Junk I bought recently

[thormagni]

So, I've picked up a few books from White Wolf's Hunter: The Reckoning line recently. These are really a lot of fun to read. I think it would be a fun genre to play: monster hunters in the modern world.

 

[thormagni]

Went down to Louisville yesterday to visit my mom and hit my usual stops in Louisville. Man, I was a bad, bad boy. I picked up:

Three Judge Dredd D20 adventures. When are we going to get Charlie to run this Vince? Tell that man that football season is over!

A bunch of Hunter: The Reckoning stuff including the Survival Guide and the Storyteller's Handbook. Including this recent splurge, I now have the core rules, the GM screen and Storyteller Companion, Player's guide and one monster book.

A Demon: The Fallen book about exorcists in the World of Darkness.

Uncle Albert's Catalog from Hell for Car Wars (which should be a treat for Bob) It is a compilation of all the Uncle Albert's offerings, plus a ton of new stuff. Well, new in 1992 when it came out, but still.

Tome and Blood, which I used to own but my brother swiped it and now denies that he ever had it.

 

[Fyrestryke]

Nice haul!

 

[thormagni]

Nice haul!

Yeah, now I'm broke but at least I've got something to read for the next few weeks. And it was all super cheap. Much cheaper than I could have gotten on ebay (although not as cheap as, say, NOT buying stuff.) I'm really fascinated by the Hunter: The Reckoning books. White Wolf really did a great job coming up with a horror game here, or at least coming up with the flavor text to support a horror game. On the surface, the gist of the game is that finally the humans are able to fight back against the creatures in all the rest of the World of Darkness games (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, Demon, Wraith, Changeling.) So, it could have been just a straight-up "kill the monsters" game.

But White Wolf throws in the twists and turns and angst, they are so famous for. The monsters are vicious, intelligent beings willing to fight back by any means necesary. And humanity at large can't even percieve the monsters among them, so your hunter is likely to be considered a criminal for putting a stake through that nice old man's heart, or you are likely to be considered crazy for ranting about ghosts and hidden spirits. And for their own reasons, the beings that gave the hunters these powers chose absolutely mundane people to grant these abilities to. Characters are non-descript nobodys who suddenly are tasked with freeing the world from a hideous evil cabal.

And the flavor text is just exceptionally readable. I mean, these are good horror short stories in their own right. And most of the time I'm sad when the flavor text ends and is replaced by the actual rules and game information. I want to know what happened to that hunter I was reading about!

There I go... babble, babble, babble.

 

[Odovacar's Ghost]

If you have a good storyteller, then you could play multiple genres. Someone could be a vampire, another a mage, perhaps a werewolf or two. I've never played a hunter yet. I'd have to read more about it.

I so, want to start playing this game again. I'm half way tempted to pick up the basic vampire and mage book. Start up my collecting non d20 book again.

 

[thormagni]

In the Hunter Storyteller's Handbook it talks a little bit about crossing over in the World of Darkness and why that is so rare. Essentially, the various supernatural creatures are so secretive and have such differing goals that their paths do not cross all that often. For example, a low-level vampire probably doesn't even realize that werewolves exist. Just because they are all inhuman doesn't mean that they have a common purpose.

Now, to the Hunter, they all look like unitigated evil. So, a crossover with a Hunter chronicle would tend to be really short and violent, I would assume. (Although some hunter creeds would be more willing to work together with the "monsters" than others.)

If you have a good storyteller, then you could play multiple genres. Someone could be a vampire, another a mage, perhaps a werewolf or two. I've never played a hunter yet. I'd have to read more about it.

I so, want to start playing this game again. I'm half way tempted to pick up the basic vampire and mage book. Start up my collecting non d20 book again.

 

[thormagni]

I'm half way tempted to pick up the basic vampire and mage book. Start up my collecting non d20 book again.

Well, as you know, they have relaunched the World of Darkness with new rules and a new setting. The basic WoD book is out now and so far they have restarted the Vampire and Werewolf lines. I have found it hard to find Hunter stuff, since the company doesn't actually sell the actual books anymore, and I've had to get them all secondhand. If you'd like to check anything out of my "library" just let me know. I have a lot of the stuff you would probably be interested in.

 

[Odovacar's Ghost]

When I played tabletop we stuck to just vampire, mage, werewolf, wraith, mummy, or changeling. Yes, I've played all of these games. But, when I larped, there was a mix of those. Though, with larp, there were more people playing, so I guess it is easier to mix with larp, then tabletop.

 

[thormagni]

The thing I like about White Wolf titles, and that is simultaneously frustrating, is that they have taken flavor text to a whole 'nother level. In essence, they have replaced background material almost entirely with flavor text. For example, the Aberrant book (both D20 and Storyteller) is half, HALF! flavor text with absolutely no rules or hints of rules until you are halfway through the book. And their flavor text is not that neutral, encylopedic tone of most RPGs. No, White Wolf has short stories, simulated news clippings, Web sites, personal letters, etc., etc., that slowly illustrate the tone and style they expect your game to take.

And for those unfamiliar (although I suspect it is just Craig and I reading this thread ) the World of Darkness is not just a "let's play the bad guys" sort of world. The PCs, at least in Vampire which I am most familiar with, are supposed to be these morally conflicted, angsty monsters, trying to maintain some semblance of their humanity while living their monstrous lives.

From a professional point of view, I find it most interesting how they work religion into the whole thing. Especially in Demon, where the characters are, of course, fallen angels living in mortal shells. This is territory I think most RPGs are reluctant to walk through.

 

[Fyrestryke]

I'm reading. Thanks for the info!