Numina/Hunter Character Development Guide

[Hades]

Alone in the Night

Good, you're awake.
No, no, no, don't struggle. Don't. You're going to hurt
yourself. Yeah, you're tied to a chair. I don't blame you for
panicking, but try to relax. I promise I won't hurt you or kill you.
This is just for both of our safeties. You don't have to
believe me. I wouldn't. You'll just have to see when you're
still alive at the end of this.
Okay?
You don't have to answer. Yeah, I gagged you, too. Sorry.
Honestly, that's just so you shut up long enough for me to say my
piece. It's going to be a lot to take on board, and we don't have time
for all the stock denials and “why-is-this-happening-to-me?” bullshit.
It'll all make sense when I'm done, I promise.
You don't have to believe me. You just have to hear me.

So, You're a Hunter Now

Welcome to the lonely, desperate struggle for the night.
Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about.
We're past that now. That time is way gone. It was gone the
minute you saw that damn monster. Vampire. Whatever. Call
them goddamn boogeymen for all the difference it makes.
They are what they are.
That makes you sick, doesn't it? That they exist at all?
Walking, talking monsters among us, getting away with murder.
Abandon all hope ye who enter here, right? But you
haven't. That's just it. I see it in you. All you got left is
hope. The small glimmer of hope that you can still make
a goddamned difference in this fight.
You can take down one monster. Take back one block. Free
one slave from the undead's power. Excise one cancer from
this sick world. Make a stand. Draw a line in the sand, and
let them know which side they fall on. Alone, if you have
to. Which is good, because you are alone, from here on out.
You don't have to tell me I'm right. I see it all over your
face, same as mine was.
The good news: You can do it. Kill the bad guy, take
back the block, save the kid, whatever.
But it'll cost you.
Cost you what? Everything. Family, friends, credibility, a
long look at the sun... your daughter. Your life. Everything.

Oh, no? You shaking your head now? You think you're
going back? You're going to track down and murder a
fucking vampire, and then what? Go into work the next
day and be all, “Hey, Pam, how's Don? The impetigo
clearing up?” Push your papers around and pretend that
was the only vampire, ever, so everything's cool?
What's the matter? You don't know what you're gonna
do, do you? You probably ain't settled on killing it for sure,
huh? Hadn't said it out loud yet?
Bah! What do I know? Maybe you'll walk away. You
wouldn't be the first. But I don't think so. You saw that
thing and knew you had to do something. Anything.
Now you're a hunter. Like me.
Some call themselves investigators, or truth seekers, or
illuminators of hidden mysteries. Met one group who called
themselves the Torchbearers. Bunch of self-important
bullshit. I don't get caught up in fancy titles. It doesn't
matter what you call it. Even if you're “just curious.”
You're gonna follow that vampire around and take little
notes. See if it sparkles or has a mother or whatever you're
gonna do. You're still hunting. You're a hunter. Same
difference, whether you plan to put a bullet in it or not.
To me, at least.
Either way, I want to help. I've been lucky enough to
become an old hunter. I ain't gonna be lucky forever. It
already cost me more than I wanted to pay. All I've got
left is knowing what I know, and it won't do me any good
to take it with me.
So you just sit you a sit and let an old man learn you
some things.
Well, you don't have much choice. I appreciate that.
Quit struggling. You'll hurt yourself.
No. No, we'll just leave the gag in for now.
Let's go back to the start...

Why Do This?

You do it because you have to.
Same as we all do.
They killed your family. They turned your son into
one of them. They took those kids. They deal drugs or
peddle flesh or worse from that old house. They control
the government. They horned in on your turf. They're
monsters. They used you, and you won't give them another
chance to do the same to anyone else. They hurt people.
Whatever the reason, you do it because you have to.
You do it because no one else will.

Motive

What if I told you to dive into a shark tank and pick a
fight with one? Just swim up and take a swing. You'd think
I was touched in the head, right? Well... you probably think
that anyway. Point is, you're not built for the water. You
don't have the strength, speed, or agility a shark does. You
don't have the natural weaponry. That fucker is built to
kill in every direction, and you barely know how to swim.
You get where I'm going with this, right?
That's what you're doing right now. That's what I do.
That's what two dozen or so other hunters I've met do.
What would drive people like you or me to jump into that
tank like we got any business?
Here's just a few reasons I've come across.

