Character Creation: Hunter: The Vigil

So anyway.

The Game: Hunter: The Vigil
The publisher: White Wolf Game Studio
Degree of familiarity: About as much as I can, considering the book's not out yet. I wrote part of it, playtested it, and just ran a one-shot last night.
Books required: The Hunter book and the World of Darkness Rulebook. I won't use the sourcebooks, because Kelley might kill me. 

OK, so, in the teasers thus far, you've already seen that the game runs in three "tiers." Tier-one is basically folks from the neighborhood who are all hunting the same monster - I like to describe it as you, your balls and a crowbar. Tier two gives us Ashwood Abbey and the Loyalists of Thule; organizations that have advantages, but nothing freaky. And then there's tier three, in which the characters do have access to some weirdness.

Now, it would normally be up to my ST to tell me what game we're playing and whether all the characters should belong to the same group, but since it's just me, I'm going to go with...tier three, because it'll give me some fun stuff to play with during chargen. I hesitated at that, because I want to be able to work with the themes that I talked about above, and that'd be easier for me at tier one, but I can make this work.

Looking through the tier three groups (conspiracies), I hit on the Ascending Ones. While they have some religious stuff in their background that I don't like (if you're fighting monsters because God told you to, that's not nearly as righteous as doing it to protect others, IMO), but I don't have to play to that. In fact, I think I know where I'd like to go with this guy. If this feels a little autobiographical, bear with me. Gotta play what you know.

Step One: Concept. My character was a teacher. Notice I said "was." He took a job in the inner-city, teaching elementary school (5th grade). He lived out in the burbs, and had a wife and a young child. Everything was OK; he loved his work, even through all the frustration. And then he lost everything.

Looking back on it now, he can see the progression of events. There was an older boy at school, pretty obviously selling drugs, and my character threatened to call the police. The boy tried to bribe him, but he wouldn't back down. It was that week that things started to go south. Phone calls from women that he didn't know, but his wife became suspicious. Parts stolen from his car. Kids being unruly, more than usual. And then one night, he lost his temper. He didn't hit his family, he just raised his voice a little too much, and someone called the police over domestic violence.

And he lost his job. Even an accusation  was enough to get the school board riled, and someone was clearing applying pressure. He lost his job, and things just spiraled from there. He started drinking and popping pills, and naturally his wife left him. He wound up out in his yard one winter night, drunk and stoned, and he saw the boy approach him with a gun in his hand. He isn't sure what happened after that, but there was a shot, and boy fell dead.

He was arrested and sent to prison. Inside, he shared a cell with an imam, a man who told him about a group of people who had been protecting the masses since the time of the Pharaohs. The imam wasn't going to get out anytime soon - he was in for murder, not manslaughter. But he told my character enough to find the other Ascending Ones when he got out, which he did. Having lost everything in his life, he was determined not to slide back into addiction. Ascension sounded like a better choice.

He didn't initially believe the imam's stories of monsters, but after his parole, he saw that boy again. The one he shot. Grinning at him from across the street, waving, and then he was gone. And that, he feels, was truly his moment of choice: He could have gone mad, but he didn't.

His real name is George Johnston, but he's taken to going by "Wyatt" since his release. He's not sure why, it just seems to fit him.

Step Two: Select Attributes. Whew, still with me? Sorry. I like to write. Anyway, I think that this guy's natural proclivity is toward Social, but being in prison toughened him up. We'll make Social primary, Physical secondary and Mental tertiary.

Social: He was a teacher, and that means Manipulation has to be high. I'll put two dots there and two into Composure (dealing with fifth graders? Yeah). That leaves one into Presence.

Physical: Two into Strength (weights), one each into Dexterity and Stamina.

Mental: Two into Intelligence, one into Wits and nothing into Resolve. Former addict, and all, though it would be the first thing I'd raise with XP.

