Page 144 - Hunter the Vigil - Mortal Remains

These Dread Powers supplement the list in Hunter: The Vigil.
They use The God-Machine Chronicle document as a foundation.
One difference you’ll see in the tenor of these Dread Powers is
that, unlike those found in Hunter: The Vigil, many of these abil-
ities have benevolent potential. Some can actively bless or benefit
their recipients. This is intentional. Vampires, malevolent spirits,
werewolves, and the like are likely to bear powers that victimize and
abuse exclusively, because their natures tend toward those types of
interactions. Fairies, for example, play a subtler game. They can
bless and curse. Demons can sign contracts with double-edged
sword clauses. Point being, the “monsters” in this book some-
times walk the line as to what “monster” means, even in a game like
Hunter: The Vigil where nothing is black and white.
Existing Dread Powers

In addition to the new Dread Powers featured in this chapter on
p. 144, you can (and should) still use the Dread Powers from Hunt-
er: The Vigil. They’ll work fine as is, with minor modifications.
Any damaging Dread Power should cause one fewer point
of damage at base; in The God-Machine Chronicle, damage is
automatic on a successful attack. As Storyteller, be very mindful
of any damaging attacks, because monsters will outperform hunters
even more than in the standard Hunter rules. This should encourage
hunters to fight smart, and to use the situation and environment to
their advantage.
For players that aren’t used to these systems or that style of play,
this may be a learning experience. The Storyteller should strive to
describe some potential advantages in any given scene. If you’re in a
factory, talk about the rickety floorboards that favor lighter, human
runners. If you’re in the park, talk about the winding, narrow paths
that could bottleneck an assault.
Using Conditions

As it stands, the Dread Powers in Hunter: The Vigil work well.
However, if you want to update their rules to feel more like the
rules in the rest of this book, and the rules in The God-Machine
Chronicle, consider converting effects to Conditions any time
something could realistically last more than a scene.
If you convert an effect to a Condition, consider what circum-
stances the Condition would resolve or fade under. Most Dread Pow-
er Conditions will go away after a certain timeframe, but don’t offer a
resolution Beat. However, Conditions must have terms for resolution.
If the character or player does this thing, the Condition leaves and the
character receives a Beat.
In the case of positive effects for monsters, you can also use Con-
ditions. But, for Storyteller characters, resolving Conditions should
award Willpower instead of Beats. Being that Willpower is usually
the fuel for Dread Powers, this can lead to a buildup situation.
Some Dread Powers (Tempest, for example) use a glut of Willpower
all at once. If you start your Storyteller character monsters with low
Willpower, they can slowly grow into more ferocious Dread Powers
as the chronicle progresses.
Dread Power Dice Pools

Don’t feel constrained by the dice pools offered in the various
Dread Power descriptions. These are general offerings, examples of