[Hunter: The Vigil] The Man With No Words (Closed)

[LyingTicktock]

I know there's a couple of games recruiting right now, but they're not quite what I'm interested in.

I want a game where the players start off as completely ignorant innocent humans, and we're introduced to the supernatural in the game itself. We shouldn't immediately leave the Cell level, and only work our way up through Compact and then Conspiracy very slowly.

Morality should be a major issue in the game, as per the famous Nietzsche quote. And social/intellectual skills should be at least as important as combat skills. I also like the idea of struggling to get weapons and the like, at least for a while.

I'd prefer to have dark and moody over guns and explosions, also.

[Destrude]

Sounds fun, count me in as player.

[Komodo]

Well, well, Destrude. Looking for another Hunter game, are we? If you're here, count me in, too.

Oh, and, not committing just yet, but if no one else shows interest, I might try my hand at storyteller. I've been considering ways to make social skills fun to use, and have been thinking about H:tV on and off since my last campaign died. NOTE: if any of you out there think you want to take over Storytelling, go ahead, I still need to find out if I have time.

[LyingTicktock]

Great, good to know we have a player and possibly a storyteller.

I've already got one character concept in my head, but I'll refrain from posting it until we have a setting and basic premise for the game and I know whether it's viable.

[Destrude]

Originally Posted by Komodo

Well, well, Destrude. Looking for another Hunter game, are we? If you're here, count me in, too.

Oh, and, not committing just yet, but if no one else shows interest, I might try my hand at storyteller. I've been considering ways to make social skills fun to use, and have been thinking about H:tV on and off since my last campaign died. NOTE: if any of you out there think you want to take over Storytelling, go ahead, I still need to find out if I have time.

Heh, guilty as charged. I guess I've still got the itch since Dust fell through.

Good to have you on board though. I'm half tempted to PM the others and make this a reunion of sorts, we had a pretty good thing going there.

[LyingTicktock]

I'm not sure who "the others" are, but looks like you should contact them, since it seems nobody is biting. Guess most people like a less thoughtful, more action packed game of Hunter.

[Odentin]

Yeah, he did. And yeah, I'm in. If its allowed, I might just bring Allison over. I like playing as her...

She'll need to be tweaked, though...

[sun_tzu]

I'm interested. Got this idea for a young would-be socialite who gets drawn into the Vigil when her best friend becomes a vampire and drops off the face of the Earth...

[LyingTicktock]

Surely we have enough players, now we just need someone to run it.

EDIT: I did say that we'd encounter the supernatural in the game itself, and I would prefer that. But I suppose I'm not completely against it being in the backstory.

[Komodo]

Odentin! Good to see you here. What a lovely reunion. Allison may need a bit of reworking, but she'd be welcome here. I know this, because I am throwing my hat into the gauntlet. No, wait, it was the gauntlet into the hat. No, I mean, just one of those, and I'm throwing it on the ground. Why am I throwing my hat on the ground? No, wait, it was in a ring. But that makes even less sense...

Ugh, screw the metaphor. I'm officially taking on the role of Storyteller.

Spoiler

System: New World of Darkness- Hunter: The Vigil

Player Count: 3-5

Style of Play: Focus on roleplay, exploration, mystery, and survival. Combat will not be as big a thing here as in other games, although it will be present.

Allowed Content: Any New World of Darkness, particularly merits that do not require you to be a supernatural creature. I plan on being accepting in this campaign. If in doubt, ask.

Character Creation: Follow the notes in the rulebook. You are welcome to trade in points of morality for points (5 experience points per point of morality, minimum morality 5). Seven dots for merits.

• Backstory: Some is necessary, but it doesn't need to be extensive. Minimum is character's job and the most important people in the character's life (not necessarily family. Perhaps a co-worker? Clients? Voters? The poor? The rich? Are they just loners?) Collaborative backgrounds are welcome, but please discuss them in this thread so I can see the direction you're trying to take it.
• Equipment: you do not have a weapon to start unless your character has a very good reason to carry one, and your character has no good reason carrying anything that could reliably explode (just for the reason that its kind of contrary to the tone we're aiming for). You may have a car, but to own one, you must have at least resources two and one point in drive
  

Other Notes: My planned setting is Anytown, USA, which is a medium-sized community not that far from Metropolis (not final names). A costal city that's decently wealthy.

