TARGET: STRETCH GOALS
about 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 11, 2020 at 01:37:08 PM

Hello Hunters!

Well, this campaign continues to be a triumph! We've just taken out our third Stretch Goal target, and gained access to the Ascending Ones archives! That's right - a new Add On opportunity for those looking to fill in some digital holes in their first edition collection.

In addition to the rewards listed in each Reward Tier, backers can increase their overall pledge to add on the following additional reward. Simply increase your total pledge amount by the value indicated – we will confirm which add on rewards you’ve chosen via BackerKit surveys after the campaign has run (see Pledge Manager, on the main page).

A bundle of PDFs from the previous edition of Hunter: The Vigil, The Ascending Ones' Archive can provide inspiration and ideas for your Hunter: The Vigil game. This bundle includes the following titles:

•  Night Stalkers [Hunter: The Vigil 1E] PDF
•  Blood Drive [Hunter: The Vigil 1E] PDF
•  Dark Eras: Fallen Blossoms [Hunter: The Vigil 1E] PDF

Thanks to all backers who've expressed an interest in expanding our 1E bundle opportunities and helped come up with ideas. 

Before we choose our next targets, let's look at what we've accomplished so far... and we're not even through our first week yet!!

ACHIEVED! - At $40,000 in funding - Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition Storyteller Screen — We’ll create a Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition Storyteller Screen, which can be added on to any reward tier containing a hardcover book for only +$20.

ACHEIVED! - At $55,000 in funding - Tending the Flame: Cells — Help us fund a Player’s Companion for Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition. This PDF supplement would feature a chapter Cells, giving players narrative and systems’ support to successfully hunt at Tier One, as well as tips for navigating hunter society. All backers receiving the Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition PDF will automatically have the Player’s Companion PDF added to their rewards list.

ACHIEVED! - At $60,000 in funding - New Add-On Reward: The Ascending Ones' Archive — We’ll create a PDF bundle of first-edition titles that can be added to any reward tier for only $3.

And now, as promised, three tiers of upcoming targets... 

At $63,000 in funding - Kickstarter Backer T-Shirt — Hosted on the Redbubble store for a limited time, a Hunter: The Vigil-themed shirt will be priced at a discount. All backers will be notified when the shirt becomes available.

At $66,000 in funding - New Add-On Reward: Malleus Maleficarum's Scrolls — We’ll create a PDF bundle of first-edition titles that can be added to any reward tier for only $3. This PDF bundle will include:

•  Spirit Slayers [Hunter: The Vigil 1E] PDF
•  Bad Night at Blackmoon Farm [Hunter: The Vigil 1E] PDF
•  Under the Skin [Hunter: The Vigil 1E] PDF

At $70,000 in funding - Tending the Flame: Compacts — Help us fund a second chapter for the Player’s Companion for Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition. This chapter on Compacts would offer eight expanded compact write-ups with an emphasis on their current members and activities. 

If we manage to get to $70,000 - and I'm very hopeful that we will - an expansion of the supplement that we've recently added to our rewards list, this time including more info and rules for Tier Two play. New Compacts, baby! So excited!

OK, three new targets (and one secret target if we get to 1692 backers, but I'll reveal that as we get closer). Let's do this! Light those candles, keep the Vigil. Spread the word on your social media and in your social circles, and let's keep recruiting more to join our cause!

#HTV2E

#StretchGoals

Ghosts, am I right?
about 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 11, 2020 at 06:20:13 AM

Hello Hunters,

Ghosts, am I right?

I mean, I remember seeing Poltergeist and Ghostbusters when they came out. I knew ghosts were trouble. Lucky for Hunters, the Coucil of Bones has the tools and the talents to deal with these pesky specters. 

Perispiritism

The Council of Bones knows the human soul, though imperishable, is only tenuously anchored to the flesh, and once that link is severed the soul cannot truly return. However, that anchor, the perispirit, may be flexed like a muscle and with proper tools and training the living may commune with the dead and reach across the veil to seek hidden knowledge.

Perispiritism is an induced trance state that draws on several historical techniques appropriated, aggregated, and syncretized by the west following the American Civil War and Victorian era. Some techniques require time to achieve a trance state, while others are states of mind that can be entered at will. Costs are typically (but not always) paid through the strenuousness of the technique itself, rather than through some form of sacrifice.

