History TabletopGame / HunterTheVigil

** Not to mention the compacts and conspiracies themselves. Let's see, a group of TheMenInBlack calling themselves [[Film/MenInBlack Division Six]], a FBI unit [[Series/{{Millennium}} that uses psychic flashes to hunt serial killers]], [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer sorority girls hunting vampires]], a therapy group that deals with "troubled" (possibly lycanthropic) teens named [[TheWolfMan The Talbot Group]]...

* AndJohnWasAZombie: Quite possible, since hunters are mortals, and the state of mortality is...easily changed. Not a focus, but there's an Elixir in Night Stalkers that causes the Ascending One imbibing it to turn into a [[VampireTheRequiem vampire]] (presumably a [[DarkIsEdgy Mekhet]], since they hail from AncientEgypt too) for a night. A [[GoneHorriblyWrong dramatic failure]] causes the Elixir to work as intended...[[OhCrap except for the "wears off" bit]].

** Although the sourcebook with the Daughters' head indicates they don't ''actually'' have John the Baptist's.

* BloodyMurder: The Bleeder, a Task Force: VALKYRIE weapon with the nasty effect of making a [[VampireTheRequiem vampire's]] blood leak out of his body, usually in a violent manner, like vomiting. But wait, [[ItGotWorse it gets worse]]! On an exceptional success, the unfortunate vamp's blood vessels literally EXPLODE, tearing apart his skin and muscle in a veritable spectacle of {{Squick}}. [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel Good lord]]...Monster or not, you don't want to mess with TheMenInBlack.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: The World of Darkness is a terrible place, run by the walking dead, reality benders, and things that just plain aren't human. Most of these... things... see humanity as useful tools at best, and... well... [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel let's not get into what they see humanity as at worst.]] But for those mere mortals who stand up to the darkness, and fight back, they can, very occasionally, really make the World of Darkness just a little bit brighter.

** Task Force: VALKYRIE is not TheMenInBlack. TheMenInBlack, in the ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'', is [[EldritchAbomination much]], [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel much,]] ''[[{{Determinator}} much]]'' [[MindRape worse]]. Fortunately, they're mostly [[TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening a problem for the mages]], but if you're close by and admit that you've seen a supernatural experience, well... [[ExactTimeToFailure 44 hours, 26 minutes, 17 seconds]].

* BadassAngster: Many, many Hunters. [[InTheBlood The Lucifuge]] and [[TheAtoner The Loyalists Of Thule]] have this as their [[PlanetOfHats hat]].

* [[{{MIB}} Task Force: VALKYRIE]]: The US government's answer to the things that go bump in the night, VALKYRIE's mission is twofold. Their first objective is to keep the general public safe from Extra-Normal Entities. The second is to keep that same public from ever ''learning'' about the critters. With its Advanced Armory, TFV can bring bleeding-edge technology to bear against monsters of all stripes, provided the top brass gives the field operatives the green light.

** Task Force: VALKYRIE is not the MIB. The MIB, in the ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'', is [[EldritchAbomination much]], [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel much,]] ''[[{{Determinator}} much]]'' [[MindRape worse]]. Fortunately, they're mostly [[TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening a problem for the mages]], but if you're close by and admit that you've seen a supernatural experience, well... [[ExactTimeToFailure 44 hours, 26 minutes, 17 seconds]].

** Not to mention the compacts and conspiracies themselves. Let's see, a group of {{MIB}} calling themselves [[Film/MenInBlack Division Six]], a FBI unit [[Series/{{Millennium}} that uses psychic flashes to hunt serial killers]], [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer sorority girls hunting vampires]], a therapy group that deals with "troubled" (possibly lycanthropic) teens named [[TheWolfMan The Talbot Group]]...

* {{MIB}}: Task Force: VALKYRIE. Division Six wants to be, but they're the puppets of [[TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening Seers of the Throne]].

