TEXT:  
  Kickstarter Manuscript Preview 
  Rules of the Hunt 
  Chapter Four: Rules of the Hunt dives into the rules for gameplay. It also offers rules for 
  specific aspects of Hunter that includes investigation and socializing along with teamwork and 
  Tactics. 
   
   
   
  © 2020 White Wolf Entertainment © 2020 Onyx Path Publishing 
  
  Chapter Four: Rules of the Hunt 
  “Being brave means to know something is scary, difficult, and dangerous, and 
  doing it anyway, because the possibility of winning the fight is worth the chance 
  of losing it.” 
  — Emilie Autumn, American Singer-Songwriter 
  This chapter contains the basic rules for playing Hunter: The Vigil. It also includes additional 
  rules that expand your options when your characters take risks and work together in the name of 
  the Vigil. 
  Rolling Dice 
  When your character is trying to accomplish something and the outcome is in doubt, you roll a 
  number of 10-sided dice. The result of that roll determines whether your character succeeds and 
  accomplishes their goal, or whether they fail and don’t do what they set out to. Failure doesn’t 
  mean “nothing happens,” just that your character doesn’t get what they want and they’re in for 
  complications. 
  You might also score an exceptional success or suffer a dramatic failure (p. XX). 
  Dice Pool 
  The number of dice you roll depends on the action your character is taking. Most of the time, it’s 
  the value of one of your Attributes plus one of your Skills, or the value of two different 
  Attributes put together; for example, fast-talking your way past a bouncer might be a roll of 
  Manipulation + Subterfuge, which means you roll a number of dice equal to your Manipulation 
  rating plus your Subterfuge rating. (Sometimes you’ll roll a different pool, but those are special 
  cases the text calls out when necessary.) 
  Circumstantial factors, appropriate equipment (or lack thereof), or opposition from another 
  character can add or subtract dice from the total; see below. 
  The total number of dice you roll is called your dice pool. 
  The Storyteller determines the appropriate dice pool based on what you’re trying to do and how 
  you’re trying to do it, using the descriptions of the various traits involved. In the above example, 
  if you explained to the Storyteller that you weren’t trying to lie your way past the bouncer but 
  schmooze her into liking you enough to let you in, the Storyteller might revise the dice pool to 
  Manipulation + Socialize.  
  Most of the actions described in this book tell you what the dice pool should be, but it’s fine to 
  come up with dice pools for other actions on an ad hoc basis. Just try to be fair and consistent — 
  if you decide bashing down a door is Strength + Stamina in one session, it should always be 
  Strength + Stamina unless the situation radically changes. 
  Roll Modifiers 
  Sometimes, fortune favors your character, or they’re packing the right tools for the 
  job. Other times, the odds are stacked against them or they don’t have the right gear 
  at all. The Storyteller should weigh how circumstances or equipment affect a 
  character’s chance of success and assign an appropriate modifier. A slight 
  
  advantage — picking an old and damaged lock — might be worth a bonus die, 
  while a stressful situation — trying to pick a lock while people are shooting at you 
  — might subtract three dice from your pool.  
  Dice Rolling Basics 
  • 
  Building a Pool: Unless otherwise noted, a dice pool is always Attribute + different 
  Attribute or Attribute + Skill. 
  • 
  Modifiers: Bonuses add the indicated number of dice; penalties remove them. Unless 
  otherwise specified, modifiers never exceed +/−5. Add all bonuses before subtracting penalties. 
  • 
  Successes: Any die showing 8, 9, or 10 counts as a success. 
  • 
  10-again: Any die that shows a 10 is counted as a success, then rerolled. Rerolled dice 
  count successes as normal. Continue counting successes and rerolling as long as you keep rolling 
  10s. 
  Chance Die 
  If penalties ever reduce your dice pool to 0 or fewer dice, roll a single die anyway. This single 
  die is called a chance die, and it follows slightly different rules. 
  Chance Die Basics 
  • 
  Success: A chance die showing a 10 counts as a success. 
  • 
  No 10-again: Do not reroll 10s on chance dice. 
  • 
  Dramatic Failure: A chance die showing a 1 is a dramatic failure (p. XX). 
  Roll Results 
  Once you’ve rolled all the dice, counted all your successes, and finished any rerolls or other 
  permutations, it’s time to see how your character fared. On most actions, you’ll only worry about 
  whether your character succeeded or failed. Sometimes, however, the outcome of an action is 
  more dramatic. 
  Roll Result Basics 
  • 
  Success: 1-4 successes. Your character’s action succeeds. 
  • 
  Exceptional Success: 5+ successes. Your character’s action succeeds and your character 
  gains a beneficial Condition (p. XX). Usually, the Inspired Condition is the most appropriate. 
  Specific actions might have additional effects on an exceptional success. 
  • 
  Failure: 0 successes. Your character’s action fails.  
  • 
  Dramatic Failure: chance die shows a 1. Your character’s action fails and something 
  goes significantly awry. Specific actions might have additional effects on a dramatic failure. 
  Otherwise, the Storyteller decides on an appropriate turn of events. 
  • 
  Voluntary Dramatic Failure: Take a Beat and convert a failure into a dramatic failure, 
  up to once per scene. 
  • 
  Risked Willpower Dramatic Failure: 0 successes for an action on which you risked 
  Willpower (p. XX). Take two Beats and apply the effects of a dramatic failure. 
  
  Additional Rules 
  These additional rules explain options that are unlocked through various Merits, Endowments, or 
  other rules which intersect with the dice-rolling mechanics. 
  • 
  9-Again: Reroll dice that show 9 or 10, as opposed to just 10. Keep rerolling until you 
  get a result that isn’t a 9 or 10. Certain Conditions, Merits, or other special circumstances may 
  award you 9-again on specific kinds of rolls. If you gain 9-again on a roll that already had that 
  quality, it becomes 8-again instead. 
  • 
  8-Again: Reroll dice that show 8, 9, or 10 — any successful die — and keep rerolling as 
  long as your dice show successes. Certain Conditions, Merits, or other special circumstances 
  may award you 8-again on specific kinds of rolls. If you gain 8-again on a roll that already had 
  that quality, it may become a rote action, at the Storyteller’s discretion. 
  • 
  Extra Successes: Assuming your roll succeeds, you get a number of extra successes 
  added to your total. This permutation mostly applies to weapons, which add their damage bonus 
  as extra successes on your attack roll. 
  • 
  Rote Actions: When you’ve got plenty of training and the steps you need to follow are 
  laid out in front of you, you’ve got a significant chance of success. When you make a roll with 
  the rote quality, reroll any dice that do not show an 8, 9, or 10. If you’re reduced to a chance die 
  on a rote action, don’t reroll a dramatic failure. You may only reroll each die once. Certain 
  Conditions, Merits, or other special circumstances may award you the rote quality on specific 
  kinds of rolls. 
  • 
  Successive Attempts: When you fail a roll, you may be able to try again. Normally, you 
  make successive attempts with your full dice pool. If time is short and the situation is tense, each 
  subsequent attempt instead has a cumulative one-die penalty — so the third time a character tries 
  to break down the door that’s keeping her from chasing her prey, her roll suffers a −2 penalty. 
  Successive attempts do not apply to extended actions. 
  • 
  Teamwork: Working together is crucial for hunters fighting to overcome impossible 
  odds. See p. XX for rules about teamwork, as well as special group actions called Tactics. 
  When to Roll Dice 
  You don’t need to roll dice for every action you want to take. If your character isn’t in a stressful 
  situation — nobody’s actively trying to tear his throat open or demolish the building as he works 
  — you don’t need to roll; as long as it’s something your character could reasonably do, he just 
  does it. As a general guideline, roll dice when a success or failure impacts the narrative. 
  When the dice hit the table, the Storyteller should have some idea of what happens if the roll 
  fails or succeeds. Sometimes that’s coded in the rules. If you fail on an attack roll, for example, 
  you don’t deal any damage. Other times, it’s up to the Storyteller. If you fail a roll to jump 
  between buildings to catch a group of necromancers, do you make it but fall on the other side, 
  grab the next building by your fingertips, or plummet to the alley below? 
  Time 
  Time in the story can speed past or slow to a crawl compared to time in the real world. Weeks or 
  months might pass in the space of few words, while a tense negotiation plays out in real-time — 
  or takes even longer. 
  
  In addition to years, days, hours, and so on, Hunter also uses five units of dramatic time. These 
  build upon one another, from shortest to longest. 
  • 
  Turn — The smallest increment of time, a turn lasts for about three seconds. A character 
  can perform a single instant action and move their Speed in a turn. Turns normally only matter in 
  action scenes, like fights, chases, and other dramatic and stressful situations. 
  • 
  Scene — Much like a scene in a play, a scene in a roleplaying game is the time spent 
  dealing with a single, specific event. The Storyteller frames the scene, describing what’s going 
  on, and it’s up to the players to resolve the event or conflict. A scene might be played out in turns 
  (called an action scene), progress in real-time, or skip forward depending on dramatic necessity. 
  • 
  Chapter (or Session) — A chapter is the collection of scenes that happen during one 
  game session. From the moment you sit down and start playing to the point where you pack up 
  your dice, you’re playing out a chapter of your story. 
  • 
  Story — A story tells an entire tale, following the dramatic arc of a related series of 
  events. It might comprise several chapters or be completed in just one. It has an introduction, 
  rising tension, a number of twists, and a climax that brings things to a conclusion. 
  • 
  Chronicle — The big picture, a chronicle is the collection of interlinked stories that 
  involve your characters. They might be linked by a common theme or overarching plotline, or 
  they may only share characters and locations. As your story progresses, the players and 
  Storyteller work together to create an ongoing chronicle by linking chapters together in thematic 
  and dramatic ways. 
  Actions 
  Hunter: The Vigil rates each action by two criteria: how long it takes to attempt and whether 
  another character opposes it. All actions fall into one category in both arenas: an action might be 
  instant and simple (usually just abbreviated to “instant”), extended and contested, or reflexive 
  and resisted, for example. 
  Actions by Time 
  • 
  Instant: The action is resolved in a single roll. Unless otherwise noted, an instant action 
  only takes a few seconds and takes up your turn in an action scene. 
  • 
  Reflexive: The action takes no appreciable time or effort, and is resolved in a single roll, 
  or may not require a roll at all. In an action scene, you can take reflexive actions on other 
  characters’ turns, and reflexive actions don’t take up your turn. Contesting someone else’s action 
  is always reflexive. 
  • 
  Extended: The action requires multiple rolls over time to complete; as such, an extended 
  action is not usually an option in action scenes, unless otherwise noted. 
  Actions by Opposition 
  • 
  Simple: No opposition. Calculate dice pool and roll results as normal. 
  • 
  Contested: Calculate dice pool as normal and roll. The target rolls a dice pool specified 
  by how they contest the action. If your total successes exceed the target’s, your action succeeds; 
  if their total successes exceed yours, your action fails. If you and your target roll the same 
  number of successes, both of you reroll the same pools until someone comes out on top. The 
  
  exception is when hunters use teamwork; the primary actor always wins ties on contested actions 
  in that case. 
  • 
  Resisted: Calculate dice pool, then apply a penalty equal to one of the target’s Resistance 
  Attributes (Stamina, Resolve, or Composure) or Defense. Roll, and calculate roll results as 
  normal. 
  If you’re not sure whether to use resistance or a contested action, use this guideline: Resistance 
  applies in situations where the number of successes on the roll is an important factor. If what 
  matters is just whether the roll succeeds or not, use a contested action. For example, combat 
  applies Defense as a resistance because the number of successes on the roll determines how 
  badly the attacker messes up his victim. A Tactic that traps a demon uses a contested action, 
  because the number of successes you roll doesn’t matter. 
  Extended Actions 
  Some actions require a great deal of effort over time and represent the sort of project you can 
  abandon and resume later. Such actions are modeled as extended actions, and they’re a little 
  more complex than instant or reflexive actions. 
  When you take an extended action, the Storyteller determines how many total successes you 
  require. Most actions require between five and 20 successes. Five reflects a reasonable action 
  that competent characters can achieve with the right tools and knowledge. Ten represents a 
  difficult action that’s still realistic for a professional in the field. Twenty represents a very 
  difficult action that even a particularly skilled character has trouble pulling off.  
  The Storyteller also determines the interval between rolls. If an action would take weeks to 
  complete, she might consider one roll per week. If it’s likely to take a day’s work, one roll per 
  hour makes for a solid timeframe. 
  Once those factors are determined, you make a number of rolls, counting up the total number of 
  successes across all your rolls. If you earn the required number of successes before you run out 
  of time, you accomplish your goal. 
  Extended Action Basics 
  • 
  Multiple Rolls: You roll your dice pool multiple times over the course of the action. 
  Successes earned on all rolls count toward completing the action. 
  • 
  Roll Limit: You can make a total number of rolls equal to your base dice pool for the 
  action, before factoring in any modifiers. The Storyteller may reduce this value if time is short. 
  • 
  Time Interval: Each roll takes a certain amount of time, determined by the Storyteller. 
  • 
  Required Successes: The Storyteller sets the total number of successes required for the 
  action, usually between five and 20. 
  Extended Action Roll Results 
  These apply to each roll of an extended action. Specific extended actions may have additional 
  effects. 
  Success: Add the successes earned on the roll to your running total. Work with the Storyteller to 
  determine what steps your character takes toward his goal. 
  
  Exceptional Success: Choose one: Reduce the total number of successes required by your 
  character’s Skill dots, reduce the time interval for each following roll by a quarter, or apply the 
  exceptional success result of the entire action when you complete your goal. 
  Failure: You face a setback. The Storyteller offers you a choice: Take a Condition (p. XX) of 
  her choice or abandon the action. You can offer a different Condition if you think it makes sense. 
  If you refuse or cannot agree on a Condition, you lose all accumulated successes. 
  Dramatic Failure: Lose all accumulated successes. In addition, the first roll on a subsequent 
  attempt suffers a two-die penalty. 
  Use the following guidelines to decide when to call for an extended action vs. an instant action 
  that takes a defined amount of time: 
  • 
  Time Pressure: If the hungry ghosts manifest at dusk and the characters need to fix their 
  car before that happens, the question of “how long does it take?” has real stakes and tension. If 
  the characters aren’t under time pressure, extended actions can feel like a lot of tedious rolling 
  for no reason. 
  • 
  Take a Break: Extended actions are best suited for things the character could 
  conceivably abandon for some time and then resume later: fortifying a safehouse or researching a 
  monster, for example. If it’s something that has to be done all in one go, like preparing a magical 
  binding ritual or casing a scene, it’s probably better modeled as an instant action unless time is 
  short. 
  Common Actions 
  The following list represents some of the more common actions characters might undertake in a 
  Hunter: The Vigil game. 
  [PRODUCTION: DO A QUICK REFERENCE GRID FOR EACH OF THESE, AS 
  IN COFD CORE P. 70] 
  Argument (Instant and Contested; Intelligence + Expression vs. target’s Resolve + 
  Composure) 
  You try to sway someone with a rational argument. (If arguing with a crowd, use the highest 
  Resolve in the crowd.) (See also Social maneuvering, p. XX.) 
  • 
  Success: They accept the truth (or apparent truth) of your words. 
  • 
  Exceptional: They’re convinced and become recruits to your point of view, though they 
  might change their minds if they find themselves at risk. 
  • 
  Failure: They listen but are ultimately unaffected. 
  • 
  Dramatic: You convince them of quite the opposite. 
  Carousing (Instant; Presence + Socialize or Streetwise) 
  You mix with a group, bringing fancy cocktails and flasks filled with whiskey, and use your gifts 
  to loosen tongues and help strangers feel at ease. 
  • 
  Success: You impress a party-goer for the night who might be willing to whisper secrets 
  or go with you somewhere private. 
  • 
  Exceptional: You make a friend you can contact again. 
  
