by Sean Riley (Hunter: The Reckoning | Lock ‘n Load | Columns)
Hunter: The Reckoning has probably been White Wolf Game Studio's most controversial game in a long time, and were it not for Eternal Hearts, would easily have been their most controversial book of the last year, in a walk. The game has been criticized from all angles, many have argued the Edges system is flawed, others have argued the setting is disappointing. More people have felt White Wolf's conception of what a 'normal' person is to be fairly inaccurate in a game of supposedly normal people (But with superpowers!), and this humble writer was simply put off by the hideously inappropriate art. Yet many have also lauded the setting and the concept has been appreciated as 'pretty good'.
In short, it's been a troubled game, and the controversy hasn't been settled by the supplements, which have received an equally mixed response.
But none of this matters to those of us who paid their hard earned dosh to buy the funky smelling, neon-orange book! All we want to know is "So what do we make of it?"
And that is exactly what I'm here to help you with.
Let me start out with a disclaimer: None of this is the only way to play Hunter. Many people have also suggested other moods and devices that they feel would create effective and fun Hunter chronicles. All of this is simply opinion and previous experience in similar games.
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, lets get down to the patent pending Sean Riley developed 100 % guaranteed you-beaut, no-doubts-about-it way to make a game of Hunter work.
Theme
The most important element of any game is the theme, and Hunter: The Reckoning has, well, several. The most notable themes, however, are Inheriting the Earth, and The Everyman Against the World.
Let's explore, shall we?
Inherit the Earth are the first and most repeated words in the main Hunter: The Reckoning book. Supposedly the message given by the Heralds to Witness1, they are a symbol of an overriding goal of the Hunters. To some degree, the goal is ambiguous. Does Inheriting the Earth mean eradicating all supernatural? Or simply breaking the tremendous conspiracy of power they possess?
Either way, the theme is Universal and Heroic. You are somehow made a champion of the masses, fighting to save the world; no matter in which way you see the path toward doing so. To some degree, this also implies a unity amidst the Hunters; after all, they are all part of the same goal.
If you want to use this theme, then you are going to have to work upon mythical and heroic constructs. As has been previously pointed out (Even within the book itself) Hunters are somewhat based upon the legend of the Hero, such as St. George or Joan of Arc. Ignore the historical realities behind these figures and instead focus on the legend, they were brave heroes who fought for a great ideal, with no expectation of reward. This does not, however, mean your Hunters have to be knights in shining armour. Remember that St. George finished his dragon hunting wading in a river, ripping a dragon to bloody shreds upon the spikes of his armour so that they floated, in great bloody gobs, down the current and could not rejoin. And Joan of Arc was, of course, a mere peasant girl who was burned at the stake for crimes she never committed.
What it does mean, to some degree, is that you should be emphasising a certain admirable quality to the Hunters. They may leap into the battle as if they knew it was always their destiny, or they may be the classic reluctant heroes who cannot help but be drawn into adventure. Not all Hunters need to be this noble, a treachery always bites deep and is a wonderful device in any story, but the central characters should be, ironically for 'normal people' somehow larger than life. Often elevation or redemption can be a common theme, as people rise above the humdrum of their normal existence, ala Sancho Panza of Don Quixote, but without the insanity. (Although, as those virtues get higher...)
And now, having said all that,
Screw this heroism bullshit. This is a game of The Everyman Against the World. Such a theme is Personal, often Self-Centred and frequently Futile.
Going through those words, one by one. Personal, in that it focuses upon that lead character, his or her emotions, problems and hopes, small as they may be. Self-Centered, in that it focuses upon the unique goals of the main character, usually simple and small. And finally, it is Futile, as it is a greater, infinitely more powerful opponent to the main character.
To evoke this theme, the storyteller must insist upon strong character backgrounds, perhaps even more so than with any other game. In particular, every character must be created with strong goals, hopes and dreams, but they must also be personal and unique and ideally not connected to the supernatural. The most powerful bonds we have are not mystical, but rather physical and spiritual. Family and friends, ideals and beliefs, these are the kinds of things that most of us hold dearest to our hearts, and so it should be with your Hunter. In short, a player has to show the guts to make characters with everything to lose.
And a storyteller has to have the guts to desecrate, defile and destroy the lot.