* BloodyMurder: The Bleeder, a Task Force: VALKYRIE weapon with the nasty effect of making a [[VampireTheRequiem vampire's]] blood leak out of his body, usually in a violent manner, like vomiting. But wait, [[ItGotWorse it gets worse]]! On an exceptional success, the unfortunate vamp's blood vessels literally EXPLODE, tearing apart his skin and muscle in a veritable spectacle of {{Squick}}. [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel Good lord]]...Monster or not, you don't want to mess with the {{MIB}}.

* SpiritualSuccessor: At Tier 3, the game might as well be called [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension Technocracy: The Playable]]. Task Force VALKYRIE and the Cheiron Group in particular are direct [[{{Expy}} expies]] of the former. Cheiron also has much in common with [[WerewolfTheApocalypse Pentex]].

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: It's implied that this is the viewpoint of [[spoiler the Cheiron Group's board of directors]]... [[DependingOnTheWriter unless of course your Storyteller chooses to make them just plain evil.]]

** There is also the reasoning that "even the best of them cover for the worst of them."

* TheChessmaster: The Barrett Commission are a secret society of politicians who seek to safeguard the US government from vampire influence, mainly through social means. Yes, you heard that right: they are a group of [[PunyEarthlings mere mortals]] who [[XanatosSpeedChess play power games]] against a race of [[TheBeautifulPeople supernaturally beautiful]], [[MindControl mind-controlling]] {{Monster Lord}}s. And while they haven't exactly succeeded at this goal, they managed to be a real thorn in the vampires' side, which is still quite impressive.

* BlackAndGreyMorality: The gray is [[ALighterShadeOfGrey lighter than most]], but none of the individuals feuding over the example city are particularly nice, and a few are just plain monstrous (we have an arrogant demon squatting in a college, a NietzcheWannabe street priest who may or may not be an insane angel, the Cherion-employed [[TheBaroness ice queen]] driving wedges between the factions so she can harvest the remains..). This is probably to help players not feel bad about kicking their corrupt asses out, but it says something when the nicest faction leader in control of a territory is a DarkMagicalGirl who's wagering the life of her Consilium ''on a hunch''.

* BlackAndGreyMorality: The gray is [[ALighterShadeOfGrey lighter than most]], but none of the individuals feuding over the example city are particularly nice, and a few are just plain monstrous (we have an arrogant demon squatting in a college, a NietzcheWannabe street priest who may or may not be an insane angel, the CorruptCorporateExecutive driving wedges between the factions so she can harvest the remains..). This is probably to help players not feel bad about kicking their corrupt asses out, but it says something when the nicest member a ''leader of the Ashwood Abbey'' (albeit an AffablyEvil one).

* MistakenForBadass: One of the suggested hunters for Cheiron is a cleaner. Like, an actual cleaner, with a mop. He got his position due to a clerical error, involving a man with a name one letter different.

** But the Loyalists of Thule ''really'' take the cake here. Seeking to atone for their responsibility in starting WWII, they've decided that redemption comes with militant action. They believe they must shepherd and lead the way for the human race, as its enlightened elite. Thus they must acquire control (over people, over knowledge, etc.). They will systematically murder any dissident among their ranks, and stamp out any outside organisation which they deem too close to Nazi occultism. They've centred their ideology around "searching for Thule", which they see as a path striving toward perfection...oh, alright, you can guess where this is going, isn't it?

* AlternateUniverse: Task Force: VALKYRIE knows about them (namely the [[WerewolfTheForsaken Shadow]] and the [[GeistTheSinEaters Underworld]] in addition to the presence of more conventional alternate universes and timelines that the Storyteller can cook up) and has ways of entering them.

''Hunter: The Vigil'' is a role-playing game by White Wolf Publishing. It's the sixth game for the NewWorldOfDarkness, following the normal humans who decide to go out and shoot the monsters hiding in the shadows. Of course, this being the World of Darkness, [[HilarityEnsues bad things happen a lot]].

** Task Force: VALKYRIE is not the MIB. The MIB, in the ''WorldOfDarkness'', is [[EldritchAbomination much]], [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel much,]] ''[[{{Determinator}} much]]'' [[MindRape worse]]. Fortunately, they're mostly [[TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening a problem for the mages]], but if you're close by and admit that you've seen a supernatural experience, well... [[ExactTimeToFailure 44 hours, 26 minutes, 17 seconds]].