  • 
  Failure: You’re a wallflower sipping on a drink in your hand you don’t want. 
  • 
  Dramatic: A faux pas reveals you don’t belong in this social circle, and some people are 
  wondering what you’re really up to. 
  Fast-Talk (Instant and Contested; Manipulation + Subterfuge vs. victim’s Composure + 
  Empathy) 
  You may not be able to win the argument with facts, but you can try to get out of trouble with a 
  little judicious spin. 
  • 
  Success: The other party swallows your story. 
  • 
  Exceptional: The other party believes you so thoroughly they’re even willing to offer a 
  little aid…though they won’t put themselves at any kind of risk. 
  • 
  Failure: The other party doesn’t believe you. 
  • 
  Dramatic: The other party has a good idea what the truth is. 
  Hacking (Extended and Contested; Intelligence + Computer vs. victim’s Intelligence + 
  Computer) 
  You overcome network security and computer passwords to gain access to digital files and 
  resources. 
  • 
  Success: You access the computer or network as though you had proper clearance, but 
  you only have a short time before someone notices. 
  • 
  Exceptional: You access the computer or network, and no one notices until you’ve got 
  what you came for. 
  • 
  Failure: You’re locked out of the system and you can’t access anything. 
  • 
  Dramatic: You trip an alarm or corrupt your own flash drive beyond use. 
  Interrogation (Extended and Resisted; Manipulation + Empathy or Intimidation − victim’s 
  Resolve) 
  You try to dig secrets out of a reluctant informant. (See also Social maneuvering, p. XX.) 
  • 
  Success: You get the information you were looking for; one piece per success rolled. 
  • 
  Exceptional: You get the information you were looking for, and the informant is willing 
  to continue cooperating. 
  • 
  Failure: The informant blabs a mix of truth and falsehood — even he may not know the 
  difference. 
  • 
  Dramatic: The informant is so alienated or injured that he no longer reveals information. 
  Intimidation (Instant and Contested; Strength or Manipulation + Intimidation vs. victim’s 
  Resolve + Composure) 
  You try to get someone to do what you want by making them afraid of you. 
  • 
  Success: They’re coerced into helping you. 
  
  • 
  Exceptional: They develop a lasting fear of you, which could make them easier to coerce 
  in the future. 
  • 
  Failure: They’re unimpressed with your threats. 
  • 
  Dramatic: They don’t take you seriously, even if you knock them around a bit. They 
  won’t be doing what you want. 
  Investigating a Scene (Extended; Intelligence + Investigation) 
  You look for clues to what’s happened in the recent past…or tidy up so that no one else can find 
  them. (See also Investigation, p. XX.) 
  • 
  Success: You find a clue of exactly the sort you need or manage to significantly confuse 
  future investigators. 
  • 
  Exceptional: You find a clue, and know exactly how it fits in, or you leave the scene 
  immaculate and impossible to decipher. 
  • 
  Failure: You find evidence, but it’s damaged and hard to interpret. Or you miss a spot in 
  your clean-up that you won’t find out about until later. 
  • 
  Dramatic: You find clues but you contaminate them, or you leave evidence of your 
  presence. 
  Jumping (Instant; Strength + Athletics – (yards or meters of distance)) 
  To get past an obstacle or out of danger, you leap into the air. 
  • 
  Success: You clear the obstacle or avoid the danger. 
  • 
  Exceptional: You may attempt another instant action in the air or upon landing. 
  • 
  Failure: You don’t achieve any significant distance at all — you jump too early, get a 
  false start, or lose your nerve. 
  • 
  Dramatic: The task not only fails, but you lose your balance. 
  Research (Extended; Intelligence + Academics or Occult) 
  Using your existing knowledge, you look for information on a current mystery. (See also Tactics, 
  p. XX.) 
  • 
  Success: You find the basic facts you were looking for. 
  • 
  Exceptional: You find what you were looking for, which leads towards a much bigger 
  score of information. 
  • 
  Failure: You turn up a lot of promising leads, but they’re all dead ends. 
  • 
  Dramatic: You learn something, but it doesn’t help. In fact, it sets you back. If using 
  Occult, this could mean dangerously false assumptions. 
  Shadowing a Mark (Instant and Contested; Wits + Stealth or Drive vs. Wits + Composure) 
  You follow someone, perhaps in the hopes of ambushing them, or of finding out their 
  destination. (See also Tactics, p. XX.) 
  • 
  Success: You follow the mark to his destination. 
  
  • 
  Exceptional: You find some means by which you can continue following the mark, such 
  as an unlocked entrance into the building he arrived at. 
  • 
  Failure: The mark senses he’s being followed and manages to lose you. 
  • 
  Dramatic: You’re caught, either by the mark or some observer that’s become suspicious 
  of you. 
  Sneaking (Instant and Contested; Dexterity + Stealth vs. Wits + Composure) 
  You’re trying to avoid notice by someone, or something…or multiple somethings. Maybe you 
  want to get into a place undetected. Maybe you’re trying to break out. 
  • 
  Success: You avoid notice and get closer to your goal. 
  • 
  Exceptional: You avoid notice and get away before anyone has another chance to catch 
  you. 
  • 
  Failure: You’re noticed but still have the chance to slip away. 
  • 
  Dramatic: You attract a lot of attention…enough that now it’s going to be hard to get 
  out. 
  [END QUICK REFERENCE] 
  Willpower 
  A hunter’s Willpower represents their determination and ability to go above and beyond what 
  should be possible to achieve their goals. 
  Spending Willpower 
  • 
  Reflexive Action: Unless otherwise specified, spending Willpower is a reflexive action. 
  • 
  Roll Bonus: Spend 1 Willpower to gain a three-die bonus on a single dice pool. 
  • 
  Increased Resistance: Spend 1 Willpower to gain +2 to resistance (see above) against a 
  single action. 
  • 
  Other Expenditures: Other abilities may require Willpower expenditure, as noted under 
  their Cost. 
  • 
  Per Turn Limit: Characters may only spend 1 Willpower per turn. 
  Regaining Willpower 
  • 
  Rest: Regain 1 Willpower after a full night’s sleep. 
  • 
  Anchors: Regain full Willpower when meaningfully acting in accordance with your 
  Virtue, up to twice per chapter; regain 1 Willpower when meaningfully acting in accordance 
  with your Vice, up to once per scene (p. XX). 
  • 
  Touchstones: Regain 1 or full Willpower when defending your relationship with your 
  Touchstones (p. XX). 
  • 
  Experiences: Spend 1 Experience (p. XX) to roll Resolve + Composure, with no 
  modifiers. Regain 1 Willpower for each success rolled, up to your maximum Willpower. Even 
  on a failed roll, regain 1 Willpower. 
  
  • 
  Risking Willpower Successfully: Regain the Willpower you risked on a successful 
  action and one more. (See below.) 
  • 
  Maximum Willpower: Your total Willpower can’t exceed your maximum (p. XX) 
  unless otherwise indicated by a power or Condition. 
  Risking Willpower 
  Lighting a candle against the darkness isn’t easy. By dedicating themselves heart, body, and soul 
  to the Vigil, hunters can call upon reserves of dedication that far surpass anything an ordinary 
  person can muster. Hunters who use Willpower stick their necks out, ignore the voice inside their 
  head screaming for self-preservation, and stand up to powers beyond human ken. 
  A hunter’s player can risk one point of Willpower instead of spending it to enhance a single 
  action, once per scene. They may only do so when the action their character takes is in direct 
  pursuit of the Vigil and carries some risk. The outcome of risking Willpower is determined by 
  the roll results. 
  Examples of eligible actions include: attacking or defending oneself (or others) against a monster 
  in a fight, interrogating a known monster’s minion, sneaking into a monster’s lair or a place that 
  holds information about a known monster, resisting a monster’s powers, and setting a trap for a 
  monster. 
  The following actions are never eligible for risking Willpower: 
  • 
  Perception-based actions and actions to investigate possible monster involvement, unless 
  it’s a Tactic. 
  • 
  Avoiding ambush, resisting toxins or fatigue, and other actions to preserve the hunter’s 
  own safety at the expense of the hunt. However, protective actions on behalf of other people, 
  such as warding someone else’s house against a monster’s entry, are eligible. 
  • 
  Activating Endowments. 
  When a player risks Willpower, they may choose two of the following benefits to apply to a 
  single roll: 
  • 
  Gain a three-die bonus. 
  • 
  Achieve exceptional success on three successes instead of five. 
  • 
  Gain +1 to an attack’s weapon damage bonus. 
  • 
  Gain the 9-again quality. 
  • 
  Remove the 10-again quality from an opponent’s roll that contests yours. 
  • 
  Enact a Tactic (p. XX), which counts as two benefits. 
  Risking Willpower Roll Results 
  • 
  Success: In addition to the action’s success, gain one Beat and regain the Willpower you 
  risked plus another point of Willpower, up to your usual Willpower maximum. 
  • 
  Exceptional Success: As success, with the action’s usual exceptional benefits. 
  • 
  Failure and Dramatic Failure: As the action’s usual dramatic failure effects, and you 
  gain two Beats. Your risked Willpower point remains spent. 
  
  Conditions 
  Conditions represent ways in which the story affects a character, and what they can do to move 
  past those events. Players cannot “buy” Conditions; events in the game apply them and they 
  remain until certain resolution criteria are met.  
  A character can only have one instance of a specific Condition unless each applies to a distinctly 
  different circumstance — for example, they may be Informed about both the occult symbol he 
  stayed up all night to research and the innerworkings of the corporation they infiltrated. Each 
  Condition is resolved independently of each other. Various systems and supernatural powers 
  bring Conditions into play, and the Storyteller can do so based on story circumstances. 
  For a full list of sample Conditions, see p. XX.  
  The listed resolutions for each Condition are the most common ways to end its effects; other 
  actions may also resolve it if they would reasonably cause the Condition’s effects to end. When a 
  character resolves a Condition, the player takes a Beat. However, if a Condition has a natural 
  time limit and then fades away without proper resolution, he doesn’t take a Beat. If a Condition 
  lingers beyond its relevance in the story, the player and Storyteller may agree to simply let it 
  fade. 
  Some Conditions are marked as Persistent. These Conditions last for a long time and can only be 
  resolved permanently with a specific and impressive effort. Once per chapter, a player may gain 
  a Beat when a Persistent Condition impacts their character’s life. 
  Improvising Conditions 
  A Condition typically consists of a modifier between +2 and −2 dice to a certain type of action, 
  or to any action taken with a certain motivation. Conditions can also consist solely of roleplayed 
  effects until resolution, such as the Shaken Condition (p. XX), in which the mechanical effect is 
  the resolution. 
  A Condition resolves when the character does something significant to act on it, or when she 
  addresses the original source. The sample Conditions in this book (p. XX) give examples of how 
  to resolve them, but players can also resolve them following the conclusion of an event if the 
  Storyteller feels that makes sense in the story. Resolution criteria for improvised Conditions offer 
  a way for the Storyteller to encourage certain kinds of dramatic action, especially when they 
  want a story point to have lingering effects on characters. For instance, a Condition that resolves 
  when the character deals lethal damage to someone clearly reflects the violent nature of that 
  story point. 
  It’s best to keep the resolution criteria for a new Condition somewhat general, rather than 
  requiring one specific action. For example, a Condition that resolves when the player commits 
  any act of vengeance allows the player flexibility in exactly what the character does, while a 
  Condition that resolves when the character kills a particular person restricts the player’s options. 
  More options are usually better. 
  Exceptional successes are the most common opportunities for creating new Conditions. When 
  none of the given example Conditions seem to apply, or the player has an idea for a different 
  way the momentous event affects their character, Storytellers should feel free to invent a 
  Condition. The Storyteller can also invent Conditions whenever they want to offer Beats for 
  
  roleplaying significant behavioral or situational shifts, or for some mechanical effect that they 
  want to impose, such as a lingering penalty. 
  Action Scenes 
  Sometimes it’s useful to zoom in on the action and track movements moment by moment. 
  Having a clear understanding of who does what in what order is useful and necessary in a game 
  of Hunter, to prevent misunderstandings regarding who shot first. 
  Action scenes take place when multiple characters take actions in a short (or simultaneous) unit 
  of time. To keep everyone’s actions straight, they proceed by turns in order of Initiative. The 
  most common action scenes are fights but are not limited to combat. They may also extend to 
  tense, dramatic events where the hunters are pressured to act. These might include an escape 
  from a burning haunted house or crumbling mine, a heist to steal a relic from a warlock’s well-
  guarded library, or rescues to save victims trapped by their captors. 
  Turns 
  • 
  What You Can Do: On your turn, move up to your Speed and take one instant action, or 
  move twice your Speed. 
  • 
  How Long It Lasts: A turn is roughly three seconds. If an effect says it lasts “until your 
  next turn,” it lasts until the beginning of your next turn. 
  • 
  Order of Action: Characters involved in an action scene take turns one at a time in order 
  of Initiative, from highest to lowest. 
  • 
  Cycle: Once all characters involved in the scene have acted, the order of action returns to 
  the character with the highest Initiative. Initiative can change from turn to turn, if for instance 
  one character delays his action, or a supernatural power makes a character faster or slower. 
  Initiative 
  • 
  Calculating: When you come into the action scene, roll one die and add the result to 
  your Initiative modifier (p. XX). This is the only roll in the game on which you treat the result of 
  the die as a number rather than a success or not. Wielding a weapon inflicts a penalty to Initiative 
  based on the type of weapon (p. XX). 
  • 
  Delaying: You may choose not to act when your turn comes up and instead act at any 
  point later in the scene, even if the order of action resets. When you do act, change your 
  Initiative to the Initiative you acted on for the rest of the scene. 
  • 
  Surprise: If the start of the action might take a character unawares, the Storyteller may 
  call for a surprise roll. Roll the character’s Wits + Composure, possibly contested by an 
  opponent’s relevant dice pool (Dexterity + Stealth for an ambush, Manipulation + Subterfuge if 
  they lull you into a false sense of security, etc.). If the surprised character’s roll fails, they cannot 
  act or apply their Defense until their second turn. 
  Speed  
  Your character’s Speed is the number of yards or meters they can travel in a single turn. This 
  trait is a combination of their Strength, Dexterity, and a species factor that reflects age, physical 
  configuration, Size, and other considerations. The species factor for a human adult is 5; that of a 
  human child is 3. 
  