To some Council members, these methods are considered modern, but they agree the techniques should not be limited to popularized western approaches just because they might be easier to visualize. What most won’t say, however, is that the only reason these (or any other) methods work is because each hunter is marked as part of their initiation into the Council — and no one knows why. This mark, which takes the form of an invisible, skull-shaped tattoo with two numbers in place of eyes on the bottom of their foot, uses an ink made from ghost corpus and as-yet-to-be-identified materials. Though most members don’t believe that to be the case, it’s assumed the Mark of the Scythe grants the bearer the ability to use common tools of divination — and not just Bygones — to talk to ghosts. Others think the mark allows the Council to find its members beyond the veil should they get lost; of course, a third rumor circulates that the mark is necromantic, and is an undying flame that attracts ghosts to the hunter.

After witnessing how hunter society at large has treated the now defunct Les Mystéres, the Council is reticent to reveal its secrets. Members may come and go, but using Council Endowments in front of others, or specifically sharing their secrets to outsiders, is a crime punishable by death.

Mark of the Scythe

While the Council of Bones avoids necromancers and the undead as much as humanly possible, more than once their chapters have fallen prey to the creatures of the night. In modern times, the Council now goes to great, if not unnecessary, lengths to ensure their members are mortal and are not agents of darkness. When a hunter pledges to become a member of their organization, they are initiated barefoot in an elaborate, formal ceremony. During this ritual, which takes place in a cemetery during twilight, the hunter contacts their dead ancestors and asks them for protection.

This night is largely symbolic, grandiose, and intentionally designed to impress its members, for it covers the true reason for the rite of passage: following this rite, the bottom of the hunter’s foot is branded with the faint outline of a skull that fades by midnight. The mystical tattoo, which has been rumored to contain secret messages, grants the user the ability to learn Perispiritism Endowments. Thus far, no reason has been given for the mark following its discovery, but that doesn’t stop members from speculating widely. Few know the truth: the Mark of the Scythe can only be placed on a living host.

Having the mark is what lets members learn new Perispiritism rituals. Lore keepers dole out rituals freely but check the mark each time someone requests a piece of legend or a scroll. Older and more experienced hunters know that their mark is the real key, allowing them to tap into the collective knowledge of the ghosts under their command, even if they do so unwittingly. Most Perispiritism rituals focus on the hunter’s own innate power and simply understanding ghosts. Communication and seeing them are the strict limit, though these things rarely net the kind of information councilmembers are looking for. Council elders suggest that ghosts just can’t remember their lives well enough to impart any useful information, but other hunters think there is something deeper going on. But since the Council forbids anyone to enter Twilight, they can’t really go looking for answers.

Councilmembers may conflate the idea of ghosts and spirts as one, but in truth, they only ever deal with ghosts. Their power is fueled by ghost ephemera, and not spirit ephemera, which means they cannot see or contact spirits unless they are manifested in front of them, just like any normal mortal. 

The mark serves another purpose, which is that it grants a loose communion between all people who have one. A hunter with the Mark of the Scythe can read and write ephemeral messages that only she and other people with the mark can read. She spends a Willpower when writing with her finger, or some other instrument on any kind of surface, and anyone with the mark can read the written words, even if there is no ink left behind when she wrote it. The hunter is manipulating ephemera, even if she has no idea what she is doing.

I mean, some people may tell other tales in the Chronicles of Darkness, may have other impressions of ghosts and spirits. But I'll leave those other versions to the experts...

Also, I'll just drop this quick mention of one of our Add Ons here, for no reason...

In addition to the rewards listed in each Reward Tier, backers can increase their overall pledge to add on  additional rewards. Simply increase your total pledge amount by the value indicated – we will confirm which add on rewards you’ve chosen via BackerKit surveys after the campaign has run (see Pledge Manager, on the main campaign page, for more information).

I'll talk more about the Add Ons and go over all the details you need to know to expand your rewards list in the final week of the campaign, so stay tuned. In the meantime, get ready, because we'll have Network Zero and the Council of Bones featured in our Compact & Conspiracy backers-only manuscript preview coming tomorrow.

#HTV2E

#CouncilOfBones

BACKERS ONLY - Compact & Conspiracy Preview B - Loyalists of Thule & The Cheiron Group
about 4 years ago – Mon, Feb 10, 2020 at 03:01:15 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Long Pause, Heavy Sigh. Fiction by Cassandra Khaw
about 4 years ago – Sun, Feb 09, 2020 at 05:07:35 AM

Every field agent has a story that ends in a long pause followed by a heavy sigh. We’ve all lost someone: a father, fellow operative, best friend, mentor, lover. We never forget.

My story? Our unit was taking a little R&R near Prospect and Downer when we got a call. An ENE had been reported attacking civvies in broad daylight near Bradford Beach, and we were asked to check out the scene and wait for further instructions.