Revenge: The big one. I don't have hard numbers, but
it's a safe bet most of us lost something we couldn't stand
to lose. Family, friend, lover. Maybe murdered, maybe
turned, maybe they're still alive and serving as a ghoul — a
kind of slave. Whatever, the loss is the same. So's the need
to avenge it on one or all of those bloodsuckers. Straight
up, you took from me, I take from you. You hurt me, I
hurt you. Eye for an eye, tooth for a fang.

Righteousness: The do-not-suffer-them-to-live set.
Vampires are blasphemies, unclean, impure, or just plain
not right. Whether it's religious or racist, the righteous
just cannot stand that these creatures tread the same earth
as you and me. And they won't hear otherwise. The very
notion makes their skin crawl and their fists tighten. No
price is too high to pay. If innocents get in the way, well,
acceptable losses and all that. Who among us is truly
innocent after all? Don't look at me like that. That's
what they think. You probably don't want to talk politics
or religion with them, but they hunt as well as anybody.

Duty: You got a responsibility. Maybe you took an oath at
some point or simply need to see right done. Cops, soldiers,
doctors, reporters — I even met a psychiatrist once — all
see the hunt as an extension of what they swore to do.
Duty is almost always in service to something bigger than
you, even if it's just an ideal. You do it because you said
you'd do it. You made a promise to someone somewhere.
Doesn't need to be God, or some institution, or anyone
at all. Could be you see the vampires picking on the weak
and you see yourself as strong. Well, less weak, anyways.


Power: Some people simply cannot abide they ain't king shit
on shit hill. Vampires rule the night? We'll just see about that.
The rich and powerful don't like other sharks in their pool.
Maybe some mixed-martial-arts dude who needs to pit himself
against the toughest motherfuckers. Or maybe some chick out
to prove there's nothing she can't do. Funny thing is, we lose
the most of these guys to the other side. They eventually get
noticed and are made an offer they can't refuse: more power.
Not all of them, but a lot. Don't turn your back on this type,
but they're good for drawing attention away from you.

Curiosity: You caught a peek behind the curtain, and
you can't just go back. Some, their drive is purely academic.
Others have a personal need for truth. If there's one
vampire, then there must be more. How many? How do
they make more? Are they biological or magical? Are they
monsters or victims? How do they socialize? What's their
sign? Will they date me? Blah blah blah. Sorry, I hate these
guys. Mostly tourists and starfuckers, you ask me. A few
are okay when they come back with something valuable.
Eventually, most of them walk too far into the lion's den
and never come out. Neither do any of their notes.

Thrills: This type just plain freak me out. Listen, if you
make it out alive, your heart pumping, all that sweat and
adrenaline going, hey, it's a rush. I get that part. Not enough
of a thrill to be your only reason, though. You got your
privileged and entitled used to getting whatever they want.
You got the kinks who can only get off if they're so close
to death they hear it call their name. One way or another,
brushing up against the undead is a thrill to them. Takes all
kinds, whatever makes your grapefruit squirt, and all that.
But this type'll get you killed just so she can strum herself
in Dracula's bathtub when she thinks he's not home.

Insanity: Then there's the rest. The crazies. I mean, shit,
the hunt takes its toll. We're all a little crooked in the head,
but some just come that way. Some got a death wish. Some
got urges better taken out on the vamps than other folks.
Some see angels and demons or extradimensional whatzits
where you and I see... well, vampires, but you get the idea.
How do I know I'm not one of the crazies? By now I
got enough corroborating witnesses, I'm not that worried
about crazy anymore. Plus... well, I just know.
How do you know? You don't. Not yet.

Who Does This?

Answering why to do this is a good start. It's important.
But it's not the whole package. It still takes the right kind
of people to do it. Millions of people are victims of crime,
but not everybody becomes Van Fucking Helsing. Vampire
attacks are a nightly reality out there. How come they're
not in the news? You can't just cover that up. I don't care
how good it feels or how many memories they alter, there
should be more of us. So why not?
How come no one is outraged?