  Other species, such as horses and many monsters, have physical configurations that lend 
  themselves to high travel rates. 
  Defense 
  Defense measures your character’s ability to react to danger and mitigate harm to oneself. It’s 
  most often used when violence breaks out but is sometimes used to resist harm from other 
  sources as well. 
  Defense Basics 
  • 
  Resistance: Defense counts as a Resistance Attribute (p. XX) for any rule that interacts 
  with Resistance (e.g. spending Willpower). 
  • 
  Multiple Hazards: In an action scene, each time you resist an action with your Defense, 
  you suffer a cumulative –1 penalty to Defense. This penalty goes away at the beginning of your 
  next turn. You can choose not to resist an action with Defense; if you do, the penalty doesn’t 
  increase. 
  Tilts 
  Tilts apply temporary circumstances to both characters and the environment during action 
  scenes. Outside action scenes, use Conditions instead. 
  Tilts do not grant Beats when they end, but the effects of a Tilt can easily cause a Condition. For 
  instance, a character in a fight gets a handful of road salt flung into his eyes and receives the 
  Blinded Tilt. When the action scene ends, this shifts to the Blind Condition. Resolving this 
  Condition grants a Beat as usual. If the character enters an action scene again before the 
  Condition is resolved, the Blinded Tilt applies again. 
  Tilts come in two forms: Personal and Environmental. Personal Tilts only apply to one character 
  and include ways in which that character can overcome the effect. Environmental Tilts affect the 
  whole scene and offer ways for individual characters to mitigate their effects. 
  For a full list of sample Tilts, see p. XX.  
  Violence 
  Few hunters avoid violence for long. Even those who prefer research to rifles come face to face 
  with a monster eventually, and the Code doesn’t like letting threats to humanity walk the streets 
  unchecked. Protecting the innocent usually means spilling blood when the thing you’re 
  protecting them from has claws bigger than your head, and some hunters live for the kill more 
  than anything. Hunters might even come into conflict with each other that can’t be reconciled 
  without them beating the living shit out of each other…and sometimes, other people get in the 
  way of the Vigil, and have to be removed. Below are rules for resolving violent conflict. 
  Intent 
  Everybody wants something out of a conflict. The very first thing you need to do — before 
  worrying about who attacks first — is determine what each character wants to get out of the 
  fight. Boil it down into a simple sentence that starts with the words “I want:” “I want to kill that 
  vampire,” “I want the book Frances is holding,” or “I want to rescue my cellmate.” 
  Declaring Intent 
  
  • 
  By Violence: Intent must be something achievable by violence within the current scene. 
  • 
  The Price: If your intent doesn’t include causing harm and your character ends up killing 
  someone, lose one Willpower point. 
  Down and Dirty Combat 
  The Storyteller might decide your character can get what they want without focusing on the 
  details of the fight. Maybe they’re picking on a weak antagonist. Maybe the details of the fight 
  aren’t all that important. In these cases, the Storyteller can opt to use Down and Dirty Combat. 
  This system resolves the entire fight in a single roll. If multiple hunters have separate intents, 
  such as one character trying to exorcise a spirit while another beats information out of a flunky, 
  resolve each intent as a separate Down and Dirty Combat action. If the group only has one intent 
  but multiple hunters are participating, they can use teamwork (see p. XX) on the roll. Players and 
  the Storyteller must agree to reduce a fight to Down and Dirty Combat. 
  Action: Instant and contested; takes anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes. 
  Dice Pool: Combat pool (Dexterity + Firearms, Strength + Brawl, or Strength + Weaponry) 
  versus either the opponent’s combat pool (as above) or an attempt to escape (Strength or 
  Dexterity + Athletics).  
  Roll Results 
  Success: Inflict damage equal to the difference in successes + weapon modifier and achieve your 
  intent — including killing, if that was on the table.  
  Exceptional Success: As success and gain 1 Willpower. 
  Failure: You don’t achieve your intent. If the opponent rolled a combat pool, suffer damage 
  equal to the difference in successes + opponent’s weapon modifier. Opponent escapes if they 
  want to. 
  Dramatic Failure: The opposite of your character’s intent happens, they’re knocked out, or they 
  suffer other serious consequences. 
  Detailed Fight Scenes 
  When the fight is a significant event in the story, or Down and Dirty Combat doesn’t suit, these 
  rules apply for this type of action scene. 
  Fight-Related Actions 
  The most common action in a fight is to attack. Characters can also dodge or push themselves to 
  the limit, sacrificing Defense for greater effect. 
  Attack 
  All attack actions are instant actions. Unarmed, melee, and thrown attacks are resisted, while 
  ranged attacks and touching an opponent are simple actions. 
  • 
  Unarmed Attack: Strength + Brawl – Defense; bashing damage 
  • 
  Melee Attack: Strength + Weaponry – Defense; lethal damage 
  • 
  Ranged Attack: Dexterity + Firearms; lethal damage 
  
  • 
  Thrown Attack: Dexterity + Athletics – Defense; lethal damage 
  • 
  Touching an Opponent: Dexterity + Brawl or Dexterity + Weaponry; inflicts no 
  damage. 
  • 
  Damage: A successful attack inflicts damage equal to the number of successes rolled + 
  weapon modifier (p. XX), if any. 
  • 
  Pulling Blows: Set a maximum damage value up to the highest trait in your attack dice 
  pool and grant the target +1 Defense. Your attack cannot inflict more than the maximum damage 
  you set. 
  • 
  Offhand Attack: Take a two-die penalty to attacks made with the character’s non-
  dominant hand. 
  Specified Targets 
  A normal attack is aimed at the target’s center of mass. You can aim for specific body parts by 
  taking a penalty on your attack roll. Attacking a specific body part can bypass armor (p. XX) or 
  inflict a Tilt (p. XX) on the target. Attacks against specified targets aren’t a way to inflict extra 
  damage or instantly kill people; that’s covered by simply rolling a lot of successes on the attack 
  action. 
  The following modifiers assume a target roughly human in size and shape. The Storyteller can 
  adjust these for more unusual targets. 
  • 
  Arm (–2): If damage exceeds victim’s Stamina, inflicts Arm Wrack Tilt. 
  • 
  Leg (–2): If damage exceeds victim’s Stamina, inflicts Leg Wrack Tilt. 
  • 
  Head (–3): If damage equals or exceeds victim’s Size, inflicts Stunned Tilt. 
  • 
  Heart (–3): If damage equals or exceeds 5, the attack pierces the victim’s heart. This 
  isn’t instantly fatal but may have special effects against certain monsters (like vampires). 
  • 
  Hand (–4): If the attack deals any damage, inflicts Arm Wrack Tilt. 
  • 
  Eye (–5): If the attack deals any damage, inflicts Blinded Tilt. 
  Dodge 
  Dodging is a reflexive action, but after dodging your character loses their next turn. 
  • 
  Contested Attacks: Attacks made against your character become contested instead of 
  resisted until your next turn. Contest attacks with double your Defense as your dice pool, and 
  unlike a normal contested action, your successes cancel out the attacker’s successes on a one for 
  one basis.  
  • 
  Multiple Attackers: Apply the Defense penalty for multiple attackers before doubling. If 
  your character’s Defense is reduced to 0, roll a chance die. 
  • 
  Dramatic Failure: Defense suffers a –1 penalty until your next turn. 
  Special Maneuvers 
  To enact any of the following instant actions, the character sacrifices their Defense until their 
  next turn. If the character has already lost their Defense, by being surprised or attacked by 
  enough opponents in one turn to reduce their Defense to 0, they cannot take any of these actions. 
  
  • 
  Charge: Move up to twice your character’s Speed and make an unarmed or melee attack. 
  • 
  All-Out Attack: Make an unarmed or melee attack with a two-die bonus. 
  • 
  Aim: Keep an opponent in your sights with a ranged weapon to gain a one-die bonus per 
  consecutive Aim action on your next attack against that target, to a maximum of three bonus 
  dice. Incompatible with autofire (below). 
  Other Actions 
  These are all instant actions. 
  • 
  Drop Prone/Stand Up: Ranged attacks against prone characters suffer a two-die penalty 
  but unarmed and melee attacks against prone characters gain a two-die bonus if the attacker is 
  standing. 
  • 
  Reload a Weapon: If rounds must be loaded individually, lose Defense until your next 
  turn. 
  • 
  Killing Blow: Inflict damage equal to your attack’s dice pool + weapon bonus. Requires 
  an unconscious, immobilized, or otherwise helpless target. May prompt a breaking point. 
  Unarmed Combat 
  These rules present special cases that come up when fighting without weapons. 
  Bite 
  Biting counts as an unarmed attack action. 
  • 
  Damage: Human teeth inflict −1 bashing damage (so an attack that rolls only one success 
  inflicts no damage). Animals and monsters may treat their teeth as weapons, with a bonus 
  between +1 and +4. 
  • 
  Grapple Required: Humans must first grapple an opponent to bite them. 
  Grapple 
  Grappling counts as an unarmed attack action. To start grappling, you have to grab your 
  opponent. 
  • 
  Grab: Make an unarmed attack. On a success, inflict no damage but start a grapple. On 
  an exceptional success, also choose a grapple option to enact reflexively. 
  • 
  One Action: All participants in the grapple act on the highest Initiative among them. The 
  only action they can take is the grappling action. 
  • 
  Grappling: Instant and contested; Strength + Brawl vs. Strength + Brawl. The character 
  with the most successes chooses a grapple option to enact immediately, or two grapple options 
  on an exceptional success. On a tie, the characters continue to grapple but nothing else happens. 
  Grapple Options 
  • 
  Break Free: The grapple ends, and your character may take another instant action 
  immediately. 
  
  • 
  Control Weapon: Take firm hold of a weapon, either your character’s or her opponent’s. 
  Lasts until your character’s opponent chooses Control Weapon. Required for other grapple 
  options. 
  • 
  Damage: Treat the grapple action as an unarmed attack, inflicting damage equal to your 
  rolled successes. If you have control of a weapon, this counts as a melee attack with the 
  weapon’s modifier. 
  • 
  Disarm: Remove a weapon from the grapple entirely. Requires Control Weapon. 
  • 
  Drop Prone: Throw all participants to the ground. Requires Break Free to stand back up. 
  • 
  Hold: Immobilize an opponent. Both characters lose Defense. 
  • 
  Restrain: Your opponent suffers the Immobilized Tilt (p. XX). Requires Hold. If your 
  character uses equipment to restrain her opponent, she can leave the grapple. 
  • 
  Take Cover: Any ranged attacks against your character automatically hit her opponent. 
  Lasts until your next turn. 
  Ranged Combat 
  These rules apply when shooting at a moving target that can resist being shot by firing back, 
  using Dread Powers, dodging, taking cover, etc. 
  Autofire 
  Automatic weapons can fire a short, medium, or long burst in place of a single shot. 
  • 
  Short Burst: Uses three bullets. +1 bonus to attack action. 
  • 
  Medium Burst: Uses 10 bullets. +2 bonus to attack action. Can attack multiple targets, 
  up to three. 
  • 
  Long Burst: Uses 20 bullets. +3 bonus to attack action. Can attack multiple targets, with 
  no limit. 
  • 
  Multiple Targets: −1 penalty per target after the first. Roll individually against each 
  target. 
  Range 
  Ranged attacks suffer a dice penalty the farther away the target is. Ranged weapons have a short, 
  medium, and long range listed on the weapons table (p. XX). 
  • 
  Short Range: No penalty. 
  • 
  Medium Range: −1 
  • 
  Long Range: −2 
  Concealment 
  If the target of a ranged attack is partially or fully obscured, they are concealed. Concealment 
  applies a penalty to the shooter’s dice pool. 
  • 
  Barely Concealed: −1 (hiding behind an office chair) 
  • 
  Partially Concealed: −2 (hiding behind the hood of a car, with upper body exposed) 
  
  • 
  Substantially Concealed: −3 (crouching behind a car). 
  • 
  Shooting from Concealment: Barely concealed: no penalty; partially concealed: −1; 
  substantially concealed: −2. You can ignore this penalty, but if so, you lose your own 
  concealment until your next turn. 
  Cover 
  If a target’s entirely hidden by a substantial object, they have found cover. 
  • 
  Tough Cover: If the cover’s Durability (p. XX) is greater than the attacker’s weapon 
  modifier, the attack can’t penetrate the cover. 
  • 
  Less Tough Cover: Subtract the cover’s Durability from the attacker’s damage roll. Both 
  the object and the target take any remaining damage. 
  • 
  Transparent Cover: If the cover is transparent (bulletproof glass, for example), subtract 
  half the cover’s Durability, rounding down. Both the object and the target take any remaining 
  damage. 
  Covering Fire 
  With a weapon capable of autofire, a character can lay down covering fire to keep anyone from 
  entering his target area. 
  • 
  Action: Instant 
  • 
  Dice Pool: Dexterity + Firearms 
  • 
  Bullets: Uses 10 bullets. 
  • 
  Characters in Area of Effect: On their next turn, they must either take cover within 
  range of their Speed or drop prone, to avoid suffering damage equal to successes on covering fire 
  roll + weapon modifier. 
  In Close Combat: Wielding a ranged weapon larger than Size 1 in close quarters grants the 
  opponent (weapon’s Size +1) as a bonus to Defense. 
  Shooting into Close Combat: Take a two-die penalty for each character involved in close 
  combat with your target that you want to avoid hitting, or a four-die penalty if they’re grappling 
  your target. You can’t selectively avoid targets this way with autofire. 
  Weapons and Armor 
  Weapons are one of the fastest ways to end a fight and help level the playing field between 
  hunters and monsters. Armor keeps hunters safe and shields them from an antagonist’s deadly 
  attacks. Traits for specific weapons and armor are in the Appendix starting on p. XX. 
  Weapons 
  Ranged and melee weapons share certain common traits. 
  • 
  Type: A weapon’s type is a general classification that fits any number of specific 
  weapons. A metal club might be a crowbar or a length of rebar, while a light revolver might be 
  one of any number of .22-.38 caliber weapons. 
  • 
  Damage: Added to successes rolled on attack to determine total damage inflicted. 
  
  • 
  Initiative: The penalty to Initiative when wielding the weapon. 
  • 
  Strength: The minimum Strength needed to use a weapon effectively. A wielder with a 
  lower Strength suffers a −1 penalty on attack rolls. 
  • 
  Availability: The cost in Resources dots or level of Social Merit needed to acquire the 
  weapon. 
  Improvised Weapons 
  Characters who grab lamps and pool cues still stand a chance of dealing serious damage. 
  • 
  Use Existing Weapon Traits: If it’s close enough to a weapon in the chart on p. XX, use 
  the associated weapon traits. For example, a pool cue might count as a sap. 
  • 
  Improvised Weapon Traits: If it’s not similar to a weapon in the chart, its damage 
  modifier is (object’s Durability −1); Initiative penalty and Strength requirement equal to 
  weapon’s Size. 
  • 
  Attack Modifiers: −1 to attack roll. If successful, the improvised weapon takes the same 
  damage it inflicts; Durability applies. 
  Armor 
  Armor provides protection against a variety of attacks and reduce damage from bullets, knives, 
  and fangs. 
  Armor Basics 
  • 
  Ballistic Armor: Each point of ballistic armor downgrades one point of lethal damage 
  from firearms to bashing. 
  • 
  General Armor: Each point of general armor reduces the total damage taken by one 
  point, starting with the most severe type of damage. 
  • 
  Order of Operation: If armor has both ballistic and general ratings, apply the ballistic 
  armor first. 
  • 
  Minimum Damage: When applying armor to an attack inflicting lethal damage, you 
  always suffer at least one point of bashing damage from the shock of the blow. 
  Armor-Piercing Damage 
  Some weapons have an armor-piercing rating, usually between 1 and 3. When attacking someone 
  wearing armor, subtract the armor piercing rating from the target’s armor. Subtract from ballistic 
  armor first, then general armor. Armor-piercing attacks in close combat subtract from general 
  armor only. 
  When shooting at an object — or a person in cover — subtract the armor piercing quality from 
  the object’s Durability. 
  Injury and Healing 
  Characters can suffer three types of damage. Fists and feet, along with other kinds of low-impact 
  trauma, deal bashing damage. Brass knuckles, knives, and speeding trucks deal lethal damage. 
  Some horrifying powers deal aggravated damage. When something deals aggravated damage 
  
  directly, it’s quite obvious. Flesh bubbles and sloughs away. Foaming pustules taint the victim’s 
  flesh. Blackened veins streak out from the site of the injury. 
  The following rules apply to humans and animals. Monsters have their own rules regarding the 
  effects of damage (p. XX). 
  Suffering Damage 
  When a rule tells you to suffer an amount of damage, you mark off that many Health boxes, 
  starting from the leftmost side and continuing to the right. A box marked with any kind of 
  damage is called a point. 
  Damage Basics 
  • 
  Bashing: Mark bashing damage with a (/) in the leftmost empty box of the Health track.  
  • 
  Lethal: Mark lethal damage with an (X) in the leftmost box that is empty or filled with 
  bashing damage. If you mark over bashing damage, move that bashing damage to the rightmost 
  empty box of the track. If no empty boxes are left, that damage is overwritten but not moved. 
  • 
  Aggravated: Mark aggravated damage with an (*) in the leftmost box that does not 
  already contain aggravated damage. If you mark over bashing damage, move that bashing 
  damage to the rightmost empty box. If no empty boxes are left, that damage is overwritten but 
  not moved. If you mark over lethal damage, move that lethal damage to the rightmost box that is 
  empty or contains bashing damage. If no empty boxes or boxes containing bashing damage are 
  left, that damage is overwritten but not moved. 
  • 
  Upgrading Damage: If your character suffers bashing damage but has no empty Health 
  boxes in which to mark it, upgrade each point of bashing damage to lethal damage. If she suffers 
  lethal damage but has no empty Health boxes or boxes marked with bashing damage, upgrade 
  her leftmost Health box that’s filled with lethal damage to aggravated damage. 
  Effects of Damage 
  • 
  Wound Penalties: If your character has any damage marked in their third-to-last Health 
  box, they suffer a −1 penalty to all actions except Stamina rolls to stay conscious. This increases 
  to −2 when their second-to-last Health box is filled, and −3 when their last Health box is filled. 
  • 
  Unconscious: If your character’s rightmost Health box is filled with bashing or lethal 
  damage, roll their Stamina every turn as a reflexive action. Failure means they fall unconscious 
  until their rightmost Health box is empty. 
  • 
  Bleeding Out: If your character’s rightmost Health box is filled with lethal damage, they 
  suffers 1 lethal damage per turn until they receive medical attention (p. XX).  
  • 
  Dead: If your character’s rightmost Health box is filled with aggravated damage, she is 
  dead. 
  Example of Marking Damage 
  Cassidy has seven boxes of Health. She’s just taken two points of bashing damage. Her Health 
  boxes look like this: 
  [PRODUCTION: SEVEN HEALTH BOXES, FIRST TWO CONTAINING A 
  SLASH] 
  
