We picked up some games at Michelle's parents' house in Oklahoma, one of which was Hunter. I figured that what with V20 coming out soon and W20 being announced, it was a good time to get all nostalgic and shit and do an OWoD character. So here we go!
The Game: Hunter: The ReckoningThe Publisher: White Wolf
Degree of Familiarity: Some. I wrote for a couple of the sourcebooks, and I ran it once or twice. I played in a really bad game of it in Cleveland, and then another really bad game of it in Atlanta.
Books Required: Just the Hunter book, but I happen to have the Players Guide and the Visionary Creedbook, in case I want them.
Michelle is doing this with me, as she occasionally does.
So, Hunter. Like a lot of people, when the game came out I assumed, based on the ads with the cool-looking dude walking into the camera amidst flames and shotgun shells, that this was going to be about normal people hunting monsters. The word "Reckoning" implied some big event that would precipitate this, but beyond that, I wasn't expecting what we got, which was people tapped by God to go kill supernatural beings. No, really, that's the explanation, based on some of the redlines I got when working on Moonstruck and Nocturnal. God.
Well, whatever. I like everything in the game right up until the powers. I like the notion that the Messengers tap you to be a hunter ("Imbued") by sending a message - you suddenly see words reform into "KILL THE BEAST" or whatever. And then based on your reaction, you get a creed. If you do nothing, you're a bystander, someone aware of the supernatural but too chickenshit to do anything about it.
I didn't like the powers because they were, like Minnie Mouse, fucking goofy. You exhale death-fog? You glow with white light? They're not all stupid or anything, but if the name of the game is "normal people are tapped by Divine to fight monsters," then the Divine makes you awfully supernatural. I guess I would have preferred something more like Frailty, where the Divine works in subtler ways. But here I am saying "subtle" about an OWoD game, what's wrong with me?
Oh, and, you can only get level-5 edges if the Storyteller gives them out. And then they pretended that was a feature, not a bug, of the system. Argh. See, a lot of the higher-ups at WW then (and now) weren't gamers, and so the notion that you present a power and then jerk it away somehow didn't read as "dick move." I still think the game was, in large part, an exercise in missed potential. I also really regret that I didn't run a longer chronicle of it, because I suspect it might be fun. But I have Hunter: The Vigil, now, which has all of the awesome of this game plus a zillion more (and if a Hunter Translation Guide ever comes up, I'll...wave to Chuck, because if there's any justice in the world he'll get it).
So anyway, Michelle and I have decided that our characters met online, went to get coffee, and wound up Imbued. Let's see. My character's name is Samuel Lawrence Callahan ("Sam" is fine). Sam is barely Internet conversant, but he does type well, so he doesn't come off as a total boob online. He met Lila (Michelle's character) on a dating site, and they decided to get together.
Sam is 35, and was married for a few years and then divorced. He's a line worker for the electric company, gets to go up on the lines and try to fix them. He was generally happy enough, but lonely since the divorce, and a buddy said he'd had good luck on dating sites. Sam isn't sure what he wants out of life - he's a very in-the-moment type of guy, and asking him about long-term plans makes him get sleepy. Ask him if he's up for going bowling (or whatever) right now, and he's good with that. I think that makes his nature Conformist. His Demeanor is Survivor, at least it is now. He has a dog, and he built a kennel so his dog could get exercise while he's at work. Collie, I think. Named Hooper.
So, Sam and Lila met at a coffee shop (that she picked out - Bravissimo! It has free parking and good lighting). And there they were, when suddenly...! A werewolf crashes through the front window and flies into frenzy, starts tearing up the place. And Sam, starting to lose his mind in panic, looks up at the menu board and sees the letters change to KEEP YOUR HEAD. USE WHAT'S AT HAND.
Sam grabbed the cinnamon canister and opens it, and gives the werewolf a snoot-ful of cinnamon. While he's distracted with that Sam starts stabbing it with forks, trying to drive it to the door (Lila, meanwhile, gets people out of its way). To me, that suggests Sam is a Visionary.
Afterwards, we wind up at my place, where we get online and find hunter.net. Sam makes an account as "cherrypicker227". He didn't realize how dirty that sounded at the time.
OK, so, Attributes! We're doing 6/4/3 since we're still mortal. I think Physical is first, then Social, then Mental. Sam is average across the board, mentally. Two dots in Manipulation and Appearance, but one extra in Charisma - Sam's a likable guy. Three across the board in Physical. Sam works out and keeps himself fit.
Abilities! 11/7/4, here. That's not enough, but I can bump stuff up later. I figure Knowledges are last, so I'll put one into Bureaucracy, Computer, Investigation and Science.
Skills are first. Two in Animal Ken, Crafts, and Technology (he's not useless with tech, he's just not so online savvy). Demolition, Drive, Melee, Security and Survival all get one.
Finally, 7 dots into Talents. Two each into Alertness and Intuition, and then one each in Awareness, Brawl and Athletics.
Step Four: Advantages. Let's do Backgrounds. I'll take Exposure 2 because of the little coffee-shop incident. Two into Destiny because you're dumb if you don't. Last one goes into Resources.
Now, Virtues. I get three dots, Vision is my primary which means that the others can't exceed it. I'll put one into each, because I see Sam as a fairly open-minded guy.
Edges. Oy. I "spend" my Virtues on these, meaning I need Vision 3 to take a level two edge (because I'd need a level one Edge first, and that eats one point, and then I'd need points 2 and 3 to buy the level-two Edge. See what I mean about level 5 Edges being unavailable? The math doesn't add up!). Anyway, I want Foresee, the Vision Edge from the core book. The focus is the taste of coffee; Sam chews coffee candy when he uses the power now.
For my Mercy Edge, Hide doesn't sound like Sam and Demand sucks unless you've got a high Mercy. I'll take Bluster, letting me "dodge" attacks by shouting.
For the Zeal Edge, I remember Impact, from (I think) the Avenger book. Because I think I want an offensive Edge, I'll take it - lets me do more damage throwing stuff. I can't find the system online, though, because all Google does is find shit about the video game. Eh.
Moving on. I get 3 Willpower and 3 Conviction.
And finally, 21 freebies. I have a feeling they're going into Abilities.
Well, first I'll spend 3 and buy up Willpower to 6. I'll buy my starting Conviction up to 5; that's 5 spent. I'll spend 10 and buy up Wits and Perception to 3. That leaves me with 6.
I'll put them into Athletics and Crafts, for 3 dots in each. Any Flaws I want? Nah, screw it. I never liked the Flaws in the Players Guide anyway.
And that's it!
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