My main inspirations are Supernatural (the tv show), Silent Hill 2 (video game), and Heart of Darkness (novel). I want this to be focused on humanity and morality. Therefore, while inhuman monsters will be present, the majority of threats here will be by and large either human or humanoid, and how you deal with them will affect your morality.

Also, I want this game to carry a bit of the feeling of mystery that familiarity kills. Therefore, in the event you run into a vampire or a werewolf, don't be shocked if it doesn't completely adhere to WoD rules. Note: that does not mean it doesn't adhere to any rules.

My hope is to have normal humanity continue to operate unaware even as unknowable forces work toward unknown ends just past their fences, although they may have a bothering feeling that something is wrong but they don't know quite what it is (and you might not have a much better idea). That way, a) hunter merits or social/professional connections do not prove meaningless, and b) to show the strain the Vigil places on the hunter, particularly in his relationship with his community. Keeping a good name may become a challenge in and of itself.

My goal is to try and structure the game to work with and challenge whatever character concepts you come up with. I look forward to seeing your plans.

Oh and one more thing: This campaign will be entitled The Man With No Words. LyingTicktock, please change the thread title accordingly.

Oh, and one more one more thing: Cells, Compacts, Conspiracies...A) I'm not sure I ever understood the difference between the last two, unless it was just a matter of size, and B) I don't think they really fit the mood of the story I plan to tell. Unless you desire otherwise, I won't use them. You will be alone: no reinforcements, no backup.

[sun_tzu]

Originally Posted by LyingTicktock

EDIT: I did say that we'd encounter the supernatural in the game itself, and I would prefer that. But I suppose I'm not completely against it being in the backstory.

The way I figure it, she knows something's off...but hasn't yet reached the "OMG vampires are real!" stage. Close, but not yet.

Originally Posted by Komodo

Oh, and one more one more thing: Cells, Compacts, Conspiracies...A) I'm not sure I ever understood the difference between the last two, unless it was just a matter of size, and B) I don't think they really fit the mood of the story I plan to tell. Unless you desire otherwise, I won't use them. You will be alone: no reinforcements, no backup.

My understanding is that while a Compact is big enough that you get some decent logistical support, a Conspiracy is powerful enough to provide you with your own supernatural or superscience backups. (But I'm not done reading the Hunter core book yet, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.

[Destrude]

So Odentin, seeing as how everyone's not starting off dead, want to make Allison Steve's daughter this time? I think being pulled into the Vigil as a family would be fun to role play.

[Morty]

I was going to offer myself as the Storyteller... but seeing how someone has taken that spot, I'm instead voicing an interest as a player.
As for Compacts and Conspiracies, an important difference between them aside from resources is their hierarchy. Compacts are loose associations between people who share a similar approach to the Vigil. You do need to subscribe to an ideology, but there's no actual authority to enforce it. Conspiracies, on the other hand, do have a clear chain of command, complete with being given orders and facing consequences for when you screw up or step out of the Conspiracy's ideological bounds. Just an explanation, really. I'm fine with being part of a lone cell.

[Odentin]

Yeah, Des, that sounds cool.

[Destrude]

Right-o, I'll lead off then.

So I'm seeing Steven Black (I like Allison's last name better than Orison) as being the chairperson or leader or whatever you call the person who organizes a farming co-op. I figure he probably owns a smallish farm, not too far from the city proper.

Now I'm just spitballing here, so feel free to offer opinions/critique Odent, but I'm thinking his wife died a while back, leaving him to raise Allison alone. If you're keeping her as a parkour/urban explorer type, then I figure her being a city girl led to moving out fairly youngish. Maybe they keep in touch fairly well, but Steve likes the solitude and you couldn't pry her away from the city with both hands.