  If a vampire later bites her and deals a point of lethal damage, her Health boxes looks like this: 
  [PRODUCTION: SEVEN HEALTH BOXES, FIRST ONE CONTAINS AN X, 
  SECOND AND THIRD CONTAIN A SLASH] 
  If Cassidy next suffered a point of aggravated damage, her Health boxes would look like this: 
  [PRODUCTION: SEVEN HEALTH BOXES. FIRST HAS AN ASTERISK, 
  SECOND HAS AN X, THE THIRD AND FOURTH CONTAIN SLASHES] 
  Healing 
  Characters need time to heal once they’ve been beaten to a pulp. Normally, a character can heal 
  without medical attention, though use of the Medicine Skill helps them recover (see below). The 
  only exception is if a character has all her Health boxes full of lethal damage — they’re bleeding 
  out. they can’t recover from that without urgent medical attention and emergency surgery. 
  Healing Basics 
  • 
  Rightmost Box: Natural healing only affects the rightmost point of damage. Once the 
  rightmost box is cleared, healing time for the next-rightmost box starts. 
  • 
  Bashing: Clear bashing damage after 15 minutes of in-game time. 
  • 
  Lethal: Clear lethal damage after two days of in-game time. 
  • 
  Aggravated: Clear aggravated damage after a week of in-game time. 
  Example: Cassidy escapes the scuffle with the vampire and lays low for a while, eschewing 
  hospitals to avoid awkward questions. Her health track looks like this at the end of the fight: 
  [PRODUCTION: SEVEN HEALTH BOXES. FIRST HAS AN ASTERISK, 
  SECOND HAS AN X, THE THIRD AND FOURTH CONTAIN SLASHES] 
  Her rightmost wound heals first. Since it’s a bashing wound, she clears it after 15 minutes. After 
  another 15 minutes, her second bashing wound clears. Her lethal damage then heals over the 
  course of the next two days. Finally, her aggravated wound heals over the course of the next 
  week. In all, it takes a little over a week and two days for her to recover from her injuries. 
  Medical Care 
  Characters can use the Medicine Skill to speed up healing. 
  • 
  Action: Extended and simple 
  • 
  Dice Pool: Dexterity + Medicine with a one-minute interval, for emergency treatment; 
  Intelligence + Medicine with a one-hour interval for long-term hospital care. 
  • 
  Benefits of Emergency Care: Requires total successes equal to total damage the patient 
  suffers. Successful treatment heals one point of bashing damage. 
  • 
  Benefits of Long-Term Care: Successful treatment downgrades one point of aggravated 
  damage to lethal, or one point of lethal damage to bashing. Requires 10 total successes per 
  aggravated wound, five per lethal. 
  • 
  Long-Term Care Limitations: Heals the leftmost injury first and can only downgrade 
  one wound per patient per day. 
  
  Optional Rules: Beaten Down & Surrender 
  These optional rules only apply to people who would incur a breaking point for committing (or 
  attempting) “murder.” Monsters that don’t have a problem killing people can ignore Surrender 
  and never suffer the Beaten Down Tilt from damage taken. Hunters only abide by these rules if 
  they suffer a breaking point (p. XX) in the process of taking damage or ignoring surrender. 
  • 
  Beaten Down: A character who takes more than his Stamina in bashing damage or any 
  amount of lethal damage suffers the Beaten Down Tilt (p. XX): they’ve had the fight knocked 
  out of him. 
  • 
  Surrender: A character can choose to surrender and give their attacker what they want. 
  If your character surrenders, regain a point of Willpower and take a Beat. This signals the end of 
  your participation in the fight. Your character’s opponent must spend a point of Willpower to 
  attack you. 
  If one side’s intent involves violence for its own sake, their intended victims don’t get Beaten 
  Down and can’t surrender. When someone wants to kill you, the only thing you can do is to try 
  to stop them. Run like hell, unload a clip, or fight until one of you is left standing. 
  Sources of Harm 
  In addition to damage suffered in fights, characters face peril from a variety of sources. These are 
  just a few of them. 
  Disease 
  Supernatural horrors and mundane diseases can expose hunters to sickness. 
  Disease Basics 
  • 
  Tilt: During action scenes, sick characters suffer the Sick Tilt (p. XX). 
  • 
  Moderate Disease: Outside action scenes, moderate sickness might impose a –1 or –2 
  penalty on actions where concentration or stamina are required. 
  • 
  Grave Disease: Outside action scenes, grave diseases inflict a certain amount of damage 
  at specified time intervals, as determined by the Storyteller. The sick character’s player makes a 
  reflexive Stamina + Resolve roll to resist; success means no damage this time. 
  • 
  Recovery: Most diseases simply run their course over a certain amount of time. Others 
  require a minimum number of successful resistance rolls, require medical intervention, or merely 
  go into periodic remission as determined by the Storyteller. 
  • 
  Conditions: The Storyteller may represent short-term illnesses with Conditions and long-
  term illnesses with Persistent Conditions, which earn players Beats whenever the illness causes 
  significant harm or inconvenience for the character. 
  Poison 
  Whether from the sting of a venomous monster or a pinch of arsenic in the food, poison can lay 
  even the craftiest hunter low. 
  Poison Basics 
  • 
  Tilt: In action scenes, poisoned characters suffer the Poisoned Tilt (p. XX). 
  
  • 
  Toxicity: Outside action scenes, the Storyteller assigns the poison a Toxicity rating. The 
  poisoned character suffers lethal damage equal to Toxicity. Mild poisons only inflict damage 
  once. More severe poisons may inflict damage every hour or even every turn for a period of time 
  determined by the Storyteller. 
  • 
  Resistance: The poisoned character’s player rolls Stamina + Resolve – Toxicity every 
  time the poison inflicts damage. Each success cancels one point of damage. 
  Drugs 
  Many hunters turn to alcohol and narcotics to escape the stresses of their lifestyle, and subtle 
  menaces might drug a hunter to keep him off their game. 
  Drug Basics 
  • 
  Tilt: In action scenes, drugged characters suffer the Drugged Tilt (p. XX). 
  • 
  Effects: Drugs can have a wide variety of effects, ranging from dice penalties to 
  imposing Conditions. Most drugs last for a scene, but some burn through a character’s system 
  more rapidly or linger for more time. 
  • 
  Resistance: A drugged character can shake off the effects temporarily by succeeding on 
  a reflexive Stamina + Resolve roll. Depending on the potency of the drug, this roll might be 
  required every hour, scene, or even turn. 
  Overdose 
  • 
  Poison: Characters who overdose on drugs treat the drug like a poison, with a Toxicity 
  somewhere between 3 and 7. The drug inflicts damage once per hour. 
  • 
  Duration: The overdose typically runs its course after (8 – Stamina) hours, though the 
  Storyteller may adjust that. 
  Electricity 
  Electric shocks inflict damage based on the strength of the current. 
  [BEGIN CHART] 
  Source Damage 
  Minor; wall socket 
  4B 
  Major; protective fence 
  6B 
  Severe; junction box 8B 
  Fatal; main line feed/subway rail 
  10B 
  [END CHART] 
  Electricity Basics 
  • 
  Damage per Turn: Electricity inflicts damage every turn if the current is continuous. 
  • 
  Breaking Away: Characters in contact with a continuous electrical current must succeed 
  on a reflexive Strength roll to pull away. 
  • 
  No Armor: Worn armor provides no protection against electrocution. 
  
  Falling 
  In their line of work, hunters run the risk of getting shoved off rooftops by flying monsters or 
  mind-controlled into jumping from bridges. 
  Falling Basics 
  • 
  Damage: Falls of fewer than 30 yards inflict one point of bashing damage per three yards 
  fallen. Falls of 30 yards or more inflict 10 lethal damage. 
  • 
  Armor: At the Storyteller’s discretion, armor may reduce damage from falls of less than 
  30 yards. 
  • 
  Reduced Damage: If there’s a reasonable way for a character to slow her fall, she makes 
  a reflexive Dexterity + Athletics roll. Each success reduces damage from a fall of fewer than 30 
  yards by one point. 
  • 
  Soft Landing: Landing in water or snow, or on another soft surface, may automatically 
  reduce damage from falls of fewer than 30 yards at the Storyteller’s discretion. 
  Fire 
  Hunters often play with fire, as it makes an effective weapon against monsters that are otherwise 
  difficult to harm, but isn’t easy to control. Fire automatically inflicts lethal damage per turn of 
  exposure (no attack roll is required). The damage inflicted depends on both the size and intensity 
  of the flames. 
  [START TABLE] 
  Size of Fire 
  Damage 
  Torch 
  1 
  Bonfire 
  2 
  Inferno 
  3 
  [END TABLE] 
  [START TABLE] 
  Heat of Fire Damage Modifier 
  Candle (first-degree burns) 
  — 
  Torch (second-degree burns) 
  +1 
  Bunsen burner (third-degree burns) +2 
  Chemical fire/molten metal 
  +3 
  [END TABLE] 
  Fire Basics 
  • 
  Combustion: Exposure to fire for longer than a turn ignites anything combustible on the 
  character; they continue to take full damage even after escaping the source of the flame. 
  
  • 
  Firefighting: Fighting a fire typically requires an instant action but no roll. At the 
  Storyteller’s discretion, an action might immediately put out the fire (e.g. diving into water) or 
  reduce its size by one level (e.g. stop, drop, and roll). 
  • 
  Armor: Most armor can block its general rating in fire damage automatically for a 
  number of turns equal to that rating. 
  • 
  Uncontrolled Blaze: If an area containing flammable objects is set on fire, it may 
  acquire the Inferno Environmental Tilt (p. XX). 
  Objects 
  Objects such as lead pipes, walls, and cars have three traits: Durability, Size, and Structure. 
  Mostly, these relate to how easy the object is to destroy.  
  Object Traits 
  • 
  Durability: How hard the object is to damage. Subtract Durability from any damage 
  inflicted on the object. Durability has no effect against attacks that inflict aggravated damage. 
  [BEGIN TABLE] 
  Durability 
  Material 
  1 
  Wood, hard plastic, thick glass 
  2 
  Stone, aluminum 
  3 
  Steel, iron 
  +1 
  per reinforced layer 
  [END TABLE] 
  • 
  Size: How large the object is. Objects smaller than Size 1 can fit entirely in a person’s 
  palm. 
  [BEGIN TABLE] 
  Size 
  Object 
  1 
  Pistol 
  2 
  Crowbar, sawn-off shotgun 
  3 
  Assault rifle 
  5 
  Door 
  10 
  Sports car 
  15 
  SUV 
  [END TABLE] 
  • 
  Structure: An object’s Structure equals its Durability + Size.  
  Damaging Objects 
  • 
  Damage: Each point of damage removes a point of Structure. Objects do not differentiate 
  between bashing and lethal damage. 
  
  • 
  Reduced Functionality: Once it’s taken more damage than its Durability, anyone using 
  the object suffers a −1 die penalty.  
  • 
  Destruction: When an object’s Structure hits 0, it is destroyed. 
  • 
  Repair: See p. XX for rules on how to repair damaged objects. 
  Equipment 
  Equipment, tools, and technology help to solve problems. Having the right tool for the job can 
  mean the difference between life and death — or in Hunter: The Vigil, the difference between 
  life and a fate worse than death. There is a list of sample equipment in Appendix I, starting on p. 
  XX. This list is not all-inclusive but features many of the tools that hunters might have at their 
  disposal. 
  Equipment is divided up by the Skills with which they typically assist. Mental equipment 
  typically assists with Mental Skills, for example.  
  Equipment Traits 
  • 
  Availability: The minimum level of a relevant trait a character must have to acquire the 
  equipment with a single roll. Resources is the most often used trait, but other Social Merits or 
  Skills may work at the Storyteller’s discretion (e.g. Larceny to steal it, or Compact Status to take 
  it out on loan from The Union’s stockpile). 
  • 
  Size, Durability, Structure: See above. 
  • 
  Dice Bonus: The bonus the equipment adds to relevant actions. 
  • 
  Effect: Any special rules that apply to using the equipment. 
  See p. XX for rules on how Hunter characters can build their own equipment, and p. XX for 
  optional rules expansions for customizing gear and building monster traps. 
  Vehicles 
  A hunter may need to get across town in record time before the sun goes down, navigate rough 
  terrain in an off-road vehicle to find the reclusive priest who can properly bless a specific 
  talisman, or just run down a monster in the street with something that deals more damage than a 
  bullet can. 
  Vehicle Basics 
  • 
  Dice Modifier: Dice subtracted or added from the driver’s Dexterity + Drive pools. 
  • 
  Size, Durability, Structure: See “Objects,” above. 
  • 
  Speed: How fast the vehicle can safely go. Apply the vehicle’s dice modifier (positive or 
  negative) as an additional dice penalty when operating the vehicle above its safe Speed and treat 
  all failures as dramatic failures. Penalties can’t exceed −5. 
  • 
  Dangerous Maneuvers: At safe speeds, only particularly dangerous maneuvers call for a 
  roll; above the vehicle’s safe Speed, sharp turns and other relatively common maneuvers also 
  may require a roll. These are instant and simple actions unless characters are engaged in a chase 
  (p. XX) or a contested action. 
  