Let's face it, this ain't a pretty theme. It involves an absolute futility in the way that the characters will bang themselves, over and over, against the wall of the Monsters conspiracies. They will lose everything, and when they think they have no more to lose, the Monsters will find another thing. Quite frequently the characters end up fighting among themselves as they all try to protect different things. They will try to find people to confide with, and they will be betrayed. Paranoia runs rife in a game like this, if the world is against you then who can you trust?, and the characters often move dangerously toward madness
But then, hey? You have a huge space on that sheet for Derangements. Use it. Use it to create dark tales of fearful clinging onto the last few desperate things the player can take comfort in. Create tales of them being taken away, one last time, and watch as what was rational (if fanatic) Defense of loved ones become nothing but bitter, spiteful Vengeance.
And maybe, just maybe in the middle of all of this, someone may have the courage and the Vision to make something new, or to look to the defiled and desecrated remains of what they once loved and Redeem it.
And maybe then they'll be ready to Inherit the Earth. After all, the themes are not mutually exclusive, and sometimes, heroes just happen. Then again, often, heroes fall against the weight of the world, too.
Mood
Whilst the theme directs a story, the mood sustains it.
Mood is a funny critter in storytelling (and role-playing) games. Whilst any particular game line features a mood and can be wrecked by the wrong one, each individual game will always have it's own particular mood and is quite unlike any other.
That said, you can run Hunter in many different moods, but there is one that will, guaranteed, kill it. And that is to give the game a Comic-Book mood. I didn't hate the comic-style art for nothing, I hated it because it gave the whole book an over-the-top feel that directly goes against the games ideals.
In my own opinion, the best way to describe a Hunter game's mood is Gritty and Unrelenting. Gritty, an awkward but appropriate word, suggests an open-faced honesty in the face of dangerous topics you present within your game. The gore should not be hidden, nor the atrocities disguised in Hunter. Be careful, however! It can be very easy to hide the impact of such matters through overplaying or stereotyping such matters. For example, it may seem appropriately horrific to have the rape victim in one story be a beautiful, young teenager, but doing so actually plays more into the comic stereotypes. Rather, the middle-aged woman with children is a more horrific and disturbing choice. As nasty as it might seem, a teenager in this scenario would likely bring up all sorts of subconscious rape fantasies in at least one of your players, or you. Creating a character whose mold does not fit such stereotypes firmly brings a player's attention less on the victim and more upon the horror of the act.
Unrelenting, meanwhile, focuses in on creating situations that will exhaust and confound your players. Don't give players scenes in which to rest and collect their thoughts, rather, pound them with danger at all times. Even when they sit back and try to get their wits around them, harp upon the danger they face. "Sitting Ducks" is a nice way to put it. To create an unrelenting mood, you don't have to make every scene an action scene, rather, you have to make every scene tense, fearful and paranoid.
How can you do this? Use quick descriptions that focus more on what is happening then how it happens. Describe every dogs bark, every little flash of light. But don't waste time, the dog barks, but you don't have to spend a speech describing the way it barks. Keep fast, quick descriptions with lots of surface details, and your players will be seeing their characters flicking their eyes left and right, paranoid and afraid. Another trick that can work is to let one of those little details that you've mentioned prove to be a significant clue later on. Once you've pulled that trick once, your players will be forced to pay attention to everything you say, and if you never let up in tiny surface details, they'll never get a chance to stop concentrating. And if you keep doing this for scene after scene after scene, I assure you, you're gonna exhaust 'em mentally. Which is exactly what Unrelenting mood is all about.
Plots and Other Dirty Tricks
Other dirty tricks. Why are plots a dirty trick?
Mainly, because this is where you begin to abuse every detail your players gave you for their characters. You asked them for detailed, intricate characters (You did ask, didn't you?) and now they're gonna watch each and every one of those passions, hopes, dreams and sacred people and things get brutally hurt, abused and destroyed.
Hunter plots should, in my humble opinion, never begin with the characters on the offensive. Why is this? Because to do so makes the Hunters the proactive characters in the scenario, with the Monsters never really having done anything to be hunted other than, well, being Monsters.
Rather, having the characters on the defensive early on changes around the entire scenario. Have the Monsters go out and hurt the characters, or someone or something that they hold dear. Burn down churches. Kill college friends. The Monsters presented this way are already cast as the villains and the antagonists for better reasons than their just being Monsters, at least on the surface. Often, in fact, those actions are made toward a far different goal than first imagined and the Hunters may well have to decide if the Monster truly does deserve to die, even after it hurt them or those they hold close. (This is great territory for the Redeemers in the group to either thrive, or to be challenged.)
