Welcome back to Hunters, Inc., the role-playing game of action, horror, suspense and intrigue in a world of undead monsters and the mortals who fight them. In this month's installment (the "GM section"), we'll be discussing the true nature of Vampires, the metaphysics of the Hunters, Inc. world, Sorcery rules, and a new hunt: "Club Noir". The material below is intended for GMs only; players who wish to keep surprises intact should refrain from reading any further. (The basic rules for the game were published last issue, SHADIS #32.)

The Nature of the Vampire

Just what is a vampire? To understand that, you'll need to understand a little bit about the nature of the Hunters, Inc. universe.

Metaphysics 101

Think about the people you feel most comfortable with. Think about your oldest and best friend, or a beloved relative, or the one true love of your life. Think about how warm and secure you feel when you're with them. In the world of Hunters, Inc. we classify this good feeling as an exchange of energy, or "essence." This essence could be classified as what many religions would call a soul. Each individual has his own unique tone of essence. Others intuitively sense your essence, and those who share a similar tone are drawn to you. This exchange causes the essence within yourself and your friend to grow, making the bond between you stronger with each exchange.

Folks who have a dissonant essence are repulsed by your own. These are the people you just don't get along with no matter how you try. All the social encounters in the world are simply exchanges and harmonization of essence. People who find essence that resonates between them form creative, healthy lasting bonds. Those who don't either ignore each other, or become hated enemies. All humans have essence, as do most animals. Even plants have a small portion of essence.

Vampires, on the other hand, have a different kind of essence.

The Dark World

Vampires are not native to our world. They come from a different dimension, a "Dark World" parallel to our own. Some metaphysicians have called it "the World of the Dark Moon," and have attributed many atrocities on our own sphere to it. Both worlds contain two sources - or "moons" - of essence: a light source and a dark source. In our world, the light source is represented by the sun while the dark is represented by the moon. When the sun slips away and the night rises, our world is in the shadow of the Dark Moon. In the Dark World, that relationship is reversed.

The Dark World exists in a dimension that is very close to ours. So close, in fact, that events on our world affect our dark counterpart, and vice versa. Sometimes, the two worlds intersect, allowing passage from one world to the next.

The Vampire

Vampires are creatures of pure dark energy. They cross over into our world through gates which open when the two dimensions are close. It's risky, because there is no way to tell if our world is in the shadow of the light or dark moon. If they cross over during the day, they are instantly destroyed by the sun. If they cross over during the night, however, they have a short period of time to find what they need to allow them to exist in our world.

Vampires need a host body to shield them against the essence of the light. It costs a Vampire dearly to cross into our world, and when it is finished, he is in a severely weakened state. He needs to find a body to hide in for a time so he can recuperate from the passage. When he discovers a host, he slips into their body and lies dormant. Often, the host will become ill from the Vampire's presence. The symptoms include a high fever, nausea and vomiting which are often misdiagnosed as the flu.

Slowly, the Vampire begins to build its strength. It feeds on the positive essence of the host, and as it does, the host's body begins to show signs of the Vampire occupancy. They lose their appetite (and consequently a great deal of weight), become sluggish and shun the daylight. In some cases, narcotics are sought to make up for the loss of essence the host encounters.

As the host's body breaks down, the will quickly follows and the Vampire begins to take control. The body continues to deteriorate; the blood turns thick and dark, gaining a syrupy, oily consistency. The skin becomes thick yet translucent. The host gains phenomenal strength and speed. The body no longer registers physical pain. As the body is filled with more and more dark essence, others begin to feel cold in the host's presence.

Soon, the host begins to feel the psychic tugs of the Vampire, who begins taking over the unconscious mind and forcing the body into violent and inhuman actions that eat away at the host's sanity. Finally, when the body and mind are broken, the Vampire takes complete control of the host.