  • 
  Acceleration: Vehicles normally increase their Speed by 5 per turn. With the High 
  Acceleration modification, they gain 10 Speed per turn. Characters can take an instant action 
  with Dexterity + Drive to increase normal acceleration by 5 Speed per turn. 
  • 
  Examples and Modifications: See Appendix 1: Equipment, starting on p. XX. 
  Crashes 
  Vehicles can crash into characters, other vehicles, or objects like lampposts and walls. 
  • 
  Hitting Light Objects: vehicle hits something equal to or less than half its Size. Object 
  suffers one-tenth the vehicle’s current Speed in bashing damage + half its Size (rounded down). 
  Driver rolls Dexterity + Drive – vehicle’s Dice Modifier; failure means the vehicle takes damage 
  equal to half the struck object’s Size + one-tenth its own Speed. 
  • 
  Hitting Light Objects Deliberately: requires an instant action with Dexterity + Drive – 
  Defense if applicable. Add successes to damage inflicted on the victim, but not the vehicle or 
  people inside; however, the driver must still roll again to avoid damage, as above. 
  • 
  Hitting Heavy Objects: vehicle hits something greater than half its Size. Both objects 
  suffer one-half the other object’s Size (rounded down) + damage based on one-tenth their 
  relative Speeds. If the objects collide head on or perpendicularly, add the Speeds together and 
  divide by 10; if they’re moving parallel to each other, subtract the lower Speed from the higher 
  and then divide by 10. Both drivers roll Dexterity + Drive; each success reduces vehicle damage 
  by two. 
  • 
  Damage to Driver and Passengers: Damage that exceeds a vehicle’s Durability is also 
  applied to anyone in the car as bashing damage; safety equipment such as seat belts and air bags 
  halves this damage. 
  Chases 
  A hunter may find herself running for her life when a witch calls for reinforcements or chasing 
  down a fleeing pack of werewolves in a pickup truck rigged with silver weapons. In most action 
  scenes, a character’s Speed trait determines how much she can move. This means you can 
  usually figure out who is faster without dice. The following rules let you turn the chase into the 
  focus of the scene instead, adding excitement and drama. 
  Chase Basics 
  • 
  Set the Terms: By default, each party requires five total successes to prevail. Apply 
  modifiers to this total as follows. 
  [BEGIN CHART] 
  Circumstance Modifier 
  Opponent’s Speed is higher than yours 
  +1 
  Opponent’s Speed is twice yours 
  +3 
  Opponent’s Speed is at least 10 times yours +5 
  Initiative modifier is higher than opponent’s -1 
  Initiative modifier is twice the opponent’s 
  -2 
  
  Initiative modifier is at least three times the opponent’s 
  -3 
  Your character knows the territory somewhat 
  -1 
  Your character knows the territory intimately 
  -3 
  Your Size is lower than your opponent’s 
  -1 
  Opponent immune to fatigue +2 
  Actively dangerous environment 
  +1 to +3, Storyteller’s discretion 
  Opponent starts with a one-turn lead +1 
  Opponent starts with at least a two-turns’ lead 
  +2 
  [END CHART] 
  • 
  Determine the Edge: Whoever has better manipulated the environment, terrain, and 
  circumstances to his advantage based on the ever-changing situation gains the Edge, not counting 
  circumstances listed above to modify required successes. If the character with the Edge isn’t 
  obvious, make a contested roll for each involved character using a relevant pool determined by 
  the player, with Storyteller permission. Relevant Skills could include Athletics, Streetwise, 
  Survival, etc. If the context of the scene changes significantly, determine who has the Edge 
  again. 
  • 
  Turns: Each turn represents roughly 30 seconds to a minute of chase time. The character 
  with the Edge rolls first. If she accumulates the requisite total successes before others have a 
  chance to roll, she wins immediately. 
  Optional Rule: Seizing the Edge 
  In Hunter: The Vigil, characters often contend with foes who outclass them in 
  sheer physical power, speed, or supernatural advantages. Introduce this optional 
  rule if you want a chase to favor the underdog. 
  After the side with the Edge determines the dice pool for the turn, each side predicts 
  how many successes they will roll that turn. Write down these predictions and don’t 
  show them to anyone. After each roll, uncover that party’s prediction. The first 
  person to correctly guess how many successes they would roll gains the Edge for 
  the next turn, regardless of contested rolls or circumstances. 
  Pursuit and Evasion 
  Both pursuit and evasion use the same chase action. 
  Action: Instant 
  Dice Pool: Determined each turn by the side with the Edge, based on the current situation. You 
  can use a different pool, but unless you have the Edge, you lose the 10-again quality on your roll 
  and suffer a cumulative one-die penalty that increases each turn you don’t have the Edge and use 
  the wrong pool. These turns don’t have to be consecutive. 
  Roll Results 
  Success: You overcome the immediate challenge and make headway. Add rolled successes to 
  your running total. 
  
  Exceptional Success: As success and inflict the turn’s terms of failure upon your opponent 
  regardless of his roll. 
  Failure: Determined each turn by the side with the Edge, before dice are rolled. Choose from 
  among the following: lose one accumulated success from your total, suffer two points of bashing 
  damage or one point of lethal, or suffer an appropriate Tilt. 
  Dramatic Failure: As failure, and the Storyteller may impose a negative Condition as well. 
  Other Kinds of Chases 
  The chase system may also be used to represent other kinds of contests that fall outside the 
  immediate timing of an action scene, such as tracking a monster through the woods by its trail, or 
  as an alternative to the Social maneuvering system to finesse another character into a particular 
  position or behavior. 
  Social Maneuvering 
  A hunter tries to banish a ghost by convincing it to let go of its obsession with its murderer. Two 
  cells struggle to resolve their compact’s desires to deal with a monster that affects both 
  organizations. Agents from two conspiracies make equally tantalizing offers to recruit the cell, 
  each with its own private agenda. All of these scenes are rich with potential drama and 
  complexity, which might be undercut if they’re resolved in a single throw of the dice. When you 
  want to spotlight interpersonal relationships and conflicts that may be solved without violence, 
  Social maneuvering is the system to use. It is a flexible set of rules that can work in tandem with 
  other systems and offers more choices for Storytellers and players who prefer to resolve conflicts 
  without always resorting to combat in their Hunter chronicles. 
  In a Social maneuver, you start by stating your character’s goal. Maybe you want to convince the 
  police chief to keep his officers out of the Tenderloin tomorrow night or get One-Eyed Jack to 
  tell you where the Reverent Lodge of the Crow holds their sacrificial rites.  
  Once you and the Storyteller have agreed that the goal is reasonable, you’ll have to overcome the 
  other character’s resistance by taking actions that make them more likely to agree to your terms. 
  Successful actions open Doors (as in, “the door is open for further discussion,” not literal doors).  
  How often you can try to open Doors depends on the impression your character makes — the 
  more they like you, the more often you can try to sway them.  
  Goals 
  When using Social maneuvering, the first step is to declare your character’s intended goal. This 
  is as simple as stating what you want the subject to do and how your character is going about 
  making it happen. You need only announce the initial stages, as the effort will likely occur over 
  multiple rolls, reflecting different actions. 
  At this point, the Storyteller determines whether the goal is reasonable. A character might, with 
  time and proper tactics, convince a rich person to give him a large sum of money. He probably 
  isn’t going to convince the wealthy individual to abandon all of his wealth to the character, 
  though it might be possible to get him to name the character as heir, at which point the character 
  can set about speeding up the inheritance process. 
  Doors 
  
  Once you’ve declared your character’s goal, the next step is to determine the scope of the 
  challenge. We represent this with Doors, which reflect a character’s resistance to coercion: her 
  social walls, her skepticism, their mistrust, or just his hesitance with intimacy. It’s abstract and 
  means different things in any given case.  
  Calculating Doors 
  • 
  Baseline: The subject starts with Doors equal to the lower of their Resolve or 
  Composure. 
  • 
  Breaking Point: If the stated goal would be a breaking point (p. XX) for the subject, and 
  the subject is aware of that fact, add two Doors. 
  • 
  Aspiration: If the stated goal is in opposition to one of the subject’s Aspirations, and the 
  subject is aware of that fact, add one Door. If the goal would clearly help the subject achieve an 
  Aspiration, remove one Door. 
  • 
  Virtue: If the stated goal is in opposition to the subject’s Virtue, and the subject is aware 
  of that fact, add one Door. 
  • 
  Adding Doors: If things change such that the Breaking Point, Aspiration, or Virtue rules 
  above apply during the Social maneuver, add Doors to the remaining total (two for Breaking 
  Point, one each for Aspiration or Virtue). If your character goes back on her word during the 
  maneuver, add two Doors. 
  Impression 
  The Storyteller sets the first impression based on any past history between the characters, the 
  circumstances of their meeting, the nature of the favor being asked (if the acting character is 
  asking right up front — sometimes it’s a better idea not to lead off with what you want!) and any 
  other factors she deems relevant. Most interactions default to an average impression, which 
  makes the maneuver a long, drawn-out process. Your character can take steps to improve that 
  such as meeting the subject at their favorite restaurant, wearing their favorite perfume, and so on. 
  The Storyteller is the final arbiter of whether any particular action raises the impression level, but 
  she should be open to working with the players to develop a plan. 
  Impression level determines how frequently you’re allowed to roll to open the subject’s Doors — 
  the more they like your character, the more often you can roll. If the impression is too hostile, 
  you might not be able to roll at all. 
  [BEGIN CHART: SHOULD BE ON THE SAME PAGE AS “IMPRESSION”] 
  Impression 
  Time per Roll  
  Perfect 
  One turn 
  Excellent 
  One hour 
  Good 
  One day 
  Average 
  One week 
  Hostile  
  Cannot roll 
  [END CHART] 
  Adjusting Impression 
  
  • 
  Favorable Circumstances: A comfortable environment, appealing clothing, or similar 
  pleasant situations can raise a hostile impression to average, or an average impression to good. 
  • 
  Actions: Success on an appropriate action, like a Wits + Socialize action to create the 
  ideal guest list for a party, can raise an average or good impression to excellent. 
  • 
  Soft Leverage: A bribe, gift, or offer of service or payment raises the impression level 
  one step if the subject accepts the offer. 
  • 
  Vice Leverage: An offer that indulges the subject’s Vice (or equivalent trait) raises the 
  impression level one step if the subject accepts the offer. 
  Opening Doors 
  At each interval, you may make a roll to open Doors and move closer to your character’s goal. 
  The roll might be different each time, depending on the character’s tactics. Some of the rolls 
  might not even be social. For example, if your character is trying to win someone’s favor, fixing 
  his computer with an Intelligence + Computer roll could open a Door.  
  As Storyteller, be creative in selecting dice pools. Change them up with each step to keep the 
  interactions dynamic. Similarly, consider contested and resisted rolls. Most resisted actions or 
  contested rolls use either Resolve or Composure, or a combination of the two, but don’t let that 
  stand as a limit. Contested rolls don’t necessarily require a Resistance trait. For example, Wits 
  might be used to notice a lie, Strength to help a character stand up to threats, or Presence to 
  protect and maintain one’s reputation at a soiree.  
  Roll Results 
  Success: Open one Door. 
  Exceptional Success: As success and open an additional Door. 
  Failure: Open no Doors. Subsequent actions as part of the Social maneuver suffer a cumulative 
  one-die penalty. The Storyteller may choose to lower the impression level by one step; if she 
  does so, take a Beat. 
  Dramatic Failure: The Social maneuver fails utterly. No further rolls can be made. Any attempt 
  to achieve the same goal must start from scratch, likely with a worse impression. 
  Resolution 
  The outcome of a Social maneuver is either success or failure. Don’t confuse this with the 
  success or failure of any particular action that’s part of a Social maneuver; here we’re talking 
  about the whole thing. 
  Success 
  Once your character opens all the Doors in her path, the subject must act. Storyteller characters 
  abide by the intended goal and follow through as stated. How they feel afterwards might vary, 
  but they always do what you and the Storyteller agreed on. 
  Failure 
  A Social maneuvering attempt can fail utterly under the following circumstances:  
  • 
  Dramatic Failure: The player rolls a dramatic failure on an attempt to open a Door. 
  
  • 
  Deception: The target realizes that he is being lied to or manipulated. This does not apply 
  if the target is aware that the character is trying to talk him into something, only if the target feels 
  betrayed or conned. 
  • 
  Bad Impressions: The impression level reaches “hostile” and remains so for the rest of 
  the current story. The character can try again during the next story. 
  Forcing Doors 
  When a character just can’t wait to get what she wants, she can force Doors open instead. This 
  degree of urgency is high risk, high reward. Forcing Doors leads to burned bridges and missed 
  opportunities but provides instant gratification. 
  • 
  One and Done: Forcing Doors achieves the character’s goal immediately in a single roll 
  if successful. The roll takes a penalty equal to the opponent’s Doors and the subject contests it as 
  normal. 
  • 
  Hard Leverage: Forcing Doors requires a threat, drugs, intimidation, blackmail, 
  kidnapping, or other heavy-handed forms of coercion. Hard leverage that makes the character 
  employing it suffer a breaking point removes two Doors if the base modifier would be −3 or less, 
  or one Door if it would be −4 or higher. 
  • 
  Roll Results: On a success, proceed to resolution as normal. On a failure, the subject is 
  immune to further Social maneuvering from the character. 
  Social Maneuvering and Consent 
  Social maneuvering is designed to allow one character to manipulate or convince another 
  character to perform favors or undertake actions. This system can be used for a variety of actions 
  ranging from conning a mark or convincing a shell-shocked witness to provide them with 
  information. It can work on groups as well. 
  Under a strict read of the rules, this system can also be used to seduce or abuse an intended 
  target. A member of the Ashwood Abbey compact might seduce a vampire or a charming hunter 
  turned slasher could lure a nurse back to their hotel room. The specific goal would be to “get that 
  character to sleep with my character,” the number of Doors is the decided, and impressions along 
  with other factors play into the final result. This is not too different from how seduction and 
  other, less carnal forms of persuasion actually work — the persuader tries to make the offer as 
  enticing as possible. 
  The rules were designed to put the spotlight on the player and some hunters may opt to use 
  Social maneuvering instead of resorting to violence. But, because the persuader’s player makes 
  the roll determining the outcome, the target is left without a way to say “no.” As such, this 
  system is intended for use by player-controlled characters vs. Storyteller characters instead of 
  player vs. player. Storytellers are encouraged to let players make their own decisions. If one 
  player’s character wants to seduce, persuade, convince, or intimidate another’s, let the players 
  make their own decisions about what their characters do through roleplay. 
  Optional Rule: Negotiating Outcome 
  Social interactions in Hunter aren’t always cut and dry. Sometimes, two players may want to 
  willingly participate in a Social maneuver when one character is an antagonist attempting to 
  undermine or thwart a fellow hunter. This modification may be used in the Slasher Chronicle 
  
  (page XX) when appropriate, provided all affected parties consent to this rule. Further, Social 
  maneuvering does not prevent or stop a hunter from become a slasher; it can, however, slow 
  them down.  
  In this situation, the characters’ identities matter to the fiction; one player character is a subject 
  and the other is the initiator. One is a hunter and the other is either a hunter turned slasher or one 
  who’s in danger of becoming one. For the purposes of this example, the subject is a hunter and 
  the initiator is a hunter turned slasher. The slasher’s goal is “come into my van alone.” 
  First, gameplay proceeds as previously described up to the resolution stage. Once the player 
  characters reach the resolution stage, the subject must choose a resolution: 
  Go with the Flow: If the subject does as requested and abides by the initiator’s intended goal, 
  their player takes a Beat (p. XX). The initiator’s player does not earn a Beat. The hunter decides 
  to go into the slasher’s van alone; their player earns a Beat. 
  Offer Alternatives: The resolution stage proceeds as a negotiation, rather than a mandate, with 
  two possible outcomes. The subject may choose to offer an alternative that benefits the initiator 
  in some way. Instead of heading into the slasher’s van alone, the hunter proposes they take her 
  car instead. 
  This offer occurs between players and does not need to exist in the fiction — though it can when 
  appropriate. The alternative must be truly beneficial and not a twist of intent. The Storyteller is 
  the final decision maker to ensure the negotiation is fair. In some cases, it might make sense that 
  one (or both) of the player characters incurs a Condition following their negotiation. Any further 
  rules applied following the resolution are at the Storyteller’s discretion; they should, however, be 
  applicable to the fiction. 
  Investigation 
  Monsters hide their existence and predations from common awareness, lurking just beneath the 
  everyday reality to which humanity clings. Police reports don’t include the strange wounds on 
  homicide victims’ bodies that the medical examiner can’t explain. People whose nightmares are 
  more than just dreams deny anything is wrong, desperate to believe the horrors aren’t real. A 
  hunter trying to get to the bottom of these mysteries so she can get rid of what’s causing them 
  has a daunting task ahead of her — and connecting the dots can make for exciting stories. 
  When you want an investigation to play a large role in the tale, with entire scenes, chapters, or 
  even stories dedicated to a single mystery, you can use this system rather than boiling it down to 
  a single action. Characters uncover Clues they can use to benefit the later actions the 
  investigation enables — for instance, hunters who investigate the scene of a gruesome killing to 
  determine what kind of monster was involved can later use that information to track the monster 
  down. 
  Investigation Basics 
  • 
  No Hard Answers: The Storyteller doesn’t need to come up with all the potential Clues 
  and answers ahead of time. Letting the players fill some of them in themselves as they succeed in 
  finding Clues gets them invested in the outcome and creates “a-ha!” moments. If players put 
  Clues together to reach conclusions that don’t match the outcome the Storyteller had in mind, she 
  should consider changing it to match. 
  
