TEXT: Written by Ben Counter, Bethany Culp, Stephen Michael DiPesa, Jess Hartley, 
  Martin Henley, David Hill, Filamena Hill, Howard Wood Ingham, John Kennedy, 
  Matthew McFarland, John Newman, Alex Scokel, Travis Stout, Eddy Webb  
  Developed by Eddy Webb     Audio produced by Michael Read     Edited by Genevieve Podleski  
  Layout by Jessica Mullins     Art by Aaron Acevedo, Sam Araya, Avery Butterworth, 
  Nicole Cardiff, Kari Christensen, Jim Dibartolo, dugnation, Costas Harritas, 
  Phil Hilliker, Vince Locke, Ken Meyer Jr, Jim Pavelec, Juan Serrano, Brad 
  Williams, Cathy Wilkins   
  Special thanks to our voice actors for giving up a Saturday to help us out: 
  Anna Albano, Nathan Binder, David Bounds, Natasha Bryant-Raible, Priscilla 
  Kim, Vincent Lombardo, Orrin Loria, Weston Reid, Rich Thomas, Michelle Webb
  A Storytelling Adventure System 
  anthology for Hunter: The Vigil
  White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
  2075 West Park Place 
  Blvd Suite G
  Stone Mountain, GA 30087
  Everyone’s read the reports, seen her picture on the evening news, beautiful 
  blue eyes and pageant-queen smile. Emily Gillen is dead. The police finally 
  tracked down the woman responsible for the brutal torture and murder of 
  several local children; she died resisting arrest.
  But that’s not the end of the story. A hatred as virulent as Emily’s doesn’t 
  end with the final beat of a heart.
  It goes on. And so do the murders.
  When someone close to you vanishes, what do you do? How do you hunt a 
  dead woman?
  
  © 2009 CCP hf. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of 
  reviews, and one printed copy which may be reproduced for personal use only. White Wolf, Vampire and World of Darkness are registered trademarks 
  of CCP hf. All rights reserved. Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf the Forsaken, Mage the Awakening, Promethean the Created, Changeling the Lost, Hunter 
  the Vigil, Storytelling System and Collection of Horrors are trademarks of CCP hf. All rights reserved. All characters, names, places and text herein are 
  copyrighted by CCP hf. CCP North America Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CCP hf. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these 
  pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and 
  supernatural elements are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.
  Check out White Wolf online at http://www.white-wolf.com
  White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
  2075 West Park Place 
  Blvd Suite G
  Stone Mountain, GA 30087
  Written by Ben Counter, Bethany Culp, Stephen Michael DiPesa, Jess Hartley, 
  Martin Henley, David Hill, Filamena Hill, Howard Wood Ingham, John Kennedy, 
  Matthew McFarland, John Newman, Alex Scokel, Travis Stout, Eddy Webb  
  Developed by Eddy Webb     Audio produced by Michael Read     Edited by Genevieve Podleski  
  Layout by Jessica Mullins     Art by Aaron Acevedo, Sam Araya, Avery Butterworth, 
  Nicole Cardiff, Kari Christensen, Jim Dibartolo, dugnation, Costas Harritas, 
  Phil Hilliker, Vince Locke, Ken Meyer Jr, Jim Pavelec, Juan Serrano, Brad 
  Williams, Cathy Wilkins   
  Special thanks to our voice actors for giving up a Saturday to help us out: 
  Anna Albano, Nathan Binder, David Bounds, Natasha Bryant-Raible, Priscilla 
  Kim, Vincent Lombardo, Orrin Loria, Weston Reid, Rich Thomas, Michelle Webb
  Everyone’s read the reports, seen her picture on the evening news, beautiful 
  blue eyes and pageant-queen smile. Emily Gillen is dead. The police finally 
  tracked down the woman responsible for the brutal torture and murder of 
  several local children; she died resisting arrest.
  But that’s not the end of the story. A hatred as virulent as Emily’s doesn’t 
  end with the final beat of a heart.
  It goes on. And so do the murders.
  When someone close to you vanishes, what do you do? How do you hunt a 
  dead woman?
  A Storytelling Adventure System  
  anthology for Hunter: The Vigil
  
