Customer Reviews

Hunter: The Reckoning

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When this game came out, White Wolf's forums were...less than thrilled about this game. It's a shame that people judge this book before they read it, because it has amazing depth and humanity to it.

You are the Imbued, regular blue- and white-collar citizens who one day get a big cosmic message from enigmatic beings (called the Heralds) waking you up to the fact that monsters not only exist in your world, but they have been there for a while and they've inserted themselves very neatly into law enforcement, politics, media, etc. Armed with "second sight" (the ability to spot these monsters out of a crowd) and "edges" (powers given to you by the Heralds to help you out in the hunt), Hunters can either strike at the darkness, search for redemption inside monsters, or merely try to learn more about them and figure out what went wrong. But as you begin to fight the good fight, you realize that you're outnumbered, outmanned, and underpowered. To top it all off, leading the crusade against darkness ultimately alienates you from your friends, family, and society. It's gritty, tragic, but ultimately hopeful. Despite it's bad rap as a twink game, Hunters are actually fragile, panicky creatures who bleed easy and go down fast. It's a welcome change from the usual White Wolf fare (if you haven't picked up a White Wolf game yet, I recommend this first before purchasing others...knowledge about the other games ruin the mystery of the monsters somewhat)

Hunter is one of the most compelling games White Wolf has ever made. Unlike the other games, your character is "merely" an average human, given the ability to see and react to the supernatural around him by the mysterious "Messengers". Each hunter is given a different view of how to answer the supernatural based on their own reactions, some seeing it as a last ditch war against the darkness while other instead approach it with innocent curiosity and optimism. While there is a sort of general "framework" to the game plot so it can fit into the overreaching world of darkness metagame, the writers do an admirable job of providing enough supplements and help for players so that in no way will your chronicle be limited by having to fit in with the other games. The hunter's powers are the best of any game I've seen, tailored to be cinematic effects than a cheesy "+12 spell of death". They suit their name of "edges", giving the players just enough power (and really cool chances for dramatic effect). The "everyman" feel of the game only adds to the suspense. The main weakness of the game is that to really enjoy it on more than a "its clobberin time" sort of level you have to buy multiple supplements, especially if you're going to get a deeper understanding of the different creeds. Spectacular game, but you really need the patience and the supplements to truly enjoy it.

I've played Werewolf. Hell, I've dabbled in Vampire. Both are really great games if you want to play as something that's rediculously powerful and only have a real challenge if you're fighting an older Vampire or Werewolf (in either game). Hunter is different: instead of being this ungodly-powerful monster, you're this regular Joe with a neat trick, trying to fight the aforementioned monsters.
It sounds unfair, I know, but that's what makes this game beautiful. You have extraordinary powers, but they're hardly enough to stop a charging Get of Fenris or Bruja in its tracks. You're alone, and if you don't find help, either you'll die, or you'll be driven insane. That, my friend, is true fear.
Yes, the story aspect is my favorite part of this game, but let's discuss the gameplay. As in most White Wolf games, the gameplay takes a backseat for story, but there's a perfectly working game here, too. Each player creates a Hunter (someone trying to fight monsters that only they can see) and assigns him/her powers.

Hunter: the Reckoning is another RPG that looks good in theory and concept, but the actual execution is flawed. Personally, I had been griping for some time that humans (read: people who don't have a WoD book named after them) are basically cannon fodder and statistics to harvest for personal gain. When I heard that an official Hunter book was going to be released (despite the botched publicity stunt at WhiteWolf's website), I thought I could finally implement something to restore some play balance and fear to the other supernaturals (who were becoming more stereotypically arrogant every time they played).

What I instead found was something that might be more suited as an independant game, much like how Aberrant could not fit in a typical World of Darkness setting. The Hunters gain their abilities through a weird twist of fate in which the powers manifest. Such powers are based on a series is mindsets (martyr, avenger, etc). It presented a hunter less like the classic Von Helsing, and more like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The "monsters" have less personality and tend to fall under the typical fodder of tv and movies. During a sample session where Hunters were introduced, the intricate plot got pushed aside for guns blazing and much skull-crunching. Definitely a departure from the plot development that I found in the other books.

In summary: Don't view it as another World of Darkness book. See it more as a different gaming environment using the same mechanics. Thus, individual opinions will vary.

