The Hunter Quality

A few years ago I was involved in a short lived, but very memorable Buffy game. One of the players (who was a big reason the game ended when it did) wanted to basically play Blade. The director said no. Then he asked if he could play a male Slayer. The director decided to let him be a Hunter, which was basically described as a male anti-slayer (and had the same stats as a Slayer, with the exception of a few changed Adversaries). It could have worked and the director came up with some great background stuff that would've made for a great game, but the player didn't like to roleplay and basically got himself and the other hero killed. This pretty much ended the game. I'm talking with the director of the game and one of the other cast members to start it back up, where we left off with myself as the director.

So I've recently started playing the God of War games again. For those of you unfamiliar it's a machismo fueled action series thats full of blood, boobs, and guts. It's kind of the anti-Buffy. Still for some unknown reason I got the idea of recreating the Hunter quality and tying it into the God of War games. So here you go, this is my Hunter quality. I realize that its very similar to the Slayer quality, but there are a few differences.

Hunter (16 Pont Quality)

Created during the days of ancient Greece the supernatural imbued men known as the Hunters could be referred to as the anti-Slayers. Legends say that they were created by the god of war, Kratos. It is said that the once mortal god was influenced by dark spirits to create his own servitor, one to rival that of the Slayer, who had received the blessings of Artemis. A young soldier was chosen and imbued with a bit of Kratos essence. Soon after, the god was betrayed by Zeus and engaged in warfare with most of the Greek pantheon. While the god battled, the demonic conspirators corrupted the god’s servant and took control of the essence that empowered it. They dubbed their new servant, the Hunter (to mock Artemis), and unleashed it upon the land. The first Hunter was an absolute killing machine who cared for little but spilling blood. However, a seed of rebellion was planted into the Hunter upon Kratos sacrifice and gift of Hope to the world.

At least that’s what the ancient tomes say…

The Hunter is the dark mirror of the Slayer. He is a young man chosen by fate to wield demonic power. Instead of protecting mankind, he is a servant of evil. There can only be one Hunter at a time. When one is killed another is imbued.

Knowledge of the Hunters is rare and considered apocryphal by the Watcher’s Council. However, there are some that know of the Hunter’s existence and seek to guide him to path of righteousness, knowing that he is still mortal and has been gifted the same hope by his creator that all men and women were given. They may be rare, but a rogue Hunters are not unheard of.

• +3 to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. They also receive a These bonuses can raise the Hunter’s Attributes above the human maximum of six. Also, none of the Hunter’s physical Abilities can be lower than four after bonuses are applied. It should be noted that Hunters are not imbued with supernatural Willpower like the Slayers. This is because they were created to be pawns, not knights.
• Fast Reaction Time, Nerves of Steel, and five ranks of Hard to Kill (an additional five levels can be purchased on top of that). However they get an automatic Adversary (Slayer and Watcher’s Council) worth five points. The duties of a Hunter count as a 3-point Obligation Drawback. Rogue Hunters lose their adversary (Slayer and Watcher’s Council), but gain Adversary (Demons) worth five points. This isn’t to say that Watchers and Slayers that know of the Hunter trust him, but they don’t attack him on sight. Violence is in their nature so they gain the Antisocial Impulses (Violence) drawback for two points (See Angel Corebook for this drawback).
• +2 free levels of the Crime, Getting Medieval, and Kung Fu skills (they must spend at least one point a piece on those skills, for a minimum beginning level of three in each).
• Damage is regenerated at a rate of one Life Point per Constitution level, every hour. Hunter’s recover from injuries unnaturally fast.
• For reasons tied to their creation, all Hunters gain full fluency (reading and writing) in Greek and all of its dialects (including dead versions).

Though infused with demonic magic, Hunters are human. Hunters cannot take any package qualities that involve physical training. For obvious reasons, Hunters may also not be Watchers.