/tg/ - Traditional Games

SIT DOWN WITH EACH PLAYER (OR THE GROUP AS A WHOLE, DOESN'T MATTER) AND, WHILE THEY'RE STILL BUILDING THEIR CHARACTERS, ASK THEM "WHY DOES YOUR CHARACTER HUNT? IT CAN'T BE FOR MONEY, BECAUSE THERE'S NOONE TO PAY YOU (YET). YOU CAN'T HUNT FOR GLORY OR FAME OR RICHES. SO WHY DOES HE HUNT?"

EVEN PAINFULLY-GENERIC ANSWERS LIKE "BECAUSE HE'S AN ADRENALINE JUNKIE" OR "BECAUSE HE WANTS TO PROTECT PEOPLE" PROVIDE SOME HOOKS FOR YOU TO HANG FURTHER QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ON, AND PROVIDE NUDGES FOR THEM IN GAMEPLAY.

1. This is the World of Darkness; they pull that sort of shit too often feel perfectly justified to send something way out of their level to handle. A fully statted PC Vampire for example, or a Mage. Humankind is at the bottom of the food chain.

2. Make them PLAY their characters in character. You want to have a rare as fuck shotgun? Sure, but you'd better have a damn good reason and story behind it.

3. If they still aren't getting it, set up a situation where killing everyone just isn't an option an they'll have to talk their way out. Or run the fuck away screaming. Slashers are great for this, and Slashers are often just Hunters that have gone right off the deep end, and see EVERYONE as monsters, and now are the murderhobo's, often MAGICAL murderhobo's.

4.Remind them that this isn't going to end well for them if they don't play this smart. Hunters will eventually fall, it's part of the fucking Vigil after all. The question is what they fall too and why. Give them a decent motivation beyond loot and bitches, and they'll respond in kind.

>>21313203
always can count on you mr. rage on some sensible suggestions.

But I also was considering how effective it would be if I made it so they were kind of caught up into the hunt as opposed to already being full fledged hunters.

I figured that it could help characters to develop reasons through the game as opposed to someone just declaring it.

Do you think that could work?

>>21313263
Expanding on this:
Are they part of a contract or conspiracy? Make that matter. Sometimes your allies can be your worst enemy. Task Force VALKYRIE is a great example of this, at least how I view them. Nine Millimeter Retirement Plans all around.

>>21313308
That's a great example. Having a motivation to do what they do is a great way to get the players away from being 100% Murderhobo. It should work alright, and if it doesn't, it would be their fault, not yours.

>>21313308

MITEBCOOL. BUT IT'S WORTH MAKING SURE THEY'VE GOT A FIRM GRASP ON THEIR CHARACTER, IN THAT CASE.

OR, AT LEAST ENOUGH OF A GRASP TO REASONABLY SAY HOW THEY'D REACT WHEN A WEREWOLF COMES STOMPING THROUGH THEIR FRONT DOOR LOOKING FOR BLOOD.

"BLAST THAT FUCKER LIKE IT'S MOTHERFUCKIN' DIE HARD" IS PROBABLY NOT THE KIND OF ANSWER THEY SHOULD GIVE.

>>21313360
"Run the fuck away"
or
"Piss my self and beg for mercy" should be the answer. Because where there is one werewolf, there's going to be more. And PC werewolfs can be a BITCH to put down.

>>21313328
No, this is a limited series thing so I want to keep their cell insular. If people want to play a longer "campaign" I plan to implement the tier two and three groups if this proves successful.

>>21313263
Good point. What do you think also if the monsters are more mysterious? I don't want to start them on something that they can and will metagame over like vampires, mages, or werewolves (I gave them some background information and they known enough from other mediums).

Do you think is a good idea?

>>21313386
VERY good idea. Spirits are great for this, look into native american legend and other cultures spirit world. And if that doesn't work, there's always the Eldritch Horror thing AKA OH GOD MY SANITY IS GOING AWAY JUST LOOKING AT THAT THING A:KJD:FLKJSDF:SLEKJRS

>>21313386

ABSOLUTELY A GOOD IDEA.

SOMETHING DOES NOT NEED A PLAYABLE SPLAT LINE TO EXIST IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS.

CHANGE THE RULES ON THE MONSTERS THEY THINK THEY KNOW.

THROW MONSTERS THAT *NOONE* HAS EVER HEARD OF.

PULL MONSTERS FROM FOREIGN OR ANCIENT FOLKLORE, TWIST THEM JUST A LITTLE, AND SET THEM LOOSE.

THEY CAN'T GET *TOO* NASTY, HUNTERS ARE JUST MORTALS AFTER ALL, BUT THERE SHOULD BE A DEGREE OF UNCERTAINTY ABOUT WHAT THE NEXT BEAST IS CAPABLE OF.

>>21313416
>>21313415
Thanks, but how do I go about statting these guys?

There isn't exactly a beastiary or "dc level" to compare stuff on. I want them to be uncertain, but I don't want it to be some elder god who just blinks them out of existence for looking at them either.