Cause nobody wants to say it out loud. They want to go
home, sleep it off, and forget. Nobody wants to believe it.
Nobody wants to be a victim. No one but you and me and the
rest of the thin black line. We can't let it go. We can't forget.
You'll have to figure out your own reasons for yourself. It's a
matter of degrees. No two people react in quite the same way.
Still, I got a few broad categories that most of us seem to fit into
one way or another. I'll give you some examples. Some ideas
of who else you might run into out there. Maybe it'll help you
feel a little less alone. Maybe it'll give you some idea of who you
wanna be. Or don't wanna be. That might be more important.

The Desperate
You're the only one who knows. You're all alone. You've
seen too much. You know too much. They know who you are.
They took your kid. They locked you in. Time is running out.
The desperate fight back out of fear. We all do this
because we gotta, but they never gave you a choice. You
were forced into it. They took what was yours or are coming
for you because of what you seen or what you said. Maybe
you don't even know why they're coming. They may not
even have a reason. You're just in the wrong place at the
wrong time. They backed you into a corner, maybe literally,
and you got only one choice. End of the line.
Examples: Cornered mouse, neighborhood busybody,
only survivor, whistleblower, paranoid

The Driven
You're willing to make any sacrifice to see your cause through.
The price of failure is too high. The anti-government militiaman
who knew there was more in the shadows than money. Or a
mother refusing to lose her children to the vampire scumbag
who holds them in thrall. Maybe you're a club rat who
remembers the Kiss and you need to have that feeling again.
The driven fight because they can't not fight. Distinct
from the desperate, the driven aren't waiting for the
threat to come to them or racing against time. They take
measured steps, stalk their prey, plan their attack, and
burn the whole fucking house down.
Examples: Survivalist, conspiracy theorist, crusader,
attention seeker

The Discredited
No one will listen to you anymore. Howling at the moon,
they say. Jumps at his own shadow. This happens to most of
us eventually, but I'm talking about those poor assholes stuck
somewhere in the system. Hunters who had credibility to lose
and did. A reporter who just wouldn't let it go, and now no
one will hire her. A cop maybe, or a soldier who saw some
shit and was told, “No, you didn't.” An orderly at an asylum
that lets vampires feed from the least salvageable patients.
The discredited fight to win their lives back. For validation.
Maybe one did the right thing and went up the chain of
command only to find his boss already under the monster's
spell. Or one never quite figured out how to lie low and
keep her mouth shut. Whatever it was, they lost it all, and
they want it back — or as much back of it as they can take.
Examples: Detective, military, academic, reporter, doctor,
psychiatrist

The Disenfranchised
You don't exist. Not that anyone wants to admit, anyway.
Vampires thrive in forgotten places where no one misses the
missing. The project mother who knows it wasn't gangs that killed
those boys. The bum who knows why nobody goes under the
bridge anymore. The drug dealer who doesn't want anyone taking
advantage of his hood but him. The college girl who volunteers
at the soup kitchen and notices hunger isn't all that's wrong with
these people. You don't have to be one of the forgotten to fight
for them, but good luck getting anyone else to care.
The disenfranchised fight because no one else fights for
them. The police don't come to that neighborhood. No one
believes some ginned-up derelict. The city says they'll look
into the kids getting sick in that orphanage but never do.
Examples: Homeless veteran, caseworker, squatter, hood
rat, church volunteer

The Different
You aren't like other people. Not like the mopey kid in
the corner with the black lipstick. Him, too, maybe, but I
mean really different. A girl who knows when bad things
are about to happen. A man who gets these headaches
right before things catch fire. A kid who sees dead people.
I see you making a face. It doesn't matter if you believe
it or not. They believe it. What's more, many of them
need to use their gifts, curses, delusions, whatever, to do
something. Or admit they're as crazy as they sound.
The different fight because they have no other place in
this world. Maybe if she does one more favor the voices will
let her rest. He may as well use his power to hurt those that
deserve it. A kid who wants to make a martyr of himself.
Examples: Haunted soul, clairvoyant, loner, autistic, vigilante