The Blood Is The Life

Once the Vampire has devoured the host's essence, it must look for new sources of nourishment. The easiest (and messiest) way of gaining human essence is through blood. By drinking blood, Vampires are able to steal a victim's essence. More powerful Vampires have more subtle ways of stealing essence (as you will see in future issues), but even powerful Vampires will drink blood when they are desperate.

Likewise, a Vampire's blood is the source of his own life. When a Vampire has completely dominated a host and the physical transformation is complete, a Vampire's blood is black and viscous, like an unearthly oil. When humans drink this blood, they feel the rush of dark essence flowing through their veins. It is a powerful, highly addictive narcotic. Humans who drink one Health Level of Vampire blood gain a Dark Point which can be used in lieu of Willpower Points with the same effect. However, whenever a mortal uses a Dark Point, a point of his Willpower is automatically and permanently changed into a Dark Point.

What the human may or may not realize is that he is slowly becoming one with the Vampire. A Vampire's mentality is transferred through the blood into the mortal. As he loses Willpower Points, the black blood in his veins gains strength and influence over the mortal's mind. He hears the Vampire's voice in his head and finds that he is no longer the master of his own actions. In fact, the Vampire has transferred his consciousness into the mortal through the transfer of blood. Soon, the mortal will be a mindless drone, controlled telepathically by the Vampire. Some Vampires (like the one in Club Noir, below) control legions of mortals, forming a vast colony of hive-minded slaves.

Essence of Light and Darkness

Humanity has many ways of fighting Vampires, but the most powerful weapon they have is the very thing a Vampire needs: essence.

A human's essence takes on a tone that reflects their emotional state. Essence driven by "dark" emotions - fear, anger, hatred - is the most flavorful and nutritious to Vampires. Essence that is channeled through hope, love and courage, on the other hand, is quite unsettling. If particularly strong, it can even cause the Vampire pain.

By devouring positive essence, a Vampire maintains its strength. However, the Vampire must feed on small dosages. Much like a drug, essence can overwhelm the Vampire's system if it is exposed to too great an amount. Even negatively charged essence, if in excess, can "bloat" a Vampire, making him nauseous and uncoordinated.

The Vulnerabilities

Humans can focus their essence (even unconsciously) into inanimate objects. When a mortal holds a holy symbol boldly before him, he is channeling his faith (positive essence) through the symbol. It focuses and channels the essence, intensifying its strength and potence, and causing a subsequent "overload" in the Vampire's system.

Essence overload is not the only weakness a Vampire has. As much as he might like, he can never totally subjugate the unconscious mind of his mortal host to keep him safe from native superstitions. When a Vampire encounters objects that his mortal mind recognizes as harmful - usually holy symbols, but also such things as garlic and silver - his system responds by feeling pain. This is why a Jewish or Catholic Vampire feels shock and repulsion when looking on a Star of David or a crucifix. Their mortal mind tells their system they should be repulsed by the symbol of their faith, and so they are.

Mirrors are a different circumstance. Vampires will appear in mirrors, but when a Vampire looks into one, he sees his true nature. Again, the unconscious mind, although smothered by the Vampire's will, rebels against the sight. Sometimes, the mortal mind screams to the surface for a brief moment before the Vampire restores control.

Wooden stakes and silver bullets are also unique circumstances. In the Dark World of Vampires, silver does not exist. Its alien qualities cause disruption in their spiritual essences. Certain kinds of wood have a similar effect. Many folk lore tales list ash and rowan wood as the most potent weapons to use against Vampires. When a wooden stake is thrust through a Vampire's heart, it ceases the blood flow, as well as causing incredible paralyzing pain to the Vampire. The combined effect renders the Vampire helpless until the stake is removed.

Burial rites can be powerful tools for the Hunters. Many are the offspring of folk literature, but all folklore has some kernel of truth. For instance, burying an evil soul at a crossroads comes from the folk belief that spirits can only navigate along straight lines. Burying a Vampire at a crossroads will supposedly confuse his spirit; he won't know which way to go. This belief comes from burying an evil soul at a nexus point of essence energy. Many of the old Celtic roads were built along ley lines of earth essence, which were strong enough to keep a Vampire trapped until his body was exhumed. If Hunters can find such a nexus, they could use it to their (temporary) advantage.