>>21313446
Do you have the Antagonist splat? Because if you don't, I can shoot you a mediafire of that and Ghost Stories. Between those two, you SHOULD be able to throw some crazy shit at them. And don't forget that you can always throw some of the shit Werewolves fight at them.

>>21313472
I have all those witch hunters, spirit slayers, and all that stuff. But I haven't actually looked into those. Is that what you're talking about? And its fine my google fu is good enough where I can find what I need.

But thanks for the offer.

>>21313482
No, antagonist splat is different. So yeah, one Mediafire link coming right up, along with Ghost Stories. And I'll throw in the Armory for you, free of charge.

ARMORY: http://www.mediafire.com/?r17yqq56mo4uoym

ANTAGONISTS: http://www.mediafire.com/?b39y3qxzujtx1sz

GHOST STORIES: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?iaxcedg1pm6awps

>>21313416
This seems like a good idea.
Scandinavian mythology holds quite a few creatures that are not likely to be in any splat-books, don't have a fixed alignment, and can be downright scary.

>Nøkken
>Bergtroll
>Tusseladd (Imagine a short grown man who can do magic. He only does magic to fuck with people who are rude. He's also a rich motherfucker.)
>Hulder Magical woman with a cow-tail. She's strong, generally kind and a protector spirit of the forest. Don't fuck with her.
> Dark elves are nice guys.

Then there's nisser and other shit.
Your players won't have a singular fucking clue what any of these are.

You can have trolls that kidnap babies to make slaves out of them, and leave their own spawn to be raised by the human parents like a cuckoo's chick, or whatnot.

>>21313551
>>21313530
Thanks again guys, this little thread was great help. I think I have an idea on how I want to modify this.

/tg/ confirmed for best fucking board.

>>21313551
You mean Changlings?

Some shit in Native American myth is fucking scary as well, Wendigo's, Skinwalkers, shit like that.

Hell, throw a Banshee or a Black Dog at them sometime.

>>21313551
Theoretically I think pretty much anything in norse folklore fall in the category of Fae. Pretty sure trolls were at least one kind in oWoD fae.

If you're still spoiling for monsters, consider stealing Hobbes from Fable, rejigged enough so that it isn't completely obvious. They steal children and turn them into more Hobbes in order to reproduce.

>>21313569
If they actually do, then that's retardedly condescending.

>Hey guys, what about these Scandinavian folkloric mythical creatures?

>I dunno, just make them fae or something, so we can continue to masturbate to Anne Rice novels.

Tusser:
> Magical, beautiful goblins with tails.
Hulder:
> Forest spirits. Approves of sustainable logging, because at that point humans will move the heavens and earth to preserve their forest.
> But my God have mercy on your soul if they catch you being an immoral type of hunter. (The type who shoots a deer, but doesn't kill it, and don't bother tracking it for three days to put it out of its misery.)
> Nisser are similar Dwarf/Goblin like creatures that are protective spirits of husbandry, farms and similar.
> You leave them with sacrifices, they bless your animals.
In Norway, Santa Claus is a Nisse. Leaving him milk and cake is your sacrifice. He then leaves you with presents.
>IOW He gets sacrifices from a billion humans every year. He would be a nisse of godlike power.

Skautrolls are the kind of big and mean things that you pretty much have to kill by gatling rocket launchers, by being a werewolf, or just that badass.
Depending on how mean you are, you might just show a huge human with 3 heads, standing seven metres tall, eating a werewolf that was dumb enough to try his luck.

Mountain trolls steal human children to keep them as slaves. They also cuckold the humans by leaving their own children in the place of the human babe.


They all live on this plane of existence, and their magic is of the useful everyday kind, that ranges from "cure a sick cow" to "Magically harvesting entire fields that would take the entire farm weeks to do in a night." (In the last one, they drank all the farm's beer as a payment.)

I just can't see them as fae, sorry.

>>21314360
Not saying they should be, I didn't write WoD.

>>21314386
Sorry bro, didn't meant to imply that you said so.
Meant to implicate White Wolf.

>>21314360
Payment in milk and beer for things is pretty classic fae payment.

>>21314435
>Payment in milk teeth for things is pretty classic fae payment.
FTFY

>>21314435
Yes, but just about ever other nature spirit on the fucking planet receives payment in food and booze.

>>21314529
Jesus, how powerful do you think the Tooth Fairie is?
>>21314544
True enough.

>>21314579
She's probably engaged in a cold war with Santa Claus.

>>21314594
Suddenly, I think I know what Cold Day's plot is about.

>>21313551
Min kjære landsmann!

I heard that in old norwegian folk-tales the unicorn is an undead monster that eats people.
Also: Draugen.
You thought he was just a dead fisherman? Fuck that! He can swim through rock, transform himself into great bulls, cats and other monsters, has super strenght, more magic and often band together with other Draugs to go on an undead viking

>>21314689
Unicorns did eat meat, so a local version where it ate people isn't that surprising.