The Deranged
Vampires ain't exactly cornered the market on being
monsters. Hell, some of their worst traits are their most
human. So what happens when their monsters run across
our monsters? A caporegime — like a mafia lieutenant —
investigating who's horning in on the boss's territory only
to find Count Orlok. A serial killer whose victim of choice is
creatures of the night. You ever seen that show about
the serial killer who's a cop? Like that. A ghoul who got
a taste for the blood, and now he hunts just to get a fix.
Or some sick douchebag who ran out of flies to pull the
wings off of and bums to set on fire who likes the way the
vampires keep healing, giving him a fresh canvas each time.
The deranged fight cause they were already in the
shadows and don't like the company… or the competition.
Examples: Serial killer, blood junky, lunatic, skinhead,
cultist, sadist

Exceptions to Every Rule

I mean, that's us at a glance. Not all of us, obviously.
You get some of the desperate who graduate to driven
before they become the disenfranchised and eventually
the deranged. Sometimes the different are actually the
deranged, and vice versa. Mix and match ‘em. I've seen all
kinds, some that I don't even have a convenient D word for.
Shit, that was a joke.
You're probably not in the mood for jokes. Sorry about that.
All right, we covered why and who. Let's move on to how.

Going It Alone

All but a very lucky few of us come to the hunt alone.
Vampires may be world-class assholes, but they know how
to keep witnesses — and survivors — to a minimum. You
gotta give them that.
The terrible moment when you watched that poor girl's
body hit the pavement and the man that did it disappeared
into the night. You've been alone with that ever since.
Who can you tell? What would you tell them?
Knowledge is a terrible burden to handle alone. It's just you and
the darkness, seeing which one of you blinks first. You probably
don't feel this way now, but waking up tied to a chair and being
told your worst suspicions are right is a damn blessing compared
to the nights you waste wondering just how crazy you are.
The life of the solitary hunter is desperate and paranoid.
You make regular gut checks and question your sanity every
night. Was that really a monster or just some kid twisted
on kitchen-sink drugs? Am I just some delusional, schizo
freak? What if I'm wrong? Ah, but you always come back
to the same conclusion: What if I'm right?
You're the hunters' hunter now. The prey turned predator.
That makes it sound cool, right? Yeah, right up until
you consider what the hell you're gonna do now. How
does little old you go up against big bad them?
To use an old saw, very carefully.

Cat and Mouse

To the vampires, you and me are prey. Like I said earlier
about diving into a shark tank.
Forgive me another imperfect metaphor for a second.
Mice ain't designed to hunt cats, right? But back them in
a corner and learn quick they still have claws and teeth.
Yeah, yeah, who gives a shit? The cat's still gonna eat that
mouse, right? That ain't the lesson. The lesson is that the
cat never, ever expects reprisal.

Vampires are used to winning. They hunt people down
and take their blood every night, rarely with more than
a quickly healed scratch on their cheek or maybe a torn
sleeve. The very idea that you would turn around and bury
a hatchet into Lestat's neck is the last thing on his mind.
Trust me, I've seen the faces they make. This mixture of
terror and indignation, one part, “How dare ye?” and
one part “What the shit, get it off me!” It's fucking great.
Now, I'm not suggesting you haul off and ambush
some vamp in an alley with a Home Depot hatchet.
Unfortunately, that ends up being a lot of hunters' first,
best plan. You thought of it, didn't you? That's how crazy
and stupid being alone with the truth makes you.
Unless they know who you are, know you know about
them, or are otherwise coming for you, you got time. A
lot more time than you feel like. Vampires have been
around since forever, so you're not going to save the
world tomorrow by running out with a whittled-down
chair leg. Yeah, it's gonna hurt more people between
now and when you eventually bring it down. Absolutely.
You gotta figure out how long you can live with that on
your conscience for yourself. Just remember, you're not
doing anyone but the vampires a favor by running off
and getting yourself killed.
When hunting alone, you have to be smart. You have
to gather intelligence, keep out of sight. When you finally
strike, strike hard, fast, and certainly. Vampires are strong
and fast. They shrug off wounds that would kill a person,
and they command a host of supernatural powers. They
can disappear in plain sight, they can make you love them,
they can make you forget your own name with a glance, and
they can sculpt flesh and darkness like it's goddamned clay.
All of that is true. If that ain't enough to have you shitting
your pants, then you're stupid or one of the psychos. It's
enough to make the hardest hunter desperate.
So what's the upshot? How do you get to be old and
crazy like me? Well, most of what you see in movies is real
enough. Vampires have very exploitable weaknesses. Fire,
sunlight, and wood through the heart all work more or
less as advertised.