  • 
  No Binary Rolls: Failing to find information crucial to the characters’ progress when 
  players roll unsuccessfully only slows the game down to no satisfying end. Instead, the 
  Storyteller should raise the stakes or introduce complications when a roll fails. Failure doesn’t 
  mean the players didn’t find a Clue — instead, it means they miss out on extra benefits success 
  would have afforded them and must adjust to new challenges. 
  • 
  Frame the Action: The Storyteller can intersperse Clue-finding actions with other events 
  in the story to keep the momentum going and give players opportunity to choose which set of 
  heightening stakes to address first. 
  • 
  Clues: Clues are a specialized type of equipment that represent objects, facts, and 
  deductions. They have elements players can spend for benefits, either to solve a particular 
  mystery or to stockpile for other uses: leverage in Social maneuvering, proof of supernatural 
  influences in someone’s life, etc. 
  Scope 
  First, the players declare a goal to accomplish via investigation. Decide how many total Clues 
  the characters need to uncover to achieve their goal. For smaller-scope investigations, this 
  usually falls between one and five Clues. For broad investigations spread out across the 
  chronicle, the total should equal at least half the number of planned chapters and can range up to 
  twice the number of planned chapters in an investigation-focused chronicle. 
  Interval 
  Each roll to find a Clue is an instant action but takes some amount of time based on the kind of 
  action the players take. For instance, if a hunter cases a room from which a monster fled, it might 
  only take a few minutes. If she’s diving to a sunken ship to find a chipped goblet the monster 
  owns, that could take an hour or more. The Storyteller can add challenges and obstacles to these 
  attempts to turn simple die rolls into interesting scenes of their own — maybe the monster left 
  behind a dangerous contaminant the characters must overcome to case the scene, or maybe the 
  characters must traverse shark-infested waters to get to the ship. If they perform particularly well 
  in these efforts, the Storyteller can offer bonuses to the roll to uncover the Clue. 
  Uncovering Clues 
  Once the characters get where they need to be, they roll to uncover the Clue. 
  Action: Instant 
  Dice Pool: Varies. Players can use any pool that matches the action they take to uncover the 
  Clue. The Investigation Skill is appropriate to case a scene or search through files and evidence, 
  while other Mental Skills can be used to perform research, experiments, or autopsies. Social 
  Skills can be used to interview witnesses or interrogate a monster’s lackeys. 
  The pool suffers a cumulative one-die penalty each time the same Skill is used again in an 
  investigation. However, if hunters use teamwork to uncover Clues, only the primary actor suffers 
  this penalty, and only his roll contributes to further such penalties in the same investigation. 
  Roll Results 
  
  Success: Clue is uncovered, with one element plus one more if the character has four or more 
  dots or a Specialty in the relevant Skill; each Specialty or Skill can only contribute to extra 
  elements once per character per investigation. 
  Exceptional Success: As success, and the Clue gains one bonus element; character gains a 
  beneficial Condition. 
  Failure: Clue is uncovered but incomplete: Its elements may only be used to uncover other 
  Clues. 
  Dramatic Failure: Clue is uncovered but tainted. Each accumulated tainted Clue forces the 
  player to ignore one success rolled on any future actions pertaining to the investigation; these are 
  cumulative and all apply to each such roll. The Storyteller may impose an appropriate Condition 
  as well. 
  Clue Elements 
  Players can spend Clue elements to add a one-die bonus per element to any roll pertaining to the 
  investigation, including, but not limited to, rolls to uncover more Clues. A player can only spend 
  elements from one Clue at a time, or Clues equal to her character’s Investigation dots, whichever 
  is higher. She may spend any number of elements at a time from a single Clue. 
  Elements from tainted Clues impose a two-die penalty when spent instead of a bonus; however, 
  this is the only way to get rid of tainted Clues, since once all its elements are spent, it sheds its 
  tainted nature. 
  Uncovering the Truth 
  Players don’t need to roll to put their Clues together once the investigation is over. Once they 
  accumulate the requisite number of Clues specified by the investigation’s scope, the characters 
  learn the truth. 
  Players may choose to uncover the truth before they’ve accumulated enough Clues, as long as 
  they have at least one that isn’t tainted. If they do, they still learn the truth, but the Storyteller 
  introduces one major complication per Clue they fall short. Perhaps the monster escapes or takes 
  a hostage. Perhaps cornering the monster would risk legal consequences or attract the wrong 
  attention. Perhaps the monster is part of a larger group of monsters with which the hunters must 
  now contend. 
  Building Equipment 
  While hunters can gain access to equipment of all kinds through purchase, borrowing, blackmail, 
  or theft, some prefer (or are forced) to make it themselves. Sometimes, a hunter has to scrounge 
  up a contraption made of duct tape and hairpins in the middle of an infiltration. Sometimes, she 
  needs to pull together an ad hoc shotgun-toting mob before the undead horror catches wind and 
  leaves town. If it will offer a bonus to an action, or would make actions possible that were 
  previously not, it can be considered “equipment,” and you can build it.  
  Equipment Types 
  • 
  Physical Objects: the most common type. Items listed in the Appendix (p. XX) are 
  physical objects, as are weapons and armor. Creative works also fall into this category. 
  
  • 
  Organizations: small groups of people assembled to address a particular need, like a 
  cadre of bodyguards or research assistants. Organizations built as equipment disband after one 
  chapter unless purchased as Merits afterward. 
  • 
  Repositories: collections of research materials and information sources on a particular 
  topic, like a library of books, a database, or an assortment of security footage. This reflects 
  gathering materials for repeated future use, not benefiting from an existing source. Repositories 
  linger; if you purchase the Library Merit (p. XX) for a repository your character built, it stacks 
  with the equipment bonus, to a maximum of +5. 
  • 
  Plans: abstracted plans that orchestrate complex encounters with specific goals involving 
  multiple people, like heists or rescues. A plan grants its bonus to all participants but ceases to 
  exist when the endeavor succeeds or definitively fails. Plans can’t grant bonuses to Tactics, as 
  they are already plans. 
  • 
  Mystical Equipment: anything that carries minor supernatural potency, such as a circle 
  of protection using salt and bone, a protective amulet, or a werewolf trap made of silver. 
  Build Equipment Basics 
  • 
  Scope: Build Equipment actions never take longer than the time between one scene and 
  the next. If it can’t reasonably be built in a few hours or less, the character needs to acquire it 
  another way. 
  • 
  When to Roll: If the character has plenty of time, isn’t under any duress, and has dots in 
  the relevant Skill equal to the equipment bonus a standard example would provide, don’t roll. If 
  the character is under pressure or in danger, roll. Likewise, if she’s trying to build something 
  beyond her casual expertise — i.e., something with an equipment bonus greater than her dots in 
  the relevant Skill, something with higher traits than the standard example, or something the 
  Storyteller determines is too complex — roll. 
  • 
  Built-In Penalty: The roll always suffers a penalty equal to the intended equipment 
  bonus. Each other intended benefit, like a new function, an increased trait, or access to a 
  resource, counts as a one-die bonus for this purpose, as well as to determine whether 
  to roll in the first place. Weapons impose a penalty equal to their weapon modifier; armor 
  imposes a penalty equal to its highest armor rating (general or ballistic). Penalties can’t exceed 
  −5. 
  • 
  Requirements: The Storyteller may require the use of Resources, Contacts, or other 
  Merits, or a separate research action, to reflect extra effort necessary before you can roll. This 
  should only apply to enhance the drama of the story or introduce interesting plot elements to the 
  action. 
  These rules don’t replace the need to discover a creature’s weakness before creating ritual 
  equipment to bind or ward against a particular monster; the best you can do is an equipment 
  bonus or minor benefit without that information. See p. XX for how to use Tactics for more 
  powerful rituals. 
  • 
  Time: ranges from a few minutes to a few hours, but the important factors are whether 
  you finish before something else happens, and what else happens in the meantime. 
  During an action scene, a Build Equipment action takes a number of turns equal to the built-in 
  penalty; the Storyteller may rule that something can’t be built during an action scene. 
  
  Build Equipment Action 
  Action: Instant 
  Dice Pool: Determined by the type of equipment. Wits + Crafts for physical objects, or Wits + 
  Expression for creative works; Presence or Manipulation + Socialize or Streetwise for 
  organizations; Intelligence + Academics for repositories; Wits + Occult for mystical equipment; 
  Wits + Composure for plans. The Storyteller or player can suggest alternatives if appropriate. 
  Roll Results 
  Success: You build the equipment. 
  Exceptional Success: As success and add one equipment bonus die or other benefit; bonuses 
  still may not exceed +5. 
  Failure: You build the equipment, but it carries the Fragile (p. XX) or Volatile (p. XX) 
  Condition. 
  Dramatic Failure: You fail outright and suffer a consequence at the Storyteller’s discretion, 
  such as taking damage from an explosive reaction, suffering a Condition like Leveraged or 
  Embarrassing Secret, or leading a supernatural threat directly to your location. 
  Improvise 
  When you’re dangling from a grappling hook 30 feet above the cold concrete with an angry 
  vampire on your tail, you don’t have the luxury of time. That Molotov cocktail you’re mixing 
  gets done now or never. That’s where improvising comes in. 
  Improvising always takes place in action-scene timing. 
  Action: Instant; takes one turn 
  Dice Pool: Same as above. The Storyteller may rule that some equipment is too complex to be 
  improvised. 
  Roll Results 
  Success: You build the equipment, but it carries the Fragile (p. XX) or Volatile (p. XX) 
  Condition. 
  Exceptional Success: You build the equipment. 
  Failure: As dramatic failure. 
  Dramatic Failure: You fail outright and suffer a consequence at the Storyteller’s discretion, 
  such as taking damage from an explosive reaction, suffering a Condition like Leveraged or 
  Embarrassing Secret, or leading a supernatural threat directly to your location. 
  Repair, Modifications, and Upgrades 
  A character may want to fix or alter a piece of equipment that already exists. These actions 
  usually only apply to physical objects, though exceptions are possible. 
  These rolls use the normal Build Equipment action, with the following exceptions: 
  Repair, Modification, and Upgrade Basics 
  
  • 
  Built-In Penalty: equals the difference between the object’s current state and the bonus 
  or benefits the player wants to add. Broken objects are considered to have an equipment bonus of 
  0. Partially functional objects may have a bonus only one or two dice lower than their usual 
  bonus. For instance, if a computer would normally grant +2 to research rolls but won’t start and 
  is therefore currently at a 0, the roll to repair it would suffer a −2. 
  • 
  Increased Traits and New Functions: treat each modification or upgrade as a +1 
  equivalent. You can replace one function with another at no penalty — for instance, reversing 
  the function of a walkie talkie to cause interference instead of receiving signals. 
  • 
  Modifying Vehicles: see p. XX. 
  • 
  Customizing Gear and Traps: see p. XX. 
  Taking Your Time 
  You may build equipment as an extended action instead; you’ll take no built-in penalty to any of 
  the rolls. Instead, the target number of required successes equals the total intended bonus and 
  benefits of the equipment +1. 
  Typically, players do this to avoid taking large penalties for complex equipment, or when they 
  have small dice pools to begin with and don’t want to risk a chance die. The Storyteller 
  determines the time between rolls as usual. Overall success and failure work as normal for the 
  Build Equipment action. 
  The Storyteller may also allow a player to build equipment that normally lies beyond the scope 
  of this system, such as a car or a business, with an extended action. In this case, the time between 
  rolls and total successes required should match the effort involved. Building a car may take a 
  week between rolls and require 15 total successes, for example. Storytellers should keep in mind, 
  however, that it’s usually much easier to acquire such equipment in other ways, like stealing or 
  purchasing a car, or using Social maneuvering to convince a potential business partner to take the 
  bait. As a result, building this kind of equipment with extended actions should only be done if 
  the player really wants to make it from scratch. 
  Teamwork and Tactics 
  A living nightmare of teeth and whirling shadows lunges for a lone hunter when they least expect 
  it. Without backup, a solitary hunter is vulnerable and often finds themselves in mortal danger. 
  When the shit hits the fan, hunters must find a way to uphold the Vigil. When they don’t, they’re 
  in danger of falling into despair, taking dangerous risks, or becoming so corrupted they’re no 
  better than the monsters themselves. Even hunters who hate each other grudgingly acknowledge 
  they must set aside their differences when it matters. Otherwise, they’re easy prey for the 
  darkness. 
  Hunters have two ways to work together. The first is teamwork: one person performs a single 
  action, like breaking down a door or researching Bloody Mary, and the others help. The second 
  is with Tactics. A Tactic is a specialized group action that is usually more complex than a single 
  action. Tactics allow participants to roll dice in pursuit of a specific, desired outcome. 
  Teamwork 
  
  When two or more characters wish to help unravel a clue, break into a safe, or pick a lock, one 
  person takes the lead. That character is the primary actor, and others who wish to help are called 
  secondary actors.  
  To use teamwork, the following steps must occur in order: 
  • 
  Primary actor assembles their dice pool. 
  • 
  Secondary actors assemble their dice pools to match the primary actor’s. 
  • 
  Secondary actors roll dice. 
  • 
  Primary actor rolls their dice pool. Secondary actors’ roll results are then added or 
  subtracted. 
  • 
  Primary actor’s roll results are calculated as normal.  
  While there are no prerequisites for teamwork, remember Skills are not interchangeable. The 
  Skills in the roll must match for all participants; the primary actor sets which Skills they want to 
  use. Each success from a secondary actor gives the primary actor a bonus die. If one of the 
  secondary actors rolls a dramatic failure, the primary actor takes a four-die penalty. 
  Tactics 
  A hunter alone may not have what it takes to deal with a situation, no matter how well-prepared 
  or trained he may be, but with several highly trained professionals working together, there is 
  little they can’t get done. Tactics are not just teamwork actions professionals can use, but instead 
  represent self-contained group activities that require coordinated training and specialized 
  instruction.  
  Only hunters can use Tactics, as learning them requires the cell to work together regularly to 
  perfect the technique. They allow hunters to accomplish larger-scale goals using different dice 
  pools by leaning on each other’s strengths. Each Tactic is unique. Some have prerequisites that 
  shape the dice pools and what the outcome might be. Others only function in specific situations, 
  or may fail, even when successful, depending on the monster. Any hunter may choose to 
  participate in any Tactic, but only hunters can. Many Tactics are designed for use in desperate or 
  otherwise-impossible situations to save the day. A cell tracked a venom-spitting humanoid back 
  to its lair and wants to corner the monster. A group found a nest of slimy, oozing eggs and plans 
  to burn them. Tactics allow hunters to face the darkness because they’re putting their faith in a 
  leader and upholding the Code together.  
  Teamwork Vs. Tactics 
  Teamwork draws on similarities between hunters, while Tactics allow any hunter 
  to participate. While Tactics do not necessarily involve a monster, in many cases 
  they will — unlike teamwork. Tactics also exist as a tool to do something one hunter 
  could not typically accomplish by themselves, whereas teamwork increases the 
  chance for a single action’s success.  
  Storytellers should note that increasing threat levels may incur a greater desire for 
  team-based actions, and Tactics are a great way of facilitating a possible win. 
  Tactics work similarly to teamwork actions with the following notes: 
  