Expounding off of that, I figure his wife's death tore him up pretty well, so he probably ended up a bit distant, maybe battling a drinking problem now that Ally's out of the house. Probably doesn't want her to see that, so he tries to keep it hidden when she's around. (Which doesn't mean that she doesn't know, per se)

Depending on how much Komodo wants to plan out our meeting with the supernatural, it could be that Steve's wife (name still pending) was killed/taken by some monsters and that he just didn't know until now.


Thoughts, anyone?

[Odentin]

Well, I had planned on keeping Allison at 17 years old, so either just coming up on graduating, or just graduated HS, depending on the time of year. Probably still living at home, but goes into the city pretty regularly...

Mother being dead makes sense. Guess her rebellious nature will be more downplayed, though also means I can ramp up her concern for Steven, especially with the drinking...

@sun_tzu: How young of a socialite were you thinking? Might be possible to tie Allison to your character...

[Destrude]

Actually, feel free to keep the rebellion, just because Steve loves his daughter doesn't mean he understands what she likes or wants, much less how she deals with the mother's death.

Relatedly, she could easily have gotten emancipated at 16, I can see her having the necessary self-reliance and confidence.

Thoughts? Keep in mind this is all up in the air, I'm not married to it or anything.

[LyingTicktock]

I had an idea for a small time dealer. She doesn't deal in anything hard or addictive, mostly grass and the occasional mushrooms or acid. She's done a little crime, so has Larceny, Stealth, and the like.

Not sure how to tie that into anyone else's characters yet, or if it's workable at all.

[Odentin]

Originally Posted by Destrude

Actually, feel free to keep the rebellion, just because Steve loves his daughter doesn't mean he understands what she likes or wants, much less how she deals with the mother's death.

Relatedly, she could easily have gotten emancipated at 16, I can see her having the necessary self-reliance and confidence.

Thoughts? Keep in mind this is all up in the air, I'm not married to it or anything.

Nah. I kind of like her living at home. Makes the yearning to get out that much more powerful...

I'm debating starting at Resources 0, since she's unlikely to have any income of her own. I dunno, thoughts?

[Destrude]

I could easily see a part-time job of some sort, since the farm won't be all that far from the city. Alternatively, Steve's going to have some decent income from the farm and co-op job, so I'd see maybe an effective 1 or 2 dot allowance.

Any ideas for the mom's name? I'm drawing an unusual blank today.

Also: Komodo, will we be using the Hunter splat, mainly Profession and such? Or do we count as regular joes at first?

[Odentin]

That's true. Looking over morality again, I think selling down one point would make sense...

Sheet is basically done.

Edit: No ideas for mom's name. Time to visit babynames.com...

[sun_tzu]

Originally Posted by Odentin

@sun_tzu: How young of a socialite were you thinking? Might be possible to tie Allison to your character...

I'm thinking early college years, probably 20. Got most of her sheet ready...

[Destrude]

Ok, Steven Black is mostly done. Just need to grab a few equipments and write down his story, probably tomorrow since my phone is dying.

[Komodo]

Whoa, I know I probably shouldn't be surprised, but you guys work fast. Let me see, where to start...

LyingTicktock: A small-time dealer actually would fit in with some ideas I've been having for the story. I would probably have her working under a more serious criminal. It would be nice if she could have some connection to the other characters, but would be by no means necessary. I'm sure I could find a way* to group her with the other characters.

Destrude and Odentin: Well, why not make it so the daughter was named after her mother? Might give Steven a bit more sentiment over her. Just a thought. Also, Destrude, with the level of resources and professional training your character has, you would pretty much have full sway on a very sizable portion of farmland. I rather like this idea, it could provide an interesting location for the events of the story, and a perfectly legitimate reason why you are there. At this point, I don't see any problem with your character.

Odentin:Ah...let's see...one strength? Four dexterity? Five Athletics? Interesting choices. First off, I'm going to ask you to cap your skills at four during character creation. That should be plenty for a decent dice pool and to reach whatever related merits you desire. Secondly, I think you might have made some contradictory choices. To start, Fighting Finesse only applies to Weaponry Rolls. Even if it did apply to unarmed combat, your chosen fighting style (Aikido) depends on grappling an opponent, and breaking a grapple is a Strength contest. Let me know if you think I'm misreading the rules, or if this direction was intentional.