Hunting on a Budget

Unless you're independently wealthy, you'll have to start
out like most of us, splitting time between hunting and
pretending to be a normal human being. You still have to
pay your mortgage and keep the lights on, which probably
means going to work as best you can. It's been awhile since
I checked, but I don't think banks are handing out loans
to build vampire-killing bunkers either. And even if they
did, that'd just tip off one of the dead guys.
Good news, fire is cheap and easy to come by, though
hard to contain and control. What's more, vampires are
terrified of it. Not just in the way all sensible living things
are, but some deep, instinctual, fight-or-flight, crazy-eyes-
and-hissing type shit. If that sounds like a profoundly
dangerous state to put a supernatural killer into, you're
right. Despite all that, fire is still hands-down the most
efficient way to kill some vampires. Burn their lairs down
during the day, and you only have to hope no one can
trace it back to you. Douse their staked bodies in gasoline,
and for five dollars and a match, you just rid the night of
another thing going bump in it.
Even a signal flare or Roman candle can save your life
in a pinch. Easy to ignite and the sudden light and noise
might trigger that panic I mentioned, or blind and deafen
the ones with super senses if you're lucky. Enough to buy
yourself a quick retreat, hopefully.
Sunlight is free, though vampires are pretty adept at
avoiding the stuff. But more than just a weapon, the daylight
is your shield. Just being able to walk around during the
day is an advantage. They have to be tucked away in their
coffins at sunrise. You don't. Confront them close to
dawn and even if it all goes to shit, they have to get away.
You'll have to track them back to their den at night,
but you can come back during the day. Some vamps will
have someone or something watching over them. Usually
ghouls, like I mentioned earlier. Blood addicted servants.
They're strong but easier to deal with than their masters.
Wood through the heart works, too. Drops vamps like
a stone. They're already dead, so don't go wiggling it, they
just stop. Who knows why? Probably some mythology shit.
Sounds great, right? Yeah, except it's near impossible to do.
In the movies they seem to forget things like breastbones,
ribs, and the thing trying to murder you at the time. I've
been all over the country and met dozens like us, and I've
only met two who survived the trying, and both of them
said it was luck and never tried it again. Not alone, anyways.
Don't do crossbows or bows either. I know, I know, that
guy from that zombie show. It's a fucking TV show. Maybe if
you have a lifetime of practice. They're next to impossible to
conceal, and even if you don't get yourself arrested or shoot
your dick off, you're still gonna get yourself killed in tight
quarters. There're no points for almost hitting the heart, so if
you miss by even a whisper, all you did was piss the vampire off.

Old Reliable

Fire, sun, stakes, and clever tricks aren't your only
weapons. You also have, well, weapons. Vampires shrug
off injuries that would kill you or me. A point blank
shotgun blast to the chest? They look like old hamburger
one second, and the next they're factory fucking fresh.
But I've discovered — through let's just call it trial and
error — that's a trick they can only pull off so many times.
They don't just take blood because it tastes good. They
need blood. Need it to animate their corpse bodies, and to
heal, and apparently to fuel most of the really crazy shit they
can do. It may take awhile, but a hunter can eventually blow
more holes in a vampire than the monster can deal with.
With distance and surprise, a solo hunter can set up a
marksman's position and deal with a vampire from relative
safety. However, as with all such solutions, the police will
be all over the scene, so you better have two exits and be
careful not to leave anything behind.
If you're more desperate, ambush the son of a bitch in
an alley with a shotgun and don't stop firing until the
shell-box is empty. Take off the head, destroy their brain
parts, and they don't get back up. I don't know how you
plan to get out of there, but the vampire's dead.
Speaking of taking their heads off, use only blades and
other edged weapons. Axes, hatchets, machetes, that kind
of thing. Maybe the sharp end of a spade. You're not going
to do any internal damage or knock them unconscious,
so leave the clubs and hammers at home. Nobody ever
beat a vampire by TKO.

