Hunter Backgrounds

### **Arsenal**

• You might own or have inherited a modest collection of rifles, shotguns and a few handguns. Equipment could include army-surplus rucksacks, rations or first-aid kits.

•• You own a substantial collection of firearms: pistols and long guns, possibly including vintage semiautomatic military rifles (Civil War, WWI, WWII). Equipment could include high-power binoculars, urban camo fatigues or a police scanner.

••• You're a serious collector, owning various pistols, shotguns and even semiautomatic assault rifles. The gear in your basement could easily outfit a group of "rough it" campers, and your supplies could include night-vision goggles, body armor or military surplus radios.

•••• You're a fixture at local gun shows and you make your neighbors nervous. Your sizable collection includes fully-automatic weapons (including submachine guns) and might contain exotic types such as sniper rifles or rare antiques. Equipment could include police-issue sap gloves, electronic eavesdropping devices or lightweight tactical radios used by special forces.

••••• People like you give the ATF nightmares. Your large collection includes heavy weapons — vintage machine guns, mortars and grenades. They're old but serviceable. Modern equipment might include SWAT-team body armor, military-grade GPS navigation hardware or even surplus military vehicles.

### **Bystanders**

Allies are your character's associates. Contacts are her eyes and ears. Yet both groups must be kept in the dark about your character's real life and agenda; they wouldn't understand if she told them the truth, and they might even unwittingly reveal her to the enemy. However, bystanders are your character's companions in her lonely vigil. Like her, they were exposed to the Message when it was delivered, but unlike her they failed to act at the scene. They haven't forgotten what they witnessed, though. They've seen the evil, too. Some are prepared to make amends for past indecision or fear, and they want to help your character indirectly. Others can be goaded into offering aid, but they never want to face that kind of horror again.

Although many bystanders are sympathetic to your character's cause, they have various reasons for helping her. Some stand with her out of love, for a debt unpaid or for the resources she can provide. Their camaraderie is not unflagging, though, and poor treatment drives them away. Additionally, bystanders may seek aid that they know your character can provide. Generally, bystanders are not as powerful as hunters in head-on battles with the supernatural. They have no second sight or edges and should not be expected to participate, except in dire circumstances. Help from bystanders typically takes the form of aid your character would expect from his own family.

• One bystander.

•• Two bystanders.

••• Three bystanders.

•••• Four bystanders.

••••• Five bystanders.

### **Destiny**

Everyone has her role in shaping the future, but people with Destiny seem to have an enormous part to play. Perhaps your character has been selected from among all other imbued for some purpose. Maybe only she has insight into the way the monsters *really* are. Your character may be aware of her importance in time's procession, or she may be ignorant of the fact until someone points it out. Nonetheless, she carries her destiny like a standard and may be respected, feared or envied by those who recognize her significance. A "blessed one" may be watched closely and criticized when she doesn't seem to follow what is believed to be her true path. Others may even try to utilize your character's higher calling to their own ends. Destinies are enigmas, though, and no one has a clear idea of what awaits your character.

Yet Fate is not unwavering. Destined people have been known to die before fullfilling their roles. Such deaths are seldom inglorious and are never unimportant.

For eah dot your character possesses in this background, you an make one re-roll per game session. If a single roll fails or does not achieve the successes that you hoped for, you can roll again. Only one re-roll is allowed for any given action. Re-rolls are even allowed for Conviction invested Edge rolls, perhaps avoiding the loss of any risked Conviction points.

• You have a certain funny feeling about your future.

•• You are bound to make an indelible impact on the lives of many others.

••• Your destiny is powerful, perhaps as a respected innovator or leader.

•••• Your destiny is one of Arthurian legend.

••••• The course of the world may be revolutionized by your fate.

### **Exposure**

*It was the point in the act that Marty despised: the love scene. The time when the boundries between hunter and prey blurred. It was foul, but necessary. Like anyone else, bloodsuckers were at their most vulnerable during intimate moments. As the creature moved to her neck, Marty's heart jackhammered, spurred by a mixture of fear, anger and anticipation.*

*She'd been bitten before she was Called, back in her stupid goth phase when she used to hit clubs armed with a fake ID, black lace and a sick dose of nihilism. The fact that she was still breathing proved that these monsters don't always drink their victims dry, and not every bite creates another vampire. Surprisingly, it didn't even hurt. She prayed Sarin and Michelle were sneaking over to the van at that moment. —**H;tR, - p.122***

Your character had a run-in with the supernatural before she was imbued. Maybe she saw a pack of wild dogs tear through the shopping mall or was a part of a cult based on something more tangible than deluded faith. She never understood the encounter fully and shut it out, rationalized it desperately or simply dismissed it. Now that she has been chosen, your character understands her past experience for what it was. This information gives her insights into the supernatural from time to time. But be forewarned that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Sometimes perceptions are deceptive. Your character may know just enough about the supernatural to get into trouble, but not enough to survive it.

Detail the past event or circumstances. When your character identifies a supernatural creature, roll your Wits + Exposure to see if your character can draw upon her previous experience in regard to this new encounter. As far as your character can tell, not all monsters are the same, so some abominations may still be baffling to her. The Storyteller should always feed potentially lethal information after botches.

• You frequently went dancing at some notorious spots.

•• You can now explain that unexplainable encounter you had as a kid in the spooky old mansion.

••• You've seen miraculous coincidences occur that are starting to seem less and less coincidental.

•••• One of your patients always used to arrange for after dark meetings. You realize that your initial diagnosis for the cause of his neurosis was all wrong.

••••• You lived in a community — perhaps Gypsy or Native American — that took the supernatural for granted. You now understand something of what you've seen and heard.

### **Patron**

• You are contacted now and again, perhaps three or four times since you were imbued.

•• You are contacted a few times a season or so, apparently with dire messages only.

••• You receive messages a few times every month.

•••• You are contacted at least once every week, with information of seemingly various import.

••••• You are contacted so frequently that you take precautions against mishaps by refusing to swim or drive alone, for example.

## See Also

* Backgrounds
* General Backgrounds
* **Hunter Backgrounds**
* Vampire Backgrounds

 **Rules** | Backgrounds • Flaws • Merits