There is, of course, one reason for having the characters as initiators of the entire scenario: If you want to create quandaries about what constitutes a Monster, and if killing creatures for simply being what they are makes YOU a Monster. Certainly plots centered on that theme can be great stuff. But otherwise, keep the Monsters on the attack. Besides, fighting a winning war is never as scary as having your back to the wall, and if you're on the offensive, you're never in a position to lose as much.
On the subject of the Monsters, there is a temptation to make every story about them. Resist the urge and focus in on the plot hooks your player gave you. Instead of immediately launching off to avenge the fallen comrade, focus on the trauma of his wife (Or, for a twist, her husband.) Have your players deal with the grief she feels, and watch them squirm with the choice to either tell her why her husband died and give her some relief from her confusion, or stay quiet and protect her by not involving her in the Most Dangerous Game. Remember: This is a game about everyday, normal people. Your stories should focus on normal, everyday people, too.
However, inevitably the Hunt becomes the focus, and it is equally important to remember that the characters, here to, are normal people with little or no tactical or combat skills. Often characters do not work well together, often the characters plan poorly and make decisions that aren't the worlds greatest. As such, plots in Hunter often have strong elements of chaos and dissolution. However, when these are evoked in the plot is critical to how the story's themes work. If you wish to stress a tragic element, then you should make decisions early in the story easy and then, as the story progresses, start to slowly make decisions less black and white. This will divide your players later on and encourage that chaotic element toward the resolution of the story, giving it that tragic side. Conversely, if you want to make a more heroic story, mix in more and more information as the game goes on, giving your players little or nothing to base their decisions on early but then, as the game progresses, beginning to act in unison toward the resolution. This will create that heroic atmosphere.
Another decision that will affect your plots is which Monsters you want to use for it. Logically, vampires will create a different story to ghosts. To properly use them, you have to decide what the Monster symbolizes.
Vampires, for example, can symbolize conspiracy in the World of Darkness, but they can also represent seduction and the forbidden fruit. Plots involving vampires often surround a web of lies and deceit into which the Hunter is slowly drawn in.
Sample plot hook: One of the characters sisters (or brothers, or children if of an appropriate age) begins a new romance. (Avoid making the romance with a Goth, it's a dead, pardon the pun, giveaway. Instead, lean toward the normal, well adjusted types.) As time goes on, however, she is becoming listless and apathetic. As it becomes obvious that something is wrong, the characters get to (at a point where they can't immediately attack him) meet the vampire and see him with the second sight. Their fears confirmed, the players will almost certainly attempt to get the girl away from him, and he will react by punishing the related character. Never introduce the vampire into the story again, but rather have his human contacts work against the characters. Their house is shot up in a drive-by. Their father (Or husband, or even the character!) is charged with child sexual assault - right in the middle of church. Other characters are assaulted for associating with him, but so are his normal friends who aren't involved, and told to stay away from him. In short, alienate, hurt, and humiliate the character related to the girl, constantly testing his resolve. Give the player a whack to the gut by shredding their Backgrounds as Contacts, Allies and Resources go down the toilet. Let him always know that if he lets the vampire take the girl again, he will stop the entire assault. And, if after all this, he maintains his resolve, let the character discover the Vital Clue™ and move to exact righteous Vengence.
Shapechangers and Werewolves can represent our fears of the wilderness and the absence of civilization, but they (with their kinfolk) can also symbolize family and the ties of blood. Often the werewolves are a great device to force the players into moral crises, because they do often have essentially altruistic goals.
Sample Plot Hook: Unlike the above plot hook, this one demands a female relative as the hook, ideally a cousin or aunt. You can fudge, however, the details to make a sister work. The character related simply walks back into his house... to see (Second Sight) her being raped by a werewolf. Without a doubt, the character is likely to attack immediately, and the werewolf looks about to attack, but looks again at the girl and runs toward the bathroom, before disappearing. When the characters question the female relative she refuses to say anything about him, even if she'd ever seen him before. She doesn't deny or give false information, she simply refuses to answer. The truth behind the incident is that she is kinfolk, and had been promised to the werewolf in question against her will. It is up to the players to decide what to do from now, she wants them to simply leave the werewolves alone, but is obviously traumatized from the entire incident and blames herself. It is likely that the werewolf will return, if he does, will he again respect her family, or this time will he return with his pack and take her by force? From here, the plot depends upon the player's actions.