You Are Not Alone

Smart hunters, or at least hunters who want to survive
more than one night, know they can't go it alone for long.
The trick is finding someone you can trust, someone who
will believe the crazy shit coming out of your mouth.
Someone who saw it, too, or someone you meet with a
similar perspective while on the hunt. Someone you watch
catch his or her first glimpse of the same terrible world
you've been living in. In my case, that'd be you.
You have to be careful, no doubt. Not only will even
your best friends think you've lost your nut, but asking
around may get you noticed. By them. Not to keep you
up at night anymore than you're already gonna be, but
they have eyes and ears all over the place. People in low
places, people in high places. Even animals. Yeah, have
fun eyeing up every dog, cat, and rat you run across from
here on out.
Still, you can't do it alone for long, so something's gotta
give. How do you connect with other hunters? Well, you
could be like me and take the hunt on the road. Travel
from town to town, find the local vamps, and see if anyone
else is hiding in the shadows with you. But I already lost
everything. I got nothing holding me back, so it's a little
easier for me in that regard.

How to Find Others

Put up flyers for a support group that asks vague but
leading questions. Tap other buddies on the force you
know have seen... things. Reach out to other parents in
the neighborhood who've also noticed the change in their
kids. Approach the girl who stumbles a little too much —
a little too pale — from the bathroom and ask what she
remembers. Scan the obits for mysterious deaths: Too
young, too sudden, too weird. Scour the web for things
that match the details of what you've seen that pulled
back the veil for you. Or take your sister or brother-in-law
or whoever you can trust aside and test their loyalty. One
becomes two becomes the few who will listen — the few
who believe you, because they know it, too.

Orders of Business

Once you have your group, lay down ground rules. Do
it as soon as possible, while heads are as cool as they're
gonna get, even if it's just two of you. This is essential. I
say with full confidence, groups that do this last longer
than those that don't. Period. Ask the following questions,
and agree on the answers.

What's your function? Just what are you hoping to
accomplish? Do you want your kids back? The community
center? Your block? Your city? Are you hunting out of
revenge? Are you gathering intelligence? Are you comforting
the afflicted? What are your methods? You may not agree
on all points, but make sure you have enough common
ground to continue.
Better to find out if someone is out of step or doesn't
have the stomach for it now.
Who's in charge? Pick a boss, someone who has final say.
Two if you feel more comfortable. Or each member could
have the final word in his specific area of expertise: a group
leader, a field leader, someone in charge of provisions,
safety, medical emergencies, keeping everyone calm, etc.
How are decisions made? Does the leader give orders?
Do you all vote? Any checks or special privileges? Can
the leader veto or break ties? Does the majority rule, or
do you have to be unanimous? How many of you need
to be present for a vote to carry? Does the same go for
handling disputes?
What are the divisions of labor? Who presents orders of
business? Who makes the plans? Who gets what weapons?
What are each of your roles in the field? Be honest about
your strengths and weaknesses. Don't say you can shoot a
gun if you can't. Don't bullshit about hammering a stake
through a vampire's heart, because when it comes down
to that horrible moment, there's no changing your mind.
Where to meet? When you're planning? In an
emergency? If you split up? Optimally, have a different
answer for each. Don't keep all your supplies in one
spot. Establish secondary locations in case the first
is compromised.
What is your alibi? What will you tell the cops? Or
anyone asking too many questions? What if one or
more of you gets arrested? Do you have a bail fund or a
lawyer available? Or do you distance yourselves to avoid
implications? More importantly....
What will you do when one of you is compromised?
Do not put this one off. These calls don't get easier in the
moment. Agree on a protocol, and stick to it. What to do
if you're controlled, blood-addicted, or turned? Write it
down like a will. Do you want a quick death? Do you want
your body burned? Do you want your family or friends to
know what happened? Will you attempt rehabilitation or
redemption? Between you and me, I don't recommend
rehabilitation or redemption. I've seen it go wrong too
many times, and I've never seen it go right. But maybe
you're the one….