Sorcery

When an Occultist reaches a Rank of 5 in Occult, he is able to invest points in Sorcery. Sorcery is a much more potent version of Occult, and while it may offer the Occultist an opportunity to "fight fire with fire", the side-effects of its use are dangerous in the extreme.

The Dark Art

The Occult Skill measures an Occultist's ability to sense the dark essence that Vampires exude. With every Rank he gains, the Occultist receives a more intrinsic link with those energies.

When an Occultist reaches 5 Occult, he has gained an almost intuitive connection to the Dark World. (To represent this, just assume he is automatically successful for any Occult rolls that have a Target Number of 20 or less.) He automatically receives one Rank in Sorcery. The Occultist can now begin to manipulate the same dark essence Vampires do.

Listed below are "spell effects" that can be generated with dark essence. Using them requires an understanding of how to use the essence; the Occult Skill alone isn't enough. Occultists must draw from the knowledge gathered by others. This should be role-played out; have the character search for an obscure book that may contain the spell he needs, or seek out an old gypsy woman who may hold the knowledge. Generally, Occultists already have esoteric and arcane libraries to draw such knowledge from. Gaining Ranks in Occult represents acquiring this knowledge. However, drawing the essence and focusing it is new to an Occultist, even if the ritual is familiar.

Casting A Spell

An Occultist uses Psyche + Sorcery to cast spells. Each spell is listed with a Target Number. Sometimes, additional roles are required. See individual spells for details.

<>BThe Cost

When an Occultist gains Rank 5 Occult, he gains a Dark Point in addition to the Sorcery skill. However, this is a secret Dark Point that only the GM knows about; don't let the player find out it exists. Every time the Occultist uses a spell, roll a Simple Roll, using a number of dice equal to the number of Dark Points the Hunter has. The Target Number equals the Occultist's Willpower Trait x 5. If the roll fails, nothing happens. If the roll succeeds, the Occultist gains another Dark Point. If an Occultist ever gains more Dark Points than Willpower, he is in serious danger. His attunement with dark essence has caused an opening with the Dark World, which could lead to his body becoming a shell for a dormant Vampire...

The Spells

This list is far from complete. Feel free to create your own spell effects, so long as they follow the basic guidelines of good gaming and common sense. Each spell listed below is in the following format:

Name: Lists the name of the spell.

Target Number: Lists the difficulty of the spell which must be defeated with a Simple Psyche + Sorcery roll.

Cost: Lists the number of Willpower Points that must be spent in order to successfully cast the spell. These Willpower Points do not raise the number of dice the Occultist can roll; they simply empower the spell. The Points must be spent at the time of the casting, before the dice are rolled.

Time: Lists the time required to cast the spell.

Duration: How long the spell lasts after it has been successfully cast.

Effect: Lists the full effects of successfully casting the spell

Raise: An Occultist can voluntarily Raise the TN of any spell. This section lists the effects of Raising the spell's TN.

Circle of Protection

Target Number: See below

Cost: 1 Willpower Point (and see below)

Time: 2 Actions (see below)

Duration: Sorcery Rank of the spellcaster x 5 in Rounds.

Effect: In order to cast this spell, the caster must draw a circle large enough to contain those he wishes to protect. Drawing the circle takes one action. The caster then must empower the circle with light essence. The Occultist makes a Simple Willpower + Sorcery roll and records the result. Any Vampire that wishes to cross into the circle or use Vampire Traits against a target within the circle must first make a Simple Roll using his Vampire Rank. The TN is the result of the Willpower + Sorcery roll of the Occultist. If a Vampire ever defeats the circle's power, the essence of the circle has been corrupted and no longer provides protection for any within. If anyone within the circle steps outside of its protective boundary, the circle's power has been compromised and it can no longer offer protection. Those within can fire projectiles out, however.

