Chronicles of Darkness - Hunter: the Vigil Second Edition

As long as monsters have prowled the darkness,

brave and desperate mortals have walked
out of the protective ring of firelight
to pursue those shadows.
SOME DIE. MANY GO MAD.
But someone else always picks up the candle
and steps into the dark…

- Unknown

Overview

The scales have fallen from your eyes. A fire is lit: is it a lamp perched over the inscription upon an ancient blade? Or a roaring conflagration consuming the house in which the howling fiends wait? Things will never be the same after this. You’ve set forth on a damning path. Carry the Vigil. Fight back the shadows.

Player Resources

• Hunter Character Template
  
• Vigil 2^e Genre Directory

Genre Staff

Master Storyteller: Jessica Orsini

BtS National Storyteller: Daniel Jag

SNA National Storyteller: Morgan Rippke

Compacts

A compact, also known as the second-tier, is a type of organization found in Hunter: The Vigil. Compacts are organized cells of hunters dedicated to a common purpose. Compacts can be everything to a regional organization of hunters to a worldwide group with strict rules limiting its numbers.

Compacts are easy to find and join, and tend to offer a great deal of practical experience, as well as a few resources a hunter on their own might not have had before. They are also fairly easy to switch between, as most compacts do not have the energy and manpower to hunt down a rogue member capable of disappearing from sight.

While a good deal for an inexperienced hunter, compacts also tend to have a number of weaknesses over the more established conspiracies. Most compacts are relatively new, with the oldest only founded in the last century or two. As a result, some compacts lack a true focus and can fall prey to infighting between members. Newer compacts also may have to rely more on hearsay or rumor for information, not having centralized resources to gather data from. They are limited in size, making them effective in one or two areas, but are prone to falling prey to local politics or a stubborn conspiracy. Plus, the supernatural tend to outnumber the members of a compact, so one that attracts a great deal of attention may easily be wiped from the face of the earth by a powerful entity that grows tired of them.

• Ama-San: The Ama-San are a compact of hunters who specialize in pursuing sea monsters. Like Japanese pearl-divers, the matriarchal Ama-San use a distinctive cry called the isobue or "sea-whistle" to regulate their breathing when they surface, but unlike their colleagues they have learned to use the sea-whistle to force undersea creatures to the surface where they can be destroyed.
• Ashwood Abbey: Ashwood Abbey is a compact originally founded as a hedonistic society in Scotland. They have since evolved into an influential formal hunting club, seeking to track down the creatures of darkness for sport.
• Azusa Miko: The Asuza-Miko are a compact who specialize in rooting out supernatural corruption among the miko, Shinto shrine-maidens. Many are former miko or daughters of miko families who were forbidden from practicing during the Tokugawa Shogunate; this outsider status allowed them to recognize miko who were possessed by ghosts, spirits, or worse creatures.
• Bijin: Bijin were a compact in Japan active during the Tokugawa period, a few of which continued into the modern era. Composed of artists and middle-class merchants, the Bijin gathered intelligence on the monsters of Edo and figured out how to destroy--or exploit--their powers.
• Habibti Ma: Habibti Ma is a compact composed of a front organization known as "Mothers Against Cult Activity" and a more clandestine organization that operate together in order to bring down cults.
• The Long Night: The Long Night is a compact composed of a loosely-gathered group of faithful Christians who believe the world is in the midst of the Tribulation, and they fight the creatures of darkness as part of God's holy army.
• Loyalists of Thule: The Loyalists of Thule are a compact descended from an old German secret society dedicated to finding the source of civilization. They now seek knowledge about the unknown, especially the creatures of darkness.
• Network Zero: Network Zero is a compact made up of contacts through an Internet network who do their best to use the media to unveil the truth about the mysterious creatures of the night.
• Null Mysteriis: Null Mysteriis is a compact based on a loosely-organized group of scientists and professionals who use science and logic to determine the truth behind the creatures of darkness.
• The Reckoning: The Reckoning is a recent compact, founded out of a "sovereign citizen" faction, that hunts Heroes on the theory that Heroes bring Beasts.
• The Union: The Union is a compact made up of average, everyday people who earn an honest living by day and hunt the paranormal by night to protect the families and homes they've worked for.
• Utopia Now: Utopia Now is a business-driven compact of utopians, libertarians, and businessmen that hunt demons, especially institutional ones, for parts in order to build a utopia free of their influence.
• Yuri's Group: Yuri's Group is a compact that arose out of support groups for Iraq War veterans. They primarily hunt the Begotten. While some believe they can rehabilitate monsters, most members focus on support for victims.

Conspiracies

A conspiracy, also called the third-tier, is a type of organization found in Hunter: The Vigil. Conspiracies are vast organizations of great power and influence, be it through government support, religious decree, or simply surviving for thousands of years. Many conspiracies work in secret, away from the public eye, and quite a few are dedicated to keeping the supernatural forces hidden from average people. Conspiracies tend to have more far-reaching networks, reliable resources and superior knowledge than the smaller, less organized compacts.

Another benefit conspiracies offer over the weaker compacts are Endowments, powers developed specifically by a conspiracy that allow it to do things a normal mortal man would not be able to do. While they sound appealing, many Endowments come with a steep cost to use. Some gradually corrode the user's soul, some literally poison the person drawing upon it, and most keep their user from ever having a chance at leaving the conspiracy if the stakes become too high.

• Aegis Kai Doru: Aegis Kai Doru is a conspiracy who are descended from an ancient society and are dedicated to the use and protection of ancient artifacts that affect the creatures of darkness.
• Ascending Ones: The Ascending Ones is a conspiracy that originally formed in Egypt to fight against the monsters of darkness and continue their efforts to this day, all the while keeping their activities and those of their prey from reaching the eyes and ears of ordinary people.
• Cheiron Group: The Cheiron Group is a conspiracy that exist as a company dedicated to capturing and experimenting on dark monsters to benefit their own technology and investments.
• The Faithful of Shulpae: The Faithful of Shulpae is a conspiracy operating as a cult of people who eat the flesh of supernatural beings.
• Hototogisu: Hototogisu is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, with its roots in a conspiracy of hunters dating back to the Tokugawa shogunate. Their leader, Inoue Akio, discovered how to "steal" the powers of various supernatural creatures for his own ends, and today the company has many such beings in their employ.
• Knights of St. Adrian: Originally an anti-demon mercenary unit, the Knights of Saint Adrian have continued throughout the modern era.
• Lucifuge: The Lucifuge is a conspiracy composed of humans descended from demons who, for one reason or another, have vowed to use their demonic powers to fight the monsters in the dark.
• Malleus Maleficarum: Malleus Maleficarum is a secret branch of the Catholic Church dedicated to using holy powers to eradicate the creatures of darkness.
• The Merrick Institute: The Merrick Institute is a conspiracy of hunters with the ability to enter the Primordial Dream thanks to an unnamed procedure forced on them by the US government. They use this power to pursue the Begotten.
• Otodo: The Otodo are a Japanese counterpart to the Lucifuge, using their oni ancestry to fight monsters.
• Task Force:VALKYRIE: Task Force: VALKYRIE is a conspiracy that exists as a top secret United States government agency dedicated to hunting down and removing all traces of the unexplainable.

Cities of Australia

Cities of North America