Hunting as a Pack

Even one extra set of eyes to watch your back opens up
the ways we can hunt.
Lure vampires into trying to feed from you so your buddy
can blindside him. Switch tails every couple blocks to
avoid suspicion. Create a crossfire, or confuse your victim
by hitting her from multiple angles. Split her attention
so she can't focus with her powers. A stake through the
heart becomes significantly more viable the more you
split the beast's attention. This opens up other ways to
kill, preserve, or interrogate your prey.
The more bodies the better, at least up to a point. When
you have too many untrained hunters in a tight space
with a vampire, the risk of friendly fire, tripping over
one another, or one of you being compromised increases.
Three to six are ideal numbers for a hunting party. I've
heard of bigger, and I've seen two-man crews that hum
like a well-oiled machine. I'm talking averages, and three
to six is what I'm comfortable with.
Most important, others provide some confirmation
that you're not insane, someone to talk to about the shit
you've seen. Peace of mind is priceless, and just not being
quite so alone in the night is better than gold.
Of course, that presumes you and your collection of
on-the-edge paranoids don't all turn on each other and
implode instead.

Not Killing Each Other

Don't look so shocked. Tied with vampires for the
leading cause of hunter deaths is other hunters. Be honest.
You're thinking about killing me right now, in no small
part because you're sure I'm going to kill you. That's pretty
average for a hunting party even when one of us hasn't
tied the other to a chair. It's also the reason I tied you to
a chair. See how that works?
The longer you're together, the more the fear gets
a hold of you, and doubly so if you started off solo
and got used to only trusting yourself. As much as a
group brings solace, it also brings liabilities. Partners
open up your flanks. Are you all on the same page?
Veronica's been acting weirder than usual lately. Jerry
is a little soft. Would he sell you out? Michael hasn't
been as dedicated since he met that girl. Holy shit, she's
one of them. Maybe.
The merest suspicion becomes a fucking klaxon in the
back of your head. You start to think in terms of who
you're willing to lose, who you need to put down before
they get you all killed. What's more? They're all thinking
the same goddamn thing. And eventually, one or more
of you is going to be right.
I came across one group that hadn't hunted a single
actual vampire before they'd torn each other apart. The
enemy won and didn't even know they were playing.
Not every group ends up shooting one another's faces
off before the undead have a chance. Set up a kind of
buddy or sponsor system. Meet regularly. Ask questions.
Pry. And when one of you pushes back against it, remind
them of the fucking price of being wrong.
Even if you have a solid group together, clicking on all
cylinders and most of you surviving most of the time, you're
still alone. Oh, you have a few others who understand, and
like I said, that's better'n gold. But in the bigger sense, in
the part of a greater society way, you're still fucked.

Alone in the Crowd

Even if you're the most successful hunter in the history
of vampire killing, don't expect recognition. Despite all
of your good works, no one's handing out any medals.
If you approach someone, you may think you're doing
some great favor by removing the scales from the eyes of
your fellow man. Don't be surprised if the resistance you
meet is much further beneath the skin, from traumatized
survivor to sober witness. Your most trusted confidant
can see the exact same thing you did and come away in
unassailable denial. Try not to judge him for his weakness,
even as you realize you can never be honest with him again.
Worse is when you try to appeal to a superior or a trusted
advisor. You know, “doing the right thing.” The further
you go up the chain, the more likely you are to run afoul
of vampire influence. If they don't have their claws in the
chief of police, they probably have the commissioner or
the mayor. Answers to your pleas are not forthcoming, and
now, they know your name, and you don't know theirs.
As you stockpile weapons or search for the wrong stuff
on the Internet, you show up on watch lists. As you hang
out in clubs, sipping drinks and keeping your eye out for
predators, you might freak out the not-Draculas, pissing off the
management. You finally track your prey back to her haven,
take out her ghouls and burn the place to the ground? You
could be hauled in for arson or murder the very next day.
You might think, well, don't they know? The government? The
church? Somebody? Yeah. Well, partly yeah. Let's talk about that.

