are very
a monster on the rampage, and has to fi ght back.
valuable to a Journalist. Presence and Manipulation help with
Those who survive their initial encounter join — or
getting the truth out of people. Of Mental Attributes, Wits is
found — monster-hunting organizations, seeing them as a
usually higher than Intelligence: the former helps with un-
union for people who have taken up the Vigil. A blue-collar
covering clues, while the latter covers interpreting those clues
worker brings a wide range of skills to their groups. Highbrow
to make a coherent story. Journalists commonly have at least
groups who shy away from the criminal element may find that

one dot in Expression (specializing in written or video jour-
a Laborer has physical skills they sorely need. A foreman can
nalism), Investigation, Larceny, Persuasion, Politics, Stealth
look at an individual hunt in the same way he looks at a proj-

and Subterfuge. A Journalist in a specific field tends to have
ect. He divides the group’s resources and analyzes the critical
skills related to that fi eld, be they Athletics, Brawl, Intimida-
path of the hunt, knowing where each plan’s weak points lie.
tion, Medicine, Occult, Science or Socialize. Journalists tend
Maybe the building inspector owes him a favor. Maybe he
to have Contacts, Danger Sense and a small amount of Fame
knows how to demo a wall.
among their Merits.
While some employers will tolerate showing up late, dog
Concepts: Columnist, conspiratorial blogger, corporate
tired, or hungover, most won’t tolerate an electrician who
shill, freelance correspondent, lifestyle writer, local editor,
shows up in bloodstained overalls. Word gets around, and
muckraking journo, new media critic, political firebrand,

bosses talk to each other. A Laborer who’s fired from one job

sports anchor, TV news anchor
has a hard time getting another — though a monster who
Asset Skills: Expression and Investigation
owns a construction firm may offer a recently fired hunter a

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