Step Three: Select Skills. I already know I'm not going to have enough Skill dots. Hmm. I think the biggest formative experience for him was probably his slide into oblivion and time in prison, so I'll go Physical first, then Mental, then Social.

Physical: I'll put two into Athletics (lots of weights), three into Brawl (word got around that he killed a kid, and he wound up on the ass end of ass-kickings a lot), one into Firearms (gained since getting out), two into Larceny (prison=grad school) and Stealth (sit down and shut up is a good defense), and one into Weaponry.

Mental: I'll put two into Academics and Computer, and one into Crafts, Occult and Science. He used to be a better teacher, but he's lost some of his knowledge to drugs, booze and prison.

Social: Two into Expression (teaching) and one each into Streetwise and Intimidation.

Step Four: Select Skill Specialties. I already know I want an "Improvised" Specialty in Weaponry. I'll also take "Teaching" as a Specialty in Expression, and "Chemistry" in Science. That was easy.

Step Five: Add Hunter Template. OK, I already know I'm a tier-three character and I'm going to take membership in the Ascending Ones. Better pick a Profession, though. Hmm. This is a bit of a question. There's no "Teacher" Profession in the book, though I could make one up. But I'm not really sure that's how I'd define Wyatt, anyway. He lost that part of his life when he went to jail, and he jumped parole when he got out. He's a Criminal now, so I think I'll make that his Profession. That means that Larceny and Streetwise are his Asset Skills. I get a free Specialty in one of those, so I'll give Wyatt a Streetwise Specialty in Gangs. He knows monsters use gangs to mask themselves, after all, so it's a good place to start looking.

Step Six: Choose Merits. Oh, baby. Well, obviously I need Status (Ascending Ones), so I'll take one dot there. I also want one dot of Mentor (the imam, still in prison - we communicate via email).

Five dots left. Hmm. Since I don't have a cell (it's just me making the character), I won't sink dots into Safehouse. Instead, I'll take Elixirs at three dots - that'll be fun to play with.

I'd love to take Improvised Weaponry from Midnight Roads, but my Wits isn't high enough. Instead, I'll take Danger Sense for my last two dots. He's grown eyes in the back of his head since getting sent down.

Now, since I've got three dots of Elixirs, I start play with Elixirs whose dot ratings add up to 4 (my Elixirs + Status), and I can only take up to level 3 Elixirs (since that's as high as my Merit goes; it's not safe for me to use the harder stuff yet, anyway). It's been a while since I've read this section, so hang on.

OK. First, I pick Eye of Ra. That lets me increase my Perception rolls by 3 (my Elixir rating), which as any who's ever played an investigative game knows is damned handy. Since Wyatt is combat-capable, I'll also take A Glimpse of After, which allows him to ignore wounds and keep fighting if his last box is filled with bashing damage. That's a 1 dot and a 3 dot, so that's my lot for Elixirs.

Step Seven: Determine Advantages. Blah, blah, math. Size 5, Initiative 5, Willpower 4 (ouch, though it's easier to get back in Hunter because of the risk mechanic), Health 7, Speed 10, Defense 2, Morality 7.

Hmm. About that. I wonder if I shouldn't drop it down some. Actually, yeah, I think I should. Wyatt's been through a lot, and he's not come through unscathed. I'll take it down to 5 and use the 10 XP to buy my Resolve up to 2. That increases my Willpower to 5. That makes sense for him - he's lost part of himself, but he's also come through it a little stronger.

I'll note that I have a Flaw, too: Wanted Criminal. He did jump parole, and that means if he gets arrested he's fucked.

Virtue and Vice: I know his Vice is Wrath; he's got a temper, though he's not a violent man (or at least, he didn't used to be). His Virtue is Fortitude. He's been through a lot, and he's still going.

Step Eight: Spark of Life.

I think I've got a pretty good sense of Wyatt. In a cell, he's be a good combat guy, but he's also useful when it comes to dealing with other criminals and ex-cons. Plus, never know, his teaching skill and knowledge might come in handy someday.