The Big Leagues

Larger, more organized groups of hunters are out
there. While that might sound like the solution to all our
problems, they are mostly up their own asses with clubhouse
protocols and best avoided. Hey, if the opportunity presents
itself, team up with one or two, and see for yourself. Just
don't take them home. Read their literature, but don't
sign up for the damn newsletter.
Arcanum: Imagine every English Lit professor you ever
fell asleep to. Clone him 100 times, and you've got the gist
of this bunch. They hunt just to know, and then keep it to
themselves. They're just books with legs, and honestly, I'd
rather hunt with the book. Hey, apparently their information
is good, and I know a few academic-minded hunters who
think the world of this collection of uselessness. Don't get
me wrong, being smart has its place in the hunt, and I know
a few short-lived billies who found that out the hard way, but
you need to do the other hard work eventually, and that's
where these pencil-necks fall short.
Inquisition: Yeah, you heard me. Officially, they call
themselves the Society of Leonard or some obscure bullshit.
But they're the same bunch of Catholic holy rollers lost in
time that burned witches 600 years ago. They hunt like
hell, no pun intended, but they have no idea where the
line is, and if you knew me better, you'd know that's saying
something. I hear they got no problem bumping off the
likes of us if we don't quite make their grade. If they come
knocking, try to get them off your case as quickly as possible.
Project Twilight: You know those stories about how the
government knows everything and they just ain't telling.
Yeah, apparently that's not too far off. Not everybody is
in on it. Not your mailman, or the TSA, and probably not
the President either. They're government spooks with all
the funding and ability to make you disappear that you
might expect, whether you're a vampire or an unaffiliated
vamp-basher who falls into the category of acceptable losses.

Last Words

We're almost to the part where I untie you. Almost.
First, I have one more bit of knowledge for you. A last
word of warning and a request. Two requests.
You see, when you get good at this, if you get good at this, it
means you've gotten good at the not-dying part. You get good
enough at surviving and tracking and killing and knowing
when to cut bait and when to go to ground, who to trust
and who to stab in the back before they do the same to you.
You get good at all that. You get so good that your enemy
comes out the other side of fear and comes to admire you.
Gets to think you're worth more to him alive. Forever.
I got took a couple weeks ago. I'm one of them now.
And while I took the bastard that did it right back, it
doesn't undo the damage done. That's one thing the
movies don't have right.
So now I'm going to untie you. And if you've learned
anything at all, you're going to kill me. You're going to tie
me to that same chair, and you're gonna take that machete
right over there and you're gonna do your best to take my
head off in one. I sharpened it as good as I could.
Then, if I can ask you one more thing, you'll take this
envelope. There's an address and some info, everything
you should need is in it. Find the girl — well, woman now.
Find the woman in it, and give her everything that's in
there. And tell her... just tell her I'm sorry.
Don't you fucking pity me! Don't you dare go soft on
me either. You think, what? Maybe it doesn't have to end
like this? Maybe I can do some good this way? Fuck you.
I've already tasted blood once. Human blood. I held that
girl down and took her life away in great big gulps. You
watched me do it, remember?
It won't be long before I have to again. Do you understand
that? No, you don't. I'm starving. Like no hunger I've
felt before. That hunger is a little monster inside of me
rattling at his cage for me to tear your throat out. It's
getting bigger and louder as we speak. I don't care if you
want to do it or not. I can make you do it. I've got their
powers now. I've got....
I've come too far to become this.
I'm only sorry I don't have the time to get you more
ready. But what're you gonna do?
The hunt takes everything eventually.

((Taken from the Hunters Hunted II book))

[Maaz]

Nice guide, loved reading it.

[Nastas]

Nice guide, but resize the font... It's a little too much.

[Arrow]

the size of the font makes my eyes want to pop change it and do not center it for the love of god, just space it out enough to add your points for each section, its ok to center the title instead

otherwise decent read i dont hate

[Vinklo]

Oh but the government is already knee deep in this shit to back out now, just wait to see secret military personnel roll into Angel Pine other than that cool shit

[Hades]

Lowered the font size and it's no longer "centered". Still looks like shit, but it's a good read, i recommend wannabe hunter-numinas to read everything carefully.