GM's Note: An Occultist does not receive Dark Points for casting this spell.

Raise: For every 5 Points the TN is Raised, the Occultist may:

1) Lower the casting time (minimum 1 Action).
2) Increase the duration (5 Points/Round).
3) Increase the number of dice rolled for the power of the circle (Will + Sorcery).

Strength of the Black Heart

Target Number: 15

Cost: 1 Willpower Point

Time: 1 Action

Duration: 1 Round per Sorcery Rank of the caster

Effect: This spell fills the target's body with dark essence, making it strong and virile. When cast, the target must make an immediate Simple Willpower Roll against the number the Occultist rolled to cast the spell. If successful, there is no effect. If unsuccessful, the target is overwhelmed by the dark essence and has no control over his actions for the entire duration of the spell. He will attack anything in sight until he is subdued or the spell wears off.

The target of this spell finds his Body raised by 1 and he may ignore one die of Wounds (see Raise below).

Raise: For every 5 Points the TN is Raised, the Occultist may: 1) Raise the Body of the target by 1.
2) Ignore an additional die of Wounds.

Essence Thief

Target Number: 10 + Target's Willpower Rank (or Vampire Rank) x 5

Cost: 3 Willpower Points

Time: 2 Actions

Duration: See below

Effect: This spell drains the essence from a being into the caster. The essence can then be channeled from the caster into a prepared container. Successful casting means the target loses one full Wound Level, which is transferred to the caster. The caster can hold the Wounds for a number of Rounds equal to his current number of Willpower Points. The caster has that time to transfer those Wounds to any target, including himself. The caster must touch the target in order to transfer the Wounds. If a caster uses this spell and has no Willpower Points to hold the Wounds, they are automatically dissipated and cannot be transferred to the caster or any other target. The original target of this spell automatically gains a permanent wound when this happens.

Raise: This spell may not be raised.

Flash of the Shadow

Target Number: 15

Cost: 1 Willpower Point

Time: 1 Action

Duration: 1 Round per Sorcery Rank of caster

Effect: Very much like Strength of the Black Heart, this spell fills the target's body with dark essence, giving him unnatural speed. If cast successfully, it gives the target an additional Action per Round. However, when the spell is cast, the target must make a Simple Willpower roll against the total the caster rolled when casting this spell. If he succeeds, there is no effect. If he fails, he slips between the light and dark worlds for the duration of the spell. Every round that he is there, he must make another Willpower roll. A single failed Willpower roll means the target gains a Dark Point and is ejected back into the light world.

Raise: For every 10 Points the TN is Raised, the Occultist may:

1) Increase the number of additional actions per Round.
2) Increase the duration by 1 Round.

Dark Observance

Target Number: 10

Cost: See below

Duration: See below

Effect: Dark essence is summoned to the caster, which lifts his own essence out of his body. The caster is fully aware of his own essence and can sense the area in which his essence travels. The pocket of essence floating along has only a single sense aware while traveling (sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell). As pure essence, the caster may easily move through solid objects. He is a floating (flying), invisible, free-moving spirit that may cause sensitive mortals (those with a high Psyche) to feel cold as he passes by them.

The essence pocket can travel 10´ per Round. At the end of every Round of travel, the caster must make an additional Psyche + Sorcery Roll against the Target Number + 5 per successive Round of travel. For instance, at the end of the first Round of travel the a TN is 10. At the end of the second Round, the TN is 15, the third Round calls for a TN 20, and so on. If the caster fails the roll, roll a number of dice equal to the number of turns the caster was disconnected to his body. The sum equals a number of Wounds the caster must immediately take. The caster may spend any number of Willpower Points before the dice are rolled, however, and each Willpower Point spent lowers the number of dice that are rolled.