  1
  ColleCtion of Horrors
  Getting Her Back
  MENTAL ••• 
  PHYSICAL ••• 
  SOCIAL •• 
  Overview
  Someone important to the characters, most likely a child or other 
  family member, vanished on her way to or from school or some other 
  activity. There were no witnesses to her abduction, and the police 
  have no leads. With the abducted in peril, the characters must in-
  vestigate the disappearance on their own. Can they find and rescue 
  their loved one before it’s too late or will she become the latest in a 
  line of grisly murders?
  While Getting Her Back can be used as a single story unconnected 
  to a larger chronicle, it works best when placed in the context of an 
  ongoing story. In a larger chronicle, the players get to spend more time 
  with their characters, learning more about them, their families and 
  the relationships in between. This familiarity inspires pathos when 
  the story begins and one of those beloved family members is suddenly 
  missing. Furthermore, using Getting Her Back as part of a larger 
  chronicle allows you to seed the story into the setting long before it 
  actually begins. You can mention disappearances and murders that 
  have made the news long before one of the characters’ loved ones 
  vanishes. This context allows the characters to understand precisely 
  what is at stake for them.
  If using Getting Her Back as a single story, it might be best to 
  begin it by working a newscast into the action as the story opens. 
  The reporters mention that the body of a missing boy has been 
  found, making him the most recent victim in a string of grisly 
  murders. Shortly thereafter, one of the characters’ loved ones 
  goes missing.
  The details of the disappearance are left up to you, and should 
  be tailored to the characters. With reports of a murderer in 
  the area, characters are likely to be far more careful with their 
  children than usual. Unfortunately, they can’t be with the child 
  all the time. Eventually the characters will leave an opening 
  through which Emily can strike (possibly when they’re out 
  hunting other monsters).
  You should also determine why Emily has targeted the specific 
  character. Emily is driven by her need to enact justice for her hus-
  band’s death. Perhaps the character was in some way connected to 
  the accident, even if only tangentially; for example, the character 
  may work at a company that designed the airbags used in Emily’s 
  husband’s SUV. The decision need not be wholly rational. Alter-
  natively, Emily may be entirely insane, in which case the decision 
  should make sense to her, but based on an insane logic. If the char-
  acters were responsible for Emily’s death in a prior story, Emily’s 
  reasons are obvious.
  Once the kidnapping has occurred, the characters have a limited 
  amount of time to save the loved one. If the characters have no 
  experience with Emily, the first step should be figuring out who 
  took the missing person. With no witnesses, they are left in the 
  dark. Luckily, characters with Contacts in a variety of areas may 
  get the lead they’re looking for. Police or media Contacts might 
  mention that the string of murders reminds them of a series of at-
  tacks that occurred in Philadelphia. They might even produce the 
  coroner’s report prop (p. 6). Contacts among hunters might produce 
  the coroner’s report below (or the chapter on Emily in the Horror 
  Recognition Guide, pp. 99-120), which should set the characters 
  in the right direction.
  Thereafter, it’s a matter of finding where Emily has been hid-
  ing. Characters might be able to deduce her location based on 
  what nearby buildings would offer her the most safety. Luckily, 
  Emily stands out, so finding her can be as easy as asking around 
  and finding someone who has seen her leaving a local home or 
  getting into a car (that can then be found by scouring the neigh-
  borhood). Emily stays near her victims’ homes, which works in 
  the characters’ favor.
  Once the characters find Emily’s lair, they can either attempt 
  to sneak in and rescue the abducted, or they can storm the house 
  looking to kill Emily. You shouldn’t force a confrontation with 
  Emily (whose undead body is far more powerful than her slender 
  frame would suggest), but characters who wait too long for an 
  opportunity to sneak into the house without Emily noticing 
  run the risk of giving her too much time with the kidnapped. 
  Alternatively, characters who go in with guns blazing may be 
  terrified to realize that their loved one died when caught in 
  the crossfire.
  GettinG Her BaCk
  