Finally! I play and storytell White Wolf games for almost 5 years now and although I like Werewolf and Mage, and revised Vampire, I felt there was something missing, the very something that almost dripped from the old 2nd Edition V:tM. Gehenna, Apocalypse and Armageddon are neat. But the World of Darkness should be about rather more subtle horrors, and more internal conflicts. Therefore, I was very glad when I bought Hunter and found out that it's almost as good as the old 2nd Edition Vampire. Its atmosphere, all encompassing paranoia and isolation are perfect in their ability to gnaw at you. Excellent. Even for my players, who are Vampire vets and at least competent Mages or Garou, this is something completely different. For all those, who play for atmosphere and emotional strength of the story, this book is a must. ...Well, two objections (minor, but still here): 1) The art on the Creed Names is HORRIBLE. Shoot the responsibles, please.(The one responsible for Martyr should be burned alive, instead) 2) "Monsters" could be described a bit better. This makes us Kindred all look like impotent morons. Nonetheless, this is one of the best things from White Wolf. Well worth the money.

I always enjoyed a good Hunter game because players are in control of supernaturally imbued characters who are entirely clueless to the World of Darkness. Thankfully with the well written, and familiar, rules, you have the opportunity to fight back against the creatures who prey on humanity. This is not an investigate and run away game like Call of Cthulhu.

With that said, a good game requires that the cluelessness is maintained to keep the level of excitement up. You can have players who know about the World of Darkness, but that information should not influencing their character's in-game decisions. A Hunter is not going to know a Brujah from a Gangrel or that a large man in a business suit is a Glasswalker.

Overall, Hunter was my favorite of the "old-school" White Wolf/World of Darkness games/settings. The basic rules are consistent with the other titles in the line, with only a few variations. This made it easy to pick up and start playing on our first night with the rule book.

If you're interested in playing a vampire hunter, or werewolf hunter... this is a great game to do it based on a storytelling aspect rather than dice rolls.
Also, it's set up to play as a kind of survival-horror game better than anything else; it doesn't have the dice rolling of the old Dark Conspiracy game, but you can definitely do the story well with the character outlines provided.
The book is well layed out and easy (and fun) to read, with more than a few inspiring sections for a beginning gamemaster. I do recommend picking up the player's guide with it, though, especially if your players are veterans of other RPG's.

Hunter is my favorite RPG in the World of Darknes series. In this game, you do not play an all-powerful vampire, mage, or werewolf... but instead a vulnerable human with a few paltry powers (mostly revolving around detection and identification of the paranormals). I highly recommend the Hunter: the Reckoning for the following reasons: * The StortyTelling system from White Wolf has an excellent resolution engine for tasks and combat. * I enjoy the story line -- playing a vulnerable human hunting very powerful paranormals... trying to understand them, sometimes destroying the evil ones, sometimes befriending the good ones. All of these things combine to make this one of my favorite games to play... and I've been role-playing since the Summer of 1980. If you buy it, I'm sure that you'll enjoy it. There is a decent-sized community of online gamers that play Hunter via "WebRPG Online". Buy the game and join us. Have a great day!

Pardon the title, but really- a fantastic game.

I own all of the major (o)WoD titles and have played and/or run them all. I really loved the games, the system, and despite the difficult times I had in trying to run massive cross over games I did what I could.

To be honest, I still prefer Vampire the Masquerade, but Hunter is a really close second.

The book is worth the purchase for the Flaws section alone. Giving a character a large alimony or a terminal illness helps to keep the characters set in a realistic setting that's hard to get out of other WoD games. The arguement that the characters are too weak to really 'hunt' the other various denizens of the World of Darkness is rather accurate. A man is generally too weak to stand toe to toe with lions and tigers and bears, yet they too are hunted and slain. The complaint that the game is nothing but weak combat and no story is awful. When I was the storyteller we spent about a third or fourth of the night discussing the day to day lives of the hunters- there 9-5 lives. The characters would then band together- guided by a mysterious force- to hunt. I didn't hand the characters rocket launchers and C-4. None of them were kung-fu masters or rogue CIA assassins. A professor, car dealer, truck driver, and - okay I admit- mad scientist type guy. They had very limited combat resources so instead of just off and 'blowing away' vampires and werewolves they had to really be clever, setting traps, researching patterns and habits, and generally trying like hell not to get killed. I have been enjoying the New World of Darkness and PRAY that the new Hunter does a halfway decent job to catch the feel of the old. If not, I'm sure I'll make adjustments as necessary.

This is a hard game for a true gamer! sadly, the low level of power of the characters of this game can deceive other players of powergaming series like vampire and werewolf. This game is about terror and madness, not to make the world a couple of slaves and show the most powers of strange forces. Through the scenario of the Time of Judgement, this game shows exactly the situation of the humans and the apocalyptic situation of the end of the WoD. Only for experts, not for Powerseekers.