At the beginning of any Round, the caster may dismiss the dark essence, thus snapping his own essence back to him. This causes nausea and dizziness that lasts a number of Rounds equal to the Rounds the caster was disconnected from his body, under which time, the caster may make no actions.

Raise: The TN of this spell may not be Raised.

Inquire the Essence

Target Number: 10

Cost: 1 Willpower Point

Duration: See below

Note: Use of this spell necessitates some pre-game preparation on the GM's part. See below for details.

Effect: This spell allows an Occultist to peer into the essence of an area and observe the Psychic "echoes" that may be lingering. The base TN is 10, which allows the caster to see actions that have occurred within an hour or two. See Raise below for more details. The caster can only view past events, and cannot experience any other sensory information (sound, smell, etc.) unless he raises the TN.

A psychic echo is like a recording of the event. All echoes fade over time, but events of great emotion and violence leave powerful echoes that sometimes refuse to fade. These are not ghosts; they are psychic recordings of powerful events. The Occultists views the events as they play out before him.

This spell can be dangerous if the activity was violent or if a Vampire was involved. As the caster views the echoes, he may find himself drawn into them. Echoes have a Psyche Trait (equal in all respects to a Hunter's Psyche Trait). When an Occultist attempts to commune with the echo, he must roll a Contested Roll vs. the Psyche of the echo. If he fails, his own Psyche is drawn into it and can be physically affected by it.

For instance, if the echo was of a murder, the Occultist must roll a Contested Psyche roll to avoid being drawn into the echo. If the Occultist succeeds the roll, he is startled/spooked/shaken by the event, but takes no long-term damage from viewing it. If he fails the roll, however, he is drawn into the echo as one of its participants. Perhaps he is the murderer, or even the victim. If the Psyche he is drawn into takes physical damage, so does the Occultist. For every Wound Level the echo takes, the Occultist takes 1 die of Wounds.

Once an echo has been recalled, it cannot be dispelled until the event finishes itself out.

Raise: For every 5 Points the Occultist Raises the TN of this spell, he may:

1) See an echo from an additional 24 hours in the past.
2) Add an additional sense (sound, taste, etc.) to the echo.

The Hunt: Club Noir

This month's Hunt takes place in Club Noir, a nightclub in Albany, Georgia. The Hunters gain clues from The First Hunt that lead them to the Club, but you needn't have played The First Hunt to use "Club Noir".

Rundown

Club Noir is only open after sundown. It's in a rundown warehouse in downtown Albany, consisting of two floors, one entrance (a blatant fire code violation that somehow gets overlooked), and a whole lot of secret passageways.

The Hunters' job is to infiltrate the club, find the vampire that lives there and destroy it. Sound simple? You can bet your Aunt Molly it's going to be a piece of cake.

The club is run by a single Vampire: Molly Malone. She's grown complacent and lazy, and her body shows it. Her fat, bloated body sits in a secret cellar as she waits for her goons to bring her fresh blood. Her mind is still very powerful, however, and capable of great feats of mass mesmerization. Hunters have tried to bring her down before, but she has a more potent weapon than many Vampires: an entire herd of mortal sheep willing to throw their lives away to protect her.

The Goons Almost everyone in the club carries some of Molly Malone's blood in their veins. At any time, Molly can invoke her will upon them, turning them into a great hive of drones. If the Hunters try to infiltrate the club, they will have to be very careful. If they reveal to anyone the nature of their visit, Molly will know and the happy clubbers will turn into a swarm of death. The Hunters will have to gun down club kids in order to escape, which, of course, will alert the police, which will bring a whole new set of troubles to the Hunters' doorstep. While the clubbers are not physically intimidating alone, imagine trying to stop one hundred and forty-three of them.

Very few of the clubbers leave during the day; they simply sleep on the floor or wherever they can stretch out until the club opens the next night. Due to the amount of dark essence coursing through their veins, they are more sluggish than usual in the daytime, but are still quick to obey their mistress's commands.

Hunters Episode 2: Map and Description

Hunters Inc. Episode 1