Morty and sun_tzu, I look forward to seeing your character concepts.

[Odentin]

Alright, let's see....

Stats: Yeah. Wanted to make her more tough and fast than strong. If it really bothers you, I can change it, but I prefer the way it is atm...

Athletics is changed.

Fighting Finesse: Ah. Missed that. That's....stupid. Not all unarmed fighting styles rely on brute strength. Hell, targeting pressure points or nerve clusters is a staple of most martial arts. I'd like to request a ST review on that one...

Aikido: Aikido is more about throws than grappling. Strength training is a lot less important than coordination to Aikidoka. The third dot in the merit is my first purchase once we get some XP. Further, grappling CAN be done without much brute strength, at least IRL. Twisting, controlling momentum into a hold, then holding the opponent in such a way that escaping hurts. Like hell.
Aikido is based on using an opponent's strength against them. Controlling momentum rather than opposing the opponent's action directly.

Edit: I was specifically looking for her to be lacking in brute strength, but still able to hold her own thanks to training in a martial art that doesn't focus on strength. Hence, Aikido...

[Destrude]

Re: the mother's name.

Naming her the same as the daughter could easily land squarely in angst-territory, which I'd rather avoid. There's a line between "has issues" and "emotionally crippled" that I don't want to push, for fear of ruining the character in my mind.

I think I'm going to keep it simple, and just name her Sarah Black, nee' Whittle. Also, backstory-flesh for Steve's character sheet bones will be up later today.

[Odentin]

Sarah sounds good to me.



Komodo, here's my proposition:

Brawl attacks: Usable with Fighting Finesse.
Grappling with Aikido merit: Usable with FF as a defensive move (ie the 2-dot benefit) only.
Grappling as offensive move: Not usable with FF.
Maintaining a grapple: Not usable with FF.

Controlling a grappled opponent without brute force requires special training, and is a separate fighting style. Using an opponents momentum against them into a grapple makes sense. If they escape shortly thereafter, so be it.

Is that agreeable?

Looking over skills again, I've made a terrible mistake. I'm reworking my stats and merits...

[Morty]

I have a few concepts I might play: an academic type who's in way over his head, a gruff laborer and a criminal gun-runner or maybe something else. I'll pick one as soon as I can.

[LyingTicktock]

Sorry, I've changed my mind about my character concept now.

My sheet is 99% done, she is a vagrant. I still need a name, a little information on professions, and I'm thinking of taking a minor flaw or derangement. Also my background, obviously.

She will likely have some criminal contacts though, so the criminal boss link might still work, as she might be intimidated into doing certain tasks by criminals.

About Professions, does the first level of it essentially give you one free dot of Contacts per dot of Profession?

[LyingTicktock]

Katherine "Kat" Milan
19 year old vagrant.

Background

Spoiler

Katherine Milan, known to everyone simply as "Kat", has lived on the streets since her mid teen years, when her father threw her out of the house. Since then, she has done whatever necessary to survive, though somehow she has managed to keep sane in the face of her hardships.

Kat has given up on the idea of leading a normal life, and now does various things to survive such as stealing (mostly from those who can afford it), begging, doing odd jobs (legal and illegal), busking, and when she can get clean clothes and a shower, prostitution. Surprisingly for her scruffy and unassuming appearance, she has an excellent, if untrained, singing voice, and could have been a great singer if she had lead a different life.

Kat is well known in the local community of vagrants, and does her best to look after her fellow homeless, at least trying to keep their spirits up with song, when she has no other way of helping them.

Appearance

Spoiler

Though homeless, Kat does often manage to get clean clothes and a shower, mostly stolen in some way, or paid for with stolen money or goods. She usually dresses in jeans, t-shirt, and when the weather is cold, a long coat. When she puts the effort and preparation in, she can still pass as a normal, non-homeless person.

Kat is still fairly pretty, with striking blue eyes, and her brown hair is in comparitively well-kept dreadlocks, which she usually wears in a tam.

If I get time, I'll rewrite this, but it gives an idea of what I'm going for. If I have an idea who the local criminals are, I can write something about them into the background. She doesn't have a record, as she's (so far) been uncaught.