  • 
  Risking Willpower: To perform a Tactic, the primary actor must risk a Willpower point 
  (p. XX) on its outcome, and they do so before anyone makes any rolls. Once the Tactic begins, 
  the group must follow it through to its end, even if it goes horribly awry in the middle. Enacting 
  the Tactic takes up both benefits of risking Willpower for the primary actor. All usual roll results 
  for risking Willpower apply. Secondary actors may risk Willpower normally on their rolls if they 
  wish. 
  • 
  Participants: For a Tactic to work, multiple hunters are required. However, sometimes 
  the number of players isn’t enough. Storytellers are encouraged to be flexible during gameplay 
  when a cell comes up short. Should more characters be required, consider adding Storyteller 
  characters as secondary actors to round out the difference. Then, let the players roll dice for any 
  additional secondary actors to complete the Tactic. 
  • 
  Multiple Moving Parts: The secondary actors in a Tactic each perform their own 
  actions, meaning they roll their own dice pools based on what they are doing rather than the 
  same dice pool as the primary actor. 
  • 
  Initiative: If a Tactic takes place during an action scene, all participants must delay their 
  actions to the lowest Initiative among them so they can all act at the same time. 
  • 
  Time and Place: Tactics aren’t supernatural powers and don’t automatically function if 
  the situation doesn’t allow it. For instance, Controlled Immolation doesn’t work if the target is 
  immune to fire, or if the environment is soaked in gasoline, and the primary actor requires a 
  method to set the fire in the first place. Hunters work to set up situations that make their best 
  options viable. If the characters enact a Tactic and discover through doing so that it was never 
  possible to begin with — e.g. they didn’t know the monster was immune to fire or the place was 
  soaked with gasoline until after they used Controlled Immolation — the Tactic automatically 
  fails. 
  Tactics Overview 
  The following is a view of what you will find in every Tactic description. 
  Requirements: Some Tactics have basic requirements the participants must meet to perform 
  without penalty, such as a minimum number of dots in a particular Skill or Merit, or a type of 
  Specialty. A participant without these requirements suffers a −1for each dot or Specialty that 
  falls short, in addition to suffering from any untrained penalties, on their roll. 
  In some cases, the requirements include a required action or presence of a circumstance, such as 
  “target must be injured” or “during an investigation for Clues.” 
  Action: Each Tactic specifies the type of action it uses; some Tactics may give options. 
  Dice Pools: Each Tactic includes a list of its dice pools for the primary and secondary actors, 
  with a note in parentheses to indicate which roll goes with which action. Numbers in the 
  parentheses after a listed pool for secondary actors denote the minimum and maximum number 
  of participants for that pool. For instance, Dexterity + Firearms (1/2) means that one participant 
  must use Firearms for the Tactic to work, but more than two using Firearms won’t contribute any 
  dice to the primary actor’s roll. 
  Occasionally, an optional dice pool is included for secondary actors whose successes don’t 
  contribute dice to the primary actor’s pool; instead, they grant the Tactic some other benefit, 
  
  noted under the roll results. These optional pools include (ND) in parentheses after the listed roll, 
  meaning “no dice.” 
  Primary Actor Roll Results: The roll results given for each Tactic generally affect the primary 
  actor only. Secondary actors abide by the usual roll results for teamwork, given above, unless 
  otherwise noted. 
  For the Player: Tactics, Teamwork, and Endowments 
  Tactics are all-hands-on-deck plans to perform a specific action, usually during a 
  hunt. Teamwork, on the other hand, represents a considered effort to complete a 
  task among similarly-skilled characters. Endowments are unique gifts a tier-three 
  conspiracy grants to each, individual hunter as rewards for their service and status 
  in the organization. 
  Teamwork and tactics are group undertakings that carry more risk than a typical 
  action and reflect cell members’ natural desire to help one another. Action-related 
  Endowments are tied to a specific hunter just like any other Endowment that does 
  not require a roll. As such, only that hunter may utilize their conspiracy’s blessings 
  when a situation calls for it. If two hunters possess the same Endowment, they 
  simply make two separate die rolls (or actions) if necessary. 
  Mental Tactics 
  The following Tactics use primarily Mental Attributes and Skills or are useful in primarily 
  Mental contexts. 
  Bind/Ward 
  Hunting a spirit, a ghost, or a demon isn’t as straightforward as shooting a monster with silver 
  bullets; it requires arcane lore and a way to pin down the incorporeal or keep it out of a cell’s 
  safehouse. 
  Secondary actors gather the necessary materials and prepare runes, talismans, and rites in 
  prescribed ways, marking out the desired area — drawing a binding circle, for instance, or lines 
  of salt across doors and windows. Once the hunters have the monster where they want it, the 
  primary actor finishes the job with the right kind of chanting or ritual actions, either trapping the 
  foe within a particular area or warding a place against its entry. These materials and rituals vary 
  depending on the specific entity; the hunters must learn what they are, per the Tactic 
  requirements below. 
  This Tactic doesn’t ensure the monster enters or leaves the desired area once the characters have 
  prepared it; that requires other actions, or Tactics such as Corral or Lure. 
  Requirements: Primary actor: Occult 2. Secondary actors: Occult or Crafts 1. The characters 
  must already know a weakness the creature has that can be used to bind or ward against it, and its 
  identity if it’s unique. If their information is wrong, the Tactic fails. 
  Action: Contested: Each secondary actor’s roll requires 15 minutes to prepare the area. The 
  primary actor’s roll is Instant and Contested. 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Presence + Occult − Potency (for monsters) or Rank (for ephemeral 
  entities). Secondary: Intelligence + Occult (preparing the area, 1/2); appropriate Attribute + Skill 
  
  roll or possessing dots of an appropriate Merit equal to or exceeding Availability (procuring 
  required materials, 1/3). 
  The primary actor’s roll may be modified by the size of the area being warded: 
  [TABLE] 
  Area 
  Modifier 
  Small area within a location, up to a six-foot area 
  +1 
  Single room, a vehicle 
  0 
  Two story, suburban building −1 
  [END TABLE] 
  Larger structures levy increasing penalties; an additional −1 for every equivalent of a family 
  home. Most superstructures, like skyscrapers, trains, government buildings, and hospitals are too 
  large to be effectively warded. 
  Roll Results 
  Success: The ritual binds the monster within the confines of the area or prevents it from entering 
  a warded location for a number of days equal to successes rolled. The monster can’t break the 
  binding or ward no matter what, but someone else can by disrupting the proscribed area.  
  Exceptional Success: As success, and the binding or ward lasts for an extra day. 
  Failure: The hunters fail to perform the Tactic. 
  Dramatic Failure: The monster disrupts the proscribed area before the ritual is complete or is 
  too powerful for the hunters to contain. It may immediately use an automatically successful 
  supernatural power without paying its cost or inflict a Tilt on a character or the environment. 
  Identification 
  Hunters must take care not to jump to conclusions about a potential monster too quickly, lest 
  they accidentally murder an innocent human being. With careful observation, they can make a 
  definitive call without having to show up on someone’s doorstep and douse her with holy water 
  when she comes to the door. 
  The secondary actors tail the target, collect evidence, and perform research. Then, the primary 
  actor puts it all together. 
  If a secondary actor fails dramatically, the target captures or compromises that actor in some way 
  in addition to the usual effects. 
  Requirements: Primary actor: Occult 2. 
  Action: Contested: Everyone must spend one hour researching or putting information together 
  before rolling. 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Intelligence + Occult vs. Manipulation + Subterfuge + Potency. Secondary: 
  Wits + Investigation (collecting evidence, 1/3, or 0/3 if someone tails the target); Wits + Stealth 
  (tailing target, 1/1, or 0/1 if someone collects evidence); Wits + Occult (research, 0/3). 
  Roll Results 
  
  Success: The hunters discern whether the target is an ordinary human, a hunter, or a supernatural 
  creature; if the latter, they learn the type of creature. They also learn one of the following about 
  the target: one Anchor, one Aspiration, the location of her lair or home, or the identity of one 
  character important to her. All participants gain the Informed Condition regarding the target. 
  Exceptional Success: As success, but players learn two specific pieces of information. 
  Failure: The hunters fail to learn anything. 
  Dramatic Failure: The target becomes aware of the investigation and takes one group of 
  secondary actors by surprise with an ambush, an automatically successful supernatural power, or 
  a disadvantageous circumstance. 
  Monster Lore 
  Too often, the information hunters need to prevail against their foes is badly diluted by urban 
  legends and pop culture or hidden in forbidden tomes that haven’t seen the light of day since 
  their writers perished centuries ago. Even monsters that loom large in the public imagination, 
  like vampires, usually don’t follow the rules everybody “knows,” and a hunter who relies on 
  television for his lore is usually a dead hunter. 
  The secondary actors call in favors, consult with experts, locate hard-to-find resources, and shake 
  down information brokers in the supernatural underground. Then, the primary actor hits the 
  books and finds the key to stopping the threat. Each roll represents one hour of work. 
  Requirements: Secondary actors: 2+ in a relevant Social Merit, such as Contacts or Compact 
  Status. Characters must research a specific type of monster. 
  Action: Extended: Successes required are 2x the monster’s Potency. 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Intelligence + Occult. Secondary: Presence or Manipulation + Socialize 
  (calling in favors/consulting with experts, 0/3); Resolve + Academics, Investigation, or 
  Computer (tracking down rare resources, 1/3); Strength or Presence + Intimidation or Streetwise 
  (interrogation, 0/2) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: For each successful roll within the extended action, the hunters learn one weakness the 
  creature type in question generally possesses, one common Dread Power or other capability it 
  usually has, or one piece of information about where it comes from and how it came to be. This 
  doesn’t grant information about a specific monster unless it’s the only one of its kind. The 
  primary actor gains the Informed Condition about the monster type. 
  Exceptional Success: As success, and the hunters learn one additional piece of information. 
  They also learn whether a specific monster they’re hunting follows the usual pattern or not, but it 
  requires further investigation to find out how it differs. 
  Failure: The hunters fail to learn anything useful about the monster. 
  Dramatic Failure: The information the hunters discover is not only wrong but will lead to 
  catastrophic results when used. 
  Profiling 
  Some monsters crawled out of malefic hellholes or were built by human hands, but many were 
  once human themselves. Others have mortal minions whom savvy hunters can exploit, or cover 
  
  stories that give them false human identities. Those who can uncover dirt on who a monster or its 
  lackeys really are and where they came from has leverage to use against them. 
  Secondary actors talk to witnesses, hack into databases, take incriminating photos, or dig into 
  public records to collect information, and then the primary actor uses the gathered intel to profile 
  the target and match it up to a human identity. It could be that of a monster’s previous life or its 
  current fake persona, or it could be someone who works for the monster — whichever is most 
  relevant to the characters’ goals. 
  At least two secondary actors must participate, and at least one must perform a non-research 
  action. If a secondary actor fails dramatically, the target captures or compromises that actor in 
  some way in addition to the usual effects. 
  Requirements: Primary actor: Empathy 2 and Investigation 2. Secondary actors: 2+ in the Skill 
  used for the Tactic. Characters must already have basic knowledge of the target, such as from 
  casing a crime scene or personal interactions. 
  Action: Contested: Everyone must spend one hour researching or putting information together 
  before rolling. 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Intelligence + Investigation vs. Wits + (Subterfuge or Investigation) + 
  Potency. Secondary: Presence or Manipulation + Persuasion (talking to witnesses, 0/2); 
  Intelligence + Computer (hacking, 0/2); Wits + Stealth or Expression (taking photos, 0/1); 
  Intelligence + Academics or Occult (research; 1/3) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: The hunters profile a monster and pinpoint a human identity associated with it, as 
  above. They learn the following about the monster: its Anchors, one of its Aspirations, its 
  Potency, and the rating of one of its Mental or Social traits (players’ choice). 
  Exceptional Success: As success, and the players may ask one yes or no question of the 
  Storyteller regarding what the target is likely to do next and receive an accurate answer. 
  Failure: The hunters fail to gather information. 
  Dramatic Failure: The monster catches wind of the investigation and deliberately plants false 
  information, pointing the hunters definitively to the wrong person. The monster also learns 
  information about one of the secondary actors as though it had successfully profiled her. 
  Tactics and Investigation 
  Tactics such as Identification, Monster Lore, and Profiling may be regarded as a 
  shortcut in an investigation, since they take less time and effort than using the full-
  blown investigation system (see p. XX). This is by design; a Tactic is a risky gamble 
  a cell can take to cut to the chase more quickly in exchange for potential dire 
  consequences. Use the full system for larger and more complex mysteries, or when 
  the characters want to play it “safe” (at least, more so). Use these Tactics for 
  smaller, more focused investigations, or when the characters are ready to throw 
  caution to the wind for a chance at pay dirt. 
  Sweep 
  
  Sneaking into monster lairs to find human hostages or steal powerful tomes from vampiric 
  scholars is risky business. A cell needs to sweep the perimeter and meticulously check room by 
  room to make sure no nasty surprises await them, both swiftly and thoroughly. 
  Secondary actors ensure access to every nook and cranny of the area, kicking down doors or 
  picking locks, and uncover any hidden passages or cubbyholes where a monster could be lying in 
  wait. Then, the primary actor does a final sweep to make sure the area is clear — and if it isn’t, 
  to clear it out by any means necessary or make sure everyone escapes with their limbs intact. 
  Action: Instant or Contested 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Wits + Composure. If one or more foes lie in wait in the area, each one 
  contests the roll with Wits + Stealth + Potency. Secondary: Strength + Athletics or Dexterity + 
  Larceny (opening portals, 1/5); Wits + Investigation or Survival (spotting hiding places/traps, 
  0/5) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: If the area is clear, the characters confirm this and need fear no ambushes or traps for 
  the rest of the scene; the primary actor gains a +2 equipment bonus to any rolls to investigate the 
  area. If not, the characters avoid any trap they come across, find anyone hidden in the area, and 
  gain +2 to Initiative, Speed, and Defense for the first turn of any action scene that ensues. 
  Exceptional Success: As success, but the dice bonuses are +3 instead. 
  Failure: The characters find nothing of note. 
  Dramatic Failure: The characters miss something crucial — a trapdoor with zombies behind it, 
  a monster behind a curtain, a trap they spring in their haste, or a prisoner they mistake for an 
  enemy. Every foe present gets a surprise attack or other immediate advantage, such as grabbing 
  an allied Storyteller character to use as a hostage or escaping without the possibility of pursuit. If 
  a trap is present, the primary actor springs it and falls prey to its effects. If a prisoner or other ally 
  is present, the primary actor makes an attack against them, ignoring Defense. 
  Physical Tactics 
  The following Tactics use primarily Physical Attributes and Skills or are useful in primarily 
  Physical contexts. 
  Called Shot 
  Some monsters have particular weaknesses that require unwavering accuracy and a good, clear 
  shot to strike. Others have claws, fangs, or bestial speed that give them the edge while standing 
  toe to toe; taking them out first is a hunter’s best chance to even the playing field. Either way, a 
  cell can work to set one among their number up for the perfect blow.  
  The secondary actors bait the target into exposing the crucial part of its body and then tackle it to 
  hold it in position. Finally, the primary actor takes the shot, whether with a hand-held weapon or 
  a ranged one. 
  The primary actor takes the usual specified target penalty to his roll in addition to the target’s 
  resistance, as noted on p. XX. 
  Action: Resisted 
  
  Dice Pools: Primary: Strength + Weaponry or Dexterity + Firearms − target’s Defense. 
  Secondary: Manipulation + Persuasion or Subterfuge (baiting, 1/2); Strength + Brawl (tackling, 
  1/2) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: The opponent suffers the appropriate Tilt for a successful hit on the specified target, 
  and the hunter’s attack deals damage as normal with a +1 to his weapon modifier. The target 
  takes a penalty to Initiative equal to the number of participants for the rest of the scene. 
  Exceptional Success: As success, and the Storyteller offers an immediate surrender in exchange 
  for a non-lethal outcome to the scene. If the players accept, the Tactic’s target submits to 
  whatever fate the hunters choose that can be enacted within the current scene, such as capture or 
  giving something up, as long as it doesn’t involve further violence against the target. 
  Failure: The target evades the attack. 
  Dramatic Failure: The target twists or ducks at the last minute, and the primary actor makes a 
  reflexive attack against the secondary actor closest to the target, ignoring Defense. 
  Capture 
  Hunters may wish to capture a monster rather than kill it, for any number of reasons. It’s 
  dangerous, but worth the risk — hunters can force a captive monster to provide information or 
  perform services, use it as a hostage or lab specimen, or harvest it for parts. 
  The secondary actors corner the target and wrestle it to the ground, so the primary actor can 
  secure it with rope, chains, a metal box, or whatever else is on hand. 
  Action: Contested 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Dexterity + Survival or Crafts vs. Dexterity or Strength + Athletics, or 
  Brawl + Potency. Secondary: Wits + Athletics (cornering, 1/3), Strength + Brawl (wrestling, 1/3) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: The target suffers the Immobilized Tilt and takes a penalty equal to the number of 
  participants to attempts to break free. 
  Exceptional Success: The target cannot attempt to break free at all for the rest of the current 
  scene. 
  Failure: The target evades capture. 
  Dramatic Failure: The target breaks free, ruining whatever the characters tried to capture it 
  with, and makes a reflexive attack on the nearest hunter, who loses Defense. Alternatively, the 
  target fools the participants into thinking it’s restrained, and may break out at any time. 
  Controlled Immolation 
  Fire is a staple weapon in a hunter’s arsenal. It is a primal force that lights, warms, purifies, and 
  destroys with primal abandon — the bane of many creatures that otherwise defy harm. 
  Unfortunately, fire burns hunters, victims, and their gear, too. Controlling a blaze to target a 
  monster without causing an accident requires bold and decisive action. 
  
