Page 88 - Hunter the Vigil - Mortal Remains

STORy HOOKS

frightening powers, but also terrifying implications. A slasher a plan of attack. When they’re ready to take down the spirit—
or bloodsucker with powers may be dangerous, and something that’s when the ghostwalkers show up. After all that trouble,
to hunt, but a ghostwalker can add a disturbing layer to that will the hunters step aside and allow the haunted to intervene?
concept. It’s one thing to fight a foe with a grudge; it’s another Or will they partner up and learn an invaluable lesson in the
to face a grudge from beyond the grave. However lifelike they process?
may seem, ghostwalkers are people who have crossed over and Tier Two: In a tier-two plot, the hunters might be
never truly escaped the grave. Death surrounds them at all drawn to a location or series of coordinates based on rumors
times, and the voices of the dead echo in their ears. circulated by their compact. They will likely be armed and
Even then, those who hunt the living still hunt. Not for prepared to take on a deadly ghost. Scholarly types will have
food or a primal urge, but for a purpose. Like their cousins, done their homework, to find out more about the house and
they have a Vigil. Perhaps they believe their Vigil is righteous, its previous occupants, too. By the time the ghostwalkers show
perhaps they are avenging their own murder. But maybe, like up, however, the hunters will believe they have the situation
ghosts, they are no longer capable of rational thought. How a well in hand. When the Fog Men reveal more intel about the
cell deals with otherworldly vengeance is a question that will ghosts, information they’ll be shocked to learn, will the hunters
vary from hunter to hunter, cell to cell, and is another theme to step aside? What happens when the ghost wastes no time and
introduce when dealing with ghostwalkers. attacks?
Regardless of whether they are allies or enemies, Tier Three: A conspiracy-level story of this type will plant
ghostwalkers can make for an interesting twist in a Hunter the seeds for a larger-scale mystery. In a tier-three game, not one
game. Perhaps they are doing essentially the same thing as the house is haunted, but several — and the ghosts are all connected
PC’s cell. Maybe they really are a force for good and balance, to each other somehow. A terrifying cult, a coven of would-be
or strive to deliver righteous vengeance from beyond the grave. witches, or a rogue ghostwalker may be drawing the hunters
They could be an instrument of revenge, people who’ve lost deeper and deeper into a trap. After the hunters cleanse one
sight of what righteousness is a long time ago. However they home, what happens when the ghostwalkers show up late? Will
are used, ghostwalkers represent an element that could add the cell hear them out, or will they attack, thinking the Fog
incredible stories to a Hunter chronicle. The question isn’t Men — who are following them from haunted house to spooky
how they can be used, then, but what story best fits the group. mansion — are causing the hauntings?

The three story hooks that follow are examples of different The Flim-Flam Man
ways you can use this unique type of supernatural being in a Summary: An old house just down the street fell into
chronicle.
disrepair a long time ago, and is rumored to be haunted.
No Place for Amateurs While stories had been circulating for decades, no one believed
the house was actually haunted, until the new owner moved
Summary: The cell is investigating a local house haunted in. Unlike other ghosts, this spirit is obvious and loud. This
by a dangerous, hostile ghost. During their investigation, ghost waves at cars passing by, makes the walls bleed almost on
the hunters encounter a second group who has also taken demand, and speaks through televisions in macabre rhymes.
an interest in the house and its ghostly occupant. This new It almost seems too much to be true, and it is; the house isn’t
gang is eclectic, secretive, and insists that the PCs leave the haunted by any spirit, but an enterprising ghostwalker.
area, for their own safety. They’re ghostwalkers, after all, Setup: The “ghost” responsible for a haunted is actually
and they know exactly how the hunters are going to mess a rogue ghostwalker. This Fog Man is generating all the effects
everything up. of the house’s haunting with his power, drawing ectoplasmic
Setup: The hunters are well-intentioned, of course, but the energy from rich and storied history of the home. What’s more
ghostwalkers weren’t lying. In their minds, the cell doesn’t have is that the ghostwalker stands to gain something else, too: a fat
the power or experience to appropriately deal with ghosts. The paycheck from a mysterious benefactor. Does the cell turn a
haunted will patronize them, and tell them they’re better off blind eye to the charlatan? Try to expose her as a “fake” ghost?
protecting people from other monsters that go bump in the What happens if the ghostwalker draws other spirits and Fog
night. But, as the conversation continues, the hunters being Men to the area in order to prove the house is haunted? How
to understand that the ghostwalkers clearly aren’t human, and does the cell deal with a clever-but-seemingly-harmless con
don’t answer to any human rules. Do the hunters let them work artist?
on their own? Keep an eye on the ghostwalkers? Or, does the Tier One: Tier-one hunters may investigate a haunted
cell try to find some way to deal with them? house and decide that the ghostwalker is a human who’s faking
Tier One: A haunted house is perfect way for tier-one her abilities. In this scenario, the con artist is just a con artist
hunters to get their feet wet. After all, how much damage can — until the hunters are drawn back into the story by a friend,
one ghost do? However, hunting ghosts will prove to be a lot ally, or witness. The hard part won’t be confronting the ghost-
easier than actually removing them. Not everything the cell sees walker, but trying to deal with her appropriately. The horror
on television is to be believed. And they may have to frequent a here is when the cell decides to take her out. When they do,
particular location multiple times before they have formulated what happens after she rises back from the dead and kills one

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