Have you seen those Winchester Brothers? Hunter The Reckoning Review
After years of waiting, we finally have "Book 2" of the new version of the World of Darkness. The first book in the series, Vampire The Masquerade, made total sense. To my unknowing eyes, Vampire seems to be the most popular brand inside of the World of Darkness products. It seemed like Werewolf The Apocalypse would be the next book in the series, but earlier this year Renegade Game Studios showed off Hunter: The Reckoning, which is now available in stores.
Just a reminder - I'm fairly new to the World of Darkness. So I don't have the historical perspective to compare this game to its previous versions.
If you are like me and new to this world, Hunter: The Reckoning is about the people who track down all the supernatural beasts in the world. My wife saw the rulebook cover and asked me what it was about and it said: "It's basically Supernatural the TV Show….but an RPG". After reading through the rulebook, that still seems like the best way to describe it. Instead of embracing the inner monster, you are searching for those "urban legends" and tall tales and finishing them off.
Two of a Kind
You can definitely tell that these books (Hunter & Vampire) are part of the same larger universe. First of all, there's the obvious mechanical comparisons. Both games use the same underlying systems, where the GM (err "Storyteller") sets a target number of successes for a test. Then players use their Attributes & Skills to determine how many D10s they roll to try and reach that target number. The "Hunger Dice" from Vampire are traded out for "Desperation Dice". While using different names, these extra dice provide the chance for games to go super good…..or super terrible in a split second. Both games give you that "push your luck" feel, where sometimes you have to take a risk to get what you want.
Not only are the books similar in a mechanical sense, but they *literally* are in the same universe. The "Special Affairs Division" from Vampire are present in this book as well. Instead of directly being antagonists, the game presents them in a neutral sense. They could be problems in the road, as Government Agents sticking their noses in the Players' business, or they could get tips on a nearby nest from a S.A.D. agent who wants to use the Players as cannon fodder. The vagueness of the background characters is something that persists throughout the Hunter rulebook: no one is strictly "evil" or strictly "good", so you can play your game how you want to.
Creed - not the band though
Of course, using the same system isn't always a good thing. Vampire broke up players into "clans", which gave the characters both a mechanical distinction in addition to providing some narrative background to help flesh out the characters. Hunter uses "creeds" in this way, which definitely provide the mechanical distinction of "how does your hunter go about their hunting". What types of resources do they have at their disposal? However, it doesn't give the same narrative benefits. It's easy to have a Clan Brujah meeting give your Vampires some connection to what is going on, when you have "Entrepreneurial" or "Inquisitive" Hunters it feels like it isnt as cut and dry. Granted, Vampire is a very insular community in the lore (by the fact that they have to in order to survive) and Hunters are very "loner" types, so maybe this makes sense after all.
Editor's Note: now I'm thinking about an Entrepreneurial Gathering in the sense that a bunch of Hunter companies have a trade show that players feel that they need to attend so that they can get the latest equipment. I guess anything is possible if your Storyteller is creative enough)
Hunting 101
I needed more stuff like this, honestly
The system behind this "fifth edition" of World of Darkness is much more narrative than mechanical. There are some mechanical pieces like health and "desperation", but character creation is all about coming up with a "concept" of a character, then finding the mechanical pieces that define that character. As such, most of the Vampire & Hunter core books are filled with a lot of lore. It's the reason people love these games so much - there is a well-defined universe that has its own quirks and weirdness to it.
However, I made a point in my Vampire review to talk about how the book uses the first 30 pages to firehose you with various lore bits. Appearing as scrap documents, transcripts of recordings, computer messages, etc. You were immediately immersed in the lore and got the scope and feel immediately. The Hunter book doesn't really do this, and it really made me miss that. The Hunter book felt more like a textbook - telling me about the universe instead of showing it.
By the time you reach the end of the book, where it gives examples of different creatures, this is altered somewhat. There is more storytelling behind the creatures, followed by the all the mechanical bits. I just think that the book would have a bigger impact if it spent the first 30 pages showing a bunch of Hunter's notes, messages from some of the side organizations, drawings of potential nest locations, etc. The World of Darkness books are great at coming up with some great artwork, and showing off that artwork in unique ways is what should make the books stand out more from the other RPG books that are out there.
Conclusion
"Show, don't tell". It's basic GM advice that we give to newbies, and while Hunter shows a lot of premise, I think they do more telling than showing.
Given that, I do think that it will be easier to get groups into Hunter vs. Vampire. While there is a bunch of background lore, it's just that - in the background. The independent nature of Hunters mean that it's easier to get players into the World than throwing them into the various societal conflicts of Vampire.
If you have to tell players what you mean by "capital-H Hunters" and "lowercase-h hunters", then maybe you might want to re-think how you are describing your universe.
Note: I generally assume I know nothing. So if I've missed something, let me know in the comments. Or let me know on Twitter or Facebook. If you like these types of posts, consider subscribing to our patreon. Also, thanks to Renegade Game Studios for providing a review copy of the core rulebook.