* PlanetEris: As is usual with the WorldOfDarkness.

** Part of the whole point of the game is cramming in as many {{Shout Out}}s to the other games in TheWorldOfDarkness without explicitly referencing them or requiring a Storyteller or players to look into those other lines. Owls, as mentioned under BodySurf, are pretty much a shout out to the Strix, for example.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Cynical, as is usual with [[WorldOfDarkness WoD]]. However, the Hunter line is the only part of the World Of Darkness where humanity can fight back against the monsters running things, making it slightly less cynical than the rest of the World Of Darkness. Of course, to put this into perspective, the least cynical part of WoD pits humans with shotguns and occasional magical items or tricks, against the immortal undead, witches who can alter the very fabric of reality, and monsters which could rip apart dozens of armed men with their bare claws.

* [[TheHedonist Ashwood Abbey]]: Comprised of [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob jaded socialites]] and [[AristocratsAreEvil devious aristocrats]], this Compact is the most infamous of all the hunter organizations. Members of the Abbey often come off as [[CompleteMonster disturbingly amoral]] even to some of their most inhuman adversaries, what with their preference for torture and... making sport with their prey. Recent supplements attempt to paint them with a touch more morality, stressing their recklessness and love of competition.

* [[AgentScully Null Mysteriis]]: The Organization for Rational Assession of the Supernatural. Scientifically or scholarly-minded individuals looking to explain or debunk the whats, hows and whys of the "so-called" supernatural. Whether through rigorous testing or study of fringe sciences, what unifies Null M. is not so much the penchant for fighting monsters as the drive to learn more about them.

** Not to mention the compacts and conspiracies themselves. Let's see, a group of {{MIB}} calling themselves [[MenInBlack Division Six]], a FBI unit [[Series/{{Millennium}} that uses psychic flashes to hunt serial killers]], [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer sorority girls hunting vampires]], a therapy group that deals with "troubled" (possibly lycanthropic) teens named [[TheWolfMan The Talbot Group]]...

* HangingSeparately: Most of the Compacts/Conspiracies suffer from this. Taken {{Up To Eleven}} in the setting of Philadelphia, where the mood is "Not in my backyard" and the Hunters spend more time [[WeAREStrugglingTogether bickering about petty territorial matters]] than [[IgnoredEnemy actually fighting the Supernaturals]].

* SpiritualSuccessor: At Tier 3, the game might as well be called [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension Technocracy: The Playable]]. Task Force VALKYRIE and the Cheiron Group in particular are direct [[{{Expy}} expies]] of the former.

* TokenEvilTeammate: Ashwood Abbey and/or Cheiron can easily be this. And then there's The Promethean Brotherhood, a bunch of GreenEyedMonster wannabe-magic users who cut up Mages in an attempt to steal their powers. They're not adverse to trying it on other Hunters either, the sick bastards.

* ContinuityNod: Division Six hunts "reality deviants", but are actually the pawns of evil mages. [[MageTheAscension Sound familiar?]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: At Tier 3, the game might as well be called [[MageTheAscension Technocracy: The Playable]]. Task Force VALKYRIE and the Cheiron Group in particular are direct [[{{Expy}} expies]] of the former.

* [[TheHedonist Ashwood Abbey]]: Comprised of [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob jaded socialites]] and [[AristocratsAreEvil devious aristocrats]], this Compact is the most infamous of all the hunter organizations. Members of the Abbey often come off as [[CompleteMonster disturbingly amoral]] even to some of their most inhuman adversaries, what with their preference for torture and... [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean making sport]] with their prey. Recent supplements attempt to paint them with a touch more morality, stressing their recklessness and love of competition.

* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover: While the other gamelines are more or less self-sufficent and have a distinct mythology, Hunter: The Vigil was clearly written with crossover potential in mind. References to the other instalments abound.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Cynical, as is usual with [[WorldOfDarkness WoD]].