Devoted fanboy that I am of Hunter, I still have to admit that the section in the rulebook on Hunters' supernatural opponents is laughably inadequate in portraying the Enemy, a feeling which is magnified even more so to those familiar with the other Storyteller games. The Hunter Storyteller Companion is designed to allow Hunter Storytellers to run the main supernatural oppressors of the World of Darkness (IE those who have their own line of products) without buying the other rulebooks. The book (which includes a Storyteller's Screen) has a habit of jumping up and down the quality chart as you read through it.
The Introduction is the best part of the book, giving among other things an explanation of the origins and purpose of Hunters. There's a warning at the beginning of the introduction that players reading this section will spoil much of the mystery of Hunter for themselves, and that is no lie. However, the introduction is so brilliant I wish everyone who played Storyteller games could read it. In just nine paragraphs you have the best explanation as to how the damned Children of Caine, Gaia and her followers, and all the rest of the supernatural entities could exist in a reality where God is real; even the veiled Exalted references didn't get me down. My only complaints are that this introduction actually holds a flicker of hope that Hunters might be able to save the world, a beautiful notion that is crushed in the Hunter Storytellers Handbook; I guess White Wolf just can't handle the possibility of a happy ending. Also, while going over those people who can't become Hunters "religious magic" is mentioned, which seems to indicate that True Faith is a bad thing in the eyes of Hunters, an odd thing given the apparent religious tones of their origin; the wishy-washy coverage of the Hunter Players Guide (published years later) didn't help at all to answer this question. Then again, I've been hearing rumors from some Vampire players I know that some sort of non-True Faith, religious magic was introduced in Vampire some time ago, so perhaps this is what they're refering to.
Chapter One covers ghosts and zombies, those creatures whose return to Earth in record numbers seems to be the reason Hunters were created. It's been seven years now since I read the Wraith rulebook, but I found that between the information found here and in the main Hunter rulebook I could run these forms of undead with ease, with no desire to hunt down (pardon the pun) Wraith for more information. There are some noteworthy problems with this section, starting off with the statement that ghosts reduced to zero Health Levels simply go to the underworld, heal, and return to the living world. Screw that---why would Hunters be made to deal with the dead if they can't permanently stop them in combat (ignoring Fetters, which aren't detailed in Hunter until The Walking Dead sourcebook). Second, zombies can't soak lethal damage, which contradicts many pieces of fiction in Hunter books where zombies take major damage with no problem. This bit is even more amusing after reading the chapter this book devotes to vampires, where it is said bloodsuckers can soak lethal, because "Once one is dead, some harm is just....unimpressive." Why a zombie is considered "less dead" than a vampire and thus can't soak lethal is beyond me. I saw screw this as well and let zombies soak lethal.
The next chapter covers vampires. While the section on ghosts and zombies was complete and easy to use, the vampire section seems a bit less concise; I'd recommend any Hunter Storyteller who plans on using vampires to pick up a copy of a Vampire rulebook rather than relying on this chapter. There are some interesting tidbits and anomalies in this section. Hunters get a rather easy Willpower roll to resist the ecstasy of a vampire's bite, which is odd, given that in the main rulebook under the Exposure Background a Hunter describes such bites as always being painful since her imbuing, having been a feeding bag to a vampire prior to her answering the call. We learn in this chapter that vampire blood is totally ineffective on Hunters in any way, positive or negative, and that going into frenzy provides a vampire with added resistance to certain Edges. Also, the term "aggravated damage" is in this chapter, something White Wolf seems to have been avoiding in Hunter for no good reason; I wonder if the author was savagely beaten for including it here.
Werewolves are the next entity covered. It's interested to see which werewolf powers are protected against by Conviction and which are not, and the brief view of how hunters perceive (that's beliefs about, not viewing them through Second Sight) is cool. If werewolves are only occasionally present in your game this chapter will suffice, but if you plan to have fleabags as your primary antagonists get a copy of the Werewolf rulebook.
In the case of mages, I can't say the write-up is worth the page count it is given. In the main Hunter rulebook mages are said to have Luck, and by expending Willpower points they could basically do whatever they wanted. After reading this chapter a Hunter Storyteller now knows that mages have a power source called Quintessence, the spending of which allows them to do whatever they want, based on what esoteric schools of knowledge they posses. The rule system here is vague and scarcely better than that provided in the Hunter rulebook. There's really no way this chapter could replace the need for a Hunter Storyteller to have a copy of the Mage rulebook to run wizards properly.
Having said all that, I will say that the mage chapter has some important facts about the way mages and hunters interact. With the proper Spheres (sorry, Arts) a mage can identify Hunters (a fact the authors of the Hunter Storytellers Handbook ignore), take away Conviction, and supposedly permanently sever a Hunter's connection to the Messengers, though whether such an unfortunate is considered a Bystander or normal human is not stated. Also hidden in this section is the fact that Hunters can never leave Earth's reality (no Umbra/Shadowlands/Horizon Realm visiting for them), a fact the author of Predator & Prey: Werewolf seems to have missed.
Finally, Nightmares (Changelings) are covered. The Hunter opinions on Nightmares is unique, and rules for the creatures seem okay, if focusing on only two races of Changelings (a third has appeared in other Hunter books, misidentified by the Hunters who have encountered them). I will admit that, like Wraith, it's been many years since I read the Changeling rulebook, so perhaps I'd be more harsh on this section if I remembered more of said rulebook.
So is the Hunter Storyteller Companion worth it? For Storytellers interested in the truth behind Hunter, or looking to fill in the gaps on monsters they don't have the core rulebooks for it is very good. For fans looking to run something other than zombies and spirits without any other core rulebooks you will be disappointed, feeling like you're missing just enough in this book so you need to buy the other books.
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