I made the decision to go light on munitions. HQ almost always ordered us not to engage the enemy in our first encounter, and I suspected the beach was filled with people. I was able to pop a few grenades, knives, and traps in our backpacks; I also wrapped a handgun in one of our beach towels, just in case, right next to a beer bottle. Sharp glass wasn’t a sanctioned weapon, but our unit knew that emergencies often called for unique solutions.

With all the civilians around, we opted to wear shorts, tank tops, and sandals instead of our approved gear. ENEs were dangerous, sure, but nothing was scarier than a mob of angry drunk people on a hot, sandy beach. Despite our casual appearances, each of us had roles to play: Miles sat at a nearby restaurant overlooking the water to run ops, Theron interviewed witnesses, and I was there to back them up.

Miles kicked off the mission by revealing our target. “Theron, HQ says you’re green to go. You’re looking for a white man wearing blue basketball shorts.”

Theron spoke up. “I see him. He’s sunbathing next to a cooler down by the lake.”

So far, so good. I managed to keep Theron in my sights, but it was hard not to stand out. The beach wasn’t covered with people, but there were just enough clusters of volleyball players, families, and sunbathers I had to be careful not to seem creepy or out of place. I found a nice, sunny spot approximately 30 yards from the witness. To blend in, I laid out my towel, grabbed a small bottle of suntan lotion and a book, and secured my ear buds and tiny microphone.

“How’re you doing up there, Jennifer?” Miles asked me. “You have line of sight?”

“For the moment. There’s a lot of civvies around, sir. Timing’s off.”

“I’m sure we’ll have to come back later. For now, let’s make HQ happy and grab some intel for our initial report, okay?”

“Yes, sir,” I mumbled. It’s just that—”

That’s when I heard Theron yell, “I didn’t mean to kill them!” Then, I heard him scream followed by a loud crackling noise.

“Jennifer! Theron’s feed went dark.” Miles barked. “You need to—”

Miles did not have to finish their command. Without thinking, I dropped everything, and sprinted to where Theron once stood. I looked around, but he wasn’t there. I saw his footprints, obvious signs of a scuffle, then…nothing. He simply disappeared.

“What happened?” I asked the man in the basketball shorts. Thankfully, I managed to avoid breaking cover. “I heard a scream…”

“Friend of yours?” the man asked, glaring at me. The man’s face was odd and angular, as if the skin was stretched too tight over his cheeks, and his lips were so thin they were as white as his teeth.

“Just worried,” I replied. I opted to play the concerned-citizen card. “A scream like that? I hope no one got hurt.”

The man snorted. “Yeah, hurt. I guess you’d worry about them more than me.”

“Sorry?” I said, praying Miles wouldn’t interrupt. I ripped my earbuds out just in case. “What did you say?”

The man lowered his voice, then said: “Go ahead and call the cops. You won’t find him.”

My heart was pounding. Was this the ENE we were supposed to locate? “I-I-I don’t understand. Did someone go missing? Here? In front of all these people?”

I was telling the truth. How could Theron vanish like that? I wasn’t that far away!

“If you are who I think you are,” the man hissed, his eyes flashing yellow. “Take this as a warning. No hunter will ever take down our nests and attack our hatchlings. Never again.”

My heart was pounding. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t risk exposing my identity, unit, or VASCU to an ENE. I couldn’t ask Miles for guidance, either, not without looking suspicious. Carefully, I said: “I’m just worried about his safety. Can you tell me if he’s still alive?”

The man grabbed a water bottle from the cooler beside him and exposed his forearm. There were gills flapping — no, gasping — in the summer heat. Then, he poured the water on his forearm, whistled, and pointed at Lake Michigan.

“You’ll find the body in there, human.”

“Body?” I tried not to cry. Soldiers never did. “Why?”

“A life for a life. You think that’s sand you’re standing on right now? Where do you think we hide our eggs?”

My body tensed and I felt a shiver run up and down my spine. I looked at the sand — reallylooked — and realized the ENE wasn’t hostile because they hated humans. They were grieving for the loss of their kin. Thousands of gold-colored egg clusters were nestled together all along the shoreline, and their protector, whoever or whatever this human-seeing ENE was, watched over them until they hatched. Theron must have unintentionally smashed them, and that’s what triggered a confrontation.

I could tell the ENE was waiting for my next move. No doubt, Miles had already called the police, and I was a witness. I had no weapons — all my gear was stashed by my towel — and I was facing an ENE who had already murdered a member of my unit. My gut told me to scream, to cry, to run, to pummel the ENE and smash all their eggs. Instead, I let my training kick in.

I kept my voice steady and said, “Local police are probably on their way. You can either slip back into the water, retrieve the body, and be celebrated as a “hero” or you can be certain my people will wage all-out war. What’s it going to be?”