Warlocks can represent conspiracy like vampires (See Technocracy, the.) and they can also represent corruption and power, even without using obvious corruption like the Nephandi. A power hungry Warlock of any sort makes a feared enemy.
Plot Hook: One of the players in a professional position is asked to overlook a technicality they discover in their work. If he is an accountant, for example, he might be asked to overlook an improperly claimed tax exemption. If she is a lawyer, she may be asked to ignore a minor loophole in a proposed contract or settlement. Either way, they are made certain that if they refuse to overlook it, they will be fired from their job. If the character accepts, then later, mysteriously, they are fired and all files they possessed are confiscated. Should they refuse, they are fired on the spot, with a great show of removing the files. Either way, they are likely to attempt to investigate the files, which, when looked over carefully, clearly show an attempt to benefit a near unheard of upper executive. Investigation of the upper-executive shows links to corporations and governments, and massive amounts of money, equipment and weaponry being sent his way. As this investigation continues, characters bank accounts are drained, their phone lines disconnected, their cars repossessed, and so forth as the upper executive (Who never needs to even be seen or confirmed as a Syndicate Technocrat, although canny players will no doubt suspect this, even if characters don't) tries to shake off the characters. Is the executive a loyal technocrat stockpiling resources for the Union, or a rogue trying to make a play for power? Your choice, although that will affect the chronicle greatly.
Spirits and Ghosts obviously symbolize our fear of death, and they can also represent nostalgia or even longing for things past. But they can also represent demons from the past and memories we never wished we had. Often they can make great secondary antagonists for the more shadowy characters amongst the group. Is one a previous criminal? The ghost of one of his victims could be used to simply torment him, but is far more interesting as simply a silent, tragic figure who appears whenever his old criminal contacts show, and maybe an ally for when he finally decides to deal with the demons of his old life.
Sample Plot Hook: Run a game that seems to logically follow on from a previous story, especially if there is a loved one of an Avenger, Defender, or Martyr in the balance. Play for the climax, the heroic, triumphant rescue and major ass-whuppin'... and then kill him in one fell swoop. Leave the characters feeling empty and helpless as the triumphant story becomes tragedy. Then, allowing for downtime, bring the loved one back as a ghost. The story from here can work in many, many ways. If the loved one was attached to an Avenger, play the Ghost as essentially benign, and watch the Avenger squirm as the thing held so dear to him is turned into the thing he despises. If the Ghost is appearing to a defender, have the ghost seem to be in trouble, and watch the group react with all kinds of different opinions as he calls them to defend a Monster. If a Martyr, play the ghost as antagonistic. The character failed to defend him, and now he will pay. Watch as the guilt piles up in the character, and gear the story towards his resolving of such feelings.
Goblins and Faeries are curious Monsters to try and base a game around. Goblins have always been a symbol of mischief in folklore, but they can also be truly horrible creatures. (As per the example in the main rulebook. Yick.) Basically, however, they can be used to symbolize the alluring and dangerous, or the repulsive and hideous at either extreme.
Sample Plot Hook: Read "La Belle Dame sans Merci" by Keats. Substitute in a Sidhe maiden for the lady (Which isn't hard to do) and a character in your group. Result: A ready made across-the-lines romance that has the potential to evolve into a million different things. If the character is an Avenger, you can focus upon the guilt the character would feel for 'betraying humanity.' If they were an Innocent or a Redeemer, though, then you may want to have the Sidhe maiden slowly ravaging the glamour from the Hunter, and reflecting this by making the character listless and losing dice from all pools. Can the Hunter overcome his own heart and realize that he is being hurt by this romance?
The Walking Dead, finally, are the ultimate splatterpunk enemy. They can symbolize the futility of the Hunt and the powerlessness of humanity. Remember, these critters can be blown apart, and just keep coming at you, over and over. They can, however, also be used as a nice 'deep' symbol, they appear to symbolize a black-and-white delineation between themselves and the Hunters, but if this is violated, the characters may never feel truly righteous ever again.