  The primary actor sets the monster on fire and keeps it burning. Some secondary actors ensure it 
  doesn’t escape, while others keep the flames from spreading to other flammable objects (and 
  people) in the area. 
  Action: Contested 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Stamina + Firearms or Athletics vs. Stamina + Athletics + Potency/Rank. 
  Secondary: Wits + Weaponry or Brawl (contain the monster, 1/4); Wits + Survival or Science 
  (contain the blaze, 1/5) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: Target is set on fire at the bonfire level, with torch-level intensity (see p. XX), and 
  suffers the Blinded Tilt (p. XX). The flames don’t spread beyond the target, and the target cannot 
  put them out, no matter what it does. The hunters may continue to make the contested teamwork 
  roll each turn to keep the Tactic going; as soon as the primary actor fails a roll or anyone decides 
  to stop, the Tactic ends and the fire goes out immediately. 
  Exceptional Success: The monster remains on fire even after the hunters end the Tactic and 
  must douse the flames in usual fashion. 
  Failure: The monster puts itself out. 
  Dramatic Failure: The monster is not set on fire, and all flammable objects in the immediate 
  vicinity combust instead, giving the area the Inferno Tilt (p. XX). 
  Corral 
  Forcing giant, albino alligators to steer clear from snatching New Yorkers or head straight for a 
  trap is no mean feat. Whether they’re targeting an unusual cryptid or not, hunters must figure out 
  what the monster fears to temporarily control their movement. 
  The primary actor threatens the monster, causing it to move in a specific direction at its full 
  Speed. Some secondary actors ensure the monster has nowhere to hide while others herd it 
  toward a dead end or trap. 
  Action: Contested 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Strength or Manipulation + Intimidation vs. Composure + Empathy + 
  Potency/Rank. Secondary: Wits + Composure (keeping target in sight, 1/5); Manipulation + 
  Subterfuge or Survival (herding target, 1/3) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: Target goes where the hunters wish. If it takes more than a turn to get there, the hunters 
  must continue to make the contested teamwork roll each turn to keep the Tactic going until either 
  the target arrives, the primary actor fails a roll, or anyone decides to stop. If the target arrives, the 
  players may declare that something reasonably likely happens when it gets there, such as the 
  monster opens a particular door or loses line of sight to someone in another room. 
  Exceptional Success: The hunters surround the monster upon arrival and may choose one 
  character to take an immediate instant action regardless of Initiative. 
  Failure: The hunters lose track of the monster. 
  
  Dramatic Failure: The monster catches wind of the ruse. It may take an action immediately, 
  regardless of Initiative, even if it has already taken one before Initiative resets. 
  Harvest 
  Not all hunts are about the kill. Hunters who want to study their prey or claim supernatural 
  advantages for themselves need to harvest samples from monsters in the field, and few monsters 
  sit quietly for the syringe. 
  The primary actor collects the sample, while some secondary actors hold the monster still and 
  others provide the necessary knowledge to ensure they collect what they need. 
  Requirements: Any actor: Occult 2. Any actor: a Specialty related to the target’s monster type 
  in any Skill. 
  Action: Contested 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Dexterity + Medicine vs. Strength + (Athletics or Brawl) + Potency. 
  Secondary: Strength + Brawl (restraining, 1/3); Intelligence + Occult (knowledge, 1/2 or 0/2 if 
  characters have previously researched the monster) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: The primary actor collects one sample — they yank out a fang, extract a vial of blood, 
  cut out a venom sac, etc. The hunters may continue to make the contested teamwork roll each 
  turn to keep the Tactic going and collect another sample per additional turn. As soon as the 
  primary actor fails a roll or anyone decides to stop, the Tactic ends. The primary actor gains the 
  Informed Condition regarding the creature. 
  Exceptional Success: As success, but the hunters may also either collect a number of samples on 
  the first turn of the Tactic equal to the total participants, or fully restrain the monster, inflicting 
  the Immobilized Tilt. 
  Failure: The monster eludes the hunters. 
  Dramatic Failure: The monster lashes out at the primary actor, inflicting the Stunned Tilt, and 
  automatically escapes any grapple or restraints. 
  Lure 
  Setting traps to turn the tables on would-be predators is useless without bait. Hunters who want 
  to lure a monster out of hiding or to a particular location use this Tactic to make use of hard-won 
  knowledge. 
  One secondary actor presents — or is — the bait, while others draw the target in with rituals or 
  clever word of mouth, and carefully hide the ruse. Once they’re ready, the primary actor drops 
  the other shoe. 
  Requirements: Any actor: Occult 2. Characters must know something about the target they can 
  use to entice it, such as an Aspiration, a weakness, or a favored type of victim. 
  Action: Contested: The primary actor’s and baiting secondary actor’s rolls take their actions, 
  while other secondary actors’ rolls take half an hour each 
  
  Dice Pools: Primary: Wits + Composure vs. Wits + Composure + Potency; Secondary: Presence 
  + Persuasion or Subterfuge (bait, 1/1); Manipulation + Occult or Streetwise (drawing target in, 
  1/2); Dexterity + Larceny (concealing lure, 0/2) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: The target falls for the ruse or is drawn to the hunters by arcane rites, and comes to a 
  place of their choosing, taking the bait. If the primary actor springs a physical trap, she 
  automatically catches the monster. If she attacks, she takes it by surprise (p. XX). Other actions 
  should similarly have their desired effects as long as they only take one turn; for instance, she 
  may snap the perfect photo that proves the monster’s existence or tear away a tarp to let in 
  sunlight. However, the character who offered the bait remains within arm’s reach of the monster 
  — inside the trap, if they spring one. 
  Exceptional Success: The hunter who presented or posed as bait manages to get out of the trap 
  or line of fire, and the monster can’t target him for a full turn. 
  Failure: The monster does not fall for the ruse. 
  Dramatic Failure: The monster wises up to the lure and takes the hunters by surprise instead, 
  ambushing them or preparing some worse fate that they walk into unawares. This reverse trap 
  needn’t be sprung immediately — the Storyteller can hold it in abeyance for a later dramatic 
  moment. 
  Scatter 
  When a plan falls apart disastrously, the cell has to get the hell out of there and live to fight 
  another day. Hunters are rarely so lucky as to stumble across opportunities to do that against 
  superhuman foes, though, so usually, one of them has to take one for the team. 
  The primary actor coordinates the group’s efforts to scatter and ensures they know where to meet 
  up later, while most of the secondary actors find places to hide and escape routes without giving 
  the plan away. One secondary actor instead stays behind to distract the threat. 
  Action: Contested 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Wits + Composure vs. Wits + Composure + Potency. Secondary: Dexterity 
  + Stealth (escape, 1/5); Presence + Expression or Intimidation (distraction, 1/1) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: All participants except the distraction escape the scene immediately with no further 
  harm or risk, and the primary actor gains the Informed Condition regarding the threat they 
  escaped. The one left behind must fend for herself. 
  Exceptional Success: As success, and the character left behind automatically finds a way to 
  escape the scene as well after a number of turns equal to the total number of participants. 
  Failure: The hunters fail to leave the fight, which continues. 
  Dramatic Failure: The players have a choice. The ruse fails completely, inflicting the Beaten 
  Down Tilt on all participants and no one escapes; or they can successfully escape at the cost of 
  letting the threat catch the distracting character outright and achieve its intent in the fight, as long 
  as it isn’t lethal. It might capture her, put her under a spell, or knock her unconscious and leave 
  her lost and alone without her phone, for instance. 
  
  Social Tactics 
  The following Tactics use primarily Social Attributes and Skills or are useful in primarily Social 
  contexts. 
  Adrenaline Rush 
  Taking on a foe with unholy advantages is daunting, to say the least. Hunters can pump each 
  other up beyond reason to push themselves past their usual limitations and banish fear, for a 
  time. 
  The secondary actors enact a ritual of sorts, and the primary actor leads it. It could be a literal 
  rite, with focusing chants and blessings of aid, or it could be more akin to a football team’s 
  pregame traditions — or a little of both. The primary actor provides a capstone for the ritual to 
  shove all the participants into overdrive. 
  Action: Instant 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Presence + Expression; Secondary: Resolve + Occult (rite, 1/6, or 0/6 if 
  someone pumps the group up), Resolve + Empathy (pumping up, 1/6, or 0/6 if someone 
  performs a rite) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: For the next full scene, the participants don’t fall unconscious if their Health boxes fill 
  with bashing damage, and they don’t suffer wound penalties. They gain the successes on the 
  primary actor’s roll as a bonus to all Resistance traits for the purpose of resisting (not contesting) 
  actions or supernatural powers that would inflict fear or cause them to question themselves, to a 
  maximum of +5 or the number of participants, whichever is higher. 
  Exceptional Success: The primary actor may grant a beneficial Condition to all participants, 
  rather than just herself. 
  Failure: The hunters fail to rile themselves up. 
  Failure: High on danger, the participants work themselves into a frenzy, losing their better 
  instincts in the rush of adrenaline. They all suffer the Insane Tilt for the next full scene and can’t 
  end it early. 
  Freeing Mind 
  As people who survive on hard-won trust in their comrades, hunters fear mind control and 
  demonic possession more than most horrors. When one among them is compromised, the other 
  cell members exhaust all their options before admitting defeat and losing one of their own. This 
  Tactic lets them fight through the false memories and feelings to restore someone’s mind to the 
  state it was in before a ghost, spirit, demon, or other antagonist took over. It is a social means of 
  connecting to the person’s mind as opposed to an exorcism which uses occult and religious 
  methods to drive an unwelcome antagonist out of their body. 
  The primary actor antagonizes the target to force her subconscious into fighting the influence, 
  while the secondary actors call upon bonds of friendship and shared experience to remind the 
  target what she’s fighting for. In certain circumstances, another secondary actor might need to 
  fend off interruptions or outside attempts to poison the target against her fellows or stop the 
  target from fleeing the scene. 
  
  This Tactic is an extended action, and the time each roll takes depends on the effect the hunters 
  are up against. For an effect that would last a scene or less, each roll represents five minutes of 
  work. For an effect that would last longer than a scene, each roll represents one hour of work. 
  If any participants devote rolls to controlling the situation and succeed, nothing from the outside 
  may interrupt or sabotage the extended action. The target cannot attempt escape. If any of these 
  secondary actors fails dramatically, the hunters must deal with an interruption, such as the target 
  escaping or a monster crashing the party; the extended action can resume later without ending 
  the Tactic, but all participants suffer a cumulative one-die penalty for each such dramatic failure 
  rolled. 
  Requirements: The target must suffer a Mental or Social effect imposed by a supernatural 
  power or phenomenon that causes her to act counter to her best interests or out of character. 
  Examples include possession, a magical command, false love, or unnatural memory loss. 
  Action: Extended and Contested: Successes required are 2x the monster’s Potency. 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Manipulation + Intimidation or Subterfuge vs. subject’s Composure + 
  Resolve + the Potency of the monster that inflicted the effect. Secondary: Presence + Persuasion 
  or Empathy (appealing to emotions, 1/2); Wits + Brawl, Weaponry, or Intimidation (controlling 
  the situation, 0/3, ND) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: The target spends a Willpower point; if she can’t, the Tactic fails. 
  For simple effects like Tilts or single commands, the effect ends immediately. For more complex 
  effects, such as those represented by Conditions or those that would last longer than a scene, the 
  effect is suppressed for the rest of the current scene and the Storyteller offers a new, alternate 
  way for the target to resolve the Condition or end the effect permanently, such as sacrificing 
  something significant, gaining Willpower through their Virtue, or harming the monster that 
  inflicted the effect.  
  For Persistent Conditions or effects that last longer than a day, the effect is suppressed for the 
  rest of the current scene but can’t be ended this way; however, the target gains bonus dice equal 
  to their Resolve on the next roll they make to resolve or end it permanently. Conditions that 
  resolve as a result of this Tactic still grant Beats as normal. 
  Exceptional Success: As success, but the target’s player (or Storyteller, for characters they 
  control) may instead end the effect immediately even if it’s more complex. If they do so, 
  Conditions grant no Beats for resolution. 
  Failure: The hunters fail to goad the target. 
  Dramatic Failure: The hunters do or say the wrong thing and prompt the target to either attack 
  someone, ignoring Defense, or succumb to some side effect or worsening of the influence, and 
  then escape the scene. 
  Expose 
  Sometimes it’s more important to shine a light on the darkness and expose it for all the world to 
  see than to simply get rid of it. With the right combination of investigative technique and clever 
  setup, hunters can force their prey into tipping its hand. 
  
  The secondary actors find the right times and places to take pictures, catch the target on 
  surveillance cameras, and record incriminating statements. Then, the primary actor corners the 
  target and either holds the evidence over their head or blurts it out in front of just the right people 
  — to hell with consequences. 
  If a secondary actor fails dramatically, the target captures or compromises that actor in some way 
  in addition to the usual effects. 
  Requirements: The characters must already know or have the means to easily discover the 
  identity and nature of the target, represented by a Condition like Informed, a previously 
  successful Tactic like Identification or Profiling, Clues from an investigation (p. XX), or 
  information the characters gained another way. 
  Action: Contested: Secondary actors spend an hour before rolling, the primary actor must spend 
  five minutes. 
  Dice Pools: Primary: Wits + Presence or Manipulation vs. Manipulation + Subterfuge + 
  Potency; Secondary: Wits + Investigation or Stealth (gathering evidence, 1/4); Wits + Socialize 
  (finding key people to tell, 1/3) 
  Roll Results 
  Success: The hunters may inflict either the Leveraged (Primary Actor) Condition or the 
  Notoriety Condition (p. XX) on the target, depending on whether they choose to blackmail the 
  target or expose it once and for all. If they choose Leveraged, the target must submit to two 
  requests to shed the Condition. If they choose Notoriety, their impressions for Social 
  maneuvering with other hunters in the area improve by one for the rest of the story. 
  Exceptional Success: As success, and each hunter gains a temporary dot of a relevant Merit 
  thanks to their efforts for the rest of the story. For instance, one might gain an extra dot of Status 
  in his compact, while another gains a new Mentor eager to capitalize on her success, or a dot of 
  Fame as a paranormal reporter. 
  Failure: The characters all gain the Leveraged or Notoriety Condition instead, at the 
  Storyteller’s discretion, depending on how the target turns the tables. 
  Creating New Tactics 
  Players may want to create their own Tactics in play, as situations arise that seem ripe for 
  complex, team-based actions. A Tactic doesn’t need requirements unless it’s hard to imagine 
  succeeding without a specific background or piece of knowledge. Most Tactics give players 
  more options in combat than kill or be killed and help introduce fun complications to the story as 
  the drama of their risks pays off — whether in success or in failure. 
  The Storyteller should work with the players to create a new Tactic using the following 
  guidelines.  
  Concept 
  A good Tactic has a specific, desired outcome. Some Tactics can have any kind of target, while 
  some only make sense when used against a monster. In general, Tactics can: 
  • 
  Combine what would normally be multiple and separate rolled actions into a single 
  Tactic to save the characters time 
  
  • 
  Grant benefits a simple teamwork action doesn’t by itself 
  • 
  Create new actions the characters can’t otherwise perform with mundane Skills 
  • 
  Allow the characters to do something in action timing that they otherwise can’t 
  • 
  Allow more people to contribute to a teamwork action than normal 
  Remember, Tactics incur great risk, so they should always confer greater benefits than a simple 
  teamwork action on its own could achieve. Likewise, since every failure is dramatic, the stakes 
  should be higher than usual. 
  Dice Pools 
  Keep in mind that secondary actors usually use different Skills than the primary actor does. 
  Typically, Tactics also offer secondary actors more than one way to participate. Tactics allow all 
  characters to shine with their various strengths as they work together to achieve a common goal, 
  so keep that in mind when you’re forming dice pools for your new Tactic. 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Storyteller [multi]/World of Darkness (WoD) [multi]/CofD/Hunter - The Vigil/Hunter the Vigil 2E Manuscript Preview 4.pdf