Blue Moon Aurora
Roleplaying and More
Hunter: The Vigil
Review by hippokrene
Hunter: The Vigil is the long anticipated World of Darkness redesign of the original Hunter: The Reckoning (1999). While the other corebooks in the World of Darkness focus on playing supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves, changeling, and mages, in Hunter: The Vigil you play a human who hunts down these creatures. 
Presentation:
The artwork is moody and evocative without any of the fumbles of the Mage book. There’s a short story told in six parts, and while I dislike the habit WoD authors have of foisting off their bad fiction on readers, it was decent; I didn’t find myself feeling the space used for the story was completely wasted.
Core:
Hunter: The Vigil fixes some of the problems with the original Hunter: The Reckoning while making it fit within the themes and mythos of the new World of Darkness. Hunters are no longer a homogenous group powered by the same divine, blatantly Christian Messengers. The majority of Hunters now have no powers whatsoever, though a few globe-spanning groups detailed in the book grant Endowments.
Hunter groups, classified as Independent, Covenants, or Conspiracies, are the focus of the book. The diversity on display is more reminiscent of the old World of Darkness in that the groups are organic and disassociated with one another. This makes sense as a Hunter is now any mortal who investigates or defends against the supernatural.
The variety of character types supported, the lack of supernatural powers, and the sense that Hunters are wrestling with shadows, create a desperate and dark reflection of the real world that pleased this reviewer enormously. Hunters have stopped being lame superheroes who fight monsters because a celestial being told them to, and are now mostly normal folk who’ve taken upon themselves face the horrors of the world.
Though a huge improvement in my eyes, this reimagining isn’t perfect. I assume that people who want to play Hunters are interested in being heroes. Possibily flawed heroes, or heroes who cross the line, but ultimately beacons of light. A number of the groups detailed serve better as villains.
There’s a pharmaceutical company that captures supernaturals only to experiment on them for profit. There’s also a group of Hunters who main source of revenue is producing and selling heroin. Lastly, there’s a group who hunts for fun. Examples of their exploits given in the book are stripping a demon of his power and then raping him, and inviting a mage to a picnic, poisoning her, and then sitting around laughing while she vomits blood, begs for help, and dies.
We all know the World of Darkness contains monsters, and Hunters, being mostly normal people, are as likely to be monstrous as anyone. However, I doubt many players would be interested in these options, or that many Hunter groups would want to support a character who engages in monstrous behavior.
Style:
Hunter: The Vigil is thematically different than a base World of Darkness game, but the difference is subtle. If base World of Darkness is Alien, Hunter: The Vigil is Aliens. The horror slides from mysterious to visceral as the unknown no longer flits along the corner of your vision but breathes down your neck.
Hunters are less isolated than Mortals. They’ve banded together and are aware that others do the same, though the links between various organizations are tenuous and sometimes hostile. In some ways, I find this more realistic than the default World of Darkness. It’s a world in which people use those cameras built into every cell phone, and post recordings on youtube. When a mysterious animal mauls another child to death in the neighborhood, most people still bury their heads. A few grab their shotguns and baseball bats, and beat the crap out of the local homeless population or shoot every stray dog they can find.
Mechanics:
The game uses the Storytelling System introduced in the World of Darkness and adds a few mechanical elements. Professions give Hunters an edge when it comes to performing specialized tasks or making contacts. Tactics emphasize that humanity’s strength is in numbers by allowing special maneuvers for Hunter groups. Endowments run are a specialized form of Merit that the globe-spanning Conspiracies give their members. Each is flavored to the specific group and range from high tech hardware for government agents, to powerful relics for those part of an ancient organization, to bizarre transplants and body modification from a medical and pharmaceutical company.
There’s also a new rule for risking willpower that represents the mental gambit Hunter’s take when they’re part of the Vigil.
Overall:
This is one of my favorite World of Darkness core books. Though Hunters do not appeal to me as much as the supernatural creatures, Hunter: The Vigil avoids the rigidity of Mage or Changeling, and presents a grim reality without becoming unplayable like Prometheus. Hunter: the Vigil does an excellent job of balancing the sense of vulnerability a mere mortal should feel in the World of Darkness while giving them the edge they need to survive.
