The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Hunterbook: Avenger

Many consider the various sourcebooks that White Wolf comes out with to be nothing more than Splatbooks. To a degree, they are correct. Most of these books have information on the background, outlook, views, NPC's, and pregenerated characters. Each chapter is separated by a full page illustration. It's a formula that White Wolf doesn't look like it's giving up anytime too soon.

The Avenger book deals with the 'creed' or clan, of hunters who are known as Avengers. These hunters are those who prefer to solve their conflicts with the World of Darkness via violence and of course, lots of guns.

The first four chapters use the net interface style to convey how these hunters interact with the world. Here one can find out how different avengers feel from hunting werewolves to dealing with their fellow avengers, and of course, how they look upon the other styles of hunters. In very few cases do they agree and the biggest themes that repeat themselves over and over, is that the hunters have gained their powers from either God or aliens.

The formatting of this section is mildly distracting. The normal quotes are used to introduce each section with the good old Bible getting quite a few hits this time. The text is broken up in different font styles to show different speakers. I guess the writer didn't feel confident enough in the character's individuality to count on that alone. My eyes grew tired when reading three different font styles with text boxes scattered about the pages.

By the time the reader finishes the first four chapters, he should have several ideas on how to run his avenger character. Not only is there advice on how to fight the inhabitants of the World of Darkness, but there are ideas on how to live in a society that turns it's back on the very existence of the creatures the hunters are fighting. More important though, is the section that talks about what the avengers will do in the future. Wise players may grab onto one of those ideas so that they can advance their own ideas along similar lines.

By the time chapter five rolled around, I was relieved to see it. One font and one style eased the burden of reading through Avenger. The new rules include new archetypes will rules for regaining willpower. New traits that include talents such as might, and fast draw, skills like construction, and knowledges like body control. For some reason, the writers felt it necessary to include little snippets of story with each new ability. Like I wouldn't grasp how to use these new abilities in my campaigns from reading the description of the skill.

There are five new edges, one for each level. Some like Impact, the lowest level, are immediately useful, while others like the five dot harpoon seem almost too powerful for game inclusion. My favorite part of this chapter though, are the rules dealing with destroying structures since many hunters burn the buildings of their foes down around their ears. A nice touch that can be used in any World of Darkness game.

Chapter six is Avengers at large and has five new characters just starting their lives as avengers. As in previous Splattbooks, there is a page detailing the character's background and an illustration, while on the opposite page is a full character sheet ready for copying. In addition, there are avengers of note. I was disappointed that White Wolf only included stats for the first two avengers and uses sheer background material for the rest.

The art ranges from average to great. The best pieces are the full page illustrations separating the chapters. Some of the formatting in the early chapters was annoying, but nothing too harsh. In addition, this is labeled as a World of Darkness book. Outside of the rules for brining down buildings, it's purely a hunter book. No other use can really come from it. In addition, I'm a little disappointed that White Wolf hasn't made more of an effort to incorporate their Kindred of the East line, especially since one of the renown avengers, Fang Fu Chen, is originally from Hong Kong. In addition, some of the information is clearly meant for the Game Master but since all of the 'clan/creed/etc…' books are clearly player marked, the players will read about them.

Lastly, I'm very disappointed that the authors are unable to get their point across without the use of profanity. While While Wolf is indeed "Games for Mature Minds", profanity is rarely the sign of a mature mind. I saw no instance where the swearing was integral to the storyline where it was used.

Still, there are few mysteries when one purchases a White Wolf book. For those who enjoy White Wolf books, this is a solid buy. Those hoping that this was going to deviate even a smidgen need to move on and forget about buying this book.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Hunter-Book Avenger
Author: Michael Lee and Greg Stolze Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Line: Hunter Cost: 14.95 Page count: 96 ISBN: 1565047397 SKU: 51495 Capsule Review by Joe G Kushner on 06/05/00. Genre tags: Modern day Horror sponsored by	Hunterbook: Avenger Many consider the various sourcebooks that White Wolf comes out with to be nothing more than Splatbooks. To a degree, they are correct. Most of these books have information on the background, outlook, views, NPC's, and pregenerated characters. Each chapter is separated by a full page illustration. It's a formula that White Wolf doesn't look like it's giving up anytime too soon. The Avenger book deals with the 'creed' or clan, of hunters who are known as Avengers. These hunters are those who prefer to solve their conflicts with the World of Darkness via violence and of course, lots of guns. The first four chapters use the net interface style to convey how these hunters interact with the world. Here one can find out how different avengers feel from hunting werewolves to dealing with their fellow avengers, and of course, how they look upon the other styles of hunters. In very few cases do they agree and the biggest themes that repeat themselves over and over, is that the hunters have gained their powers from either God or aliens. The formatting of this section is mildly distracting. The normal quotes are used to introduce each section with the good old Bible getting quite a few hits this time. The text is broken up in different font styles to show different speakers. I guess the writer didn't feel confident enough in the character's individuality to count on that alone. My eyes grew tired when reading three different font styles with text boxes scattered about the pages. By the time the reader finishes the first four chapters, he should have several ideas on how to run his avenger character. Not only is there advice on how to fight the inhabitants of the World of Darkness, but there are ideas on how to live in a society that turns it's back on the very existence of the creatures the hunters are fighting. More important though, is the section that talks about what the avengers will do in the future. Wise players may grab onto one of those ideas so that they can advance their own ideas along similar lines. By the time chapter five rolled around, I was relieved to see it. One font and one style eased the burden of reading through Avenger. The new rules include new archetypes will rules for regaining willpower. New traits that include talents such as might, and fast draw, skills like construction, and knowledges like body control. For some reason, the writers felt it necessary to include little snippets of story with each new ability. Like I wouldn't grasp how to use these new abilities in my campaigns from reading the description of the skill. There are five new edges, one for each level. Some like Impact, the lowest level, are immediately useful, while others like the five dot harpoon seem almost too powerful for game inclusion. My favorite part of this chapter though, are the rules dealing with destroying structures since many hunters burn the buildings of their foes down around their ears. A nice touch that can be used in any World of Darkness game. Chapter six is Avengers at large and has five new characters just starting their lives as avengers. As in previous Splattbooks, there is a page detailing the character's background and an illustration, while on the opposite page is a full character sheet ready for copying. In addition, there are avengers of note. I was disappointed that White Wolf only included stats for the first two avengers and uses sheer background material for the rest. The art ranges from average to great. The best pieces are the full page illustrations separating the chapters. Some of the formatting in the early chapters was annoying, but nothing too harsh. In addition, this is labeled as a World of Darkness book. Outside of the rules for brining down buildings, it's purely a hunter book. No other use can really come from it. In addition, I'm a little disappointed that White Wolf hasn't made more of an effort to incorporate their Kindred of the East line, especially since one of the renown avengers, Fang Fu Chen, is originally from Hong Kong. In addition, some of the information is clearly meant for the Game Master but since all of the 'clan/creed/etc…' books are clearly player marked, the players will read about them. Lastly, I'm very disappointed that the authors are unable to get their point across without the use of profanity. While While Wolf is indeed "Games for Mature Minds", profanity is rarely the sign of a mature mind. I saw no instance where the swearing was integral to the storyline where it was used. Still, there are few mysteries when one purchases a White Wolf book. For those who enjoy White Wolf books, this is a solid buy. Those hoping that this was going to deviate even a smidgen need to move on and forget about buying this book. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)

Hunter-Book Avenger