  2
  ColleCtion of Horrors
  Emily GillEn across thE paGEs
  This story assumes that Emily Gillen died in a battle with hunters, and 
  that her ghost returned to her body afterwards to continue its violent work. 
  This need not be the case.
  If you already introduced Emily to the chronicle and the characters failed 
  to kill her (or otherwise resolve her story), the Emily presented in these pages 
  may represent an evolution of sorts, as Kyle Gillen takes greater control of 
  her body, imbuing it with Dread Powers. 
  If the characters dispatched Emily, this story can be used as is, but 
  updated so that they were responsible for Emily’s death. Conversely, if the 
  characters killed Emily without dealing with Kyle, it may be that Kyle 
  has taken over the body so recently vacated by Emily. Perhaps that he 
  answers to her name and affects her mannerisms is due to some lingering 
  aspect of her personality in the otherwise dead body. Perhaps it’s nothing 
  more than a ruse.
  GettinG Her BaCk
  Finding Emily Gillen
  Dice Pool: Wits + Investigation
  Action: Instant
  If the characters get lost or stuck, it may be best to offer them this roll as 
  a push in the right direction. You should offer hints or advice to the player 
  (based on the character’s knowledge), but this represents the character’s 
  knowledge of what to do next rather than any intuitive leaps of logic.
  Hindrances: Time is running out (-1), characters don’t know the 
  area well (-2), characters have found no information on Emily Gillen 
  or have otherwise spun their wheels over the course of the hunt (-3)
  Help: Characters suspect that they’re looking for Emily and have 
  some basic information about her, including a description or her coro-
  ner’s report (+2), characters gain access to and read the information 
  on Emily presented in the Horror Recognition Guide (+4). 
  Characters who talk this out with one another can benefit from the 
  Teamwork rules.
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: The character knows precisely what to do next. 
  Unfortunately, her sudden inspiration is dead wrong.
  Failure: The character’s training doesn’t offer her any insight into 
  what to do next.
  Success: The character’s training points her in the right direction. 
  Provide a hint regarding a possible good course of action to take.
  Exceptional Success: As success, and you can provide an additional hint.
  Consequences
  Obviously, the most likely consequence of this scene comes in two 
  flavors: the characters rescue the loved one or they don’t. Success in 
  saving the abducted should be accompanied with an additional expe-
  rience point and the return of a spent Willpower point for everyone 
  involved. If the characters fail to save the kidnapped, the characters 
  may try to avenge themselves on Emily.
  Emily is the other major factor of this scene. Characters who allow her to 
  escape may find her plaguing them again in the future. Killing her, on the 
  other hand, may result in a loss of Morality. Worse yet, destroying Emily may 
  not guarantee that she won’t come back. While utterly destroying Emily’s 
  body will protect others from the worst of her predations, she may become 
  an even more difficult antagonist to overcome if her ghost lingers on.
  Description
  The house is dark and quiet. The air is stagnant 
  and smells slightly of mildew. Something must be 
  wrong with the electricity, because the lights 
  flicker and pop, their shallow pools of light fading 
  and returning irregularly. You hear a slight ringing 
  in your ears, an electrical buzz like the high hum 
  of a power line. But then you hear a whimper, and 
  you know you’ve come to the right place.
  Storyteller Goals
  Establish tension by establishing Emily’s modus operandi before 
  setting her against one of the characters’ loved ones. Emphasize the 
  passage of time. Let the characters know that the clock is ticking.
  Character Goals
  Find the abducted before time runs out. Possibly stop Emily from 
  taking any other lives.
  Actions
  Getting Her Back can involve any number of actions, from investiga-
  tion of old newspapers or police reports to combat with the dead Slasher. 
  In all cases, remember that time is limited. That pressure may levy penal-
  ties on characters as they race to save their friend or family member.
  
