Page 93 - Hunter - The Vigil

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C CHAPTER TWO: CHARACTER CREATION
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their tour of duty. The Ascending Ones often recruit old Sol- child). A Technician out to fix a refrigerator finds human re-

diers as protection, or ship Elixirs and drugs between bases. mains in the icebox. A gunsmith fixes a revolver that’s got

Backgrounds: Military training and induction is physically silver residue around the tip of the barrel and can’t help but
and mentally demanding on a recruit, as it must leave a Soldier ask the owner why. Most can’t resist the urge to look just that
willing to listen to orders that no sane man would follow. She little bit further than they need to; it’s the same impulse that
has to keep herself in good physical shape, and that continues leads them to fi gure out how things work in the fi rst place.
even after she leaves the forces. Many carry their sense of disci- Once they know the truth, most Technicians know they
pline through to their civilian lives, showing in their conservative have to do something. After all, they’re used to helping people.
choice of clothes, cars and other accoutrements. The Vigil is the obvious step. Whether a mechanic steps in
In game terms, Soldiers tend to have Physical Attributes with a monkey wrench and a getaway car to save his daughter’s
as their primary. Wits is also usually high, leading to high De- school from a twisted killer or an electronics geek builds spy
fense. Composure and Resolve both help a Soldier deal with gear to listen in on the cult meeting in the mayor’s offi ce, the

some of the things he sees on the battlefield. Most Soldiers hunt is full of interesting ways to show what anyone can do.
have at least one dot of Athletics, Brawl, Crafts, Firearms, In- Those who manage to survive more than one hunt go on
timidation, Medicine, Stealth, Survival and Weaponry. Most to join larger groups, supporting the group with equipment
combat Merits are reasonably common, especially a Fighting and ideas in the background, and then proving that they
Style, along with Gunslinger and Strong Back — though a can do so much more on the front lines. Some express their
good sergeant likely also has Inspiring. wilder theories and inventions with like-minded hunters on
Concepts: AWOL pilot, drill sergeant, grizzled veteran, the Internet. Technicians have a prominent home in com-
ground-pounder, icy marksman, PTSD-rattled Soldier, per- pacts and conspiracies like the Cheiron Group (“Tom, I need
suasive recruiter, private mercenary contractor, Special Forces your thoughts on how to repair this knee replacement”), Task
psychopath Force: VALKYRIE (“Tinker with this auto-turret, fast — we
Asset Skills: Firearms and Survival need it to trigger when a specter enters the room”) and Null
Professional Training: Mysteriis (“Will a Kirlian camera work to capture the aura of
Grunt
• • Grun t these witnesses I have in the other room?”).
•• Private Backgrounds: Technicians are generally bright, but quite
••• S e rg eant a few don’t realize their own ability. For some, a quirk of learn-
•••
Sergeant
•••• Lieutenant ing or personality keeps them from college, while others find

Genera
•••••
••••• General l their time on campus gives them the skills they really need.
Most would rather be building something than learning in a
Technician classroom. In addition to inventors, several Technicians care
enough about their community to join neighborhood watch
It’s a zip gun with a shotgun shell and a sharpened table leg.
programs, or just break up bar fights with a few choice words

Let’s see fang-face get up after that happens to his heart.
and a heavy wrench.
Technicians get their hands dirty fi xing things. Whether
In game terms, most Technicians have above average In-
they’re car mechanics who can rebuild the engine for a ’76
telligence combined with medium-to-high Physical attributes
Ford pickup while blindfolded or the kid everyone goes to for
— electrical savants need high Dexterity to keep their hands
computer repairs, they’ve got skills other people don’t have
steady, while mechanics get more use out of Strength. Most
and they like putting them to use. They don’t think they’re
keep Social Attributes at two dots or higher, simply because

building a better world; they just like fixing old things and
nobody goes to an unlikable bastard when they need work
building new ones.
done. With regard to Skills, most have at least a dot of Crafts
Quite a few Technicians are backyard inventors, with
(and a specialty relating to their field), Drive, Investigation

one or two projects they work on when things get quiet.
and Science, backed up with Skills appropriate to their field,

When an inventor takes up the Vigil, it’s only natural that he
from Athletics and Weaponry to Computer and Larceny.
starts coming up with things that will help his fellow hunt-
Common Merits include Common Sense, Fresh Start and
ers. More than one cell has taken down monsters that should
enough Resources to buy their equipment.
have torn its members apart, through a combination of dedi-
Concepts: chop shop auto mechanic, computer repair-
cation, tactics and jury-rigged devices. While they often don’t
man, garage inventor, gunsmith, jack-of-all-trades, “Mister
work more than once, stories of these monster-hunting weap-
Fix-It,” special effects wizard, unconventional weapons de-
ons and traps go on the Internet and other cells pick up and
signer, video engineer
improve upon what may have started as an unreliable Rube
Asset Skills: Crafts and Investigation
Goldberg machine.
Professional Training:
Like most hunters, Technicians come to the Vigil
Dabbler
• • Dabbler
through their jobs. A mechanic moves the wrong tarp, re-
•• Technician
vealing a vampire who’s sleeping through the day with blood
Garage Inventor
••• Garage Inventor
•••
still crusted on his chin. A kid repairing a computer for the
•••• Junkyard Wizard
strange lady down the street fi nds a Word document on turn-
••••• MacGyver
•••••
MacGyver
ing cats into her “familiars” (just add the blood of an only
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