Sample Plot Hook: Spring this one on a character with a teenage child. Describe the way that the child is becoming slowly more detached and cruel, as well as sarcastic and rebellious. Let the possibility of the child just being a typical surly, rebellious little type, but also hint at something darker. Then, one night, pierce the air with an ear splitting scream as the Dead walk the streets, toward the characters house. Keep violence desperate and fearful as they do NOT stop at anything, but don't make the group too big for the player to handle. One or two will be fine. After this is all done, the family is, needless to say, stunned, hurt and alarmed. The character's life will be forever shattered, with his family now fully awake in the knowledge of the supernatural. (BTW: This is a great way to have a new player join the group, have her play perhaps the guy's daughter, other son, or wife. Don't let her play the teenage son, though. We still need him.) But the son, for some bizarre reason, it not surprised. Play this for a while. Then, have them attack again in a much larger group, this time with the rest of the troupe present. (There to console the other character and his family) Make them know, clearly, that every Zombie is going straight for the teenage son. Why? That's for you to decide, but there might be some kind of supernatural significance to him. Has he been dabbling in matters he should not have been?
And also, a couple of other plot tricks that work with Hunter:
The Movie Opening: I know I said to keep Hunter gritty, but there's nothing wrong with having a big bang for an opening, and sackin' a bit of intrigue into your players. The idea here is to begin with a fast but good description of where the players are and what's happening, and let fire with a big action scene or suspenseful intrigue scene. Then, when you reach the climax of the scene, just before the Big Villain appears, or so forth, cut the scene and begin where you normally would in any story, leading UP to that first scene. In so doing, you make your players intrigued with what was about to happen in that first scene, and lend all kinds of style to your story.
The Messengers Game: Hey, they're great setting stuff, you know? Why not eschew the Monsters for a game and just use the Messengers for the main competition. This stuff works great early on, perhaps even before the characters imbuing. Supposedly an imbuing is a sudden thing as you see the Message for the first time as you're imbued, but there's nothing wrong with playing it out a bit. Ever read the Haunting of Hill House? Well, start there, then write some of those Hunter Symbols (Such as the Infested one) in blood that only the character can see, and never goes away until they scrub it off, whilst everyone thinks they're going crazy.
Or for the truly adventurous, why not do a bit of work and play the Messengers for a game? Grab the ST Screen, it features a fair bit of information on them that can be well used for such a game.
Last Notes and a Few Rules to Never Forget
Severe Brutality: Hunter is never pretty. It ain't stylish or glamorous. Rather, it's a slow, painful decline into madness and destruction. Never be afraid to go for one of the characters main loves or friends. And, pending the players approval, don't be afraid to be graphic in those acts. Hunter, like any of the World of Darkness games, shouldn't always be comfortable.
Don't forget the Humans for the Monsters: There's a temptation to go for lots of action scenes and slam-bam action. Resist the urge. Rather, take twice as much time on every friend and family member that you create for your characters then you do for your Monster villains.
Levity is in short supply: Discourage humor. When the players laugh, simply stop talking and wait for them to finish. Make it clear that, whilst you appreciate their desire to have fun, that you want to create dark, humorless games that will test endurance. (Unless, of course, you're doing a campy one-shot or you like putting in black humor, but do be aware that humor gives your players a chance to relax.)
If you're stupid, you die. Sometimes if you're smart, you still die: Don't cheat. Yeah, it's really annoying when that key character bites it on a random dice roll. Well, re-write, unless it's absolutely impossible to progress otherwise. Remember, in real life, people die on a random bullet or ricochet. Keep your games as honest and real as you can, and the elements of loss and pain will keep your games forever interesting and powerful.
Life isn't fair. Neither is your game: For the first time ever, I recommend seeing the game as a contest between you and the players, and one in which the cards are all stacked your way. Keep the Monsters smart and effective. If you can perceive any tiny, little way that they could work out the characters plans, they'll do it. And then proceed to totally destroy them. And after they've destroyed everything the characters have ever lived for, see who gets back up. The main word for this game is 'Conviction', after all.
Keep the payoffs big: Something needs to kick in for the characters eventually, or they'll give up. As such, whilst games should be an absolute nightmare for them, they should be rewarded with scenes that fulfill their characters dreams. If the character is a Defender with a young daughter that he lives for, let the daughter accomplish something in school, and let him glory in that he's protecting her. Show them where they make a difference.
Have Fun: After all the nightmares and hurt, it can seem funny, but the aim is still to have fun, even if the characters aren't having any. If your players aren't enjoying the game, then consider changing tactics, throwing in a few stress-relief games (Hunter games should be without relief, but no-ones saying Chronicles can't have a few) or even jumping ship to play something else. No one said this game was for everyone.