  3
  ColleCtion of Horrors
  tHe Cast
  They killed her. She doesn’t remember who they were, exactly, 
  but she could sense a certain attitude about them. They were vigi-
  lantes, and they had hunted her down. When she awoke again, 
  she was on the doctor’s slab. She felt different: stronger, colder. 
  And now she cannot just speak with and hear Kyle, but see him 
  as well.
  Kyle helped her escape, and promised vengeance on those who had 
  taken so much from her. Now the two move more carefully, seeking 
  out those responsible for their deaths. The pair have taken to finding 
  the homes of those who don’t get out much: singles and older people, 
  invading the home and using it as their own for however long they 
  need to remain in an area. Sometimes Emily loses time, usually no 
  more than a few hours, but she recognizes that Kyle needs her body 
  to do things she simply can’t handle. What kind of wife would she be 
  if she refused?
  Description: Emily’s beauty has not been tarnished with death. 
  If anything, she moves with more ease and grace than she ever 
  did when plagued with the pains and weaknesses of life. Her 
  wardrobe, however, has suffered, and she contents herself with 
  whatever she can buy from local boutiques with the cash she 
  finds in the homes that she and Kyle move into. She works to 
  keep her clothes clean, but sometimes the bloodstains just won’t 
  come out.
  Storytelling Hints: Emily has become an echo of her former 
  self, and Kyle is the echo of an echo. Due to Emily’s madness, 
  it can be difficult to tell where one of the personalities begins 
  and the other ends. In fact, one might be able to chalk all of 
  her behavior, including any claims about Kyle’s influence over 
  her, as a result of a fractured psyche, except for the fact that 
  Emily knows things that she shouldn’t, whether it be knowledge 
  that only Kyle had or information that only a ghost could gain 
  access to.
  One thing is certain: the body of Emily Gillen is under the control 
  of at least one ghost. Emily’s ghost is driven solely by the emotions she 
  felt as she died: anger, hatred, bitterness and remorse over leaving her 
  husband’s vengeance unfulfilled. Now those emotions fuel her body, 
  preserving it, burning from within it with so much power that they 
  can influence those who get too near her (simply being near her for 
  too long results in a buzzing sensation in the mind and the growth of 
  acerbic emotions). 
  Emily Gillen, 
  Talisman Resurrected
  Quotes: (Socialize) “Excuse 
  me. My husband and I just moved 
  here, and, well, we were wonder-
  ing… can you point us towards a 
  good take-out Chinese place?”
  (Intimidation) “Stop it, Kyle! 
  These are mine!”
  (Persuasion) “You don’t un-
  derstand! This is right! This is 
  justice!”
  Virtue: Justice. Emily Gillen 
  used to care about others, never 
  letting them give in to their fears 
  and doubts. Losing her husband took some of that from her, and her 
  own death stripped away the rest. Now Emily is driven by her demented 
  desire for a twisted justice.
  Vice: Wrath. Those who have harmed her simply won’t learn until 
  they are forced to do so. Luckily, pain is an extremely good motivator, 
  whether the pain of losing a child or the agony of having one’s skin 
  slowly peeled from one’s face.
  Background: Emily Gillen had it all: a nice house in a safe neighbor-
  hood, a loving husband who owned his own business, a pair of beautiful 
  sons. Even her looks hadn’t faded with age and the birthing of two 
  children. Her life was perfect, at least until the semi truck plowed 
  through her husband Kyle’s SUV at an intersection only a few miles 
  from home.
  Then came the dark time. Emily began to hear Kyle’s voice. He came 
  to her whether she was awake or asleep. He spoke to her from beyond 
  the veil of death. He guided her and taught her, and wielded her as a 
  weapon of vengeance against those whose actions had let his killer walk 
  free without so much as a trial. It began with the driver’s daughter, but 
  by the time they caught up with her, her murders had affected people 
  who were far less directly involved in Kyle’s death.
  
  4
  ColleCtion of Horrors
  At this point, all that’s left of Emily are these feelings of loath-
  ing and rage. Those emotions have been amplified, however, and 
  they overwhelm her. She’s more prone than ever before to lash 
  out at others or to take dangerous chances (her body, after all, 
  has proven resilient even to the threat of death). Her blue eyes 
  burn with hatred, and her pale hands remain perpetually balled 
  into a tight fist… when they’re not wrapped around her husband’s 
  straight razor.
  Notes         
  Intelligence 
  Strength 
  Presence
  Wits 
  Dexterity 
  Manipulation
  Resolve 
  Stamina 
  Composure
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  WillpoWer
  HealtH
  skills
  Merits
  Morality
  Size
  Speed
  Defense
  Initiative Mod
  Armor
  FlaWs
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
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  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  o o o o o o o o o o o o
  o o o o o o o o o o
  tactics
  Name: 
  Virtue: 
  Profession:
  Concept: 
  Vice: 
  Compact: 
   
   
  Conspiracy:
      Emily Gillen  
      Justice 
  Laborer
         Undead Slasher 
   Wrath           
  Iron Stamina
  Fast Reflexes
  Professional Training
  Resources
  Striking Looks
  Academics 
  Crafts (Clothing)
  Medicine 
    (First Aid)
  Occult (Ghosts)
  Athletics
  Brawl
  Larceny
  Stealth 
  Survival (Urban)
  Weaponry 
    (Straight Razor)
  Empathy (Noticing
   Hunters)
  Intimidation
  Persuasion (Kids)
  Socialize
    (Neighborhood)
  Subterfuge
             1
  5
      12
          3
                      7
    