“And the eggs?” the ENE asked.

“Body first.”

Wordlessly, the ENE dove into the water and dragged Theron’s body to shore just as the police and Miles arrived. The ENE glared at me, nodding slightly toward the sand, and I jumped to attention.

“This man’s a hero!” I yelled, lying through my teeth. Getting the ENE on camera was more important than putting the locals’ safety at risk. “But we have to be careful. This area isn’t safe. Theron,” I swallowed hard, “drowned.”

I barely remember what happened next, and I never saw that ENE again. The next day, I led a team of agents down to the site and all the eggs — and our perp — vanished. I will never forget the hard lessons I learned that day, and those yellow, yellow eyes haunting my dreams.

#HTV2E

#StayVigilant

TENDING THE FLAME
about 4 years ago – Sat, Feb 08, 2020 at 09:05:06 AM

Hello Hunters,

Well, it's been quite a start to the campaign!

Not only did we fund the hardcover version of Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition, we're now slaying Stretch Goal monsters as well! (Note: Yeah, maybe we should be "Capturing" these Stretch Goal targets instead of slaying them, but whatever the wording, we're achieving Stretch Goal targets, and that's awesome!)

Before I dig into our Stretch Goal news, I wanted to post another bit of behind-the-scenes info. In an earlier post, I shared an interview with  Monica Valentinelli, but now it's time to have Monica interview her team and share more about the creation process of this book. In an interview on FlamesRising.com, you can check out Monica's chat with writers Trip Galey and Matt Miller who worked on the Mysterious Places chapter. <INTERVIEW LINK>

OK, I knew there were a lot of Hunter: The Vigil fans that were eager for this project to launch. And I've experienced the passion and enthusiasm of Chronicles of Darkness fans and players, and Onyx Path supporters, over a dozen different kickstarter campaigns now. So, I was hoping, maybe even expecting, to be posting updates on our Stretch Goal progress. 

But, honestly, I didn't expect it to happen so soon. And not only have we crushed our first goal, we're well on our way to achieving our second. It's absolutely within site and likely to be achieved in the next day or so.

Like, this was something I was planning on figuring out mid-next week. 

So.

I like to keep ahead, posting Stretch Goals in advance, so we always know what we're working toward. And, that also allows me time to scramble in the background. My initial plan was to post Stretch Goal targets in threes, for each of the tiers of play in Hunter: The Vigil. But y'all got to the funding target so quickly on Day 1 that I didn't have it all prepped. So, I'm going to sneak in a third Stretch Goal in this update, and from now on, I'll post 3 at a time. Because it's cute.

ACHIEVED! - At $40,000 in funding - Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition Storyteller Screen — We’ll create a Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition Storyteller Screen, which can be added on to any reward tier containing a hardcover book for only +$20.

 And the target of our current hunt:

At $55,000 in funding - Tending the Flame: Cells — Help us fund a Player’s Companion for Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition. This PDF supplement would feature a chapter on Cells, giving players narrative and systems’ support to successfully hunt at Tier One, as well as tips for navigating hunter society. All backers receiving the Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition PDF will automatically have the Player’s Companion PDF added to their rewards list.

At $60,000 in funding - New Add-On Reward: The Ascending Ones' Archive — We’ll create a PDF bundle of first-edition titles that can be added to any reward tier for only $3. This PDF bundle will include:

•  Night Stalkers [Hunter: The Vigil 1E] PDF
•  Blood Drive [Hunter: The Vigil 1E] PDF
•  Dark Eras: Fallen Blossoms [Hunter: The Vigil 1E] PDF

So, thanks to those backers who expressed an interest in procuring more of the 1E library and gave me ideas for this Stretch Goal. We can probably assemble a few more of these and end up offering a lot of titles in affordable segments. Let's keep it up!

The biggest driver, of course, will be Tending the Flame - the Player's Companion book for Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition. Once we hit that next Stretch Goal, we'll have funded the start of the supplement, with a big section on Tier One support. I am excited about that! I'm pretty sure we'll have an opportunity to add additional sections and expand the scope in future Stretch Goals!

And note - the Tending the Flame PDF will automatically be added to all reward tiers receiving the Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition PDF, so everyone pledged to a $25+ reward tier will be receiving this supplement when it's created. That's just gravy on top of our main reward! (Don't do that for real, it'll ruin a book... or your computer!)

So, Hunters, let's keep up the hunt! Maintain the Vigil! Spread the word in your social circles and on your social media! And let's see how many more targets we can achieve!

#HTV2E

#HunterTheVigil

#TendingTheFlame