  Derangements: Fugue, Irrationality, Multiple Personality
  Dread Powers: Drain (Willpower), Drain (Health), Hypnotism 1, Terrify 1
  Madness Unbounded: Each hour near Emily gives a cumulative –1 to resistance rolls against Hypnotism and 
  Terrify. Spending 1 Willpower, any character within 4 yards must roll Resolve + Composure (with the penalty) 
  vs. Emily’s Presence + Empathy. If the target fails, he attacks Emily’s opponents for one turn per Emily’s successes; 
  any other action requires Resolve + Composure at –5.
  Weapons/Attacks: 
  Type 
  Damage 
  Dice Pool
   
  Straight Razor 
  1(L) 
  10
  Beauty and the Ghost
  Emily Gillen first appeared in Hunter: The Vigil (p. 295) as a 
  Slasher driven to acts of unspeakable violence by the vengeful ghost of 
  her dead husband (or possibly only the memory of him residing in Emily’s 
  broken mind). Readers will notice that there exist some major differences 
  between Emily as presented in Hunter and Emily as she is presented 
  here. There’s a reason for that.
  Emily died (as described in the Horror Recognition Guide) and 
  then rose from the dead. Where Emily as presented in Hunter posed 
  a threat that blurred the natural and supernatural, the Emily in this 
  story is an undead foe with supernatural powers. As a result, some of 
  the ambiguity is gone, but some still remains. Does Kyle still exist, 
  driving Emily’s terrible actions? Or is he simply the construction of 
  Emily’s demented ghost? Can the characters overcome one without 
  overcoming both?
  The Coroner’s Report
  The following page contains a copy of the coroner’s report from 
  Emily Gillen’s fatal run-in with Carol Rodriguez, as described in 
  the Horror Recognition Guide. Storytellers without access to 
  that guide can use this to seed Emily into a story. Alternatively, 
  this might serve as a guide for a Storyteller whose players en-
  countered and dispatched the living Emily Gillen described in 
  Hunter: The Vigil to create his own coroner’s report reflecting 
  the characters’ actions.
  
  6
  ColleCtion of Horrors
  OFFICIAL CORONER’S REPORT
  CASE NO. 
  64-88756
  REPORT OF INVESTIGATION
  OFFICE OF THE CORONER MEDICAL EXAMINER, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
  321 University Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
  DECEDENT: GILLEN, EMILY MACARTHUR  
   
  DOB: 12/09/1973
  Residence Address: 211 Wisteria Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19105
  Tel No. (215) 555-4065 
  Desc: Sex F 
  Race C 
  Age 34 
  Height 64.00
  Weight 124 
  Hair BLONDE 
  Eyes BLUE
  Scars/Tattoos and Other identifying features
  SCARS: SURGICAL - LOWER ABDOMEN
  Rigor Mortis NONE 
  Liver Mortis NONE 
  Decomposed? No
  Clothing NONE
  Drugs and Medication
  NONE NOTED
  Occupation HOMEMAKER 
  Employer NONE
  Agency Reporting UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER 
  Date & TimeReported:11/2/08 18:00
  Location of Body MISSING
  Type of Death 
  V 
  At work? N
  Cause of Death TRAUMA TO TORSO AND BRAIN, BLOOD LOSS
  Manner of Death MULTIPLE GUNSHOT WOUNDS
  Time of Death 
  APPROX. 1800 
  Pronounced Dead 1837, DOA
  CIRCUMSTANCES 
  DATE 
  TIME
  Reported to agency by 
  Name and Address 
  CAROL RODRIGUEZ
  Last seen alive by
  Name and Address 
  Pronounced dead by
  Name and Address 
  DR. FITZPATRICK
  Body viewed by
  Name and Address 
  DAVID LILLUM, CME
  Identified by
  How Identified 
  VIEWING
  Name and Address 
  WALTER MACARTHUR (FATHER)
  Witnesses 
  ANDREW KAPLINSKY
  Law Enforcement Agency PPD 
  EVENT # 583959-9233
  Officers 
  SGT. BUSKILL, SGT. HYDE
   
   
  OPC. RODRIGUEZ, OPC. WALLACE
  Property Receipt # 87874
  In custody of NO PROPERTY TAKEN
  Custody of Body MISSING
  _________________________________________________________________________
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Storyteller [multi]/World of Darkness (WoD) [multi]/CofD/Hunter - The Vigil/Collection of Horrors/Collection of Horrors 07 - Getting Her Back.pdf